Sleep. Rest. Sleep. Sleep. Rest. Sleep.
Finally got around to starting our pioneer bath ritual, and found out we had hot water again. Yay!
It's drizzling today off and on, so while there was a break we headed out for lunch. Popped into a random place and when the waiter found out we were there for food and not just a spritz, he literally went and grabbed the sandwich board from the front door and brought it all the way back for us. I guess it's the only place they had the specials written. Lol. He did that a couple more times for others who came in after us, and we got a chuckle out of it each time. You'd think they'd come up with a better system than making this poor kid lug a 3.5 foot sandwich board all through the restaurant, but I guess you'd be wrong.
We had soup (real, actual soup this time) with vegetables and rice that was really tasty. Frankie had pasta with a meat sauce and I ordered what the translator said was milanese pork and chips, which ended up being a lightly breaded pork chop with French fries. Both were very good! We tried to order cantucci & Vin Santo for dessert, but were informed dessert was 'no more' (no clue what that meant. Lol), so we were offered a shot of house made limoncello instead. And then another. The third time I told Frankie he'd better just pay the bill or we'd walk out of there drunk. Lol
It rained more while we were eating, but as if on cue, cleared up as we stepped outside. We headed up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which turned out to be the perfect day for it. The rain kept most people away, so we had the place virtually to ourselves. Also, the view of the city we always see in movies and pictures is on a sunny day, and it was really cool to see it on a gloomy one.
You might, as I did, find yourself wondering why this one is called piazzale, when most other squares are called piazza. Both translate to square, so I did a little research and found that a piazza is a square surrounded by buildings on all 4 sides. If there's any sides that aren't as such, it's a piazzale. So now we both learned something new, and I taught you a little Italian, so I get extra credit for my reentrance exam when I want to come back!
We walked down a different way than we went up, and were treated to a gorgeous tree lined walk down a hill that opened up on to the first of a three-tiered fountain built right into the walk/roadway, and was clearly designed to look more like it was naturally occurring rather than man made. It has to be at least twice as big as the Trevi fountain, and we were both incredulous that we'd never heard of it, and that Frankie hadn't seen it when he was here before.
I did some research and found the reason... It was built in 1865, but for various reasons quickly fell into disrepair. In 2018 restoration began, and
• 11 tons of weeds and roots removed,
• 150 original marine sponge-like limestone formations restored and replaced,
• 400 square meters of reconstructed decorative equipment,
• 3.3 tons of river pebbles used for historic reconstruction purposes,
• 259,600 liters of water volume for the entire system,
• A 120-horsepower water pump,
• Installation of a new 27,000 liters recyclable water tanks,
• 1,200 semi-aquatic and aquatic plants,
• 200 additional species of non-aquatic flowers and plants,
• 900 square meters of lawn and flowerbeds reconstructed, and
• Over 2.5 million euros later, this magnificent structure called Poggi's Ramp is really, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen...
Here's a link if you want more info: https://www.fondazionecrfirenze.it/poggi-ramps-florence.../
We took so long admiring Poggi's Ramp that we barely had time to get back to our flat (with a quick stop for some pasta at the grocery) to get ready for All Saint's Day mass at the Duomo.
The Duomo. Oh my. The outside is so ornate, but the inside is gloriously simple. There's not a lot of frills, just stunning architecture and columns that reach right up to heaven. That is, until you get to the cupola, and then there's a gorgeous fresco that is kind of in this spiral pattern, drawing your eyes up up up, all the way to the top. Simply takes your breath away.
I was a bit worried when we were walking in for mass and a children's choir filed in ahead of us. I'm not fond of children's choirs. Don't hate me, but with the odd exception, I really don't care for the sound of them. Individually I don't mind when children sing, and occasionally I love it (Jackie Evancho comes to mind), but with the exception of the Vienna Boys Choir, I've never enjoyed the sound of multiple children singing at once. This choir, however? Ugh... Like 15 little angels who can sing me to sleep every night. Holy cow, they were amazing! It made Mass so much more beautiful than a mass in a centuries old, breathtakingly beautiful cathedral already was.
By the time mass let out it was pouring rain. Luckily, we came prepared for this, so between our umbrellas, rain coats, weather resistant footwear, and scarves (I'm telling you, Italians know what's up with scarves. They are so versatile and I will definitely be using them more from now on), the walk home was barely an issue.
When we got home, we put a pot of water on the stove to boil for the pasta, prepared our aperitivo of salumi & pecorino, opened a bottle of wine and sat down to enjoy the gifts from the day before. The salumi and pecorino were fantastic, but definitely the crowning jewel of our day was the pasta with Maria Pia's pomodoro. Meraviglioso! Delicioso! Buono!
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