(This is part of our series of posts from our six-week Road Scholar Independent Living and Learning in Florence trip to Italy in Spring 2025. We have an index to all the posts from that trip here.)

This morning was our second day of language class. Cheryl continues to enjoy her teacher, and David felt much more comfortable in a less advanced group.

After 3 1/2 hours of class, we went with some others in our group to enjoy il pranzo (lunch) outdoors at Palazzo Tempi Ristorante near the shore of the Arno. 

Between lunch and our final Road Scholar orientation session in the afternoon, we walked a quick 1.2 mile round trip to what is still known locally as the “99 cent store” to buy some notebooks and a few other things we needed for the apartment. But when we got there, we discovered that inflation has hit the 99 cent store just like everywhere else: everything is now €1.19 instead.

Florentines are required by law to recycle and compost, and they take their environmental commitment quite seriously. On the streets in residential areas, there are bins for different types of recyclable materials, compostable organics, and other trash. Each bin has a large storage container below. On our walk to the 99 cent store, we got to see how they’re emptied: a truck with a crane lifts the entire container from the ground and dumps it into the truck.

Then we returned to the ABC School for the last part of our Road Scholar orientation. Part of the session was learning how to order a coffee in a cafe or restaurant. Turns out it’s a lot more complicated than you might think. Francesca added even more to this diagram after the photo!

After the orientation session ended, around 5:15 pm, we ventured to the small and crowded supermarket (Conad) to buy some food for the next couple of days. Fruit and vegetables were pretty easy, but deciphering the labels on packaged goods proved to be a bit of a challenge, as was figuring out what was actually available. We can buy at one time only what we can carry the 1/4 mile up the big hill to our apartment, and what will fit in the fridge and our non-existent pantry, so we’ll be shopping several days a week. But David did succeed in cooking our first meal at home (spaghetti primavera with fresh mozzarella). The tiny kitchen makes our RV look spacious by comparison!