September Getting Settled

Braheem Family Update 2 (September)

This is the inaugural release of the Florentine Braheem Blog. Welcome! My intention is to update this on a relatively consistent basis but it would be sac religious in Italia to commit to a regimented schedule. Our hopes are that you enjoy the history, experiences, trails, tribulations and philosophical thoughts that unfold over the next ten months as we continue with our family adventure. There is so much to cover since our last correspondence in late August (Also included in the archive of “Florentine Braheem”) that I will break down this month’s version into categories for organized reading.

Venice (Venetzia) – The last writing eluded to the fact that we had just arrived in Venetzia and were blown away by its beauty. In total we spent five nights in the land of over 100 islands. Our conclusion upon departure is that Venice is one of the most enchanting and unique places on earth and without question one of our favorite cities in the World.

The history of Venice is extraordinary. The Venitian civilization was at the peak of its dominance as a world power in what would be considered by Western European Historical standards as the “Dark Ages”. From about 1100 AD to 1400 AD, Venice served a major role in the scope of history. For at this time, history tells us that most of Europe was in despair and riddled with plague, economic depression and considerable oppression of its people from the Roman Catholic Church. Power in the western world had its seat in Eastern Europe and what we now refer to as the middle east, with Constantinople (Now modern day Istanbul) playing a major role in political dominance. The Turks were a warring people and exerted great fear on much of the Mediterranean landscape. When viewing a map of this part of the world it is important to note that Arab society and Muslim region controlled a considerable amount of this region of the world at this time (The Moors were in Spain and as far North as France, The Turks ruled much of the Adriatic including Greece, parts of Croatia and North Africa). Venice served as a major “buffer” between western and Eastern Europe during this time.

The Venetians have always been, and are still, sea fairing people. The unique position of the city (surrounded by water) has always given it natural protection from enemies and resulted in the premier navy of its day. During the dark ages, Venice and its people served as the principle trade merchants of Europe as dominance of the Adriatic and parts of the Mediterranean provided for expeditious access to places that other societies were limited to. We have all heard the tails of Marco Polo and his three year journey from Venice to China where he brought Spaghetti to the west. This is an example of the mobility of the Venetian trader and trade they did. In fact, during this four hundred year period, Venice dominated trade in Europe like no other society and their dominance kept them at relative peace. Countries such as Croatia and Greece sought the support of Venice as protection against the aggressive dominance of the Turks. Simply put, Venice controlled trade with such dominance that it allowed it to control many countries politically without having to fight for it.

Modern day Venice is a city like non that we have ever seen. It is comprised of 118 small islands (Some only the size of one building) that are connected by dozens of arched bridges, making it a city that is only capable of being navigated by boat or foot. Never in the five days that we were there did we see a car. In fact most Venetians have never driven or owned a car!

The gondola ride was one of the great highlights of the trip. Its extraordinarily expensive at 80 euro for only 40 minutes, but so beautiful and relaxing as you navigate through the peaceful waterways passing houses and shops along the way.

Throughout Italy, the cities large and small boast Campos and Piazzas (Gathering places usually with a church as the featured building). Venice has one of the great Campos in all of Italy called Saint Marcs Square. This giant gathering place is constantly filled with people and Pigeons and people come from all over to feed them. The kids absolutely loved this experience and each day when we took the boat to the square, they begged for us to buy pigeon food. When I say pigeons we are talking several thousand in total. The other major building in Saint Marcs square besides its cathedral is the Doges Palace (Former home of the Doges/ or rulers of the Venetian state). We took a private tour of the palace and it was more than worth it! WOW, what a fascinating place. Like most museums and palaces, no photos were allowed, however I did manage to sneak a shot or two of the gold leaf ceilings.

We were blessed to have terrific weather in Venice during our visit and will certainly return again (Perhaps for Carnival)


Life in The Castle and the Storm –

In fact its very much worth noting that we are most definitely NOT on vacation like some may think. Vacation is when you really don’t have much to do and have little to no responsibilities. Sure, I am not working and neither is Anna, but we still have much to do every day. Things are very different from home. We have a refrigerator that is less than half the size of ours in Thousand Oaks (Italians shop for food everyday and have very small refrigerators because electricity is very expensive here), we don’t have a dryer for our clothes (Again no one does due to electricity issues) and our kitchen is very small and doesn’t have a garbage disposal (Again, the electricity thing!). These significant changes to our life (Along with getting lost a lot, not being able to drive right up to a restaurant that you are dining at and trying to get adjusted to where things are) have challenged us in our attempt to find a groove and routine each day. With that said, slowly but surely its coming around and the complexion of life looks much different than at home. The simple fact that no restaurant opens until 7:30 for dinner, makes getting the kids to bed by 8:00 impossible :>)

