Sunday, November 6. We are home!! It was smooth sailing all day through 5 airports and 4 connections! We were so fortunate that the return trip worked out so well. The day started with Florence to Dusseldorf; then to London Heathrow where they are decorated for Christmas! Off to Chicago O'Hare and finally Omaha!!!

It was a long day and it is now time for bed!

Saturday, November 5, has been a very dreary, rainy day. One last photo of the beautiful view from 'our' house:

We finished packing ( yes, everything fit!), stripped beds, Sarah did dishes & took out trash, said our goodbyes to Bryan & Marina then headed up the drive for the last time. The day's weather matched our mood! At our corner gas station, we ( Sarah did while I was getting receipt for gas)

filled the car with gas and vacuumed a month's worth of debris from floor mats.
Then up good ol' SP222 to Florence! A rainy view of our valley:

We made it into Florence fine but finding the hotel was an issue. Google wasn't talking or giving written directions and my navigational skills were totally nil so Sarah not only was driving in the rain but also had to try to figure out where to go. Finally a bar appeared and yes, they knew the Hotel Franchi & it was just around the corner!! Yep, there it was tucked back on a one-way street. Now while we were looking for the hotel, we were getting a bit nervous as the area is a bit run down and of course, gloomy due to weather. Thank goodness the hotel is quite nice! And luckily our room was ready even though we were early so we were able to take bags to room so we did not have to mess with them at car rental place in the rain. The nice, English speaking young lady at desk assured us the car rental place was easy to find so off we went with outlined map. Well, talk about frustrating! Thank goodness we had allowed plenty of time so our endless driving around in circles was not desperate, just maddening! There were signs at certain spots and then nothing! And did we remember what the car rental place looked like? Nope. Did we have an exact address? Nope, just Florence airport! Not helpful. Finally we go to airport to see if we can follow one of the shuttle buses... Couldn't get to the area where they were without parking which would involve paying by which time bus would be long gone. So we ask the taxi drivers who were standing outside their taxis - one woman insisted that Sarah get out so she could show her. Okay, got it. Off we go - once again no luck after a certain point. So back to airport, lurk illegally by some other cars, wait about 15 minutes for shuttle bus to come to barricade at which time Sarah did a great horn-looking maneuver to follow him! Aha, we had never went down the road that looked totally deserted and yes, once we made that sharp turn, there was a sign which couldn't be seen until you had actually made the turn!!! And even with all that hullabaloo, we made it with time to spare. Also the girl checking us in did not comment on the scratches from towing so all was right with the world!! 

Goodbye faithful BMW:

 At this point, the sky was looking rather nasty.

Taxis were waiting right there - he didn't have any trouble finding Hotel Franchi but we didn't recognize a thing!!! 

Now it is close to 3:00 and we haven't had lunch but, of course, no open restaurants at this time. To the rescue is a fruit market basically next door to hotel. So we sit in hotel lobby with wi-fi & our fruit to enjoy 'lunch' as it is steadily raining outside. Eventually we get chilly so go to room and relax stretched out and just so relieved that the car return ordeal is behind us. Today was the most annoying & irritating experience we have had - perhaps a sign that it is time to go home?!

At 7:00 we walk about two blocks to the restaurant, Aloisius.  We had a nice appetizer plate:

I once again wasn't thinking about what I was really ordering; the word gorgonzola caught my eye so that was it. I was expecting a sauce with chunks of lobster...

 This is what came - it came better presented as I had moved the scampi before taking the photo. Now I don't know how to even start eating those little creatures, so didn't attempt to. The gnocchi was tasty! Sarah's spaghetti with a hole in the center ended up being hollow pasta! It was basically mac & cheese. She graciously shared with me!

It was raining harder with lots of puddles when we walked back to hotel. It has been a bittersweet day and we have a 4:30 a.m. start in the morning to get to the airport so to bed!

Friday, November 4, was a peaceful day!

It was a nice morning - here is the same view as yesterday's foggy photo!

