Ridiculousness

So today was kind of an odd day. I don't know why but it just seemed like there was one odd sequence of events after another.

Usually I dont have classes on Monday (nice!) but today there were 2 make-up classes for my international trade and economics class, which was cancelled all last week. So i had to get up at the crack of dawn to go to school. My earliest classes are usually at 10, which is also nice, but today i was out the door just after 7:30 and it was like a ghost town! i guess Italians hate Mondays too. I was nodding off in class, again, which amuses my classmates to no end. I can't help it if guns n butter put me to sleep. That class is amusing because it's taught by an American professor, and pretty often the international students lean towards me and ask me to explain something or how to spell something. I feel like a superhero from The Tick or something; Spelling-Man! Today's class was held in a different location on the outskirts of the city-center, which happened to be located directly next to the train tracks. The first time one went by, the professor made a comment to the effect of "...... Really??" and I laughed, because that was exactly what I was thinking. I don't think any of the Italians even flinched though. That is actually par for the course because nearly every single day there is some kind of construction noise coming from right next to the school, either in the courtyard or the rooms next door. Really? You guys can't come back at like 6pm when there's no class? It is what it is, I guess. The universe is balanced though so I had a stereotypical Italy moment on my way back from class; someone had there window open and was playing the violin, serenading me as I walked under the porticoes. And then a typical Bologna moment; I came to an intersection, and while waiting for the walk signal (dead giveaway that I'm not Italian, by the way), I heard a commotion. When I looked up, a gang of students had jumped out into the stopped traffic and were hollering, waving batons and juggling clubs, and of course asking donations from poor entrapped drivers. At least it's more entertaining than a guy with windex and a newspaper.

I had left class early to go to my appointment at the Police/Immigration Office for my permit to stay stuff (read: more bureaucracy). It actually went smoother than I was expecting; from the research I had done I was expecting complete pandemonium, but it was fairly organized, I only had to wait around for about 10minutes instead of the 2 hours I was told I'd probably wait, AND the minor error on my previously submitted paperwork I was worried about didn't turn out to be anything at all. There was another Bologna student there, a girl from Turkey, and we were obviously the only ones who weren't coming from a developing country for work, so we chatted for a bit while we were waiting in line. She didn't speak Italian too well and the authorities aren't permitted to speak anything but, so I even ended up helping her out when it was her turn.

On my way back, I passed what appeared to be a Star Trek merchandise shop. And by appeared to be I mean was stocked to the roof with all things Star Trek. And what really made me laugh was a model in the window, the EXACT same as one I once glued together, painted, and submitted to the State Fair when I was like 8 years old. And I don't mean it was just the same ship from Star Trek - the damn model kit in the window was at least 17 years old! They must not be moving a lot of Star Trek merch here in Bologna...

Another ridiculous occurence that made me laugh: As I walked further down the street, there was a mother strolling around with her two kids, maybe about 6 or 7 years old each. One was dark haired, and the other had almost crimson-red hair. Guess which one was misbehaving and needed reprimanding??

Since it was still pretty early I headed back towards the city-center on my continued search for allspice - I'm trying to make a traditional pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, and it's the only ingredient I can't find. I already checked all the markets in my part of town, so now I'm branching out. I stopped by a big supermarket in the center, but they still didn't have any in the spice aisle. But what did they have?? ELVIS! Love me tender was playing on the store radio as I perused the selection. Jealous Aunt Sue? Italy did have a king, after all...

Online I'd found out there was market downtown called 'The Herb Market', so I figured it would be a sure bet and I headed there. On the way, I ran into the professor who heads our program, which was a nice little coincidence since we were nowhere near the university. I continued on the market, which was really nice, and there was tons of fresh produce like I've never seen in my life; heads of iceberg lettuce the size of a basketball, something that I SWEAR was a Bartlett pear but was as big as my head, and a bunch of other stuff I can't even describe. BUT NO HERBS!!! Why is it called the market of herbs?? So I called off the search, and headed home. And what did I encounter on the way home? Jehovah's witness #2 in Italy! Is there a CONVENTION or something?! Thankfully this one was just walking around with their little copy of "Il Torre di Guardia" (the Watchtower), so I could see what was coming from a mile away and I just peaced outta there. I made my way back home, relaxed for a bit, and even had some roasted chestnuts that one of my roommates made. Pretty full day, if you ask me.

