October, A Time of Exploration!

Since the departure of our guests, Anna and I have been enjoying exploring Florence and all of its narrow back alleys filled with surprises. Of course we have been doing it on the motorino! Its funny, because Anna was against me getting one but now craves to ride on the back! With me at the wheel it gives us access to so many of the city’s hidden gems.

On the 27th of September we woke in the middle of the night to a thunder storm like no other. The roaring of the thunder coupled with bolts of lightening in the sky made for a perfect setting to be in a castle. I feel as if I know what it must have been like to have lived in Baghdad when the Americans arrived! The thunder sounded like the detonation of bombs! The only thing that was missing was Count Dracula himself! Following a warm bowl of oatmeal we bundled Livy and Trey up for school and decided that rain or no rain we were headed out on the motorino again! BIG MISTAKE? Nope, more like an adventure that we will always remember!

The weather has finally turned here as Autumn is upon us. The leaves are showing a glimpse of amber and gold as September winds to an end and October is in full swing. The skies didn’t look that threatening when we left the castle at 9:00 am for a morning quest to find rain gear (items that we often don’t need in So Cal such as warm rain trench coats, leather water resistant gloves and thick wool socks). Our ride through the cold air (about 50 degrees but felt much colder on a Vespa!) took us to a Florentine institution knows as the Madova Glove store, a shop no bigger than your bedroom with literally thousands of pairs of gloves to choose from made of the finest Italian leather. Just as we arrived at Madova the skies opened. Of course being the rookies that we are, we were ill prepared. Hell we didn’t even have an umbrella (last time we make this mistake!) Following our purchase we headed for shelter at a Pastticeria for a cappuccino and pastry and then it was off to San Lorenzo market to meet Marcella to shop for this evening feast.

San Lorenzo is the largest open air market in the country of Italy and it is filled with dozens of vendors selling cheese, produce, meet, wine, fish and most any other gastronomic treat you can imagine. Marcella is a veteran of San Lorenzo and over the next 90 minutes took us to various vendors who she has close acquaintance with, teaching us how to shop for the best for this evenings meal. On the menu this evening will be fresh Sea Bream (a Mediterranean white fish, similar to a bass) baked in course salt and paired with fresh broccoli. This will be the main course which will follow fresh sautéed calamari with fresh artichokes. Of course we will be drinking another white wine which will be rated in the wine report!

Once we exited the market, our intentions were to find a clothing store to buy our rain gear. All good intentions were washed away when we left the market to find the skies opening up yet again. We sped home in the cold rain, getting soaked along the way…rain coats will wait for another day I guess!

A footnote to all of this simple living (shopping every day for your food etc…) is that Italians sacrifice something that is very precious to us Americans on a daily basis, the art of motivation! This is a conversation that we have had with Marcella who has traveled in America on several occasions. She points out that Italians lack ambition and the magic of America is that we DREAM of what can be and take action to make it so! This is something that I do miss greatly about home (among many other things that I will disclose later). As Americans we may take for granted the opportunity that we have in front of us each day. The ability to make our dreams come true and to fulfill our desires. Italians live in the moment which is the attraction for so many tourists who venture to this part of the world to experience La Vita Dolce, the sweet life, but when you digest this type of living on a daily basis, you begin to notice that something is missing from their life. It's as if many are stuck in eternal neutral as to what they feel they can accomplish. One must wonder which is the better way of living. I am not sure, but most certainly would not want to live a life without dream fulfillment. For this, we as Americans are truly blessed and this is what we are so admired for by so many other civilizations. I think of the employees of Italia Telecom who have failed time and again to show up to install my DSL line, or the plumber who came to repair our dishwasher only to have it break yet again one day later, and his response that it will be another week before he can return to look at it! This lack of passion for perfection is what Marcella is referencing and it inhibits many of the beauties of life that we as Americans are fortunate to have.

How can we have both I ask? The beauty of both societies? This would be the place that all would want to live I believe!

This month we dedicate “Florentine Braheem” to Five main subjects:

Our friends Simone and Stella
Food
The Great City that we live in: Firenze (Florence)
Lo Sport (Sports)
The Mighty Dolomite Mountains

But first an update on the family

Enjoy…