Empoli

Yesterday we went to the town of Empoli, about 30min by train to the west, for lunch and bill paying at our landlady's home. It was a cute town with lots of young people--actually, it just looked like there were a lot of kids because they were all getting out of school for the day and were filling the streets. We were surprised to learn that there is indeed school every Saturday!

The Piazza of Lions

Empoli might be small, but it has way more Christmas trees than Florence!

It was lots of fun to be with a family for a day--Nicla had her two kids and a friend from Ethiopia over, so it was quite a nice lunch. She served a primo (ravioli), secondo (meatballs and mashed potatoes), salad, dolci (meringue cake), and cafe. It was such a treat to join a nice family for a great meal.

Thomas and Nicole

Our landlady, Nicla, with her kids and Seth

We were hoping to take advantage of the rare rain-free afternoon and take the train to nearby Pisa, but it got too late and we decided to head back to Florence. At least it was such a nice day we were able to linger around downtown Florence and enjoy the lights and cool, crisp weather on our walk home from the train station.