Un Viaggio a Firenze

Tuesday morning dawned sunny, if not warm, so I got up and caught the 11:31 train to Firenze. I still had a bit of shopping to do, including the replacement of the gift for my son which I had left in the train station bathroom by accident.

The trip was uneventful, until a lady boarded the train in Arezzo with a large and unwieldy suitcase and, of all things, a metal garden trellis. It took her quite some time to arrange the suitcase in the aisle so that it would both hold up the trellis and impede traffic from other passengers, but finally she had the obstruction arranged to her liking. At the train station in Florence, she exited the train with a large, pink tote bag and the iron trellis, leaving the traffic-blocking suitcase for a subsequent trip. I thought I’d help her by toting her suitcase to the door only to discover it weighed at least 90 hemorrhoid-popping, bladder-leaking pounds. Had I looked at the suitcase label, I would have found that it was the Bulging Hernia model from the infamous Slip-O-Disk line of premium luggage. I rather wished la signora had left the trellis for me.

I decided to eat lunch at the same restaurant I had eaten last Tuesday, so began walking toward the Ponte Vecchio, window shopping as I went. Along the way I found a gift for my father for Christmas, and found and rejected several potential gifts for my elder son. The little restaurant was open and my little table under the heater was just waiting for me. I ordered the same meal, tagliatelle al ragu’, I had last week. I was about halfway finished with my rich and hearty meal, when 2 English ladies were seated across from me. We began to talk and I learned that they were there to celebrate their freedom, one having just obtained a divorce. We had a nice 30 minute conversation about freedom, and looking for what it is you want out of life, while I finished my meal and partook of some luscious, sweet tiramisu. I hugged them as I paid my bill and thanked them for sharing such a wonderful conversation with me. These are the experiences I came here for and which I savor.

After lunch, I trotted up the street about four doors to the shop those nasty little marionettes had locked me out of in the rain last week. I was happy to find it open as it has some lovely things. This is the same place where I bought the gold and pearl earrings which dangle from fleur-de-lis posts several weeks ago. This visit I found a lovely coordinating bracelet, which I could not resist. It is not the same design as my earrings, but is a similar style and they look very nice worn together. The bracelet contains three large pearls interspersed with two gold links of a leaf design on which is set a small, round garnet. This bracelet will always remind me of this wonderful visit to Firenze.