Road, Hills, Sky

Beyond the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea, And the East and West, the Wanderthirst that will not let me be.' Yonder the blue horizon lies, And there by night and day, The old ships come to port again, The young ones sail away. I know not where the white road bends Nor what the blue hills are, But I can have the sun for a friend And for my guide a star. And there's no end of wandering, When once the voice is heard; The river calls, the road calls, And oh! the call of a bird. And if you should ask me, I could not tell you why; But you can blame it on The white road, the blue hills, and the sky. - Gerald Gould, Wanderthirst

(Me - Piazza Michelangelo, Pisa, Stephanie & Leah - Boboli Gardens)

Oltrarno Mornings

Right now it’s Sunday morning, 11:30 and I’m sitting in Cafe Marino, a way cute little place where the people who work are incredibly friendly and everything is amazing. I got my very first croissant at this place and right now I’m sipping some tea.  I would normally be having a cappuccino, but I may or may not have already had one already. Today (at least this morning) is a Lauren morning. I’ve been a little sick the last couple of days, just fighting a cold, no big deal, but haven’t felt much like staying out late. So today so far I got up at 8:30, walked to a cafe near me and had a cappuccino, cheese and bread, and a nice little quiet and journal time.

Before I left a friend told me to spend as little time in my house as possible. These words rang in my head as I scraped the last of my chocolate-y foam from my cup and decided to brave the drizzly rain and grey clouds and find some adventure.  

I headed over to the Santo Spirito Cathedral. I forgot, but they always have a flea market in the courtyard, plaza area in front of the church. It’s seriously the coolest thing ever – better than any swap meet with even more random stuff.  Cheese, paintings, furniture, jewelry, broken odds and beautiful ends.

A few finds:

 Flower Vans

 Ultimate I-Spy

 Un caffe

The rain picked up and I was getting chilly, but nowhere near ready to call it quits. I went back to the apartment to grab another coat, and my camera and headed over to the grocery store to get some apples and veggies. I went back to the flea market to take pictures and finally found myself here with a pot of tea and plenty of time. Una mattina perfetta.

To Review...

Not having internet really puts a damper on the whole keeping up with the world thing ... Sorry for neglecting all of the emails, posts, and pictures I mean to keep up with!

Anyways, I still don't have a way to post pictures since the only internet is at the school computers unless I drag my laptop with me, but here are some of the goings-on of my first week in Florence:

seeing the David. trying to cook. almost lighting the kitchen on fire (gas stoves that I light with a small cigarette lighter then stupidly place a paper bag next to is not a great idea...) eating our first meal. making dinner for friends. leah's purple toes. stephanie's wild hair. using only one appliance at a time. going to leah's teacher from high school's house and getting family time - dog and fireplace and dinner included! walking. walking. walking... at least 3 miles everyday. realizing that I only brought 10 shirts... four are tank tops. shopping. rain. sun. lots of layering. missing being warm. finding warmth in friends. starting class!

All in all, it has been a week full of new experiences, and still getting star-struck by the beauty, history and pure majesty of where I am.

More later, ciao for now!