Dictionary.com lists 17 synonyms for 'wonderful'. Still 17 words sometimes don't say wonderful as well as 'wonderful' - and Florence is wonderful! We arrived in this city of wonder very late after a long bus trip that took in Padua and Ravenna. Just for the record, I was unable to convince Luciana to come back with me to Australia as there were more tour groups in Ravenna to tame yet, but I took away a few strategies, which I will try out on my return. Somehow, I don't think I they will have the same impact -I am sure it was all in the delivery...
I was not well during my first day in Florence so I stayed in the hotel for the first half of the morning and did some writing while my fellow travellers headed off for a tour and some shopping. Apparenetly the shopping is excellent in Florence , particularly for leather goods and gold jewellery. I know that I am completely out of my depth when it comes to shopping so I didn't miss anything there but I was sad to miss visiting some of the incredible places for which Florence is famous. Consequently, I am very light-on for photos of Florence. You may have even noticed that I put one photo up twice. I just want to clarify that I wasn't that short but simply put the same photo up twice and am too lazy to take it down.
I was feeling a little better in the afternoon so I headed off for a walk into the centre of the city. I only got about 10 minutes down the road when I decided that it was time to stop and eat. I settled on a sidewalk cafe and the table I chose allowed me to see the comings and goings of the busy street. It was 'wonderful'. Next to me were two Aussies - a mother and daughter, the latter of which had attaracted the serious attention of every waiter in the restaurant who, one by one, arrived at the table to offer her (without mum of course) a private and free tour of the city. Each offer was politely refused. It all became a bit tedious in the end and just before they left, Mum leaned over to tell me that she was in fact an international food critic for bestrestaurants.com , and although her carbonarra was excellent, the online review she was about to go back to the hotel to write wouldn't be pretty. Now that's a deadly combination - aggrieved mother and food critic! The waiters all had a good laugh together when they left but revenge was on the way!
I left the restaurant soon after and promptly got lost. I walked around aimlessly for about two hours until I found a travel agent who could tell me the name of the street my hotel was on (of course, I hadn't noted that before I left - that would be far too sensible...) and directions for how to get there. It turnded out I was just around the corner.
While lost, I was still able to see many things of immeasurable wonder and beauty (if only that is what we see when lost in life...) and took a few snaps that you see on the blog. It is just like walking around the 13th or 14th century sometimes except for when a street peddler tries to sell you something. That happened to me when I walked out of a beautiful cathedral right in the centre of the city to realise that it was raining. I was no sooner out of the door when approached by a vendor selling not freaky toys but freaky unmbrellas. Actually it wasn't really very freaky at all, it's just that as soon as a gust of wind got under it, it completely fell apart, and that happened 30 seconds after handing over my E5. I turned around to see if my seller was still there. He was, but I decided against going back and asking for a refund - somehow I suspected it wasn't going to be forthcoming.
I made it back to the hotel a little damp but much the better for the outing.
I know I other have written on other occasions of my desire to return to Italy. It remains as strong as ever. I am also getting to know my fellow travllers better every day. There are beautiful people in this group for whom this experience is both journey and pilgrimage.
Maybe the pilgrimage part of my journey is not far off. Perhaps...
Contemplatively yours
Mark
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