Day 4 - Where Did The Day Go?!

Day 4 brings us into a morning Megan slept until noon (which is in reality only like 7 at home, sooo I blame jet lag). It also probably didn't help that I stayed up for a couple hours talking to another guy who lives in the building. Mikko is from Seattle and living in Florence attending school as a painter. He's a fairly pleasant fellow with interesting points of view and a very intelligent manner about him. He also gave me a lot of helpful tips of places to go eat, shop for fresh foods and which beers to drink. Thanks Mikko!!!

So, waking from my two hour-ish conversation, Mom and I took a while to get moving. We left the building and ran out to get a space heater and phone. Came back and hung out for a bit to become a little more technologically advanced. We webcamed with Dad and before hunger overcame us, we headed to the Duomo. The first "charming" restaurant we found we stopped in and ate like tourists. Mom had lasagna and I had spaghetti. We decided to take a nice long walk around the Duomo window shopping and people watching.

Get out your night vision goggles.

(Don't worry, brighter pictures to follow. You really can't grasp the complexity and enormity of this structure. When you see it walking down the street, it consumes your view so nothing can be seen but the Duomo. It's beautiful.) 

This is a picture taken from the outside of a cafeteria type establishment. In the corner of the restaurant, the gelato. Gelato shops are sprinkled throughout the city. But they don't just put the five gallon tubs in the windows like we do with ice cream. They shape it, drizzle it with chocolate, and add fruit (above you see a lemon stuck right in the lemon gelato). It's become a work of art and hard to pass up on. These Italians know exactly what they are doing!

Unfortunately, today yielded little results outside of the room. However, we established multiple connections with home and with that, I consider today successful.

I do hope all is well at home. Mom and I miss everyone, however still managing to take in this city the best we can. : ) 

Miss you all!

Day 3 - For The Sake of Pictures...

I was told (by Greg) that there were not enough pictures in the first blog. Someone wanted to see more of: the inside of restaurants, the street, the people, the... well... everything...

So for the sake of time, because I slept in until noon today, and due to a lack of words, because I drank some wine last night, I shall post some pictures below and update them later with the accompanying stories.

A.K.A.: A Two Part-er.

Outside My Bedroom Window

 

 Our Room Upstairs

Our Front Door

Where I Do NOT Live

Flea Market Outside Our Front Door

Street View

Mom at Lunch

Lunch.

Piazza della Signoria

Palazzo Vecchio

Michelangelo's 'David'  (This in not the real David. The actual sculpture has been moved inside for preservation purposes.)

Galleria delgi Uffizi 

Part 2:

So yesterday was a lovely day. We saw many historical areas on our hunt for schools. Trying to locate these schools is very difficult due to the terribly labeled street numbers and the fact that the city has no basic structure. Unlike the state, there is no grid-type pattern. It's easy to find your way and also easy to get turned around. Paradox.

Above are a few pictures of things we did yesterday. The few pictures of the room, where we finally figured out how to keep warm, are pleasant. Each day, it begins to feel easy to adjust to. Mom and I frequent the flea market outside our fourth story room. We were able to converse with a very nice lady and purchase some unique wine glasses which I promptly broke on our way up the cold, stone stairs to our room. Major bummer. Mom was not happy with me.

We began our journey in the Piazza della Repubblica, which is basically the center of town. We combed the area for English speaking schools before heading to Piazza della Signoria. This piazza is one of the most famous in all of Florence. Dating back hundreds and hundreds of years, this location was used as a giant assembly hall.

 Piazza della Signoria

Piazza della Signoria

After venturing around this piazza, we took a trip out and bumped into the Galleria degli Uffizi, a gallery housing some of Europe's most famous art from the Renaissance. 

Galleria degli Uffizi

Just beyond the gallery is the River Arno. It divides the city and attaching the two side are muliple bridges. The most popular: Ponte Vecchio. 

On the sides of the river are chains to prevent pedestrians from street traffic. However, the chains have been over run by locks. Locks of all kinds. Each one represents the hope of a lasting relationship. It's quite beautiful.

OH! And don't forget the gelato!!! 

We headed out to dinner at a charming restaurant (all of the restaurants are charming though, so it becomes a rather undefined characteristic).

Dinner: Mom had a pork chop. I had gnocchi.

It ended up being a great day of exploration. We learned a lot about the city and its sights. More to come tomorrow. I'd put more words down now, but this girl needs some sleep.

P.S. For all who were wondering, we bought an industrial corkscrew and Mom got that wine bottle open. It was quite the task. Opened another bottle tonight... : ) 

Day 1 and 2 - Arrival/99 Cent Store/Defeat of the Italian Cork

We have arrived. There is much to say in one post so I will do my best to get it all down (considering most if you won't be reading this for a few hours, I believe it's around 1 a.m. in The States).

I woke up at 8 a.m. this morning in my double bed. Mom has the full. The room is FREEZING. We have one radiator to keep this cement room warm (and warm is an understatement, consider yourselves lucky my fellow LexisNexis-ers). My landlord for the month of January, Silvia, was wearing a scarf around her head last night when I went down to ask for more blankets. I have yet to mention that we are on the fourth floor of a little cove-type building you could walk right past if you did not know where to find it. The street numbers are tiles on the side of the buildings. They started from 120-60 to 22 to 6. Normally this wouldn't seem odd except all the numbers between 60 and 22 are non-existent and the street is probably only about 3 blocks long. Do the math...

We unpacked our stuff last night. Our room is quaint, cold, but it feels like Italy. My computer is next to the window so I can look out to see the other buildings behind us. As the add mentioned we can see the "peaceful garden" which turned out the be a dirt patch. In all fairness, it is only January.

