Some thoughts and recommendations for future trips.

Do not assume bicycles on the road  comply with One- way direction signs

In the past you may have been good at looking at a map and thinking 3rd left into street A , then 2nd right into Street B. Donot  assume you still can,.

With reference to point above, if you think you are going the wrong way ( ie, there are less people in the street than you would have expected if you were correct in your directions and heading towards busier places) then stop and look at the map. Donot keep walking.

With reference to a point a few weeks ago about the increasing with age difficulty of managing fluid input and fluid output, it is very stupid to stubbornly think  " i'm not paying €1" and walk on. 

Remember, electric  cars make no noise!

If you do decide to have a glass of wine with a nice meal, and choose something you have not ever heard of and want to remember, write it down before the menu is taken away.

If you have ordered a glass of wine , particularly at lunch where you are probably a way from 'home', and you get a generous  amount of wine, you donot actually have to drink it all. 

In Florence many footpaths are narrow and the paving is very uneven. Passing people is hazardous. 

Many of the older buildings have windows on the ground floor . The sill is often about 5ft above the ground and sticks out over the crowded narrow footpath.. So not only do you have to have eyes looking towards the uneven footpath, you need to look out for head height concrete sills, and unexpected bicycles and unheard electric cars. This is at the same time as dodging all  the other people on the path.

Belated Wednesday and Thursday

Yesterday I had a slow start then went to the Basilica of Santa Maria right next door to the main train station in Florence. It is about 2km from where i am staying. It was quite pleasant standing in the line in the nice garden  to get a ticket.  Some people were being asked for their identity cards /passports other were not. I was idly trying to work out which category I would be in.  For some reason I was not asked.

Yet another amazing space. Several cloisters. I have yet to see a bench or anywhere for someone to sit in any cloister. In this church I  found a stone wall that i sat on for a while and nobody asked me to move. Probably thought I was an old lady who needed a rest ( how perceptive). I will be catching a tram from the station to the airport on Thursday week and thought I would check out where the tram left from. Which i did, but several crowded trains must have just disgorged their passengers . There were hordes of people , all with huge suitcases, all in a desperate struggle to get somewhere fast. I  very quickly moved off.

There is often only a few euros differn3ce  in price between an average , perfectly acceptable meal and a slightly better, nicer meal, usually in a far quieter place. So I am now, as of yesterday, spending a bit more on my main meal which is always out.  Bread and cheese is fine for my evening meal.

Today I went to the Pizzi Palace, the 3rd in my combined ticket bought last week. It has yet another amazing collection of art, but it is quite confusing. A long line of small rooms with paintings over all the walls, with very little space between them. Yet another gallery that does not have a printed map that they can hand out to people who like to know  where different paintings are and  where the exits are.  The map in my very old guide book had different names to all the rooms. I did find what I was looking for with the aid of one of the many museum staff that were loitering around, watching nobody did the wrong thing.

In the same building there was an exhibition of costumes over the centuries . Quite interesting. Then I hurried back here  for my regular 8.30pm  Cbr time Zoom with whichever of my 3 children are free for. 

Tomorrow I will only got out out for my morning coffee and my main meal. At my local shops, san Ambroglio,  (about 400m away from where i am staying,)  are several cafes, a supermarket,  a church, several bars, shoe shop , a book shop,  2 nicer restaurants and 100m further on is  the second largest market in Florence. I might have a potter inside tomorrow. I hardly ever hear English spoken. Stuff is quite cheap. And about 100m further on is an icecream shop ,supposedly one of the best in Florence. 

Wednesday

Alive and well, but tired.  Details tomorrow

Basilica of San Lorenzo

This  was the parish church of the Medici and they were very very rich, but the church itself was not overly crowded with adornments.  The entry fee came with a link to an audio guide that you could download and listen to as you went around. It took me a while tosort myself out, not having a wireles  earpiece, just an old fashioned cord. Just as well, the day before I had increased my download data allowance.  The Cloisters were lovely, very peaceful. There was a second story on the buildings  around the  courtyard. It had been designed so the you could see the roofs behind the church, which somehow made the Cloister feel more peaceful.

