In and out of Florence; a new introduction to a well-known city . oom!—what incom-parable seeing! Straight down, the green Arno, withits bridges, a skiff here and there, perhaps a pair ofwhite four-oar shells with crews in bright-coloredjerseys. Across, that last remaining stretch of oldFlorence bordering the waters edge. Everywhereelse along the river the old houses have been torndown and the Lung Arno promenades built in. Itis a fascinating block of angular, irregular, small-windowed, towering soiled whitish and yellow walls,behind which the little furnaces of the silversmiths In Florence an
In and out of Florence; a new introduction to a well-known city . oom!—what incom-parable seeing! Straight down, the green Arno, withits bridges, a skiff here and there, perhaps a pair ofwhite four-oar shells with crews in bright-coloredjerseys. Across, that last remaining stretch of oldFlorence bordering the waters edge. Everywhereelse along the river the old houses have been torndown and the Lung Arno promenades built in. Itis a fascinating block of angular, irregular, small-windowed, towering soiled whitish and yellow walls,behind which the little furnaces of the silversmiths In Florence and House-Hunting 13 are roaring and scores of bare-armed, deft-fingeredworkmen are hammering and beating, drawing outand twisting the shining silver strands in a haze ofheat and smoke. And then looking up the river intothe face of San Miniato del Monte and on beyondand above to the hills, and finally to the mountaincrests by Vallombrosa; and the other way down theriver with Bellosguardo and Oliveto for near back-ground and the high Carrara in the far That last remaining stretch of old Florence bordering thewaters edge. Think of the lights of morning and evening on thepictures in this gallery! But better than three or five rooms in town is ahouse of ones own with a garden and a pony stable;a villa on a hill-slope above Florence, in a plantationof olive and vine. And so we set out in search fora villa. The little rest of this chapter is the tale ofRowenas success. For she did the searching and shefound the villa. There were villas too large and too expensive;others too small, and one for a song; just the taxes 14 In Florence and House-Hunting apparently, but with drawbacks, of course. Finally,and sooner than you would think, the exactly rightone appeared. The discovery was by a friend; theconsummation by an agent. The business detailswere an agreement to rent for at least three monthsand payment In advance for the rent for these months;the necessity of taking on the g
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidinoutofflore, bookyear1910
