After the church we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and visited the exterior of the Pitti Palace. There was no time to visit inside. We had lunch at a little cafe in front of the palace, nothing too spectacular. The one thing we are missing on this trip is mayonayse and mustard. We have had our fair share of sandwiches, but they are always so dry without any condiments. And it seems the Italians like it this way. What we woudn't give for a few little mustard packets!
After the Pitti palace we headed back to the hotel to gather our bags and see if we could call the credit card company to have a replacement card sent out. After about an hour on the phone, we were able to speak to a suprovisor who was able to make it happen. They were going to overnight it to our hotel in Venice. Fingers and toes crossed that it actually arrives! While Tim was on the phone working on that, Ed, Diana and Michelle had a lovely conversation with the hotel clerk named Alex. His English was excellent and he was very interested in learning about the partculars of American culture. It was a treat to be able to pick his brain on Italian culture as well.
With our bags we headed out to the San Lorenzo market. It is a huge market with 200+ vendors who have little roadside carts. Every night they pack it down and lock up their goods, some of them leaving their carts right there on the street. Others you can see hauling their carts back to their store front, sometimes blocks away. Tim bought some belts and ties and Diana and Michelle bought some gifts for the family. We had a divided approach. Ed and Michelle initially stayed with the bags so that Tim and Diana could shop, then once they were done Diana and Michelle went off and looked for their things. It kept us from all having to pack around 30+ lb packs in the middle of a crowded market.
After the market we were off on a train to Siena, a small little hill town closer to the western coast of Italy. The train station has changed drastically since the last time Tim and Michelle were there. They have added an entire underground path that takes you out of the train station, and under the main street in front of the train station to the underground bus terminal. Tim and Michelle were so turned around. After asking a local for bus information we headed on a very rocky bus ride to our hotel.
We arrive at the hotel, Albergo Cannon D' Oro and paid 240 Euros for two rooms for two nights, which is a steal. We love Booking.com, a website we use to book our rooms. They give great last minute deals, and have reviews from past guest that you can read before making a reservation. We checked into the rooms - Ed and Diana were on the ground floor, Tim and Michelle were on the 3rd floor. We asked for a recommendation of place to eat from Brian at the front desk and he said he eats at Ristorante Guidoriccio, which is just to the right of the parliament building in El Campo. This was the best recommendation for food we have received so far. It is set in an old wine cellar, which makes the ambiance spectacular. Michelle had the rissoto, Diana had the lasagna special, Ed had the steak, and Tim had the gnocchi bolognase. For dessert, Diana had the lemon cupcakes, Michelle had the panecota (a close cousin to creme brulee), Ed had some assorted Tuscan cookies and Tin had a chocolate cupcake with liquor on top.
Fully stuffed to the gills, we went back to room and tried calling Zander. He was napping, which was a bummer, but I am grateful that we are able to talk to him at all during our trip.
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