Hotel Pendini, elegance personified, in the heart of what looks like Florence’s high fashion district. The taxi took us by glass store fronts for Dolce and Gabbana, Stella McCartney, and other big name fashion houses. People in the streets were very well dressed and VERY busy, rushing around with square shopping bags. Carol noted that there was a carousel turning in the square at the end of the street. By that time, I would have guessed it was a hallucination, since we were still on the trajectory that started in Toronto. Spilling out of the taxi and past the hotel’s street door, we saw: STAIRS! With a sign letting us know that the concierge desk was on the 4th floor. Wait — there was also an elevator! A very tiny one. (This will be a theme for these blogs: tiny spaces.) We went up separately, and by the time Carol made it to the desk, I had thrown myself on the mercy of the concierge and found out that they had One Room, with One Bed, for One night only. We took it.
There was a couch in the room as well, and the staff was happy to make it up as a bed, so we were FINE. BEDS! FINE! We also eventually discovered an Air Conditioning unit, and life was good again. Hotel Pendini is definitely elegant. The ceiling in our room had to have been 20 feet, maybe 25 feet up, and there was a serious chandelier in our room as well.
Hallway of Hotel Pendini
Plenty of gilt and plush, and blessed hot water for showers! Cleaned and nearly respectable again, we ventured out for our first meal in Italy, which turned out, ironically, to be at a Chinese restaurant, the nearest place to which we could walk. The next morning, on to Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, and the Hotel Roma!