A Run through Florence

The kids and I had to go to Florence to cheer Michael on...and we had such a great time! We took the train to and from, and (with our unfortunate connections) spent much of our time hanging out at the stations.

Once in Florence, around 3 in the afternoon on Saturday, we divided in three directions: Michael to get his race number, the girls and I to shop for shoes for Eleanor's birthday party, and the boys to the Leonardi Da Vinci Museum to irritate the staff. Mostly joking about the last part, but they did come back full of tales of noise-making machinery that they used to their hearts' content, Archimedes' screws that they pumped rapidly enough to make a backup at the top -- thereby splashing over the floor, and other bits of boy excitement. I was terribly sad that I didn't get to enjoy it with them.

The girls and I had great success...Eleanor found her shoes at the first shop we tried. We then went through the open-air market and found a shawl for her to keep her shoulders warm. After that, it was time to buy a toothbrush. Well, I never! They actually had tortillas in the grocery store! We stuffed our shopping bag, since Eleanor had wanted to serve burritos as one of the dishes at her party. Saved me a HUGE amount of time -- homemade tortillas are amazing, but a ton of work! We happened to slide into a local gelateria and weren't disappointed.

Back to the hotel, and a little happy nap for me!

We went to dinner with Michael's crowd. There was one other family that had come to cheer on their runner, but the rest of the group was planning to run the following day. We had a boisterous dinner for 28, and figuring out the bill was a lesson in chaos.

Early to sleep, and awoken Sunday morning by the sound of cheerful chatter in the early morning.

The children and I ambled (actually, hoofed it, since I didn't want to miss Michael) to our first cheering location. We had fun people watching, and were impressed that they had actually decided to close the roads to traffic for the event! After Michael's many reports of traffic dodging in past races, we weren't quite sure what to expect.

Yes, the weather was perfect!

James picked out Michael's smiling face from the crowd. A quick kiss from me, and Michael was off again, and it was time for us to move. We sped across the city (relatively...to an 80-year-old...not to the runners), next to the Duomo, across the Ponte Vecchio, then west along the Arno to our next vantage point. Soon thereafter, we started seeing the first runners, so were pleased at our timing!

Another quick smile flashing through the crowd, and Michael was gone...time for us to pack up.

Can you see the crowds of runners on the other side of the Arno?

Our next vantage point was a hop, skip, and jump for us -- but about 15 kilometers for Michael. So we had plenty of time. We found a great spot -- a corner of a building that had a raised platform for sitting or standing. I hung out there while the children went off to gather provisions. The first man came flying by -- we were blinded by his speed. He looked as though he were running a 10k. As an indication, the time clock came by at 1:48 (km 35), and he came shortly thereafter.

Look! Here's Michael again! And he's still smiling!

Florence and Jeremy, cheerleaders

Wandering up to our next spot, we picked up some roasted chestnuts. You know, a year ago, I thought they were pasty and texturally challenged -- enough that the sweet flavor couldn't overcome the blech mouth feel. They've grown on me, and James and I are now fans. In smallish quantities, still, but mmmm -- yummy.

Foiled when looking for Michael

Wow! Michael had picked up speed and showed up WAY earlier than we were expecting him! Amazingly, at km 40, he was still looking happy. We fought our way across the race course (we were let out by some monitors at empty spots in the flow, and it took understandably forever) towards the finish line.

And that, my friends, was a complete mistake. There were foil-covered runners floating everywhere, crowds crushing us, and it was not conducive to finding anyone. We had given up and were on our way back to the hotel when Michael called us to say he'd made it back. Woo hoo! Great minds obviously think alike.

A quick lunch at a Chinese (!) restaurant, and off to catch the train. By 8:00, we were home for dinner -- courtesy of Massimo!

Love,

Alexandra

 p.s. We came home to discover that Alby had been bored in our absence. Rather than eating the hay we left next to his litter box, he had decided to investigate the corner...