Lost Soul in Florence

Blog Jan 9

Today was a frustrating day. Why can't Italians be as greedy as Americans? We had planned to go to the Uffize for our last day in Florence. After the escapades of yesterday and nearly missing David, I was feeling confident, cocky even.

Of course none of us had slept the night before because of the crazy insomnia virus that has been going around. But we were bound and determined to see the great Renaissance art that the Medici family had managed to gather and save in their offices, The Uffize.

Wellllllll, we arrived at the museum, still looking all around for the entrance when we came upon a very kind guard who was more than willing to explain that the Uffize was CLOSED on Mondays. GRRRR.

Dejected, I just wandered around with my family looking for any exciting piece of history we could find. Gelato can have great historical meaning? We settled for the beautiful doors on the Duomo that were expertly designed with stories from, yep, that's right, the Bible.

Overall it was a troubling day. We were all a bit lost, cloudy and I was feeling like a bit of a failure, even as a tourist. Afterall, tourists are forgiven a whole host of sins. We are allowed to ask questions that bore the pants off the locals. Is this cheese from a goat or a cow? What kind of olives are these? Are they baby olives? Why are they green? Can I taste more than one kind of gelato?

The day turned around when Jake and I decided to go out for a drink before we settled in for our own homemade Italian meal of ravioli and pesto bought at the San Ambrogio market earlier in the day.

We found a lovely little spot, parked ourselves at the bar and had delicious limoncello and basil martinis. The bartender was charming and he spoke great English, which was a treat in this world of foreign languages. We had great conversation and more importantly, the atmosphere was pulsing with real local Italian energy. The bartender seemed authentically friendly and happy to chat with us, not tolerant, but friendly. We sipped our delicious drinks and I was just starting to feel human again when Jake pointed out the name of the bar, "The Soul Kitchen". Perfetto.