#2933 three things: Florence day 2

I've been having some feelings of wanderlust, so I guess I'll have to satisfy that, for now, with writing and posting pics of Italy. Today I'll share three things from the second day I spent in Florence with Lizzie.

1. The Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi is probably one of the most amazing art museums I have ever seen, and I feel so lucky to have been there twice. The place is huge and chock-full of art, as you can imagine. There are works from da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Botticelli, among others. There are statues and busts, there are tapestries, and oh so many glorious paintings. Not only is it crowded with art, it is also crowded with people. 

da Vinci paintings in the Uffizi

Lizzie and I took a tour, and it was good and fine, but kind of rushed. When the tour was finished, the two of us made our way to the top floor where there is a cafe. We got a table outside and had a drink and a snack before we went back downstairs to revisit some of our favorite paintings. I think we definitely got our money's worth. Going back through was pretty great.

Ussie at the Uffizi

2. Evening stroll to Oltrarno. In the evening, we thought it would be fun to walk across the river to the more "locals" side of town. First though, we went up on the roof of the hotel to take some photos. For some reason we did not take an ussie up there. Guess we'll take care of that next time ;) 

rooftops of Florence

Over on the left there is Brunelleschi's Dome and Giotto's Bell Tower. Off in the distance on the right you can see the clock tower of Palazzo Vecchio. 

The weather wasn't great that day; it rained off and on all day, but once we got over to Piazza Santo Spirito, the rain had stopped and it was a nice evening. It wasn't very lively, though, but it was a Tuesday night.

Piazza Santo Spiritu

We found a place with tables outside and had a drink and a snack. It was peaceful and relaxed, and I rather liked it.

Ussie in Oltrarno

We strolled back to the Centro Storico admiring the lights reflecting on the River Arno. Ponte Vecchio looked like a postcard.

Ponte Vecchio

3. Fontana del Porcellino. When we got back over to the Centro Storico, we took a few minutes to look at our lists to make sure we'd seen everything we wanted. Of course we had not seen everything, but you have to leave something for next time, right? There was something on the list that we thought we could get to easily, and that is a statue of a cinghiale (wild boar). It turns out that the statue is right around the corner from Mamma Mia, the pizza place where we ate lunch the previous day. We just didn't walk around that particular corner after lunch!

This fountain is called Fontana del Porcellino, which means little pig, but it is clear that the statue is of a wild boar. While we were standing there (with many other people), a small woman came over and started telling me the legend of the porcellino in an almost indecipherable mixture of Italian and English. What it boils down to is that you rub the cinghiale's snout for good luck, and you put a coin in it's mouth and make a wish, and if the coin drops down into the drain, your wish will come true. I watched a few people not have the coin drop into the drain, so what you see here is me wishing that my coin would fall into the drain, which was NOT the wish I intended to make, but there you have it.

I hope I can go back and try this again without making that face.

My coin DID fall into the drain, so technically my wish came true. LOL

Oh man...I just really like Florence!

#2932 Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy

Tonight I went to the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy event  here in SLC. It was held at This is the Place State Monument. There is a nice venue there - Red Butte Garden held their volunteer appreciation celebrations there for a couple of years. MT was supposed to come with me, but then the Pocatello project happened. T didn't want to go, so I went by myself. 

I am not familiar with the tales of Poe. Of course, I've heard of The Raven, but I can't say I know it. My assessment, after spending a couple of hours listening to four pieces, is that Mr. Poe had kind of a scary mind!

Each of the four pieces were accompanied by a cocktail. The first cocktail was fine, tasted like blueberry. The second one was a milk punch, which sounds awful, but it's not. In fact, I really like milk punch. I drank quite a few of them in New Orleans a few years back when Lizzie and I went to the city to celebrate her birthday. I had a mocktail for the third piece, and didn't even get the fourth drink offered. It didn't matter anyway because I would have had the non-alcoholic version of it. 

milk punch

Overall, I had a good time. It was fun to do something totally different like that, and I'd likely do it again. 

#2931 Los Angeles in flames

The news out of Los Angeles makes my eyes water. The images on the news are horrendous, but seeing posts on social media from people who are affected is something else. I saw a post from a guy I follow in LA. There was a photo of burned out buildings and his caption said, "I had breakfast here on Sunday." My sister knows people who have lost their home in Altadena. Mom and Lizzie had an evacuation warning late this afternoon. It was rescinded about 30 minutes later, but the warning itself was enough to worry us. I asked Lizzie what the plan was, and she said they were getting the 6Ps together. I had to GTS to find out what it is:

People and pets

Papers, phone numbers, and documents

Prescriptions, eyeglasses, vitamins, etc.

