Street numbers
Wednesday 22 September 2010
Florence has a confusing dual address system. Each street has a double set of numbers: a red number indicates a shop, restaurant or business, while a blue or black number refers to a hotel or domestic residence. When writing to a business, insert an “r” after the number to distinguish it from a residential address. Each set of numbers has its own sequence, so business premises at, say No. 10r may well be next to a residential address at No. 23. [Eyewitness travel: Florence & Tuscany (Dorling Kindersley, 2007) p. 298.]
From the top: A street sign, on a large hand-painted tile inset into the wall, indicating Via Del Campuccio where our apartment is; red number 59, a business premises in the same street; Blue number 7, the entrance to the building our apartment is in.