weekend in Firenze

This weekend I stayed in Florence and it has been soo nice to be able to sleep in, relax a little, and hang out with friends after what felt like a busy week. Friday, after sleeping in, I wandered to a market that is just a couple blocks from where I live. I was talking to my host mom about needing a pair of boots or some warmer things and she recommended checking out the Campo di Marte market first, which is open every morning. It was fun exploring down there and taking in the market scene. I thought some of the shoes and boots were nice, but it was very busy, and there were lots of Italian women asking for sizes and talking with the men selling the shoes, and I wasn't in the most aggressive mood, to be honest, I didn't know my shoe size in Italian standards...I will go back another time, I think size 10 is about a 41.

Many friends of mine were gone Friday, on the Venice trip or traveling somewhere else, but I met up with Catherine and we grabbed some lunch at a cafe nearby, and then hopped on a bus to the center where we went to the San Lorenzo market, a pretty big market in Florence, were should found a grey coat, and even got it down from 35 to 30 euros. We met up with 2 of Catherine's friends who came to Florence for the weekend. One is studying in Rome,and the other in Milan. They were very nice and fun to be around. We showed them Piazza Signoria, and where the Uffizi is, and took them along the Arno and Pontevecchio, and into the Oltraarno area. We got some gelato and chatted on the sloping sidewalk near the Pitti Palace as a fat pigeon dropped down on a woman's head nearby. It was pretty funny. Showing other people around Florence, made me realize how much I do love fLORence now. I'm really appreciating it now, not that i wasn't before, but Im really starting to feel like its becoming my city, and not a foreign city to me.

Later that night after walking forever to find an apparitivo restaurant, we found Kitch or Kitsch. It was amazing! Such a fun and decorative atmosphere. A drink and all you can eat Italian buffet for 8 euro. Very good deal. We went to 2 other bars afterwards, and walked many streets that night which was fun. Mark, who studies in Milan, kept commenting on how much he loved Florence after being there for like the first hour, which made me think about how happy I am about the size of the city I picked. Its not tooo big, but definitely not too small. Florence is a great size for studying abroad. Especially after hearing about Hillie's commutes living and studying in Rome...mine are a piece of cake compared to hers. We ran into our Moraccan friends on the bus ride home, too.

Today, consisted of sleeping in, going to an American diner with Myra, going to Oblate, a public library in Florence to begin the midterm studying, meeting Sierra for mass at the duomo in english, which we had the wrong time for, but at least we got there. I went out to dinner later with Myra, Lauren, Sierra, and Julianna, and Lauren, Myra, and I got some gelato at a place near Lauren's apartment and then I walked home.

Mom and Dad are in Austria now, I heard from them tonight, and they will be in Florence Tuesday night!