Had a light meal last night at a place just up the street from the hotel. I had Penne Boscaiola which was delicious and just enough after my lunchtime panino.
The day started off cool but warmed up quickly so that by lunchtime it must have been in the low-mid 20sC.
Finished off the frieze I started yesterday and then Enrica gave me a choice,of an even larger frieze or a flower. I chose the flower for a bit of variety and then will do the other frieze. One of the problems I have is that Enrica has a vision of what the finished product will look like but I don't so I was struggling for while with the flower until should brought out some examples. Anyway, fairly straightforward once you know where you are heading although I think the flower may be a cross between a rose and a camellia - a sort of camel-rose. The wood that we are using which I think is Jelutong is soft to carve but easily splinters away should you hit the grain in the wrong direction. I guess choice of wood is a compromise between ease of carving, 'splinterability' and how often you have to sharpen tools. I think there is also a different sharpening angle for hardwoods vs soft.
Traversing the back streets of the city is very reminiscent of St Petersbsurg. It has a similar 'feel' although it was much cooler in St Pete when I was there in Nov 2006. Just meandering through back streets you don't have to go far to come across yet another significant building. For instance, my walk today took me past the Pallazio Vecchio and then the Bargello. On the way back I came through the Piazza Della Signoria where I stopped for a pizza for lunch. Met a couple at the next table from Staffordshire on their first (short) visit and they seemed to be enjoying the warmth after the coolish English spring.
