Highlights-Florence Day 5
I went to Il Mercato Centrale Firenze for lunch. My motivation for going was a brief note in a guidebook that you “could possibly grab a quick bowl of pasta.” I’m all over that! Two women slurping quick bowls of pasta across from me struggled to open their bottle of soda (they tried lots of maneuvers) until I asked them to give it to me, walked 15 meters to the wine bar, and asked them to open it. I got into a long line at the market’s public restroom (always potential sites for hygiene horror) only to be shoo’d to the front by the women standing in it. Since the gender division wasn’t visible from end of the line, it seemed the right thing to do. It always feels so nice when women do this as if to say, “Here now, don’t wait in this long line like we have to. You have your own, shorter line.” Another possibility is that they don’t want a male anywhere near their area. I visited the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella perfume store (the oldest in Europe). Normally, a perfume store in a facility that looked like a palace wouldn't make my list of “must see” Florence attractions, but Samantha in Venice mentioned it to me (a silly thing to feel obligated about, but there you are). They had nice smelling products, but nothing that would fit in my suitcase. I walked right in, but when I exited there was a sea of females to rival a Black Friday two-for-one sale. These looked more patient, however.