In 1524 Michelangelo designed and had built a library to house all the manuscripts the Medicis had accumulated.  If you can imagine a church with wooden pews each side of a central aisle (i pew per row) . Then the back of the pew in front was extended upwards to support a large manuscript. The manuscripts were stored there and read where they were stored. It's hard to explain, but I thought interesting. Hopefully photos  coming  soon.

I slept in this morning, so that was about all  I did today. I walked along different streets , but didnot want to overdo it after yesterday's exertions.

So,  I have  seen lots of restaurants/ trattorias/ etc lots of names which are often partly interchangeable. Many say Tuscany specialists , but I have seen quite a few Sicilian restaurants.  No other provinces.  This afternoon I  asked  Ms Google  if there was a connection between florence and Sicily. Sure enough : in the 13th century poets in Palermo's royal court wrote in the Sicilian vernacular rather than Latin and invented the sonnet. These poems travelled to Florence, heavily inspiring Dante Alighieri, who later used the Tuscan dialect to shape the standardised Italian language. I knew that the modern Italian was based on the Tuscan dialect, but not the before that.

Sunday and Monday Boboli Gardens

Yesterday  I stayed in for the day, with only a few excursions to the local bar for my morning coffee,  and to a trattoria for lunch. I was able to organise come of my photos.

Today I walked to the other side of the river, then up and up again to the main (I thought it was the main one, but maybe not.)entrance to the Boboloi Gardens. These were started for the Medici family in the mid 1500s  According to the guide book they are a ' perfect example of stylised Renaissance gardening' .  I was not overly impressed but maybe I was just having an off day. There is a cafe in the map on my guide book , and there are signs in the gardens to it. I found the building but it is clearly not in use  as a cafe and has not been for a while ( the signs should be fixed) . There are lots of meandering paths, particularly up the top, where I started. And  lots of quite big  stone stairs you can use . But no hand rail anywhere. Maybe that is just my problem  at the moment. Some interesting plants. A long avenue of cypress tress with many, many  classical statues along it, but most were quite gungy looking ( green moss? Alge? Changing stone colour? The Neptune fountain, one of the main attractions, was being repaired and there were temporary opaque fence things all around it  so that was out too. When I left a French couple were struggling at the exit/ entrance  with the attendant who had no English or French.  They were asking her how much walking was there , were there things to see. I was able to quickly glance at my watch to see my steps, convert that to km, describe how much of the park I had covered, said the views were OK but told them where I had been a few days ago which had better views, about No Neptune  and No cafe etc.  They saved themselves 10 euro each. 

Then I walked back, As soon as possible i  stopped at a small local bar, and sat for my coffee. Usually toilets in smal bars in my experience are small and uninviting. However this one was quite new and there was a white, real cyclamen ( mind you, I saw cyclamens in the markets for 5 euros each the other day) . On the way out i said in French  -  Good bye, thank you and I like your flower. The barman had been polite, but bordering on abrupt , but he was busy. When I mentioned the flower , he gave me a great big smile and looked  really pleased.  Such a small thing for me to do, but clearly he appreciated it.

Having deliberately  had no pasta for a few days, and  having walked 13 km today  I think I will go to  1 of the local places for a plate of pasta and an aperol spritz.  

Saturday Oct 10 Uffizi Galeries

This morning I left as early as convenient and got to the end of the queue for the Uffizi Gallery at 8.30. Many people were ahead of me but the line was steadily moving.  Again, I had to leave my passport to get an audioguide, went thru scanners ( though not as sensitive as the airline ones now), encouraged to download the map of the gallery. I found a nice looking official man and asked if there was anywhere I could get a real map. He was not young and understood. Er, he said, not really . Just a minute. He went behind a desk and gave me a paper map. Excellent,, thank you. Some of the people in tour groups I noticed had them.. The gallery is huge, there were many many many people. I though there is no way I am going to be handle this for long. There were about 50 rooms with ranging from 2 or 3 paintings to about 15 paintings / sculpure/ whatever in each. I walked thru the first 5 or 10 galleries without looking at the paintings, thinking they were not the period I wanted to see and I could go back. Turns out you can only go 1 way. Ah well, too bad,. Then I wanted to look at some, but you ahd to wait your turn while people manoeuvred around you ,. All the time surrounded by people,,quite closely. There was a long queue of people waiting to get into a particular group of 5 rooms. My map had on it what they were, and, luckily, not the ones I was interested in, so I bypassed that queue and it became more pleasant. Or rather  less unpleasant. I was pleased to see the ones I was looking for and some other paintings from artists whose work I have seen before. As  usual , you get out through the gift shop. There were a few things that caught my eye but I was too tired. So left , about 2 1/4 hours after I arrived.

