Colin and I are in the internet cafe here in Florence. We so desparately need a connection to home, that we are will to pay to sit in the °caldo bruto° (brutal heat) to use their computers (of course, no AC in here...)
We arrived in Florence last night. It took about 3 hours to get here from our apartment in Rieti. We stopped for dinner on the highway (the A1) and the °chef express° service station is fast food italian style. Pasta made fresh for you with choices of sauce, and of course wine is a choice of beverage. In a rest stop. It's Italy dontcha know (Side note: caught the latest video from the Pussycat Dolls on Italian MTV. Wow they are trashy and don't make American women look good at all!!!)
Then thank goodness Brian was driving because the GPS had us going every which way to get to our convent. Yes, we are staying in a convent. It's actually beautiful. Brian joked that we were dropping Julia off there. The convent is Casa Santo Nome di Gesu. You can try and find it at www.fmmfirenze.it Franciscan sisters own it. For those of you familiar with Florence, it' on the south side of the Arno near the Pitti Palace. The kids are in a quad room with private bath and amazing fresco on the ceiling - Ed particulary likes the naked cherubs. ANd Brian and I are in a double donw the hall. Double. Convent. Single beds for all.
Luckily the rooms came with fans.
Up this AM for nice breakast and my first cup of coffee in 2 days... ah wonderful.
Then a walk down and across the river into the city center. We all climbed the 414 steps of the Campanile (bell tower) of the Duomo - there's no wait to climb the bell tower vs. the long wait to climb up to the top of the Duomo, so we opted for the the no wait. The breeze felt lovely up there, as the heat wave continues today. I am not enjoying anything over 32° and it's hovering in the high 30's. Down we went, found a supermarket (thank you Rick Steves) and got a picnic lunch. THe first of our gelatto experiences happened. Very messy and sticky. Then off again to the Duomo and inside where there is not much to see, but it is blessedly cool. Then the long walk home via the Ponte Vecchio.
I know it might be blasphemy, but I am not finding Florence to be that stunning. Nice, yes. Could be the hear. Could be doing it with the kids. Could be that Prague is so spectacular to me, that I end up comparing everything to it. We have reservations to see the David tomorrow. I have a feeling he'll make up for it.
So Colin and I have braved the heat while everyone else is napping. We needed a break to get back to some normalcy. And it's been hard to type this a bit as the Italian keyboard is slightly different. So if you see any weird typos, it's the keyboard. :)
We head back to Rieti tomorrow and then le gas is supposed to be there on Monday between 3 and 5. Please cross your fingers and send good thoughts this way that they actually show up.
Ciao,joelle
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2 comments:
I am so glad you started a blog! I know what you mean about not being impressed... I hated Paris. I know everyone else loved it - but I thought it was dirty and disgusting and full of grafitti. I felt like I was in the worst part of LA and was actually worried half the time!
So glad that we can access your story without having to havwe Dawn forward emails or Nena print out and deliver them.
Today is the first real Arriola Block Party. I am talking, signs,invites, rsvps --true orginazation. The new neighbors planned it. Maybe they will run for PFO soon.
Hope the heat wains a bit so you can enjoy your adventure more.
We miss you! Butterball says hi!
As they say here in Los Angeles,
Adio Muchacha
The wiesens
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