My Italian Neighborhood

In Florence, I live just outside what they call the city center. It is a 15 minute walk to school if you don't hurry. I take the back streets because they are less crowded and the cobblestones are less wobbly. This is the park that is around the corner from the apartment I share with 3 girls. 

 It is just a regular park with benches and trees and many pigeons. The park actually takes up both sides of the street so it has two sides and there is a definite distinct crowd on either side. There is a group of immigrants on one side of the street. There are many of them, they picnic every day on the cement benches, talk and let the children play.  Sometimes they get a little rowdy on a week end night when the men drink but usually they are quiet.  The others in the park are older women who chat, a few homeless guys and random people sitting around.  Across the street at the other park, there is a flower stand and a children's playground at the end.  Mostly old grouchy grandmothers sit on benches and argue with each other. At least it sounds like arguing. There are teen age couples and a couple of guys drinking a 40 which seems to be the only size beer they have here.  For some reason, they don't seem to drink too much wine in the park. There are people drinking in the park at 8 in the morning so it is much the same as home. 

There is grass and the maintenance guys actually mow it once in awhile. 

                              The corner of my street. Via 27 Aprile.

If you turn left under the sign that says "bar" my apartment is half a block down.  The street you are looking at is Via Nationale. The bars are actually coffee bars that also sell liquor and food. Caffe and pastry in the morning, a panini at lunch and a wine or a drink and a snack before dinner. Some places have aperitivo at 7 for a couple of hours which for a flat fee of 8 euros or so, you get a drink of your choice and all you can stuff in your mouth from the buffet. Depending on the bar there is a wide variety of things to eat. Some are really good and have enough to make it dinner and some just snacks. I haven't gone but I plan to go at least once before I leave. 

                                                Via 27 Aprile.

Via 27 Aprile, 11. The door to my apartment. At least the first door to my apartment. There are three. This one and 2 upstairs and there are keys for each one. 

 My windows. The shutters are still open but the windows are closed now. During the summer the windows were open but we had Asian tiger mosquitos which are horribly big and mean. We killed the last one a week ago. 

This is the clothes rack we use to dry our clothes after they come out of the washer from hell. The washer takes one and one half hour to do one load and it beats the clothes up so bad they are worn out when they come out. It is bad, really bad. 

This is our living/dining room. It is very small but cozy. Ha! We have the love seat, the table and chairs and the other table that we use for a cutting and storing area. The hardwood floors are not really, they just look like they are.

This is my room. I am fortunate to have my own room but it is the smallest in the land. It is tiny and the door has plastic panels on it so sound just comes in and bounces around getting louder until it is actually louder in my room than out here when the roommates are talking/laughing/whatever.
I don't have a dresser so I took this little tray on a stand out of the living room and use it to keep my underwear, socks, hair and make up stuff on. I bought the laundry basket at the dollar store. That is my backpack next to it but I have since put that in the closet. Yes, I do have a closet. 

 Here is my desk and chair. It is again small but it works ok. There is a big window above the desk which was nice to look out when the internet worked in our rooms but now that we have to sit in the living room to use the computers, I can't look out my window and see my nice view.

This is my bed. You can see Vinny sitting there making sure everything is how it should be.  He is nothing if not dependable.  My headboard is screwed to the wall and the nightstand is too. 

 This is the kitchen, the cucina. Very small refrigerator, cook top, sink and a washing machine. Cabinets on top and one below, two if you count the area below the sink. 

The bathroom with shower, toilet, bidet which we use to hold things like the toilet paper and the ladder thing is the heater. My roommate burned herself on it one day. It is really close to the toilet. But you know, people are skinny in Italy. 

                 Sink area. It is tiled but some of the tile is just pretend tile. 

Here's a closer look at our kitchen area. This is the area to the right of the sink. We use it as a drainer.

The cook top. If you will notice there is I believe 6 full inches of counter space next to it. That lever on the wall is the gas switch. We have to turn it to the left when we want to cook and turn it off to the right when we are done. I don't know why. They just said to do it. 

 The cutting/storage area. I bought this plant. It looks like lavender but it really isn't. At least it doesn't smell like lavender or anything for that matter but it is pretty and I needed some green in the place. 

This is my barista. She makes my coffee 6 mornings a week and she is the one person I can count on to have a smile and a warm "Ciao!" in the morning. She doesn't speak a word of English but we get along fine. We smile and say buongiorno and ciao and she knows what I drink so we are good. I like her.