Piazza Della Signoria in Florence
Straw Hats and Statues
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Cooking with Antonio
Making lasagna that melts in your mouth. Must be the pound of butter and red wine!
Gelato and Michelangelo.
Ok. So where have I been and where are my pictures? Last night I had planned to do an update of the last to days,complete with pictures. Unfortunately, the wireless hotspot is only available in the lobby and my vodafone connection is weak an keeps shutting off. Must be because my room is in the very old section of a Tuscan villa that was origninally a monastary. My room is an old monk’s quarters. I wonder how many lonely monk nights were spent in this room…. if only the walls could talk. The view outside my room is of the Tuscan hillside and as I write this there is deafeining silence. I hear nothing but the clock ticking. I have the window wide open and there is a gentle Tuscan breeze that is most welcome after the sweltering heat of yesterday. Friday we spent in Cinque Terre trotting about the trails and hillsides betweeen the five towns that hang on the sea clifts on the Ligurian coastline. What a spectacular sight this was. There were many many steps up and down, to and fro the train that connect the towns to each other. Here is where I tasted anchovies as they should taste. Fresh from the sea, soaked in lemon and fresh as springtime. Not at all like the nasty anchovies that live on pizza back home. I also had some wonderful strawberry gelato scooped up for me by this italian man that looked like he should have been donning the pagesof GQ. I told him in my limited Italian that I was hot today. He said. “Me too” with a great big smile. Later when we were on the bus, a friend and I were talking about the ice cream man and another tour companion mentioned she had seen him too. I think all the Amerian women who come to Vernazza must already know about Gelato man.
On Saturday we did a walking tour of Florence. I stood in the main square and tears came to my eyes as I saw history unfolding in front of me. So many amazing things packed into Florence, hard to comprehend. I’ll write more on this tomorrow and share photos. Buono notte.
Time and Time Again
So I’ve now been flying over 10 hours and I have to say its really not been that bad thanks to my trusty iPad. I have spent many hours watching “The Good Wife”, a television series I hadn’t watched before. I don’t watch much television so these kinds of trips give me an opportunity to catch up. Last time I went to Europe I watched multiple episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. While waiting to board the plane at LAX, I met a young Italian woman from Venice, going home to visit her mother and grandmother. Interestingly she is attending Occidental College in Eagle Rock. This is the same college my grandmother attended. Time does stand still sometimes. Especially on airplanes.
All My Bags Are Packed. One Hour To Go.
Excited? Over the moon!!!
On Your Mark. Get Ready Italy!
With just a week to go before my trip I’m scurrying around trying to get last minute details finished and tucked away. So much to do. Of course I’ve left all the disagreeable things about traveling to the last minute. After all, who really likes to call the credit card companies to alert them you will be out of the country? I don’t really like talking to automated telephon
e systems and hate typing in my credit card number…. only to be asked for it when the next available operator takes my call. Over the last week I’ve been getting the lists of “must do’s” and “want to do’s” put together….with the help of my marvelous Facebook friends. One in particular, Judy Witts Francini, has been so helpful and has endured many of my question sessions. Thank you Judy!!! Last week I discovered that the Firenze Gelato Festival will be going on while I am there. Could anything be more perfect? I think this makes up for the disagreeable things I’m taking care of this week. Don’t you?
Italian Word of the Week from Gemelli Press: Arrangiarsi
Gemelli Press has a great new weekly series featuring a new Italian word every week. Here’s an excerpt from their first entry. Well done Gemelli!
ARRANGIARSI [ahr-rahn-JAHR-see]: TO ARRANGE ONESELF
This is one of Italian’s famous reflexive verbs, so “si arrangia”means “she arranges herself” or “he arranges himself.”
OK, minds out of the gutter. That is *not* what it means.
“Arranging oneself” is more figurative, and it may not make a lot of sense to you. I empathize. That’s because arrangiarsi is so utterly Italian. Indeed, it has been called l’arte di arrangiarsi (the art of arranging onself).
So what’s a good translation? To read the rest of the post, check out the Gemelli Press Blog.
