In an effort not to experience Florence from behind a lens, I don’t always take my camera with me. However, when I do take it, I insist on being prepared. One never knows when the battery will run dry, so I take an extra one with me. One of those super strong long-lasting Lithium batteries. May I suggest that you heed the warnings of my foolish mistake. Don’t put loose batteries in the same pocket as you put your loose change. The coins made contact and completed the circuit. I couldn’t quite roast weenies on my pocket of Euro change but it all got pretty darn hot. And the battery will probably run dry sooner than usual (and they are four times more expensive here).
Confession is good for the soul, so I’ll continue. Laundry chores came along again. Everything I brought from California had been washed many times making it easier to mix all clothes in the same load. Thus saving on separate smaller washes. Unfortunately, I forgot… briefly forgot that the temperature gauge was in Celsius. I basically pushed the boil button. This one green shirt bled green like a giant dismembered praying mantis. Now my white socks and the landlords white towels are pastel green. And I can’t find a bottle of Clorox to save my life. If you saw the apartment pictures I posted you might notice the color of the tiles…yes, green…light green. I wonder if the landlord will notice the change in color if I just leave the towels the lovely praying mantis green?
Household chores-day is Wednesday, after the gym.
Quaint little neighborhood shops provide a large percentage of my groceries. I also do the central and neighborhood market days. But sometimes one just has to march directly into the new century and do the supermarket. For me that means a #23 bus ride to Firenze Nova and Esselunga (the supermarket). They have nifty little hand-held gadgets that you can use to scan things as you put them in your cart and then have a digital running total of what you have spent. On the way home I stopped again at my usual flower market (at the post office) for fresh flowers.
No! I don’t just shop, scrub clothes and do the gym. But all those usual easy mundane things at home are a bit out of one’s safety zone here and thereby make those normally dull chores very interesting. At the very least I pick up a few more Italian words, to mangle.
Ok, I do confess that even at home I love to go to the grocery store.
Yesterday was my appointment at the Ufizzi. Even with reserved appointment times the line was about 20 minutes (including the metal detector and pocket contents check). I was there very early so there were no horrible crowds. The building is “U” shaped with the bottom of the “U” at the edge of the Arno River (and a great view). The place is packed with art following a chronological placement, except the hallways that are just abundantly lined with sculpture (and the upper rails of the hallways have portraits side by side for the entire length of the entire structure).
The ceilings throughout the building (as with the rest of Firenze) are great but the hallways are spectacular. The art collection has the famous “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli, “Portrait as an Old Man” by Rembrandt and the “Bacchus” by Caravaggio (although I liked the shield with Medusa head better). It is an overload of famous and not so well known art but a great stroll through history. The Medici’s certainly did love to collect.
I tried last night and will try again this weekend to get “wait-list” admittance to the Corridoio Vasariano (if people don’t show you get in and don’t have to pay). The Medici used this corridor to go from the Palazzo Vecchio through the Ufizzi and to the Ponte Vecchio without having to mingle with the commoners. Since the Vasariano was bombed in the early 1990’s it isn’t open much except for special occasions. These tours, that I am trying to get in (on wait-list), have been fully booked for some time through the festivities of Il Genio Fiorentino.
Your pictures for today are: Ufizzi ceiling detail, back of Ufizzi overlooking the Arno, fountain in Piazza SS Annunziata, palazzo patio furniture and window overlooking the Arno.
