"Chi vuole essere felice lo sia: del futuro no c’è certezza" - Lorenzo de' Medici

The world sees in Italy a sense of beauty; beauty of landscape, beauty of learning, beauty of human romance, beauty of art and architecture, beauty of history. All these ideas are expressed somewhere or other in every aspect of Firenze, from the winding streets to the trattorie (little restaurants), from the cobblestone streets to those hot Italian men I'd been looking forward to oogling at! ;) And part of Italy's beauty comes from the depth of the culture and of history, and from the mixture of the past within the present. This differs so much from growing up in California, which is absolutely beautiful as well, but in a much different way. Italy is a country layered densely, contradicting itself at every corner. When looking around the city, you see the history of hundreds of years still alive in the streets; modernity and antiquity melded together. The past is gone, but the pieces of time are everywhere yo look. This layering makes Italy so filling...though that could be the pasta and gelato too...

I thought I had found my favorite gelato flavor the other day, the best out there. I was convinced, really. Then it happened. I found the REAL best flavor. It came out of nowhere too. I strolled in thinking I knew exactly what was up and I would order my fichi gelato (fig) with another new flavor. Then I saw it. Jamaican Dream. And oh how heavenly it was! Chocolate and coffee. The two things that I love most in the world mixed together by the best gelato creator, Jon Paul. I thought okay I'll taste that and see what it's like and when I did I wasn't expecting to find my new favorite. (Though Jon Paul warned us he ate it everyday for a month straight). I'll definitely be following in his footsteps.

Vorrei una cuppa da fichi e Jamaican Dream per favore!

Fig and chocolate/coffee gelato for the walk home from school

The weather here is a little more extreme than back in San Diego, that's for sure. By the afternoon the combination of heat and humidity leaves me completely drained, but luckily Italians love their afternoons to close down everything and just relax. I've found that I have A LOT of spare time not having a job and only have 1 class for now. Walks around the neighborhood never fail to be wonderful and less and less exhausting. My legs aren't sore anymore, a relief! It's absolutely amazing to have the time to just breath in and to not have a schedule to keep or deadline to meet. It's a free feeling that I can definitely get used to. I'm going to be a professional traveler slash gelato eater. It's decided. As for the weather here, it's started to cool down a bit compared to the first week, even a little rain came through.

This column represents a tree that once stood there. A saint, after his death, was being transferred from San Lorenzo to the cathedral and his coffin brushed up against a dying tree. Soon after, the tree then came back to life, flowers miraculously blossoming. Believers began to take pieces of the tree as relics of the power of the Saint. The tree soon died for good because of this, but the column was put in its place in remembrance.

Every last Tuesday in the month, the museums are free to the public in the evenings. We went to The Uffizi to see Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. The Uffizi building was constructed in 1560 for governmental offices of the time, but today holds works of art collected and donated by the Medici family during their centuries of rule. Most of the works are on the top floor, protected from flooding from the nearby Arno. My favorite was "Sei Poeti Toascani" by Visari, a painting of Dante and Cavalcanti because I learned about them in one of my Italian literature classes. (We couldn't take pictures but here's what it looks like).

The amount of art in the Uffizi was impressive. All over Firenze, in fact, the history of the culture is inescapable. Another interesting thing that I'll have to get used to while living here is doing laundry…I thought I had it hard in San Diego scrounging around in the couch or digging in the black hole of a purse for quarters everyday and then once collecting enough of the treasured coins fighting for a turn in the communal washing machine, but man do I wish I could go back to that. We have a washer in our apartment here (one step up from San Diego) and a clothesline for drying. Even though this is completely normal, we had quite the time today trying it out. Our landlord had showed us what buttons of the hundreds to push and he even deciphered the hieroglyphic pictures next to them for us before we moved in. My roommates took a shot at it and threw in a load one morning, but ended up taking turns washing everything in the sinks after flooding the kitchen. We might have to look into an alternative to that...

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

Ponte Vecchio

In the past week we've had lots of paperwork to fill out. We all had to go to the Questura (the police) to get our permesso di soggiorno and a codice fiscale to live here and it wasn't as frightful as I was expecting. Just some paperwork to get out of the way. Another experience was the Mercato Centrale, my new favorite place to get fresh fruits and veggies, cheese, bread, and meats. All the important things! They also have a little caffè with delish coffee. There are a few big markets throughout the city like this. Very fun! The produce is so fresh here it makes my mouth water even before it hits the chef's pan, which in this case Janelle's, my roommate. She hasn't failed at whipping up something yummy with just a few ingredients the past few nights. Most recently she made pasta with a creamy pesto sauce. I'm all signed up for her cooking class which will take place in our kitchen nightly!

On Sunday morning we headed across the street to the Basilica of San Lorenzo. As one of the largest churches in Florence (consecrated in 393) and in the main market district, it is also the burial place of all the principle Medici family members. We attended the morning mass which was an intimate look into the customs of the church; there was maybe only a couple dozen people there.

While I'm very much looking forward to improving my Italian, I am, at the same time anxious about making mistakes and looking foolish, or worse being pinpointed as American. I haven't quite figured out the attitude Florentines have towards Americans. Right now I think we are clumped together with all the other throngs of tourists. Once I tell someone I'm living here, though, they brighten and are so excited for me and let me in on their little secrets. It's even better if I practice my Italian on them too.

"Almost always when speaking non-English-speaking Italians met in the course of a day's activities discover you Italian is not fluent, they (unlike Parisians) exhibit no contempt and happily hear you out as you mangle their beautiful language. But when they speak in return, they give no quarter; faster and faster they go. Is this the Italian equivalent of Americans speaking louder and slower to foreign-speaking people? What it probably means is that it is utterly incomprehensible to them that anyone cannot understand their language"~Barbara Grizzuti Harrison

The streets are crowded, the mosquitos are out, the architecture is breathtaking, the water is warm, the fridges are small; there are bikes, vespas, buses, and people everywhere; nothing is open, graffiti plasters the streets; the language, art, and people are amazing; and the food is ridiculous, not to mention the gelato at every corner- all of this creates a city that is full of life and possibilities. The thing about Italy is that is is never dull. In the reputation as in the landscape, in the past as in the present, in the idea of it as in the reality.

Legend has it that if you and your loved one attach a padlock anywhere on the bridge then throw the key into Il Fiume Arno, your love will last forever. (Though due to the damage it has caused, there are hefty fines for doing so) These days, lovers simply touch any remaining locks that have not been removed. The luck that has kept them there perhaps will rub off on the hopeful couple as well.