I know, it sounds really lame that I am in Italy and there is not much to tell but I promise that it's the honest truth. I have spent most of my this past week in the archives and the Biblioteca Nazionale doing research, and the weather has been so hot that all I have wanted to do at the end of every day is take a cold shower and go to bed. (I managed to give myself a cold by doing this and spent yesterday in bed trying to recover; I feel better today!) Besides my research I have managed to do a few fun things: on Saturday I went to a graduation party for Elisabetta's friend Maria Giulia, who just received her PhD. The best part was that it was a surprise party, and Elisabetta, her friend Giacomo, and I took Maria Giulia out to give her husband time to prep the party and have the other guests arrive. We went out for a drink (diet soda for me!) and then we went back to the house to, as Maria Giulia thought, pick up her husband. Elisabetta pretended to call him and ask if he wanted to come down or if we should come up, and then reported that we needed to go up. So up we went and it was great because Maria Giulia had no idea what was happening and she was genuinely surprised. She is a very sweet, graceful, and demure person and her face was just beaming when we reached the of of the stairs and everyone shouted "Surprise!" The party itself was really nice; there was great food and I met some wonderful people, so it was a Saturday evening well spent. Other than the party, the only non-research oriented thing I did this past week was go to the Accademia gallery and see Michaelangelo's David. They won't let you take pictures so here is a shot of me with a postcard I bought:


As you can see I tried, and failed, to match his serious, determined expression. The David is a magnificent sculpture so it is definitely worth the trip to the gallery to see it; it is also worth it to stand to the side and watch the faces of people as they come down the hallway and see it. There are looks of amazement, wonder, huge smiles, excitement, and the list could go on. It's a great place to people-watch!

So that's the update for now . . . I only have a few days left in Florence since I go to Siena on Wednesday, and there is a lot I need to try and finish before then. Wish me luck!

This past week I developed a habit that I thought I left behind when I started kindergarten: afternoon naps. The combination of staring at sixteenth century documents for hours at time with intense humidity and heat is surprisingly exhausting. I find myself coming home for lunch with the desire to collapse on my bed outweighing the desire to eat. Accordingly, I have been sleeping for an hour or so every afternoon before eating and heading back to the archives, and it feels great. No wonder the siesta was invented! In any case, following my new tradition I took a nap after returning home from church today and was surprised to be awoken from sleep by the sound of church bells. Still groggy, my first thought was that Elisabetta must be watching the television, but the bells didn't sound close enough for that, so then I thought it must be one of the neighbors. Then, as the bells sounded one last time and stopped I remembered something: I am in Florence, Italy, and they have real church bells here, LOTS of them! Duh! It is funny that Italy, and Tuscany in particular, is so familiar to me now that every once in awhile I forget where I am and I have to be reminded. And in those moments my life feels very surreal; who would have thought that the little girl with the blond pigtails who spent her summers climbing cherry trees in Orem, Utah, and her summers as a teenager life-guarding and teaching children to swim at the Fircrest Pool in Tacoma, Washington would one day be spending her summers in Italy? I feel extremely blessed and grateful for all the opportunities I've had over the past four or five years, and all the adventures I've had, good and bad together. Thank you church bells, for the reminder!

Last night I had dinner at the lovely Castel di Poggio near Fiesole, one of the few medieval castles left standing in Florence. How did I manage this? Well, my current housemate is a great girl named Elisabetta. She is a contract lawyer here in Florence and for the past year she has served as the president of her Rotary club. Last night was the end of the year dinner where Elisabetta officially passed her office to the incoming president, and she very kindly invited me to come. I was a little hesitant since I wouldn't know many people and really didn't have anything to wear, but in the end I decided to go. I did bring one dress with me after all, and even though I didn't think it was nice enough, Elisabetta assured me that it was just fine. She also lent me a pair of shoes and an evening bag (since I didn't bring either of those things with me- I wasn't planning on going to any fancy parties!) which made me feel a little more comfortable. I am so glad she talked me into it, because I had a wonderful time! I was able to meet many of her friends and practice my rusty Italian, the food was great (5 courses, including desert- I was stuffed!), and the setting was beautiful. It was a perfect way to spend an evening out! Unfortunately, as I often do, I forgot to bring my camera. (Sorry Mom!) However, don't despair! I did find a few pictures of the castle online (what did we do before Google?) so here they are:

Also, lucky for me a member of the club, Alessandro, took lots of pictures and posted them on Facebook, so here are a few of those too:

Today in Florence it was hot. And by hot I don't mean really warm and toasty, or even baking, I mean brutal, melting heat. Sure the high was only 97 degrees, but combine that with some humidity and being outside is almost unbearable. I can stand temperatures that high in a dry climate but the humidity kills me- I detest it! Maybe I am just a total wimp when it comes to heat (and I'll be the first to admit that I would rather be cold than hot) but when there is no air conditioning inside (or air conditioning that actually works well) and you go from a warm building out into the muggy heat it is hard to be anything less than miserable. So what do you when you are walking home in such heat? Get gelato! I stopped on my way home from the archives at a gelateria that a friend recommended to me and got a small cup of ciccolato fondente (dark chocolate) and crema (cream). Maybe it was just because it was so hot outside, or maybe it was because I was hungry, but I think this was the best gelato I have ever tasted. I have tried many different gelaterias in Italy and in other places, and I have had some great gelato. But this was just heavenly! The flavor of the dark chocolate was so rich and amazing . . . I don't even know how to describe it! It was the perfect treat to keep me cool on the way home. Here is the aftermath:


These high temperatures are set to continue all week, and I guarantee that it will take all my will power not to stop at this place every day. Wish me luck!

