San Gimignano and Sienna
This is the third attempt to post this...Blogspot was wacko earlier today!!
Yesterday we went to San Gimignano and Sienna. Although I can’t spell it without looking it up, I do love San Gimignano. It is small enough that a five time visitor can know their way around. I know the cute little ceramic shops and which one has the best art deco calendars and where to get the olive wood cutting boards and where the wild boar sausage shop is. I did visit a church that was new to me. San Augustino. It is tucked away at the back of the town and is a quiet calm little place. Robbie took me and a couple of other students there and we sat on the steps and ate our sack lunches. One of the students (who shall not be named) finished eating quickly and put on her headphones to listen to a CD of opera arias. Music was leaking out of the headphones which means it is too loud for the ears parked next to the headphone (I have already had this talk with the group and told them if I could hear their music then it was too loud and current research says it is damaging their ears) so she turned it down some. No one else could hear the music but about every 20 seconds the person listening to the music would sing a note…only one note and never the words. So picture the American touristas sitting on the steps of the lovely quiet piazza in front of the church and one of the touristas is singing a note every 20 seconds. It sounded so random and yet made perfect sense to her. I should also tell you that the same person wandered away from the group in Sienna and got lost. We ended up waiting on her for 15 minutes.
The floor of the Duomo in Sienna is covered in marble dust paintings and decorations. Each year during the month of September they take the coverings off the floor and let you look at it. It is amazing. Intricate decorations and pictures. They also have a room that was supposed to be the library that has frescos that have not been exposed to much air and light. They are still very bight, vivid colors. I had never seen anything like them and we did not see either of these things during Summer 2000 semester. I am going to attempt to put a couple of photos here if the blogspot demons will allow it.
So, the demons only allowed one...maybe next time.
We were supposed to go to the Vasari Corridor today but they have changed that to next Monday. I think that Robbie has also canceled the trip to Gallo’s tomorrow night and if that is true then I am going tonight!!! I have been in Scandicci for three full weeks and I have not had a single pizza from Gallo’s. I must remedy that and do it soon.
Next day.
The internet really does defy description. If the students are on any of the downstairs computers then it may take five minutes to make it to one website. We are all so spoiled with digital that the dial-up seems so slow.
Most of the students are in town this morning on an extra credit assignment. We visit the Pitti Palace and Brancacci Chapel this afternoon so Robbie let them sleep a little later and sent them off on an assignment and with lunch money. About five chose to try and sleep until noon but Sandro, the man of a million talents, had a drill going in the villa a few minutes ago and I am sure that woke them up.
Yesterday afternoon Tracy and I decided to try and go into Florence to see a movie in English. We rushed around because Mona said we needed to hurry to make it in time (she claimed that she was going to stay here and order the food for Oct but I think that she played on the computer instead!) Making the very long story much shorter…wrong day (Tracy looked at the calendar wrong), wrong time (we were an hour early if the movie had been on that day but it is next week) and on the way I accidentally threw my cell phone card with all the information (PIN and PKU numbers on it) out the car window (luckily we could turn around and found it). Fun part is that we found a really cute café/coffee bar and sat for about 45 minutes watching the foot traffic and sipping Coca Cola Lights.
Words to Live By
First of all a pretty rose from the gardens outside of the villa.
One of the interesting aspects of living in a big house with 43 college students is that I get to hear every possible excuse for not getting to your class on time when you have to walk less than 150 feet to get there and not going up to their rooms when curfew arrives. The one excuse that I have great difficulty understanding is why one must leave their room after midnight (our deadline to be in your rooms and be quiet) so that said student can pick up my laundry (that a dear sweet Paola washed for them and folded) because said student has not had the opportunity during the six hours that the clean laundry has been sitting stacked 60 feet from where said student has been eating, playing cards, studying, planning free travel, working on a computer, and having a leisurely tea time. In that entire six hours, these young adults have not had 4 free minutes to walk into another room in the same house and pick up their clean panties. So, as of this very evening, a new motto has risen from the depths of my profound wisdom: “Think about your panties before midnight.” If you thing about it, those five words can serve as advice for many situations. It is going into the quote Hall of Fame right beside the clinic dress code: “No cleavage, gapage, or crackage.”
