Besides going to museums, churches, gelaterias, and shopping for food, “What do those two do?” you may ask. Well, I will tell you about the lazy day we had. It seems Sundays are always our down day, the day we relax with nothing planned.
Vittorio stayed up much later then I did last night, blogging and what not on the computer. So in the morning I let him sleep in. Unless we set an alarm we can sleep very late. If the shutters that are both on the inside and the outside of the windows are closed, the bedroom is very dark. So it makes for some nice sleeping, now that I’ve gotten used to the low murmur of people passing below.
I started my day by making myself a latte and relaxing on the couch with little panettone for breakfast. For those of you that don’t know what panettone is, it’s lightly sweet Italian bread with raisins and candied fruits, usually served during Christmas, but it seems they start appearing a little early around here. I composed the rest of my blog, finishing my post of Palazzo Pitti and choosing my pictures. When Vittorio was up and ready I handed it off to him to post. It takes him awhile to get all the pictures cropped and resized to his liking and get them all uploaded to our blog site. We enjoy doing it and hope all the effort is appreciated.
While Vittorio worked on the computer I entertained myself by looking out our window. Since our street is a direct route to Galleria dell’Accademia where “The David” lives, there is a constant stream of people, who are very amusing to watch. There is always a mix of locals and tourist. There are weary looking tour groups following a guide, usually taking up most of the street, the fast-walking decked out Italian women in stiletto heels, or the fashionable older women walking their dogs – in stiletto heels (the Italian women love their shoes no matter what the age). I think many of the men enjoy watching women from above since you can see quite a bit if they have a low scooped top.
Every Sunday we notice a tall dark man with white hair, a barrel chest, about 55 years old, lounging all day on a scooter outside a leather shop two doors down from our building. I will call him Mr. Suavé. He has come to see the young blond that works at the shop. We surmise she is his mistress. He sits on the scooter talking to many people he knows as they pass by. He drinks his espressos. He smokes his cigarettes as only the Italians know how to do looking so very Euro-chic. He lies on the scooter sunning himself to a dark bronze in his tight black pants and crisp white shirt, unbuttoned to mid-chest with the cuffs rolled up only once. Today we watched him as he reclined on the scooter getting his eyebrows plucked by his girlfriend. Vittorio and I entertain ourselves by imagining the conversations they could be having.
I started my day by making myself a latte and relaxing on the couch with little panettone for breakfast. For those of you that don’t know what panettone is, it’s lightly sweet Italian bread with raisins and candied fruits, usually served during Christmas, but it seems they start appearing a little early around here. I composed the rest of my blog, finishing my post of Palazzo Pitti and choosing my pictures. When Vittorio was up and ready I handed it off to him to post. It takes him awhile to get all the pictures cropped and resized to his liking and get them all uploaded to our blog site. We enjoy doing it and hope all the effort is appreciated.
While Vittorio worked on the computer I entertained myself by looking out our window. Since our street is a direct route to Galleria dell’Accademia where “The David” lives, there is a constant stream of people, who are very amusing to watch. There is always a mix of locals and tourist. There are weary looking tour groups following a guide, usually taking up most of the street, the fast-walking decked out Italian women in stiletto heels, or the fashionable older women walking their dogs – in stiletto heels (the Italian women love their shoes no matter what the age). I think many of the men enjoy watching women from above since you can see quite a bit if they have a low scooped top.
Every Sunday we notice a tall dark man with white hair, a barrel chest, about 55 years old, lounging all day on a scooter outside a leather shop two doors down from our building. I will call him Mr. Suavé. He has come to see the young blond that works at the shop. We surmise she is his mistress. He sits on the scooter talking to many people he knows as they pass by. He drinks his espressos. He smokes his cigarettes as only the Italians know how to do looking so very Euro-chic. He lies on the scooter sunning himself to a dark bronze in his tight black pants and crisp white shirt, unbuttoned to mid-chest with the cuffs rolled up only once. Today we watched him as he reclined on the scooter getting his eyebrows plucked by his girlfriend. Vittorio and I entertain ourselves by imagining the conversations they could be having.
In the afternoon we decided to take a walk, a passeggiata as the Italians say. It’s gotten much cooler and the past few days have been quite windy, so we put on some warm clothes. I grabbed my scarf and we’re out the door. We strolled through the market with the cute porcellino statue. I found a purple leather purse I loved and Vittorio finally bought the leather man-bag he has been eyeing since we got here.
On the corner by the market there was a cart with a guy selling roasted chestnuts. It seemed though as soon as October rolled around the carts started to appear on every other corner. Although they smelled wonderful we passed on buying any as he wanted €3 for a tiny little bag. I’m sure by the time mid-November comes and it’s much colder we’ll buy some just to warm our hands.
We strolled around, stopping at a few paper stores so I could check out which ones I want to hit before we leave. I bought a cardboard tube a few days ago to be able to safely bring back my paper without it getting wrinkled.
We ended up at our favorite gelateria, of course, and had a little something before heading back home the long way. After a while we cooked a lovely fig stuffed pork loin, roasted potatoes, and an arugula salad – all purchased yesterday from the Mercato Centrale. They are closed on Sundays, so on Saturdays they have wonderful meats already trussed up and ready for “Sunday Dinner”. It was exceptional. We spent the rest of the evening reading and on the computer. It was a wonderful day.
We ended up at our favorite gelateria, of course, and had a little something before heading back home the long way. After a while we cooked a lovely fig stuffed pork loin, roasted potatoes, and an arugula salad – all purchased yesterday from the Mercato Centrale. They are closed on Sundays, so on Saturdays they have wonderful meats already trussed up and ready for “Sunday Dinner”. It was exceptional. We spent the rest of the evening reading and on the computer. It was a wonderful day.