The weekend had been pretty fun too. The University has graduations three times a year (Fall, Winter, and Spring), and similar to how students at ASU can walk in May even if they need to finish up some credits over the summer, the students here can follow masters programs starting in September even if they don't finish their undergrad thesis until October. So, several of my classmates were celebrating their graduations, which called for some partying. Highlights of Friday and Saturday nights:

-walking 5 miles in the freezing rain

-discovering secret stash of breadsticks at a restaurant

-party cups = dixie cups

-best pizza ever at 3am, at the only place left open in the city

-alcohol consumption and ability to speak in Italian become directly related

-our group destroying 4 bottles of wine in about 5 minutes. no more wine? well, time to go!

-awkward people watching at Brazilian dance club

-9% beer on tap

-Italian hip hop concert? AND it's BYOB?!?! Why not, it's only 2am!

-returning home decidedly tipsy + daylight savings time taking effect in the same night + cell phones that don't automatically adjust the time + laptops that DO adjust = MASS CONFUSION

So those were a few of the highlights... Exams are coming up this next week so there may or may not be shenanigans to report later on. Only time will tell.

And PS - the photo above is from the day we spent in the Giardini Margherita. Lucky we did it that day too cuz it was just about the last nice day to be outside!

Total Peanut Butter Consumption: 40%

Referring to a Costco sized jar of peanut butter that I brought along with me. I think I'm actually rationing it pretty well, thank you. After all it's now been a month since I left American soil. It's weird to actually think that!

It's been a while since my last entry here. Sorry for the dead air! But not a whole lot has happened. No interesting trips, etc. Last week and this week were spent with my nose buried in books and doing research for a presentation in my antitrust class. Pretty boring stuff. Over the weekend I didn't even leave the house. Practically everyone I know had gone out of town so there was really nothing much to do anyway, and it was F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G cold here (at least for an Arizona boy), so I holed up at the casa underneath the blankets. It was about 10 degrees... celsius, that is. It was getting down into the low 40s F at night though. I think my blood's been thickening up though, ever so slowly. And yesterday was cold AND rainy... so THIS is why people move to Arizona! Now I get it.

Where was everybody? Well one of my flatmates is from Verona, and she usually spends the weekends at home. My other flatmate was in Imola, a nearby city where her family lives, for a wedding and other stuff this weekend. One of my friends from class was in Paris visiting friends (sidenote - you can get flights on an Irish airline, Ryanair, for as low as $10 to some places in Europe. Cha-ching!). Another one of my friends from class went home to Seborga, a town in the North very close to the border of France - in fact he was showing me some pictures from his home, and from the balcony you can see Monte Carlo. He was also telling me about the international curiosity that is Seborga; for all intents and purposes, it is Italian, but most of the citizens claim to be of their own separate nationality. They have their own prince, coins, and even license plates. Founded 1000 years a go as a sovereign state, it seems that in the many geopolitical changes that occured in Northern Italy (between France, Austria, Italy, and the Roman Empire) Seborga was sort of lost in the shuffle. They make an interesting argument for independence: Italy (as we know it today, the Republic) was founded in 1946 from the Kingdom of Italy, itself founded in the 1860s, which was ruled by the House of Savoy, under which Seborga was a protectorate but expressly sovereign (granted in the middle ages by the Holy See). So when the King of Italy peaced out in 1946, the lands he ruled became Italy - but he didn't actually rule Seborga! Interesting stuff.

Yesterday was pretty notable. After we gave our presentation in class, a bunch of us went to have a drink. Our group was about half Italians, half internationals, so there was another fun session of dirty-expressions-in-Italian-that-you-need-to-know. Then after that I hung out with my roommates. There was a student fundraiser going on that one was helping to put on, so we all went. There was cheap booze and a live band playing American music. I am thoroughly convinced that my Italian improves as my alcohol consumption increases, and I think I was speaking pretty well last night. Today, however, was not so fun, as you can imagine.

So that's the bulk of what's happened in the last week+! Hopefully there will be some shenanigans this weekend to talk about.

This last week wasn't quite as exciting as the previous. School is kicking into gear and I'm keeping occupied with about 6 hours of classes Tues-Weds-Thurs, and another 3 on Friday. I'm still trying to get used to the Italian student's way of life. It's quite different from what I experienced at ASU.

Classes are structured to be centered around theory. There's an awful lot of reading but almost nothing in the way of homework, projects, quizzes, etc. The Italian system favors one big test at the end of the course instead of periodic exams and projects, like a typical class at ASU. So the students tend to spend a lot of time reading at the library.

