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!