I love the Arno

When I was out this morning, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the Arno. I had seen the Adige in Verona last week and found it quite beautiful, but for me it didn’t have the same charm that the Arno holds. Aesthetically, one would probably choose the Adige over the Arno. The clear, rushing water in the fiume (river) is enchanting. However, the beauty of the Arno lies not in its appearance, but in its personality.

Today the fiume is a light brown. Its color comes from the rain that fell last week, which is now carrying mud downstream. The level of the water is not high, but it is still moving along at a slow, but steady rate. Before Ponte San Niccolò, there is a small cascate (cascade) where the sound of the water echoes, and can be heard over the street noise.

I stood above Ponte alle Grazie to look out in one direction to the sun peeking through the grey clouds above the Arno and then in the other direction where the sky above the Palazzo Vecchio was blue. I felt joyous to watch and listen to the water flowing under my feet. The flow of the water changes constantly according to so many factors, like the weather, season, and time of day. It might be the ever-changing character of the fiume that I love so much. Almost as if it were a person with his/her moods to be accepted and not judged.

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