Always forget how close Florence is. I don’t need to reserve a whole day to visit; and I can certainly run errands rather quickly, if planned correctly. Today was an errand day.

I did my normal walk: 6.25 miles along the via dei Girasoli, next to the train tracks.  It was a blisteringly hot day.  Every morning, I tell myself: “Self, you need to get up 2 hours earlier and do this walk when it isn’t so hot.” But, every morning, I succumb to the “just five more minutes” temptation and never get out before the heat comes.

I finished my walk and ate lunch. I am doing intermittent fasting while I am here, so lunch is always the most important part of my post-walk ritual. I eat two pieces of fruit (usually an orange and a peach) and a hard boiled egg.  When sufficiently fed, I got cleaned up and hopped into the car. I put “US Consulate, Lungarno, Firenze” into the Maps app on my phone. (I always park at the consulate because a) it makes me feel good to see the American flag and b) there is a huge parking lot right there that is super easy to access.) The app said I would be there in 49 minutes, which seemed wrong, but I went with it.

The drive went smoothly, no traffic, until just after Ginestra. The four lane divided highway, known as the Fi-Pi-Li, (more formally, as the Strada Grande Comunicazione Firenze-Pisa-Livorno), funnels into 2 lanes on account of road construction. That’s what the app was accounting for… however, the funneling went more smoothly than anticipated and as soon as I was through the bottle neck, the ETA shaved 10 minutes back off. And, sure enough, I was back in front of American soil as I had expected.

I parked and went over the the parking meter machine.  Arriving at 2:40, I figured that I could get everything done by 5:40. I took out my coins and started feeding the meter. It gave me two hours and that was it.  Yikes! I needed to run!

Well, not really run, because it was hot and I was not interested in having a heat stroke… So, I picked up the pace and made my way along the Arno to the Ponte Vecchio: my first stop was Vaggi. Vaggi is a jeweler who has helped me through many of my life’s difficulties.  When I failed my first exam, I got some earrings. When I was feeling down about turning 30, I got a gold bracelet… when I lost the bracelet 9 years later, they helped me replace it. I owe Vaggi a lot! 

I bought a bunch of frog jewelry a number of years ago. I started with the big ones and went to the little ones. I had gotten about 8 year ago the little frog earrings, and, in true Lauri fashion, I lost one about 4 years ago. I went directly to Vaggi when I got back here after losing it, and Carla (my favorite jeweler) had a new one made to match the one I had left. It was terrific and fast. And, I wear those little frog earrings almost every day.

Fast forward to last Monday, when I was unpacking my big suitcase. I heard a “plink” on the parquet floor in my bedroom.  When I moved my hand across the floor, guess what I found… Yep! A little 18k glad frog earring. That earring had been in the suitcase the whole time… But, now I had a dilemma. I have 3 earrings. I need a mate to the newly discovered frog. Enter Vaggi. I entered the store (I was the only customer) and immediately began my telling the saga of the missing frog. The lady behind the counter remembered me and said she would be happy to help even if Carla was retired. And help she did. I got the earring at a huge discount and now the little frog has its companion back. I bet you cannot guess who is going to be gifted these lovely earrings, newly reunited!

With that errand complete, I made my way toward the Piazza della Repubblica. I wanted to dash into the Santa Maria Novella profumeria mini-shop. I had a couple of items to grab. But, before I did, I saw the Puma shop had all the Italia soccer jerseys in the window. I popped in, if only to get some AC. As I was cooling down, I saw they had kid jerseys, too. I asked the young man working to help me. I needed a youth large. I showed him William’s picture with his coach to give the guy a visual. He said the youth large on the rack was the perfect one. I grabbed it, paid, and departed on my way, well cooled down.

Across the piazza, I found the Santa Maria Novella mini-shop. I entered and scanned the shelves looking for my favorite garofano cologne. The salesperson asked if I needed help. I asked if my perfume was available. Nope. The whole line was discontinued… so, I settled on the jasmine cologne and some shampoo, shower gel, hair mask and a gift soap for Julia Petrino’s mom. After chatting with the salesperson for a few minutes, both to practice my Italian and to take advantage of the fresh air, I set back out. I stopped in the piazza del duomo, took a picture, veered left toward  via Tornabuoni where all the posh shops are, and on the way back to the car. As I turned onto the road, a man, without a mask, and with a skin condition on his face, tried to get my attention. I ignored him and kept on my route. This must have annoyed him, as I heard a loud sound of spitting. It was a little unsettling and I hastened my step down the road.  When I was sufficiently away, I check my person and ascertained that he had not connected with me, (thank god). 

This is where I want to mention that most people are still wearing the mask outside in the city, since the government is still requiring it. In the country, most people are not wearing masks out and about. Seeing a person in the city center without one does give you a second thought. So, when I saw this man coming at me, I was on alert. However, it never once occurred to me that he would spit. In this era of COVID, bodily fluids are one of those no-nos. So, moral of the story is that even with COVID, the crazies are still out there, so beware!

I got back to my car with my wits about me and got back onto the road. By the time I arrived back to Castel del Bosco, I was completely back to myself. I am now listening to my American Classical League Institute (one of the benefits of COVID is that these meetings are all on Zoom…). Tomorrow is another day and another adventure!