Photos and personal items

Personal computer

Plastic (credit cards and cash)

They also have a plan about where they would go if they were evacuated, and I am glad about that. I don't think they are in danger, but you really just never know. It's good to be prepared and to have a plan.

If I was a praying woman, now is when I would be praying for the firefighters to be able to contain the blazes, for everyone who is in danger to be safe, and for the winds to quiet down so the fire will stop spreading so quickly. 

#2930 queen of detritus

I like to think of myself as an organized person. I think I'm pretty good at staying organized at work. I keep my desk tidy and my filing is in good shape. It's all digital, and I know where to find things. My work desk at home is also tidy. I don't keep a lot of detritus in my work spaces. My personal desk, though, that's another story. 

My personal desk is overflowing with little bits of stuff: stickers, lots and lots of pens (two separate pen holders that are full), loose little photos lying about that I always want to use in something, sketchbooks, paints, paint brushes...I seem to feel the need to have all of these things within reach. Wouldn't it be better, I asked myself today, if there wasn't so much detritus on the desk? Wouldn't it be nicer if all the things had a space to live, then I could pluck them from their space when I'm ready to use them? 

I spent a little time gathering all the bits, finding a home for them and leaving empty space to write, paint, or do the bookkeeping. I took down a framed poster of Angel's Landing trail in Zions Park that I have never liked because it makes me feel anxious, and I replaced it with a beautiful framed poster of the Picasso painting, "El Abrazo."  My goal is to fill my office with art and make the space cozy and pretty. It's a work in progress, but at least there is progress. 

MT left for Pocatello on Friday. The house is so quiet when he's gone. It's not that he is noisy, but he bustles around and talks a lot. LOL Maybe that's why I think it's so quiet! I spent yesterday cleaning up downstairs. T helped me take down the Christmas decorations. I left the snowmen because those are wintery, not necessarily Christmas-y. We also removed the coffee table from the front room. Harley and Mac chewed off the corners years ago, and I covered it with a towel, but it has bugged me, so now it's in the basement until we decide what to do with it. There might be an enterprising DIY furniture fixer-upper who might see it at a thrift store and do something cool to give it another life. For me, I'm glad to have the open space in the front room.

my front room

I don't have much coming up this week. Work has slowed down, as it does in the winter, so that's nice. I might go to a hockey game on Friday, and on Sunday I'll go to an Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy. MT was meant to come with me, but I don't know if he'll make it back. Maybe T will come with me. The temperatures are supposed to be colder next week, but we don't have any snow in the forecast yet. 

Oh yeah...no-spend January is now low-spend January. T and I ordered a pizza yesterday :D 

Have a great week!

xo

#2929 three things: a new rental property, a change of routine, and my Word

 Happy New Year! Let's see how I do at sticking to my twice weekly posting this month. :)

1. A new rental property. MT and I bought a duplex in Pocatello, Idaho. Even though we lived in Pocatello for many years, this is the first home we have purchased there. I haven't seen the property, but I've seen MT's photos and videos and the place is a real fixer upper. MT has his work cut out for him to make these spaces livable. I know he can do it though. He is really good at having a vision and making it happen. He will go to Pocatello tomorrow, and though he will come home every now and again, mostly he will be in Poky working on the house. His goal is to have both units rehabbed and rented by the end of March. It is a very aggressive time frame. Kelly, his brother, will be working with him. Kelly is an excellent carpenter, too. When they have worked together before, MT lays out the plan and gets the supplies while Kelly keeps the work moving along. Here's hoping everything works out.

2. A change of routine. Since MT will be gone, my routine will change, too. I have changed my work hours to 8:30 - 5:30. There are a couple of reasons. First, T works on a twilight shift at FedEx; his hours are usually 6:30 pm - 11:30 pm. Pushing my work start time back to 8:30 gives me a little extra sleep time. I plan to get up around 5:30, get myself ready, take care of the dogs, including having play time, have a bite of breakfast, then get on the road by 8:00. On the two days I work from home, I might sleep in until 6:00 since I won't have a 30 minute commute. 

