Piazzale Donatello

There were blue skies and no wind today, so we decided to walk to Piazzale Donatello, which is near where the Porto Pinti used to be. This gate was demolished early in the 1900s. It's only about a 2 km from our apartment so we were looking forward to it. It was an interesting walk, taking us on roads we hadn't been on before. (One thing we had puzzled over when walking the streets here was the numbering system the Italians use. The numbers are on a little plaque set into the walls near doorways and we could not understand how these did not appear sequential. Lindy googled for more information and discovered that there are two sets of numbers - one is for residential apartments, and the other for businesses. One is outlined in blue, and the other in red. Once we understood that, it was simple!)

As always when we walked in Florence, we laughed at the way drivers park their cars hre. There's a pedestrian crossing in the way? No problems, they just park on it. Space too small for the car? No worries, just put a wheel or two up on the footpath and angle in! Cars huddle around corners, parked on two streets in some cases, or are just left in any available spot, regardless of lights or intersections. The cars pictured below were parked!

After one mis-turn, and directions from a florist, we found the Piazzale, passing a cemetery on the way. Its gates were locked so we continued on. We wanted to look at the English Cemetery, where Elizabeth Barrett Browning and other notable people are buried and which we had read was at the Piazzale Donatello, but when we arrived there we were disappointed to find it closed. The sign said it opens on Mondays so we'll go back tomorrow.

We sat in a little park alongside 'the island of the dead' and watched the traffic swoop around it. There were little self-serve petrol stations around the perimeter too, but all the activity didn't worry the dead - they slept peacefully on, under the trees.

The little park we were sitting in had some very fancy light poles set along the paths. A few people strolled through with dogs, and a couple of joggers ran by. It was very peaceful, the first place we'd seen in the historic centre of Florence that actually had seating for tired walkers.

We set off to go back to our apartment for lunch, passing an open supermarket on the way, so we stopped there to buy a few supplies. While in the store, we were amazed to see a man with a large dog (a skinny Alsatian) on a lead, accompanying him as he did his shopping! We both wanted to take a photo but thought the man - and maybe the dog - might be offended.

Back home, we did some washing and spent the afternoon reading, writing our diaries and resting up for another trek tomorrow to see the English Cemetary.