The castle is amazing. Its also very difficult to put into words as it is truly one of the most unique properties on earth. Now that we have lived here for three weeks, we really appreciate just how special it is. The views are 360 degrees with the Appenine Mountains to the North, the City of Florence to the East, amazing sunsets each night looking towards Pisa to the west and the rolling hills of olive orchards and grape vineyards of Chianti to the South. I will quote Steve Silverman who said “There might not be any property like it on earth” and the owner sure knows it! He has made it clear that he will sell it but not for less than 6 million Euro! That’s 8.5 million dollars for those that are counting. This, for a property that is only 2600 square feet! Just to be clear, he only owns the top floor of the castle as it is divided into four floors and is classified as a condo, but not like any condo we see in the Conejo Valley!

The castle was built in the late 1400’s and has been added on to since. Its on a five acre parcel of walled in land that gives it its own park with over 100 trees in its forest. It sits on the tallest hilltop overlooking the city of Florence. On the bottom floor of the castle is an inscribed plaque. The plaque is in Latin and although I took two years of Latin in high school, I couldn’t translate one word for you! One morning I met a woman downstairs who is the sister of the owner of the second floor of the castle. She translated the plaque to my astonishment!

In the year 1515, Pope Leo X was finally allowed to return to the Rome and the Vatican. During the dark ages, the Pope was forced into exile and was living in Paris. When it was safe to return, he and his entourage made their way back to the Holy City. During his return, Leo X became ill and needed to seek shelter in order to rest. The place that he stayed was Il Castello Di Marignolle, the Castle that we live in! It gave me the chills when she read this to me. Pretty damn cool. So Leo stayed in a room that is on the second floor of the castle (We are on the 4th) and it is marked by a plaque above the door of the room.

These are the things that make Europe so special. Such antique history.

Il Castello has its quirkiness with a small little kitchen, dysfunctional washing machine and no dryer, but all of this is more than tolerable when you see the views. They are without question the best that I have ever seen and we feel blessed every morning when we wake up to be able to enjoy them.

One of the great experiences is seeing the weather change from such a lofty vantage point. All storms that come to Florence come via the North where cold fronts eclipsing the mighty Appenine Mountain range descend upon the Valley that houses Florence. What a sight it is to see. Some of the most wicked weather that I have ever witnessed has pounded down on us already, with temperatures literally dropping as much as 25 degrees in just 30 minutes. One morning, I could see it coming from miles away and raced the kids up to the Tower of Il Castello to get a front row seat. We got more than we bargained for! The winds were so strong and the rain so hard that it blew two of the windows in the tower off their hinges! Rain came pouring in as Trey and I tried to baton the hatches. Since that storm, we have had carpenters out to repair the windows, the next storm will let us know if the job was well executed.

Trey – Italy is getting much easier for Trey, who seems to have fallen into a nice groove. He really loves his new school “I like it a lot better than Carden dad” is what he told me after the first week. He has made friends much easier at the International School than he did at Carden as well. In fact he has a pretty good friend from St. Louis named Blaise who has already been over for a couple of play dates and a sleep over. Additionally, Trey has made friends with a Spanish boy named Diego and a German boy named whose birthday party he attended.

Mom and dad have met Trey’s teacher who is a former magnet teacher from San Diego and we were very impressed by her style. In fact, Anna nailed it when she said that her philosophy reminded her of my sister Susie’s who is also a teacher in So Cal.

Trey has numerous classes each day including computer, reading, English and Italian. He seems to be picking up Italian pretty quickly now that he is in school and more importantly seems to like it. This will come in handy beginning this week when “Football” starts. By football, of course I mean soccer pursuant to the US vernacular. Trey will be starting practice this week in Scandicci (A local neighboring town to Florence) that apparently has a very good team. Two practices a week and one game on Saturday’s will keep him busy and certainly will challenge his soccer abilities with it being Italy’s national pastime.

