In the morning Justin and I went on an epic run that lasted
for about an hour. We even ran up to the
top of the hill next to Florence, which was a killer, and then decided to go
grocery shopping at a store that was less than half the price of the stores in
the city center. We bought so much stuff
and we walked over a mile to get back home.
I ended up pulling a muscle in my back that bothered me for days
afterward. We finally got home way later
than we told my sister and then we spent the day wandering around the city,
looking at art and jewelry on Ponte Vecchio.
As we were checking out the art, a couple Italian guys started taking
photos of my kids. I didn’t feel threatened
because I could tell they were nice guys and they were wearing those goofy
photography vests and they had nice eyes and smiles. We finally asked them what they were going to
do with the photos and they said it was just a hobby. We ended up talking to them for a while and
one of the guys said he had gone to English class quite few times with his wife
at the church but said it was too hard to learn in the end. We gave him our email and he sent us a few of
the pics of our kids. I hope they find
their way back to the church someday! They led us to the best gelateria and we exchanged email addresses. They told us they would send us the photos they took of the kids and they did! They turned out great, except that we wanted to see some of Florence in the background but all we got was head shots. Oh well. We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of Florence watching street performers, seeing the markets and talking to people.
So, this photography event was just the start of many, and I mean probably around 100 people, who wanted to take photos of my kids. Every Italian who passed us said, "what little dolls ey are" and "wow, they are so blonde!" I met so many people that way. They all wanted to take their photo with the girls and then they wanted to keep in touch with us so we all exchanged addresses. I have about 10 more people to send Christmas cards to this year. haha. People in Florence were obsessed with Clementine becuase she was pushing Violette in the stroller all around Florence and would not be stiffled by the cobblestone streets. She could maneuver any curb, hill, or pot hole. She just wouldn't quit. We even lost her a couple times in the piazza of the Duomo because she would just start pushing in one direction and not look back. Good thing every person had their eyes on them so there was no way anyone would have kidnapped them. The best were the giant crowds of Japanese tourists who would just wait in line one by one to take photos with Clementine. I would basically just tell them to step in line, give Clementine to them, tell her to say cheese, give them a kiss on the cheek and then hand her to the next person. haha. She performed every time. Then I would tell her to put her hands on her hips and put her foot out and they couldn't resist and they would all pull out their cameras and take photos like she was on the red carpet. No Joke. After a couple of weeks, I was ready to head back to Utah where they are neither the largest group of children in one family nor the blondest.
Anyway, in our walking around, we even found the little basement shop where Justin bought
my wedding ring. I showed it to the man
and he recognized it and then he looked around and said, “wow, that ring has
brought you much good fortune!” and pointed to all four of my kidlets. We all had a good laugh. The best part of the day was when we came
across this mime who was outside Palazzo Vecchio,. His whole entire act was mimicking people,
following people, making fun of people, bugging people and it was really
hilarious. He targeted Asian people as
well. He would follow people holding
hands and see if he could get them to hold his hands without noticing. He tapped a woman’s shoulder and then ran
around the other side to take a bite of her gelato cone. He would tell people to give him a kiss on
the cheek, only to find him pressing his white face makeup all over their faces
and they were left to find something to wipe it off with. One very large group of Asian students came
by and he forced them into a bottleneck and they had to pass single file
through his self made corridor.
Haha. He was hilarious. The kids got a kick out of it and we got a
funny photo with him.
After the kids went to bed Justin and I went out into the
streets and saw a hilarious street performer who was making people do really
funny things and had a crowd of about 200 people. We also saw a fantastic band that consisted
of just an accordion player and a base player.
They were both incredible on their instruments and the base player had
this grin on his face that was irresistible.
Justin and I went to Grom to get gelato and then returned to take Lucy
back out. We found the band again and
talked to them for quite a bit. We ended
up teaching them a lot about the church and I was sad to hear that they had
seen the missionaries around but they had never stopped to talk to either of
these people. I am going to pray that
they get their chance to hear the gospel.
I gave them my email address so maybe I can send the missionaries to
them at some point. We’ll see them at
church so maybe I’ll steer them in their direction. The base player said things aren’t going well
with his wife and he has a 5 year old and a 1.5 year old. It makes me sad to think those kids might not
grow up in a family with their dad in the house. I really wish I could have helped him.
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