The alarm buzzed at 5.15am this morning and I was woken by a very excited husband and son because we were going into Florence to watch the AFL Grand final where their favourite team, Hawthorn were playing Fremantle.
Simon who owns the only Irish pub in Florence and Rome run by an Irish man was kind enough to open his doors at 6.30am to let a bunch of Aussies watch the big game.
Of course it wasn’t all smooth sailing (bloody cycling!!) We strolled down to the bus stop to catch the first 6am bus and Alex and I really were trying hard to be enthusiastic at this time of morning.
Thankfully the bus was on time and we were on our way into town to watch a great game of footy….all before 7am!
It must be love. Simon was friendly and very welcoming at such an ungodly time of the morning and Nic supported the cause by having a pint or two of larger to get into the grand final spirit, I on the other hand wasn’t so stoic and had orange juice seeing as I wasn’t fully awake or some may call it being a bit soft!
As the morning rolled on more Aussies popped in to see the game and it was great to see and hear fellow country peeps enjoying the game- Alex kept asking me if they spoke English, he couldn’t quite grasp the concept that there would be so many Aussies in one bar at one time in Florence!
Victory was won by the Mighty Hawks and Nic and Max couldn’t of been happier…
Alex was ecstatic to be leaving the pub (not so much a lover of watching the game) and I was looking forward to a cup of coffee, alas, it wouldn’t be quite as much fun if we caught our regular bus back home now would it!?
As luck would have it, we can win the grand final but missed the last bus up to our town (it left at 8.30 am) due to the cycling, so it was another detour to Campo de Marte (meaning another 4km walk home) which wasn’t as bad as it sounds because we caught sight of the lead racers as we were walking over the station bridge.
Really it has been a very productive morning and all before 10am!
We watched the Hawks win a fantastic grand final; we finally got a glimpse of the cycling that has turned us into excellent walkers (if only by default) and managed to make it home before the crowds gathered. Now I have had my coffee it might be time for a quick nanna nap before lunch- I’m exhausted!
Italy Take Two 