The school itself is amazing. I’m not certain when the building was constructed, but it must be at least four hundred years old. It’s a former monastery in the Tuscan Countryside that boasts some jaw dropping views. Every time I go to the school, I take my camera as the rolling hills of Tuscany checkered with grape vineyards and Olive orchards is perfect for the lense.

All in all, Trey still misses home and is excited about Christmas break and his return to Lynnmere, but Italy isn’t as difficult as it was in August when he cried himself to sleep three times. In fact, I would say that Trey has been impacted more profoundly by life in Italy than any of us. Anna and I constantly speak about how much he has grown up in the last six weeks. Prior to arriving, he was very much a glass is half empty kid at times and now he has become extremely resourceful, drawing upon himself for his happiness. He has also adopted a love for reading (Something that the school requires 20 minutes a day) and has completed three books and is working on a fourth. This comes as a welcome change for mom and dad from the days of three hours of video games.

Food and gelato are two areas where Trey has developed a passion. On several occasions he has asked “Dad, why cant they make ice cream like this in America”. We average at least give gelatos a week right now and I don’t see that letting up! When it comes to food, Trey has always been a really good diverse eater, but Italy has expanded his horizons substantially with Lasagne Bolognese, Porcini Mushrooms, Sausage Pizza, Pecorino Cheese and Sepia and black squid ink (A Venetian Specialty) being among his favorites.

Olivia’s broken arm – Many of you are likely aware by now, but the day before school, Livy fell off the monkey bars at school and broke her arm. She has been in a cast ever since and will be having it removed on the 2nd of October the doctor tells us. She has been an amazing trooper the entire time, never once complaining. In fact, her comment was “Mommy, I’m just glad it was not my leg, because it would be hard to walk with a cast!”

The scare of having your child suffer a severe injury is bad enough, but even further enhanced when you are in a foreign land. The occurrence gave us an immediate glimpse of what the medical system is like in Italy.

We spent nearly seven hours at the hospital that day, in the care of the doctors. I have taken Livy back once for a check up. She received anesthesia, casting and x-rays. The doctors and nurses had the best bedside manner that Anna has ever seen, with the anesthesiologist giving Olivia a kiss before putting her out!

The total bill was 128.00 euro! Michael Moore would have been proud!

Olivia – The consummate glass is half full person of the Braheem family (Anna is a very close second :>) is having a terrific time thus far. Nothing seems to phase her spirit, not even breaking her arm. Livy has a few friends at school including her closest friend from England “Georgia”. Georgia has visited our home for a play date with Livy, but the jury is still not out on her just yet as Livy has reportedly seen her pick her nose and eat it :>)

On October the 2nd Olivia will be getting her cast off which will or course be a welcome day. Soon there after she will begin swimming lessons at the local Palestra (Gym) down the street. She cant figure out why we want her to take swimming when she “Already knows how to swim” but she’s along for the ride. The last couple of weeks in the castle have involved us having house guests and Livy slept in the Tower with Trey during that time. How cool it will be for her to look back years from now and be able to recall when she slept in the tower of a castle!

School has been a welcome change for Livy as well. She really loves it at the International School and has told us on more than one occasion that she likes it better than Carden as well. She is learning Italian each day and is also really advancing in her reading ability. One of the highlights of the last couple of weeks for Olivia was receiving an extremely thoughtful gift package from Mr. Greg Frost. The package included twelve different colored felt markers and a card that read “Dear Ms. Olivia, I am sorry to hear that you broke your arm. I have enclosed markers for your friends to sign your cast”. Two words CLASS ACT.

The 25th of September was Olivia’s six year birthday and she was so excited to get the little ring and mom and dad bought her along with a bike to ride in the park at the castle. It was a school day, but mom and dad were ready when the kids got home to take them to the city center to shop and have a fun dinner where they sat right in front of a wood burning pizza oven and had some of the best pizza in Florence. The biggest gift of all however will be when she gets her cast off!

What Italia has taught us (Getting lost) – Our time here thus far has taught us many things, with patience being one of the primary lessons. An example of how important patience is was evidenced on the second night that Steve and Emma were visiting us. We headed to dinner at a great trattoria in the city center called La Garga”. Anna and I had been there once before and new how to get there. The city center of Florence is off limits to driving between 7:30 in the morning and 7:30 at night unless you work or live within its confines. We were arriving after 7:30 so we were allowed access to the streets that lead to our dining destination. Parking can be a difficult experience, with literally dozens of different signs written in Italian informing you of what you can and can not do! Adding to the complication is the philosophy of the Italians when it comes to following rules (see last months issue at the water park regarding this matter). Frequently you will see signs that prohibit parking at any time of the day, yet the entire street is filled with parked cars!

