Incognito Vegetables

Whenever I travel, I try to bring back some flower and vegetable seeds, to try out in the garden when I get home. (You can take seeds across borders as long as they are commercially packaged).

I tend to look for unusual seeds, ones that I am unlikely to find at home. They do not have to be rare.

This year, for instance, I bought among other things, seeds for a winter squash called Marina di Chioggia.

Remembering Things Passed

The other day we went to Fiesole to look at the Roman amphitheater. It was in part an excuse for a long walk as it was a warm and sunny day.

The amphitheater in Fiesole

All in a Day's Work of Tourism

For the first time yesterday we had someone try to short change us - at a national monument besides.

A Sunday Aternoon Walk

Here are a few pictures we took on a walk on December 18th.

Grocery

For this post I simply took pictures of some items in a promotional brochure(advertiser) for Conad, the most important food chain in the city. This will give you an idea of how much groceries costs in Italy.

At the time of writing, the euro is worth 1.45 Canadian dollars. Here is the brochure:

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Fashion

We are not interested in fashion, but I know some of you are. Here are a few pictures of what is in the shop windows on via Tornabuoni. To start with, here is a night view of via Tornabuoni itself.

Walking Along the Arno

The previous post was on the apartment, but this one has no particular theme. The last two days have been very sunny which means hot in the sunshine, but cold in the shade. On Tuesday we took a walk along the river and on Wednesday we walked outside the city centre.

Along the Arno

L'appartamento

Those who were reading our blog last year will remember that the apartment where we were staying was accessed through 5 doors that could be locked. There are only three locking doors here. First you have the main entrance on the street.

Arrival - 2016

We left Pearson's airport on Thursday December 1st, around 6:30 P.M. and were in Paris before 8 A.M. the next day. Although a connection to Florence was available an hour after our arrival, we had opted for the next connecting flight at 11:30 A.M. to make sure we had enough time to go through custom and find the right terminal. It turned out to have been a good idea as going through customs seemed to take for ever. There were only 2 customs officers. The majority of travelers were through custom in a few minutes, but three or four people, immigrants (?), took 30 to 45 minutes each to go through, keeping the line at a standstill for long periods. Many people, afraid to miss their connections, were grumbling, especially a guy with a South of France accent standing just behind us who was really fuming. There were lots of "Ah bonne mère!!!" the South of France equivalent of "Mama mia!" (and some much cruder expletives).

Odds & Ends #4

We went to a restaurant where you find a seat, look at the menu and decide what you want. Then you go to the counter, order it and pay for it, and you are then given this round disk. When your food is ready the disk starts flashing and pulsing. You go get your food at the counter.

Odds & Ends #3

In Florence, garbage is not picked up on the street. You take it to a kind of container. There are several of these containers and you are expected to do a first sorting (there is one for glass, one for material that can be composted, etc...).

Odds and ends #2

January 17th is the feast day of Sant'Antonio Abade, who among other things is the protector of domestic animals. This improvised chapel is for the blessing of pets. We saw a blessed dog come out with its owner, and the lady in the picture tried to convince a man who was walking his dog to go in and have him blessed, but without success.

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Bookstores

In previous winters, when we spent time in Victoria B.C. I went on about how numerous the bookstores were in Victoria. Well, I had not seen Florence yet. Florence has not only numerous bookstores but particularly good ones as well as specialized stores. The most prominent is Feltrinelli, which is also a publisher. At its main location are three floors of very diverse, interesting and beautiful books. There are two other large locations (one in the train station).

A Visit to Fiesole

The other day we walked to Fiesole. This is a town outside Florence. It has a long history as it is older than Florence. The Etruscans and the Romans had settlements in Fiesole, before there was any settlement in Florence.

Fiesole through the trees

The Cavalcade of the Magi (Wise Men)

Epiphany, when the three wise men arrived at the manger, is celebrated in Florence with a procession of people dressed up in mostly Renaissance costumes. This parade which was started in 1417, stopped in1494 and was resurrected in1997. Unfortunately, the photos are very poor as we were standing behind a crowd and did not see much of the action. Below are the three wise men on their horses.

Florence Tabernacles

What are called "tabernacles" are devotional paintings or sculptures which you find at street corners in Florence. Some are very old, others are more recent. In fact the very old ones have usually been put in museums and replaced by copies.

Cimitero delle Porte Sante

Yes, an other graveyard, but one you will never have seen the like of. It has a great many personal monuments and it is quite extensive. A fascinating place.