Nicole and I woke up to a very cold bedroom, which can't be contributing positively to her health, but she seems to be doing better, anyway. As she was showering, though, it turned out that the shower drain was blocked, and it flooded the whole bathroom and began leaking onto the bedroom carpet. We tried to stop it from spreading any further by placing towels by the door, but it ended up as one big soggy mess.
We reported the problem to reception on our way to breakfast so that we wouldn't get into trouble for it and have to pay damages or anything. Breakfast was a far cry from what we were offered in Nice. We enjoyed some fantastic bacon, eggs, croissants, fruit salad (albeit tinned), and of course the amazing Italian coffee. Oh, and lots of orange juice! It was yummy, filling, and had us ready to hit the streets of Florence, where we would be walking a lot.
We'd be saying goodbye to Joey for the next two days, since European law only allows him to drive so many hours a day and for so many days in a row. The bus actually has a monitoring system, so you can't cheat it. We really need, to implement something similar in South Africa so that we can have fewer trucking accidents creating traffic for me on my way to work. Anyway, for the next two days, we'd have an Italian driver called Enzo at the wheel!
As usual, the coach had to be parked outside the main part of the city and we had to walk in. It was still bitterly cold and very misty. Our meeting point was just outside the church where Michelangelo was buried, where Jen gave us a brief overview of Florence's role in the Renaissance era in her amusing and chatty way.
Following that, we went to a leather works demonstration, where a well spoken Italian man showed us how they make Florentine jewelry boxes that are 100% leather with no hinges or clasps or anything. He also showed us how they emboss the leather with gold tape using hot stamps. Nicole selected a pair of leather earrings that she had embossed with her initials, while I had VS embossed onto a vintage leather handbag that I found for a steal (everything else was way out of our price range!)
In the jewelry section of the shop, an Italian lady showed us the Florentine puzzle rings, which a king with many wives apparently had made for each of them before they went off to war. When he got back, he was able to tell who had been faithful to him because those who had taken it off would not be able to get all the rings back together into the perfect design that allows it to fit a finger. It was so pretty and clever that I got myself one, which I haven't yet tried to undo and get back together. Luckily, included in the price of the ring is the solution to the puzzle.
Nicole and I then headed to the Piazza where we were greeted by Neptune's bottom where the replica of the Statue of David can be found. There are lot of statues about in Florence, though, and mostly in the buff. When did society become so prudish, I have to wonder? We had our group photo in front of Neptune, which hopefully someone will post on Facebook because I didn't pay for a copy.
We had a walking tour from there with a local guide (made in Florence) who was a lot of fun. She took us to see the main sights and attractions of the city, while amusing us with stories about how rude Michelangelo would be to other artists. She also told Nicole that she looks really great, and was impressed that Nicole was a fashion student that had made her coat herself. She pointed out Armani's house to us (one of them, anyway) and took us through the worthwhile shopping streets.
At the Santa Maria cathedral, I discovered that marble comes in different colours. If you knew that, then you are more informed than me, but the pinks and greens of the cathedral are not painted. It is the colour of the marble that was used. The pictures on the outside are also not painted, but rather they are intricate mosaics. There is a placard outside the cathedral actually thanking the South Africans for their help in restoring the floor of the cathedral when it was destroyed in a flood. We're such nice people, aren't we? (Although I'd love to know where we got the money from).
Inside, the two most interesting things about the cathedral (in my opinion) is the enormous hand-painted dome. The dome was painted by a student of Michelangelo in the same way as the Sixtine Chapel, lying on his back up on the rickety scaffolding straight into the dome. It took him 10 years to complete. There are holes in the dome where the scaffolding had been slotted into the dome itself. It is very impressive. You really need to be under it to appreciate how high and how enormous it is.
Then, on the far side of the church, there is a 24 hour face clock that works a little different to the ones we use today. The day for Italians used to end at Sunset, so that is the time of day that the clock is reset to every two weeks. It also runs anti-clockwise and is a bit confusing to look at, but pretty cool nonetheless. Our tour ended there and we tipped our excellent guide before heading off to the coffee shop she had recommended to us for an espresso based drink.
