Sept 25th

last night my friend kirsten and i broke down, ordered take out pizza from
down the street, purchased two bottles of wine, and watched movies all
night. this weekend i had planed to either go to Milano, or the island of
caprie, but the weather turned into a mess, so i decided to call everything
off and take a break for a while. it's been really fun actually.
so, i might as well try and milk my trip from last weekend to Florence. it
was all last min, on thurs. night at my friend's house, the idea came up
that we should go somewhere. the plan was manuele and roberto, my italian
friends, would meet me and kristen at piazza italia to get to the bus
station at 7 am on sat. only roberto showed up, cause i guess manuele
partied too much the night before.
the train took 2 hours. when we arrived, all the hostels were full, we spent
3 hours or so finding one to take 2 ladies and a guy. it was all worth it
though, Florance is amazing.
our hostel was on the other side of the river close to downtown. that ment
that we got to know the bridges really well. my favorite was the one closest
to ponte veccio (a really famous old bridge, with homes and shops built
right on top of it!) there were little ledges where you could hop over the
main road, and sit in compleat privacy to smoke, make out, or whatever, or
just watch the river. i felt right at home when i spotted a furry creature
pattleing across the river. roberto insisted that it was just a big rat, but
i talked to some people and they said it was kinda like a river otter, which
to me ment a big aqua ferret. i took lots of pictures. i hope that roll
wasn't the one that got lost.
we then went to santa crotche (not the saint crotch!) which is one of the
major big churches where a bunch of famous dead guys are kept. for example,
michelangelo, dante,  galliaeo, and some other dudes. it was super pretty
though.
then we tried to get into the duomo, but it closed. that night we spent
forever trying to track down some stupid resturant in a tour book, to no
avail. never trust those guides. we ended up at a great spot that wasn't too
over priced though. the thing was that since florance is a major city, the
portions were americanized, meaning big, so we ended up with too much food
when we did the italian thing which is to order a bunch of tinny courses. oh
well.
the next morning, we waited in line for 4 hours to get into the uffizzi
which is the most amazing museum i've ever been into in my intire life. I
saw the venus in a half shell, (bottechelii), a bunch of carvaggios,
artemisia gentellesci, and da vinchi- i know i butcherd their names, but i
don't wanna look em up right now.  anyways, it was like a dream, and for
three hours, i talked about art in italian, about these amazing pieces i had
studied in highschool i never thought i'd see in person.
roberto hardly understands any english at all, and kirsten hardly speaks any
italian, so i had to translate a lot so that neither felt like the other was
being rude.  despite this, all of us somehow managed to keep up really good
conversations. i was really happy though when i went for a whole day, only
speaking italian. kirsten thought it was funny. she was worried about being
a third wheel cause she doesn't know italian, but i told her that was
stupid, so i tried to help her when she was looking for the right words.
practice, right?
then, we ate gellato, and somehow ended up back on the train.

i want to go back, it's really cheap to get there, even just for a day.
florence is the most romantic city i've ever seen, we watched the sun set
over the river and the sky turned golden.

this past week i went dancing a lot. it got really cold all of a sudden,
which means clubs stop using air conditioning, so your screwed every where
you go. i've been wearing the wildest cloths i wouldn't have been caught
dead wearing at home, which i think is totally fun and good for me. i've
started to really get the hang of things, i know where to get the best
corrneto al cocholate (chocolate crassant) and cappacino, where all the
vintage stores are, 3 ero pizza, and the cheapest best wine. not really the
tourist approch to things, but i think that happens when you actually live
somewhere. the shop owners start remembering your face and say hi to you in
the streets.
anyways, i've stayed away from elevators, and expierimented with chinese
take out. this next week is  my last of the intensive language classes, and
then my art classes start.
you know, it only costs less than a dollar to send a letter. no joke. if you
forgot the address, it is
megan march
the umbra institute
via dei priori, 84
06123
perugia , italy
(hint hint)
please keep me up dated on stuff - i wanna know what's going on!
tutti amore,
megan