Sarah was up early, packed and out to help harvest olives! I was a sluggard but eventually partially packed & came upstairs to enjoy sitting on the patio. Sarah returned with the news we were invited to lunch at our hosts' home which we gladly accepted but which delayed our plan of doing one last 'wandering' drive!  Lunch was delicious (pasta with homemade tomato sauce, baked sliced onions, meatballs and bread). Nice company - Bryan, Marina, their  adult daughter Rebecca, a friend Fabio who came to help with harvest and us.  It was a quick lunch by Italian standards as they were anxious to get back to the olive harvesting. Sarah & I decided to sort, tidy & organize rather than go for drive. She then napped while I once again enjoyed the patio. Upon awakening, she went back to harvesting - she heard the history of the house and how Bryan, an American, came to be living in Italy! Plus she got a lot of exercise!! When dusk arrived, she returned and fixed us fresh salads. The refrigerator is about empty!

Sarah made it to about 8:45 before heading to bed! She worked hard out in the fresh air...

Tomorrow we are planning on leaving around noon to gas up & vacuum the car, drive into Florence. drop luggage off at hotel, return rental car, taxi back to hotel all in preparation of our 6:15 a.m. flight on Sunday morning. Bryan asked us today if we were homesick - we both said 'no'!! We have certainly enjoyed our time here!

Thursday, November 3, started out being foggy!

Can't see the vineyards at all! Fortunately we had not planned on going anywhere so just settled in to read, catch up on emails, etc. Even did a load of laundry with plans to line dry inside. Around 1:00, it was sunny and clear so we moved drying rack outside then we drove to the restaurant up the road, Il Caminetto, where we ordered an appetizer of goose carpaccio which we didn't get translated; I assumed it was like pâté. Nope! It was basically raw meat with greens & parmesan cheese!  Sarah enjoyed it...unfortunately, I am unable to eat meat that is raw. But had some greens!

Sarah wanted to try a Florentine Steak which was only available in a certain size so we opted to share it. The waitress brought the serving out before they cooked it to make sure we knew what we were doing - it was huge but for two, not a problem.  After some time, here it came brought to our table by the chef and sous chef themselves! I think they wanted to see the two crazy American ladies who ordered this dish.

As you can see, quite rare! Once again, Sarah savored each taste as it melted in her mouth! I had some spinach and bread...they generously offered to wrap the remaining goose & steak for us to bring home. We enjoyed the steak tonight - my portion having been seared to a medium well doneness! We might try doing the same with the goose for tomorrow's lunch.

As we had left to go eat, we saw our host harvesting the olives as it had turned into a perfect fall day. Upon our return both of them were working so we changed our clothes & walked up to get a close look at the process. Sarah helped on 4 trees using a very short-handled plastic rake while I hand picked for a very short time then sat on a bucket sorting out leaves & stems from the tubful of harvested olives.  It definitely is labor intensive and takes a lot of olives to get one bottle of oil! They take their crop to a place in Impruneta to be pressed - once in the press, oil is ready in about two hours.

I left the olive grove before others as I was getting chilly in just my t-shirt. This is a view of the big house through the gate.

Here is our lane down to our house

Here is a lean-to we can park under

This is the hosts' lean-to

Here is garden from which we have enjoyed cherry tomatoes

Tomorrow brings the need to pack! However, if weather is good we will do one more exploring jaunt. Tonight we are able to see the pretty crescent moon even with partly cloudy skies!

Wednesday, November 2, sees us winding down with our time here getting short! We started out around 9:00 this morning to go into Florence to visit this beautiful library designed by Michelangelo:

It was closed yesterday when we visited the San Lorenzo complex. We decided we wanted to see it so returned today. Our journey in was a breeze! We parked at same garage. Today we walked through the Mercato Centrale (Central Market), a building built in 1874 with individual booths of meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, eating areas. etc. - just happened to pick up a couple of pastries along the way! 

Very few people out and about so an easy walk to the library which entrance is located off a corner in the cloister.  First up a blah stairway to top level closter

 then into the actual library entrance:

Couldn't get whole entry way in photo

View of stair detail

Then into the reading room as pictured above:

Ceiling

One of 27 stained glass windows

Floor that isn't allowed to be walked on

Floor detail

Reading desk/table - the manuscripts were chained to the table in the past

The manuscripts were stored on shelf underneath sloping ledge

The card catalog! Each table side had the general heading

then each item was listed! This system is still used today in new reading room which we did not see.

 Off to one side of the reading room, the Tribuna D'Elce was added in the first half of 19th century to house the rich book collection donated by Angelo Maria D'Elci:

There was a special exhibit in the area beyond the reading room:

Modern technology in an ancient setting!

