My flight to Rome went without too much trouble. A passenger did not make the flight, but his luggage did. So, they had to pull it off and it took some time to find it. As a result, we left a half hour late and arrived about 15 minutes late. I got about four and a half hours sleep, so I was tired but operational when I got to Florence.
I made the 9:27 ‘express’ to Rome and the 11:15 flight to Florence. I arrived here around 12:50.
I felt like I spent my first day in Florence productively. After checking into the hotel, I investigated bike rentals, and then walked down to the Duomo. I got immediately on line (around 2:15) and bounded up to the Cupola by 3:00. I took so many pictures at the top that I drained the camera batteries dry. If I had enough battery power, I would have climbed the bell tower as well. As it was, I walked all around the city. It’s safe to say I’m more fit than the last time we visited Florence!
I had dinner at a sidewalk restaurant at the un-Italian hour of 4:30. I had the restaurant to myself, which
was good because the Italians believe every city square is an ashtray. At a ristaurante called “Za Za’s”, I had a delicious salmon on crusty bread appetizer and a shrimp curry risotto. I even skipped the gelato later in the day. At the end of the day (7PM), I rented a bike for three days. The bike shop was very helpful in giving me maps to the countryside to the North and South of town. Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, I plan to ride up to Fiesole again, and then North to Olba. It should be about 26 to 30 miles when I’m done.
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