Today, us girls were left by ourselves and enjoyed the morning and afternoon together. I decided that what better way to have some fun together than take a stroll downtown of Florence.
Although it was suppose to be a bus strike today, everything worked out in our favor and we didn’t even have to wait for any buses, because they all seemed to come precisely in the moment we arrived at the stops; that is definitely Ephia’s luck and not mine, I sometimes have to wait for twenty minutes for the damn bus to come.
Our first stop was at Legatoria il Torchio, where I had to pick up my brand new, personalized leather journal, hand made by Erin, the owner of the store. She has a shop that makes writer’s dreams come true and not only, so I highly recommend for you guys to pay her a visit and browse through her beautiful products.
Our next stop was Anna’s beautiful studio, where I will be hosting the Saturday storytelling classes. We walked by the river to get there and Ephia wanted to sit on Ponte Vecchio and watch the river for a while, then she just looked at me like “Let’s go! I can see this thing any day I want!”, grabbed my hand and made her way through the dozens of tourists just waiting to grab her spot. Ephia loves walking hand in hand through the city, but as any Florentine, if I would bring her downtown everyday, she would get bored and would want to go back to her neighborhood streets where everyone knows and cuddles her, so we try to balance that and keep all of us happy. Although children are curious to explore and understand all that surrounds them, sometimes when you get them out of their comfort zone, they will “show” you and you will greatly suffer the consequences. But today was not that day and we had so much fun walking hand in hand, her explaining me everything she saw in the windows of the shops and me listening carefully and approving her opinions about the products. By the time we got to Anna’s she was all words, questions and explanations (of course in her own language, which I am starting to understand better), so we had a lovely stay and a nice chat. My daughter is very picky when it comes to people and children, so whenever she likes someone we are more than thrilled and by the looks of it she adores Anna.
We crossed the river once more to get the bus home and as soon as we arrived at the bar from our street she ran in to tell her friend, the bartender, the adventure she was on all this morning. Because he was busy and clients were filling up the place to have lunch, she settled for the next best thing, the bakery. She thanked politely for her schiacciatina, took my hand into hers, guiding me to the doors of our building.
This was a beautiful morning and although my mood is not the best one these days, Ephia always knows how to bring a smile on my face, make me feel loved and like I belong somewhere as long as we are together. Usually I would dismiss any sugary stuff like that, but today I feel sappy and once in a while you can spoil your tough woman reputation for the sake of your kid. So there you go, a sappy, beautiful morning with Ephia.