Also, from what I've observed, Saturday doesn't really seem to be considered part of the weekend in Italy (stores list hours, for example, as Mon-Sat, 9-7, and Sun 12-6), and many of the students I've encountered don't really go crazy on a Friday night - they like to *study* on a Saturday morning.

This concept is the epitome of 'foreign' for me.

So, Friday night wasn't quite the debaucherous evening it would have been back home. I did end up going out with my roommate Maria and some of her friends. The most exciting thing was that I found out some of her friends play football - AMERICAN football! Needless to say I stuck to these guys like glue for the rest of the evening, asking them all about it. They told me there are 3 teams in Bologna, and they play 9 players to a side. They asked me if I'd like to play with them sometime (!!!) but they all live and play at a field in Imola, which is a city about 15 miles away. Fail! Still, it's good to know for future reference. They were all very excited to find out I was from Arizona - the first thing they said was 'Oh, CARDINALS!'. I couldn't believe it! That is kind of par for the course though - Bologna is big on basketball (even other Italians call it 'Basketball town'), so whenever I meet someone and say I'm from Phoenix they say 'Oh, the Suns! Charles Barkley!' Cracks me up every time.

Saturday was pretty relaxed. Some of the students from class decided we should meet up at Piazza Santo Stefano for a drink that night, at 11. I was going there by myself to meet up, and I tried to account for Italian time by arriving around 1120. However, I underestimated and I was still too early for Italian time. There wasn't anybody at the square yet and when I called my mates they all said 'oh yeah, we'll be there in like 20 minutes!' So, I walked around for a bit. There was a big to-do in the piazza in front of the Two Towers, a light/video show, interpretive dancers, people dressed in historical costume doing something. It was all very avant garde, and I needed a beer, so I kept walking. Eventually some classmates started trickling in to the area and we met up, had some drinks, wandered the city. We ended up at an Irish pub off the main drag and some other friends of one of my classmates showed up, one of them wearing an old school Charlotte Hornets tshirt, so I immediately started talking to him about Grandmama and Mugsy Bogues. The evening went fairly quietly as well, since we all had plans together the next day for a class picnic in the park.

The park, Giardini Margherita (like the pizza - both named after Italy's queen), is a huge expanse of greenery in the southern part of the city. About a dozen of us from class got together, brought snacks and drinks and some balls to hit around, and just had a lovely day in the park. I've never seen so many people in a park before - granted, it's usually 105 with cancer inducing levels of sunshine in the parks at home. But it was fun to see tons of families outdoors, each with their own little stake of land. We sat around chatting about everything - classes, sports, what it's like back home --- the program I'm following, International Management, unsurprisingly lends itself to an international class of students. Just at our little picnic were representatives from Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, Lebanon, and of course myself. Once the sun set, our mini United Nations packed up and went home, and I had a relaxing end to the weekend trying to figure out how to get Skype to work for my parents, from 6000 miles away (kudos to Dad for figuring it out!) If anyone else wants to find me on Skype, my username is akamillertime.

Watch later for some pics of our picnic!

Another LENGTHY post alert: Trip to Firenze

Or as most in the US know it, Florence. I've been to Firenze several times before, when I was last in Italy, so this time I made a gameplan to see a bunch of things I hadn't seen before. Sunday I had nothing going on, so on Saturday I got myself a guidebook and spent the day researching things I'd like to see. I decided that I'd see the church of Santa Croce (where many famous Florentines are buried), the church of San Miniato (a stunning 11th Century church), the Palazzo Pitti and its Galleria (works of many reknowned painters), and the Brancaci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. It was a pretty good plan that would take me all over the city. However, as is wont to happen with travel, your feet sometimes lead you somewhere you weren't intending to go, and often for the better.

It was definitely an interesting day in every respect. The day started early; I decided I'd catch the 8am train from Bologna Central Station which would get me to Firenze at 9 (it's not very far). So I go down to the bus stop at 730, to give myself a little cushion. The bus shows up at about 735. It pulls up; I look at the bus driver, he looks at me. He keeps driving.

Really?

I consult the bus hours posted at the bus stop; the only bus that stops here on Sundays is the #11, which is the one I am waiting for, and the one that just ditched me.

OK. Looks like I'm not making the 8am train.

