After 42 days of living La Dolce Vida (and also La Pasta Vida… and La Vino Vida… and La Baccala Vida etc.) in Firenze, we’ve officially reached the halfway point of our self-titled, “Residenza” (as opposed to this being a vacation).
To be sure, there are many, MANY people, places and things that we miss about the Great US Midwest but shifting away from our cushy-comfy and carefully-constructed Box o’ Life has been as fun and enlightening as it has been challenging and provocative.
In short, it’s just what we hoped for; and half-way into this literal and colloquial foreign experience we are looking very forward to entering the second half with magnitudes more comfort and familiarity with our situation than when we entered it on Jan 16.
To my point, when was that last time you circled a grocery store three times just to find the parking lot??!! Me, merely four weeks ago… now, I’m cruisin’ Firenze in my VW all over without MAPS APP.
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I’m a “Bass-Half-Full” optimist. Thus, I think this guy has a lot of great days ahead. So to, do the Italian dwelling Anne and I.
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Top 5 List: “Things We Can’t Get Used To”
Copious amounts of dog poop on the sidewalks
Loud, fast-moving and too-close-for-comfort motorcycles/scooters
99% of entry doors swing into the building. So, why it is after six weeks I’m still pulling?
We remain proud US citizens, but why are our fellow American travelers so gosh-darned loud? How do eight women reverberate like General Patton’s Mechanized Infantry?
Life without a car. We love walking; it’s healthy and all but it wears you down.
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HALF THE TOGETHERNESS: Having spent 42 days in a self-imposed Florentine (rhymes with Quarantine) isolation has opened our hearts, minds, eyes, ears and mouths in ways heretofore unattainable due to home-life distractions and diversions. It’s been kind of like the first six weeks of marriage back in 1990… we’ve somewhat re-cast our roles. ❤️❤️
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HALF THE VILLA: Villa Merlonero is such a beautiful place and now that we’ve mastered the heat and coffee machines, the second half will be perfect. It’s gotten to be so comfortable, we call it home.
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HALF OF THE FOOD. In fairness, nobody could ever eat half of what’s offered in Firenze, but exploring and finding the newest BEST PLACE is something we’ll gladly spend more time doing, especially now that we know the different types of restaurants and specialties.
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HALF THE STROLLING. Sure, we live 2 miles from Centro, but we love a good walk into town and have improved dramatically our dodge-and-weave, cross-check, elbow-nudge and kindly voiced, “Scusa” moves in order to make the experience more enjoyable. There are still avenues, via, streets, stradas and passagiare to be seen!
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HALF THE SIGHTS: Seeing the skyline from anywhere, day or night never gets old. Furthermore, it’s no exaggeration to say that we saw more iconic landmarks in a single day of our 2014 family trip to Florence than we have to-date over the past six weeks. What’s the hurry, paisano? We’re only halfway into our stay!! 🇮🇹🇮🇹
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HALF THE VINO: Let’s just say this, “84 bottles of wine on the wall, 84 bottles of wine. Take one down, pass it around… 83 bottles… as so on.” We have 42 bottles to go. Don’t fret gentle reader, if you visit Italy in the future there will enough left for you.
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HALF THE TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE. These views don’t get old. Never. Even the long-time residents admit they can go up the same hill every day – and on every day “GIVE THANKS” that such beautiful scenery exists.
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HALF THE SHOPPING. If you don’t count groceries, we really haven’t spent that much time in stores. I sense a BINGE coming.. unless that damned stock market continues its precipitous plummet; in which case we’ll just get jobs at Ferragamo and Fendi to claim employee discounts.
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HALF THE ROADTRIPS. Siena, Verona, Lucca, Padua, Orvieto and Genoa all on the to-do list. All within driving distance too!!
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HALF THE OUTDOOR WINTER ACTIVITIES: You all know by now that Anne walks and I ride. Even as the snow melts away on Chicago’s Tundra it’ll be a while before we can spend the time outside like we will here… wearing shoes, not boots!
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HALF THE FAMILY. #1 list on what we miss. In our family of four, the two of us comprise just half … so next week we’ll entertain our first Villa house-guests when Maddie, Hannah and Blake come to stay with us. Woo-Hoo! “Welcome to the bubble, we got fun and games, we got everything you want honey, we know the names!”
The Brandt Blog 
March 1, 2022 at 13:12
Love you both! You’re having the experience of a life time with so much more to enjoy!
March 1, 2022 at 14:08
😘😘 – so, if this is the experience of a lifetime what should we call it next year? Experience reincarnate? 😉😉
March 2, 2022 at 23:42
Great post. If you are having 1/2 the fun you seem to be having it is la dolce vita indeed!
March 3, 2022 at 02:05
Thanks !! Both for your loyal readership and comment 😊. In your honor I’m going to ride today on Viale Abramo Lincoln 🚴🏻♂️