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.

Correction

Photos will come later. Or not.

Friday, Firenze

It is now 2.30pm and I am not going out again until I have finished downloading photos of Malta.

I was hoping that when I heard Italian all around me, I would remember more.  I am unsure whether that is true.  Today, friday, I went out early for a coffee and croissant and stumbled over my  words badly. The place was not ideal because, while the coffee and croissant were good, the area where you sat was hidden by a screen from what was going on, and stcky- beak me wants to see. When I came to pay he said €3. I said without thinking  'non abbastanza'. I.e. Not enough.  3 euros  about $5.  He was perplexed and took the time to show me the docket . It was too hard  and he was too busy for me to say anything other than grazie mille. 

Not far from me is the second ( I think, maybe 3rd) largest market in Florence. I went there this morning and walked around and around and finally settled on one where the lady looked friendly, greeted the locals by name . There were lots of types of different peaches and other fruits that i had never seen before. She was happy for me to pick 1 of a variety of different things of the same price. I bought some goats cheese. 

I wandered around more but had forgotten how confusing it can be to walk down 1 street at 7am in the morning and then the same street at 11am feels quite different . At 7 am there maybe 1 cafe and 1 newsagents open and no obvious sign what the closed places are.  Today i saw in the same street a dress shop next to a motor bike shop next to a bookshop, then a hairdresser.  It is becoming harder for me to keep a mental map in my head. Or maybe it will improve as  I get a bit more sleep. Hopefully.

I had a second coffee and a croissant, this time filled with hazelnut stuff. I was only charged €2.50. But it was a small black rather than a cappuccino

I had lunch at the place i found on the map that is open early.  I will try there  tomorrow and see iif i can sit somewhere where i can see. The lady spoke to me slowly in italian and I understood every word, so hopefully my recall will mprove.

Thursday. New country.

Yesterday all went to plan. A Lady appeared with her taxi 2 min before appointed pickup time of 4.45 am. We chattered all the time. She was quite interested in Australia and what life was like. She has noticed the downtown in number of tourists since the middle East troubles started. And rumbling Vesuvius has also been a big deterrent.

I calmly waited in a long queue for a boarding pass and put my bag in. She only glanced at my passport fleetingly. The flight left on time and arrived in Rome early. We had to wait in the plane for the ground crew to arrive. I collected my bag and followed the signs to the train to Rome, never once having to show my passport or get fingerprinted, like all the info on the internet says is happening now or should be happening now in Europe for foreigners the first time they enter Europe. I heard later that Rome,tried to but it was such a shambles that they gave up. Too hard. Going on my experienc in Frankfurt I wonder if even the Germans will give up.

The train to Rome Termini was a bit of a bun fight getting on, but people were helpful to me. Maybe I look like an old lady. The worst thing about waiting in Termini for the train to Florence was the noise. I walked around and around and could not find a spot to escape to. I even thought of hiding in a loo, but not at E2.2, the entry cost.  The train was on time, I got to Florence on time and then I walked the almost 2km to my apartment.  My choice - there are buses, but they would be crowded. 

'Apartment' Is certainly  not the right word to describe where I am quite sure I will be very happy for a month. It is some rooms in a big old 3 story home. Again 'story' is different . There were 13 steps between each floor of my apartment block in Canberra. There are 38 old stone steps between the ground floor and 1st floor. Luckily, there is a lift. (Tiny, old, squeaky) There is also a very fancy circular staircase going to the first floor. I have yet to count those stairs. ( I am not keen on spiral staircases. I think the side bits of out of focus multifocal lenses disturb my vision) In olden days the first floor was for receptions and fancy occassions. When I get out of the lift I walk into a smallish hallway and then into a bigger area.  The  fancy staircase leads to another door in this area. There are a few lounges were I can sit. What is now a bedroom is sumptuously decorated and was probably  a small fancy room  - ladies afternoon tea?  But it is a huge bedroom with a large window and little balcony overlooking a park. It has a very high ceiling and then a dome shaped thing on top. There is a cupboard that is my height. Based on that the ceiling is 3 times my height. There is a small modern bathroom . The last room is about the size of my lounge/ dining/ kitchen. In it is a large 6 seater table and kitchen and a large collection of cooking appliances.  I can sit in the large  back garden. The host, a lady not much younger than me, is delightful and I am sure will help if I have a problem. I have also met her daughter who I gather does the financial stuff of the BnB and speaks better English. Francesca , the mother, says it was her grandfather's  home. I will find out if he built it . The monthly discount they offered me was extraordinary.