Buuon giorno, folks back home and other places.....
It's been a while, so bear with me.   I have lots of notes to consult.
Last time I wrote, it was after that horrific Sunday when Paco and I got caught in that horrible storm in Arezzo, and we got soaking wet and were cold to the bone marrow!    Luckily, after a couple of cognacs, we warmed up enough to have a lovely finger-food-type dinner in our room.   We had stopped at a little supermarket to buy some tomatoes, because they're soooooo darn good here, we eat them cut into pieces with balsamic and a few pieces of cheese.   We bought some fruit and, of course wine.   
Monday, November 11.....
We came down for breakfast and I noticed two, obviously American, ladies sitting on the next table.  I said good morning and immediately started a conversation.  They are both from the Seattle area, Sue and Danielle (although Danielle is from California), and turns out one of Danielle's short films got accepted to the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Florence, of all places, and they had come to be present at the viewing, but they found Florence to be too crowded and decided to go to the Arezzo area to be a little bit more quiet and without too many tourists.  They had rented a car for the week and invited us to go with them to every little town in the surrounding area.   We started by walking the whole Arezzo walled city.   It is a GEM!  (Are you listening, Rick Steves?)....  We went to Giorgio Vasari's real home where and his wife lived and did his artwork.   He's a DaVinci-type over achiever:  painter, sculptor, writer, musician..... you name it.  Of course, all the churches have impressive frescos, art work, paintings, sculpture, as well as the grandeur of just the size of them.   We walked and walked and walked and walked, up up up up all the time.  This is the town where Life is Beautiful was filmed, and if you want to see an incredible movie, get it Netflix, or however.   It won the Oscar for that year, except I don't know the year.
Tuesday, November 12
We kept looking around Arezzo, the churches, the incredible Basilica, and when lunchtime came, we spotted a good-looking restaurant, but it was already closed.   However, since the man saw 4 hungry people, and tourist season is pretty much over, he decided to let us in.  I had the typical Tuscan soup which is made with lots of veggies, but also lots of bread, so it's a very thick soup and very filling.  We had a nice lunch and drove around the rest of the modern city... about 100,000 inhabitants here.  It would be wonderful place to spend a couple of months, in the SUMMER.... it's got plenty of amenities, but it's not as expensive as Florence, Rome, or Bologna.  And the walled city is pretty amazing.  
Wednesday, November 13
Today was an all out day....  we started driving to Montepulciano, but saw this amazing town perched up on top of a hill, and it said:  Orvieto.   It's on every one of those books that tell you the 100 most beautiful small towns in Italy.   So, with a right-turn signal, we started driving up the hill.   All of these are walled cities used for, of course, protection.  You cannot park INSIDE the walled cities, so you leave your car, at the bottom, and upupupupupupup you walk!   OMG, I am becoming a veritable marathoner, and have dropped a couple of kilos, even though my friend and I seem to be eating and drinking our way through Italy....   I guess that basic equation works:  you burn what you eat, you don't gain weight....  :)  We decided on pizzas for lunch and they were amazing.   The mushroom crop was a banner one this year and Porcini mushrooms, especially, are in EVERYTHING!   And, I happen to love mushrooms, of all kinds.   You should see them in the marketplace.  Hundreds of kinds, some dried, some in their natural state, but all of them are absolutely amazing.   The while truffles are in season and believe you me, this has to be the most expensive condiment ever!   Five small pieces, the size of peanut M&Ms are 250 euros... about $330 dollars.  Mostly, you buy a tiny little bottle of the oil, or the butter, and you lick your lips the 3-4 times you use it.   Wild boar, javelina, is in season as well.   We have had a couple of very delicious dishes with it.   Then, off to Montepulciano, probably the best wine in the COUNTRY, although some other wineries might dispute it.   Every region has its own wine and it's hard to tell which is better than the last one you tasted, but it's great fun trying!  This is another one of those towns that is magical, and of course you have to climb up, up, up....   This is where Rachel Ray got married.   On the way to Montepulciano, the sunset was sooooo spectacular.  I never thought there would be sunsets equal or more beautiful than Arizona, but this was definitely one of them.  My camera ran out of juice, so I think I only took one picture, but Sue promised to send me some when they get home.
