I picked up my passport yesterday, completed by the Florence U.S. Consulate in just over one week. It’s close enough to walk from our house, and they emailed me when it was ready (they would have sent it in the mail, but I’m not over-fond of the Italian post). Not bad, I’d say. Easier and quicker than doing it in the U.S. Cheaper too. It costs an extra $100 to get it in two weeks in the U.S. Considering all this, I suppose I will forgive them for the fact that my picture is quite blurry. For some incomprehensible reason, they took my perfectly sized photo and blew it up until my head almost fills the whole square.… Read more
In the Kitchen in Florence
Well, we’ve been here over a month now, and I’m sure you’re all dying to know what we’re eating in Florence. So I thought I’d give you the links to some of my favorite Tuscan recipes. On the menu for tonight is Tuscan White Bean Minestrone. I made this in a vegetarian version before we came to Italy, omitting the bacon (well, so not strictly vegetarian. I used my homemade chicken stock), but here in Italy they have 100 gram packages of cubed pancetta, so I use that, and it is delicious. Worth a trip to Trader Joe’s, where I believe they may also carry small packages of cubed pancetta.… Read more
Spazio Verde
I’ve been sick and busy (mostly sick) and between one thing and another, haven’t made it out to the park for a week. Yesterday I walked down there with the Bobbles and found the previously bare trees in full, glorious, tender leaf. I don’t know why I was surprised. It is time for spring, after all. Perhaps I just wondered if spring would come this year.
Spring in the City of Flowers. And here we are at the end of Winter, wondering what to do. We were lucky, maybe, to pass the winter in San Diego, where one almost doesn’t notice it.… Read more
Primavera
I washed the towels and hung them out last night. It rained. Oh well.
I didn’t tell you, but two days ago when we went to Boboli Gardens, we had actually intended to visit the Uffici. However, we arrived at ten in the morning to what we were informed was a six-hour wait. I didn’t think the children would think much of any museum after six hours in line, so we opted for the Gardens, which we guessed (rightly) wouldn’t be as crowded.
But last night we just happened to be walking by the Uffici on our way to the grocery store.… Read more
Casteluzzo Academy 2010 Term 2
I spend a lot of time working on my curriculum. And a lot of time in between unschooling. Axa has begun to do a fair amount of reading and writing lately. Two days ago she discovered that the small rocks in the park (which they use instead of sand here) can write on the sidewalk (“sidewalk” in Florence actually consists of tastefully arranged flagstones). She knows how to write quite a lot of letters. She’s been writing her name for years, but around Christmas, she asked Daddy to help her write people’s names on her gifts to them, so she added more letters to her repertoire than just “A” and “X,” and now spends some time each day writing, whether it’s in her notebook or on the ground.… Read more
More Fun at the Questura
Today I arrived at 7:30. They were already giving out numbers, and my promptness was rewarded with the number 172. This time I brought a book. But I slipped out for a quick breakfast, and only ended up waiting till a little after 9:00. At the information desk this time they gave me another number, and I waited another half hour or so. When I got up to the window, I presented my documents. I was prepared for some discussion, since I’d heard so much about problems with documents (and I’ve experienced so many problems with documents), but the man there just took them, sat down, and began scribbling, stapling, and stamping.… Read more
Fun at the Questura
I arose from my sick bed again this morning to take an early bus to the Questura. It didn’t end up being so very early after all, and I arrived around 8:45. The whole world, of course, was there before me. It was like a mini-United Nations. After gazing around at the milling crowd for a moment, I snagged someone who looked nice and asked him what I needed to do to get my carta di soggiorno. He led me over to a policeman, who was handing out numbers. I gave the policeman my carefully prepared speech: “I am from the United States, but my husband is Italian.… Read more
Scoppio del carro
Over one thousand years ago, the first crusade culminated in the capture of Jerusalem by an army of Europeans. A young Florentine, Pazzino di Ranieri de’ Pazzi, was the first to scale the city walls and raise the Crusader banner there. As a reward, he was given three flakes of stone from the Holy Sepulcher.
He carried the stones back to Florence in 1101, where every year at Easter time they were used to light the “new fire,” a tradition with roots in Pagan spring rituals and also symbolizing the resurrection of Christ. The fire was transported throughout the city in a cart, and given to each family to light their own hearth fires.… Read more
Spring Fashions in Florence
As we walk through the streets of Florence, we play the “is that a tourist or an Italian” game. Of course there are plenty of blatantly obvious tourists. But some of them try pretty hard. These are the subtle signs that give them away:
Sheer hose (or none at all). Florentines are wearing opaque tights, leggings, or pants.
Scarves outside coats, blowing in the wind. Florentines wear them inside, tied in a loose but exacting manner.
Brightly colored clothing. Florentines wear black or dark brown. Colors are for accessories.
And my favorite: Ugg boots. Nearly every Florentine is wearing smart leather boots, usually almost knee-high.… Read more
Finally in Florence
So where was I? Oh, yes, sitting on the suitcases. Turns out, Tony’s car reservation was actually NOT a real reservation, and when we tried to run our debit card to rent the car, it was declined of course, since we’d withdrawn all the money from our American account so we could have cash in Italy. You can’t rent a car with any amount of cash, apparently, at least not any amount we were prepared to offer.
So after a few hours of tense deliberation, we rode the bus into Torino, spent the night there, worked out the car problem, and were driving down the autostrada just 24 hours later than we had planned.… Read more