February 17 - Luggage, SIM cards and the markets

After a more than 12 hours of sleep we woke up this morning refreshed and ready to go. We were very happy to see on our smart tag app that our luggage had arrived at the Florence airport. We didn’t think that we would get our luggage today because the Munich airport employees are on strike today. After breakfast we headed to the train station to take the tram to the airport and picked up our suitcases. It only took 5 minutes, so we were able to come back on the same ticket since they are good for 90 minutes. It will be nice to have our bathroom kits, pj’s, shopping bags etc.

After retrieving our luggage, we headed for the central market before it closed where we picked up cheese, cured meats and olives for Aperitivo time. We also had lunch there. Everything looked so good it was hard to choose but we finally opted for a tagliere for 2 (charcuterie board). It was delicious and it allowed us to try the burrata cheese which we see everywhere.

Our lunch. Very good.

We then proceeded to book tickets for the Riccardi Medici museum for tomorrow morning at 10:30. Tomorrow all the museums from Medici family are free. By booking ahead we are given a time slot that allows us to skip the line and walk in to pick up our tickets and visit.

It was the time to look for sim cards for our phones so that we can have internet while visiting. Everything was all set to go until the clerk said I need to see the passports before selling you a card. So, it’s going to be one more day before we can connect to the internet outside the apartment.

We then strolled for a while around the Duomo. It’s hard to believe that this is the off season when you see the amount of people around. I would not like to be here in full season. All the Italians seem to have a scarf around their neck so we are doing the same, but we are finding that it gets kind of hot with a scarf when its 15 degrees.

Golden doors on the Baptistry

A replica of David. The real one is inside the Accademia Gallery next door.

Uffizi Gallery

Ponte Vecchio

Interesting tree on the balcony

The bridge leading to our apartment

After a gelato stop and picking up our card for the Conad grocery stores (it allows us to get the sale items at sale price) it was time to call it a day.

 

Our first gelato, mango and pistachio for Jacques and mango and lemon for Rollande. Our golfing friend André told us that one of his favorites was pistachio. We had tried one in Athens 3 years ago and did not find that it was anything special. This time, it was the best of the 3 flavors that we tried. Now we know what André was talking about.

This is on the menu for sometimes during our trip - Steak Florentine.