March 22, 2017 · 5:18 pm
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A river flows through it

The Bisenzio River, a tributary of the Arno River,  flows through Prato. Yesterday, I noticed quite a few anglers out trying their luck. (Or just passing time, perhaps.) 

This fellow caught a nice sized fish just a moment after he cast the lure into the water. He’ll be having lovely fresh fish for dinner, I’d say.

I also saw many nutria on the river bank and in the water, but they proved difficult to capture on the camera. Nutria are described as ‘a cross between a beaver and a New York sewer rat’! Happily, I found a video on YouTube that shows the river, these semi-aquatic rodents AND fish. I really didn’t even have to leave the apartment today.

PS This is blog post 1000, according to the WordPress counter. Happy whatever to the blog.

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70 responses to “A river flows through it”

  1. turtlefoodandbeyond
    March 25, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    I realise this opinion is unpopular…but I think those critters are quite adorable. Was he washing or did he have fleas in that video? 😄

    Congratulations on blog post 1000! 😃😊💝

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    • Yvonne
      March 26, 2017 at 1:47 am

      You are definitely entitled to your opinion! I’ll bet the poor little critters had fleas, the ones I saw on the river bank were doing a lot of scratching.

      Thanks for the congrats. 😊

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  2. arlingwoman
    March 23, 2017 at 12:30 pm

    I do like the video. Wouldn’t want to run into a nutria I don’t think, though they seem relatively peaceful. Derrick is right; I think they came from S.A. We have them here, too, in Florida, I think. Definitely invasive. But here you are in a different place in Italy this year! I look forward to more of your adventures.

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  3. Bridget
    March 23, 2017 at 10:27 am

    Yvonne, huge congratulations on 1000th post!! Very impressive. This from someone who has been starting a blog for about 10 years, and has yet to post once. You are my hero!
    The fish I can handle…the other little vermin, no! I have trauma on a regular basis from seeing those enormous disgusting black rats climbing down among the subway tracks here in NYC.
    Enjoy the first stop on your tour! xx

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    • Yvonne
      March 23, 2017 at 5:00 pm

      You may have to wait until you’re retired and then get going on a blog, Bridget. 🙂

      Prato is quite a commercial city, but I couldn’t find apartments for rent in my preferred choice (Pistoia) when I started looking. It’s very handy for train connections anyhow.

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  4. doesitevenmatter3
    March 23, 2017 at 9:50 am

    Happy 1,000! Congats! 🙂

    I love to eat fish…especially salmon. And the few times I’ve been fishing…it was appropriately called “fishing” and not catching. 😮 Ha! I don’t have the patience for fishing, but I do enjoy the water and nature. 🙂

    Now that I watched that video, I have to go visit the bathroom! 😀

    I prefer otters over nutria. Nutria…I bet they are NOT nutria-tious! 😛
    HUGS!!! 🙂

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    • Yvonne
      March 23, 2017 at 5:06 pm

      I admire people who can fish for hours and hours. I’d be with you, wriggling around and wanting to get a move on.

      Everyone is a comedian in the comments section, and that includes you it seems! 🙂

      Hugs back to you. ❤

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  5. gerard oosterman
    March 23, 2017 at 8:45 am

    Marinated nutria is popular on menus in some areas of the world. I mean with some red wine, cloves etc. you can make any meat tasty. You enjoy that lovely spring in Italy, Yvonne.

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    • Yvonne
      March 23, 2017 at 5:26 pm

      Probably, if no one told you what you were eating, you might pronounce it good, Gerard. It’s gloomy today, but a nice temperature. I see it’s still too warm back in NE Victoria. Hi Helvi and Milo. Oh, my son and daughter in law now own an alpaca, and his name is … Milo!

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  6. gunnardeckare
    March 23, 2017 at 6:44 am

    Congratulations to the 1000th ! I don’t I like that animal

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  7. Darlene Jones
    March 23, 2017 at 4:55 am

    Cool, the world from your window. Glimpsed one of those rats in the New York subway once.

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  8. sheldonk2014
    March 23, 2017 at 4:03 am

    Nutria are suppose to be a problem
    Oh well nature is as nature does

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  9. nco4242
    March 23, 2017 at 2:24 am

    They are giant rats! and did you know people in some parts of US love and eat them? I tired a piece once and all I could keep thinking was rat? There is also a tail bounty on them a buck a tail in some states

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  10. maristravels
    March 23, 2017 at 2:22 am

    Nutria make my flesh crawl. I saw quite a lot while cruising on the French canals, but the biggest were in the bayous in Louisiana. Ugly! Loved your aritlcle though!