The total commute to “Garga” was comprised of ten minutes of driving and a ten minute walk (it’s very typical when eating in the city of Florence to walk several blocks to your restaurant of choice after parking). Following our meal, the four of us walked off our food with the same ten minute stroll back to the car (Actually, Steve and I walked and Anna and Emma waited for us to pick them up because their heels were not fairing well in the cobblestone streets!) The drive home, the same one that took us ten minutes to get there, took us over an hour! Why, you may ask? Well, we got lost for the 123rd time!

Those that venture to Italy are often immediately attracted to the significant difference in how life is lived from the states. Each day unfolds so slowly and with great leisure. When on vacation, this is a welcome change of pace to life and can make for immediate relaxation. However, when you are an “Expat” living in Italia and have many things to accomplish in order for you to get settled, things like getting lost for an hour or two can prove to be a nuisance!

Something as simple as planning to run a couple of errands and have a nice lunch can prove to be a big “No No”. In fact, we have finally started to make the adjustment to waking up each day and seeing what unfolds! Often times, we will find ourselves becoming frustrated with our plans being shattered due to unexpected twists and turns of the day. Perhaps this was never more apparent than when Anna went to pick up the kids at school (A 25 minute drive one way) and it took her slightly over two hours to get there! Why you may ask? Well, she was lost of course! Think of how this can change the “Best Laid Plans” on any given day.

Many of you received my brief note regarding the sending of packages to our home and the challenges that can be caused from trying to track it down. On my various excursions to different areas of the city in search of Trey’s birthday gift from my mom and dad, I found myself frequently pulling over to the side of the road to ask for directions. Italians treat the request for help as a moral obligation to comply. In fact, there have been times where I thought that the person was going to get into the passenger seat of the car and drive with me to the market, post office or whatever destination I was in search of! Never was this compliance and kindness more evidenced than one morning when I arrived at the post office (Some thirty minutes from the castle) to yet again find that Trey’s gift was still no where to be found (This was my third time there). The five tellers spoke a combined nine words of English. I had a slip in my hand that had been delivered to our house informing us that they had tried to deliver the package but could not without our signature. The slip was entirely in Italian and had a phone number to call for information about the delivery. The kind ladies at the post office maintained that calling the number on the slip was my key to finding the whereabouts of Trey’s gift. My problem was that the entire automated system was in Italian and the automated voice spoke very rapidly!

Lucky for me (And for Trey) there was a lady standing in line who spoke both English and Italian. She offered her services to call the number for me and translate. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that she was on the phone for 30 minutes trying to find my package! Let me make sure you understand, this was NOT an employee of the post office, but rather just a lady who was there to mail a package for herself and yet she took thirty minutes out of her day to find out that Trey’s gift was in Prato, a town about thirty minutes from Florence!

This brings me to the lesson that I have learned and concluded about the Italian people. Italian’s don’t place a value on time like we do! In America we view time as currency. Its why, we get frustrated when sitting in a café in Italy and we have still not received the check some 25 minutes after we have asked for it! Time may be precious for us, but its not viewed that way here. Friendship, helping others, enjoying the company of others over a long meal and a glass of wine, now that… as Master Card would say “Is Priceless”. This is how they view it here and slowly but surely we are starting to adapt as well.

I see it both ways. On one hand, in America we get a lot done and have much to show for it. But man, I will tell you, that I will never forget the feeling of gratitude that I had for the lady at the post office that day, who gave me thirty minutes of her time and it was worth more to me than I could place a price tag on it.

This is Italy and its very different than home.

Food and Wine – It just doesn’t get any better on the planet than where we live when it comes to this subject. Wholly shit, we have eaten some amazing meals, especially when Steve and Emma were in town. The list goes on forever of great wines we have consumed and amazing dishes. I will attempt to list a few, but for those that are not on my wine report list, please let me know if you want to be added as Anna and I have been rating everything that we drink and we have been averaging a bottle a day since we got here!

