Day 3

Today was a really good day.

I started my day in the glorious sunshine at a little coffee shop just a very short walk from my apartment . Here I devoured a cappuccino and a ricotta tart with the warm autumn sun shining down on me, you would never had thought that it was the end of October .

I then took a slow walk towards the centre of Florence taking in the little independent shops, beauty rooms, cafes and would you believe it minutes from my front door a music school and several music shops .

My walk then took me towards Piazza Santa Maria Novella an area I had walked through on my last visit but had not spent any significant time in . Here I sat and read, people watched and ate lunch . Very chuffed with myself today as everywhere I went I spoke Italian, all be it fairly basic but I tried and all but one person replied back to me in Italian .

To really put a crown on my day today I’ve managed to secure some teaching work until Christmas with the same people I completed the summer school with in July .

My evening has been spent watching Euro pop on tv and had an unexpected video chat with a very good friend who I miss incredibly . You know who you are lol, can’t wait until you get yourself out here :-)

A quick glass of Prosecco for me now and an early night, haven’t had so much fresh air in ages , certainly no difficulty in sleeping here .

Day 2

Today was another day of exploring this wonderful city .

The sun was out, the sky was blue, there was a buzz coming from the multitude of tourists that are still here enjoying all that Florence has to offer .

Today I really started to appreciate the diversity of this city . I took in the delights of small churches quickly followed by modern art exhibits, famous landmarks followed by jazz musicians . At every turn there is something different to appreciate .

After my 14km wander, I felt it necessary to sit for a while and sip a nice cool beer and take in the surroundings of my favourite piazza in Florence Piazza di Santa Croce . I’m not sure what it is about this square that appeals to me, probably it’s because it’s never quite as busy as the Piazza del Duomo . You can usually find a seat somewhere to drink in the atmosphere and people watch, which I duly did with my nice medium size beer . I had originally asked for a large but the waitress kindly advised me that their large was a litre, even for me that is a little big .

Day 1

After a long and arduous journey from the UK to Florence I have finally got here . Not as I anticipated, as Brexit has put pay to that and trying to obtain a visa is a bit like pulling hens teeth, but I am here and for the next few months I am going to fully submerse myself in Florence and Italy .

I had an amazing nights sleep (for the past 3 months I have been sleeping on a blow up bed in the UK, but that’s another story for a quiet day), I finished my unpacking then set off exploring the area where my apartment is based . It’s an area that I wasn’t familiar with and hadn’t visited on my first visit, but I love it . I’m near Florence’s biggest park, the tramline, the river and it is lovely and quiet . A friend of mine said it sounded a little like Chelsea in London as there are some lovely residences here and some great hotels .

How about this for my bedroom ceiling, there can’t be too many of these around, wonderful to drift off to sleep looking at this .

After a short walk in the park, I then walked parallel to the river Arno (Florence’s main river), crossed over back to my side and headed towards the centre, taking in side streets that I hadn’t encountered before, discovering new places, bars (in Italy a bar is a coffee shop) and shops .

I stopped off for a little refreshment, how can you go to Italy and not drink Moretti, then took a winding route back to my apartment .

My first full day here has been joyous and tiring . 13km under foot is not bad for an old fart like me that had a heart attack on New Years Eve . My New Years Eve this year I am determined will not be spent in hospital, I will be here celebrating in Italy .

Early night for me, let’s see what day 2 has in store.

The Adventure is Almost Here .

After waiting for what seems like an age tomorrow my big adventure starts . Whilst not exactly as it should have been due to the London Italian Consulate not really knowing what they are doing post Brexit (but thats another story which I will post on a rainy day ), tomorrow I begin my trip to Tuscany to do a TEFL course then who knows where that may lead .

First of all it’s a flight to Amsterdam where I stay the night then it’s a flight out of there early Saturday morning to Florence .

To say I am excited (and slightly nervous) is an understatement . A combination of the past 12 months Covid events and my heart attack at the beginning of the year has made me realise you just don’t know what is around the corner so if an opportunity comes along that you think you will enjoy go for it .

So, be prepared for all sorts of images appearing on here, Facebook and my Instagram page .

Time to finish my pack and to start my adventure with a little glass of Pinot Grigio …. cheers 😊

Now the Real Work Starts

Now that my website is starting to take shape , I feel confident to start offering my photography services to customers .

I am going to start with an offer for local businesses within 5 miles of my home town of Eccleshall Staffordshire a product/service shoot package of a 2hr shoot (on location at business or I can collect products ) and 10 fully edited images , supplied by Dropbox for £90 . The images will be supplied as high resolution jpegs , useful for websites, business cards, social media etc .

Covid has had a devastating effect on many businesses and it would be nice to help local businesses to try and get back on their feet again .

If interested please message me for further details or/to make a booking .

The First of Many

Having recently been made redundant from my full-time job in a local hotel due to Covid, I have found myself with lots of spare time to get my photography business up and running .

Lots of time to take stock images, set up my website, FB page ,Instagram, Twitter ….. the list is endless, but the most important thing is that I am loving spending on it . I am under no pressure from deadlines to get everything up and running, I can take my time and do what I want when I want, what a luxury .

Today has all been about setting up further pages on here to display my work, time to work on a few new images me thinks.