Prayer letter (2)

The local neighbourhood: We are sandwiched between the river and Santa Croce, just round the corner from the statue of David. The night-life is lively, with a nightclub and bar next door to the church, and a kebab shop and restaurant on the other. The streets are filled with people, and the area therefore feels very safe, if somewhat noisier than you might like at 2am! However, it was puzzling when we arrived because there appeared to be no shops. Instead great corrugated iron shutters obscured any clues of what lay beneath. Firenze is so hot in the summer (see above!) that anyone who can simply leaves the city, and that includes many local shop-owners. As August wears endlessly on and the heat diminishes into a hot UK summer in September, shops re-appeared, as if we were on Diagon Alley . We are not living in a graffiti inscribed, vacant lots, scruffy area, but instead can enjoy the small businesses – pet shop (Gabrieli’s 2nd favourite place), fruit & veg. shops, butchers and ice-cream parlour (Gabrieli’s favourite place). We are also a short walk from one of the Firenze markets with plentiful selection of meat, greens, clothes, household goods. It is a good place to watch the world go by (as you sip your cappuccino at the market bar): the group of Africans selling dusters, tissues and umbrellas, the stall-holders are Indians, Italians, Filipini, the beggars are Romanians and Italians, the shoppers are from everywhere.