Day 25
Arrivederci Florence! Our trip of a lifetime is coming to a close – we said goodbye to Anne and Cameron this morning – shared chocolate croissants and cappuccinos before putting them into a cab for the airport – thanks for visiting us! My students took the final exam this morning and all finished within the 2-hour time window. It was bittersweet turning in the key to my classroom for the last time – the staff at FUA were amazing, wonderful, and kind people who I will surely miss. After my final I met Brian and Greg at home and we headed out in search of some new shirts for Brian – we found what he was looking for at a small shop right on the Ponte Vecchio. We had lunch at a family style restaurant – Trattoria Mario – near Mercato Centrale – where we all had the rigatoni with meat ragú that was molto buona! We strolled bit on our last day in search of some treats to take back home and visited a cute Enoteca Obsequium for a glass of wine (I had a terrific, dry Pinot Grigio; Brian and Greg each enjoyed the Brunello). After that, not surprisingly, we ended up at our favorite enoteca – Alessi. The people there are just so helpful and wonderfully knowledgeable about wine, so friendly and welcoming and the atmosphere is like no other we have found. Greg and Brian each had a specialty Negroni while I had the Vernaccia (di San Gimignano – one more time!) Greg shipped several bottles of deliciousness (including grappa) back home and is planning to host a Tuscan night soon! Heading back home, we all spent time packing for our 10 AM flights tomorrow. Dinner tonight is at Cucina Torcinado just a 2-minute walk around the corner – we pass it every day walking to campus and it has such great reviews. We will miss so much about this wonderful city.