Quiet

The Ponte Vecchio
The opposite of quiet -- packed with tourists and beloved
by birds -- beautiful gold jewelery for sale in shops all along
the bridge.

I can’t remember when I experienced a place as quiet as La

Terrazza in Florence, our apartment 101 steps above the streets

of Florence. At night it is so quiet that the clock is the loudest sound

in the room. And during the day my morning cup of espresso hitting

the saucer makes the loudest clank. Wait. I’m forgetting the bells.

Our building backs onto a 10^th century church, Sant’ Ambrogio, and

the bells rang out a chorus that seemed like a symphony of bells this

morning – all the more dramatic and beautiful contrasted with the usual

quiet of the apartment. The message is clear – get up and enjoy the city.

Even in the country in Canada, at a cottage on a lake, at our schoolhouse,

I have never heard such quiet. As I write this the church bells chime

that it’s noon. It must be the thick walls and excellent windows of the

apartment, combined with the fact that we’re on a street restricted to

foot and bicycle traffic – but the peace we feel here is a pure delight.

We visited the Palazzo Vecchio today for Joanne



Even the police here are good dressers -- that white bag is leather!

Have an enjoying-quiet-and-church-bells day.