We have made it to beautiful Florence, Italy (or Firenze in Italian). We got a taxi and gave him our address – 1 Ricasoli blue (very important because residences have a blue address and businesses have a red address). He looked puzzled and had to call his friend. Oh no. I was a little nervous because we rented directly from the owner via TripAdvisor and got a pretty good deal since we did a monthly rental in January/February. And we were to bring all cash for payment. So this could either be a wonderful find or a bust. But we proceeded on and finally came to a roadblock. He called again and, to my surprise, the barriers were lowered, and he moved on to directly in front of the Duomo, which is where our front door is. Wow.

Lorenzo & the Apartment “Paradiso”

We met with our greeter, Lorenzo, who guided us up a teeny tiny elevator to the 5th floor, opened an iron gate, and into our new home for the month. Amazing. We have one bedroom, living room, foyer, kitchen, and bathroom, with one side directly facing the Duomo and the other with a litte terrace that looks out over the rooftops to the hills of Fiesole. I’ve posted a few pictures.

“Very Important”

Lorenzo showed us around. He warned us that there are many thieves and pickpockets in this area, so we have to keep our iron gate locked at all times, even when we are inside (and this is on the 5th floor of a locked building). He said this is “very important” and wagged his finger at us. He also showed us the washer, which is outside on the terrace under a tarp (I guess we will only wash on sunny days!). He showed us how to turn on the water and advised only to use liquid soap. Again, he said, “This is very important,” while wagging his finger. Finally, he showed us a stash of Chianti Riserva in sort of a mini-bar, available for 6 Euro. He said, very seriously, that it is required that we open these bottles at least 2-3 hours before drinking and, wagging his finger again, said “This is very, VERY important.” I loved that this last instruction got two “very-s”!

So we are settling in. Our goal today is to explore, find a market, and figure out how to empty the trash. Apparently there is a community trash/recycling place a few blocks over, so we have to haul all of our sorted trash there. I’m sure that will be a story for another day . . . .