It was hard to separate ourselves from the coast and head back north. We had planned to spend our last four nights in Florence to break up the trip home. In the days before our train, we started checking the weather compulsively, praying that it wouldn’t be cold already in Florence, that the sun might last a bit longer…
We lucked out and had beautiful weather. Our last days in Italy were spent wandering the birthplace of the Renaissance and sitting at outdoor cafes watching crowds pass by. In the high season in Florence, reservations are mandatory for any restaurant and hotel prices can be astronomical. In February though, we found ourselves in a small hotel in a building from the 12th century, paying almost half the high season price.
Our first night in Florence, walking out from the hotel without any destination in mind, we came across a piazza full of beautiful sculptures, then a little farther the famous dome of the Florence Cathedral. Sitting down at a small unassuming cafe, we had a plate of local cheeses and cured meats with a glass of chianti that was truly remarkable. I was reminded of Anna’s comments our first meal in Bologna about the quality of the ingredients, and eating through a dish so simple as cheese and salami, I realized she was right – even the simplest plates are wonders in Italy.
The night before our departure, some friends of Anna’s who live in Florence brought us to a family restaurant in a residential area outside the center. The owner was an elderly couple, and while the wife took orders and distributed dishes, the husband wandered the small dining room keeping up an endless stream of chatter with each group of diners. When we came in he took one look at Anna and asked us: “Bimbo o Bimba?” – is it a boy or a girl?
“Bimbo,” she said. He congratulated us, and as we were seated he poured us all a glass of wine, even for Anna in spite of her declining. Amidst an endless stream of Italian that we couldn’t possibly follow, he proposed a toast and we all joined.
The next morning the train took us once more over the alps, this time heading home via Milan, Zurich, and Strasbourg. When we got off the train we had our scarves and coats back in place, and even though it was just a two week escape, it felt like we had been gone for years.
