With the Day of the Dead upon us, there are plenty of spooky opportunities around Florence and Tuscany if you want to give yourself a good scare. From ghostly sightings in Tuscan castles as well as in Florence itself, to headless men and buried babies, our favourite part of Italy has lots of Halloween themed tales to tell.
But what of the scary things that we Florentines experience on a daily basis? Any time of the year, there are plenty more frightful things to do in Florence that have more to do with logistics than lost lovers, grandmas more than ghouls. We’ve listed 17 – since that’s a bad luck number in Italian, you know.
You think ghosts are scary, we challenge you to try…
17. Cycling through piazza Duomo during high tourist season.
16. Forgetting to add the hashtags #Florence #igersfirenze on your Instagram posts.
15. Losing your faith in the truth of the expiration date of the yogurt in your fridge and testing it with a tablespoon.
14. Going to see a B-series horror movie in Italian, without English subtitles.
13. Buying the most popular brand and colour shoes, at any time, in your size (“What, you want those in pink, in a 37? You should wear a smaller size.”)
12. Opening your heating bill. In February.
11. Eating at a restaurant with one of those giant plastic menu-holding chefs outside.
10. Walking in piazza della Signoria with your hand full of pigeon feed.
9. Hanging out with the mummies in the Egyptian Museum – you’re guaranteed to be alone.
8. Finding the right government office, open, capable of getting that slip of paper / card / thing you need. This year.
7. Having to depend on using a fake iPhone battery charger purchased from around the station.
6. Trying to park your car around the stadium right before a Fiorentina game
5. Trying to mail a simple letter at the Poste the same day they dole out the pensione in cash to pensioners lined up around the block.
4. Taking any ATAF bus in the rain (how dare you?).
3. Eating a lampredotto panino without spicy and green sauces. Or without the bun.
2. Making an appointment to meet someone on the steps of the Duomo. In August.
1. Going to Ikea on a Sunday. With your kids. During the saldi.
(Photo credit: Pedro Ribeiro Simões creative commons on Flickr)
