We got up early and went back to get one last look at the treasures.  The man had brought more things for Janet and I started looking for the little ribbon tape booth.  Couldn’t find them anywhere.  Figured someone thought they were as cool as we did and bought them all.  As we were leaving, Janet spotted them in a booth and we bargained with the woman and got the whole bag – at a great bargain.  Cheri and I will split them.  We caught the train to Florence and took a cab to our B&B.  I have stayed there several times and it is in a fun neighborhood with cute shops and good restaurants and isn’t too touristy.  It is across the river from the Duomo via the Ponte Vecchio.  History lesson here:  in ancient times, the shops on the bridge were butcher shops.  The Medicis who lived nearby couldn’t stand the smell, so closed the butcher shops and put goldsmiths in them and they remain to this day.  Many of the shops have modern jewelry and a few have only vintage.  A statue to Cellini, the great goldsmith, stands in the middle of the bridge. There is a metal fence around his statue with a sign saying it is illegal to put locks on the fence.  You can barely read the sign for all the locks!  Couples put their initials on the locks, attach them to the fence and throw the key into the river…symbolizing their “forever love”.   Many times, these love locks on bridges around the world have had to be removed because the weight of the thousands of locks has compromised the bridges!  During WWII, the Nazis blew up all the bridges in Florence….except for the Ponte Vecchio because a Nazi general knew of its history and thought it should be saved.  Of course, it is an iconic symbol of Florence as is the Duomo.  

We found a wonderful restaurant for lunch and our waiter, Marco was wonderful.  After lunch we walked around and found a darling dress shop.  Getting back to the B&B to rest up, we noticed a clothes shop across the street that was having a sale, the lights were on and the sales lady was on the phone.  Didn’t realize until later that she really wasn’t open…she was there setting up everything for the BIG SALE starting the next day!  But we shopped and she was happy to sell.  I was too hot to try on clothes, so put back about 10 pieces to try at 10am Monday when they opened.  You know me, I was there before she got there to open on Monday Morning.  By 10:15  the shop was packed…so glad I had set back the pieces I wanted to try on.   We all bought more stuff there.  Can’t wait to be back in September to see their fall and winter line.  Maybe I’ll get lucky with another sale.  

Later that evening, we returned to Trattoria ANGIOLINO for dinner…where we had lunch.  We were going to have the famous Florentine steak that looked so good at another table at lunchtime.  We wanted to start with chicken liver pate bruschetta, but Marco said it would be too much food with the steak.  He was right.  We shared two steaks among the 4 of us.  They came with roasted potatoes with rosemary and we ordered spinach.  The meal was outstanding!  The meat was melt in your mouth tender and the spinach was so tender it was like a soufflé.  The Florentine steak is a giant t-bone and it is charred on the outside and very rare on the inside.  And this restaurant did the best job of any I’ve had.  

Back to the B&B for a good nights sleep in the air conditioning.  Tomorrow, the girls are going on a Dante’s Inferno (from Dan Brown’s book) Tour, and I’m running errands.  I will do the tour when it is cooler.