Friday 5th in Florence

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Today we go to Fiesole and San Domenico de Fiesole where Peggy went to school during her junior year abroad. Hoofed it to Piazza San Marco and took the No. 7 bus to San Domenico and walked from there to the Badia Fiesolana. It was a California University boarding and classroom center back when Peggy was here and is now European University with conferences and study programs for students from all over the world. No boarders just classes and lots of students. We made our way up to Peggy’s “cell” (it was a monastery in the Renaissance) which is now an office for administrators. It was locked so we wandered down the hall and peeked into one of the rooms where a very nice woman, Chiara, was working. She was the student coordinator for programs and very nicely allowed us to take pictures out her window and told us about the changes in the Badia. We got a brief look at how the use of the building had changed and the view from the loggia on the main floor. Lots of pictures and lots of memories. So lucky to run into Chiara.

We walked back up to the main road and grabbed the next No. 7 to Fiesole where we had a cappuccino and then hiked up the hillside to the Franciscan Monastery at the top. What views of the Badia and Florence. More pictures and then lunch at the restaurant, Reggio, halfway up the hillside. The food was very good and the service spoke to the “halfway” orientation. The service staff seemed to be halfway from prison to life on the outside. This seemed obvious from the tattoos, the gruff and dismissive nature of their interaction, and many of the comments in TripAdvisor. Needless to say, we enjoyed the interaction and proceeded on our way to the Archaeological Museum (Etruscan and Roman) with satisfaction. Sadly we got caught in the beginnings of a small rain storm and redirected our steps to the No. 7 and back to Florence. A visit to the money changers and a book store for the fascinating book by Harari on Sapiens: 21 Lessons. Then home to rest before tea in the fifth floor lounge and a walk about. Good day with lots of memories.

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