This morning we went out to the Mercato Ambrogio (similar but smaller than the Central Market) to get supplies for dinner. Tonight will be our last dinner at "home" in Florence so we got some fresh pasta, pesto sauce and some vegetables for our final meal. The whole experience was easier than I thought it would be - I was worried about guessing how much food to buy since we have no idea how to estimate how many grams of food we can eat. Instead of making up numbers I just asked them to give me enough food for two people for dinner. Now I know we eat 200 grams of pasta, and about 100 grams of pesto. We also got some persimmons, which we've been missing, and some tasty wild strawberries to snack on during our walk home.
Afterwards, we walked over towards the train station where there is a bike rental shop stopping for falafel on the way. (Side note: why do they put french fries in falafel here? Did I miss some shift in what belongs in a falafel? The last time I asked for hummus with my falafel they threw in some extra fries. I am baffled. Mike, on the other hand, is pretty psyched about this development.) Today was another amazingly beautiful day, and we wanted to rent some bikes for the afternoon. Once we confirmed that the single-gear bike was not a fixed-gear bike (and important distinction, but an Italian conversation fail), we hopped on our "city bikes" and went to see how far the park along the river goes. 
I have to say that I don't think Florence gets enough credit for being a "biking city". While actual biking through the streets is crazy (really narrow streets, really bumpy cobblestone pavement), once you get out of the city center, its great. There is a paved, curb-separated bike path that surrounds the city. From there, the path through the park extends for more than nine kilometers (as far as we went). We felt like we were in the Tuscan countryside - almost no one else was on the trail, the grass was a brilliant green, and we hugged the Arno the whole time. Half the time it was a dirt trail, which isn't the greatest, but it was nice to be back on a bike for more than 45 minutes. After (actually, during) our ride I realized how much I miss my bike, but mostly my bike seat. Three and a half hours on those bikes was not the most comfortable experience. Our tuchus' are S-O-R-E. After dropping off the bikes we walked through town to get some gelato followed up by a piece of foccacia. Then we climbed up to Piazzale Michelangelo to get some sunset/evening views of the city from above. Conclusion: its going to be hard to leave Florence. Back at home we cooked up the ingredients from this morning, had a great dinner, and called it a night. We are beat.
Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:
Mike - Cookies e Banane
Aviva - After Eight e whipped cream
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