One of the things o have been wanting to do was got the high end outlets outside of Florence and today is the day.

We did not get an early start to the day so we missed all the morning bus times and had a couple of hours to spend before we could catch the 2:00 bus. The bus runs pretty much every hour except for 1, not sure why they skipped it but it through are schedule off. Anyway, Christina needed coffee so we planned to stop for breakfast and pastries but decided since it was close to noon we could have a bottle of wine so we went straight to lunch. In honor of Lisa Marie we chose this cute little vintage cafe called Twist Bistrot (yes they have added a “t” to bistro) for lunch. We had a bottle of wine and toasts, which are warm bread sandwiches. Nothing special but the place was super cute so all was good.

We got sidetracked on our way to shopping with some open air market shopping. I ended up with a turquoise purse that converts to a backpack and Christina got a poncho type wrap. I paid too much for my purse but more on that tomorrow. The shopping slowed us down a bit and we had to hurry to the bus. Sadly it was a cash only enterprise but determined to get there I spent my last $13 to get us to the mall.

The drive was 50 minutes so a bit longer than I thought and had told Christina it was only 30. Not sure she was excited about it as I was but she didn’t grumble too much. I can’t say the drive was pretty. We were really just going through the suburbs of Florence. You did get to see some of the hills but nothing like the drive through the Prosecco area. The bus finally arrives and drops is off right in front of Gucci, which is the store I am hoping to find treasures. Before I know it I have 2 purses and 3 billfolds in my stack. not all for me. In fact I had planned to shop for my sister and was texting her photos and calling to get her pjs before the purchases. It was like a Wall Street trade going on. I would get the price take a picture and send it and wait for the ok to put it in the stack. The prices were so good compared to the stores it was hard to pass up any of it. But I did but not for long.

We went and shopped the rest of the stores but they were not as big and the deals didn’t seem as good. However, I would have bought this super cute Burberry crossbody if I hadn’t just bought one at Gucci. Also saw some super cute Chloe booties but that was late in the day while waiting Ron the bus and just didn’t fell like messing with them then.

I was in hopes to find some fabulous heels but they were all too spindlely for me. So I had to go back to Gucci and buy the heeled loafers. Actually that purchase was Christina’s fault. She wanted the Gucci tennis shoes and if we bought both we would get the tax back. So anything for a friend and now I have a great pair of Gucci shoes to go with my purse and wallet.

We finished up right before five and had time to run to the bathroom before the 5 bus. As we wait where the bus left is off we wondered why it was running late. Based on the times it was leaving Florence it should be 10/15 minutes between turn arounds and there was no bus in sight. Until we saw it driving down the road and zipping right past us.

Sadly just like the lunch break the bus took a 2 hour evening break as well so we were stranded until 7:20. Instead of paying the exorbitant price of $85 we decided to go to the bar and wait for the later bus. The bar was actually pretty good we had a couple of Spritzs and two slices of pizza. The vegetable pizza was surprisingly good. Some of the best we have had on the trip and we have eaten a lot of pizza.

Now that we knew where pick up was we didn’t head out into after 7 which again was a big mistake because the bus was already full and we had to carry our bags to the last few seats. Regardless we made it back to Florence. The walk back to the apartment was not to bad. We stopped and picked up a glass of Prosecco and a cannoli to finish up our day admiring our purchases lounging on the couch.

All in all a good day of shopping. I would highly recommend the outlet shops at The Mall if you are looking for one of Italy’s high end brands.