Today was my first day on the new schedule. I admit, it felt kind of decadent this morning. After I got ready, I took Mac and Harley for a walk, played frisbee with Stella, and had time for toast and a coffee while I read my book for about 15 minutes. I do love a slow start to the day! I wasn't rushing around , and I felt calm and happy. The commute was smooth. The office gets pretty quiet after 4:30, and that was nice, too. I got home around 6pm, changed into my relaxing clothes, made dinner (tacos), and now here I am. Day 1 is good. We'll see how it goes.

3. My Word for the year. For the past...whew, I don't even know how many years now...I've been choosing a Word to be my touchstone, my guide, my compass for the year. Some years I have struggled to find a Word, but not this year. I only had two words on my list of potentials, and the word I chose is the first word I thought about. My Word this year is ACTIVE, supported by Body, Mind, and Spirit. 

Over the past several years, I have become much less physically active, and I can feel it. The lack of movement affects my mood, my health, and yeah, the way my clothes fit. I am keen not to be diabetic, and my blood tests show that I am in the pre-diabetic zone. :(  I am meeting with my doctor at the end of June to do another blood test and see if I have decreased my A1c number. I really don't want to have diabetes or take medicine. So, ACTIVE is the word.

In January, my goal is to get at least 5,000 steps per day and/or close the exercise circle on my Apple watch. Closing the circle means getting at least 30 minutes of heart rate raising exercise. Yesterday I went on a 30 minute walk in the neighborhood. This morning, I walked the dogs, then I took at walk at work, and I finished off my 30 minutes of exercise by dancing in my room for a couple of songs. No, it's not a lot of sweatiness, but I am moving. 

Of course, I will have to watch what I eat and learn to like fruits and veg. It would be good to cut back on sweets and fried foods. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

#2928 three things: Christmas week edition

 

1. A quick trip to La Mirada. Mamacita's birthday was the 17th, and I like to try to spend that day with her, but I was late this year. Since I took the week of Christmas off from work, I went to visit her this past weekend. MT and I left SLC around 1:00 pm on Friday the 20th, spent the night in Mesquite, NV, then drove into the LA area on Saturday, arriving at Mom and Lizzie's house around 2:30 pm. I don't care for that particular drive. The stretch of road from Las Vegas to Barstow is just not scenic. It's the edge of the Mojave Desert, and it's desolate. Plus there's a lot of traffic. Anyway, I was really glad to see my mama and my sister, even though Mama was not her perky self. MT did a few honey-do items around the house, Lizzie, MT and I went on a nice little nature walk, and we had a tasty dinner at Belmont Brewing Co in Long Beach. I wish we could have stayed longer, although I was glad to be there even for a short time.

2. A visit with a friend. We left La Mirada on Monday around noon and drove to Cedar City, UT. The map program says it's about a six hour drive, but it took around eight hours plus an extra hour when you go east. In the morning, on Christmas Eve, we went to see a former co-worker of mine, Nancy, and her husband Tom, that live in the area. Nancy invited us to their home and I was delighted to see her! They are both retired now and living their best life in a super cute and cozy house they built about eight years ago. They have horses and dogs and they both seem so happy. It's pretty unusual for me to seek out people, (hi, I'm an introvert), and I almost didn't do it, but I am glad I did. It was a nice visit.

3.Being at home. We got back to SLC around 2:30 in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. We had to stop at the grocery store so we'd have things to eat on Christmas. That night, we had fettuccine (a tradition I picked up from the movie The Holiday) and fudge. The fudge is a new addition to the Christmas Eve tradition. I read about an Icelandic or Finish tradition of getting a new book and having chocolate on Christmas Eve. I didn't get a new book, but I did read and eat fudge. 

Christmas Day was very mellow. It was just the three of us, and the dogs, of course. We opened gifts in the morning, then I started cooking. We had a pretty simple meal: ham, cheesy potatoes, and salad along with rolls. It was just what we wanted. For dessert, we had brownie sundaes which MT has declared is our dessert of choice and what we shall have from now on for our holiday dessert.  We watched sports, then Hallmark Christmas movies on Netflix, and everything was quite wonderful.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

 

#2927 in which I fall in love with Firenze

I visited the city of Florence, Italy in 2022 with MT when we were on a cruise. It was raining, and we only had a few hours there. I was looking forward to going back with Lizzie and spending more time there, and I think I fell a little bit in love with the place. 

