Florence
/Melting. We are melting. It is 39 degrees and expected to hit 41 next few days. Average temps here are closer to 30 so even the locals are finding it atmospheric.
We have left Silver Paws in Pisa Marina to overnight in Florence. Its an hours train journey from Pisa to Florence so we booked an Air B&B with Lorenzo e Lorenzo for our overnight stay in Florence.
Before we left home Captain and I both agreed when we reached Italy we wanted to ride Vespas and do a Tuscan cooking class. Vespas today... cooking tomorrow!
Vespas were booked via Walkabout Florence, our guide Julian was Fiorentini, spoke english in the tone of his American mum and was friendly to follow around for the afternoon.
We got to see the panorama over the city, visit a 1000 year old church and ride meandering Tuscan lanes with landscapes of Olives, Cyprus trees and Italian manors. Tuscany is the only provance in Italy Cyprus trees are land dividers, symbolic as the 'mournful tree' elsewhere they are planted next to graves.
We drove past the house Galileo Galilei was kept under house arrest until is dying day. Defending his suggestion that the earth and the planets revolve around the sun at the centre of the universe meant he was judged to be a heretic and the genius spent the last years of his life in the tuscan countryside.
We rolled up to a tuscan farmhouse for an Italian feast and wine. Pasta, bruschetta and Chianti under the fig trees were all favourably received and topped the afternoon off.
Our Air B&B booking worked out, Lorenzo (number one, we only ever met one, but are assured there are two) gave us a warm welcome, a quick guide to whats what and a recommendation for a drink. I had a cold shower, lingered for a while in front of the large fan in our room, then fell asleep on the bed. An hours nap sorted me out and I was ready for exploring. We walked the streets of Florence in the dark, drinking crushed ice and hovering under the cold mist fans in cafes.
We walked the market bridges, all closed up for the night except for the buskers bringing life. The cobbled streets teeming with tourists. We rounded a corner into a square and into a celebration, I can't be exact but it was something to do with football, happiness and autographs... we danced to the DJ, watched the balloon release and then swaggered back to the B&B.
Tomorrow we cook...
Charlie x
