Then there was an immense sensation, of relief; for the Florentines love their old bridge; and the crowd began to disperse.
All this time I had had not a mouthful of breakfast, and we betook ourselves to Doney's _bottega_ to get a cup of coffee before going home.

But when we attempted this we found that it was more easily said than done.

The Via dei Malcontenti as well as the whole of the Piazza di Santa Croce was some five feet under water! We succeeded, however, in getting aboard a large boat, which was already engaged in carrying bread to the people in the most deeply flooded parts of the town.

But all difficulty was not over.

Of course the street door of the Palazzo Berti was shut, and no earthly power could open it.