I found a pleasant place in a side street for a coffee and worked out what to do for the rest of the day. - walk to the local markets, buy more fruit  and more cheese, bring it back , then  go to the place I have been to before that has nice food a bit cheaper than other places.  Luckily when I dropped the shopping off I met Chiara, the daughter of the house sweeping the foyer. I asked her about my anti - mosquito gadget that did not appear to be working last night. It is a small bottle filled with some liquid that you plug into a power point.  Lots of the little blighters kept me awake. Turns out I had taken it out the previous night to look at it and put it back upside down .  No wonder it didnot work. I am hoping for a good night's sleep tonight!

 

Friday 9 October Santo Spirito

This morning I walked to the Santo Spirito area on the other side of the river , about 3 km from here. I pottered around the piazza in front of the church, then went inside. It dates back to about 1250, but Brunelleschi ( an architect who I like, fairly simple but nicely proportioned buildings) redid the inside in 1435. But 100 or so years later someone added a construction that looks like a mini copy of the church in the bit between the 2 transects. The guide book calls this bit a fancy Baroque  baldacchino.  Google tells me that a baldicchino is a covering over the altar. This particular baldicchino was held up by its own mini pillars and looked out of place to me. In this church they did not charge you but said you could not take photos.

Then  i pottered around some streets in the area. Many narrow ones with sqatter older apartment blocks, all sorts of different small shops mixed in the dwelling units. There was a fancier street with mostly fancy things for your home. But  i shop was unusual. I spent a while looking in the window and could see nothing other than dog collars for sale. There were several models of dogss, no cats, from which I deduce that these collars were only for dogs.

Then i crossed the river and found myself in an area of very fancy ,,very high- end  designer shops. With quite obscene prices.. I hurried along,  felt hungry, tried a few laneways away  from the major road,  no luck, kept walking, found a place that looked quite full, but said they had space for me. After waiting for ages for a menu, the head man was obviously ignoring me, finally someone else gave me a menu, I waited ages more,  i tried to get the head man's attention but he contiñued to look past me, so after a while I walked out. I have never done that before. They was a nearby table of elderly women who were watching me. As I got up one of them stood up to get the  guy's attention.  T,hat was nice, that they tried. I thanked them, but there was no way I was going to sit down again.  So a bit later on I found another place that was lovely. I was treated with respect and enjoyed watching the waiter deal expertly / flirt with a group of Serbian woman at the same time as attend to  other tables. 

I stopped to look at the yarn in a 'wool'  shop. There are all sorts of different combinations of yarns that we do not see in Australia. But I miss timed the day and by the time I got to my local market it was closed. 

Thursday 8th

Today was filled with talking to some of  my  family members,, reading, planning the rest of my days here - well  at least sorting the things i want to see vaguely into priority groups and noting which ones were closed on what day,  going out for coffee twice and lunch once,  dodging rain showers.

10 07 Wednesday

After my normal morning of coffee and croissant i walked across the river to an area called  San Niccolo.  I stopped to have the 2nd part of breakfast  at a fancy new place. I asked in italian for what I wanted, she replied in English that I could talk to her in English, I replied  in Italian that I was learning Italian and would like to keep trying in Italia. Certainly, she replied in Italain. She charged €3.50  (AUD 5.60)  for a cappuccino and a large piece of apple strudel (!i have seen this in several fancy places, the in thing). Excellent value.. As an aside to today's ramblings, I have realised that I have not been eating enough protein. Last time I think that I had anything to chew on was rather small bit of rabbit stew I had in Malta.  A bit of bolonaise sauce in the lasagne yesterday. 

