Day 24: Florence

Off to Florence with the girls today so the men and kids could have a sleep in and some time out. It was very hard getting up at 6.30 am but noticeably easier getting just "myself" ready for a change.  I seemed to have so much time to spare that I sat and read the paper over breakfast. What a delight. I was excited about getting out to see Florence on my own and was keen to appreciate the Uffizi Gallery in peace.  After seeing the line up for the Duomo yesterday, I wondered how long the wait would be. I had tried to book a tour with the same group as our tour of The Vatican in Rome, but sadly they were booked solid. I sensed the letdown ahead.  The weather was SO much better, and rain was lurking . First stop, the leather market for Catherine, which felt grubby and dodgy.  They were still setting up so we moved along to another much nicer market where Catherine found a fabulous leather jacket.  She was on the hunt for handbags but sadly found nothing, so we parted ways and I went it alone for a few hours until the men joined us for lunch. I picked a random cafe to meet after referring to Trip Advisor for all of 5 minutes. As luck would have it, of the 3,500 eateries in Florence, this one was 100m up the road, but when I went to check it out it seemed tiny and unlikely they could fit us all in.  I had no way of contacting anyone, so it would have to remain the meeting point. I headed for the Uffizi Gallery only to find it was a 2-3 hour wait in the general line, or that you could book a session for tomorrow. Buggar, my fault for not being more organised.  So I strolled around Piazza del Signora where the dodgy gypsies from yesterday were and decided to sit at the Gucci Museo for a cup of tea and to research other eateries.  I people watched and was joined by a super stylish group (4 couples) of Belgians who were in Florence for their friends wedding.  They were in their early 30's, one couple was pregnant.  Another had a 2 year old (at home).  The men were beautifully dressed with linen shirts and jackets, plaid shoes and that perfectly swept hair that only Europeans seem to do so well.  The girls were immaculate.  I was in awe and even more so when the bride arrived in a horse and carriage looking like something out of a fairytale.  People stopped to cheer and have a sticky beak.  It felt like Princess Mary was arriving and I wished it was me being swept off into a gorgeous church in Florence.  I missed Rick and the kids.  How ridiculous, an hour ago I was relishing the break and yesterday I was cursing bring them (the kids) to Italy.  I needed to refocus and Chanel was in sight, so I thought why not.  The doorman was 10 foot tall, black and a little scary but super stylish.  He spoke to me in Italian and all I got was uno momento.  I figured he told me to wait as the shop was too busy.  There were all of 20 people inside, 10 of them staff. So I then proceeded around the shop with numerous staff asking if they could help and was even offered a cool refreshment.  Merci bocu (hang on that's french).  I am feeling a little lightheaded on Chanel. Time to head back to the hole in the wall, and everyone was there waiting at the one big table at the back of the cafe.  What a lovely surprise.  It was fabulous. Rick had a prawn and asparagus risotto.  I had chicken and zucchini flowers that were fried and more like a share plate, but the salad was sublime.  The food was fresh and just as it should be, and the line up was out the door in the rain. The kids hung out near the kitchen listening to the chefs sing and talk to them in Italian.  As they cooked they let the kids sample things, and it was delightful. I videoed them making a few dishes and it all felt very SBS Food Safari complete with that background music they do so well.  I was in heaven and so were the kids and Catherine couldn't stop raving about the place.  Back to the bus after a mad dash through the city and sprint through the manic train station.  The spa beckoned and we all had a dip and the kids befriended some English Africani kids that's "mum is white but they have the same skin as their dad". Out of the mouth of babes, it was lovely to watch them make friends.  Back up to the Executive Lounge for another night of drinking and eating.  We polished off our last bottle of wine from Castello Di Brolio that we had been saving.  It was a $70 bottle and tasted fabulous after a few crappy Toscana "Lindeman" equivalents.  The party continued into our room but the ladies and kids piked around 10pm.  I fell asleep in bed with Scarlett and Maxie only to be awoken by Rick stumbling through the door at 1am after an outing to the Brazlian bar across the road.  He told me he'd had a few winks by some very tall, masculine looking ladies in short skirts that weren't actually ladies.  Tony was in disbelief and it took a few obvious once overs to see they were not so female with beer goggles on at midnight.  They had a round of Negroni's and Mark said it was 100% alcohol. They just kept pouring the booze and topped it up with some ice and soda. I can attest to the smell when Rick arrived home.  He would have gone up in smoke had he been around someone with a light.  It was a superb day and the stars aligned in our favour.  Most noteable though, was the change in the weather and how not once during the day, did anyone complain nor even notice the heat or the temperature.  Oh to do Italy on a beautiful day.