Day 119

--Goodbyes are on my list of least favorite things. Especially morning goodbyes, such as this morning at 4:45 am. I took a cab with a stranger, and headed out to my full day of "f" sounds, once again. It's funny how some little things can come full circle, just like the day I was leaving home to come to Florence.

So, today, I left at fffour fforty fiive from Fffirenze. I took a cab with a stranger who was staying in my hostel, who was fffrench and reminded me of Joanne from Rent somehow. When I was checking in at the airport, I was told I was not allowed to have two carry-ons. Effff, efff, effff bomb. And this is with all my valuables as carry-ons and with my other two bags being at just about ffifty pounds already, meaning I couldn't put too much else into them or I'd be charged. And my valuables were tricky to ffit into my bag because my fffricken, fat fresco. So, after rearranging to put my sketchbook, journal, money, pens, passport, laptop, fresco wrapped in cardboard, camera, undeveloped fiilm, and all the lenses into one bag, I was back on track (with a shoulder that would be screaming at me during the whole day of travel).

Back to my full circle thing, I am again flying from Ffflorence to Ffrankfurt to Phhiladelphia to Phoenix. During this long day of travel, I managed to ffinish and completely ffill up my sketchbook that I had started and only used during my time abroad. Below are the day's worth of art.

at least you're not John the Baptist

but screaming babies are pretty bad

parasols

dazy laise

escaping the cracks that

chase us

Time's winning

why can't I just have it all?

last page of my sketchbook from Florence

Well, this is essentially my last post on the blog (besides the one where I will post where you can view my black and white photographs when they are developed). But this, this is the conclusion, the final round, the last page in the last chapter right before the epilogue, the closing line before the signature, and I always hate figuring out how to end things, since I am not good with closings or goodbyes in my nostalgic nature. I write this safe and sound from home, sitting at the counter of my kitchen, drinking a cup of free filtered water, deciding what to leave you all with. And it will be a quote --as I am a lover of them-- from the narrator of  (500) Days of Summer:

Most days of the year are unremarkable. They begin, and they end, with no lasting memories made in between. Most days have no impact on the course of a life.

Most days have no impact on the course of a life, but many of these 119 days in and of Florence --and the many other cities traveled too-- have had such an impact on my life of inspiration, beauty, culture, art, relationships, learning, adventure, exploration, and growth.

I hope you have many days in your life that are impactful and memorable. Jot these days down.

Ciao e buona fortuna a tutti.

Lisa

Day 118

--Final day in Florence –quite the scary concept. Nikki and I made our last trip to the Uffizi. In this trip, I finally got around to drawing my favorite (or at least one of my favorite paintings) in the Uffizi. The painting is called La Fortuna and I believe the artist is unknown, as the credit is given to artista vicino a Jacopo Ligozzi ("artist near to Jacopo Ligozzi). This painting has a curiosity to it, stood out from all the others in context and seems to be far ahead of its time (when everyone else was painting religious figures or mythology), and reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. In making our rounds through the Uffizi, we stood in the room amongst Boticelli's paintings, being inspired and overwhelmed by their beauty. After staring at a few of his works, especially The Birth of Venus and Primavera, taking them in as much as we could, we left. 

the painting La Fortuna 

by artista vicino Jacopo Ligozzi

photograph by Nikki

my sketch of La Fortuna

The majority of the afternoon consisted of wandering, a little shopping, and primarily packing my many bags in within weight limits. For cena (dinner), we went to the same restaurant as the night before. Yep, folks, it is that good! We split homemade spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and basil and the pappa al pomodoro (again). My goodness, that food is divine. During dinner, we had an adorable, young, French couple sitting next to us. I am going to miss constantly hearing the beautiful languages that I cannot understand.

 fresh made chitarra spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and basil

yum!

photograph by Nikki

pappa al pomodoro

photograph by Nikki

 Piazza Santo Spirito at night

photograph by Nikki

And, even though we were quite full, there is always room for gelato on the last night! 

no such thing as too much gelato!

 photograph by Nikki

Nikki con i gelati

last view of the Arno at night

sketchbook page; tribute to Amelie

thank you, serious stranger, for leaving your photos in that booth

Nikki and I went on a long walk back from dinner. We had a recommendation from our friend, Meredith, to go see this graffiti tunnel. Now, Nikki and my own expectations were quite different from the treasure that we found and saw. The graffiti tunnel is actually a very large pedestrian tunnel that goes underground (and beneath lots of train tracks, I believe). The entirety of the walls --and even some of the ceiling-- is covered in graffiti of varying artists with varying styles. Nikki and I went crazy with taking photos and admiring (sorry, I'm still waiting to develop my film).