I hired a personal chef to cook with me and each week we prepare a four course meal for the family. Marcella is amazing. A native Tuscan from the island of Elba, she is a teacher in the culinary academy at the University of Florence and a former owner of her own trattoria for 12 years. Each week we select a menu, shop for it together at San Lorenzo market in the city center (The best produce, meat and cheese market that I have ever been to) and prepare the meal. Marcella dines with us each week and has grown to be fond of Livy and Trey as we have of her. She explains the detailed history behind the dish and its ingredients during our preparation process. At the end of the meal, she gives me the recipe to keep!
The first week we made homemade pasta with fresh tomato sauce as a first course (The kids loved needing the dough and the pasta was terrific). The second course was Chicken Florentine with fresh vegetables (Chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and fresh grated parmesan cheese, sautéed in white wine and lemon. Desert was home made crème caramel that the kids also had for breakfast the next day.

Week two was a monster of a menu with Steve and Emma in town. We began with two types of Pecorino cheese including an amazing version that is aged in ash for six months (Steve’s favorite) and the best caponatta that I have ever had. If you have not had caponatta, it literally has a dozen ingredients and this one is a major keeper, one that I will make many more times. This was followed by Veal Scaloppini with roasted zucchini, bell peppers and fried zucchini flowers. We saved the best for last with caramel cake sprinkled with powdered sugar and Cantucci (What you all know as biscotti). Now let me say, that the difference between Cantucci in the US and Italy is akin to the difference between ice cream and gelato or Solia and a box of Mondavi white Zinfandel (As my father en law says “Friends don’t serve friends Zinfandel!”) OK, back to the Cantucci. We have had many great Cantucci since arriving here seven weeks ago and of course I am biased as I had a hand in preparing these, so I will only quote Silverman and Anna who devoured about 80% of them over the 72 hours following their removal from the oven when they said “These are the best fu@^*#g biscotti I have ever had!

Here is a list of some of my favorite dishes that we have had in restaurants:

Ribbolita – A Tuscan bread and veggie soup that is to die for (Drizzle some olive oil on top and enjoy)
Papa A Pomodoro – A Tuscan bread and tomato soup that is also amazing (Use the olive oil drizzle trick again!)
Nudi – Ricotta, Spinach and Parmesean with fried sage in drawn butter. Sinful no doubt and worth every freaking bite. Think of it as the inside of a ravioli shaped like a large gnocci.
Bolognese – Accompany it with anything. Nothing beats a great meat sauce in our minds.
Fresh Ricotta and Pear Ravioli (Cant even begin to tell you how much my mom is going to love these!)
Pizza – The best in the world. My favorite was a parmesean cheese and truffle version
Artichokes – Oh my God, I’m in heaven. I love em and didn’t know how much the Italians do too! Dad, watch out, we are eating serious artichokes in less than one month!
Pecorino – So many varieties and all are terrific. If you love cheese…
The Italian breakfast – I have officially conformed. A cappuccino and a pastry every morning the breakfast of champions. Every corner has a “Pastticeria” a place that is nothing but pastries and all of them kick ass!
White Bean and Olive Oil – A great starter
Spinach sautéed in Olive Oil – Another great starter
Wine – See the wine report, too many damn great ones (Next report comes out in mid October and this is the one Silverman was involved in!)
Gelato – Every flavor is terrific, but as my good buddy Kirk said ten years ago upon his first visit “Timmy, when in doubt go with the fruit flavors, they are the best. Trey and I agree, although Anna’s favorite is hazelnut and Livy gets chocolate’ every single time :>)
Cantucci – See above and below
Caponata – See above

Here is the Cantucci Recipe for all of you. Its easy and the Vin Santo combo is devine!


SERVES: 12
INGREDIENTS:

400gr. Flour
200gr. Sugar
200gr. shelled almonds
3 eggs
1egg yolk
vanilla
baking powder Q.B.
baking soda Q.B.
salt

Make a fountain with the flour, sugar, almonds, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, add the eggs and the egg yoke and mix with hands. When well combined, make small loaves and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, cut into the typical diagonal biscotti shape and return to the oven until toasted.

These cookies, usually called “Cantuccini”, are dipped in Vin Santo, the typical sweet Tuscan wine.


