La mia vita a Firenze: October 2, 2011

October 2, 2011

This morning I woke up around 9:00, a bit sore from the bike ride. I got ready, had breakfast and then decided to go for a walk because it was such a beautiful day. The sun was shining and, although it was supposed to get pretty hot later in the day, it wasn’t too hot yet. I had read in The Florentine (a newspaper that comes out every couple of weeks, is in English and has a list of events in the upcoming weeks). I had picked one up on Friday and had seen that, this Saturday and Sunday, the Giardino dell’Oricoltura was having an autumn plants and flowers show/market in a park not too far from my house. I love fall (as you probably all now know) so I thought I would check it out. I walked down to the park and, on the way, almost every person or family I saw had some sort of plant in their hand. I arrived in the park to find it filled with tents, flowers and plants…and of course, a ton of people. It seemed as if the every person in the surrounding area had decided to come. While the parents shopped for plants, the kids played on the playground or played soccer in any open area they could find. It was SO beautiful and such a fun atmosphere. I wandered along the aisles, taking in all the beautiful flowers and the culture of the market. And guess what I found?! PUMPKINS! AND GOURDS! I was so excited because I had asked Daniella just a few nights ago where I might find a pumpkin and she said I could try the central market but she really didn’t know if I would be able to find one. The autumn show/market had three stands with pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn so I was very satisfied. I bought myself a pumpkin (they didn’t have any big ones, it’s medium sized), two mini pumpkins and a couple of gourds to put in my room. They definitely bring a smile to my face every time I see them and make our room even more festive! I stayed at the market for about an hour, at one point just sitting down on a bench and watch everything buzz around me. I was SO happy I had decided to go :)

After the market, I stopped home to drop off my pumpkin and my gourds. I put them on the shelf above my desk, packed myself a lunch and headed into the city to try to find another market I had heard about. I took the bus to Santa Maria Novella and then walked to the river, across the bridge and to the piazza. The market was pretty small but still had fun things to look at. It was kind of a little art fair merged with a little farmer’s market. Even though it was smaller, it was still busy. After looking around for a bit, I found a bench and ate my lunch. After that, I headed out with no specific destination in mind. I walked along the river for a very long time and, after a while, crossed a bridge. I decided I should at least start heading back toward home so I wandered in the general direction but without using a map. My whole walk was a lot of fun because I encountered some really great places that I may not have found otherwise. Also, for most of my walk, I was away from the major tourist areas so it was a lot quieter and more relaxing. I arrived back at Santa Maria Novella, a little over two hours after I had set out and caught the bus home. Unfortunately, now is the time for homework. I actually do not have AS much as I thought I did (meaning it won’t take TOO long) but it’s hard to find the motivation on such a beautiful day. However, my feet definitely need a break after all of that walking this morning so I’m sure it will not be too bad (I think I walked about five miles overall this morning). Wish me luck!

I ended up finishing my homework by 7:00, which was wonderful! It was a lot of reading and focusing, but it wasn’t too bad when I actually sat down and did it. For dinner this evening, we started with four-cheese rice, which was very yummy! For our second dish, we had some sort of potato dish with cheese and vegetables, along with tomato eggs. For dessert, we had delicious chocolate and yellow flour cake! It was a lovely dinner and my last one this weekend as an only child. Now that dinner is over and my homework is finished, I have some free time before bed! I’ll probably do some stretching and send some emails and then get to bed earlyish. I am supposed to have work-study tomorrow from 10:00-12:00 but a class is in our room at 11:00 so I am working from 9:00-11:00 instead. Then have I have Italian and Dante in the afternoon. Should be a lovely day (although it’s supposed to be REALLY hot again…in the nineties). Hopefully the fall weather will be on its way soon; I’m ready for it to feel like fall outside. It’s been nice to have such beautiful, warm weather but it’s fall now, let’s have beautiful cooler weather :) I hope you’re all enjoying your beautiful fall weather back home and the changing colors! Thankfully I have a pumpkin and some gourds, now, to remind me of those things!

All my love,

Kari