My big mistake

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We were on the road by 8 and had a completely uneventful drive back to Florence. We had to get the car back by 10:15, but all the trains from Florence to Milan were sold out so we had time to kill in Florence. We couldn’t find a place to drop our bags so Jack offered to sit and wait. Since he doesn’t like all the walking I figured it was an OK deal. I went back to the Duomo to look inside, but quickly determined that I would be in Milan before I would get to the front of the line. Plan B was to go back to the market and buy some yummy food for lunch. The bottom floor of the market with the vendors was closed and the vendors of prepared food on the second floor were just setting up and nothing appealed to me. I was able to get a sandwich and salad on the way back to the train station. After transferring in Milan we arrived in Como.

Given the amount of traveling, I booked us in Como rather than in one of the towns further up along the lake. Sometimes I err on the side of being cheap and pay the price. This is where we're really paying the price. We arrived at the B&B to find the private bath was across a public hall. This was a non-starter. We forfeited a nights charge and the woman called her friend who had an apartment. We walked 10 minutes and arrived at the apartment in an old section of the town. I think Jack was so tired that he said it was fine even though there is no air conditioning. It might not be so bad, but there isn't an air circulation. There's only one window without a screen so if you open the window, the mosquitoes come in and if you close it, it's warm, even for me.

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