Our Thursday in Florence started with a serious challenge: the last days had seriously taxed my health with all of the standing and walking I needed to do. Because of this, my Myasthenia Gravis (MG) symptoms were acting up and hampering my movements, making it difficult to walk. In addition, my neck and shoulders were weak and I had to rest frequently. Still, I was determined to make this into a great day, so after a good breakfast at the excellent Hotel Diana, the Lady Julieta and I were on our way by train to the great city of Florence!
But first, we had a side trip to take: Bologna. Lita's cousin Jojo lives there and we were making sure to get there to see him. The Eurostar took us past Florence and up to the more cool, snowy climate of this great Italian city. How it would have been nice to have spent an entire day or two just in this place! But no, we only had so much time, plus Jojo only had about an hour to see us before he needed to work, so we made the best of it.
Despite its brief time period, the visit with Jojo was very nice! He is a very friendly gentleman, so I found, and my heart warmed when I saw him and Lita embrace after not seeing each other for many years. We all went into the train station's coffee shop and ordered espresso/cafe americano and pastries to enjoy with our conversation. Lita and Jojo talked mostly in Tagalog, catching up on news of the family and about his work in Bologna. At one point I needed to excuse myself to make a phone call (to confirm our airport shuttle two days hence) and use the washroom. Much to my surprise, I was introduced to the pay-bathroom, with one euro needed for entrance! I have to admit it was a very clean bathroom.
Our time eventually came to say goodbye to Jojo and so we did. I hope to be able to meet up with him again and spend more time! Such visits are never long enough. As he departed we boarded the train and made our way to Florence.
Upon arrival we noticed this magnificent church, so we went in to see it. It cost us 2.50 euros each to enter! This was to be a trend in Florence, so we would find out. And then once inside, we were strictly forbidden to take photographs! I did manage one on my iPhone before being shut down by an attendant.
After this we made our way to the main square and found ourselves in front of the grand church itself, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. And how grand it is! It is an amazing structure, to put it mildly. In the same square is this round building, a baptistry named for St. John the Baptist. Dante and others had been baptised there, with the building going all the way back to the 11th century. Unfortunately, though, it would have cost more euros to go in, so we did not. Besides, I needed yet another euro to use the washroom (!).
For lunch we found this delightful pizza place. I had a pizza with meatballs on it that was too good to want to have it finish! It was just as well that we rested by this time, for my MG symptoms were challenging me more than ever. Thankfully, Lita was completely understanding and supportive, helping me along the way and making sure I rested to get my strength back up at regular intervals.
Thankfully the basilica itself did not have an entry fee (though you would have needed to pay for the tour - we passed on that) so we spent some time there. Afterward we found these shuttle buses that went around town, which we then used as "tour buses" to see the city for free! Our intention was to get up to the top of the hill that overlooks the city, the Piazza Michelangelo, but our problem was finding out how to get up there since the shuttle buses did not go past downtown. Thankfully, the built-in Filipino Information Network (FIN) came through, for a Filipino gentleman was on our bus and gave some good direction on what regular bus goes up there and how to catch it. Thanking him, we disembarked near the basilica church of Santa Croce (the main Franciscan church in the city) and waited for a bus. In time one did come, and so we made our way up the winding road through a very beautiful neighbourhood until we reached the destination.
Once at the Piazza, Lita and I took some wonderful pictures of the city and the magnificent dome of the main Basilica. Soon the wind blowing up there got to be cold enough for us to board the bus and come back down to the main square.
By now it was getting dark, and Lita and I found ourselves back at the Basilica to attend 6 pm Holy Mass. Being that it was St. Blase Day, we had our throats blessed. This was quite significant for me, being that throat problems are a problem with MG and I was having such all day with my neck and shoulder strength. After Mass, we found this really nice, simple cafe that was serving homemade Italian fare that was quite delicious! We had sausages and pasta, with green beans and drinks. A refreshing change from the pizzas (good as they are!).
After supper we made our way back to the Termini and boarded our train back to Rome. The ride itself was uneventful and soon we found ourselves back in Rome, then to our hotel for some much needed rest after a very long day. Tomorrow was Friday, our last full day in Rome, and we were going to be ready and well-rested for it!
More To Come ---
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