It was a very, very eventful weekend for how little I intended to do. And I thought staying in Florence would be restful! Well, I mean, it was. It was just a different kind of restful than I'm used to at home, I suppose.
Thursday kind of began the weekend, as both Rob and I were sick and couldn't make it to class. I slept most of the morning and then worked on my Italian, got my pictures all organized and online, and blogged from bed, which was very relaxing. After lunch I napped and then went to Piazza Santa Croce to get some sun and sketch, but then headed back after a few hours because we had signed up to go to a traditional Tuscan dinner put on by the Italian department at school. We went at seven to this delicious trattoria and had course after course of incredible Italian food...it was such a blessing, especially on a Thursday night, when we usually have to start scavenging for ourselves. The only bummer is that because we waited for some other people in our pensione to walk with us, we were almost late, which meant we got the last seats at the head of the very long table with all of the professors. It turned out alright, as the Italian professor who put the whole thing on was such a great guy, so we talked to him most of the night, but it was really awkward at first, especially because we hadn't had any of those professors before. Such is life.
After dinner we went to trivia night at Finnegan, the Irish pub near school. We mostly just wanted to try our hand at the questions and hadn't assembled an expert team, so we met some new people there who were entirely unhelpful but still played on our team, so it was pretty much just us. If you've never done pub trivia, let me tell you that it's super difficult! I thought I had enough random knowledge for a lifetime, but clearly not so much. I think it's aimed at a different generation, which probably makes it so difficult. In any case, it was the first time I've actually had a good time at a bar, probably because everyone was there for trivia and not to get really drunk. I'm looking forward to some day going to a bar where it isn't 90% Americans, just to see if we are really that obnoxious or if it's just bar culture in general. I'll let you know what I find out.
After pub trivia I headed home to get some sleep, as I was completely wiped out after an eventful night and a week of being sick. Rob walked me back to my room and I tiptoed in, thinking my roommate would be asleep, but I was treated to a really, really great surprise. She was in a heap on the floor between her bed and the bathroom in a pile of her own vomit. Really attractive. Apparently she drank way too much and passed out, still throwing up. I mean, it happens that sometimes you can misjudge how much you drink, but it was pretty ridiculous. Luckily I had a cold, so I couldn't smell it, and Rob helped me get her out of her top layer of clothes, pull back her hair, and get her in bed. The next half hour was spent trying to get everything cleaned up with a mop we borrowed from the front desk and sheer willpower. It was probably the worst way I have ever spent an evening, though I was glad I was there just so that someone could take care of her and she didn't die or anything. I really hope she's learned her lesson though, because I'd rather not ever do that EVER again. We all make mistakes though, and she's a really nice girl, so I have high hopes. Anyway, after that there was no way I could sleep in there, so we left her tucked in with the garbage can next to her and I crashed on Rob's floor.
The next morning, Rob and I slept in and when we woke up, had breakfast at a really cute cafe and then headed up to Boboli Gardens. It was a gorgeous day, so much so that after we wandered a while we found an area with a beautiful view and a lot of sun and sat for a few hours. Rob sketched and I read Harry Potter (in Italian! It's going really well, actually). Speaking of Rob sketching, it's amazing how great he is after hardly ever sketching in his life before. We've been looking for local art everywhere we go, and a lot of it he's been saying "I feel like I could do that if I put my mind to it," so finally he picked up a sketchbook and actually put his mind to it. I hope he does it our whole trip, because I think his sketches will be a really great memory to have of our trip.
Later that afternoon we headed down to one of our favorite restaurants from the first weekend of the trip, Santo Spirito. We had the fresh spaghetti we adored again and marvelled at how much had changed since we first got here. For starters, it was 2:30 and we were just sitting down to lunch -- amazing how schedules can change in only a month! We had wine with lunch, which when we first got here seemed incredibly gratuitous, but now just seems normal. We spoke only Italian with all the wait staff and were never once answered in English, which is actually a pretty recent development, now that we're feeling comfortable with our elementary Italian skills. We also actually ate the olive paste they gave us, which grossed us out last time we were there but was delicious on second try. It's so nice to see yourself growing and changing, getting more comfortable being somewhere new. I'm so glad I decided to come to Europe -- it's broadened my horizons in ways I hardly thought possible.