I don't know what that was all about, but I caught the next bus that came by in about 15 minutes. I get to the station about 8, which wasn't bad cuz the next train to Firenze was leaving at 830. I get a second class ticket on a Eurostar train, fully expecting it to be the same as the last time I was in Italy (6 people in their own little cabin). To my delight, this kind of train was thoroughly modern, and it almost felt like being on an airliner. There were even the little ports on the seats for headphones. The seating was captains chair style, 2 on each side of the aisle, for the length of the car. Definitely better than the little cabin! Ryan and Kevin would appreciate this; while sitting there, reading up on what I was about to see in the guidebook, I heard the ringtone from Trigger Happy TV go off right behind me. I fully expected a guy with a huge cardboard cellphone to get up and start shouting, but to my dismay it didn't happen. The train ride was quiet, short, and peaceful as we rolled through the Tuscan hills:

Upon arriving in Bologna, I pulled out the trusty guidebook to get my bearings. Once I figured out which direction I needed to head for to begin, I looked up and saw a big dome beyond the buildings nearby, which was the landmark I was looking for. Or so I thought. Wrong giant church dome, which meant I was immediately lost once I arrived there. Only in Italy!

This was the dome of the San Lorenzo church, which was the parish church of the Medici family. They are kind of a big deal.

See the open space at the top of the far building? It's called a loggia. You'll be seeing a lot of that in Florentine architecture.

Anyways, I got my bearings again and headed towards the big dome I was ACTUALLY looking for, the famous Duomo of Firenze. I was only going to pass through on my way to the Palazzo Pitti, because I'd already been inside the Duomo on a previous visit. But once you are in the surrounding Piazza, you really can't help but stop.

I'd be seeing much more of this guy a little bit later.

Central tenet of Catholicism: someone is always watching you when you misbehave.

So it is at this first junction where my feet decided to deviate from the plan. I've been inside the Duomo before, but I'd never been inside the Campanile - the bell tower adjacent to it. It's only 6E to climb to the top, and the view is reputedly spectacular, so I just had to do it. They advise you at the bottom that there are indeed 400+ steps to the top. The going was pretty easy at first, especially when I came to the landing; I thought I'd already reached the top, and it was too darn easy. Turns out I was wrong about the former, and correct about the latter. There were 4 more landings to ascend, each with a tinier and tighter twisting staircase. I got a pretty good case of vertigo/claustrophobia going up the last one, and I honestly would have turned around and gone back if there hadn't been a bunch of other tourists behind me blocking the way. But I convinced myself that the damn thing had been standing for 500 years and it wasn't about to fall over now, so I pushed through. And I am thoroughly glad that I did. Here are a succession of pictures from the bottom to the top:

This was a place where mothers could leave their unwanted children. I think now we call that McDonald's.

You can see the tower from the Palazzo Vecchio to the right in this shot.

Detail of the Palazzo Vecchio

Gargoyles. Sweet cartoon series from back in the day; even cooler in real life.

Thought I was nearing the top. I was wrong.

Yeah that sounds nice right about now

The Baptistry with the "Doors of Paradise"

Seriously, am I there yet?

Looking out towards Palazzo Pitti, my next destination

Remember that gargoyle from earlier? He's down there somewhere now.

One of the holier lightning rods out there

Yup, that's where I was, at the very top. It was a lot easier getting back down.

On the way to my next destination. Somebody *lives* here. I love Italy.

This is probably the guy that is in charge of my permit to stay.

One of the many scenic back alleys

Palazzo Vecchio [Old Palace] rising up in the distance. I wasn't going to visit the square it's in because I'd been there before... by like I said, my feet had a mind of their own.

Another example of loggia. This one, on Piazza Signoria next to Palazzo Vecchio, houses some original marble statues from Roman to Renaissance times, and a bronze reproduction of Perseus slaying Medusa - supposedly a warning to the foes of the Medici family.

Reproduction of The David, capital T. This was it's original position.

The Rape of the Sabine Women

The Rape of Polyxena

Menaleus and Patrocles

Perseus with the Head of Medusa

Awesomely creepy pedestal of the Perseus statue

Now that I'd already delayed myself by about 2.5 hours from where I was originally intending on going, I finally started to head in that direction. First I had to pass over the Arno river, which bisects Firenze, and which means I get to visit the Ponte Vecchio! Originally it housed butchers, tanners, etc - all the dirty smelly trades. But the Medicis kicked them all out and installed goldsmiths and jewelers because, well, they could. They also built their own walkway *above* the bridge so that they wouldn't have to walk amongst the commoners.

