just another day

today was just a normal day-well i guess as normal as you can get for being in a historical and amazing culture.

i went to class this morning-the holocaust-and it was pretty good...we didnt talk about many new things, but i still had a good time learning a new perspective on things. after class i met up with a few girls in our ncsu group-jenny and marissa...we headed off to do a little shopping. there are so many markets around here, but the main market in town (with all the clothes and leather) is a tourist market, and unless you have awesome host parents who tell you that, they will take you for a ride in that market. unfortunately we have to walk through it everyday to get to class, and since it is so huge, its very easy to find things you want to buy, but so hard to resist. we met up with ashley and laura, a few others from our program, after doing a little shopping on our own.

we went to zaras and h&m, but were not too impressed with their selection. honestly, italian jeans are HORRIBLE and most of the things people wear over here you wouldnt catch me dead in. none of the women wear bras either, which is sort of weird. after much shopping and not a lot of finding, i finally settled on buying my one major purchase/italian splurge of the semester.

so through our school, we get 50% off leather jackets and purses at this shop in town. after a lot of though, i gave in and bought a brown "bomber?" jacket...it is sooooo cute. the same jacket in the usa would run for about $700, but i got it for 130 euros from a cute old man who owned the shop. then i took it to another leather shop to make sure i got a good deal :)

after shopping, our entire ncsu clan met up to go to the academia to see david-supposedly through the month of september, the museum is hosting a risque exhibit that most italians are speaking out against-they think it is too much exposure to have in the museum. so of course, we all went to check it out tonight. it wasnt too bad, a few naked body pictures, but nothing drastic and something that a girl hasnt seen before. it was pretty cool art-all in black and white. we later found out through the night that the photographer of the images was best friends with patti smith-an older rock singer-who happened to be having a concert in the square tonight. we are pretty sure the exhibit and her concert were planned together.

after the museum, we all grabbed a pretty late dinner. i guess it was late to us, but right on time for the italians...they dont eat until 9:30-10 pm. the place we ate gave us a private room that happened to be where they stored their wine. mom, when you get here, we are going. after eating a delicious pizza, the owner of the restaurant, who happened to be a 30 or so year old guy and his old father who bought the place in 1977, gave us a tour of their wine cellar. it happened to be the oldest building in florence and home to the last remains of the florence colliseum about 2,000 years ago. it was so beautiful!

so here i am, finally home and getting ready for bed. we have a super long day tomorrow with milva and luca-going to san gimigano. i just went on a clean streak and moped the kitchen floors and washed the dishes. now that i am feeling accomplished, i guess i will head to bed for tonight!

love love love