Midhurst, West Sussex, 2022

We were in West Sussex' Midhurst in 2016, camping at the Grange car park, a base for visits to the Woolbeding Gardens and to Petworth House. We were in Midhurst again this year, same basecamp, but this time staying at an AirBNB in town for four nights, enjoying the beautiful old market town as well as the major sites nearby. We did Woolbeding and Petworth again, too, but also spent a day just exploring Midhurst. 

Our temporary abode, the Old Forge

The owner's house, just behind what really was the
town blacksmith's

The garden out our door

The Old Forge, now a large studio apartment

A bit of the interior; really comfy, until we realized an English
double sofa bed is only 35" wide

Sort of a Victorian "Welcome back, Kotter"

Schola Grammaticalis

Midhurst is a major polo center

More our speed

Scores of centuries-old buildings...see the 2016 post for more

Parish C of E

Saturday market in the square; do you know who your fisherman
is?

Main drag

We again did the walk to Cordray Castle ruins, and beyond, to the
Norman ruins on the hill above

Taking pretty much the same pix as before...beautiful little town,
well kept and presented

Florentine Out-Takes

World champion! But what's the world coming to?

At the sculpture store

Door handle to a laundry

How to convert your Romanesque door frame to
Gothic in one easy step

Double-barreled? or perhaps pierced?

Mercury at the Bargello

High school student doing immersive art history;

some countries don't take kindly to this sort of

thing...in Greece she'd be arrested, fined, and possibly

imprisoned; seriously

When the cream-colored Davids from your first visit just won't
do anymore

Didn't see this in Paris

Still processing this one

And still my favorite store in Florence

For very short tennis players

1200€ hand purse, not large enough for a small coffee mug

Would have been so comfortable in my years as
a suit in Dallas

Maybe not

Thus always to demagogues

Immersive experience outside the Selfie Museum

Unicycle parking

Sandro's parking garage

Banana republic

Today's wedding...actually turned out to be an American destination
wedding

Fresh from New Orleans, today's civic
nuisance

Florentine Eats

We hit four or five restaurants in Florence on this visit, always dining outside, sticking with the bifstecca mostly, but sampling a few other things too. It was a mixed experience, not always sparking joy.

At the central mercado, I ordered half a kilo of veal scallopini--
here's the butcher scallopinizing it--which meant we would cook 
and eat in the apartment 3 nights...

Our traditional meal at the Antico Ristoro di Cambi

The steak plus a selection of Tuscan goodies, not
pictured; somehow, the experience was different; 
there were plenty of locals there, as always, but the
wait-person was American, and much was lost in
non-translation; plus Vicki's creme brulee was a soup
rather than a custard

Worst $25 lunch ever, at the Uffizi, my tuna sandwich
and her pizza; we've had better pizzas at guest-houses
trekking in Nepal; seriously

Another day, another resto, Grotto di Guelph, another Tuscan sampler,
including wild boar and venison...

I thought I'd try the Tuscan tomato/bread soup;
very filling...

Her lasagna was a better bet

Grilled veggies at another place, Ristorante Bracerie Auditore

And another bifstecca Fiorentina; it has gotten very popular,
with almost every resto showcasing its aging cabinet...best to
order the more expensive grades

Vicki's panna cotta with red fruit was superb