Friends and Food

Saturday, January 4th, 2014
FELICE ANNO NUOVO per tutti!
I have been lazy with the blog lately, but I promise to catch up.  Unfortunately, my technical adviser,
Micael is not here to help me upload the pictures.   He'll be back on Monday and then you can check them out.   There will be many.....    I don't remember where I left off, but will try to retrace the days.

On or around December 28, I met a lovely couple from Russia, Lucy and Leo (Russian name:  Ludmila and Lev) who happen to be so lovely, we instantly became really good friends.  Imagine this:  she is an English teacher at the university level in Moscow.   He is retired from the United Nations and WHO (World Health Organization) after being a translator for many years.   She is very talkative and entertaining and he has a wicked sense of humor.  They are absolutely adorable. Unfortunately, she fell in the breakfast room and hurt her knee.  She was sidelined for a few days and I tried to keep her some company.  (She's better now, and she won't let a limp stop her!!!)  You will "meet" them when the pictures are uploaded.  They have also lived all over the world, and travel the world extensively.  They even lived in New York for 5 years while he was working at the United Nations.  She is so spunky!  When I grow up, I want to be like her!

Lucy and Leo

On December 30th, I called my cousin Lupita in Mexico and, of course, I'm speaking Spanish to her.   When I finished the phone call, I came back into the lobby and noticed a really nice family sitting in the sofas, the couple and two really handsome kids, 13 and 9.   Well, I heard the lady say something to one of the kids in SPANISH!!!!   So, I told her how lovely it was to hear Spanish and so here we go....
They are from Venezuela and it's Jorge, Giovanna, Jorge Alejandro y Fernando.  Really lovely family.  So, the Russians and the Venezuelans and the Mexican became fast friends.
Now, when I was here before, I met a woman Therese Boucher, who is from the States, but happens to work in Vicenza, which is not too far from here.   She has asked me to go visit her anytime and all that.   She's a mental health specialist in the Army base in Vicenza and will be there for three years.
She and her cousin and her cousin's daughter were here for sightseeing and took cooking classes and the typical excursions to nearly places.   In any case, she came with her two college-age kids and joined the merriment for a few days.   On New Year's Eve, we had quite the party here at the hotel, and I had bought a bottle of Prosecco to toast the new year.   Well, as we laughed and carried on, the front desk clerk brings out a magnum bottle of Prosecco courtesy of Gabrielle, the owner.   Well, little by little that bottle disappears, and then he comes back with ANOTHER one!   By this time, other guests are back from their dinners andexcursions, and this and that and we all were able to really enjoy the beginning of 2014 in a really great way!   I kept wondering:  "What am I going to do for New Year's? Go to sleep?"  It was so nice to be around friends.
The Britos from Venezuela, the Russians, and the Mexican would gather in the afternoon for the social hour and it was always superb conversation, highly entertaining and interesting sharing all of our experiences.  Good thing the Britos were both doctors and he was able to, at least from what he felt, that Lucy had not broken anything.   Still, she was on crutches and in pain.  He prescribed lots of rest. You will meet everybody when the pictures are uploaded.

Lucy, Leo, and me!  Notice what she has in her hands.

This is the Brito family.

These are the party animals at New Year's Eve celebration.

Again

One last time!  Cheers!

Well, Lucy and Leo came for a few days, but the Britos left two days ago to go to Rome and then back to Venezuela.  We, of course, exchanged e-mail addresses and promised to cross paths again, somewhere some how....  I don't doubt this for one second.
The last few days have been grey and wet and pretty dreary.  I took advantage of the fact that I don't like to go out in the rain to keep Lucy a little company and watch the tennis matches from Australia.  Not too accomplished, but certainly calm and quiet.  
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and Lucy and Leo leave tomorrow, Sunday, to go back to Moscow.   I don't know what I am going to do without them.  I am going to miss them.
By the way, Lucy also speaks Spanish pretty darn well, Leo understands everything, and I'm pretty sure he could converse also, but I don't think we gave him half a chance!
There is another couple here from Israel, and another one from Switzerland.  Believe it or not, the husband, Mark, in this case, actually worked in a little town in Mexico called Tapachula (it's in Chiapas), for two years as a technical advisor to an agricultural enterprise over there.   He also speaks Spanish.  In any case, I will just have to wait to meet other guests.  It's been great and I do enjoy it very much.  Everybody tells me that Gabrielle should hire me as his "social director".  I'll report on what is happening as usual.
I made the decision to leave the apartment and come live at the hotel.  Gabrielle gave me that choice and I took advantage of it because I was getting very lonely over there.   It's a very large apartment, it needed PEOPLE!   And, I would go to bed and worry that something may happen to me and nobody would know about it, until the ladies came to clean it.  So, again, for my comfort and safety, I decided to stay here.  The apartment is really lovely and I did enjoy living there, and cooking a little, and it had this huge flat-screen TV that was amazingly mounted on the wall facing the bed!   It was also very nice to be able to wash my clothes, although Gabrielle has given me laundry privileges here at the hotel.
Hey, I just found where the pictures are.  So, I can include them now.
All through this time, I take walks all around here, so these next few pictures will sort of show you what I have been focusing in.... For one, I needed to continue my research on minestrone.