Today in Italy there was a Sciopero Generale, or a strike of all government and civil service employees. This meant that I could not go to the archives; they were closed because there were not enough people there to staff the reading room. It was a little frustrating since I just got here and got started, but it was also nice to have a guilt-free day off! I decided I would try and visit the Accademia where Michaelangelo's David is housed because I've only been there once and I promised my Mom last night that I would go visit him for her. Well, that plan was foiled by the sciopero- the gallery was closed. So I decided to content myself with visiting one of my favorite places in the city: the Baptistery of the Duomo. I know it sounds odd, but really there are a lot of things to love about this place. First there is the amazing ceiling, covered in mosaics of stories from the Bible. I took the time today to study each one (and had a massive crick in my neck afterward!) and was pleased with myself for being able to identify the story/scene portrayed in all of them. Another thing I love about the baptistery is the fact that many famous Florentines, including Dante, were baptized there. Then there are the famous doors by Ghiberti which depicts scenes from the Old Testament. Here are a few pictures:

Ben&Jerry's in Florence? Don't misunderstand me, I love Ben&Jerry's. But why here when there is so much delicious gelato around? There was also a new Disney store up the street . . . I love the Disney store too but it sort of distracts from the Renaissance atmosphere of the city to see things so jarringly North American. (Young American girls doing one of the cheers from "Bring It On" as they walk down the street in front of you also distracts from the atmosphere . . .) So, to regain the Renaissance, here's one last photo, this time of Ghiberti's doors (also referred to as the Gates of Paradise):


So that was my day! Tomorrow it is back to the archives, but they are only open until 1pm, so I will still have the afternoon to wander. Maybe I will try to visit David then!

Today was my first full day in Florence, which I expected to be bright, sunny, hot, and humid. Well, the heat and humidity pulled through but the sun itself was taking a bit of a break, shining from behind cloud cover most of the day, and disappearing entirely during the moisture-less thunderstorms that filled the afternoon. I took this picture of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, a place where I will be spending a lot of time these next few weeks, late in the afternoon, to show you that I am under the Tuscan sun, even if it is only peeking through the clouds. I am feeling good but still a little jet-lagged and groggy, so I worked on organizing myself this morning, took a rest in the afternoon, and then went out to wander around the city for awhile. I saw an interesting argument between (I am assuming here) two lovers, with the woman crying and throwing what I think was her husband?/boyfriend?'s "man purse" in a trash can and storming off to the car while he had to dig it out of the garbage and chase after her, shouting apologies. I also enjoyed walking through the Piazza della Signoria; I find that after all the research I have done on the Medici this past year I have a whole new perspective on them and their influence on Florence . . . but that's a tangent for another (boring to most people but me) post that I will probably never write!

One last note: my long trip yesterday helped me arrive at two conclusions. First, it is worth the money to fly into Florence and not have to take a train, another train, a bus and/or a taxi. It was such a relief for my weary mind to fly into Florence and take a taxi from the airport straight to my apartment, instead of having to navigate trains and buses. The second conclusion I came to was that I really want to see Amsterdam. I had a three hour layover there and the airport was really nice. There were huge planters made of the famous Dutch blue and white patterned china, and they were full of beautiful tulips. (The tulips were fake, but they still looked nice.) I am told that it only takes 15-20 minutes to get to the city center by train from the airport which is amazing; most airports are not that close to the city they service. Lucky for me, I have two flights through Amsterdam left to go, and on one of them I have a five and a half hour layover, so I think I can make my wish come true! If the train really is that fast it should be no problem for me to go into the city, wander around for a few hours (I really want to see Anne Frank's house!) and then head back to the airport with plenty of time. But that is two months away; right now I need to focus on Florence and, more specifically, what to eat for dinner! Off to the kitchen I go!

After a nearly seven month absence I am officially back in the blogosphere! Why? Well, I am headed back to Italy for July and August and thought it would be fun to start blogging about my experiences again. I leave Toronto on July 4th and arrive in Florence on July 5th, so you can expect to start seeing new posts after that. I'm not sure that there will be anything thrilling to tell since I will be spending the bulk of time in the state archives in Florence and then moving to Siena in August to work with the study abroad program again, but I'm sure I can scrounge up something to write about every now and then. Okay, back to packing my room! A presto!*

*In Italian, "a presto" means "see you later!"