Acclimazione

Unlike Miss Bartlett, I was quite aware that my apartment in Florence would not have a view, a fact which the owner had emphasised in her AirBnB listing. It is, however, huge, with two bedrooms and bathrooms - perfect for the guests I am expecting during my sojourn. It has some of the problems of an old European apartment facing onto a light well - the echoing sounds from nearby apartments (Babies and bowel movements included), pigeon poop on the window sills, but all in all it fits the bill.

On September 7th I start a four week Italian intensive course - my attempt to immerse myself and implant "nel mio cervello" the language I've been learning for the last year, and hope to become much more fluent in over the next seven weeks. 

Before that starts, I have been doing the tourist thing with my daughter Hayley, with whom I travelled from London last Saturday. While we have been doing what tourists do in Florence: eating gelato and pasta, drinking red wine and beer and visiting some of the iconic sights, we have also made a concerted effort to stray off the beaten path and just wander, taking in the city that will be my home for 5 weeks. 

We have literally walked kilometres every day to take in Florence's nooks and crannies. We walked to Fiesole, the hillside town overlooking Florence : a place of retreat today as it was 700 years ago when the young Florentines in Boccacio's Decameron fled there to escape the plague. Google maps estimated a walk of 7.5km in 1hr 50, it was probably closer to 10km and 3 hours with detours (both intended and not) The pretty town and magnificent villas were worth the walk, but we caught the bus back. 

We've trekked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo in the early morning several times, and had the advantage of the famous and spectacular view without the accompanying crowds and touts.

The thing I'm loving about Florence is that despite the multitudes of tour groups following leaders waving flags or umbrellas, it's really easy to escape: down an alley, to a little square like Piazza della Passera (a reference apparently to its early incarnation as a red light district according to the friendly local who joined us on a bench as we ate our nightly gelato), or to a laneway running beside the old city walls where you can feel as if you are in rural Tuscany. 

The Boboli gardens behind the de Medicis' Palazzo Pitti are huge and full of hidden spaces and shady nooks and crannies which are a great relief after a succession of high 30s days. If you feel like lashing out, the Sesto restaurant and bar is a schmick place to watch the sun go down and have over-priced cocktails and aperitivi (or you can slip down any laneway and get a class of wine and delicious aperitivi for 6 euros!)

We've also left town for a weekend, heading out to the hills of the Chianti region for a couple of days in a beautiful villa and some great food and relaxation.

Tomorrow the 'work' begins. I will be meeting with una insegnante for a test of my Italian to decide what level I will be studying at. My teacher Francesca has warned me that the levels in Italy are much stricter and harder to move through than our friendly school in Carlton. After a year of lessons in Australia, I will just be happy not to be in the beginners.