Thursday, November 14
Today, we decided to go to Perugia and check it out.   This is where they make some pretty good cioccolato, as they say here.   (You would be surprised at how much Italian I have learned!).  Another amazing medieval city!   Lots of hills, again.  We parked right outside the city walls and proceeded with our visit.   Lovely, lovely town square with a HUGE fountain filled with images that I am sure mean something, but don't know what.   The duomo, or main cathedral, was spectacular as they all seem to be.   I think there must have been some wild competition in those days to see who would build the bigger, better, and more beautiful cathedral.   But, there is one caveat for all cathedrals:  they cannot be bigger than St. Peter's in Rome.   But, as it turns out, St. Peter's is VERYVERY big, so you have lots of space to work with.  We had a lovely dinner at the Arezzo AC Marriott to say goodbye to Arezzo.   I had the pig's cheek dinner, the cheek being the most tender part of the pig... it has a sort of a spicy applesauce accompaniment and it was delish!   Paco had a veal plate that was to kill for, the veal cooked to fork-tender perfection.  We had a dessert of a type of lava cake that had a port-wine reduction.  Calories?  None, of course.   We packed the rest of the evening to come to Florence.    We are riding with Sue and Danielle into an AC Marriott in Florence, since the Hotel David was not available until Sunday....  no problem.  Before we left, though, we stopped at a little coffee shop for some capuccinos and I had a tapioca cupcake that is one of the best things I have ever eating in my life!  What incredible texture, and if you like tapioca, well, you would have been in heaven, too.  And, guess what, much to my surprise:   THERE IS DECAF IN ITALY!!!!!!!    So the morning decaf capuccino is addictive and will have to do something about it when I get back to the States.   It's hard to give up.
Friday, November 15
Today was double decker bus tour.  They are a fun way to see lots of places and you can hop on and hop off as you wish.   We did all three lines, covering three different areas to see where we wanted to go next.  I already knew where to take it and everything so we walked to the central train station and took off from there.   We had lunch at a sort of self-yourself diner, near the station.  Our cannelloni were a little dry, but the vegetable sides, eggplant and zucchini were like nothing I have tasted before.  Everything here tastes like it's supposed to.....  sigh!  Dinner in the room with our goodies, plus we had made some little paninis with some of the cold cuts from breakfast, so we were fine.
Saturday, November 16
We wanted to spend all day in the market.... Sue and Danielle were going to see some of their film-making friends from Florece, but made a date for dinner to say Buon Viaggio to all of us!   The market place is INDESCRIBABLE.... (sp?)  You want to buy bull's testicles?  There they are.   You want to buy chickens with their head still on them, as well as their feet?   There they are.  You want to buy any kind of 100 cheeses, there they are.   You want to buy a speedy lunch/dinner..... every pasta concoction is ready for you to take home and just boil and serve with a myriad of sauces already made.  One of the culinary specialties of Florence is cow tripe (think menudo without the hominy).   It is fixed in several forms:  boiled till is falling apart and put into yummy sandwiches with a spicy sauce, or in a tomato sauce, much like you would make a sort of carne con chile.....  it's absolutely exquisite... I had it in both forms.   The restaurant that is most famous for its tripe is right inside the market, which closes at 2:00 (no business after lunch.....).  We got there at 1:30 and there was a line of about 50 people.  You approach a cash register and order and pay and you scramble to find two empty chairs in these 6-7 little picnic tables right there.  People sit wherever they can.  Paco had the Ribolleta, which is a bread soup made with stale bread and you throw everything that's left over in your fridge so as not to waste anything.  It's, again, a very thick soup, enhanced by a hefty dollop (I know you don't say dollop, but don't know what else to say) of olive oil, and bread.   We bought a few goodies and then walked the outdoor market, which is full of gorgeous clothing, accessories, and lots and lots and lots of magnificent leather.....   I will have to take one of those fabulous purses and a pair of shoes back home.   But, good thing I cannot buy anything now since carrying around those @#$%^&*( suitcases is a nuisance and I can barely lift the big one onto a train.  I have to look for somebody YOUNG and STRONG and say in my nicest voice:  ayuidatto me, per favore..... :)   And, guess what, there is always someone to help, thank God.
That evening, we had dinner with Danielle and Sue to celebrate our new friendship and we promised we would visit each other in the future.  I have a feeling it will happen.  We shared some really good times and we got to see a LOT of countryside and neat places that would have cost an arm and a leg otherwise, if we could have even gotten there.   So, I'm especially happy I said "good morning" that Monday morning.  I think they needed a little more interaction with other people, but not crowds, and we were just the right two people to do it with.  They are smart, accomplished, interesting, and well-traveled people, so we made a good match.  Everybody got ready to move the next day.   They were going to the USA, and we were moving to the David Hotel where I stayed before with my newly-made friend, Carol(ina) as I called her.
