Presents to myself

By the way, I'm writing these posts so late because the Italians were just partying directly above my room. Well, Italians and Americans. Very few Italians are left, and they are throwing parties for the Americans who are taking their place. Nice, but not right above my room. I went for a minute or two, then went back downstairs to work on the presentation I have to give tomorrow before getting out of town with Rosalind Resnick, my scholarship donor from Hopkins who has come to visit me! We're going to Rimini, a little beach town, and I'll write more about that once I see it. 

1) Shoes: An Italian man here owns a leather store and makes quality leather products. I bought myself a pair of shoes that he made for me. He measured my feet, let me pick the style and color, fit them on my feet, punched holes in so I could fasten them, and I walked out of the store with a new pair of custom-made shoes! Not bad, huh? Not too expensive either—just your shoe size plus 10, so 48 euros for me!

2) Earrings on the Ponte Vecchio: Yes, I wanted a pair of earrings, and yes I wanted to buy them in Florence. While I wouldn't ordinarily pay so much for earrings, I figured I can keep them forever (it's not like they will ever break, go out of style, or not fit my ears anymore) and I can tell the story of how I went shopping for them on the Ponte Vecchio. The price was 230 euros, but the lady gave me a discount because she was so impressed with my Italian, so 180. Then, she gave me the tax refund forms so I can get even more money back for them at the airport on the way home!

3) An official Uffizi guide: I waited twice in the line for the Uffizi, two hours each time, all to no avail. I hated that museum with a passion. Both times would have been impossible for me to make a reservation (the first was Easter weekend while I was studying in Paris, so no reservations) and the second was after graduating from Hopkins, and I took the train from Pisa to go to Florence just for a day with Justine. Didn't get there early enough. This time, Andrea Baldi, the program director, made a reservation for the students who wanted to go, and I was determined to spend 4 hours there to make up for my wasted time. I succeeded! And bought myself a lovely 18 euro book with pictures of all the art I wasn't allowed to take pictures of in this INCREDIBLE museum. 

4) Tickets to see Roberto Benigni recite the Divine Comedy. Fine...not a "present" in the sense that I can take it home with me, but I got pictures, and really enjoyed it. Plus, I can tell everyone how I saw an award-winning Italian actor recite Dante in front of the statue of Dante in Florence, the city where Dante was born and started writing this important text for Italian history/language/literature. 25 euros. 

5) A silk/cashmere scarf. Gorgeous, got a discount because I spoke Italian, and I just wanted it. 35 euros. 

But, I guess the punchline should be: A trip to Florence, priceless? Eh...clearly there were prices. But this was the first time I have really enjoyed Florence. We also went to Siena, where they have the most beautiful cathedral ever, and San Gimignano where they have the gelateria which has won Italy's contest for the best gelato TWICE! 

Roberto Benigni...I got better pictures on my camera.