Evening snack in the apartment in Florence
Apartment -everything I need
Writing this on the train for Florence. I forgot to validate my ticket, I was so worried I would miss the train, then realised that I don't have to validate my ticket if I have a seat reservation, but although I have a seat reservation it turned out to be academic because there are no carriage or seat numbers on this train! Ah, Italian bureaucracy.
Little things sent to try me today. I tried to access my emails last night in Rome but the @ sign is in a completely different place from NZ. Rome has very few public internet facilities; wi-fi is OK and quite widely available, but you need your own device, and in some cases, an Italian telephone account. Hopefully Florence will be better.
Arrived in the city after a long slow train ride. I forgot that there are 'treni veloce' only at certain times of day (and more expensive) so I just got an ordinary slowish train. I found the apartment without much trouble, and there was a charming young lady to meet me, Irena, the sister-in-law of the owner's daughter's husband. They had left me a bottle of wine, so after a visit to the nearby supermarket I had my first Florentine meal.
Superficial differences between Rome and Florence:
Women's clothing more subdued in Florence, lots of beige and black. Roman women are fond of bling and bright colours.
"Intellectual" type of male more prominent, more beards and sloppier clothing, sort of a contemporary beatnik style.
Gardens - Tuscans have not buried their peasant roots. Coming in on the train past lots of well-tended allotments and plantations of plants being grown on for the nursery trade. Gardening seems to be a more popular pastime here than in Rome.
Bicycles everywhere. The main city area is flat and it's easier to find a park for a bike. Romans don't seem to cycle much, probably because it's a bigger city and they all take the Metro or buses.
Someone is rehearsing a Beethoven piano sonata, and there are lots of book shops. Oh, joy!
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