First off, I should mention my scholarship donor from Johns Hopkins, Rosalind, came to visit me. Ros is an italophile (not sure if that's a word...) and has been ever since she was at Hopkins at wrote a thesis on Boccaccio. She spent her last year at Hopkins in Italy, traveling everywhere she could, and managed to get to some pretty obscure places apparently. For instance, she got here and asked if I had heard of the mosaics in Ravenna. I, of course, said yes, since we were just there. She said she was heading there after Rimini, and wanted to know if I wanted to tag along. Too bad I had just seen them.
Anyway, walking around Urbino, we ran into everyone I know here. Students, Luca/Davide from the caffè, Nicola and Michele, random other people. Ros is now convinced this place is the Italy she knew, and not the commercialized tourist trap it seems to be now. She enjoyed herself having conversations with random Italians everywhere about the university here in Urbino, and came to the conclusion that it is one of the worst in Italy, that none of the professors have published anything in the last decade at least, that the students don't attend classes, and that the quality is just pathetic. But, at least little Italian university towns are friendly, no matter how bad the school.
On Tuesday, I got my shoes, and they are wonderful. Here is a picture:
The guy fitted them right to my feet.
But the funny thing is, I just saw him again tonight! I went to a "musica antica" concert (there's a huge festival going on, and people from all over the world have come to see this ancient music being performed on reproductions of the old instruments) and there he was! Good thing I was wearing the shoes!
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