Two out of two!

I guess on Sunday the church bells don't ring until 8:30 am because that is when we first heard them today! We haven't slept in that long for a while since bells are ringing and ringing in every town we stay in. Today was going to be a quiet day; a day to catch up as we call it.

First thing though was monthly hair coloring. I had stopped into the local Pharmacy on Friday to get some hair dye. You remember how we have told you the first person you go to in Italy is the Pharmacist if you are sick. You describe, they prescribe. If they can't fix you then you go to the Doctor. They have done pretty well with us so far. Well, you can't find hair color at the market. Hair coloring is kept at the Pharmacy (must be because of the chemicals or something). These weren't the usual ones like in Paris that I could somewhat understand. These were totally different. But true to form the Pharmacist came over and helped me select the right color for my hair. She went through the color shades, asked what I wanted to have happen, and made the selection.

A little nervous about it but knowing that it is only hair, I ventured forth with dyeing my hair. The good news is that it turned out really nice. A pretty color not far from where I am now but with more depth. I tell you these Pharmacies know their stuff!

We have been wanting to go back to Santa Croce (the church we saw last year and loved). It houses many beautiful della Robbia's, and the tombs of famous Italians (Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo, and Machiavelli). Jokingly, Jim suggested that we check out the schedule to see if there was anything going on there that we should know about (in reference to our Rocky Horror Picture Show experience yesterday in Lucca).

We headed over there and as we hit the big, famous square, Piazza della Signoria, there were all these old fashioned fire trucks, rescue vehicles and police cars. We soon found ourselves in the middle of some retired fire engine parade!
We stood by and waited for the majority of these old-fashioned vehicles to pass not knowing what and why they were there. We continued onto our destination and as we walked into the Piazza Santa Croce, the entire square was set up as a Civilian Emergency Center or Civil Protection or Civil Defense.


They had booths set up; search and rescue, firemen, emergency foods, civil defense. So we figured out that was why they were having a parade of vehicles. Only on the way home did we see the posters that announced that 40 years ago today, the Arno river flooded here in Florence. So much damage was done to museums, and libraries and homes. They were cut off from civilization on both the north and the south. Art people from all over the world came to help with the saving of the great Florentine art. Probably that is the reason now that all the good art is on the top floors of the museums. At least most of it is protected should the Arno flood again.
We surmise that they were set up to show the residents of this city what to do, where to go, how they will respond, etc. in case a flood of the Arno happened again. So tomorrow we are checking the local calendar to see what is going on near us so we can plan accordingly!
Santa Croce is beautiful. The altar is in the process of being restored but things that were closed to us last year were open this year. We will include some pictures of the various sculptures and frescoes. Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, and Machiavelli are all buried there.
We scored some pretty good Mexican food today. We had walked past this Cafe Latino on the way to our shopping market. Today we checked their menu, and there were tacos, enchiladas. and quesadillas! So we went back for dinner (they didn't open until 7:30) and had chips and salsa, guacamole, a burrito, and fajitas. Ohhhhh, my stomach hurts--but it hurts so good!
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