Today I went on another passeggiata (walk) from Coverciano, which is the area near the stadio (stadium) to our apartment in centro (downtown). I walked the same route as I did last Sunday. This morning on via Paoli people were getting ready for a large outdoor mercato (market). The entire street was lined with banchi (stands) on both sides selling clothing, housewares, and food. Music was blaring from some of the banchi while people were browsing the tables even though the mercato wasn't officially open yet at 8 am.
Because today is the end of ora legale (Daylight Saving Time), the sun was out earlier this morning. I brought my macchina fotografica (camera) along with me to take a few pictures of my passeggiata (walk). I was happy that the sky was clear and the sun was out, but the wind was a bit chilly at times.
The streets were still quiet while I rushed through them to get to the Arno. I walked past a few pasticcerie (pastry shops) that were open serving their customers caffè (coffee) and paste (pastries). I knew that I was approaching the pasticceria when I would see a man, typically from Africa, who stood outside with a duffle bag containing small items for sale like lighters and small packages of tissues.
I was eager to see the Arno in hopes of finding the men who were fishing, but when I arrived no one was there. I don't know if they came earlier because with the sun rising earlier, they probably had to get out even earlier too.
I walked across Ponte San Niccolò and I had to take the picture of the buildings that I generally see during our morning runs. I love the starkness of the city in the early morning, the clear blue sky, and the monuments poking up from behind the buildings. I especially love the Arno, which appears so still, leading up to Ponte Vecchio. I enjoyed walking down the marciapiede (sidewalk) with a bicicletta (bicycle) passing by every now and again.
I looked up at the Duomo behind our building while I walked across Ponte alle Grazie. When I got back home and saw the sun streaming into our apartment, I was happy to now be off of ora legale. For the next few weeks, I get to see the city with the sun shining early in the morning before the days get shorter.
Share your comments for this blog post on the Living in Florence's Facebook page. Grazie!