Thank you for all the wonderful comments. Our next adventure was spending a relaxing evening at the hotel, which turned out to be one of our favorites of the trip. Andiamo!
Before I get into our evening's activities I want to mention something fun you can do in Florence, and that's look for street signs 'tagged' with some pretty unique art.
Many of the street signs in Florence have been tagged with these fun street-art-esque stickers. The man behind the art is Clet Abraham, a Frenchman who has been living in Italy for many years. He has spread this type of art to other cities, but it is most prominent in Florence.
I think there is some quirky creativity to the signs. They are not sanctioned by the city, and he has been fined numerous times for the work, but nevertheless they have quickly become a part of the city. Also, they are stickers and come right off.
And now, onto our evening! The World Cup game featuring Italy started just before we got back, so we changed into comfy clothes and went down to join the crowd for the game. There were about 30 people (mostly us adventurers) watching the game. Not soon after, they brought out the pizza. They did a huge Focaccia pizza cut into chunks. It had a nice flavor, even if it wasnt traditional. Also available was a full bar and some chips that were as addictive, but not nearly as greasy, as Lays. Both were nice for a little nibble, but we were definitely going to need some dinner! Unfortunately, Italy was unable to pull of the win and were officially out of the tournament. Poor Marco (but more on that later).
It was around 8:15 when the game ended, so we checked out the restaurant menu and decided to sit down for a nice meal (it was not this bright out when we dined). What a great idea it turned out to be!
We were seated on the patio, ordered some wine, and proceeded to check out the menu. We decided to share some antipasti and a Tuscan speciality...
T-bone steak!
For our antipasti we went with the prosciutto e melone, a mixed plate, and a caprese platter. All were fresh, flavorful, and scrumptious. Plus, they were small enough to whet our appetites for the main course. Sorry, I don't have pictures of the antipasti, but you can imagine what bruschetta, caprese, and prosciutto e melone look like!
At least 2 people must order the T-bone and you pay for it by weight, per 100 grams. I had learned about this in a guide book and knew 100 grams to be roughly equivalent to 4 ounces. Our waiter was also quite helpful, recommending at least 1 kilo for 3 people. 1 kilo is about 40 ounces, so we went with that along with a double order of the roasted potatoes. We found it to be about right for 2 grown ladies and a man. We noticed there were 5-6 other adventure families were also eating. One family said they ordered 1 kilo for 2 men and said it was about right for them.
About 5 minutes after the waiter cleared our antipasti he came over...with a table...for your steak, he says. Wait...what?!? Thats right, we got an extra table just for our steak! This made us laugh pretty hard and ended up being a highlight of our trip.
It was really because we were at a small table and the steak comes out on a round wooden board pre-sliced, but it was humorous nonetheless.
As is usual in Europe, our steak came out pre-sliced, which is helpful for serving. It was a perfect medium-rare and simply seasoned.
This is what was left...I thought it really hit the spot to have such a simple meal, and it was a nice change from pasta. Also, those potatoes? So, so delicious. I could eat them every day.
At the end of the meal our waiter brought out the dessert menu along with a Moscato digestif. We each ordered a different dessert (yep, we splurged a little!):
Tiramisu
Panna Cotta
Cheesecake with fresh berries.
All 3 were tasty. It was a nice and relaxing dinner on the patio; a highlight for us. We spent some time on the patio visiting with the other adventure families and Troy when we were done. Around 10:15 the van arrived with the rest of the adventurers and Marco. He was sad Marco after the Italy loss. We, somewhat jokingly, told him that the USA would adopt him, but he didnt seem interested, haha!
With a train ride to Venice on the docket for the next day we headed up to bed.