Down in the tunnel, there was some great folk music being played, that made it very hard for me to not dance around as I looked at the art. There was a maintenance man down there who was playing this music on his cd player. He looked a bit desheveled, but the man must be working hard and I loved his music. As Nikki and I were taking photographs near him, he asked us, "Stati Uniti?", asking us if we were from the United States. This was probably pretty evident seeing as we were not regulars to this tunnel (e.g. taking photographs, staring at the art, and walking slowly through). We started talking to him (in broken Italian, of course), and he told us that there are about seven exits to the tunnel. He also told us that he knows some of the artists, and the art in the tunnel is constantly changing. I asked him if he is an artist, and he told me not the graffiti, but his is a musician. After meeting his friend, "Gepetto", our little friend paused the folk music on the cd player, and busted out his harmonica. What? Fantastic. He was extremely good, using his hands to amplify sound, mute sound, and add vabrato to certain parts of the song. He began by playing a song that I had never heard, and it eventually turned into the song "Oh Susanna." And you know what? It was the damned best version of that song I had ever hear, and it was played with such enthusiasm. I love those random, unexpected interactions with strangers that have good turnouts. 

ciao Lennon!

 photograph by Nikki

one of the entrances; "mind your head"

photograph by Nikki

photograph by Nikki

photograph by Nikki

photograph by Nikki

photograph by Nikki

looking through another entrance

photograph by Nikki

photograph by Nikki

are you really?

photograph by Nikki

Nikki's contribution

photograph by Nikki

photograph by Nikki

on a pencil in the tunnel

my contribution to the graffiti 

photograph by Nikki

We made the rest of our way through the tunnel, and then headed back to our hostel. We sat in Piazza Independenza for a while, enjoying the night. What a great last evening in Florence. I don't think I could have asked for more!

Day 106

--Let me tell you about one of the extra curriculars I was involved in this semester. It is called English for pasta. English for pasta is where you go to an Italian family’s house once a week and for the first hour or so, you talk to their kids and try to help them with English. Then, you eat a home cooked dinner with the family and try to (TRYYYY to) speak in Italian. I am with another student, Jeff, and we have a really sweet family. There is a 6 year old girl named Gaia (who loves the game “cookie mama”) and an 8 year old boy named Alessandro (who is going to be a champ skier one day).

In the beginning, there were lots of drawing and color between Gaia and I, but we moved on to other things. Some other activites that we did were teaching Gaia and Ale how to make Biscotti Americani (American cookies –chocolate chip, of course), the mom, Lisa, taught us how to make pizza from scratch, and we played some family wii games.

Today was the last time that I met with my English for Pasta family. For our last dinner, they graciously took us out for pizza. At this dinner, we joined up with two other students, Meredith and Krista, and their English for Pasta families. It was a lot of fun, a little loud, and delicious food. It was neat to meet other families as well.

Near the end of dinner, Gaia and Alessandro came up to me and gave me a little gift that was a Merano glass key chain. And in turn I gave them the thank you card that I drew and painted, and wrote in (broken) Italian. Ale (the 8 year old boy) read it to Gaia (the 6 year old girl), which was really cute. They showed it to Lisa (mom/wife) and to Riccardo (dad/husband), who seemed to really appreciate it as well. After dinner, my family drove me back to my pensione. We all gave hugs and baci (kisses), and I thanked them again for all 

ps photographs will be added laterthey did for Jeff and I. What a neat experience it has been.

Day 117

--Day 117 of 119 days. Do you realize that this means I only have two more nights in Firenze? The thing is, I realize it, I keep reminding myself of it, try to remember every detail I can, but it still hasn’t hit me. I’m not expecting that punch to the cheek until I am home for a little while. But, in the mean time, I am going to take my sister, Michelle’s lovely advice that she gave to my other sister:

“You don't think about the future. You live in the present like every day is your last. You take a million pictures and write down all the little things that made you fall in love with your experience. You are living the beautiful life...so give it everything you got.”

