This & That & Thoughts on the Trip

The little church around the corner - San Niccolo - was a nice place to visit. They have a little choir of about 10 women and the organist, who plays a keyboard for the service, and an organ piece at the end. There is a couple who do the readings, and the priest, in saddle shoes, lights the candles with a bic lighter before vesting. It finally occurred to me that I could bring up the Mass text in Italian on my phone so I could follow along. They sang Regina Caeli (in Latin) at the end- I guess because it was May. It felt good to sing along.

Santissima Annunciata Cathedral was a great visit. On the he way back we stopped at the Santissima Annunciata Pharmacy - I got some face cleaner, and the lady gave me some face cream samples. Very nice product, so we went back to pick up a jar. She gave me perfume samples. Extremely nice, but I'll resist.
Sunset- beautiful from the Piazalle Michaelangelo, but we were also very happy with the view from along the Arno. We got pics of Ponte Della Grazie with the sun setting behind Ponte Vecchio... We went to the park several evenings to enjoy the view without the climb (or bus chases).

Walking around - it's what we did most of the time. We took some buses, but mostly walkin- Santa Croce and the Ponte Vecchio areas were our most frequent visits.

Shopping - 2 things saved us from over-buying. 1) We had to carry everything. Not generally a problem unless we were doing the Coke Zero stock-ups. 2). The small fridge. If you get too much, you have nowhere to put it. There was very little left- some decaf coffee which I labeled and dated for the next visitors, the same with some Nesquick. We finished the olive oil that was there and left a mostly full bottle.

Speaking Italian - when I was allowed to get a few words out before the locals switched to English, I was complimented. Some people were kind enough to let me continue in Italian. When we get on the ship, it will be tough not to use the "reflex words"- Buon giorno, grazie, prego buona giornata, piacere.....

Neighborhood Pub- we met the most interesting people- mostly Americans and Canadians, and mostly college age and recent grads- at the Joshua Tree Pub. We went frequently for an evening bev. The first couple of times I ordered Aperol Spritz- but instead of bitters, prosecco and a bit of fizzy water, it was all fizzy water. I switched to Guinness, while Wayne enjoyed Peroni.

Our apartment - it was a great place to spend a month. It was perfect for Wayne and me. There were 8 steps up- so glad it wasn't more, and that we didn't end up on the third floor somewhere without a lift. I locked us out once, but Francesca's kids came to the rescue.

The flood of 1966- the impact remains. Looking down at the Arno from the street, it appears to be 30-40 feet below. The flood went about 15 feet above the street level. All across Florence. That's a lot of water.Read more