Thursday, September 22, 2011

Going home tomorrow....all packed...all cleaned up...shopped out and full of gelato, pasta, caffe, pizza, wine (well maybe not the wine) and all things in Italian. But we still had a moment to have a small picnic lunch at this park on the Arno....such fun! See ya'll soon!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Food, glorious food....it's really all about the food....and it is so fresh. We were laughing..or talking really about how far the food we ate today traveled. When you buy food in the USA, it travels a lot of miles...and sometimes you don't even know where it did come from. The food we ate today could be identified by the local shop where it was made...or at least purchased from a vendor who knew the farmer. So here goes: For lunch we had sandwiches made with local buns from our local Forno (bread shop), salamie from the charcuterie down the alley, cheese from up the hill at Ste. Brigda and local wine. For supper we had pasta made by the nice ladies of Pasta Fresche at the Mercato Centrale, with a sauce of local tomatoes and pancetta. White wine from up the road at Ste Brigda (where are Red comes from too). For dessert we had very dark chocoate from Arte del Cioccolato (on via Porto Rosso)...made there! So if you like your food fresh and local (remember the snail story from earlier in this blog), come to Florence...

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

We went to the Boboli Gardens today. Most people visit the Pitti Palace and run out to see the big statue in the middle of the beginning of the Garden and then go home...not us...we skipped the Palace (except the WC) and spent almost 4 hours in the Garden. We decided that it was perhaps the best garden we had ever visited....much better than Versailles (Paris, not KY). Here are a few pictures of the Gardens and us behaving badly like Americans. We also had a pretty good picnic in a covered path...lots of stone benches in the park...it was awesome!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Today was a day of contrasts. It rained last night and it was very windy when we went for our morning walk. However, later in the morning we went to the market and just as we came out of

store it began to hail...hail of all things . So we ran under an umbrella and stayed until the hail stopped...then continued our shopping. On our afternoon walk, we were crossing the Ponte Vecchio and even stranger than hail....a Monday bride and groom. It's some kind of tradition in Florence for brides and grooms to walk over the Ponte Vecchio (getting their beautiful white dresses really nasty on the bottom)....and as you can see...big sun shining. What a funny weather day!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

So....this morning while we were getting ready for church we hear drums...and horns....and lots of other music stuff. Not wanting to be left behind when the parade gets going, we high-tailed it out of the apartment and down the elevator to the "front porch". In a so not American way, it appears there is a "community orchestra" competition going on this morning...maybe not a competition, but about 25 community orchestra/bands were here....and baton twirlers and flag corps and cheerleaders....it was fun to see young, old, female and male members of the band...looked like it could have been three generations in a few of them. Here's what they looked like.

It also rained this afternoon..see what our "front porch" looks like in the rain.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

It's wedding day in Florence. We went for our walk this morning at 9:30 and they were already lining up....At noon, we had already seen three brides. We also had an evening of serendipity. One of the reasons we love Florence so much is that there are always surprises....around every corner and quite free and fun. Around 6:00 this evening what appeared to be the youth orchestra of the commune of Firenze gave a free concert in our front yard (Piazza delle Signoria). Later this evening, after a quick supper, we went for our usual evening stroll and gelato...and again happened on one of those "pop-up" events. During the day, the market Porcellano is full of vendors selling scarves, belts and leather purses....this evening it was full of Opera....and oh my, what a beautiful sound it was. The picture does not do the scene justice, but this is what it looked like. We can't think of another city anywhere that has so much to see for so little money!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Panzano....a small town in the Chianti region of Tuscany and just a short bus ride away. Today was the beginning of the Vino al Vino Festival in Panzano and we were there to "kick 'er off". This is actually our second Vino al Vino and we enjoyed the day more than ever. There is a great trattoria called Oltre il Giardino and their terrace looks out over the Val d'oro (golden valley). So here are some pictures of our day...oh yeah, and we met the famous Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini. He's known for his beef meals! No vegetarians in this town...and beautiful beef it is that he sells....and wine and salamie and olive oil.....so, enjoy the pics while we enjoy some more wine.