A typical day in Florence (for us)...

First I should note that our trip to Cinque Terre was postponed until tomorrow. It seems the place is packed with tourists on the weekends much more so than during the week, so we revised our itinerary and stayed in Florence for the weekend.
Our typical day is really quite simple and some things have not changed. We still love our sleep more than breakfast and so we typically roll out of bed just in time to dress and walk over to Marcello's house (our Italian teacher). The walk is typically about 5 minutes: left on Ghibellina, right on Pepi, and straight until the end. After our two hour class we head back to the apartment for a proper lunch which often requires a quick stop in the supermercati. This particular supermercati is more like what I would consider a slightly bigger corner convenience shop back in the States. The floor is often filthy (the streets in Florence are very dirty and one drags the mud in) and the lines could be as long as ten people each plus you pay for your plastic bag (as I hear IKEA is doing in the States) or you bring your own. The stop to the market is literally on the way, so our walk home is left unchanged...continue on Pepi, left on Ghibellina and arrive home. Our appartment is across the way from Casa Buonarroti, which was Michaelangelo's house in Florence -- the street and exterior of these buildings show the wear of the years. Cooking lunch can be an interesting challenge if we both need the kitchen area -- we've learned to slide past each other, reach above each other's heads, wait patiently for each other to move first, share the same utencils, and light the tiny gas stove (well, reallistically, only Ian has mastered that last one). I think the kitchen was intended for one chef. After lunch, we usually always take a Florentine nap -- we lay in bed with the windows open, one thin sheet on us, and off we go to sleep for a couple of hours. Now, on a typical vacation one may never consider sleeping an afternoon away and while that was my mentality at first...I quickly realized that Florence was still there when I woke up and that it would be there the next day, too. Plus, I typically wake up to the sound of an Italian conversation taking place outside my window. An Italian family, kids playing, the baker, a couple of workers -- never tourists (they usually whisper to each other), but always a local. Now, after studying, eating, and resting we leave the house for a walk and a visit to some interesting place until late at night when our feet are so tired that they find their own way back home. We've managed to skip the long lines formed early in the morning -- for example, tonight we will go to the Accademia in the evening when it is free and we'll see the David without the heavy tourist crowds (crossing my fingers).