MAY 4th
At 6 AM I woke up after only two hours of sleep. Thought I'd snack. Hunks of Parmagiano Regiano and bread (purchased already drenched with olive oil and spices)! Washed down with blood-orange juice (wonderful) and panaforte cioccolato e ciliege (kinda like chocolate fruit cake).
This started out as a reply to Joan’s e-mail but it seemed a good start for today’s blog. I went out after putting out the trash at 8 pm (a tenant requirement and also good excuse to go out at night…I think I’ve said that before). Watched the sun set on the Arno, again. Walked around and listened to music at various locations. Ate some more...of course. Then came back home and posted yesterday’s blog. At midnight I decided to go out, again. Went to a club nearby; that is very nice, very small and that has wonderful techno music with a dance floor and light show. I leave the dimensions of the club to last. It is underground. No it is not the usually thought of "underground" floating club scene; they are fun. NO, this one IS underground. No doubt part of the old sewer system. The highest point in the place is 8 feet high. I had to duck down to use the 5 foot 5 inch doorways to get from one room to the other. The dance floor is 10 feet wide and 30 feet long. Oh yes, all the ceilings are rounded. When I stood at the side of the room my spiked hair scraped the ceiling(I’m so happy to have gel again; a woman may not feel fully dressed until she applies lipstick…for me…gel). And was probably scratching nicotine scum off the ceiling (smoking is forbidden but they don't seem to care...kinda like the VFW in Gowanda). Another point of fact; there is no framing or drywall. It seems carved out of stone. The resulting din of sound bouncing off totally solid surfaces is amazing intense, as the twelve speakers (on the rounded area, thereby inches from your ears) rattle your insides. Perhaps one benefit will be the sound-wave removal of my arterial plaques (is that spelled correctly???). The place is fun but I probably ruined the good audiology report I just got from the VA. Oh, on top of that the DJ thought it was nifty to use his laser pointer to point out people in on the floor or shoot it on the disco ball thereby flashing the laser in our eyes. I anticipate deafness and blindness as the cost for the night out. I danced a lot and drank a Jack Daniels (forget fancy Hollywood drinks). Oh, yes. You know how hard it is to order a drink at a noisy bar. You lean over the bar and scream at the bartender and he still can’t hear you or you get the wrong drink. Well, these inventive bartenders (you will remember this from grade school) have two cups and a string. I swear! You scream into the 12oz plastic cup with the twine sticking out of the bottom and the bartender listens to you in the other plastic cup. Amazingly silly but it works. Oh, yes. Also inventive. They give you a "tab" the instant you walk in. As you drink the bartenders add little notes on a card that you carry around with you. You pay a cashier at the end of the evening. I thought this rather trusting. Until I realized, no windows. No egress. And the guy at the door is BIG. When I left I think it was 3:30 AM and there were a lot of people just getting there. Maybe I'll stay later the next time. Great dance music and a hoot. Well, we are now back to 6 AM where I began.
I rested a lot today.
Later, I met Daniele Lococo the other resident (permanent) on this floor. Her apartment is the size of mine and Giermo’s combined. She is very nice. Now is probably the time to confess my Italian language skills. Admittedly, and to my credit there are a few things I apparently say very well. To my simple, yet well phrased, “Buona sera” I therefore get a deluge of rapid fire Italian; like I’m some long lost nearly dead rich uncle they want to impress before he changes his will. As a result, my most well used phrase is the Italian for “I only speak a few words of Italian.” Then…and sadly I admit, is my penchant for just falling into mixing in bits of German or my horrible misuse of a few Spanish phrases. I feel like the language version of Sybil Dorset. Although, I don’t spit and drool like Sally Field did in that movie. I don’t think?
Drooling brings me to my next story. (And you all thought I was bad before… with my endless stories!!) For this I have included a picture. Just around the corner in a little Piazza is “Il Porcellino” dedicated in honor of a story by Hans Christian Anderson. All the tourists flock there for the good luck one gets from putting your hand into its mouth with a coin (of course) and letting the coin drop into the trough below. Now to get the full picture, note that the pig has slow drooling water coming out of its mouth. It is without doubt a beautiful bronze sculpture but who thought that gagging a drooling pig with a coin was good luck…except for the one cleaning out the coins from the trough below.
I should think of shutting up soon…. But let me say that I am so happy with my apartment and especially it’s location. Every night I take a stroll and listen to music at the Repubblica then at the Signoria just before bed. In addition, tonight I did go to hear the Duomo chime at 9 PM. But it seems they must turn it off after eight. However, I did discover on this trip a wonderful seated statue of Brunelleschi (across the street on the right side of the Duomo). He is intensely gazing up at HIS dome and jotting down something on a tablet. Later on the walk home just two blocks from my street (where they sell the knock-off designer handbags right under the “NO FAKES” city sign banning such sales) the police came screeching up in their cars right in the middle of all the guys selling the stuff. They all scattered like diner guests at dish-washing time. The police got a lot of their merchandise. Resourceful, the guys selling the stuff were set up by the Uffizzi by the time I got there to listen to music. There was a wonderful cool breeze.
Pictures for tonight: Il Porcellino, my favorite building (so far) 13th century, Arno sunset looking west, garden vines along the Arno and cones in a gelato shop.
