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- Yesterday, we went to Florence for the day for a banquet. Four or five antipasti, three primi, several secondi, a cheese course, four or five desserts, wines to accompany every course... and it was all for the three of us. Our two hosts were my sister's boyfriend's parents, and his father is one incredible cook. I have every intention of telling you a great deal more about this meal at some point.
- While in greater Florence, we also had the pleasure of meeting my sister's boyfriend's nephew, a delightful young person of two and a half. In addition to being a cute kid, he's a nice person. He sang, he drew pretty boat and train pictures, and he cuddled up with the mammoth doll my mother had brought for him.
- Our train out of Florence was delayed by an hour, so we had time to wander over to Piazza Santa Maria Novella. The church was locked, but we could admire the facade, the obelisks, the hippodrome effect and so on. It was a pleasantly tourist break to the interminably delayed journey back. Our Eurostar trains were delayed enough both inbound and outbound that we'll be getting fifty percent of the fare reimbursed.
- With limited success, we hung the red sea today. It quickly parted ways with nails and a curtain rod, but my lovely Christmas extra-heavy paperweights seem to be keeping it together for the time being. The red sea is enormous, easily covering most of a wall of the apartment. It's a to-scale reproduction of a Titian-designed print, and looks pretty good - if only it will stay up.
- Two days ago was Befana's Day, and the Befana did indeed arrive with broom and chocolate-filled stockings. As an added bonus, we celebrated Christmas again that day too. I'm now the proud owner of a pair of Playmobil crocodiles and a swamp.
- One of our Christmas presents is going to be a tablecloth, designed by friend of my mother's. We spent an hour or so this afternoon playing with her extensive collection of fabric samples to pick out the fabrics for ours.
- We went out to dinner tonight at L'Antica Besetta, a lovely neighborhood restaurant with wonderful, friendly service and delicious food. My dinner was tasty in a laidback sort of way, like eating new and unfamiliar comfort foods.
- Speaking of food, we're going to be trying Ethiopian cuisine for the first time tomorrow, thanks to the the London cohort of
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haggisthesecond, naxos, easterbunny, and aca.
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we could admire the facade, the obeliss, the hippodrome effect and so on
I just read: "the hippopotamus effect", and have been scratching my head for the last ten minutes, wondering where the hell is the hippo in Santa Maria Novella and how have I managed to overlook it.
*relurks*
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But I'll fix it - thank you for catching the error. It was lovely to meet you too, and I look forward to future encounters!