Florence, Italy 2009

For fourteen years, Susie has lived in the Tuscany region, the last year in Florence.  She had been thinking about moving home to Texas, and this was the year. The move was quite complicated because of many laws regarding her kitties.  The end of March, I flew over to 'help' her with her move. At the airport in Florence, we ended up with 4 luggage carts. The kitties, il Ciccino and la Ciccina, had to have special crates and lots of documentation.

We had a week in Florence and it was wonderful. Susie had lots of last minute things to take care of, and I tried to help by going to get breakfast, and, one time, lunch. The pastry bar was two blocks up and one block to the left. I had a note in Italian to give to the people at the counter. Each morning, I would give them the same note, asking for una sfoglia alla crema and get something we didn't ask for. I was told, by gesture and not getting what we wanted, they those pastries were out. So we always got something just as delicious. Then I would move down the counter and the barista would give me due cappuccini da portare via, which was also on the note. The man making the coffee was very nice, and I didn't have to talk too much. Just grazie. He would put the coffees on a small heavy cardboard tray, with two sugars, two spoons, and two napkins. Next, I would pay, and learned after a couple of trips, that it was going to be 3.90 euro each time. I had a hard time juggling Susie's umbrella, coffees, and pastries, but got the hang of it after a few tries. Some of the customers would talk to me in Italian, until they realized my vocabulary was only: ciao, grazie, arrivederci and a few other phrases.