This and That!

The last couple of days have been about getting adjusted to the new routine......the food, the air, the smells and on and on.

First of all, I have to apologize for the text of the last post.  I'm not sure what happened, but the white shadow around the letters made it very hard to read.

As expected, I am walking a lot!!!  Yesterday I walked back to Santo Spirito in the Oltrarno (across the Arno) again in search of several artisan shops I heard about.   My trek took me into what I can only describe as a neighborhood because there were NO tourists.  I'll post more about what I found later.

So, for those Augustinians out there, does this guy look familiar.  These lions were the inspiration for our beloved lions that were donated so many years ago!

Ok, so now it is Saturday, September 5...I have no idea where the time is going, except that I have been exploring the city and the language....  

Each morning I have an intensive lesson with Benedetta (2 hours) and Giovanni (2 hours)...., I have lunch, rest a bit, then leave to explore the city to hopefully practice Italian.  I told you about my trip to Oltrarno the other day.  I was in pursuit of a tiny shop called Ratafia' Firenze.  They are two sisters..Laura and Valentina, who paint fabric, then make purses, etc. from it.  Unfortunately, when I 

arrived, they weren't there, but I got to meet their brother, who in the adjoining space runs a school for marketing for students from University of South  Florida!!!    But, coincidentally, as I was    walking back to the Santa Croce area, I saw two ladies at the bus stop and yes, one was Valentina and the other was her mother.  Surprisingly, she recognized me.  They were on their way back to the mini mall where I first met them.  I really practiced my Italian that day.  It is so encouraging that the 

Italians here truly appreciate the effort made to speak their language by foreigners. Their patience is amazing to me.

What I loved, too, about the Oltrarno was all the little artisan shops on the back streets.  Artists, potters, small shops selling art supplies, papers, etc., tailors (I mean, real tailors, who make custom suits, dresses, etc.).  I don't know why I didn't take a photo of a suit in progress in the window?  I  guess I'll have to go back!  Of course, I had to buy some of the gorgeous notepaper.  It gave me the opportunity to practice Italian again.  The signorina (young woman) commented that my accent was Spanish! And was I from Spain?  Go figure, at least she didn't say I was speaking Spanish.  

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Last year I mentioned in one of my blogs, these curious road signs that  I've come to realize are more   art then indicators of direction.   As I said then and will say now, so happy they allow them!!