Florence, Italy as seen from snow covered Via di San Salvatore al Monte

What is the first thing that you think of when I say Florence, Italy? Snow, right? Well in this case you’d be right, but otherwise you’d be terribly, terribly wrong. Yes it was December, but from what I was told there had been no snow like this in Tuscany in a quarter century. How fortunate I was to be there and experience a snow storm since we don’t get many of those back home in Canada. ;^) Seriously though, it was colder in Florence in December of 2009 than back in Montreal where I’m from and I’m just glad I packed a few extra layers of clothes, just in case.

The climb up the stairs on Via di San Salvatore al Monte was precarious to say the least. Couples were holding on to each other for dear life on the walk up the slippery stairs as the snow had hardened over night into a sheet of ice. Thank goodness I had a tripod to help me balance myself and even with that help I still lost my footing a few times and imagined my camera flying out of my hands and onto the icy concrete each time I slipped. I wasn’t alone in worrying about my camera, just moments after taking this shot I was passed by about a dozen Japanese tourists, all men and all clutching very nice cameras of course . As they passed me they took a look at my camera (Canon 1Ds MKIII) and started to talk really loudly while gesturing towards me and my camera.  I wish I spoke Japanese, it was really funny to see such a commotion about a camera but Japanese people not only make awesome cameras but they know which ones are the good ones at a glance. As they took off down the stairs in parting a few of them gave me a bow and a couple of thumbs up. It was one of those nice moments that make you smile while you’re traveling alone. Positivity, kindness and good will don’t need to be spoken, you just feel it.

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