Day 14: San Quirico d'Orcia-Florence

The sun is shining brightly this morning…..grrrrr. I take my last morning walk around the town.

After breakfast, Diana goes out for some last minute shopping and we say goodbye to Ulli as we pack the car. The drive to Florence is pretty but uneventful….we make a stop in Castellina in Chianti at one of our favorite gelaterias–L'Antica Delizia–and it is terrific as usual. We also stop in Panzano to try and say hello to my client who is now staying there but she is not in the hotel and we can't find her in town.

We make only one wrong turn on our way to our hotel which is right in the center of town, a block off the Arno River. The Residenza del Moro is just around the corner from where my sister Barbara lived for six months in 1993 when we made our first visit to Italy. (In order to be absolutely accurate, it should be noted that Diana had been in Venice for a day or two as a teenager enroute to Israel.)

The Residenza del Moro is a luxury hotel in a renovated old palazzo and it is quite spectacular. It is the sister hotel of the place where we are staying in Pietrasanta and the manager offered us a complimentary night in Florence. Here is a picture of our room (with a jacuzzi), statues hanging on the walls and frescoes on the ceiling.

You can check out the rest of the hotel on this web site.

http://www.residenzadelmoro.com/

Once we get settled, I call our friend Jane Nyhan who lives in Florence, is a guide and is working with my client who is now in Chianti. She comes over and we spend the afternoon together…we have a coffee and then she takes us on an offbeat tour of Florence…showing some old things and some new things, including the elevator in the Hotel Continentale that has a sofa in it and the wonderful views from the rooftop terrace.

Then we make a stop at the Santa Maria Novella "pharmacy"–which has been in business for about 400 years. Diana needs to pick up some of her favorite creams.

It starts to rain lightly so we go back to the hotel which is just around the corner. When it stops, I go out for a walk–crossing over to the Oltrarno (the other side of the river)

and crossing back over downriver to Piazza Santa Croce where I take a picture of the church facade gleaming starkly in the light from the remnants of the storm.

Dinner is at an old haunt–Trattoria Belle Donne–where we ate frequently on our first trip to Florence. It looks just about the same (although it is under new management). The meal is enjoyable–more zuppa di farro for me followed by some nice meatballs (polpettine) in tasty tomato sauce. Diana has risotto with artichokes that she enjoys followed by a roast pork dish that is less successful. We finish with a pretty good panna cotta.

We have a nice conversation with the young Japanese couple who are seated next to us. They are carrying a guide book which looks a lot like a comic book/magazine with listings that feature pictures and the Italian names of recommended dishes from each listed restaurant. We later are aware of many other Japanese tourists carrying similar publications. It turns out that the man had studied in Rochester NY for a year and both of them enjoy traveling. We give them some restaurant and sightseeing recommendations for the rest of their stay.

Although everyone we meet who is in tourism complains about the lack of business, we do see many Japanese, French, and Russian tourists. Not as many Americans, however. Italians we talk with are enthusiastic and optomistic about Pres. Obama and his efforts to turn things around. Speriamo - we hope so.

Our palatial room at the hotel is just around the corner. Tomorrow we are off to Pietrasanta.