T today's aim was to walk up the hill  to the south  of Florence to a church called San Miniato Al Monte. I walked up  to a gate in the old wall built in 1266  and the oldest still surviving. . And up and up and got to a place called piazzale de Michelangelo,  a large parking place for cars and tour buses ( I counted 6) and lots of people  admiring the view of Florence and the surrounding countryside. then more up and up to the church.  All around the church is a cemetery,  with many many rows of  tiny little houses for the rich and famous, going back to late 1800s. The facade of the church was started in 1090 ., but the church was built over the Shrine of St Minias in 1018 . He was an Armenian merchant who was beheaded for his christian beliefs.  Inside the church is quite small and plain and considered one of the most unspoiled Romanesque churches in Tuscany,

There is an interesting Byzantine style mosaic in the roof of the apse. Underneath in the crypt there is another small altar and some seating and pillars made of out of scrounged roman villas.

.

I walked down, down, down and found  a hole in the wall that actually opened out into several rooms where I got a plate of cheap, delicious pasta for lunch. I was looking for meat but gave up. There were no other females, only work men . But a very clean toilet.

Today was the furthest I have walked  -  11 

Monday and Tuesday

Yesterday my destination  was Santa Croce Basilica and the surrounding area. I had intended on getting there just before it opened, but wandered around too much so that I was about 30 minutes too late. Too many groups waiting to enter, people milling around etc, so I wandered around more streets. At on point, in a nearby square, I stopped for a coffee and croissant. NEar me, the most I have paid is €3.80. I was charged €8. I donot know, and I donot intend on finding out if everything gets marked up but 4 euros or everything gets doubled.  I thought I was far enough from Santa Croce to be safe , but no.  I found a nice quiet place for lunch in a backwater that was priced the same as I have being paying. I frittered away the afternoon reading about places to go, doing a cryptic crossword and reading.

The last time I was in Italy was with Noel in 2017 I think. Then it was still the custom that I remembered from quite a few previous trips to Italy that if you bought a drink in a bar about 5ish, they included substantial snacks,,enough for a second meal if you had had a big main meal at lunch. ( I did observe in some places that I got the same as a table for 2., the norm. The food plates were prepared beforehand) Anyway, I thought I would see what happens here. I went to the friendly place I go now for my morning cappuccino and ordered an aperol spritz. I was given the choice of chips or peanuts to go with it. Not quite the same. Ah well. I did though have an interesting half hour talking to a local, a woman of 80 who lived nearby.

I forgot- a most annoying part of the day was that i accidently  deleted the days route  from the app I use to track where I have been.  Nevermind, I carefully saved todays route.

This morning i got to the church before it opened and got in before the crowds. I did feel uncomfortable though at the start. I bought a ticket, €10  then lined up to buy an audio guide¿€6.  Then the lady, who was trying to be pleasant  and appeared to speak good English, wanted my passport ( or identity card which Europeans have)   so I would return the audioguide) There was a box of passpots behind her on a bench in clear view.. I said politely that I was not happy leaving my passport there  and did I really have to. She just said yes. I stood thinking, my mind racing. Meanwhile the queue is getting longer. I went in, leaving my passport with her. I wanted to see inside the church. It is the first Gothic church I have be in for a while  - plainer, but still lovely. I pottered around for ages. Some highlights : a large wooden cross with Jesus on it painted in about 1265 that was severely damaged in the flood of 1966. End of Byzantine style. According the guide I listened to, after restoring a lot of it, they left some undone so that part of Jesus' s body looks hazy and etheral . The restorer decided that the work of art should show its history. Maybe that's just a copy-out and it was too hard. Michaelangelo 's tomb was interesting and so was Machiavelli's tomb. I know nothing about him. he's next on the list after basilicas.  The sun was rising as I was there and shining right into the stained glass windows behind the altar creating interesting colours in the church. Easy to just sit, I found, as I did.( having forgotten about my passport) ( which was there when i left)

Then i found a reasonably priced place for lunch and started homeward.  Most direct route  1km. My circuitous route 2.5, via a stop for an iceceream  and then an iced coffee ( no cream or icecream), then the supermarket for  some yoghurt for breakfast.

 

Sunday 4 Oct St Francis of Assisi day..

.. and a public Holiday.

This will be brief. I have just battled for several hours working out what galleries I want to go to, when is the best time, finding a deal for 3 of them, creating an account ( several times, it was not straight forward) etc etc. This is after battling with the blogspot software and my photos. My  '2 galleries and 1 gardens in 5 days' deal  starts on Saturday.

