Weekend in Florence

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Have had a nice weekend enjoying Florence despite feeling a bit fluey (feverish and achy). Since my bed is in the lounge room, I haven't had the luxury of swanning around resting, so pressing on has worked pretty well. This year I've had quite a few recurring, niggley health things, so I think I've got used to keeping going while not feeling 100%.

Yesterday morning we went to a middle school open day and I got a tour of the school, entirely in Italian! Sadly, the library was not included in the tour (not a big thing here). I still have not got a CLUE what is going on except that I now know what 'Five children' sounds like, because my friend keeps telling her friends that piece of information!! I have a huge appreciation for what my friends have been through moving to another country, learning the language, and not just functioning, but also having relationships in the local community that are meaningful. It was great to see them in action, connecting with the many families they've met over the years through their children.

After the open day the kids wanted to take me to their favourite Pasticceria where I was treated to a Nutella croissant (I'm really suffering here hey?!) and met all the locals.

After lunch we drove up to the local highest point overlooking Florence, Monte Morello, for the 'view' - wasn't all we'd hoped for! But gee they do a spectacular hot chocolate (so thick) and we had a fun game of Italian/English Scrabble.


This morning enjoyed going to church, entirely in Italian. Good thing it is Christmas time so I could get the general gist. And gee a PowerPoint with a short summary sentences is helpful. Much easier to read something with an image to gain meaning than to trying to understand the spoken words. Thankfully there were some English speakers there (including a woman from Sydney studying in Florence for two years) who kindly chatted to me during the lunch after church.

After church we visited the annual German markets that are set up in Florence - just around the corner from church. Lots of German handicrafts. Lovely afternoon, quite warm with tops of a 14 degree day.

 

Tomorrow we're off to a very cold Venice for two nights. Looking forward to seeing something different. Hoping to not get either too wet or lost!

 

Comments

Meredith said…
Thank you for the photo of the hot chocolate. That is exactly what I remember of Firenze. Wonderful. Hope you feel better soon. Keep enjoying the adventure.
Mx
December 17, 2012 at 9:56 AM
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