The joys of having a neighborhood

Mike is back among the mobile walking world. He turned in his crutches this morning and walked to meals. We stayed close to our hotel today, so the ventures out were not overly aggressive, and he aced each of the walks. So, ready or not, we leave Florence tomorrow. We were not able to go to any of the museums during our stay due to the accident, so we have reserved our hotel room for several days in October, just before we leave Italy. We will visit Caitie and see Florence so that this wonderful city is one of our final memories.

Just walking around the neighborhood of our hotel has been a pleasure. We are only a block from the Mercato Centrale- Florence's huge central food market. Opened in 1874, it is reportedly Europe's' largest covered food hall. We strolled around the first floor where the meats, wines and assorted other things like wine and olive oil are sold. I have added some photos of the meat counters, where we saw whole rabbits, minus their skins, and pigs feet as big as my forearm. The second floor was the produce floor, where they had wonderful fruits and vegetables along with entire stands of mushrooms (funghi) with a rich, earthy smell. We had our second coffee of the day in this market served by a pleasant woman with no front teeth.

Being immobile has given us some side benefits. We have eaten meals at several hotels twice, and the familiarity of the staff in seeing us the second time makes it feel like home. The Italians welcome us with even more enthusiasm when we return for the second time. Of course, the gelato lady has seen us three times, but that is purely for the medicinal qualities of the calcium in her Straciatella gelato, this wonderful chocolate chip flavor.

Caitie started classes today. Mike and I took Caitie and two of her roommates to dinner tonight after they walked to the bookstore downtown to buy their textbooks. We needed to give Caitie the suitcase we retrieved from Rome, so our visit with the girls allowed us to pass the big bag along to her. The NYU photos include some pictures of the three roommates who seem to have become very close in less than a week's time. Mike and I are so pleased that Caitie has such good friends to help her transition to college life.

Tomorrow- it's off to Lucca. Another walled city; but this time with gelato.

Deanne