Shopping –

OK, for the sake of time I will only say this. The clothes, linens, shoes, leather, stationary, cheese, wine, pastry, olive oil, and about ten other things are the best in the world. Shopping is becoming a problem :>)

Every street has dozens of places to shop for various items. Its not a place for an addict! The fashion here is only eclipsed by Milan and it’s a close second. Anna is very lucky that she married a total chick, because I like to shop as much as her. Today, we spent about five hours in the city and two were consumed with a terrific lunch and the other three had Anna shopping and me spending three hours at my favorite Enotecca (Wine shop) writing this blog and drinking two different reds. It was a very good day! Now back to shopping. We love this city as it’s the best we have been to for shopping. Our favorite two places for great deals have been the Prada and Dolce Gabana Outlets, with prices at Prada literally 75% off of what you pay in Los Angeles. To list all that we have bought already would take too much time. Let’s just say that we look forward to many more days of having a long lunch and shopping now that we are finally getting settled

Yes, we did go crazy in Murano. Several pieces of glass were purchased and are being shipped home. The glass factories are simply fascinating and the results are nothing short of art. The kids loved watching how the glass was blown. Yet another great day in Venice was the day we went to Murano.

Steve and Emma Silverman “I will bury you in Italy” – Our first house guests have come and gone and will Truly be missed. Steve and Emma arrived on the 15th of September with a bag full of very welcomed goodies from the states which included:

Beavis and Butthead Videos for the kids
Pancake Mix
Sunflower Seeds
Season one and two of Weeds, Entourage and Prison Break

Special thanks to Ruth for buying everything!

Ahhh the necessities of life for an American! The time together was terrific. We basically didn’t do a damn thing that most tourists do in Firenze. Steve, Anna and I worked out every day at the palestra, which gave all of us the excuse to eat like vultures! Some of the great meals and wine of this adventure were consumed while the Silverman’s were here. The highlight was a very long lunch at Osteria Di Passignano, which is at the Badia Passignano winery in Chianti. What a freaking meal and man did we drink some serious wine including the best wine of the trip thus far, the 2004 Tignanello.

Upon arrival, Steve informed me that he too would like to rent a Vespa. This notion was immediately snuffed out by Emma who exclaimed “I am not burying you in Tuscany”!

So we stayed away from the center much of the time and ventured to outlying areas such as the Prada and Dolce Gabana outlets where Emma’s expertise in fashion was an enormous help in assisting us at picking out clothing to suit our wardrobe needs. The clothing score of the week however was at of all places Zara (For those that are not familiar, Zara is a Spanish store that specializes in reasonably priced/cheaply priced clothing) where Steve found and beautiful leather jacket for only $250.00. It was such a great deal that I sped down on the motorino the next day and picked one up for myself!

Another reason for spending time out of the city was our experience the second night of the trip when we had the infamous one hour and fifteen minute drive home (The one referenced earlier that followed only a ten minute drive to get to the destination). The stress level was high at times with Emma and I arm wrestling over who had a better sense of direction and could save us from winding up in France, but in the end it was a narrow cobble stoned road (hardly wider than the car itself) in the black of night that returned us to the castle with Anna at the wheel. The only casualty was a bit of scrapped paint off the car when Anna grinded up against the stone wall (An incident that she has since repeated but with much more significant results as we now don’t have a side mirror on our car).

Steve and Emma were amazing house guest. They helped shop for groceries, assisted in hanging laundry, encouraged a consistent consumption of wine and cheese and Steve weathered our slow speed internet access without a whimper! Our time with them is cherished.

We also had a visit from Mark and Tracy Tyron, our friends from Westlake Village who plan to move here in December. They are doing it the right way, getting the lay of the land prior to uprooting. Their intention was to find a place to live and some how squueze their son Spencer (Who played baseball with Trey and went to school with him at Carden) into the International School which is full. The great news is that they got him in and he will begin attending school with Trey and Oliva this December. It will be wonderful to have freindly faces for both the kids and us adults and we look forward to saving a lot of headaches for Mark and Tracy when they arrive in a few months!

Florence and the Motorino – Its interesting, something really magical happened when we returned from Venice. After all the trials and tribulations in August, September brought not only a bit of stability to the Braheem house, but a closer proximity to Florence and the City Center. This combined with the kids going to school each day and the most important decision of the trip (Tim getting a Vespa) allowed us to venture daily into the city center and explore the other side of the Arno river in detail. What we found was magic. Florence was just voted by Travel and Leisure Magazine and its readers as the best city on the planet and we have begun to discover why. There is an electricity that you feel when you cross under the gates of Porto Romano (The Door to Rome) and enter the real city of Florence. Porto Romano is four minute drive from the castle and provides us access to the city. Built in the 1200’s Porto Romano is a giant wall (About 10 stories high) with huge wooden doors (Hence the term Porto). The wall was built to symbolize the direction that one would need to take to go to Rome.

