Florence day two

11/6/2011

Today started with a Buffett breakfast that is not like the sort of breakfast we are normally used to. It consists of a limited selection of cereals, boiled eggs, thin cold cheese and ham slices, buns and breads, dry bread for toasting and lots of crososints, sweet buns and cakes.
After breakfast we headed back to the bus stop that is only a couple of hundred meters from the hotel to get back to the centre of town.
The bus stop is very close to a large roundabout that our bus has to go around before arriving at our stop. While we are waiting for it to arrive a very large tuck arrives at the roundabout to deliver some items. However there is no way he can get to the skinny streets close to his drop off. So he just stops the truck in the middle of the roundabout, gets out and walks with his goods to their destination. Meanwhile our bus arrives and can not enter the roundabout that the truck is blocking. Several minutes go by as the bus driver just waits, but this does not last long and a short blast on the horn occurs, but the bus driver is unaware that the truck driver is not in the drivers seat. Meanwhile more traffic is building up behind the bus and more tooting occurs. Several more minutes now go by and you can sense the frustration building with the local people also waiting at the bus stop. The bus driver now leans on his horn for a very long blast. Impatient cars now start tooting and then moving into the off ramp for the oncoming traffic of the roundabout to get away. You had to see this to believe it as exiting cars meet cars coming on the wrong side and going the wrong way round the roundabout. The truck driver now appears and is running down the street to his truck to the sound of horns and hand gestures from the waiting cars and bus driver. As he gets in the truck the locals are yelling from the bus stop ‘shamo’ ‘shamo’. Finally the truck moves on and the traffic is back to ‘normal’. Just another Florence traffic experience.
Once in town we decide to do the complete circuit of the town on the hop on hop off bus that takes an hour an a half, and then we,visit the central market.
The market is much bigger than we expected and there is a bewildering array of leather and other goods to choose from. The locals keep telling us that the only place to buy leather items in Italy is in Florence as they have the best craftsmen and leather. Sheree is on the hunt for some leather boots, a bag and some gloves. After discussing the price with several merchants, Sheree finally buys some very nice soft Italian leather gloves and we both buy soft leather glasse’s covers that hang around your neck for our reading glasses that we have been constantly been reaching for in our bags. We stubble upon a large indoor food market that smells of fish as you enter and permeates the entire market to a lesser degree as you move in. There are some wonderful and different items in here but nothing that we can take home with us or that we felt like sampling (see pics).
We spent most of the morning and early afternoon in the market and Sheree finally finds a couple of shops next door to each other further down the road, with bags that she likes. Prices are negotiated with both and a decision is finally made. As we walk out with the bag of choice the other lady shop owner gives us a glancing stare from her door and the pervious happy pre-purchase smile is gone. But the smile is all on Sheree’s face with her new lovely soft Italian calf leather, hand made bag and that is all that matters.
Next we visit a museum with the biggest display of stuffed animals from all around the world that either of us have ever seen. The quantity of birds was staggering and yes they had a Kiwi. They also have a huge display of original drawings and waxed human anatomy body parts from the 17th and 18th centuries that are so life like you would be hard pressed to tell them from reality. There where rooms and rooms of these and we found it fascinating but unfortunately no photos allowed.
We had an earlier tea in a nice taverna right beside the Santa Croce Church (see pic) before catching an uneventful bus ride home as we now thought we new the stop to get off. Don’t be silly the bus goes a different way, just to keep us guessing. Thankfully it is earlier and lighter than last night when suddenly Sheree recognizes the stop is upon us and we get off.