11.24.05-- The Endless Day

Oh man, what a crazy day! More than that, what a never-ending day! It's now 1:15 PM on Friday and I've been awake since 8:30 AM on Thursday morning! But, it's been AWESOME!! So completely a day that I'll probably never have again! It started with another delicious cappuccino. Man, what a great way to wake up! I'd probably eat breakfast every day if I had a cappuccino maker. [Hint, hint, mother.] So, I checked out of my hotel and took a cab over to the train station. The driver totally took the long route and took more of my money than necessary. The perils of being a tourist, I guess... I stored my bags there and headed out to explore. There was an exhibit on women in modern art that I considered visiting, but it was 8 Euro and I only had 15 Euro left to get me through till the end of the day-- and that included my ride from the train to the airport. (The bag storage cost 11.60 Euro and they didn't take credit cards.) So, instead I walked. I left Centro Storico (the oldest part of the city) and discovered new and different parts. I found a library housing a bunch of Michaelangelo drawings, but by then I was done with art. I found stores, cafes, bookstores, all sorts of "normal life" parts of Firenze that tourists probably don't get to see. Along the way, I happened into a little boutique. After admiring many pieces of the jewelry, I began to speak with the woman running the shop. Originally from Portugal, Virginia has lived in Italy for 10 years. Between my Italian and Spanish, and her Portugese and Italian, we had a long, lovely conversation about Italy. We spoke about the people, their habits, our own abilities to learn languages, etc. She was really a very sweet woman and I felt so happy when I left because I was able to communicate with her-- something I could not have done just 5 days earlier. About 1, I stopped for a disgusting piece of expensive pizza, and then wandered into a large bookstore. It was wonderful! So many different types of books, most in Italian, but some in English as well. I found a book all about The OC, with a pull out poster of Mischa, and a separate book all about Adam Brody. I came THIS close to buying them for Summer, but, hello, she wouldn't be able to read them! What's the point? I happened upon a book about the construction of the dome of the Duomo. Apparently it's the largest free-standing dome in the world, and it was quite a production to get the thing constructed in the 1400's. I read about the process a bit, and then went back to the Duomo to check it out. Pretty cool, gotta say. It was nice, too, because the candles I lit yesterday were still burning. It made me smile...