I have absolutely fallen in love with Italian coffee, and it's quite cheap. You can buy it for the same price that we get it back in South Africa - if you don't mind standing to drink it. It is more expensive if you want to sit down to drink it, and even more expensive if you want to sit outside in the street to drink it. Our baristas were gorgeously dressed in suits and ties, serving Kaylee, Nicole, and I at the marble counter. (Marble is apparently cheaper than wood in Florence, according to our guide, so it is EVERYWHERE).
After that, we went into the department store on the same square, where you can get all the way to the roof and get a view of the cathedral dome where you could spot some people up on there. Again, you needed to climb a ton of stairs to get there, so Nicole would only be looking at it from the vantage point we had reached using escalators. It was a bit overrated, though. I'm sure that the view from the cathedral would be far more impressive.
It was lunch time, so we headed up a street of pizzerias looking for the most affordable one to eat at. A guy in a Santa suit tried to lure us into his pizzeria promising us that his pizza was the best. We continued on, though, and kept looking, eventually heading back down the street again. On the way back, Santa made a second attempt, saying "We have free wifi!" Of course, I was in like a shot, whether Kaylee or Nicole liked it or not. I told him that he should've said so in the very beginning! He might've changed tactics, because he convinced other members of our group to try the restaurant for lunch as well.
Looking at the menu, one of the pizza options just said "surprise" so we ordered one of those along with another pizza to share between the three of us. The surprise pizza turned out to be what is considered a Quattro Stagioni in South Africa, topped with artichokes, olives, parma ham, and mushrooms. It was super yummy. It turns out that they make a different pizza every time someone orders the surprise. Since it was the birthday of Anthony, one of the Aussies, they made his pizza in the shape of a heart! It was the best pizza ever. Exceptionally good.
After that, we did a bit of shopping in the markets. Kaylee has been trying to find Christmas ornaments without much success. Nicole, on the other hand, wanted a Florentine bag of her own. They are just so expensive. We got lucky, though, and she managed to get a really great bargain. The sales lady made the mistake of asking Nicole how much she was willing to pay, and so Nicole got R240 knocked off the price.
Towards the end of the day, as we were browsing through a few final stores, I found another cute bag for a steal in a bargain bin at one of the leather stores. I'm not sure what was wrong with it that it was so much cheaper than anything else they were selling. Nicole reckons it's because it may be because the bag has already gone on sale before and not been sold yet. I have no idea why, though, because it is super cute! But maybe the convenient price tag has swayed my opinion a little bit...
Back at the hotel, Nicole and I got ready for our night out on the town. We'd be going out for a true Tuscan evening. Luckily, thanks to the Christmas sales in France and Switzerland, we had some great outfits that we could wear out that night. Nicole looked particularly spectacular in the necklace I'd bought her in Nice for Christmas. I looked super shiny and glitsy :P
The place we went to was a lot of fun. They kept bringing out tons of different kinds of bruschetta for us to sample. It seemed to never end. We joked that they were sneakily trying to fill us up on bread. After that, we enjoyed the pasta course of Penne Napolitano and Lasagne, which they also kept offering us more of. The main course was thinly sliced steak garnished with rocket and parmesan cheese and served with pan fried potatoes, which was delicious. The meal ended with traditional Italian Pannetone dressed in custard.
During the meal, an Italian singer entertained us with some famous Italian songs. He walked through our tables to engage the audience, but took a particular shine to Nicole. He kept kissing her and actually came up to her at one point, cutting a piece of steak for her and feeding it to her. I got some great pictures of it! It was a lot of fun. Everyone keeps teasing her about her Italian boyfriend now.
When we got back to the hotel, we realised that I'd lost one of Nicole's gloves at the venue. I joked that her Italian boyfriend had stolen it to sniff. We had an early night, but a lot of our tour group went to the Electronic Space Discotheque, where apparently a lot of kids hang out, since Italians start clubbing before they even hit their teens. They must've had a great time because they got home really late (waking us up with the joyful noise).
Nicole was starting to recover from her illness, though, so early nights are needed to keep her health up. I stayed up late in order to upload photographs again while I had some wifi. I never know when I might get my fix again! Eventually, though, I decided to get to bed as well in our chilly room so that I didn't fall asleep on my iPad again.
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