Our Neighbourhood in Florence

We had some fun working out how to open the front door of our apartment to get out. Everything is so different here. Then there was the outer door to tackle, but there was an older lady there, with a little dog (named Leila) on a lead, who demonstrated for us. The doors are really quite simple, more simple than we are used to perhaps.

We explored the immediate neighbourhood, walking past patisseries and cheese shops filled with delicious sights and smells. There are lots of one-way streets around here. We walked along the Fiume (although it's more a chain of puddles than a river) and found the markets at Piazza del Cure - clothes, accessories and fresh produce - but didn't buy anything. We wanted the supermarket to stock up on basics and weren't sure about walking in there with bags of produce.

We had to ask for directions to the super Mercato because it wasn't obvious. Thankfully my Italian was up to the task and I understood her directions perfectly. The Italians, like the British, don't go in for large, ostentatious signs as we do so we were on top of the Coop (supermarket) before we knew it was there. The store is tiny, with narrow aisles. We collected the basics - tea, coffee, bread, milk, butter, cheese, meats, eggs and fresh produce - and stocked up on personal hygiene things we'd run out of. Totalled nearly €50, so a little more expensive than at home, but not by much.

A cloudy day and a bit cool, although the forecast was for 20 degrees. Back at the apartment we did some more washing and rested for the remainder of the day. I surfed the net for tickets and booked a tour of the Accademia for Thursday at €23.50 each. This is where we will see Michelangelo's David and many other important art works.

Our first dinner in our Florence apartment was pasta with pesto, and steamed vegetables, which we had both been hanging out for.

After dinner we had some fun watching a quiz show on TV. It seemed to be similar to 'The Weakest Link' and we surprised ourselves by correctly guessing what most of the answers were. Most times we managed to understand enough of the questions to have an intelligent guess!