Today we were going to go to Milan
(again, right?) but we decided to go to the outlet mall so that we could sleep
in for as long as we wanted to. I woke up around 11:30
and we decided to leave for the outlet mall shortly after that. Katie and
Crystal had already left to go to Piazza San Lorenzo so we were going to meet
them at the train station Santa Maria Novella. The rest of us got ready and
took the #13 ALL the way around the city, or so it seemed, just to get to the
train station. We got to the train station and bought our tickets to Borgo San
Lorenzo, which is where the mall was supposed to be after we got off the train
and took a 10 minute taxi ride. The train ticket was only 2.70 one way so we
figured even if we were in the wrong place, it would be ok since they were
cheap. We found our train and got on. Katie was nervous that we were on the
wrong train because when we bought our tickets, there were 2 different Borgo
San Lorenzo versions, and at the Internet Train, they looked it up and all they
saw was Borgo San Lorenzo. Anyways, the train rolled out and eventually we were
speeding along the Tuscan countryside. I took some amazing pictures out the
window. After about a 30 minute train ride, we got off at the station Borgo San
Lorenzo, and kind of realized we might be in the wrong place. We had an ice
cream for sustenance and decided to just start walking and figure out if we
were in the right place. We walked toward the signs that said Centro for center
of the city and once we got to the center of the city…we realized we were in
the wrong place. We were waiting outside a café to talk to the taxi people, and
I decided to go in and ask someone, so we saw policemen inside and I asked if
they spoke English and was VERY relieved when they did! One of them was very
nice, and was asking the locals for the mall, or “Lettro” which is where Chiara
told us it was when she called just before this. The locals had no idea, and
neither did the policemen because they were from Florence.
We decided to just head back to the train station and come back to Florence.
Outside the train station, there was a teeter-totter and other toys so we took
some pictures while we were waiting. I took one on the teeter-totter by myself,
teeter without her totter! After our photo shoot, we went into the little store
in the station and got some bread and sandwiches while we waited for our train.
Our policemen friends were getting on the same train, so we decided to sit in
their compartment. It was really weird because every time the train stopped at
a station to let people off, they would get off as if they were looking for
something. We decided to get off at Campo Marte so that we could go to the
grocery store, and the policemen asked if we knew were we were going (they
probably thought we were following them) but we told them yes, thank you very
much, we do know exactly where we were. We waited for the bus for a long time
and finally went to the grocery store! It is a lot bigger than the market near
our house. I bought some cucumbers and lettuce, and what I thought was ranch
dressing (but I was terribly, terribly wrong) and a few other yummy things. We
decided on the train back that we were going to have a special dinner and
everyone was going to make something different. I got to make mashed potatoes. I
bought some mozzarella cheese ball things and tried to make them, but
accidentally left them in too long so all the cheese oozed out and they weren’t
very good anymore. Our dinner was amazing though. We set the table up really
nicely with candles and had chicken, mashed potatoes, pesto-garlic bread, salad,
broccoli and apple crisp for dessert. Everything was delicious! We were so full
after dinner that Crystal, Kristi, Morgan and I decided to go for a walk. We
found some cute restaurants and a place where they play salsa music so we’re
definitely going back there at some point. Tomorrow is our “day of rest”
(self-instated) so we are just going to lay around all day and sleep in until
Palazzo Pitti with Chiara at 4:00.
