Thursday 7/24 - Probably the most important thing that will happen to me in Italy happened on this day. After Sarah, Kellin, Dan, and I ate a quick and delicious dinner at House of Sizzle (thank you Francesco), we were met by Sebastian, Clark, and Clark's lady friend at the Odeon Theater for the 8pm showing of Il Cavaliere Oscuro, aka The Dark Knight. This latest installment in the Batman series lived up to the hype. My favorite villain, the Joker, was played very well by the now departed Heath Ledger. While it was not as disturbing as everyone said it would be, it was still really good and he was quite creepy. Too bad he cannot reprise the role. Okay, watching the Batman movie probably wasn't the most important thing to happen to me in Italy. But it's a close second.
Friday 7/25 - Today I got my first Italian haircut. Sarah and I went to a barber shop on some street that I probably couldn't find again on my own. Sarah was going to act as my interpreter. My barber had a very impressive moustache which filled me with confidence that everything was going to be okay. His right hand rarely stopped the snipping and clipping with the scissors, the sound of which was quite pleasing. His hand was like a machine or electric clippers. He would separate a clump of hair with his comb and move his already clipping scissors towards my head. Quite impressive. Or not. He did a pretty good job. I wish he had taken more off the top, but oh well. He spent a considerable amount of time on my neckline, so I can only assume that the back of my head looks fantastic. Later, Dan introduced me to the incredibly delicious world of fried zucchini flowers.
Saturday 7/26 - Sarah and I went to the beach at Viareggio again. We knew that Lara was bringing her visiting family there also, but we didn't actually plan to go together. We were quite surprised to find out that they were not only on the same train as us, but also the same car about ten seats back. We sat at Narcisa again and ate at a restaurant out on the main road for the first time, rather than along the beach. We also swam for quite a while. The water was surprisingly calm after the violent currents on our previous trips. Sarah and I were in the water for an hour or so, then were joined by Lara and her sister Megan for another hour or so. Surprisingly, being in the direct sun for about three hours straight didn't leave us burnt like before. It was nice to meet Megan and to find out that she fit in well because, after the rest of their family left Italy Megan was going to stay for a few more weeks.
Sunday 7/27 - Sarah, Kellin, Sean, Sebastian, and I went to dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant called Tijuana.
Kellin says a little prayer for delicious enchiladas, strong margaritas, and the success of her paper airplane. That's right. After our tastey meal as we all sat around chatting, Sean decided to turn his placemat into a paper airplane. This began a long discussion about paper airplanes, after which every placemat was turned into a different style of paper airplane. Then, of course, came the challenge.
Sarah proudly displays her innovative design.
Monday 7/28 - Dan threw a dinner party in honor of his sister Mya, brother-in-law, and one-year-old niece Elizabeth being in Italy and his friends Katja and Michele coming down from Belluno. Sarah, Kellin, Sebastian, Analia, and I joined in the festivities. It was a nice evening with a little bit of a language barrier for some of us, but fun nonetheless.
Tuesday 7/29 - Not much happened today. It was about 92 degrees in our apartment well into the evening and we got a new fan. Most importantly though, was that Sarah and I didn't have to take the bus home from I Tatti because Alexa drove us home. Alexa is one of the British women that work at I Tatti and became one of our best friends in the world by saving us from the bus.
Wednesday 7/30 - Not much happened today either. Our older fan broke, bringing us back down to one. It was about 94 degrees in the apartment. I'm going to stop reporting on the temperature until it gets nicer.
Friday 8/1 - Sarah, Kellin, and I walked over to the Biblioteca Nazionale to meet our landlord Anna for a trip to the hills outside Florence.
Our ultimate goal was to go to the little church of San Michele in Carmignano. In it, among other less famous paintings adorning side chapels, was The Visitation by Pontormo. Sarah and Kellin have been keeping a book of Pontormo's paintings on the kitchen table since before I got here and lately it has been kept open to The Visitation.
The church was easily the smallest and least decorated one that I've been to in Italy. Sarah, Kellin, Anna, and I sat in that church for almost an hour, repeatedly putting change in the little machine to turn the lights on for the painting.
The painting depicts Mary visiting Elizabeth to tell her that she is also going to have a child. Sarah and Kellin thought that it was amazing. I thought it was nice.
We also had lunch at a small restaurant in a little village nearby. It was also a little shop and had probably five tables. Everyone stared at us when we came in. We were strangers and they probably eat there every day.
The trip back was pretty uncomfortable for Sarah and I in the back of the car. Car sickness was definitely setting in on the extremely curvy roads, especially with the heat and the air conditioning that was not reaching us. Later, we stopped at an electronics store and bought another fan. Our fans have been necessary. Our apartment is stifling.
Saturday 8/2 - Sarah and I walked around town, shopping at a number of shops after our lunch at Eby's. We went to a department store called Coin, an English language book store called the Paperback Exchange, and continued to walk around for quite a while. Later, Sarah and I watched Best in Show, then met the other Sarah (aka Vanessa Avery) and her cousin (who was visiting after her class in Grenoble, France) at Angie's Pub. Then Sarah and I went back home to finish getting ready for our trip to Rome before going to bed.
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