I woke up very excited and a little nervous about our planned bike tour! Although I used to love racing on my pink bmx, and was a solid one-handed rider, I was never a good no-hands rider or a jump the curbs kind of girl - more frightening than that was the fact that I hadn't been on a real bike in over 14 years!!... Unless you count RPM classes which don't require any shred of balance or coordination..Anyway I'm pleased to report that the old saying is true - I hadn't forgotten how to ride a bike :) While I was focused on avoiding being hit by a bus, Brendan was of course showing off - standing while riding, going too fast, doing the 'no-hands', taking photos whilst riding, and ringing his bell all the time! Riding through the narrow streets and dodging the traffic we saw a beautiful church -Santa Maria Novella, the local artisans district (very cool), Palazzo Pitti (an old Medici family palace), Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi square, Piazza Della Signoria, the medieval district, the Duomo, and Piazza Della Republica. We stopped halfway for some cooling gelati and a rest. During our tour, the guide pointed out some work of a local street artist - he paints on street signs and I thought it was very cute so check out the photos.
After this, Brendan & I walked over to the market halls (Mercato Centrale) and wandered around enjoying all the Italian scents of fresh cheese, produce, & flowers. We grabbed a panino porchetta (roast pork sandwich which is the must-have meal here in the markets) and a penne ragu to share - delicious! We ate it standing at the bar just like the locals to make it all the more authentic for us :)
We then checked out the San Lorenzo church before making our way back home for a rest (as Brendan is still sick & much to my amusement sounds very much like the Godfather!)
In the evening we checked out the Santa Croce church and square - very pretty but it's starting to feel like deja-vu in Florence as every church (with a green, white & pink marble facade) looks the same!
After this we crossed the river to the less touristy district to find a place for dinner - after wandering around for a while, we decided that we'd try the street where we ate last night. The restaurant a few doors down was fully booked so we went back to the restaurant we found last night. We had a caprese salad and mushroom risotto for starters and then had a tempura seafood and veges dish and a crispy skin chicken and potato dish for mains. The restaurant was flat out the whole time we were there with people waiting for a table. We walked home slowly, again completely satisfied with our meal - our last proper meal in Florence.