Socks Kick Back....

Wednesday 24, September: Thought the best way to recover from the crowds of Florence was to head up the hill to the little town of Fiesole....someone forgot to tell us the it really is just a wide spot in an autostrada type freeway. There were so many cars! Going to where we never really figured out but wow, a lot of cars! We did the 1.3 k walk around the outskirts of town and saw an amazing view of Florence, the Etruscan walls and the Roman ruins (yes, almost every town has some ruins!!). We discovered that the restaurant that we had hiked up to eat at actually isn't in Fiesole (shame on you Samantha Brown!!) so, we ate lunch with the locals ( I had tripe again...yum!) at a little place in town.

Thursday 25, September: Trouble with the internet sent us back to Florence earlier than expected. The bus ride down from Fiesole is crowded and not all that much fun! We went straight to the "Internet Train"...ok so we asked a lot people in order to find it (shame on you Rick Steves)...we prefer to think of this as getting to know the local people and practising our Italian. While on the internet, I discovered there was a yarn shop only one block away...of course, chuiso for lunch, but we returned! I bought some wonderful yarn, Karyn get the Twinkle books ready!! The women at the yarn shop were really nice, but didn't speak much english so I had a lot of fun discussing the yarn and some of the displays....Chris, when I get back I have the pattern (in my head...ok that is scary!) for a really cute crochet thing that even I can make! While we were waiting for the yarn shop to open, we went to the museo...but not just any museo, the Salvatore Ferragamo museum!!It was either view Michelangelo's David, or the shoes...such is married life, we saw the shoes! When we were finished Jim said...I enjoyed that, I'm not supposed to enjoy a shoe museum!! Again we ate with the locals at a small pizzeria (walls were covered in naked art...not that Jim noticed)...the pizza was great. Shopped until Jim dropped and then we headed back to the comfort of the Bencistà.

Friday 26, September: Happy Birthday Pam! We continue the search for Trattoria Le Cave Di Maiano. It turns out it is not the 1k hike up to Fiesole, but rather a 1k hike in the opposite direction to Maiano. Maiano is a really little town; really just a three way intersection (three very busy streets though!! Watch out!). At long last, Le Cave!! Started with the Penne with rabbit ragu...sorry Buggs...but it was tasty! Then came the big Ta-Da...what we had been waiting for.....the Bistecca Fiorentina, all one kilogram of it! And as you drug dealers know...that's a lot! Sadly, we ate it all....with a nice Chianti! We went to the only other building in town, a gelateria, but it was closed...not so happy birthday Pam! Thought about taking the long hike around the back of Fiesole, but decided against it. We opted to just hike 1k back up the hill and were satisfied we didn't roll back down.