The fun news is Mona, Robbie and I are going to fly to some small town in Germany and tour around a bit. Robbie has some small town places with big name art that he wants to see. We are flying on Ryan Air with a return trip of 1 cent Euro (plus tax). Very inexpensive flight. So we are renting a car and driving around. We arrive back in Pisa at 6ish in the evening and Reagan arrived a little earlier that same afternoon.
One of the very cool things about the HUF director is that he is a phenomenon at networking with the Italian people. He found a group call Tourist University Agency and has arranged for our students (and me) to test drive their new package of stuff. It includes a cell phone with 5 Euro of credit and more can be added, a discount card that works at many eating places and shops around the city, a coupon book that has two free meals, a free t-shirt and tons of other stuff, and the ability to deposit money into a bank that you can access through a debit card with only a deposit fee of three Euro (each time you deposit so they suggest you deposit up to 500 Euro) and no fee for any withdrawal. You can even link your parents to the debit card so that they can deposit money for the student and the student have access to the money within one minute. One of the best parts is that they are arranging for us to go and walk through the Vasari Corridor (walkway above the shops of the Ponte Vecchio). It is one of the hardest places to visit in Florence with weird times that they allow the public to view it.
We have had two quiet days of classes and tomorrow after class we go to the Tuscan American Association Welcome Day Party (because of Robbie’s networking).
And let me conclude by simply noting: October 3—GRAPE HARVEST!!!!
Cinque Terre and other Good Things
I have returned from our first trip as a group. Parts of it were perfect and parts of it were not so perfect. We had beautiful sunny weather. The sites are magnificent. The food was incredible. A couple of the twenty year olds acted like 12 year olds.
First was Lucca. It is so beautiful and charming. After our 1 2/2 hour walking tour, we did not have time to ride bicycles around the wall because there was a street market going on and Tracy and I had to shop. Several of the students did rent the bicycles and they loved it.
Next was Pisa. If possible, it is now more commercialized. There is now a big bus and car parking area with gas station, snack bar and bathrooms. They also have a tram to take you to the gates in front of the tower, cathedral, baptistery and cemetery. When I have been here before there were stalls and vendors from just outside the gates and lining the street opposite the tower and other sites. Now, the vendors go another quarter of a mile in front of the gates. People are clamoring to buy a plaster of paris leaning tower or a t-shirt of the tower and Snoopy (yes, the person who will not be named DID purchase such a shirt!).
The bus trip to La Spezia was much shorted this time around. We arrived at the station there only seconds before the train. The train trip only seemed like five minutes this time. Finally, we arrived in Vernazza and it has not changed one bit. They did paint the church steeple but other than that it is the same lovely spot.
The hike from the bottom town to the third town was not a hard as before. Maybe it was the difference in temperature (about 20 degrees cooler than the last time I walked that trail) but I still did not do that climb from the third town to Vernazza. I do so love the train system here!
The only blemish on the three day adventure was some boys trying to act cool but ending up acting like they were silly little boys. They stayed up till 1:30 or 2:00 am being loud and obnoxious. All the faculty members were in different hotels and we did not hear it. There was an apology from a couple of them and the very beautiful Francesca gave them a lecture on respecting other guests in the hotel. Robbie had already taken the train home before we found out about it. He will tell them tomorrow how disappointed he is and they will be penitent. I told them that I would love them again tomorrow but for today I was way too upset to even talk to them.
Tonight Robbie, Mona, Tracy and I took a former HUF student (from the late 80’s) and her husband out to dinner. It was wonderful. The specialty of the house is butter fried chicken breasts. My eyeballs almost rolled back into my head! Robbie also ordered some Tripe because he says this place has the best in Florence. I tasted it but will not order it on my own. Way too slimy for me. I did eat some calamari in Vernazza that I liked. Robbie’s friend made a special dinner for Robbie and Tracy and me of the seafood specialties. It was dipped in a light batter and fried…the skinny pieces taste better than the rings.
So, I hiked, I ate calamari, I ate tripe. Who knew I could do those things?
Tammie I did eat a gelato for you in Vernazza. You really did enjoy it!
Cute breakfast cappuccino.
My happy toes on the beach.
