Location, location, location

John did a marvelous job of picking where we should live while in Florence. Our little loft apartment is a block from the Uffizi and a block from the Ponte Vecchio over the Arno River. There is a modern supermarket just on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio. You reach our apartment (about 8 normal stories up) by summoning the elevator, opening 2 sets of doors, get in and close the doors, push 5 (which is what Europeans call what Americans would call 6), open and then be sure to close the two sets of doors, then walking up about 30 marble spiral steps at the top (the last half of those inside our apartment). The loft is compact but complete, with a combo oven/broiler/microwave unit, small fridge, 2 burner hot plate, and Italian style coffee pot(makes very strong coffee that I mix with half hot milk, great for dipping biscotti). The little front loader washing machine is in the bathroom and a drying rack outside. Our terrace, equal in size to the apartment itself, is as enjoyable as I pictured, and I love sitting out there after dark, as it catches the breezes and is perfect for watching the moon and listening for the sounds of the city all around.

As we knew from last time, the food is wonderful!. Haven't repeated a restaurant yet, but will no doubt return to several. Last night was the first time we "ate in" on the terrace. Bought a few prepared things at the fancy supermarket including the sparkling mineral water that is so refreshing with supper.

The only sad news is that we've had to close up the apartment because of mosquitoes. There are no screens in Italy, and both of us were becoming covered with little red spots. Some of them were itchy on John but not on me. It became a bit much yesterday when I woke up with a dozen red spots on my left temple, a big red one on my chin, and even on my eyelids, obviously done while we were asleep. As advised by the internet, I bought a Raid Insect Control System thingy at the supermarket before breakfast yesterday while buying milk. It worked beautifully last night, and we didn't have to cover up to sleep. But we miss having the breezes blow through and just walking out onto the terrace without having to open the door. And it will take quite a bit of A/C to keep the place at 80 degrees all day when it goes to 90 plus outside since we're perched on top of this building with windows on 3 sides of the loft.