After lunch on Friday I did something totally fun and new for me being here -- I finally did some shopping! With Rob's encouragement I got myself some skinny jeans, a really cute, extra-long cardigan sweater, and a long sleeved cotton dress. I also finally picked out a leather jacket, and I totally love it. Everything was actually pretty inexpensive considering prices in the states (and yes, I factored in the exchange rate). I have lots of better things to do with my money than spend it all on shopping, but here and there it's a lot of fun, especially to pick up things I would have never worn in the states but now feel more comfortable with.
Friday night was spent watching movies and relaxing and going to bed early, since we had big plans for Saturday. That morning we got up fairly early, packed a bag for the day and headed down to the train station to make our way to Lucca. That, let me tell you, was quite the experience. First, we kind of got a slow start, so we made it to the train station with no tickets and only ten minutes to spare. After a mishap with the ticket machine (it wouldn't take our bills, so we had to start over with my credit card) and some confusion about validation (mainly, where the heck we get them validated) and which train to take (Lucca was an intermediate stop, and the end stops are the only ones listed on the departure board), we had pretty much given up and resigned ourselves to lose ten euro and start again with the next train. However, we walked over to one of the two trains leaving then that I felt was just maybe the right one and talked to a guy on the platform (in Italian, as he spoke no English) as the doors were closing and he let us know that it did, in fact, go to Lucca so without any validation and without being sure we were even on the right train, we just jumped on.
Thank goodness it was the right train and no one ever checked tickets, so an hour and a half later, we made it to Lucca! We walked on the old walls and took in the scenery, ran in to a really cool open air market where there were literally tons of Italians and no Americans (so hard to find! Almost everything in Italy is overrun by tourists), and just had a really relaxing, wonderful morning. We spoke only Italian to each other for about an hour and worked on learning the words that came up that we didn't know. About 1pm we got really hungry and went looking for food, but couldn't find anything. We finally stopped for food at a little cafe with no menu, but we just ordered some pasta and called it good. Unfortunately, it was not even a little good -- it was in fact the worst food I've ever had in Italy. It smelled, frankly, a lot like the vomit I cleaned up two days prior, but we had to choke some of it down to be polite and then paid quickly (ugh -- 14 euro) and left. After lunch we were feeling pretty awful, so we headed back to the train station, repeated the confusing ticket process, and headed back to Firenze.
After the horrid food experience that afternoon, we decided to stick to what we knew, and went back to our favorite restaurant - Il Gatto e La Volpe. The waiters there are so friendly, the food is always delicious, and they always give us a discount just because we're such regular customers. It's nice to have somewhere to feel comfortable and welcome in Florence -- it really is starting to feel like home in lots of ways. I still get pretty homesick sometimes and if I didn't know I was going to come back to the states in a few months I might feel a little more displaced, but for now I feel just comfortable enough.
Saturday night and Sunday were spent relaxing, walking around Florence, getting caught up on homework, watching movies, and trying to feel better. I wanted to stay up and watch the Super Bowl, but it didn't start here until midnight, and I didn't want to sabotage my health so soon after I was feeling better.
Today...ugh. Today was frustrating. School is not as lovely as it used to be. It has nothing to do with the classes and everything to do with the students. 95% of the students here are just here to travel and party, which is really fun for them but really frustrating for me. Our Italian classes inch by, and the atmosphere in my history class is downright hostile. It makes me wish I had chosen a bit more of an academically challenging institution to study at for college in general, just because I'm sick of being around people who think being stupid and not working is really cool. I miss intelligent conversation and people who care about knowledge for knowledge's sake. Oh well. I suppose I wouldn't want to work that hard while I'm studying abroad anyway, so I have time to see everything and relax. But it would be nice if we could all meet somewhere in the middle, not having too much work but still everyone doing enough work for the class to go at a decent pace and not make those of us who stay caught up waste our time while the professors fill in the idiot students who are still drunk from the night before.
I apologize for the short rant...it was a really frustrating morning. It's a very cold and rainy day, so I'm going to curl up in my sweats and read Harry Potter in Italian until music class this afternoon. Sorry again for the long post...I get so carried away sometimes, and I want to write it all down so I can go back and read if ever I forget what it was like to be in Florence, in case I never get the chance to live abroad again. So, until I feel like writing another novel post...ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment