The captain had told us there would be a 100% chance of rain today, so we left armed with wet weather gear, but Florence greeted us with lifting clouds, and the sun continued to shine for our whole time there.
Today we were in cahoots with our Canadian friends Pat and Penny. Such lovely people and a lot of fun. Our guided walk took us past to Duomo and through the streets to the Santa Croce, where we had an inside visit. Unfortunately being a Monday, all of the museums were closed, meaning icons like the 'real' statue of David were unavailable for viewing. But we looked at the fake one en route to the Ponte Vecchia, and then had a group lunch with lashings of red wine, (I'm not quite sure how many times Pat filled my glass) before some free time to wander and shop.
Now a little story.
An enduring memory of Florence for me has always been the Russian tricolour gold bangle I continually wear. I bought it (and my silver charm bracelet) on my Contiki from a small shop called Walters. Walters was first visited by my darling friend Kari back in 1994, when she was on a Contiki and bought me a small pair of gold hoops for my 30th birthday. When I was there, I bought the next size up, and these two sets of earrings are what I wear 90% of the time. Imagine my heartache when I lost one ten or so years ago, around the time my friend Belinda was visiting Florence. On the off chance, I sent her with a photocopy of my earring for the size, perchance she stumbled across Walters. She did, and she gave me a new set for my 40th birthday!
I was really hoping to find Walters again, but our guide did not know where it was. However I happened to glance across on our walk from Santa Croce to the Square, and there it was. As it's now the time of my 50th birthday, a purchase was imminent, and after lunch I made a beeline back to Walters.
I had a lovely trip down memory lane with Judith, English wife of Walter, who recalled the name of our guide on the Contiki (Gaynor) and gave me an update in her life. I made two purchases; one partly because I was in nostalgia mode, and perhaps if I'd been my usual cautious spending self, I would have left Pinocchio behind, but I bought him in any case, and now have three pendants to alternate in the gold chain I bought here on the boat. I also bought a tricolour Russian gold ring. Perfect. And time to stop,spending money 💰. (Oh, not before I'd bought a small red leather handbag though 😜)
We left Florence about 2, for an hours drive to Pisa, a spot I would have left doing a second visit to, but Mum needed to see it, and I agree, it's an important landmark to view with your own eyes. We got some nice shots when we got there and then decided to visit the inside of the cathedral, which was free. However, they were mot issuing the free tickets till 5:30, dumb, so noticing the closing skies, we sat and had coffee under some shelter. Then the heavens opened up. Of course after having had such a fine day up till then we had all left our wet weather gear back on the bus! I had my camera with no protection and the rain was heavy. The hawkers arose from the ground with their ponchos and umbrellas, and creamed it for the next 15 minutes. The walk back to the bus was a rainy one, but we didn't get as wet as those who had not succumbed and bought some protection.
This evening we finally made it to the Piano Bar, which Mum had been wanting to go to since we boarded. Michael, the pianist, has a very loyal following, and some folk actually book their cruise according to which one he is playing on! And here begins another story.
Last night as I was dropping off I heard a weird call form the captain... "Star bright, star bright, star bright Room 7081". Made me a bit nervous as our friends Maxine and Andrew are in 7083.... I figured it was a code for something, and when we saw Maxine earlier in the evening, she said there had been a medical emergency in the cabin next door, which she said was home to a large American gentleman and his wife. At the Piano Bar we found out the guy actually died. His wife (who was still in board, strange) and friends were obviously regulars at the bar, and the first part of the evening was a tribute to Bill. RIP Bill.
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