Wrapping up Florence

We had exactly a day and a half from when Tory and Melissa departed until when I had to check out of Florence myself, so unfortunately I spent it most of that time stressing out over packing and making sure my bags would not be over weight. This was difficult because with Iceland Express I would be allowed only one checked bag of 20kg (flying here last year with Iceland Air we were allowed two bags of 23kg), and the carry-on bag must be less than 10kg. In the meantime, though, we did wrap up a few loose ends and pause for the end-of-the-year fellows' party at I Tatti. Obviously, it was my last time (as well as the last time for many of the fellows) at the fairytale-like villa, and my last chance to really soak up la dolce vita d'Italia.

The fellows end-of-the-year party at the Villa I Tatti

The lineup was a 'light' buffet

Una bella vista davvero!

I love the uniforms! And the dessert.

Gathering around the brand new pool

Not sure what is going on here (I missed that announcement)

Seth splashing around with Gerardo and Rubber Duckie

The aftermath

On our way home, I finally got to stop at Il Procopio for my first (and probably last) granita. Given the choice, I would probably go for gelato instead, but it was still really good -- like a super fresh slushy. They are actually mostly made just of frozen, slushed-up fruit.

All that food requires lots of exercise! Here are some pictures (taken on the morning before I left) of our daily running route up to the Piazzale.

It might be overcast, but it was muggy as can be!

A rich neighborhood behind the Piazzale

A final look out the window
Our last morning was spent visiting our final site, the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine. I would have hated myself if I were in Florence for an entire year and didn't see the Brancacci Chapel (Masaccio's masterpiece). Here is the market in the Piazza di Santo Spirito, just around the corner. It seemed very exotic being at the other side of the river!
During lunch we finally finished reading Pinocchio together! What a wonderful story, and a great way to learn vocabulary. (Though not particularly modern, at least the dialect is Tuscan!)
Me and Lorenzo!
La Signora (aka The Old Lady) who lived in the apartments facing ours. She would shout silly things at us from her window pretty much whenever we arrived or left. And yes, Italians actually do lower baskets from their windows to lift things from the street :o)

A last look at the Oblate. A really nice, though extremely hot and horribly over-populated public library. I really hated this place (the only available seats were on the ground and there were no outlets for laptops), but at least it lent good movies and had a great view of the Duomo.

Our last dinner out in the Piazza Sant'Ambrogio. It is hard to capture the very crazy 6-way intersection in just one photo, but from the steps of the church you can see everything.
Not a particularly flattering photo, but we tried

Las Palmas--the series of performances in the piazza behind our apartment held every night during the summer.

Lorenzo stayed back to keep Seth company. I already miss the little guy!

Our beloved and very popular street. It wasn't very cute at night, however, when the noise was too intense to allow for sleep. Good bye, Florence!