Tuesday began with the kind of logistical problem that kept repeating all week: finding a cab for five people in Rome. The solution, at the last minute, was the metro. The metro was fine. The train station was not.

The track assignment looked like “1–10,” which Richard interpreted as level one, track ten. At 9:08 for a 9:10 train, that interpretation collapsed. Panic arrived immediately. A calm American woman pointed out that the train was delayed by ten minutes, and that grace period saved the day.

The train to Florence was fast, clean, and surprisingly easy once everyone was on board. In Florence, Dennis turned into exactly the guide the day needed: informed, multilingual, and sharply opinionated about authentic Florence versus TikTok-tourist Florence. There were hot beef sandwiches, the Duomo, Uffizi-area fountains, Ponte Vecchio, Papini leather, Lambrusco, gelato, belts, and a quick museum run for Richard and Colin. Back in Rome, dinner at Sistina 52 delivered one of the best steaks of the trip.