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Today we left for Florence for the day. Figuring out navigation while driving in Italy has been challenging, but after their excursion to the winery the other day, Aaron and Jessa have become pretty good at navigating. We got a bit more confused when we got to Florence and were trying to find free parking for 3 cars. By the time we got to the right parking location we were an hour late for our tour of the Uffizzi Gallery. While Bernie and Wanda figured out our ticket situation, we sat down at a cafe in Piazza Vecchio. I got a pizza with prochuitto and ricotta cheese that was delicious. We got our Uffizzi tickets and started walking through three levels of priceless art, largely commissioned by the Medici family during the Italian Renaissance. At this point we had lost Aaron and Jessa and I was stressing because we were supposed to drive together on a separate excursion later that day, and we had no way to contact one another. I cried for a moment, recovering in time to take in some Botticelli. The galleries are beautiful, with frescoed ceilings, sculptures, and paintings galore. It was a bit much to take in, even for someone who has a good understanding and appreciation for art. When we got out we went to a cafe for some wifi to try to contact A&J, and while we were standing there they came walking by--such good fortune! They had just climbed to the top of the duomo and were also in search of some wifi. For here A&J and I split off from everyone else. I got the most delicious coconut gelato, walked around the duomo, church, and baptistery, and the headed out of Florence to start our adventure to Cinque Terre. We drove to La Spezia because the only way to reach Cinque Terre is by boat or train. We got a hotel room at Hotel Astoria with two nice single beds for the three of us. We went out to find the train station and somewhere to eat. Jessa had read about a restaurant recommended by Rick Steves, when we found it we were in for such a treat. Our waitress was a 60 something Italian lady named Daria, who brought fresh tortellini and fresh picked mushrooms to our table. She recommended fresh dishes for us to order. We had mussels as our antipasti and bianco wine. For our main meal Jessa got mussels and noodles, Aaron got tortellini funghi, and I got dori fish and rosa wine for the table. It was soo delicious. By far the most delicious food we've had so far. We finished up with tiramisu. After our gorge, we walked out to the port where all of the yachts were and had a glass of wine. We walked back to our hotel and crashed. Early wake up tomorrow for hiking in Cinque Terre!
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