We learned that Silvia only wants us to turn the heat on when we are here and "we agreed" off when we're not (Sorry, Silvia, but I'll have my eye out for a space heater today to keep on when I'm home and off when I'm not : ) ).We found the washing machine in the kitchen, only to discover there was no dryer. We located the 3-foot tank that we use for the hot water above the sink the in bathroom. Which, as most of you guessed, is the type of bathroom where you shower over the toilet. No surprises there. Also, Mom solved the mystery of drying my soon to be wet clothes from the dryer: the clothes line outside my window. Good thing I brought my Calvin Klein-ies. He was Italian, right? Should be fine... 

Last night we walked from our room to the center of town, Piazza della Repubblica, which was a straight shot down Borgo delgi Albizi/Via del Corso/Via d. Spezialli. Lucky for us it was only a 10 minute walk and we found A LOT of helpful shops along the way. As Americans, of course we stopped in the 99 cent shop (I heard George Harrison's I've Got My Mind Set On You which made me feel right at home). We found a major department store, plenty of wine and coffee cafes. However, we had the most difficult time finding a place to get something to eat. But it was around 5:30 and I don't think Italians typically dine until around 8 or 9. However, by the time we made it to the center of town, we found a place to get some really good za and have some wine.

When we headed back to the room, I dropped a very tired Mom off and took a stroll to find some wine. Just around the corner from our room, were plenty of shops, most with very reasonably priced wine. I stopped into one, grabbed two bottles of Chianti and paid the man at the counter. It can be very difficult to determine how much money they want to items (seeing as we don't speak very good Italian), so I try to tally up the items before we get to the counter. The man, however, was very nice and as I was putting my change away, he looked me in the eye and said, "Grazie." I am most apparently foreign and he, as well as everyone else in this country, knew.

So, I returned home, with my purchase, and stumbled across one problem. An opener/corkscrew! Thankfully, Mom always comes prepared (One reason I love traveling with My Mom and Hillary, they always have corkscrews). Thus, I began the worst struggle of the trip so far. How the f- do you get these bottles open?! After MANY attepts with the opener, which was literally in pieces upon its failure and trying to jab the cork in with a key, I considered myself defeated, something I rarely ever do.

So, the bottles sit on my dresser, unopened with ravaged corks. It's also very obvious we barley made a dent. So, I'm beginning to think there is a trick to this and you can bet that tonight, those bottle WILL be open! 

Well, off to get ready for the day. I have to take a shower, which we just found out does have hot water, but apparently the sink does not. And then Mom and I shall hit the town in search of a job. She just walked back in the room with some hot water for coffee which I'm sure will be very helpful in warming my icicle fingers.

This place is very surreal. Mom and I are still having trouble placing ourselves. More pictures of the surrounding town to come. Missing everyone at home! Hope all is well on the home front!

A Message to The Newbies...

Welcome one, welcome all!

First and foremost, let me start off by explaining my purpose for this bloggin’. I have decided to indulge in the spices of life and take a trip. Yep, leaving town, getting’ the hell out of dodge. And if you think, for one moment that I am going to spend my time emailing every one of my family members one-by-one to inform them I am still alive, you are wrong! Dead wrong! So, I have become technologically advanced and decided to teach myself to blog. After all, everyone’s doing it and I always jumped off the bridge (grimaced face, shakes head).

What you are about the experience is a personal experiment to share my thoughts, ideas, and/or past and future adventures. The stories you will read on this blog could be anything from a third-grade tale of whimsy, to how much I am enjoying this bran muffin right now.

Bottom Line: I'm going to spend my parent’s hard-earned money on writing a blog since I never became a novelist or high school English teacher like they always dreamed I would. Sorry, Mom and Dad.

Lastly, I will ‘preface’ this by including that all things told on this blog are factual, unless otherwise noted. You are advised to read at your own risk, for my stories of past negligence may not make me look like an upstanding member of society.

Dear Family, my apologies. Love, Megan.

Things to Notice:

I’m not someone who is going to take credit for other people’s writing or witty remarks. Therefore, I intend on letting everyone know from the get-go that some of my comments and words just might be, how shall I say this, reminiscent of comments you have heard elsewhere in society or popular culture. Hey, I can’t help it! When an exciting new jubilee of words hits my ear drum, I share! And by the way, you all can thank me for combining them in a user-friendly, one-stop shop of fun, exciting combinations that just might make you look smarter to all your friends.

Things to Read:

I’m leaving this blog pretty open ended. It’s going to be basically a portal into synaptic flashes within this glorious mother board I call my brain. If I feel like sharing a story, guess what? I’m going to do it. If the ladies I work with put too much coffee in the maker and I get all jacked on caffeine at 8 a.m., guess what? I’m going to write about it. If you are pissing me off today, guess what? You’re going to hear about it. So, you know, just a little F.Y.I. on what’s the happs in my world.

Things:

Rule Number 1: Anything goes. If I know you, do NOT be surprised if you read something about yourself. Even though this is my writing, I will not be held accountable for any of the stupid shit you have done in your life. I just want to write about it.

Rule Number 2: News Flash! This is my blog. If you write something to try and steal my spotlight, you’re dead. If you don’t like something I wrote about, it’s a free country, write back. But don’t expect to see it there for long if you choose to be disrespectful. Haters can hit the road, I’m not interested. Unless you want to tell me how great/funny/talented/awesome I am, don’t bother writing anything at all.

Rule Number 3: You better not get all serious and stuff on me! A sense of humor is essential if you decide to read. Just because I compare two things, like elephant guns and Sarah Palin, don’t get all up in my blog. No one is forcing you to read this. And do you know what else? If you don’t like it, there’s a little red box with an “X” at the top right corner of your browser. If you click on it, I promise it will all go away. Poof! I’m magical.

Enjoy! Or don't, I don't care...

: )