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Anticipating Florence

8/23/2018

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     ​In less than two weeks (9/4)  I fly to Florence. A 4:55 P.M. flight, with a short change over in Paris, gets me to Florence airport at 10:30. A half hour bus ride from the airport to Santa Maria Novella train station, a short walk to my apartment, and I’ll be off to Piazza della Signoria for pizza. A morning arrival gives me an extra meal, and as they say, ‘You can’t get a bad meal in Italy.’
     Autumn, along with spring, and December are my favorite times to be in Florence. What I’m saying is that all times are favorites, although I notice that today’s summer temperature in the city is 93 degrees. Summer in Florence is too hot and too crowded.
      When I arrive, I will feel a sense of fall: the evenings will be cool and many tourists will have departed. However, summer clothes will still be in order, and the junior year abroad students will be arriving.
      But I know how to work around any obstacles that might get in my way. I’ll walk across the Ponte Vecchio in the early morning when only runners and delivery people are in the streets and before the hot sun beats down. I know of out-of-the-way parks to sit in. I’ll avoid entry lines to the Uffizi by flashing my Amici degli Uffizi card. I know off the beaten track restaurants and how to avoid crowds by eating on the early side.
     I love anticipating a trip, but it isn’t even half as good as the real thing. 

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    Author

         I love to travel alone, and so I do. My husband of 54 years loves to stay home and garden, and so he does. But he knows I love to go off by myself for extended periods of time. For five years (2009-2014) I rented a cottage by the sea, an hour and a half from our home, and spent the weekdays there alone. For the past twenty years I’ve been traveling by myself, primarily to Scotland (Iona, the Highlands, and Edinburgh) and Italy. When I say Italy I really mean Florence, with occasional short stops and excursions around Tuscany and Umbria and to Rome.
        A Cottage by the Sea is about my longing for silence, solitude and simplicity. When I travel I post my thoughts and experiences “On My Mind”. This section, “A Solitary Traveler” is where I post articles about my travels.
         You may be thinking, “If she’s been married 54 years, how old is she?” I’m 77. Maybe my next article will be about how to keep traveling alone as one gets older.

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