Last weekend, Aimee and I had the house to ourselves since the rest of our roommates had booked a trip. I have to say, an apartment meant for seven people is pretty empty when there only two of you there. On Saturday, we decided to be productive and find the free shuttle to IKEA (I know. So cultural.) so we could find a few things for the apartment. We ended up with some dish towels, tupperware, and throw pillows for 7 Euro. What up? We then decided we'd try to get to the large grocery store known as Coop so we could get some snacks because there are barely any available at the small local shops around us. We miss snacks. And candy. and television (but I'll get into that later). You know, the important things. Anyway, we got our bus tickets and went to the stop our school adviser told us to go to. However, when we were looking at the lines and stops on the sign, we realized ours was not listed on any of them. We proceeded to ask every bus driver we could as the buses stopped to see if they knew which bus went to Coop. And they all looked at us like we were...well, Americans. And maybe idiots. I don't want to jump the gun on that one, but I think it's pretty safe to assume.
So basically, we never ended up getting to the grocery store and wasted 2.4 Euro, so that was clearly an overall success. To quell the sadness, however, I purchased the best thing I have ever consumed to this day. A real Italian cannolo (THAT'S RIGHT. CANNOLI IS PLURAL. Fun fact.) from a bakery down the street from my apartment. I died. It was so delicious. I've tried them before in America, but I never really enjoyed the outer shell so I was weary I would waste my money. Oh my. I was so, so wrong. The shell was amazing. It was lined with chocolate along the inside, either end was decorated with small orange peel candies, and then when I got to the middle...there were surprise chocolate chips. Drooling, yet? Well, if you're not, I am. And I just told my roommate I now want a cannoli (I like the sound of that better anyway so screw Italian grammar in this case).
We then decided that on Sunday, we'd take a day trip to Siena. It's a 7 Euro bus ride from Florence to Siena and 7 Euro back, so we figured that wasn't bad for the chance to see a whole new city. I have to say, it was beautiful. There were narrow cobblestone streets, intricate light fixtures along the buildings, and extravagant churches and piazzas. Unfortunately, because it was Sunday, most of the shops were closed so there wasn't a whole lot to do.
BUT FORTUNATELY, the Museum of Torture was open! We hit that up the second we saw the sign to say the least. I was so pumped, which probably sounds really bizarre, but I just find murder and torture really interesting. Don't worry, I'm not about to go on a crazy homicidal spree. Though if I were going to, I'd have gotten some pretty good ideas from the museum. We saw shoulder dislocaters, testicle removers, stretch tables, iron maidens, gallows, and my personal favorite, the structure where a person had to stick their feet through and have them licked to the bone by goats. It was, overall, a very educational experience.
After our walk around the museum, we headed home and just relaxed the rest of the weekend. This week, I had classes, signed up to be on the team for the Lorenzo de' Medici magazine this semester, dropped a ton of money on books and lab fees, and watched Gilmore Girls on DVD in the evenings with Aimee because we miss American television. We don't get any American stations here, we can't use her Netflix account, and we can't access Hulu. It's pretty much bull shit, but hey. I guess I have better things to do here. :-p
OH. I never told you about Anna. Well, there's this old woman who lives below us in the apartment building. She's been coming up every few days, asking us to keep it down at night (in Italian. She brings the owner of the bed & breakfast in the building to translate)...especially Aimee & I because (lucky us) our room is right above hers. We pretty much don't even make noise to breathe at night, yet somehow she still finds a reason to come and lecture us on how we are supposedly keeping her up. I was like...okay. Those are LIES because we're always sure not to make any noise. However, I was told by friends who lived here previously that she is doing it to train us...and will start bringing us food to reward us. And they were correct! WOOHOO. Today, she brought us a large, homemade tiramisu. I'm so excited to have some authentic treats made by the hands of an adorable old Italian woman. The only downside would be if she poisoned it...but I'm going to be optimistic and say that didn't happen.
How precious is that butterfly?
Ciao, amici! Look for a new post next week chronicling my second bar/club experience of all time that will be going down this weekend and the week in general. :)
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