Day 7: Florence to Venice

The farmer market in Florence. I indeed enjoy grocery shopping. One of these days I should start taking cooking lessons in Bangkok.....
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We wake up to a rainy day...  Indeed, rain can do much damage to a trip let alone to the emotion.  "Sigh! My food allergy reaction still showed on my face", I said to my niece.  My niece kept reminding me not to touch it with my hands lest it got worse.  "Never in my life had I such a rough facial skin."  :-(

As I promised my niece, we had 7 hours till 3pm for shopping, and the rain would NOT stop us.  Eventually it was not a vain effort to bring the two umbrellas from the States.  I discarded the original plan to see the statue of Michelangelo's David at the Academia for the reason of Art hangover.

Bargain is part of the business cultures here.

Kiosks of merchandises in Florence. Reminded me of the shopping heaven in Thailand and in Penang.
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Just after we were out for a few minutes, it started to pour hard.  We sought refuge at the local farmer market inside a building.  There were two levels.  The bottom level is for meat, the top for fruits and vegetables.  My niece found the smell from the various raw meats a bit nauseating, therefore we walked upstairs.  I always enjoy grocery shopping, especially when I am in a foreignland.  I love to calculate the cost of living via the price of their food/produce.  What impressed me most is Italian artistic genes also show in their grocery stalls....  Look at the pictures on how they bundle the chilli so artistically.  A few people, me included, took pictures of their produce.

Some Piazza in which I don't know its name...
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To alleviate my allergic symptoms, I had started my fruity diet two days ago..  We walked around kiosks until we found what we thought offered the lowest price.  Yuck.. as soon as I bought the fruits, there was another one that sold cheaper.  Part of the fun in traveling.  I concluded.

Rain stopped.  Stepped outside.  Still gloomy.  Intermission, I guess.

Kiosks of merchandizes were on display.  I truly love the colors of the leather luggage and office bags.  So shining and professional, and so are the price tags in light of the currency exchange rates between US and Euro.  Bargain is part of the business cultures here.  I bargained with them once I spotted what I wanted and walked away if we could not reach at an agreeable price with no hard feeling.  My niece was a bit reluctant to bargain.  I told her realistically and practically, "In Bangkok, you can afford not to bargain.  Just remember this is Euro we are talking about.  Furthermore, bargain is part of their business cultures here.  Only a fool doesn't bargain in this type of purchases."  I ended there, and let her decide what she wanted to do with her own money. The prices of merchandizes on V. Dell' Arento, V.S. Antonino, and on V. De Conti streets are at least 10% cheaper compared to those around Ufizzi area.  Also, be ware that Florence is famous for its leather products, cashmere scarfs (made in Italy) and ties (100% silk made in Italy).  Buy them in Florence if you find what you like.  You will have to pay at least 50% more, if not more, for the same item in Venice. Carnival masks should be purchased in Venice; it offers more variety and the marks are also a bit cheaper. 

David.. replica. I heard some sculptors won't even look at it. They only want to see the real one.
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We didn't buy anything the first time we walked thru; we simply observed the prices.  We went back to Uffizi to take pictures of those replica sculptures displayed outside Uffizi, including Michelangelo's David.

After that, we began our shopping "spree".

It rained the whole day intermittently.  The drop in temperature combined with our fatigue we didn't shop long at all.  We ended up sitting at McDonald for at least 2 hours waiting for our train to Venice.

Michelangelo's work. My niece dislikes it b/c of its theme. The man cut her head off and trampled the woman with his left foot.
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Side Note: In retrospection, I do regret for not visiting two places in Florence; they are Santa Croce Basilica, a burial site for many Renaissance celebrities, including Michelangelo, and Sinagoga (Museo Ebraico) that contains some of the oldest and most beautiful Jewish ritual artifacts.  As a Bible reader, I am always fascinated by Jewish culture.

My first impression of Venice was not beautiful but crowded.  Seeing people hauling their luggages to get on boats was quite a pitiful sight.  :-)  We felt fortunate that our hostel was just 7 minutes walk away from the train station.

Scupltures displayed outside Ufizzi.
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The cold weather had killed my niece's desire to stay outdoor.  After checked-in, we ordered our dinner for take-out and went home.