Various - Now That's What I Called Music 1959-1977
Laura Pausini - The Platinum Collection
Jorn - Dio
Various - Recent London Purchases on Shuffleplay
Up around 4 and a taxi to Edinburgh Airport, arriving just before five to drop off the bags and partake of a rather early breakfast...
...in readiness for a flight over the Alps...
...to Italy...
...and, in particular, Bologna...
An airport bus into town and to the main station, where, on attempting to purchase tickets to our ultimate initial destination, we were advised by a helpful man at the ticket machine, after asking him what the most economical price for a ticket to Florence might be, that it would cost us 26 Euros each...
Turned out that was for a fast InterCity train - these, however, purchased at the ticket office a few moments later, were for a slightly slower version, with a change of train involved and cost under 9 Euros each - result...
A tasty lunch at a nice little cafe just outside the station as we waited on our train departure time to arrive...
It was hot...
...and so your correspondent and his Exec Producer were grateful of the shade afforded on the platform...
Once on board however, I was not grateful to share the carriage with one of the loudest telephoning ladies the world must surely have known...
The Exec Producer reckons I am too easily annoyed by stuff...
I, on the other hand, believe people ought to show a little courtesy to their fellow travellers...
After an hour's journey, during which single sides of various telephone conversations, in a language which seemed mainly to comprise various annoying screeches, were endured, we alighted at Prato...
...and caught an almost immediate connection to Florence, arriving there twenty minutes later...
Did I mention it was hot?
We enjoyed a couple of beers at a cafe bar not far from the station...
Three drinks and a couple of bowls of peanuts and we'd spent a goodly proportion of the savings on the rail tickets...
Not to worry...
We could not access our accommodation until 6 pm so, some wandering around ensued, with your correspondent trundling our case behind him in the hot sun...
We became acquainted with the beautiful old town...
...and made our way to one of the many bridges over the river...
...which afforded a good view of the most famous of them, the Ponte Vecchio...
The beast was about its business in Tuscany...
Over the river we went...
Of course, I realised later that this shop's name had nothing to do with me, rather the more famous stone David situated elsewhere in the city...
We were to live just over the wall from the Boboli Gardens...
...with this monument looking down our street...
We arrived around an hour early...
...so enjoyed a coffee at Porta Romana nearby...
...and a seat in a park nearby...
...and a glimpse of the Cypress Alley in the Boboli Gardens nearby...
...before heading back to meet with our hostess...
...who was a few minutes late, due to traffic problems...
...but the cats kept us entertained...
We settled in quickly and unpacked before heading out for the remainder of the evening...
An initial look around Piazza St Spirito...
...and more drinks...
..and back to the square...
We spotted many people eating pizzas and asked after their source...
We soon found ourselves in Gustapizza, enjoying said pizzas and a cheeky wee bottle of wine...
...before another stroll around the square...
...then back to the river...
..where a small, late ice cream was very much enjoyed...
...before a final stroll...
...and retiring for the night...
A long but, ultimately, very enjoyable day...
Highlight of the Day : Being on holiday...ok, the drinks, the pizzas and the ice cream...
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