May 18 and 19 May 20 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 May 25 May 26 May 27 May 28 May 29 May 30 May 31 June 1 June 2 June 3	Monday 5/20/02 This being a photo tour, we were up at 5 am. Michelle wasn’t feeling well, so we left her in bed. The rest of us headed back for the River Arno and an early shoot of the Ponte Vecchio, then wandered the area, back through the Uffizi walkway to the Piazza della Signoria, effectively reversing the route Judy, Michelle, and I had taken the previous afternoon. The photo to the right shows a short colonnade near the Ponte Vecchio, linking that street with the Uffizi Museum area. The three photos above were taken during our early morning wanderings. The one on the left is the Palazzo Vecchio, literally Old Palace, which is now City Hall. The center photo shows some geraniums in a flowerbox defining the outdoor eating area of a restaurant in the Piazza della Signoria. And the photo on the right shows a statue of the Rape of the Sabine Women, one of several antique statues in a covered area of the Piazza della Signoria. Bill wound up cutting his shooting short, as he wasn’t feeling well, either. Wondered for a while if it was something from the reception last night.... The rest of us stayed out until a little after 8, then headed back to the hotel for breakfast. It’s nice shooting a city at that hour of the morning. No crowds to get in the way. Of course, we had to contend with the street cleaners. There were two types of street cleaners. First, the people who swept the streets and sidewalks with their wooden brooms. The photo at left shows a typical broom. Next came the trucks fulled with water and scrub brushes which dampened everything down and pushed it all over the place. But they’re effective. It was a leisurely breakfast. We were meeting Ursula at 10 for the day’s touring activities. Bill decided to stay at the hotel and get over whatever bug had hit him. Michelle was feeling better, so the five of us joined Ursula. Our first stop was at the Palazzo Pucci, where we had a special appointment to tour the building and shoot from the roof. The current marchese generously allowed us to tour. His brother, Emilio Pucci, is a famous fashion designer. It was an interesting building that had been restored a couple of times, most recently about 1978 or so. It gave us a look at how the upper crust lives... And the view from his rooftop was very nice. You could practically reach out and touch the Duomo! We were really too close for good photos, as the center photo above shows. The photo at left above is a view of part of their rooftop garden. The light green is jasmine, which was in full bloom during our visit. It has a fantastic aroma! The photo on the right above is one of the fountains in the rooftop garden. From there, we walked to the Mercato Nuova, the permanent market in Florence. The main building has two floors of stalls, mostly meats on the ground floor and mostly produce on the upper floor. The photo on the left above shows some shoppers at the Mercato Nuovo. The photo at right above is of young zucchini sold with the flowers still attached. The flowers are edible - we had them several times during the trip - sometimes stuffed with cheese, sometimes not, but always coated with batter and deep fried. The building is surrounded by many more stalls (on the outside) which sell just about anything you could imagine, including leather coats, t-shirts, and underwear! We spent about an hour wandering around shooting some scenes, then met back at the designated corner. While in the market, Judy changed film, setting her camera down for a minute. Later, we returned to the same spot and she spotted a lens cap. Muttering something about the stupid person who left it there, she started checking her pockets. It was hers... From there, we walked to a small café for lunch. It was a leisurely lunch and we gabbed through the whole thing. I had risotto (rice) with asparagus which was absolutely delicious. The only bad part is that I think Ursula had a problem with arithmetic that day. We were averaging the meals and I think she divided it incorrectly. My 7 euro dish wound up costing me 17 euros.... We took over the arithmetic for the rest of the meals that Ursula was at and the prices were more reasonable... After lunch, we continued on our walk in that section of Florence, spending some time in a tiny park in front of the church of Santa Maria Novella. Part of the cloister there was taken over by a pharmacy, the oldest one in Italy. The smells in there were fantastic! It’s not really a pharmacy any more, but they still sell perfumes and soaps. We finally wound up back at the hotel for a short rest before dinner. As usual, most of the restaurants opened at 7:30, so dinner was later than we’re used to. While waiting for dinner time, Michelle, Bill, and I climbed the stairs to the tower that the hotel is famous for. Nice view! I’ll come back with the camera when the light is better... I did take this photo of the Kaffeehaus in the Boboli Gardens (behind the Pitti Palace) from the top of our tower. My notes said I took it this day, even though I thought I didn't have the camera with me... Finally, it was time for dinner. We went to the Tratorio Nelle, just around the corner from the hotel. It was a very good meal. I had penne (a type of pasta with meat sauce), a salad and a nice wine. On the walk back to the hotel, we found a gelateria and indulged in a gelato. Italian ice cream has a high cream content and is very rich. And yummy! Back to the hotel to collapse. I shouldn’t have had the gelato. Or maybe I should have stayed up a bit later. This was the only night all trip that I had indigestion keeping me awake most of the night.... Next...