We left Milan in the morning and took the train through the countryside down to Florence. It was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky and warm sunshine. The train station, Santa Maria Novella, is a short walk -maybe five minutes - from the church Santa Maria Novella which is right in front of the hotel where we stayed, the Hotel Santa Maria Novella. Here's the church:

Basilica of Santa Maria Novella 

We checked into the hotel, but the room wasn't ready yet, so we left our luggage and set out to explore.

Of course, if you are in Florence, you must see the Duomo and Brunelleschi's Dome, so that's where we went first.

The Duomo of Florence and Giotto's Bell Tower

Brunelleschi's Dome

The cathedral is just massive, and of course, the dome dominates, well, everything. From there, we wandered around until Lizzie took charge and got us to Piazza della Signoria. This splendid piazza is my favorite because of the statues, Palazzo Vecchio, and the Uffizi Galleries all right there. It is wonderous.

The Fountain of Neptune

David replica

Palazzo Vecchio

It was between noon and 1:00, so we wanted to get some lunch. All around the piazza there are bars and osterias, trattorias and enotecas. We saw a cool little patio surrounded by greenery that gave it a feeling of privacy. We were quickly seated, and it was really nice! The waiters were wearing beautiful suits and the tables were set with pretty plates and linens (although the linen was removed when we only ordered wine!) The prices reflected the posh-ness of the place: it was Gucci. It was the patio for Gucci Osteria. We just had a glass of wine each. It was quite good, and also the most expensive glass of wine we had on our whole trip! We felt bougie and fancy.

Livin' it up at Gucci

We felt happy after the glass of wine, but still hungry, so Lizzie found a pizza place called MammaMia where we proceeded to drink more wine and eat pizza. (Photos of the food coming soon in the food post!)

Mamma mia, ragazzi!

We started chatting with a lovely couple from Mexico that was seated next to us. Honestly, I could have probably sat there for quite awhile drinking wine and chatting with people. (Wine makes me less introverted.) But we were in Florence, and we had to move along. We stopped by to see Ponte Vecchio:

Ponte Vecchio

Then Lizzie found a wine window near our hotel!

the wine window at Osteria Belle Donne

Finding a wine window was on both of our "must do" lists for Florence. I guess there are several in the city, and this one was super close to the hotel. You knock on that little window, order a glass of wine, then you drink it there on the street! You can't wander around with the wine. You can't sit down. You can't stand in front of other businesses. You just kind of stand there and drink, so it's kind of weird, but it's pretty cool too. You get an actual wine glass, no plastic. It was fun!

So now we have had four glasses of wine in maybe three hours. We were slightly tipsy and feeling pretty good about Florence. We went back to the hotel to get our stuff into our room and figure out what we wanted to do in the evening. Our room was A-mazing! It was huge, by European standards, certainly, and so, so pretty! 

the beds in Europe are kinda weird - separate, but together

bathroom with the deep tub

the room is big!

a bottle of Prosecco!

I loved this hotel. I would absolutely stay there again. We kinda wanted to stay in the room and drink the prosecco or take it to the roof, but after we unpacked a bit, we decided to take a taxi up to San Miniato al Monte to see the sunset over the city. Best decision we made! I've always heard about the view of the Centro Storico at sunset, and it was just as dreamy as I imagined it would be. The light is so soft and Florence is so beautiful and when you put it all together, it's just magic.

Florence at sunset from San Miniato al Monte

panoramic view

view from Piazzale Michelangelo

The taxi ride was maybe 10 minutes, but it was worth the ride because it was way up on a hill. San Miniato is much calmer and has way fewer people than Piazzale Michelangelo. I was very happy to be up at the top. There's a church up there, and a cemetery, as you can see in the middle photo. The church bells rang at dusk and it was one of the highlights of my trip. 

We decided we could walk back down to the Centro Storico. There were hundreds of people at the Piazzale, so we just followed the crowd. There's a good sidewalk, and it's not too steep. You end up walking along the Arno River, looking at the lights of the city reflected in the water. We crossed over Ponte Vecchio, and it's pretty cool. Most of the shops were closed or were closing, but just walking over the bridge felt like walking through time. It is the oldest stone bridge in Europe, dating back to the mid-1300s. 

When we returned to the hotel, we thought it would be fun to get some dessert from the hotel restaurant and take it up to the roof. We got dessert, but we couldn't figure out how to get to the roof, so we at dessert in our room (gelato for me and something with meringue for Lizzie?) and then we went to bed since we had an early ticket for the Uffizi the next day. 

Oh Florence. I just love it, and I got to spend a whole other day there! That story is coming up next time.

Ciao!