Florence is not really a big city per our standards in the US and only has about 300,000 inhabitants, however it seems much larger due to the combination of a massive tourist infusion and some of the most chaotic streets you have ever seen. As mentioned before, access to the city is difficult if not impossible between 7:30 in the morning and 7:30 at night unless you enter by cab or by parking outside the walls of the city and walk to your destination ) 15 to 20 minutes walking in most cases. For a tourist that is here for a week or two, its no big deal, but when you live in Florence, there is simply too much to tease you each day, to settle for such limited access (Some of the worlds best Museums, Restaurants, Clothes shopping, Some of the best wine bars in the world, amazing Pasticcerias (Pastry Shops), great open air produce, meat and cheese markets, the list goes on. Sooo, the decision was made. Anna finally caved in and I rented a Motorino (Vespa) and life changed immediately! I can be at the Duomo (One of the most beautiful buildings in the World) and anywhere else in the city center in ten minutes (Cutting 20 to 30 minutes out of the equation. The key is that on a motorino you can drive anywhere and at anytime as long as you are willing to negotiate the mayhem that is the streets of Florence. I actually find it a total rush and love the energy of driving in the city on the bike. Anna is less comfortable as of yet, but loves to ride on the back while I drive. In fact we are attempting to break the Guinness Book of World Records for most shit brought back on a scooter after shopping! Anna and I transported five bottles of wine, two bags of fruit, meat and milk and three pairs of pants back one day with both of us on the bike! It was quite a sight!

For me personally, I totally get the motorcycle thing for the first time in my life. Its so much fun riding the motorino. For those that are bike buffs, I get it up to about 55 km’s an hour on straight aways (35 miles an hour) so not too hard core. It can go faster, but the city is so congested and there is so much crap going happening in the streets it would be bad to take it up higher. I cant seem to take my eyes off bikes now. Its not good. Trey loves riding on the back too and he and I look at parked motorcycles and Motorino’s all the time.

Much fun!

Finally, I would be remise for not mentioned Nicola Albini and his mother Renata. Nicola is a friend of Steve and Emma's who grew up in Florence and now lives in Santa Monica. His mom Renata still lives in neighboring Prato with her husband Nando. NOt only have the Albini family been amazing in helping us through difficult times (Including Renata being the one who found the castle for us) but they also had us over for an absolutely wonderful dinner party a couple of weeks ago when Nicola and his girlfriend Stacy were in town. The night was full of great food, Nando's home grown wine, terrific company, the talk of politics and the treat of Nando on the piano and his best friend of 40 years Paolo on vocals as they treated us to after dinner music that was most memorable as the two of them used to have a band in the 60's and their music is still played on local radio to this day!

Next issue of the blog will contain much more info on the history of the city of Florence as Anna and I have decided that we want to hire a guide to teach us about this terrific place.

Observations of Italians from the Cheap Seats –

Following are observations, thoughts and brief notes of likes, dislikes and surprising items from the Florentine landscape:

Anna and I just love pulling up in the parking lot at the gym and seeing a greasy Italian guy smoking a cigarette before his workout!
Italian woman love their tanning beds and have the darkest tans I have ever seen.
Supermarkets in America and in Italy suck. There is nothing better than waking up in the morning and walking from the butcher, to the cheese shop, to the open air fruit and vegetable market, to the wine store and the pastry shop to select you food for the day.
Americans don’t know how to dress and it hurts their appearance. I have never seen so many good looking ugly people as I see in Italy. Its all about fashion.
Hanging clothes on the line outside is one of the most relaxing and meditative experiences and we both look forward to it!
There is definitely good reason that American companies don’t write insurance policies on rented automobiles in Italy. This country must lead the world in fender benders. The roads are filled with pot holes and are much too narrow for cars.
Italian men and woman love to dress up in serious clothes and then go to the gym! Its classic to see so many well dressed people come and go from the palestra.
Efficiency is not in the Italian dictionary. Hell, I have been waiting since the 20th of August for high speed internet and still don’t have it. Telecom has flaked out on four installation appointments, but today Anna and I went to lunch and 12 telecom employees were having a three hour lunch! They could have been getting me connected!


Thanks for Reading

Ciao