It’s a good day to blog as I am feeling so much better!  It feels good to feel good.  I awoke to the never ending bells of the nearby church which start clanging around 6 AM. The day was cloudy and cool so we dressed in layers but my layers fell off quickly before I got to the end of the first block.

Before I left home, I did a lot of searching on line for things to see and do in Florence and came across a little coffee shop that had rave reviews and I knew I wanted to find it.  I began my search days ago when we first arrived but just couldn’t seem to find it.  The streets are not well marked and I thought maybe the small shop could be closed for some reason.  I persevered, however, and today, I found it.  The quaint little cafe named La Boite was well worth the search.  It held only six small square wooden tables with crate boxes on wheels for chairs and people were lined up to make their choices – a good sign in my view. We both chose a cappuccino and a goodie from his glass enclosure of many.  Well, actually, there were so many choices I asked him to choose for us and he smiled.  He chose two wonderful croissants filled with loads of a creamy chocolate mixture.  So delicious and not expensive compared to what we’ve seen and he was pleasant.  We will definitely go back – tomorrow for coffee I think.

We chose a road to venture down that we hadn’t been on before and chose a small lunch place that gave us a glimpse of the menu on the outside board, in Italian, along with the prices.  Yes!  We could afford it here and although we had no idea of what was offered we thought we’d give it a try.  I understood tortellini and Joey understood salad and that was good enough.  It was worth every penny and then some.  I could only eat half of mine so we still had lots left for dinner and Joey ate every bit of her salad which was hearty.  A lovely lady sitting next to us started up a conversation and we enjoyed her company thoroughly.  She was from California, travelling by herself and we shared stories of our lives and travel adventures.  She is off to Rome tomorrow or else we may have made another lunch date with her.

Along the way, today, we stopped in a lovely church where we sat for a bit.  I started to have a coughing fit so had to leave and wait outside for Joey.  A group of “cyclists” went by.  I can’t remember what these “bikes” are called but they are numerous here.

Both Joey and I want to take in an opera while here and on line I found one at St. Mark’s English Church that showed excellent reviews so we made it our mission to find the church first before I booked tickets so we’d know where to go.  As usually, it wasn’t as easy as the map showed and we walked right passed it.  I’m glad we did, though as we came across a huge piazza showcasing an antique and flea market and I was in heaven.  Joey was in heaven with me but not so sure she wanted to be there but as usual, she was a good sport and tagged along.  I thought of my cousin Janice so often and I kept commenting that Janice would LOVE this, or Janice would buy ALL of these. It was very exciting and went on and on.  I bought some small items for a wall I’d like to do of Italian things when I have my new kitchen. I passed on a few things but will go back another Sunday before I leave to pick them up if I don’t find anything else.  Getting back on track, we finally did find St. Mark’s church and realized we had walked passed it but it isn’t a typical looking church so we had an excuse.

Again, before leaving home, I found an article on the Obica Mozzarella Bar and thought it would be nice to find it and have a drink there one night but of course, I couldn’t find it so a little more searching on the map tonight for me.

While searching for the bar, we entered yet another large piazza where a drummer was playing “drums” made from old five-gallon paint cans with all kinds of pots and paraphernalia attached to make music.  He sat on one of his drums as well! It was intriguing and we sat on the steps of a statue to listen.  A little boy watched for a while and then began moving to the beat and when the drummer saw him, offered one of his sticks.  The little boy took it but was too shy to bang on the pails but banged them on the ground instead.  Not sure if that was good for the sticks but when you have paint cans for drums, does it really matter?  Too bad he had that soother in his mouth as I’m sure it hid a broad smile that would have showed the joy he was feeling. I said to Joey that I hope our twins will love music like this little guy did and will let loose and dance like no one is watching. I know my two oldest granddaughters do. I’ll do my best to make that happen.

I again took more pictures of the river as I just  can’t get enough of it and may go out again tonight to watch the moon settle over it. Amazing what an iPhone can capture! The cloudy skies give the pictures a different perspective as not only the buildings reflect in the glassy water but the clouds do as well.  No matter what, it’s always beautiful and I love looking at it.What a great day in Florence…my favourite yet!