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  11. Jane
    March 22, 2017 at 11:11 pm

    Happy 1000th! Where are you staying in Prato and for how long? Jealous and thrilled. Have never seen nutria outside of a zoo. I also try game shows for language improvement! Enjoy!!!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Yvonne
      March 23, 2017 at 2:18 am

      I’m in an apartment about 10 minutes walk from the train station. I’m here until 1 April. Today, I went to Pistoia, and ta-da, now I can report on that mystery family crest that’s been bugging me for ages. You’ll have to wait a day or 2 until I write about it. 🙂

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      • Jane
        March 23, 2017 at 5:09 am

        I can hardly wait to see that stemma!. Aren’t there two train stops in Prato? Are you closer to the old part of the city? With the festival in Pistoia this year I hope you got to peak into many unusual places…..such fun and thanks for sharing!

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        • Yvonne
          March 23, 2017 at 5:12 am

          Yes, there are 2 stops. I’m closer to Centrale, so it’s closer to the new area. There’s a most elegant new COOP not far away, it’s so darned sophisticated, doesn’t seem like Italy somehow.

          Pistoia is getting the spit and polish treatment, for sure.

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  12. Caroline
    March 22, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    Happy anniversary, Yvonne, and congratulations!

    I’d understood that nutria = coypu? I’d heard of those in the past without being totally sure what they were. There was a report in La Nuova a few weeks ago about a colony being removed from the garden of a nursery school on the Lido, which made me wonder how they got there – swam from the mainland?! It didn’t say exactly how they were being “removed”…

    It looks lovely there – see you on Saturday!

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  13. wordsfromanneli
    March 22, 2017 at 10:41 pm

    1000 posts! Well done, Yvonne.

    Liked by 1 person

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  14. Ralph
    March 22, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    Congratulations on publishing your 1000th post Yvonne. I remember the 437th. So funny ! (got you !) 🙄
    Love the pics in this post. Well done my friend. 🙂 ❤

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  15. derrickjknight
    March 22, 2017 at 8:36 pm

    Congrats on a grand anniversary. Good captures of the angler.

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  16. Debra Kolkka
    March 22, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    I saw one of those from the Ponte Vecchio one day, they are quite large.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Yvonne
      March 23, 2017 at 2:26 am

      Hi, Debra. I met with Miky today and had one of her mini-tours. She sure loves her city!

      Yes, those nutriae (I guess that’s the plural??) are quite hefty!

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  17. the eternal traveller
    March 22, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    Congratulations on your 1000th post. That’s quite an achievement. I haven’t heard of those creatures before so I’ve learned something new today. ☺

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  18. mvaden1948
    March 22, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    Lovely nature video. I’ve been watching nature programming here in Venice. I’m more likely to understand what’s going on. The news in Italian ….not so much. They talk way too fast for me.
    Happy 1000th!

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  19. Bruce Goodman
    March 22, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    Congrats on the thousandth. That’s a phenomenal achievement – so congratulations. (Even though I know you’ve just posted a couple every year or so…)
    I’ve never heard of Nutria(s) before – you’re a wealth of info, Yvonne. I wouldn’t be seen dead eating that fish! Is that river the only one in the world not polluted?

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    • Yvonne
      March 22, 2017 at 6:50 pm

      I’ll never catch up to you in posting, Bruce Almighty. I know you write at least 4-5 each year.

      Yes, this is a totally unpolluted river. Never mind the nutria corpses floating by, they provide food for those fishies.

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      • Bruce Goodman
        March 22, 2017 at 6:59 pm

        I guess every bit of meat we eat is in fact a corpse! Oh how wonderful to be in Italy. A grand niece of mine has just been given a scholarship (she’s a professional artist and made a lot of the props for the “Lord of the Rings” movies) to study painting in Florence.

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  20. thecontentedcrafter
    March 22, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    Well, happy 1000th to you and your blog! What an intriguing little creature – I felt quite voyeuristic watching him at his ablutions. I wonder now how big they get. Beavers are quite a big rodent aren’t they and I’ve seen some huge rats down at the wharves……….

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