Another cool day to start, then warmed up , but I was never overhot in long sleeved shirt and my trusty new black pants with lots of not obvious pockets. I just wandered around along different streets. I think I have told you of the app  I use which tracks and saves my routes so I can go along different roads.

Lots of people,around the tourist sites, but within a block or 2 there are only locals. I was a bit naughty. One time I saw a  tourist group aka a swarm ( as in obnoxious bees) ( except when I am in one) approaching me. I could have moved to the edge of the widish pathway but I just stood where I was . Why should i move?. Normally i move out of the way , ( so i dont get stung) They had to move around me. Some gave me a wry smile, others an unpleasant scowl.  Some just ignored me completly. Seriously, I need to find the etiquette of passing people on foot on narrow ( 1 smallish person) width footpaths on the edge of narrow streets with cars and bikes etc driving along. 

This afternoon I  went to a gelateria that had been recommended. About 6 different  types of chocolate. I chose the one with bits of candied orange peel., Delicious. But the shop was in a funny place. Not near a park . Nowhere to sit. 

I  have been reminded that balancing fluid input and fluid output as you get older and wander around odd places, off the tourist trail , is getting harder. 

more

More

Sorry, I cannot do portrait photos.

some photos of Valletta

Saturday 3 Oct

While this place I am staying in is spacious and opulent in an old fashioned way, there are a few quirky things that are taking a bit of getting used to.  The light switches are all over the place and not always where you would expect them. The lighting as a whole is not great. I have to put effort into finding a place  to sit and read or knit , not at the table, where there is enough light. . Maybe move a chair.  The floors are all stone blocks, but quite worn and uneven in places. The floors are often at different levels in different rooms. Often only about .5 cm  but I have stubbed my toes a few times. The bathroom is modern.

It was a bit noisy last night, even with the window closed. The local lads  ( maybe lasses too , but I only heard lads) where quite loud. But it did not keep me awake.

I went to a second different local Cafe this morning. Again I did not have a view of the bar area from the room I sat in. Coffee and cornetto were good. I have been told over the years that cornetto and croissant were the same ( always croissant in french but either in italy)  but I read somewhere recently that there used to be difference in the texture.

I then went to a museum  called Ospedale degli Innocenti. Hospital of the innocents. This used to be a place where mothers  could leave  babies that they  were unable to look after. I am unsure when it started but in 1465 the intake was 200. There was a big display of how the place grew and  changed over the years. It was an interesting,  peaceful building.

It was not opened when i arrived, so I looked in the adjoining church.  Attached , next building around a square.  It was quite ornate . Apparently  , a basilica. I remember thinking once before that I wanted to know what makes a basilica a basilica.  Watch this space.

Then it was morning tea time . I discovered a new thing I have seen a few times in cafes -  budino di riso.  Different shapes, but usually like a friand.  Made with rice flour, but  with some texture and bigger bits almost like rice grains, so not like our rice flour. A bit sweet, but not too sweet.

Next in my day was a disappointment.  About 6 months ago I read a book which described a church in Florence  which had been badly affected by the flood , but people had been able to save a famous painting. I looked it up and it is a couple of blocks from me. Trouble is, as I found out this morning, it is closed for renovations. Che peccato!

So, after a few days of bits and pieces of food through the day I thought i would have a nice lunch, which i did.  When i was younger,  I saw lots of the stereotypical little old Italian ladies walking around dressed in black. ( There is a point to this ramble)   I remember yesterday seeing 2 no - longer-young ladies , both wearing nice black dresses.  Well, today I was seated in a room with 6 tables. One had 5 people and I donot remember what they were wearing. They left soon after I arrived.  Soon after I sat down a lady, probably in her 50s came in with a short sleeved black, nicely cut dress.   Then a couple in their 40s, then 2 couples together. All in their late 60s I'd guess. Both women were wearing nice black linen dresses. Both sleeveless, so I donot  think they had been to a funeral. They didnot behave like they had just been to a funeral.  So I will start to notice. And not worry about being out of place in my black trousers. I definitely  stood out in Malta. Lunch was nice, but nothing special.