I fly home two weeks from today – bittersweet.
I took the #7 bus from Piazza San Marco up to Fiesole, around a 30-minute ride in a nicely air-conditioned bus. The family was still staying at their farmhouse in the Tuscan countryside, so they drove in. We walked around Fiesole a bit and I remembered going to a performance at the outdoor Roman amphitheater, Romano di Fiesole, with Nan in 2003. The concert that night was a combination jazz/classical music performance.
I suggested that we walk up to the panoramic overlook of Firenze, which is quite spectacular – everyone loved seeing it. Then to lunch at Antica Fonte which was another wonderful Italian meal. The place was small, and one person, the owner, was doing everything other than the cooking. After lunch they headed back to the farmhouse and I took the bus back to my apartment – this time a less than well air-conditioned bus – and it was hot.
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5jWfiMxCPVvzYW146
I headed over to the laundry to pick up my dry cleaning, but had to wait a bit as it wasn’t completely ready – she was still ironing pants and shirts. Then home where I made dinner.
I wanted to point out some interesting components of living in Firenze, especially in summer. One always walks on the shady sides of the street and you try to take the streets with the more level sidewalks and cobblestone roadway. If you’re walking against traffic, you stay on the curb side since you can see oncoming cars, which helps keep people walking with traffic away from the cars. When you cross a street you just cross, especially at a crosswalk – cars and scooters will always stop for you even if you don’t believe it. The main reason to look at oncoming traffic is for bikes, as they can’t stop as easily. Scooters will ride the wrong way on streets, but not cars. Everyone parks wherever – a real parking spot, a sort of real spot, or in a crosswalk, etc. etc. Almost all doors open in, whether business or residence. Street numbers are red for commercial and black for residences – and the sequence will be different for each – so black 7 might be next to red 33.
I took the #7 bus from Piazza San Marco up to Fiesole, around a 30-minute ride in a nicely air-conditioned bus. The family was still staying at their farmhouse in the Tuscan countryside, so they drove in. We walked around Fiesole a bit and I remembered going to a performance at the outdoor Roman amphitheater, Romano di Fiesole, with Nan in 2003. The concert that night was a combination jazz/classical music performance.
I suggested that we walk up to the panoramic overlook of Firenze, which is quite spectacular – everyone loved seeing it. Then to lunch at Antica Fonte which was another wonderful Italian meal. The place was small, and one person, the owner, was doing everything other than the cooking. After lunch they headed back to the farmhouse and I took the bus back to my apartment – this time a less than well air-conditioned bus – and it was hot.
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5jWfiMxCPVvzYW146
I headed over to the laundry to pick up my dry cleaning, but had to wait a bit as it wasn’t completely ready – she was still ironing pants and shirts. Then home where I made dinner.
I wanted to point out some interesting components of living in Firenze, especially in summer. One always walks on the shady sides of the street and you try to take the streets with the more level sidewalks and cobblestone roadway. If you’re walking against traffic, you stay on the curb side since you can see oncoming cars, which helps keep people walking with traffic away from the cars. When you cross a street you just cross, especially at a crosswalk – cars and scooters will always stop for you even if you don’t believe it. The main reason to look at oncoming traffic is for bikes, as they can’t stop as easily. Scooters will ride the wrong way on streets, but not cars. Everyone parks wherever – a real parking spot, a sort of real spot, or in a crosswalk, etc. etc. Almost all doors open in, whether business or residence. Street numbers are red for commercial and black for residences – and the sequence will be different for each – so black 7 might be next to red 33.