Time has flown by….feels like just yesterday that I was walking the streets of Florence smiling from ear to ear from the sites, sounds, and smells of my most favorite city.  Today, I’m still smiling at times…although I more than likely have my game face on.  No longer in Florence, but sooo much more to share about my time there.  I know these next few posts on Florence have been very delayed, but I’m actually smiling as I write and my mind drifts back there…

One of the most beautiful things about Florence is the language.  I found a school, Centro Fiorenza, just a few blocks from my apartment that fit me perfectly.  This is strictly a school that teaches Italian language, all different levels, to whoever wants to learn.  I’ve always loved learning and the whole school environment thing so I was thrilled to have this opportunity to learn the language intensively.  Classes met every day, M-F, for 4 hours, and I opted to add a couple extra hours onto my first week as well.  My insegnante (teacher) Mario was excellent!  From the moment he walked into the classroom on day one, we were speaking Italian.  “Buongiorno! Mi chiamo Marco! E tu?”  “Mi chiamo Meryl” “Piacere, Meryl.  Dove va?”…..and on and on.  I loved all of it!  After class I would stop at my little corner store and try to converse with my new friends Simone, Brunilde and Sabrina.  We laughed when I made no sense and applauded when I got it right.  I met some fabulous people in my class too – my first week, there were 3 of us – me, Miyuki from Japan, and Anya from Germany.  Miyuki is 30, traveling solo through Italy for about 2 months, and then off to the UK and then back to Japan.  She is lovely and open and eager to learn.  Anya is 42, a German fashion photographer – incredibly talented – and has an Italian boyfriend now so she really wants to speak the language, even though he speaks German and English perfectly.  Anya was in Florence only for the one week with her friend (another Anya) who was studying painting while she learned to speak.  But of course we all found time to be social and go out for dinner and drinks.

My second week, Anya left us and was replaced by Sandra, also from Germany, and also traveling with a friend who was writing a book while she studied Italian.

Me and Sandra. The only reason we took this picture is because we thought the guy behind us was cute and wanted to see him better.

One free morning, Miyuki, Sandra, her friend and I decided to take a 20 minute bus ride to visit the beautiful town of Fiesole.  Fiesole is perched high up on the top of a mountain and has a glorious view of Tuscany and the city of Florence.  It’s perfect to stroll around for a couple of hours.  Here’s my pics.

Miyuki, Sandra and her friend getting cafe in Fiesole.

The church in the square.

Inside the church.

We climbed up to the top for the view…

The red roofs of Florence sprawled out below

Farmhouses and Villas scattering the Tuscan countryside.

Climbing to the top point in Fiesole.

My eyes were dancing!

This restaurant has some view!

This is a cemetery – if you look closely at the graves, they each have a picture of the buried! My first thought was…who gets to choose the picture!

Gorgeous wisteria everywhere!

Love those cyprus trees!

We peeked through a private gated doorway

And this is the garden we found!

This is the square where the bus lets you off in Fiesole. Not a great pic, but really very pretty.

On Saturday, Miyuki and I decided to take the train to Lucca, about an hour and a half west of Florence near the Tyrrhenian Sea.  Lucca is a picturesque, beautiful Tuscan city that is famous for its Rennaissance-era walls that surround it.  These walls are so wide that cars can actually drive on them, but these days they are used for strolling, biking, jogging, and just hanging out.  It’s like an elevated garden and track that surrounds this small city.  Lucca is also the birthplace of the great composer Puccini (Madame Butterfly and La Boheme).  Getting there is very easy, one fast train which lets you off just outside the walls.  And the city is so small that you can walk the whole thing in a day.  So off we went!

This is outside the walls, as we were walking toward them.

Still outside the walls..

And this is up on top of the walls – Bellisima!

The streets are narrow and every turn gives a new surprise

We came upon many churches and piazzas, all beautifully detailed.

Like this one..

They’re all so different inside.

But the art is always exquisite.

Side view of same church

Great shops and cafes everywhere

Can’t remember the names of all of them…

This was the interior

We stopped for a cappuccino.

Loved meandering these streets…

We thought this was Puccini’s birthplace and home but we were wrong…it’s another major composer though.

Another pretty doorway to another pretty church – but wait till you see inside…

It is completely painted so spectacularly in this gorgeous blue!

And there was an actual service going on that we were welcomed into

This is the amphitheater, which is a huge open area lined with shops and cafes.

Perfect place for lunch!

Looking back at the arch we just walked through.

Miyuki jumped up to join the dance in the piazza.

Miyuki having a ball dancing with a South American dance troupe!

I just loved the ceiling in this store.

We climbed the bell tower…

And got the best view, of course! You can see the walls around the city in the far back.

And that’s us as we were leaving Lucca.

Looking back outside the walls…

Lucca has a big music festival during the summer…this year’s headlining acts include The Eagles, Jeff Beck, The Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Backstreet Boys and others…wish I was there!!!!