This one was absolutely delicious!

Okay, more food now.....   it's just so amazing that I can't help it.  You can stop here if you want.

Sort of like a really dense fruit cake, all nuts inside.

A slightly different version of the panpepato above

This case of paninis went from one side of the cafeteria from one
end to the other.

Need I describe this for you?

Definitely not Peter Piper's Pizza.

This is gelato in popsicle form.   Also yummy, yummy, yummy!

All over the streets, there are these vendors selling this type of
waffle, mostly with Nutella.  There are crepe ones too,
but I haven't stopped at one yet.

Notice the name of this cafe....   It's called Cafe Bellini and it's where the
famous Bellini drink was invented.  That's where I had the soup
that I talked about, in the white bowl.

Okay, sorry Italy, but I went to have sushi.  I noticed a Japanese
restaurant right across the street from the hotel.  On January 1st, everything
was closed, but they were open, so I stopped there for
lunch.  I know it's going to sound like an exaggeration,
but it was some of the BEST sushi I have ever had.
The scallops on the top, right corner were
SWEET!  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  

Walking through the Ponte Vecchio, food everywhere!

Pasta with lots of  mushrooms:  first plate

Chicken breasts with fries:  second plate

These are called contornos and they are the side dishes.  On the
top, green beans, fingerling potatoes, and eggplant.  Ayayay
decisions, decisions, decisions.

More decisions.  The veggies on the top row were amazing!  Notice
the red and yellow peppers on top, followed by cauliflower
"steaks", cut in slices and grilled.  There is always
spinach, of course that what a la Florentina means.

More paninis to tempt your palate.  It's just something else just to see them
displayed like that.

These are from a little "take-out" place a few steps down the street
from the hotel.  Look at the carrots and baby zucchinis.  You won't believe
how they tasted.  Next are the artichokes, and next to them are
spinach balls, the green round ones.   A very interesting way to eat spinach.

Grilled tomatoes, onions and zucchini

My favorite peppers, and eggplant in the back.

Nothing but mushrooms and pickled cipolline (little onions)
You would not believe how good they are.
I keep thinking that I could easily become a vegetarian
here in Italy.   I mostly go for all the veggie plates.

Okay, so now pictures around town.....

No caption needed...

This is one of the former Medici Palaces.

At one of the outdoor markets, I noticed people congregating around
this bronze status of a wild boar or cianghale or porcellino (the Firenze name for it)
  In any case, it has water coming out of his mouth.  You must
put your hand, with a coin, in there and let the water sort of let it
slide into a sort of small round pool.   In the pool, strategically placed of
course, is a bowl.  If the coin falls in the bowl, it means you will
definitely come back to Firenze.  Notice how worn out the snout is!

Just look at the amount of people crossing the Ponte Vecchio.
And, it's LOW season!

See?   There a lot of ways to get around.

This very charming side walk cafe (burr) is just
steps away from the apartment.  I go by it
when I go to the bus stop.

It's not the perfect picture, but Therese and her kids and I went
to see the sunset at Piazza Michaelangelo, a lookout over
the city.

This incredible Christmas tree was right there at the
lookout and you can see it from all over Firenze.

The Double "L"s....   Leo and Lucy

This is the cutest picture, all in Bart Simpson "mode", of
everybody who works here.  Gabrielle is the second one, and my
technical advisor, Micael is the third one, he's with me in a former picture.

So, okay, folks, we're definitely caught up now.   I am booking some tours to some nearby towns, like Pisa, Lucca, the Cinque Terre, and a few others.  I really enjoy being picked up, taken somewhere with a knowledgeable guide, and then brought back.  I wouldn't see half the things if I had to be figuring out how to get to the center of town.  And, there's people around and you can ask questions!

Okay, I'm meeting Lucy and Leo for lunch around the Santa Croce (Holy Cross) area.  Gotta get going!  Arrivederci!