13 May-Florence, Italy

   We were up early and off to the Uffizi Gallery by 8am.  I think our group was the first ones in and that was great since it was not very crowded.  We had a wonderful local guide from the US.  She married an Italian man and has lived here for years and she was very good.  I could not take photos inside of course so you will one day see my album with scanned postcards inside and explanations then.  The painting with the seasons from April to October was very interesting as was the only painting done my Michelangelo outside of the Sistine Chapel.  Our tour ended around 10:30am and the rest of the day was free time for us.  I did get this one good photo of Ponta Vecchio today from a window at the Uffizi and the decorative doors on the back of the baptismal in the square.  It is almost impossible to get many photos because of the people but more so one cannot get back far enough to get the entire feature in because things are so huge and close together. 

   We slowly walked back to our hotel making several stops and looking at many things.  When we got back I posted the blog for yesterday and straightened our our things for the next departure.  The clothing I washed last night is dry and we are pretty much set.  We decided to do this resting and then head out for a nice late lunch and call it dinner and just have a snack tonight but we failed to calculate the Eash factor into this!  Both John and I believed we knew how to get to the desired restaurant so we didn't bother to bring the book with instructions or the actual name of the restaurant, which we both forgot of course.  An hour and one-half later we arrived back to our room hot, sweaty, and a bit frustrated.  Oh well, we learned an important lesson to bring the guide book and not be so cocky!  When we got back John took the book and went around the corner to get "take away" (not "take out" here) and we had a delicious picnic in our room with sliced pork, steamed zucchini, salad with cold fresh tomatoes, and something like couscous that was also delicious.  John rescued the day with this meal.  The man at La Mescita was delighted when John showed him the Rick Steves Best of Europe book and said, "I am in that!"  John said he knew and showed him the page where his little shop was listed.  He beamed and said, "Rick Steven"  (yes, that spelling is right!). Funny!  When we told Rolinka she said sometimes they call him "Ricky Stevie" when they see her groups coming.  So, we have a nice memory even if we didn't find our first choice in restaurants. 

   Another neat thing today, others had the auspicious treat of seeing Rick Steves today when they were doing laundry of all things!  We hoped he would come to our happy hour but Rolinka contacted him and for whatever reason, he could not.  Darn, that would have been pretty cool!

   Yes, we had Happy hour on the patio right out side our room.  Everyone brought a little something to share and Rolinka brought wine, juice, cups, plates, and more.  We bought some Lemoncello (sp?) to share, some wine, and coated nuts we bought in Amsterdam.  It was a fun time and talk and hear of others adventures of the day.  Then it was a gelato run and back to the room to pack and be ready to head for ROME tomorrow.  It will be a full day tomorrow and we hope we are well rested for it.