I’m back home now, thankful for only one delayed flight as I flew home on the 2nd day of flight cutbacks resulting from the US Government shutdown. My jet-lag is substantial, but it’ll pass as I take things easy and reflect upon what an amazing adventure I’ve had.
Here are a few closing photos and thoughts. Further below, I go into detail about the company that coordinated this trip.
We had a full moon during my last few nights. I tried, but largely failed, to capture its magnificence, but this photo turned out ok. Note the Duomo barely visible between the two buildings.
My apartment was on Via D’Ardiglione and it didn’t occur to me to translate that until my last day. I had assumed it was someone’s name but nope: ardiglione translates to ‘barb,’ and, sometimes, specifically to the barb on a fish hook that snags the fish’s lip. It can also translate to tongue, as in the tongue of shoe. After puzzling over this I concluded that the name refers to the shape of this short street which extends straight then hooks 90 degrees:
Firenze’s flag and symbol feature a stylized Iris called Giglio of Florence (Il Giglio Fiorentino) which is NOT to be confused with Paris’s fleur de lis. The iris symbol might refer to celebrations of the Roman Goddess, Flora, but there are various theories as to how the flag and the name Florence / Firenze came about. The symbol is all over town, including on the many Christmas lights being strung up over streets as I was leaving.
These hilarious squatting lamp posts are everywhere too.
Now that’s a chocolate croissant! (cornetto al cioccolato).
On my last night in Florence, I took another walk around the centro storico, taking photos of everything I already had countless photos of. It dawned on me that it’s unlikely I’ll ever be back, and I found it hard to let go. I’ll treasure this experience forever. Thanks for coming along with me.
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I haven’t so far mentioned the company that coordinated this trip, but it’s called The Good Life Abroad (TGLA), and it's only a few years old. It felt a little risky to sign on with them but I’m glad I did and now, I can heartily recommend their program. It played out as they described and I expected. I appreciated the balance of group activities (a few per week) and on-my-own time, as well as the opportunity to plan outings with others in the group as we became acquainted. Yes, these trips are pricey; you could rent an apartment for a month on your own for less. But the TGLA cost includes not only the group activities and safety net of two on-site community manager/guides, but emergency travel insurance, relatively upscale apartments with weekly cleaning, access to laundry and weekly luncheons and happy hours. All in all, I am highly satisfied with the program. It was wonderful to have the TGLA infrastructure while largely left to do my own thing.
Like on a cruise, you can pay for extra excursions (tours) which I did only for two of the day-trip options. They also offer private tours of many of the in-town sights, but I’m glad I did these visits on my own. I liked being free to explore beyond what the tour guide would show us and also, I discovered that I could download tour/history podcasts specific to many venues. I’d just plug in my headphones and follow the podcast-tour on my own. My favorites were these by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero who has hundreds of episodes on his Rebuilding the Renaissance series. They’re great. I could listen to Dr. Rocky, and then explore further on my own.
If you google TGLA you’ll find mostly good reviews. I’ve seen a few complaints which indicate they may be having some trouble finding enough equivalent, upscale apartments in some cities to support the company’s growing popularity. My apartment was perfect (really, no complaints) but some apartments in nearby buildings had some flaws, although nobody had anything terrible. TGLA has been keeping it simple by charging everyone the same* but I predict that they’re going to have to start implementing some price differentials to account for apartment quality differences. (* some people in our group paid extra for upgrades, such as outdoor space or another bedroom). That said TGLA has added an option of letting you find your own apartment while still paying to participate in the rest of the program. They also just introduced two-week stays (vs one month) in a variety of mid-size cities.
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