Day 5: Florence

We let ourselves sleep in a little bit this morning, due to our busy day yesterday. We also had air conditioning in our room for the first time last night, so we knew we'd get a good night's sleep. So, we got up at 9:30 and started a leisurely drive up the "leg" of the Italian boot, to Florence.

On the way, we stopped at one of the many super nice convenience stores along the side of the highway. These places all have fresh sandwiches, beautiful baked goods, and fresh coffee available in little miniature sizes. So we grabbed a quick brunch there and continued the drive through Italy, back up to the Tuscany region.

Florence is known as being the heart of the Renaissance. We wanted to spend our evening strolling around the city, and we also wanted the opportunity to do a real wine tasting, as the region is known for both food and wine. So, we made reservations in a wine shop along the river for a combined tasting of local wines, olive oils, and cheeses.

We tried two kinds of olive oil (both extra virgin, but one harvested from early olives, one from later olives), three kinds of local cheese (one with black truffles infused), and three kinds of local wine (one white, two red). We also learned about the three steps to any wine tasting: visual, olfactory (smell), and taste.

After the tasting, we asked the wine shop staff about the best nearby restaurant for authentic Tuscan food. They directed us just around the corner to a place with a menu completely in Italian, with lots of words we didn't recognize. We decided we were in an adventurous mood (the wine might have helped), so we both ordered something for which we had no idea what it was.

I ended up with a cheese and fruit platter. While normally this would be one of my favorite things, and it was very nice, I sort of wanted something more "entree-like." However, I got the lucky end of the deal. Clint ended up with a plate of snail-shaped pasta, covered in chicken organs. To his credit, he ate several bites of it, to be polite. I gave him much of my cheese/fruit platter, and I ate two bites of his pasta, just to give it a shot. It was pretty gross. We also got more wine.

Afterward, we wandered along the river to see the pretty views here in Florence. I also got some gelato (of course). We expect that in a couple of hours, we'll go down the block and get a pizza.

Below are some photos from our evening in Florence.