I fly home two weeks from today – bittersweet.
This morning I took the #7 bus from Piazza San Marco up to Fiesole, around a 30-minute ride in a nicely air-conditioned bus. Rebecca and 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 in 2003 with Nan at the outdoor Roman amphitheater, Romano di Fiesole. The concert that night in 2003 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 all 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
Once back 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 stone 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 to buildings 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.
This morning I took the #7 bus from Piazza San Marco up to Fiesole, around a 30-minute ride in a nicely air-conditioned bus. Rebecca and 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 in 2003 with Nan at the outdoor Roman amphitheater, Romano di Fiesole. The concert that night in 2003 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 all 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
Once back 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 stone 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 to buildings 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.