Valerie's Turn

So there we were, holding our Firenze passes in our hot little hands, and getting to the entrance of the Chiesa Santa Croce just as they were opening the doors, and we stroll in like we own the place.  Mr Big Fat in the Tilley hat roars at us: "We've all been waiting 30 minutes and you just stroll in?"

I say indignantly:  "We have the Firenze card!"

He counters:  "Doesn't matter!"

I parry:  "Yes it does!"  And we go our separate ways.  I saw him later in the gift shop with a sheepish look on  his face but I clung to my dignity and pretended he wasn't there. Thank God for David planning ahead and buying the card online.  A Godsend.

Earlier in the morning, we went to mass at Chiesa San Lorenzo.  I went up for communion and as I received the wafer the priest blessed me and gave me a livid glare.  What did I do? How did he know I'm an Anglican?  I felt so guilty I couldn't eat the wafer so the body of Christ is in my pocket.  Maybe I'll eat it tomorrow.

After church we headed for the Mercato Centrale.  I held back, but I really, really wanted this cute little orange sweater (to go with my new Hermes(like) silk scarf), David looking on, shaking his head, but I did buy 2 cloissonne bracelets, one blue, one Firenze purple ... did you know purple is the colour of 

Firenze?  The guy who sold it to me did.  Later at the Piazza di Santa Croce the gentleman from Connecticut (been here 32 years) told me they were the colour of Chinese New Year!  Thats the word you don't want to hear when buying souvenirs from Florence.

Dinner:  David had his favorite wild boar stew, and I had gnocchi with gorgonzola.  UMMMMMMMM

Nonna in the kitchen and everybody's happy.

Then, to the opera.  Magnifico, more puddles!  Does everyone come to Florence and cry?  This performance (in a small, beautiful, hole-in-the-wall church in the Oltrarno), featured a soprano and a tenor – both out of this world powerful – performing well known arias by Puccini, Verdi and others. The place was packed. They brought the house down. 

No luck finding a taxi, so we walked back to the hotel, stumbling into Florence's artsy, bohemian scene in the Oltrarno (across the Arno from the Uffizzi etc) on our way. The streets were jammed with (mostly) young hipsters, one huge crowd listening to a jazz trio play "Take the A Train" outside a bar. Reminded us of Toronto's Queen West, or maybe Dundas West and Yorkville combined.

The food. the statues, the opera, the churches, the paintings!  The moon over the Arno!  Buono notte!