A Parade on La Befana

 

On Friday we decided to go for a walk around town. The streets were packed -- we very quickly realized it was La Befana. As we passed by Palazzo Pitti, we saw a ton of people in Renaissance costume. A few hours later (after a lunch at Buongustai, yum!) we actually got stuck in the city center because we couldn't find a way around the parade that was now taking place. So, we just hung out in Piazza della Signoria for a while and watched the parade. It was great!

Google embraces low-tech ad strategy in Florence

A few weeks ago we were walking across Ponte Santa Trinita when this sailed down the river. Thankfully Rob had his iPhone on hand so that we could document the event. The people in the boat seemed very excited and proud to be dragging the Google logo, but the whole thing was, well, a little odd.

living in italy: mille miglia

It's not every day a parade of Ferraris drives down your street.

Up until yesterday afternoon we had never heard of Mille Miglia, a vintage car road race that takes place in central Italy and, as we learned, is pretty darn big deal. Our street happened to be right along the route and it was pretty amazing to see the cars go by.

Here's the thing: the parade/race took a few hours to go by our house. Rob -- in a special version of boy-heaven -- went next door to the grocery store, bought a can of Budweiser and watched the event with a permanent smile on his face. Hilarious!

Mille Miglia Greatest Hits (as seen from our front door):

visiting florence, italy: the numbers game

Looking for a particular address in Florence, but having a little trouble? You're not alone. The numbering system here can be a bit confusing to the casual tourist or newcomer. Follow the photo above from left-to-right in each row and see the numbers on a street in our neighborhood. Confusing right?

According to JustItaly.org, private homes, some offices, and hotels are numbered in black (or blue), while businesses, shops, and restaurants are numbered independently in red. This means that 1, 2, 3 (black) addresses march up the block numerically oblivious to their 1r, 2r, 3r (red) neighbors. Well, that' show it usually works. Anyone that lived here for a week can attest that even that system isn't 100% accurate.

The moral of the story? When in doubt (or lost) ask a local for help.