Goodbyes and Hellos



It's been hard to start saying goodbye this month while there is still so much to say hello to here in Florence.








We will say goodbye to Italian ballet and the girls' lovely ballet teacher, Mabel,

 

goodbye to special Italian ballet friends ...



...and their families.




 

We'll say goodbye to homeschool this month,











 

    

and goodbye to favorite places in our neighborhood, like Pugi, and the lovely and gracious Italian women who work there.

We'll be saying goodbye to favorite people, like Massimo, who sells us chickens at the Sant' Abrogio market...

 

...and Elena, who helps to keep the Gonzaga apartments clean,

 

.

We'll say goodbye to special colleagues, like Linda and Shelley, who have become dear friends this year.




.
At the same time, we've said hello to old friends like Sarah Carlsen and Brad Hoff who came to visit us from Northfield, MN,

Orlando family members, like Uncle Matt and his friend, Cynthia;

hello to Joe's sister, Bernadette, and Brian Orr from Beverly, MA,







 





and hello to cousins, Theresa Orr and Olivia Orlando, from Boulder, CO.

 


We've said hello to another birthday here in Florence,


and hello to spectacles that come to town once a year since the middle ages, like this regional flag competition...

...and the oldest form of Italian "calcio" soccer, played here in the Piazza Santa Croce.




and brand, new ways of enjoying Florence,



We've said hello to brand, new friends,



in brand, new places we have grown to love.





 

We seem to be saying goodbye and hello all at the same time these days, teaching us that saying goodbye is never easy and that it is never too late to say hello.





Looking Up

 

Even in a special place like Italy, we can get used to things and forget to look around.

Looking down becomes a habit, especially when we are watching our steps,



 

or involved in our own thoughts or in a conversation with another.



 

We try not to miss anything new along the street...



...the special things that can appear instantly to the side or out in front of us.

But the real surprises here in Italy are when we look up.

    



                    There always seems to be something to see in Italy, day or night...

...inside or outside.



 
When we look up, we can see ancient things in a new way,
 


or see fresh, new things in an old, familiar way.

 





Sometimes, we can see the old and new together.





These days, we try to remember that even though we have lived here for months, 
we can keep finding surprises...



...when we look up.

Surprise!

Gelato City

Our relationship with gelato hasn't been a secret this year.



We love Italian gelato.



We've shared our love of gelato with family who have come to visit us this year,

and made sure that friends taste-test gelato on their tours with us around Florence.

Some streets in Florence are even named after favorite gelato flavors. Here is "Chocolate Chip Way."



And just when we thought we couldn't get enough gelato, the Florence Gelato Festival came to town this May. Mama mia!



Here, in front of the Palazzo Pitti,

we learned that gelato was the very first ice cream, invented right here in Florence!

500 years ago, an Italian chef, Buontalenti, made this frozen dessert for a Medici family wedding. (Members of the Medici family built the Palazzo Pitti and were the ones that financed much of the art and science of the Renaissance.)

At the festival, we also learned how Italians make gelato.

Joe couldn't resist getting in on the gelato-making action...



feeling right at home here...



at Italy's Gelato University.