Christmas 2010 - Day Five

Not much sleep last night. Jet lag! We were all bright eyed and wide awake from 2 until about 4 AM. Got up and dressed into our uniforms (that is what we are calling it since we have no LUGGAGE!). Had breakfast in the hotel. Fresh brioche, ham, cheese, fruit and a cappucino. Ready for the day.

Kate and I caught a cab up to the Accademia to see David. The real statue not the replica in the Piazza del Signoria. The statue is HUGE! H-U-G-E! It is almost unbelievable how a slab of marble can become a work of art. The detail is crazy. Michelangelo's attention to every part of the body is crazy. From the veins in David's arms to the wrinkles of skin on his knuckles. And all to scale. Beautiful. Can you believe some imbicile attacked the statue with a hammer and took off some of David's toes? I wonder if the guy was upset because his luggage was missing? Just sayin'.

After taking a gander at David, Kate and I strolled in the rain down to the hotel to collect Cita. Even rain doesn't matter when you are in Italy, not to me anyway! We walked by the duomo. Here are a couple of pictures. This is a view from the little street that dead ends into the Tornabuoni right by the hotel. If you look hard you can see all the people waiting in line to get into Tiffany's.

We picked up Cita and caught a taxi to Trattoria Mario. This place was packed. It is a looooong skinny room with the kitchen and counter on one side and tables and stools on the other. You get in where you fit in--so you sit with whoever you sit with. All the locals eat there and boy do they know how to eat. This sign reads: "The steak is cooked the way we like/eat it and don't drink coke."

Guess what Cita ordered? You got it--coke!!! Here is my lunch menu:

Antipasto: Salami Misti

Primo Piatto: spaghetti with meat sauce (this is different than our spaghetti with meat sauce because it is not tomato based it is MEAT sauce, yummy and full of flavor)

Secondo Piatto: nothing for me, but Kate and Cita had the steak--the way the Florentine's eat it.

This place was fun. Loud and lots of personality! Gotta go back here next trip.

We took the walk back to the hotel for some downtime. The only TV in English at the hotel is CNN. We got to hear over and over again how overloaded the airports were. I was so thankful to be in Italy!

We decided we needed to head over to the Piazza del Santa Croce. This is where tons of leather shops are. Leather is big in Italy. Most of the shops will allow you to pick a coat style you like and have it custom-made in your size and color AND you can pick it up in a couple of days. Love that. On the way there we stopped for a cappucino. I was happy! Do you know why?

Because my cappucino came with a little love!Kate is pointing at the view out the window of the cafe.Lovely! Back at the hotel Kate wrote in her miniature journal covered in Florentine paper. The girl loves paper and pens and pencils.