In spite of intermittent showers and some heavy-duty exhaustion on my part, today was glorious.  I discovered the Firenze Market Centrale! Had tons of fun buying presents for the fam and a gorgeous purse for myself (the most beautiful thing I’ve ever had) that David talked me into, by telling me he’d buy the ring I paid for yesterday, since it was after all our anniversary.  The wonderful Italian I bought my purse from took me into his very upscale shop and picked out the perfect purse for my personality (bad pun).  AFTER the sale, I found out he was investigating the church!  He told us what bus to take to get there tomorrow.  We parted with a kiss.  Ah Italians!

David then dropped me off at a delicious Tratorria, where I had a wonderful lunch of vegetables and Brie, roasted together.  He delivered our shopping bags to our B & B and returned to eat lunch with me.  It was a tiny restaurant with excellent food (recommended by our B & B proprietor)and there wasn’t anyone in there who even spoke English!  (Everyone seems to speak English here)

After that we finished up the afternoon in the Cathedral of the Medicis.  We have noticed that the churches here are treated much more sacredly than those in other European countries we have visited.  We are asked to be quiet, because there are people praying.  And despite the huge number of churches and cathedrals in Florence, this one holds mass every morning and night.  It was not overly ornamented, but was beautiful, serene, and tasteful.

Then I came home and crashed for three hours.  I woke up at 3:00 am last night with an idea for my novel that kept me awake.  Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence.

Buena Note!