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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