The forecast was not good today but for most of it we managed to dodge showers and it was still quite warm. A different team split today as Mum, Ian, Colin and I headed out to find a restaurant for last evening together. It was a bit of a challenge and Colin was particularly grumpy but we did find a place shortly before we all met up in the central market food court where we had tried to eat a couple of days ago! It was pretty busy but we managed to get a table for most of us with the advantage that we could all have exactly what we wanted to eat so that was Chinese dick and pak Choi with a beer for me.
Afterwards new team arrangements so Hester, Brian, Mum, Ian, Colin and I headed towards Vivoli ice cream parlour which is one of the best gelato shops in the city. Hester treated us all to gelatos - I knew exactly what I was having - an amazing Affogato created from vanilla gelato shaped into large petal shaped in the coffee cup with an espresso poured on top - absolutely delicious. Afterwards it was a short walk to the Santa Croce square and church and then a slow walk back with ominous clouds gathering in the distance which should have given us a clue as to the weather to come.
We made it back to the apartment with another impressive step count and that was before we headed back out again to the restaurant. It wasn’t as good as the Osteria a few nights ago but was still nice. It was at this point the night took a turn for the worse as Hester, Sophie and I decided we’d try and get one of the tacky statues of David in pink! During the day we had seen them in virtually every shop around the Duomo but due to what started as light rain got heavier and heavier until stair-rods of cold rain defied my light weight fleece and we became literally soaked to the skin and still no sign of a pink David! We admitted defeat and headed home dripping. It was a challenge trying to translate the instructions on the washing machine in Italian so that we could simply spin our clothes. A rather damp end to our trip.