Looking down the Arno

Some other bridge over the Arno. The Ponte Vecchio is the only bridge in Firenze that survived the Second World War.

In the foreground, a bust of Cellini (who sculpted the Perseus statue mentioned above). Behind can be seen the raised corridor used by the Medicis to cross the bridge.

Around the Cellini bust were all of these locks - I did some research and apparently they are supposed to symbolize unbreakable bonds of love; lovers come here, attach the locks, and toss the keys into the river.

This sign on the bridge commemorates Gerhard Wolf, a Nazi who was instrumental in saving the bridge from the ravages of war. The sign also indicates that he helped in the release of political prisoners and Jews during the occupation of Firenze.

More views from the bridge. Notice the glassy areas near the top floors of the buildings on either side; they would have previously been loggias, now enclosed. Told ya they were popular here.

From the bridge I made my way to the Palazzo Pitti. I stopped on the way to find something to eat, so I got off the beaten track a little bit and found a nice little Napolitano pizza in a neighborhood nearby. I had a GIANT calzone and a beer while listening to Springsteen sing 'Born in the USA' over the radio (Italians are huge on American music. The only thing that sucks: remember when 'Hey There Delilah' was big in the states years ago, and it was overplayed like hell? Yeah, same gameplan here in Italy right now). After that, it was off to the Palazzo. It's a giant palace designed by a rival of the Medicis, who later sold it to them when he went bankrupt... from building the palace. Doh! Napolean took up residence here during his reign, then it was returned to the Hapsburg dynasty (whom the Medicis married into) after his fall and was opened to the public as an art gallery. The pictures are still hung as they were in courtly times; according to royal taste, not by artist, style, or time period.

In the center was a great big private piazza with an adjoining grotto. It's good to be the king.

Cameras were not allowed inside the gallery --- so I only have a couple pictures. Heh.

A famous Caravaggio, Sleeping Cupid

This Venus was commisioned by Napolean himself, to replace another that he had sent to France.

After the Palazzo Pitti, I made my way to the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. It houses some really great frescoes by some reknowned artists, among them Masaccio (who revolutionized early Renaissance painting with his use of perspective) and Filippino Lippi, one of my favorite Renaissance artists.

The tranquil inner cloister.

Just inside was a very nice Pieta`, without any indication as to who sculpted it or when.

The chapel itself was painted from the 1420s to the 1480s by 3 different artists: Masolino, Masaccio, and Lippi. It shows scenes from the life of St Peter.

Goin' to the chapel:

Adam and Eve tempted (Masolino)

Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise (Masaccio)

Peter raises the emperor's son (Lippi/Masaccio)

Peter's shadow heals the sick. This painting by Masaccio was controversial for its accurate (for the time period) portrayal of the sick.

Crucifiction of Peter (Lippi)

While all three are masters, I particularly am fond of Lippi's work. His attention to detail in the human form is unsurpassed, in my book, especially for the time period (15th Century). Here are some examples of Lippi's near photographic work:

The last image above is of St Peter's Crucifiction, which I edited to be right-side-up. You can feel the drama of the scene and even see his shoulders sagging from the gravity.

Compare this to the work of his contemporaries, also masters in their own right:

Masolino

Masaccio

I rest my case.

Random side note: while studying the artwork in this chapel, Michelangelo (the painter, not the ninja turtle) was punched in the face by a rival. Hah!

The rest of the church looked cool too, but it was closed off.

Daylight was already waning and I still had two places left on my list. On the way I stopped and took some pictures of sgrafitto, a style of building decoration where one layer of plaster is placed on top of another and then scraped away in artistic designs. It was all the rage in Renaissance Firenze:

Some more cool sites I passed on the long walk from the Brancacci chapel to my next destination, the church of San Miniato al Monte:

The Ponte Vecchio from afar

Sweet tower. It looked like somebody lived in there now. Me = jealous.

Something tells me this street hasn't changed much in about 500 years.

As I approached San Miniato al Monte (Saint Minias on the Mountain), the terrain started getting quite steep (as can be expected from the name). I had to climb a very steep set of stairs to reach the top of a high hill on the city outskirts.

Olive groves. Ah, Tuscany!

Looking back down over part of the hill I had to climb. I was still only about 2/3 of the way up at this point. I swore that if I didn't find the right church at the top of the hill I would invent a time machine and go back to throttle St Minias. Considering the number of times I'd already gotten lost today, I was unsure my efforts would be worth it.

