A short walk through the city.

Today, Bob took a few of us on another walk to Florence. Only Eldon, Betsy, Carla, and I joined him as everyone else was either sleeping or too tired from last night to join us. We walked down to Florence by a different route than the first time Bob took us. Walking with Bob is a workout and an education experience all wrapped up into one. Bob knows so much about so many different things that it is simply amazing.

We walked down to the Duomo by a winding, twisty, curving route through the city. We walked past the San Lorenzo market and had lunch at this great Chinese restaurant. For 10 euro, we had 2 spring rolls, the choice of white or Cantonese rice, the choice of chicken, pork, veal, or three other entrees, the choice of water, wine, or tea, and the choice of coffee or grappa for our after dinner drink. It was very good and the amount of food we got for the price was worthwhile. Betsy and I even took the leftovers back for a meal later.

We just walked around some more after lunch, through different streets, past statues, all the while being given comments by Bob. We took the Bob tour, where we literally did a fast walking tour. Bob took us from the Duomo across the river to the hotel the Brother Louis stays at when he's in Florence. We walked across the Ponte Vecchio where they have all the gold shops. And then we had cocktails at the hotel. Betsy and Eldon had cosmos while Bob and I had Grappa di Chardonnay. It's a very strong alcohol. That's right, I'm drinking in the afternoon. Apparently it's the thing to take a shot after a meal to jump-start the rest of your day. Bob was saying he sees people have a shot of grappa with their espresso in the morning.

We then walked back to the Duomo via Florence's Michigan Ave where all the Gucci, Prada, Tiffany's, Chanel, etc. stores are located. 1200 euro for a purse, 9000 euro for a dress. Price I certainly cannot afford. We separated from Bob and Carla at the Duomo. They went back to Villa Bonelli, while Eldon, Betsy and I stayed for the evening mass.

There is an English mass around the Duomo area at 5 pm on Saturdays, but we didn't know exactly where. When we asked the lady in the Duomo, we couldn't really understand what she was saying. So, Betsy asked the security guard she met yesterday and he said that Mass is in the Duomo. Betsy, Eldon, and I attended Mass at the Duomo!!!! I cannot believe it; in a real cathedral. Granted, it was freezing cold, the kneelers have no cushions, and we had to wait an hour after we left Bob before Mass, but it was all worth it.

Afterwards, we walked to the bus stop, freezing our tails off and waited to return to Villa Bonelli. When we got back to Villa Bonelli, Ania came to our room wanting to see this sweet video that I captured last night at the bar. Betsy did some creative editing and we were finally able to upload it facebook and are in the process of uploading it to youtube. I'll try and post it later but it midnight and I'm exhausted so I'm going to bed. I'll post another slideshow tomorrow with new pictures. Ciao.