Vespas and Art

Dear Reader,

Even the Germans respected Florence. During World War II, they severely restricted bombing of this city. Some buildings on either side of the Ponte Vecchio were destroyed. Otherwise, most of its treasures were preserved.

I won't tell you about the art and architecture of this historic place. You know about its Duomo and its David...the bridge across its Arno and its Boboli Gardens. Here are some things you may not know about Florence:

*** Traffic is so bad on its ancient streets that the city has divided itself into zones. Every car owner is issued a permit allowing him to drive in certain zones. If he's caught driving outside those areas, he's fined.

*** Thus all the Vespas. These scooters can go anywhere...and you see them everywhere, lined up along some streets by the dozens.

*** Garbage collection is a challenge. How could garbage trucks navigate the city's maze of thoroughfares? A system has been devised so they don't have to. Garbage-collection points have been set up around town. You take your trash bags to the giant dumpsters at these spots, and it's hauled away regularly.

*** Eating out is expensive. Everyone we asked cautioned, "Don't eat in the touristy areas. You'll go broke." Trouble is, we can't find any non-touristy areas. We'll keep looking. Meantime, we have been reduced to paying cover charges, built-in service charges, and as much as $5 for a glass of orange juice.

*** On the other hand, groceries can be a bargain, and there are small shops with fresh fruits and vegetables, butchers, bakers, and sundries stores on nearly every corner. Our daughter, Kaitlin, 14, has taken on the daily marketing chore and has even begun offering to prepare meals for the family. It's fun, she says, to go from shop to shop then carry her finds home to make dinner. The joys of center-city living...an exciting change for her from our country life in Ireland.

*** The apartment we've rented for the week doesn't have a phone. It's tough, we've learned, to get a land line installed. Can take months.

*** Typically, the owner of a rental apartment looks to get the cost of his investment returned within 20 years--that is, to earn 5% net a year. In Florence, that 20 years is stretched to 30. You're looking at maybe 3.5% to 4% annual net return in this city from a rental. The basic two-bedroom apartment we're renting, just outside the official "tourist center" of the city, is costing us about $180 a night.

*** Florentines live among the extraordinary collection of art and architecture that is their city the way we live among Exxon stations and 7-11's. We've been here less than a week, and already I can understand how this happens. You can't walk 10 feet down any street without passing something beautiful. Your sensibilities become overloaded.

We're off to see the Ognissanti Church and Cenacle, built in 1251 and rebuilt in 1627. Kaitlin's choice. She picked it, she says, because the guidebook indicates it houses more frescoes than any other building in the city. She wants to see frescoes.

This is my first visit to this city. I wish we had more time here.

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living

P.S. We've made a good contact, an American woman named Carol who owns and runs a real estate sales and rentals business called Milligan and Milligan. She's been living in Italy 32 years, operating her agency for the last six, the only one in the city where the staff speaks English. She can give you the fully story on this city's real estate market, both for sales and for rentals. Contact her at milligan@dada.it or see her websites at http://www.italy-rentals.com/ and http://www.vacations-in-italy.com/.