Day 31-32
Trip Start
May 07, 2008
1
14
19
Trip End
Jun 23, 2008
Florence,
Tuscany,
Italy
Monday, June 9, 2008
Inside the Duomo Florence
. As we were taking the escalator upstairs we saw a cool pair of shoes that had a fleur-de-lis on it which will have to go back and look at. For lunch I took Jerry to the triperria near Dante's house to get the panino di lesso. Finally it was time to go meet the women of our apt at the Duomo. We climbed the bell tower of the Duomo it had some great views; I almost dropped my mom's camera off the top. We stayed up on top for about 30 minutes until the girls got there to continue shopping. We headed to the market to get Ciao bella shirts we needed the girls to tell us which size would fit them so we had an idea of what size to get. After looking around the market for an hour or so we headed to the shopping area of the city down Via Roma. Here in Italy they have men's underwear in stores that are like Victoria Secrets, so I went in just because to look at them first of all underwear should not cost 13 euro per pair and there should not be changing rooms either, the lady working asked with I wanted to try them on, I quickly said no. As I turned around, but right behind me were the dressing rooms and they were just little curtains that didn't even cover the whole door so I saw 3 ladies trying on stuff that was enough for me. I guess that's what I get for going in there in the first place. The day didn't get much better after that I really wanted to get a nice polo or something. The first store we went into the clothes looked like they were straight from San Francisco's rainbow district if you know what I mean. After that we walked buy stores that it didn't look like I had the right to enter, each shirt had its own 12X12 display case. After that we went to a little mall that had all the brands in one place, I found a bunch of stuff I like the only problem is I don't wipe my-self with $100 bills. The cheapest polo was 80 euro about $124 I walked over to the underwear section not much better underwear cost 28 euro per and the plain white tees cost 32 euro. Armani polo cost 100 euro and Versace cost 110 euro
Inside the Duomo Florence 2
. So before we got to depressed we went to look at the cologne, oh it got much better. Right after we walked into the aisles with Armani in it someone came up and offered to help, good lord my gaydar over heated and blew up when he came up to us. He showed us the most expensive type then he paused and said to expensive and laughed I wish I could have whooped the ever loving crap out of him, but he probably would have liked that. After that we headed to the Pointe Vecchio to look at gold great that's not expensive. The girls went into one of the store to look at leather bracelets with gold clasps and a gold band under the leather. We stood outside in the display case behind us was a watch that cost 16,800 euro or $26,040 if I every buy a watch that costs that much it better do a whole lot more than just tell time, it better be like Gadget's watch but work correctly. Then to make this day a whole lot better we stopped and got gelato, Allison was the last one to get her gelato and the girl asked if I was her boyfriend she said no and told her to tell me to come back and get some more gelato sometime, I think I'll pass. So that made my day better, but of course it could end like that on the way home it just started pouring rain and Jerry and I didn't bring umbrellas but it eventually stopped and we walked home and on the way picked up some stuff for dinner. For dinner we made rabbit pan stew, it was carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and tomatoes in oil and white wine then I added the rabbit and turned the heat down and added some flour
Inside the Duomo Florence 3
. It cooked for about 45 minutes, it was very very very good I loved the way it tasted and it went very well with the veggies, it was full of flavor. At the store we also picked up some limoncetto cream, it is like the limoncello I told you about earlier but with cream. I think will be one of the things I am bringing home in my suitcase. Jerry told me that he thinks that you can have up to $50 worth of gifts like that in your bag but you needed to have proof of purchase.Day 32 (Sun) Ti and Dru paid 60 euro to go on a bike ride around the countryside that was just a little too expensive for me even though they said it was well worth it. Jerry and I walked into the city to go to some museums we packed our lunch so we could eat on the steps of the Duomo, but Jerry forgot his lunch so I ate by my-self on the steps it was very nice just sitting there enjoying lunch. On my sandwich today I tried celery greens which I loved it has a little different flavor from the celery but I liked it. When Jerry got back from getting his lunch from a tourist pizzeria place because it was too far of a walk to get away from the tourist places, we headed to get him an Uffizi card. The Uffizi card cost 40 euros but it gets you into any museum and you don't have to stand in line. After he got his card (I already had one from class) we went to the Uffizi gallery and skipped in front of the 2 hour line. We had a little more time to explore this time because Dru wasn't there to get hungry 30 minutes into the museum
Inside the Duomo Florence 4
. Once again the museum didn't disappoint I love a lot of the works of art in there it is too bad that I'm not allowed to take pictures, I might purchase a poster of Primavera and a few postcards of other works that I like. There are also a couple of very nice books that would be interesting to read but I beat you could get them much cheaper in the states. After weaving throw the mess of gift shops on the way out of the Uffizi we headed to the Palazzo Bargello museum. At the entrance I almost forgot my bag at the security check point it is a good thing I know some basic Italian or it would have been much harder to get it back. The museum had just opened a new exhibit on Danti (not Dante the writer) a sculptor he had some very large beautiful works. The inside of the courtyard had some stupid modern art piece with recycled bottle it was very stupid to me. The walls on the inside were filled with coats of arms from 4 centuries very cool. Upstairs, in the back rooms, was filled with a ton of old artifacts ranging from armor and to ivory pieces to table settings (vases, plates, pitchers, and large serving bowls. They also had some ivory musical instruments and a whole display case full of ancient jewelry you should have seen the size of some of these rings. In the main room of the upstairs there are some pretty interesting works of art: Donatello's St. George, Bronze David, and Amore Assiti. Also in the same room you can find the competition panels for the east doors of the baptistery (which Lorenzo won and his doors were moved to the North side after he made the famous ones that are on the east side now, well the replicas of it)
Inside the Duomo Florence 5
. We had a pretty full day so we headed home and got back to the apt. around 5. For dinner we went to a local restaurant that is about two blocks from where we live it was a great experience because only one understood basic English, so it was fun trying to communicate in Italian. I think we surprised them with how much we actually knew. I order spaghetti carbonara di mare, so carbonara with seafood. It didn't say what seafood so I was excited to see what came on my plate; Jerry ordered penne with salsiccia di cinghiale. When my food came it looked and smelled and looked great it had lagostinos, octopus, squid, and mussels. It was very good octopus was better than expected and all around a great dinner. It was the type of place that everyone that comes in knows everyone so I could tell that we gave everyone something to talk about. Ti and Dru went off on their own to do something, it was like Ti was trying to get Jerry and I to exclude him so he do something by him-self, with out coming out and saying I'm going out by my-self it was very weird. Got back to the apt and I helped Jerry study got his Italian which also helps me brush up on it as well. Before bed we tried to get the TV to work so we could watch the European cup matches. Italy plays on Monday and we are going to a pub to watch them tomorrow. 
