February 26, 2023 - Rainy day in Florence

Today was a cold and rainy day. We didn’t do much except laundry and washed the floors. Jacques spent most of the afternoon filling in the forms that need to be filled for the Italian government if you stay longer than 3 weeks. This is the 1^st time that we’ve had to do this.

After lunch we went for gelato. For the 1^st time since we’ve been here there was no one, so we ate our gelato inside rather than outdoors. It was 10 degrees this morning when we woke up, but it has since gone down to 5. That’s not very warm. We are paying for the utilities, but the thermostat is still blocked at 19, because of the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. We will need an extra sweater tonight (or maybe a glass of wine to warm us up).

Our appartement is in a heritage building so is very old. They have had to add bathrooms since it was built. Ours is weird. It is like they made a long narrow corridor at the end. The door is about half the size of a regular door. When you open the door the washing machine is behind it then there is a long shower followed by an empty space where they put a stool for clothes. The door is so narrow that a chair cannot go through, then there are 2 steps. Up the stairs, there is another door like opening, then a narrow cabinet with shelves then another step after which there is a very long sink with 2 sets of faucets (there is enough room to add another set). After that the bidet and after that the toilet seat. It is quite unique as far as bathrooms go. We figure that the steps were built to accommodate the pipes that would be necessary for the toilets etc. It has been a source of humor since our arrival.