The next morning, we had “breakfast” at the hotel which consisted of yogurt, a croissant, and bad coffee. Yes, that’s right, bad coffee. I told everyone before we left that there is no such thing as bad coffee in Italy, but I stand corrected. Fortunately, that was the only case of this during the trip.

After breakfast, we walked back towards the Duomo and climbed the Campinile Tower. It was 411 steps to the top. Theresa got 3/4 of the way up but the stairs became very narrow and dark so I went to the top alone. There were some great views of Firenze from the top.

Lunch was at Piazza Santa Croce where we had pizza, salad, and white wine. It wasn’t very very good. We had booked our tickets to the Uffizi Gallery months in advance, so we went there next. It was a good thing that we booked in advance because the normal lines were waaaaay too long. We didn’t like the museum that much. There were too many religious paintings that all looked the same, but at least there were some nice painted ceilings. Also, we did not get to see Venus which might have made a difference. I thought the whole museum was a bit soporific.

After a quick gelati limone and coffee, we went inside the Duomo to look around. They gave Theresa a blue smock to wear to cover her bare shoulders. Bare shoulders and legs are a no-no in most Italian churches. Some were stricter than others on that count. The Duomo in Firenze happened to supply smocks, but other churches did not. The inside of the Duomo was beautifully painted.

After the Duomo, we went back to the San Lorenzo market to do some shopping. We bought several things there, mostly leather goods like wallets and shoes. The quality of things like that in Italy is great, but the prices are not that much (if any) lower than the States.

After a short nap back at the hotel, we went out to dinner at Trattoria Za Za in the Piazza Mercato Centrale. I liked it a lot but Theresa was not impressed. I had one of the best steaks I’ve ever had there.