We woke up by 8am and had our breakfast in our room. Breakfasts in Italy appear to consist mostly of bread and coffee. I have yet to see eggs or bacon offered anywhere. Our breakfast has two different types of breads, three different types of crackers, an assortment of fruit preserves, and cappuccino. After breakfast we went to the department stores through the main tourist shopping areas in Florence.

The clothes and fashion are incredible, if not stereotypically Italian. Even manikins are stick-like in form and have nipples that point out through their thin tops. The only fat people in this country are tourists and, rarely, old Italian men. Bra straps, or the visibility of such, must be in fashion because everyone has the back of their bras or one of their cups showing from under their shirt or dress. Over-sized, 80’s style sunglasses are also in. At one of the department stores we entered we found Georgio Armani t-shirts, void of any design, for around 90 Euros (about $125 US). After a few hours of looking around, we didn’t end up buying any clothes from this store.

For lunch we had a quick panini before a storm started to roll in. The temperature in Florence since we arrived has been in the low-70s for highs and low 60s for lows – very accommodating weather! We bought an umbrella from one of the many unscrupulous-looking street vendors and headed back to our room to do some much needed laundry while it stormed outside. We could have done some museums, but most museums are closed on Mondays in Italy. In addition, many shops were closing for the afternoon and wouldn’t be reopening for a few hours.

Back at our room, our hostess called and made reservations for me and Jenny to see the Statue of David and the Uffizi Museum for Wednesday. When I checked online both were sold out until July! Each museum only admits small groups at a time so you need to make reservations for your entrance time. We were planning on heading out to Venice on Wednesday, so we’ll postpone and leave for Venice on Thursday.

Another thing that Jenny and I noticed are how similar the menus are at many of the restaurants. We have tried to find restaurants outside of tourist areas in hopes of finding something different but haven’t succeeded. I suppose this is another way we’re spoiled to America: there is every culture of cuisine nearby, from Italian, Mexican, and so on. Right now I would KILL for some bratwurst.

After laundry and a nap we set out to find a non-Italian, non-McDonald’s restaurant. We found a Ristorante Cinese nearby and had noodles and sweet and sour chicken similar to the quality of P.F. Changs back home. The price however was even cheaper than McDonald’s! We grabbed some gelato and walked around the Duomo. Shopping was limited since most stores close around 8pm. However, we stumbled upon a wine store that was open and I bought souvenirs for friends and family back home. I hope we can get them shipped out tomorrow.

Ciao for now.

Categories: Travel
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