Day 9

Day 9. Day 9 was a Sunday. Sundays are lazy days. Not just for me though, not even just for Georgia Hardy, but for all of Florence.

Because it was our first day without anything planned, we were allowed to sleep in as much as we wanted/needed to. Because of my accidental 4 hour nap in combination with our very loud and rattling air conditioner I was up for a good part of the night, unable to fall asleep. Because of this I slept until 12:30. After showering and getting dressed I went downstairs and found people engaged in various homework-related activities around the hotel. A few had gone out for lunch or to do laundry (which I have to do ASAP) and those remaining were not interested in leaving. I knew I had to do work at some point, but first I needed food and internet. So I slipped out of the hotel on my own for some exploring. While we aren’t really supposed to go out alone that rule is meant more for the night and I was oriented enough with Florence that I could get around on my own.

I quickly noticed that Florentines disappear on Sundays. Apparently they all go to church in the morning before going out for the rest of the day. Because of this nearly every store is closed. Including my perfect café. I set out on my way downtown, passing a few shabby grocery stores and a few nicer restaurants but no pizzerias or bistros. I also past a few internet cafes but none of them offered wifi. I continued until I got to the Piazza with Santa Maria del Fiore in it where I found a small pizzeria and bought a calzone with ham and cheese. I have to admit that it wasn’t amazing. The cheese and the ham were completely separated and it was very greasy, I only ended up eating 2/3 of it. On my way back I passed a sprawling restaurant/sports bar/ café that advertised free wifi to customers. I figured it was better than a crappy PC at an internet café, so I went inside and ordered a cappuccino and was directed to the bar. There I got my cappuccino and was asked to sign a form and show ID for internet. Apparently this way I can’t spread around the password. At first it didn’t seem as if the bartender was too happy with me sitting there with my meager coffee but he warmed up a bit when I ordered a second cup. After getting caught up on emails and blog posts I headed back to the hotel and did some work until dinner time.

For dinner we headed to one of the best pizza places in Florence. The name I don’t remember, but I do remember that it referred to Dante and the slogan was “Il Paradiso della Pizza” which makes sense because one of the volumes of Dante’s Divine Comedy (the sequel to the one I am reading, actually) is called Il Paradiso, or The Paradise. First we got a plate of prosciutto and Tuscan salami which was different from what I know as salami, but still good. Then at our table we had four pizza:  Diavola, with pepperoni and salami, another with olives, artichoke and prosciutto, pizza margherita with just cheese and a four cheese pizza. All were good (except the olive/artichoke one, I didn’t try it) and we left stuffed. On the way back we stopped for gelato and coffee. I debated trying to run out and do laundry before curfew, but I doubted I would make it back in time so I did some more work before watching The Astronaut’s Wife which was way freakier than expected and I was paranoid for a good while afterwards. I went to bed at a good time (After Spain had won, of course) but couldn’t fall asleep because of the damn air conditioner! It was past 3 before I finally fell asleep.