Running Around Town

What is it about running in a new city that instantly makes me feel at home? Once I have a running route established (which usually ends up being the route of the first run I go on) I immediately feel like a member of the community. I have a routine established, I belong here. See me locals? I'm running! That means I live here. It may sound crazy, but that's just me.

Ian and I went for a run on Thursday morning, and even though we got a little lost (thank goodness we remembered to bring a map!) and ran for much longer than we had intended, it was so comforting and exhilarating to finally run in Firenze. Although, I realize now that I completely wore out poor Ian...he's not as fond of running as I am, nor does he have the endurance. Either way, it made both of feel better to get out early in the morning and experience the city in a new way. We were able to run on a path alongside the road intended to be a bike lane, which was much flatter and therefore less accident prone than the very uneven cobblestone sidewalk.

Later on Thursday, we rode bus 7 up to a little town called Fiesole. Fiesole is essentially a suburb of Florence, and an incredibly hilly town! (Perhaps not the best choice to walk around a town full of hills after an unexpectedly long run...oh well!) Unfortunately, as we have encountered several time on this trip, most of the town was shut down or closed. I have no idea why, but it was. We did, however, stumble upon an ancient friary with a small museum showcasing the tiny rooms where the monks once resided. It was so quaint and peaceful. And just down the hill from the friary was a wonderful surprise - the most amazing view of Florence! While all the travel guides and websites say that the best view of the city is from Piazza Michelangelo, I would have to disagree. The view from a warm bench on the hillside of Fiesole provides a most breathtaking and inclusive view of Firenze and the surrounding hills. I could have sat on that bench pondering life and just taking in the scene for hours. But, at some point, we did have to get back on bus 7 and head home.


Friday afternoon, Ian and I spent the day wandering aimlessly around the city. We strolled through my favorite part of town, just south of the Duomo where all the vendors and fancy shops reside. I love looking in all the shop windows where the colorful clothes, leather bags, and purple ties hang excitedly for all to admire. We have decided that the colors of Florence are black, gray, and all shades of purple. The local soccer team's color is purple...maybe that explains the abundance of all things plum, violet, and lavender. Either way, it's nice to have at least one color livening up all the dull blacks and grays of winter.

We finished Friday afternoon in a small, organic cafe called Caffelatte where I had a most delicious bowl, yes bowl, of caffelatte and a scrumptious scone topped con panna (with whipped cream). It was heavenly and perfectly warm on a chilly day. I will have to take my mom there when she comes next month...she will love it!

Saturday night, we decided to be "adventurous" and eat dinner out. We've been eating nearly every meal at the apartment to save money, and because, really, Ian is a fantastic cook and I usually end up liking what he makes more than anything we have when eating out. But, either way, we reminded ourselves that we are here to experience culture, and a big part of Italian culture is dining out. So, at 7:30pm (when the restaurant was *finally* open for dinner) we made our way to Il Vegetariano, a local vegetarian restaurant. The menu, as should have been expected, was entirely in Italian. For il primo, I ordered rigatoni pasta and Ian ordered lasagna, both things we recognized. For il segundo, I have no idea what we ordered, or what was in them (no interesting animal parts, thank goodness!), but both were delicious! And for dessert, we shared a slice of cheesecake with a drizzle of berry sauce. We ate entirely too much, but it was wonderful to get out of the house for dinner and have some really good food. And the place was packed, which is usually the sign of a good restaurant in Italy. We're planning to go back next month before we leave. (And, for the record, we've learned that Italians are moving away from eating two courses at every meal...so next time, we can order just one course and feel completely satisfied and a bit more economical.)