What? No grapes or scantily-clad Spanish women?

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Geo: 43.6577, 11.3626

It's a big day today - John and Nugget are arriving in Florence. After all these months of traveling on my own, I can't wait to see some friendly faces. Said goodbye to Dennis and ended up having breakfast with another bunkmate (Justin?). Originally from Hong Kong, he's now living in NY State and is attending Cornell.

He's got the kind of story that you see in movies - his dad owns a clothing company in Hong Kong. His parents sent him to the US to attend private school, and he is now taking a degree in textiles. Sounds like his parents have been grooming him from a very young age to take over the family business. Anyway, his girlfriend is studying in Florence for the semester, and he is here to visit her.

Used the internet and then went off to the market to buy a bottle of wine. Also bought a tacky hoodie with a big-ass lizard on the back of it (I prefer to say that it's a dragon - it sounds more imposing and menacing). It's getting too cold to go without a jacket and the price was right, so I didn't really care that it looks like crap.

Had a great porchetta sandwich - another recommendation from Mark and Joan. Pretty much swallowed it whole, as I was in a rush to go to the Uffizi gallery. They had a short video de-constructing the science behind Leonardo's "Adoration of the Magi". They talked of the perspective tricks he used and isolated certain portions of the painting. They also examined it with infrared light - this revealed extra detail unseen by the human eye. It was quite haunting when viewed in this manner. Overall, the Uffizi was very good, but overwhelming.

Back to the hostel. I could've gone to the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens (quite nice, from what I hear), but I decided to take it easy and take advantage of the hostel's free internet. I also went to the grocery store to buy some things for tomorrow's long train ride.

Off to meet John and Nugget at the Piazza del Duomo - grabbed a mandorla (almond) granita on the way. There were chunks of almond, but no bits of skin like the one in Siracusa. The skin added a whole new dimension of flavour and texture that this one was lacking. This one was creamier and less refreshing. Good, but not Sicily quality. I later found out that the incredible gelato/granite shop in Siracusa was owned by the mob. So maybe it wasn't almond skin after all ... granita would be a great way to get rid of ground-up human remains, I think!!! And perhaps their gelato and granite was so tasty because it was laced with heroin!!!

Off to the duomo ... but they were late! I had this horrible vision of John sleeping and Nugget desperately poking at his limp carcass in an attempt to jolt him from his slumber. Traveling with him last year gave me a whole new insight into his sleeping habits - trust me, my vision isn't too far from the truth. It turned out that they had traveled all the way from Nice, France this morning, and had literally just arrived, dropped off their bags at the hostel (coincidentally, they ended up at the same place as me), and immediately went to the duomo.

I greeted them with a big hug and they greeted me with a look of bewilderment. I don't think they expected that from me - but what can I say? It's the new me - very European! We walked a little bit and then grabbed dinner. Finally, I can have my Florentine steak! I've been saving it for tonight - it's a special occasion and it's time for me to splurge. The trip is almost over!!! The time is now!!!

The T-bone was juicy, tender, and at 16 Euros, very cheap, even by Calgary standards (though Calgary beef is still much tastier). It was accompanied by a salad and bread. A very good meal - it's nice to be a carnivore once again. It was a great dinner - it felt almost like we were sitting back in Calgary and relaxing over a meal. It was a perfect way to end my time in Italy.

We strolled after and went to listen to the amazing violin girl. She played a flawless interpretation of Pachelbel's "Canon in D" - my favourite classical composition. Perfect. We bought some of her CDs. This girl is amazing. I think I now have a new "thing" to add to my list for the perfect woman. Petite Spanish senorita, brunette, impossibly cute, shy, with a sexy/seductive/sultry voice, and can play "Canon in D" flawlessly on the violin (and hopefully "Ave Maria"😉. I'm not TOO picky, am I???

We also listened to the great folk singer - sadly, he wasn't as good as he was on previous nights. Gelato for the evening - I returned to the same place to get Crema di Giotto again. Also tried mango (good) and a third, forgotten flavour. My last gelato in Italy ... THIS was the perfect way to end my time in Italy. We ate the gelato and hung out a little bit outside of the Uffizi, and then went back to the hostel.

And who did I see when we arrived? Kristine from Rome!!! I guess she split from Chelsea (who went off to Greece). They'll meet again in a week or so. We chatted for a bit - this was difficult to do as her drunk friend kept shoving chocolate in my mouth. It didn't quite match my all-time fantasy of scantily-clad Spanish women fanning me and feeding me grapes, but it's the closest I've ever gotten to that, so I can't complain!

Afterward John and I figured out where we were going to meet in Paris. It ended up being another late night for me. I can already feel myself coming down with a bug.

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Photos

c
As you can see, John has had too much cheap wine.

d
As you can see, I've ALSO had too much cheap wine. And apparently, I've also had WAY more sun than those two have had.