Sunday, November 17
It's a lovely boutique hotel and everybody is so friendly.   The breakfast is magnificent and there is HAPPY HOUR!  Not that I like happy hour, mind you.......
We're staying here until Friday, and then we're taking the train down to Naples, Capri, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast.    It should be beautiful and less cold.  It's pretty chilly around here.  Guess what?   The floors of the hotel are HEATED!!!!   You can step into the bathroom tile floor and not jump off because it is so cold.   They also have that most civilized item:  the towel warmer/drier....  and, of course, the other civilized item:  the bidet, which I use mostly to wash my underwear.....
Paco and I decided the rest of the afternoon was needed for laundry.  There is a laundromat three blocks from the hotel so we got our stuff and walked down there and did our laundry.  It took about 2 hours.   The driers only go so hot, so jeans were difficult to dry, but with ALL clean clothes in hand, we stopped and had a nice lunch across the street.  He had carbonara, and I had minestrone.... yummy.
We came back to the hotel and I had some computer work to do.   I'm still teaching an on-line class with Pima and needed to get to assignments and grading, and communication with my class.  Waited for happy hour to begin and met some LOVELY people from Australia.  They are traveling with their 14-year old son and it's so nice to see families enjoying themselves as families: and WITHOUT an i-phone or tablet.  
Monday, November 18
Got up and enjoyed our breakfast very much.   Maria, who coordinates the breakfast, takes care of you like you're her family.   She's very adorable and she also does the happy hour.  Our room is right next to the breakfast soon, so around 6:30, I start to smell the bread being baked..... it's hard to stay asleep after that.   We decided to go to Bologna, the gastronomical capital of Italy, or so do the bolognese say.  We walked from the train station (by the way, on the fast train, it takes 30 minutes from Florence to get there).   The town square is magnificent, except there's a lot of restoration work going on, so it's hard to appreciate the beauty of the buildings, and, there had been a cioccolatto exhibition (75 exhibits featuring chocolate, imagine!!!!, are you reading this Jody?).    Thank GOD, we were not there for that. We would be dead from chocolate overdose.....   We were given a recommendation for lunch because the restaurant that I wanted to go to, had gone before and it was orgasmic!   (Sorry if I offend anybody, I just can't say it any other way) but it was closed on Mondays!!!!    We were told BattiBecco would be very typical and very good.... we walked all over the @#$%^& city center to find it and just as we were about to give up, there it WAS!!!!!!    Paco had the tagliatelle a la bolognese (yum, yum) and I had a hand-made pasta, pastellini, in a clear beef broth that tasted like I had died and gone to heaven.   It was definitely NOT Swanson or Butterball broth.  We ate lightly at the happy hour, there's always goodies to eat.  Had a raucuous (sp?) time with our Australian friends and a German book promoter who is quite loud, but fun.  We share food stories and laugh a lot.  That's the very neat part of this hotel, it seems everybody knows each other.
Tuesday, November 19
After breakfast, we decided to do an all-day tour of the most important and artistic places in Florence.  It's a good decision because you have a guide and everything's explained to you.  Otherwise, you stand there and know it's beautiful but you don't get the full meaning of the artwork.  I'm doing this and Paco is in the room sleeping.... probably.   He had some health issues right before the trip and almost wasn't able to come.   I think his body is recovering and regenerating very well through sleep.  I, on the other hand, do not sleep a whole lot, but it's my MO.  We're headed to the market again.  Paco wants to buy a couple of items, and we want to eat fresh seafood at this indoor restaurant where they literally quick fry an assortment of fresh shrimp, squid, octopus, fresh anchovies, and probably a couple of other interesting things.  Another mad dash for a seat at the counter!!!!!   Then, at 5:30 pm I meet the person who has the apartment for rent here in Florence.   I am going to go see it and if it suits me, I'm renting it for all of December and will spend Christmas here in Florence.  The city is already getting ready for the season, and it might just turn out pretty special.  Tomorrow it's the whole day tour, and Thursday is open just in case we want to go back to any of those spots.    Friday, we leave for Naples.... the BEST pizza in the world, and NOBODY disputes that, interestingly.
Okay, arrivederci, for now.   See you in a couple of days.  I'm learning Italian!!!!!!    :)