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Published: August 22nd 2011
Well hello again! It’s soon to be Buonanotte here, but hopefully this blog will catch you as you are getting off of work or enjoying your summer afternoon somewhere in the US…unless, of course, you are residing in another country and are reading our blog for fun…Woo!
First of all, I think I wrote this in the last entry, but my goal is update the blog weekly…however, upon further reflection, I decided that we will have more to blog about in these beginning days as we start this adventure, and I don’t want to forget fun details along the way…so, here I am, writing our second blog just a few days in…you lucky ducks, you!
I must admit how much we have been sleeping – it’s been a lot. I do not remember being “hit” this hard with jet lag and the time zone difference last time; it’s been challenging to maintain energy for a length of time. Today, however, has been by far the best day for me – I only took an hour and a half nap. I cannot, however, say the same thing for Philipe…he is going on his 4th hour in his nap as I type…what a goon…In our defense, the temperature has been 100 degrees the last two days with the great outlook of cooling off to 97 degrees later this week! It should start cooling off sometime in September is what we hear…
Aside from all of the sleeping, we have been busy trying to get ourselves organized and settled. I have the living room we are staying in all set up and organized – I even gave Phil a little tour when I was finished. I guess I just feel at ease when I know where everything is and where it should go…
On Saturday night, we went out to a Pizzeria with Tommaso and Monica – it took us a bit to find one that was open since nothing is open in Florence in August due to it being so ridiculously hot! I ordered my FAVORITE – a margherita pizza – the best! We, of course, had two carafes of the house wine (come to think of it, I don’t think we’ve had a meal yet without wine?) and a fabulous time with our friends.
Sunday we spent time getting ready for our jobs coming up quickly in the next couple of weeks. I will be meeting at least once this week with people I will be working with at the French School, which I am very excited about! For those of you who don’t know, I will be teaching English to 1st – 5th grade students at a private, international French school. No, I don’t know any French. Wish me luck! 😉 I’m incredibly excited for the challenges and growth this opportunity will present to me – bring it on!
Today, Monday, has been the BEST day yet! We made our way to the City Center – and I am finding it difficult to find the right words that will captivate our emotions. Walking through the streets brought back so many wonderful memories…and when we rounded the corner to face the Duomo for the first time, we were both speechless. I can’t think of many things that are capable of being compared with the Duomo’s beauty and elegance…I hope you can see it for yourself someday. But for now, I hope my awe of its majesty shines through here to help you understand…
We tried to go to a WIND Store to set up phones – chiuso, closed. Duh, I don’t know what we were thinking. 😊 We also went to the Questura (the police) to “check in”…but, that didn’t quite fall together as planned. Let me just say that I have little experience with police of any kind, so I was thoroughly intimidated from the start. At the first Questura, we were directed to another Questura…at the second Questura, the person we spoke with did not speak any English and was trying to help us, but it was quite the struggle. Finally, we were directed to another Questura – but we didn’t quite understand where or why. We politely said “grazie”, got the heck out of there, and have decided that we will contact our language schools here about what to do and go from there…dun dun dunnnn. Both of the people we tried to communicate with were incredibly kind – but the experience “woke me up” to how much work we have ahead of us. While I’m very much looking forward to speaking Italian, I’m also quite anxious about making mistakes and looking foolish…seems funny, doesn’t it?
When in the center, we went to some of our favorite places from 2006 – Piazza della Signoria (my fake David statue still awaits me); Piazza Republica (our ristorante is excited for us to return!); San Lorenzo and it’s Mercato (still intense, I’m not the best at bargaining!); and of course, our beloved Duomo. We also took a stroll down the street where we will be living in about two weeks – que bellisima! So excited for our Alberio Clan to get here so we can start sharing the experience together! 😊 Other interesting thoughts and comments about our walk: Yes, there are still pigeons everywhere…There seemed to be more people out cleaning the streets, woo hoo!...and we still have not had any gelato…Sheesh.
As the temperature began rising, the decision to head home was unanimous. We went via the route that took us past Phil’s old apartment – looks as awesome as ever from the outside! I will post some pictures for the old roomies to enjoy soon!
We got home and were pooped. Enjoyed some Little League Baseball (I asked Phil if we should move to Montana just so our sons can be in the Little League World Series…he said no.) and some aqua, pasta, e pane. Took our necessary naps afterwards (yes, Phil is STILL sleeping), and now here we are. Tommaso and Monica have come and gone…they must think we are crazy Americans, hanging out at home so much…Well, I must say, *they* seem to be the crazy ones, biking 30 kilometers in 100 degree weather! Sheesh!
Last thing…our FRIENDS Update: Please don’t mistake the word FRIENDS for anything other than the marvelous TV series it represents. Yes, we did bring all 10 of our seasons, and no, we are not ashamed of it! Our dearest family and friends will surely miss the constant quoting of FRIENDS all day long…we’re so lucky we have each other to share in this awesomeness. Basically, it is our “American habit” we kept to help us with the big adjustment. It has served us well; we’ve started the seasons over for the millionth time and have finished the first two episodes. A woo hoo! Don’t worry, I’ll blog about this every time, I’m sure…
It is time to bid Arrivederci! Mi dispiace for the length again, I know I ramble…
Comments from friends and family give us energy, strength, support, and love! Thank you for thinking of us, we love you all, be in touch soon! Our best, ciao ciao.
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Laura
non-member comment
hey!
what, no gelato?!?!?!? You're crazy!! Especially since it's so hot!!!! I'm looking forward to seeing pics!! Have you gone by our old apt yet?? I think the first time we were in Italy we were so busy that we didn't have time to not be adjusted to the time zone!! I love that you brought friends!!! But what about greys?!? :) love you!!