The end of the affair

I’ll save fabricated emotional rambling for my 8 hour layover in schiphol tomorrow.

Today was another day without a plan.  I hit the central market one last time, to get a few more gifts, plus fruit and supplies for one more sandwich.

It was really toasty in Florence today, so after a bit of aimless wandering, I hopped the bus up to Settignano, then hiked over to Fiesole.  I’ve never done the hike that direction before, and found the actual hiking trail for the first time – in the past, I’ve just walked on the road.  The trail is a real ankle-beater, with lots of awkward rocks and angles.  But it has some seriously nice views and very Tuscan, so I’ll take the tradeoff.

As I entered Fiesole, I stopped to assemble my sandwich – some salame tuscano, pecorino fresco, tomato, basil, focaccia.  Delicious.  Or, it would have been, had a gust of wind not sent it all onto the ground.

Bummer.

Plan B – lunch in Fiesole.  Nice enough.

Fiesole is basically closed on Mondays, but I wandered up to San Francesco, which has some great views, and is a gorgeous little place on its own as well.  There’s a little path in back which wanders down the hill, with great tree cover.  Stopped there to read and zone out for a while.

Eventually caught the bus back down to Florence, did a few final bits of shopping, and grabbed dinner at Trattoria Nella – Melanzane alla griglia, Gnocchi al gorgonzola, Tegamino di trippa alla Fiorentina.  Yum.

A final gelato, and we’re up to the moment.  Procrastinating packing.  The usual.