CamperStop Florence

After our 4th day in Florence, the Tuscan sun disappeared behind storm clouds and there were violent thunderstorms morning, afternoon and evening for two days. We wondered how far above the river our camperstop might be. As I said, it was in a near suburb, Poggeto, I think, about 3 km from the city center. Still quite urban. Anyhow, with the bad weather, we decided to take a couple days off.

CamperStop FLOG; actually, it was a large parking area

serving a big community center among the scores of

apartment blocks; a Coop a couple streets away for groceries

and the usual assortment of shops all around; from my now

vast experience in such neighborhoods, I estimate that every

street has at least one tabachi, one alimentaria, 3 bar/cafes,

one trattoria, one dry-goods/hardware store (maybe 200

square feet, crammed wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling), a

pet store, 3 snack bars, and 6 pasticerrias; amazingly, one

never sees a pastry shop without customers (nor a bar); yet

seldom sees a seriously over-weight Italian

One evening, during a lull between thunderstorms, I noticed

considerable commotion in the car parking area, and followed

the crowds to the community center, which was jammed

For a dance recital

I have no idea whether it was a school event, a neighborhood

thing, someone's private dance school recital

But there were people of all ages there

It's a very family-centered society