Tuesday, 4 October, 2022 – Today was Elias’s last day in Florence. Every time I looked for him on my phone, he was in a different place. He didn’t walk very far away from the city center but I think he must have wandered up and down some streets. I mapped every place I saw him.
Then, if you are not totally creeped out by my following Elias around today, I will go further and admit that I looked up the streets he visited to see if there was anything on YouTube or the web that matched. Ecco! (Or, Voila!) There’s a food market on Via Sant’Antonino. Here’s a short video about it. The video mentions that the market is closed on Sundays, which I guess it to be expected for a Catholic country. The market is large enough that it merits a Wikipedia entry, too. In any case, I am glad it was open today and I hope Elias found good, cheap food there.
I don’t know if one is expected to, or allowed to, haggle in Italy. I feel like it is an accepted ritual in the markets like this one, but maybe I am not remembering correctly. In China, you would be an imbecile to accept the first price quoted. And yes, I was an imbecile many, many times. I find it excruciating to haggle. I literally break out in a sweat. I am pretty sure Elias is better than I am. And I know for sure that David and Annika are better. Well, given what I just described, I guess it would not take much to better me at haggling but I think all three of them are way better.
He posted a few nice photos, too. It is late or I would go looking for more information. Maybe tomorrow.
Postscript
It is October 6th and I found a few minutes to look for where Elias took these pictures. One place is Porta San Niccolò, a city gate from the 14th century. And the other is a memorial park to World War I, Parco della Rimembranza – Croce Rossa Italiana. I found one paragraph of description in English on the park’s website:
“This is a Memorial Park in memory of the Italian Red Cross volunteer who died in the WW I and WW 2. This is a sacred spot and therefore must be respected. Each cypress tree bears a metal marker inscribed with the names of military personnel or a volunteer nurse who belonged to the VIII Red Cross Mobilization Center of Florence and who died while doing their patriotic duty for their Country.”