I have been keeping this in mind for the past few weeks (especially after I received the quote). After fetching our bags and making the trek from the kind family’s apartment –the family who held our bags while we were in Greece –to our hostel (and praying my arms were a wee bit stronger), Nikki and I were in need of a shower. We soon ventured back into the sun.

On the way to lunch, we found a black and white photobooth that we had been meaning to stop in, especially after watching the film Amelie. Here are the photos, my oh my.. =)

me in the photobooth

photograph by Nikki

Nikki e io

photograph by booth 

We also stumbled upon a market of vendors, who were selling Sicilian arancini di riso (aka my Grandma’s delicious rice balls!) So good, but Grandma, yours were definitely better! And for lunch, we had our last Gusta Pizza. Sidenote: as you can see, Nikki and I are making our rounds to our favorite places to see, eat, visit, etc.

Sicilian rice balls! Nom!

photograph by Nikki

We visited the Pitti Palace to go into the Galleria D’arte Moderna, which I had not visited yet. It was great to get to see yet another gallery in the immenseness of the palace, and to see more modern art as well! As usual, I took down some notes of names of artists and pieces I liked for various reasons. Nikki and I (I apologize for saying that so many times by now! Haha but we are havin’ a grand old time) went to Volume caffé, another one of my favorites. We had cappuccini and hung around drawing, writing, and making nonsense for a while. 

notes and things from the gallery of modern art

the moon & the sun

For dinner, we went to the delicious osteria (restaurant) that Meredith introduced us to last week. Again, another delicious sharing of dishes, and complimentary champagne tonight! What lucky gals! We sat on the wall near the Arno eating some gelato from another one of our favorite gelato places, and eventually wandered back. 

Day 116

--Departure from Kefalonia. After being the “prisoner in a lawn chair” passenger on the way to the airport, and the stressful Ryanair baggage endeavors, we were aboard the plane and our on way to Pisa. And then a bus from Pisa to Florence.

weighing down

re we moving forward or backward?

sketches from the flight

Once Nikki and I were settled back into Florence, we went out for a dinner that was recommended by Linsday, and it was extremely delicious. We had pappa al pomodoro and ravioli with formaggi (cheese, but I forgot what type) and pears. So so much good food!

We stopped at Perche No, my favorite gelato place, and sat in Piazza Signoria. In the piazza, there was the usual guitar man going at his regular performance (which I have heard oh-so many times) . However, there were a few elements that made this overplayed set new and refreshed. There was an Italian couple dancing a slow, smooth tango to the acoustic (and almost Spanish-esque) guitar playing. It was so wonderful to watch them dance. And it was also great to watch the people in the piazza, like the infinitely cool woman who was pale, slender with too many gold bracelets and the little Italian girl who kept pulling a man’s hair. 

On our walk back, we suddenly became intrigued with a large crowd of people watching the Italian Charlie Chaplin hobbled around the square. He was quite hilarious, no matter how appropriate, or inappropriate, he acted. Oh, Florence in the evening, you shall be missed quite dearly.

Day 47

--Greg left at 4:15 in the morning, which led to a frantic searching for a taxi and a sad, rushed goodbye. That is the gist of Greg’s visit to Florence and Rome, and I will leave my caught-up blog posts at that =) 

Day 46

--Today is Greg’s last full day in Florence, which came all too fast. The two of us went up to Fiesole, which is a town on a hill that has a gorgeous view of Florence and also of the Tuscan country side (I may or may not have blogged about Fiesole several times by now.. sorry, sorry, sorry!) In our adventures of walking around the exterior roads of Fiesole to get a 360 degree view, we made a friend from California, Ashley. 

on Fiesole 

photograph by Greg

cat & Ashley

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

During this Fiesole trip, we decided to explore within the monastery. It was really neat and slightly eerie to see into the old, unused rooms of the nuns. Some doors of these tiny rooms were open, and others were closed, but you could still peek in through the keyhole. As always, it was grand sitting up on that wall, feet hanging over the edge, as I look at the city I have come to study in, live in, and love.

one of the nun rooms

photograph by Greg

boots

photograph by Greg

The rest of the day consisted of last minute shopping, food and food, and lots of packing and rearranging. And, of course, I couldn’t let him leave without going on a long walk along my river. It is a tiny, beautiful river that you can walk along beneath the level of the sidewalk. Gosh, I love that river.

il fiume

photograph by Greg

me

photograph by Greg

Greg

leaves

photograph by Greg

 Gregory