Just Hangin' Out

So, what have we been up to? Just the usual: wandering around, watching people, eating too much, trying to talk to the natives. We have actually not been inside any of the museums yet – who needs to pay to go look at art when it’s all around you?

Often, after school, we pick a direction and just start walking. The things we see are astounding: little sculptures in alcoves behind glass, fountains on the sides of businesses, statues standing in the cross-section of two small streets. The amount of art sitting in quiet corners and hiding behind busy tourist stands is unimaginable. It’s like we landed in a giant seek-and-find, the list of everyday marvels is endless.

Of course we plan to go to the museums before we leave, but in a city where the graffiti takes the form of the Fibonacci sequence, it may be a while before we have to pay to go see something amazing.

It is just starting to get warm enough to hang out in the parks. This one is very close to where we are staying and is usually filled with people taking their pausa between about 1:00 and 3:00PM. Normally, in the non-tourist districts, stores close between 1:30 and 4:00 and then re-open until about 7:00 or 8:00. We were told today that until recent years during the month of August EVERTHING closed down and people left town for vacation.


We decided to go investigate an old fort (Fortezza da Basso) very near where we are living. It was really interesting from the outside and even had what we thought was at one time a moat. The compound is actually huge – it takes up a large section of our map, and we had been wondering why it wasn’t mentioned in any of the tourist lists.

We spied a sign stating that there would be free admission to the fort over the weekend, but didn’t read closely enough. We went back the day after taking these photos and entered the fort. It has been converted to a modern convention center and they were having a home buying fair. Not exactly what we were expecting.

We decided to wander around the center of the city and quickly made our way down to the Duomo (cathedral). The lines for entrance wrapped around the building and around the block.

There were people from all over the world in large groups and small, each speaking a different language and many sporting interesting fashions.

The Duomo is undergoing preservation/reconstruction right now, which should make the big Pasqua (Easter) celebration on Sunday even more of a challenge – it will be interesting to see.

Past the Duomo we went over the Ponte Vecchio that bridges the Arno River. The Ponte Vecchio is famous for being lined with gold and silver shops. Needless to say, we didn’t buy.

On the other side of the river we passed the Pitti Palace and explored the surrounding neighborhoods. Here is a fountain on the side of a building near the bridge.

There are hundreds of churches in the city, most with beautiful artwork inside and out. I especially like the busts of saints with halos that are commonly found above the doorways.

I really hate being seen as an annoying tourist wandering about with my camera, but there is so much that is picture worthy. I am sure that people often wonder just what it is I am taking a picture of. In this case, I just really liked the little piazza – the woman in the foreground with the cigarette was waving it around and gesturing wildly as she talked to the man off camera – very typically Italian.

I wish I had opened the door to this shop to take the picture, but I didn’t want to disturb the people inside. This is a pretty typical neighborhood shop selling cheese, wine, cured meats, pasta, and a few specialty items. I often wonder how each shop stays in business because they all sell the same thing and they are everywhere. I suppose people frequent only the ones closest to them, but it still seems impossible that there would be enough business to support them all.

Parking space is almost non-existent and with gas priced at €1.26 per liter, or about $6.37 USD per gallon, most people choose to use scooters or small cars if they can’t walk or bike to their destination. This car is a bit smaller than average, but quite common. The people in Italy are, on average, quite a bit smaller than Americans, both in height and girth. John and I often feel like giants walking down the street, especially when we meet a group of Japanese tourists. This car is probably quite comfortable for many Italians - it even has a back seat.

Here is just another corner in the neighborhood. Nothing special.

We stop into a bar at least twice a day to get our coffee fix. Most people drink their caffe (espresso) standing at the bar and leave. They do the same with alcohol as the coffee bars serve both. We have often been standing at a bar enjoying our caffe machiatto and witnessed a few regulars come in, greet the bar man, knock down a shot of their regular liquor and hop back on their scooter. During Easter season, the bars all sell Uova de Pasqua – big chocolate Easter eggs with a surprise inside. They come in sizes ranging from 2oz – 10kilos!

Another normal traffic circle - except for the large statue of a woman with a block of marble balancing on her head and the ancient walls in the background.

We keep taking street shots – can’t help it.

This is the Piazza della Republica, once the center of Firenze (Florence), now the middle of the tourist area. It’s an interesting place to hang out and people watch, but you need to bring your own food and drink as the cafes are really overpriced in this area.

Street art. We have seen this girl several times re-creating famous paintings in chalk on the sidewalk in the tourist district.