A 12th century book

More modern technology 

Another 12th century book

Upon leaving the library, we found the sun trying to shine through clouds and this view:

So back to the car via market to buy cheese. Then off to find the Pitti Palace...we explored parts of Florence we hadn't seen and ventured down many one way streets, avoided only authorized traffic streets, and even saw brown (sight worth seeing) directional signs to the Pitti but finally admitted defeat when we found a blue directional sign to Siena and headed home via new territory until finally we arrived in Tavernuzze - aha, we knew where we are!! Decided to stop for lunch at restaurant up the road from us as we were going to be passing that way...nope, not open. So home to cheese, bread, fruit & olive lunch. Then nap time for me while Sarah took a walk. We decided to be daring and go out to dinner at a restaurant down the road, San Martino, so about 7:45 we set off. It was really dark as no visible waxing crescent of a moon showing through clouds. Restaurant is dark - closed! So back to one up the road - still closed!! We decided that Italians also observe All Souls Day!!! Home to a comfort meal of eggs & potatoes with various other ingredients as the clearing out the refrigerator has begun! Now it is raining quite hard so good to be inside, cozy & warm.

Tuesday, November 1 - All Saints Day is a major holiday in Italy but that wasn't obvious in Florence. Many, many tourists were out about in the area of San Lorenzo Piazza with us being two of them!

We had a 9:00 start date and whizzed into Florence as we are pros at this route by now! Well, there was some confusion about locating the parking garage at the train station but by following the above very prominent yellow signs, we arrived to a closer one!
Our first stop was for pastries for my breakfast - I haven't quite made it through each kind yet! Then on to the Church of San Lorenzo which we discovered wasn't opening until 1:30 - it was just 10:30...So around the church to the Cappelle Medicee  where a line was already formed.

Line

Outside of Cappelle

Sarah, bless her, stood in line while I sat on a convenient bench! The line moved very slowly if at all...once we got to the ticket booth, the reason became clear. People with pre-ordered tickets were able to cut the line and then the process for issuing their tickets was at least 6-7 screens on the ONE computer!!! Sarah timed one transaction - 4 minutes! The system obviously needs to be updated and improved. Our transaction with cash took about 1 minute and then we were in!! But it was worth the wait!

The Prince's Chapel - there was no way to get a photo of the complete room

Alter

Design on alter

Design around alter

In this room we heard live singing - through grilled doors we could see into the back of the alter of the church which was now obviously closed due to a mass being held -probably for All Saints Day!

And then we went into the New Sacristy which was designed by Michelangelo and houses his sculptures, Day, Night, Dawn and Dusk:

Magnificent!

Once we finally tore ourselves away from that unbelievable setting, we headed outside around the corner in opposite direction we had come and look what we found:

The Duomo in the sunshine!

However, we stayed on track and continued on back to the Bibliotheca Laurenziana  Medicee (library) which is located off the cloister of the San Lorenzo church. 

Aha! It was closed today. We still had an hour plus before the church would be open to tourists, so Sarah went off to find her favorite leather shop while I found a wide stone ledge to sit and people watch to my heart's content! She can move much faster without me & it was a good ways to go AND I take every opportunity to rest the knee.

It was a perfect corner to sit with hordes of foot traffic, vehicle traffic, shops, lost tourists, etc. Before I knew it here came Sarah eating gelato!! Now I had just been thinking about finding a gelato shop...do great minds think alike or not?! The Basilica di San Lorenzo doors now opened which cleared the steps of all who had been waiting. Short line, better system and we were amidst this glory:

Towards the alter

Towards the rear

View of columns, floor & ceiling

The Medici family commissioned Brunelleschi to rebuild this church in 1420. This is the outside:

The red dome with white 'cupola' in background is the New Sacristy in the Cappelle. With the large red dome being the Princes' Chapel.

It is now past American lunch time so we go find a fun sidewalk cafe and enjoy these dishes:

And we were entertained by this gentleman!

A stop at a handy gelato/pastry shop provided me my gelato and pastries to share for tonight's dessert.

Now off to find the garage which wasn't a problem as it was by the Central Market but finding the pedestrian way in took some looking! "Oh, there goes a guy - follow him!" Then it was where is the payment machine? Then where does the ticket go? Once again, a friendly Italian to the rescue! Out of the garage and only one extra time around a roundabout before we know EXACTLY where we are and sail home as smooth as can be! Our time here is getting short as we ask ourselves 'what do I really want to see that we haven't seen?" Tomorrow's outing will finish the list so two days to just wander and aimlessly explore!