Week #2: Pics and Quips

It’s safe to say that after 14 days, Anne’s and my respective bio-rhythms have synched with Florentine astronomical, artistic and geographical cycles. If that commentary seems pretentious and absurd, what can I say? This is where the Renaissance began – SHOUTS OUT to: Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante and DaVinci. If it seems like old people kvetching about their minor maladies, what can I say? We ARE just old retired folk.

In more concise terms, we’re happily settling in to our “Residenza.” There is comfort in the familiarity of thinking about: cooking, driving and running errands. The assumption that Anne and I will do everything together is just as nice of a change to settle into. To think, we have only one car and we seldom use it.

Read on… here’s a peek into the week #2 that was.

The four pics above reflect what grocery shopping and Sundays in Firenze look like. I’m in awe at the quality and selection of food at the local “delis” – it’s no wonder that the kitchen is so small. For $20 we buy veggies, po’tates, breads, legumes, cheese, meats and pastries to last 3-4 meals. And, that Grosso fish counter is in the basic COOP Supermarket and rivals the fishmongers’ stands in Venice. Octopus, fishies from both coasts and rivers betwixt … 25 kids of crustaceans, mollusks, oysters, clams, mussels. What the heck; have I died and gone to Bikini Bottom? ASIDE: The astute observers will notice on our plates likely what is the same salmon species that we buy from Clarence in the ‘Ville. Simply put, we’ve been eating everything else all week: squid, sea bream, octopus, baccala, shrimp, branzino and tuna and miss our go-to protein. That crowd pic is typical of Sunday in Firenze Centro… EVERYONE gets dressed up for church then heads downtown for lunch/shopping/socializing and dinner with friends and family. No other day of the week looks anything like this.

The above pics are form Abrezzo. We took a day trip about an hour out of town and LOVED finding a touristy-friendly lunch in the sun of Grand Piazza. The Warm Sun being the key driver of our selection. Abrezzo’s merchants largely had closed up shop for the winter but we loved the quiet – and for a town historically fought over by the wealthy, warring cities of Firenze and Siena… the humble folks in Abrezzo have built a lovely and protective wall, towering Duomo and bustling centro zone all around the 1000 year-old structure left by the Romans. Oh yeah… the Abrozzo residents love beef. The cow ironically welcomes diners to a restaurant featuring delicacies made from said beef. Yum or Yuck??

We visited the Uffizi and Pitti Palazzo this week and took in some terrific art. Or maybe it took us in. Either way, waiting two weeks to visit a museum would previously been unheard of… particularly the world famous curations such as the Uffizi. We agreed that visiting Firenze’s museums more regularly was a good idea before suddenly our time here runs out.

I saw some cool things on my rides this week, too as captured above. Out of nowhere appeared the American WW2 cemetery… just 7-8 miles from Firenze Centro. I don’t recall ever reading about the battles fought here resultingin US casualties, but here’s the aftermath. It’s a small, but moving monument to the Greatest Generation – funny how these types of things transcend politics. The landscapes throughout Chianti never get old and one route that I took was loaded with ‘Castelli’; every hilltop seemingly had one. I’ve also noticed in many different places that vineyards/olive groves burn their pruned cuttings… likely a seasonal thing. I’m def not riding in CA anymore, Toto. BTW – that empty pack of smokes on the ground just confirmed that other cyclists have paused their rides at the same scenic overlook as did I to click a few pics. The last pic is me at a Sunday market… almost every town on Sunday has women gathering at Piazza’s to buy stuff or men loitering outside cafes to drink cafes.

Thanks for reading – we’ll keep Blogging. Ciao! 😘 😘 ❤️ ❤️