Worth it.

Also, I did happen to pop out in exactly the right place at the top of the hill. Which is to say I was in fact lost, and going in the wrong direction, but I mixed up where I was going to on the map and surprise! I ended up in the right place. San Miniato al Monte:

The church was built in the 11th Century on the site of what is claimed to be the first Christian cemetary in Firenze. St Minias was a rich Armenian, martyred for his belief. It's said he was decapitated on the banks of the Arno by Romans, then picked up his own head and walked to the top of the hill to rest his bones. The church is beautiful and done in the typical Tuscan green/white marble style.

The mosaic shows Mary and St Minias presenting his earthly crown to Jesus. Turn around to where the trio are facing, and the you'll see the view that makes the hike worthwhile.

The interior of the church also had quite a few sights to be seen. The pictures may be a little blurry because by this time it was getting to be dusk, the light was fading, and the Catholic church must be hard up for utility bills because I still haven't been in a church yet that had the lights on.

This church is also noted for its curious use of Pagan symbols in a zodiac on the marble floor.

This stained glass window was done in stunning detail. These pictures don't really do it justice.

The church was exquisite, the surrounding hills and greenery beautiful, and to top it off there was a wonderful piazza dedicated to Michelangelo nearby which also overlooked the city from a spectacular vantage point:

Needless to say, this is one of my new favorite spots in Italy. And check it out: there are tons of graffiti all over Italy, but it's not gang related like at home. In fact most of the time it's either political or messages from young lovers like this:

Not to play up the rose-colored reputation of the country or anything, but for godssake even the graffiti is romantic.

It was already after 6pm by this time, and I was exhausted from walking all over the city, so I sat down in the piazza to plan my next move. Most of the museums were already closed, so it was looking like I'd be catching a train back to Bologna pretty soon. As I sat there, a couple of older gentleman approached me. They started asking me what I thought about the world today; the earthquakes and tsunamis that just happened, the wars, etc. They were both dressed pretty well (herringbone coat, leather elbow patches, etc), and they'd been debating about something as they approached me, so I thought (given that Italians are much more apt to voice their opinions and debate in public) maybe they were a couple of scholars genuinely interested in what the youth of today were thinking.

EHHHHHH! Jehovah's witnesses.

FAIL.

Only I could travel 6000 miles and end up in this scenario. So, I quickly said I had to catch a train (partially true, in my defense) and peaced out.

On my way back to the train station, it was just turning dark, so I decided to detour once again to Piazza Signoria for a look at the Palazzo Vecchio at night.

After this it was back to the train station. I tried retracing my steps, but I had arrived quite early, before all the street vendors had set up their kiosks, and now they were blocking all the street names and landmarks from my view. So, I promptly got lost again. And it started to sprinkle. A quick stop to gather my bearings and I was back at the train station, next to the church of Santa Maria Novella:

It was a pretty darn full day I had. I was tired, and definitely ready to go home. It was about 7:35pm, 12 hours after my first adventure with the bus; and my public transit adventures were not about to end. I went to the self-service ticket machine, selected 'fast ticket' (which puts you on the next available train to your destination), which listed the time for departure at 8:29. Great, I've got nearly an hour; I'll go find a pasticerria (sweets/pastry shop) and cap off my day with a cannoli! I found a nice place pretty close to the station, and they made a mighty fine cannoli indeed. Back to the train station, and check the departure sign.

Hmm, that's weird. My train isn't showing up on the list.

.....

................

Then I remember Italy is on the 24 hour clock. I look closer at the ticket; Sunday is 10/4, not 10/5 - which is listed on the ticket. DOH! I've just bought myself a ride back from Firenze at 8:29 tomorrow morning. Mama mia!

I run back to the self service machine, select fast ticket again, but this time choose a different *type* of train (the more expensive one). It leaves at 20:35. TODAY. Which is in about 10 minutes. So I buy it and run to the track it is departing from (which wasn't entirely necessary, but a little drama is good for the soul). Luckily the first ticket was relatively inexpensive, and can be chalked up to an idiot tax on my part. The rest of the ride home was uneventful, and I was definitely ready for bed by the time I got home around 10.

So that was my terribly exciting (first) trip to Firenze! I never did make it to Santa Croce to see where Michelangelo, Galileo, and Dante, among others, are buried. Plus there is so much else to see! At only an hour away, I will be planning another trip back there soon.