A Touch of Home

Yay! Christie Booth is here!

I got a call on Molly's cell phone this morning at about 11 and, much to my delight, Christie Booth was on the other end. Christie is a great friend of mine from high school. She and her boyfriend, John, are going to be here in Florence until Wednesday or so. They have a hotel room about 10 minutes from where Molly lives and soon we will head over there with our bathing suits and a bottle of wine. Apparently the pool is on the rooftop and they have a wonderful view of the city.

Molly, Booth, John and I spent an hour or two in the Boboli Gardens today and boiled, boiled, boiled in the sun. The gardens are beautiful. There are dozens of little shaded paths, open courtyards with beautiful statues, and amazing views of the countryside. We sat on a wall at the top of the gardens for about a half an hour just watching the grass grow and talking about our plans. Tomorrow Booth, John, and I are going on a wine tour of the chianti region. We will ride bikes in the Tuscan countryside, try wine, and eat food. Sounds good to me.

Yesterday was, more than anything else, a day of rest. On friday night, both Molly and I were over-served. We needed yesterday to recuperate. We managed to leave the apartment for a few hours in the middle of the day to get some food and run an errand or two. I got a copy of the Lonely Planet's guide to Italy and a small Italian-English dictionary. My to-do list for Firenze still includes a trip to the cell phone store and the purchasing of some postcards.

Last night Molly and I went to dinner at a restaurant suggested by the Lonely Planet. Good work, Lonely Planet; The Attico Noe was absolutely delicious. We had the rigatoni alle noe and some pomodoro bruschetta. It was all delicious. We topped off the night by getting some gelato (italian ice cream) and listening to a musician on the street.

I wonder if you need a permit to play on the streets here. Maybe I will find out.

Anyhow -- things are still good in this part of the world and in this part of my heart. Firenze is beautiful and so are my friends. What a life to be living!

Baci!