I have returned from our first trip as a group. Parts of it were perfect and parts of it were not so perfect. We had beautiful sunny weather. The sites are magnificent. The food was incredible. A couple of the twenty year olds acted like 12 year olds.
First was Lucca. It is so beautiful and charming. After our 1 2/2 hour walking tour, we did not have time to ride bicycles around the wall because there was a street market going on and Tracy and I had to shop. Several of the students did rent the bicycles and they loved it.
Next was Pisa. If possible, it is now more commercialized. There is now a big bus and car parking area with gas station, snack bar and bathrooms. They also have a tram to take you to the gates in front of the tower, cathedral, baptistery and cemetery. When I have been here before there were stalls and vendors from just outside the gates and lining the street opposite the tower and other sites. Now, the vendors go another quarter of a mile in front of the gates. People are clamoring to buy a plaster of paris leaning tower or a t-shirt of the tower and Snoopy (yes, the person who will not be named DID purchase such a shirt!).
The bus trip to La Spezia was much shorted this time around. We arrived at the station there only seconds before the train. The train trip only seemed like five minutes this time. Finally, we arrived in Vernazza and it has not changed one bit. They did paint the church steeple but other than that it is the same lovely spot.
The hike from the bottom town to the third town was not a hard as before. Maybe it was the difference in temperature (about 20 degrees cooler than the last time I walked that trail) but I still did not do that climb from the third town to Vernazza. I do so love the train system here!
The only blemish on the three day adventure was some boys trying to act cool but ending up acting like they were silly little boys. They stayed up till 1:30 or 2:00 am being loud and obnoxious. All the faculty members were in different hotels and we did not hear it. There was an apology from a couple of them and the very beautiful Francesca gave them a lecture on respecting other guests in the hotel. Robbie had already taken the train home before we found out about it. He will tell them tomorrow how disappointed he is and they will be penitent. I told them that I would love them again tomorrow but for today I was way too upset to even talk to them.
Tonight Robbie, Mona, Tracy and I took a former HUF student (from the late 80’s) and her husband out to dinner. It was wonderful. The specialty of the house is butter fried chicken breasts. My eyeballs almost rolled back into my head! Robbie also ordered some Tripe because he says this place has the best in Florence. I tasted it but will not order it on my own. Way too slimy for me. I did eat some calamari in Vernazza that I liked. Robbie’s friend made a special dinner for Robbie and Tracy and me of the seafood specialties. It was dipped in a light batter and fried…the skinny pieces taste better than the rings.
So, I hiked, I ate calamari, I ate tripe. Who knew I could do those things?
Tammie I did eat a gelato for you in Vernazza. You really did enjoy it!
Cute breakfast cappuccino.
My happy toes on the beach.
Fear Not
Dear JRS,
Please do not fear for my Hostess consumption needs. This very day I have been to the COOP where I discovered a lovely taste treat named Balconi Mix Max. TasteeKakes move over because I have found your match.
Signed,
Balconi D. Licious
My New Exercise Regime
Saturday...rainy again. BUT...Mona and Tracy did their Taste of Itlay for the students and it was fabulous. They prepared all kinds of special Italian antipasta and vegetable and even a couple of meat items. We all pass huge trays around and sample the food. YUM! I even ate and liked the liver and anchovy patte.
Saturday night Tracy put on her TaeBo/kickboxing class music and we (yes, including me!) kickboxed our way through 50 minutes of sweat. It was fun. I am not near as good as the students but I do sweat better than they do. I can do the Bob and Weave move great, it is that back kick that gets me confused.
Today was another rainy day. Sunday lunch include the instant mashed potatoes and once again we all looked deep into the pan and yelled Reagan's name! Classes and pizza. Mona made hot fudge sauce for the ice cream dessert. The kids were so excited.
Monday and Tuesday are class days then we head out for Pisa, Lucca and the Cinque Terre. I will try to post something Tuesday night.
Sorry there are no strange stories today. All the students are calm and quiet, but I am assuming that you are getting the laughs today from the visualization of me doing TaeBo!
Today's Installment
Here is my cute little room in the villa. I have a VCR and DVD but no cable TV. Only some very blurry Italian station.
View from San Miniato.
I know that some of you are staring at the computer, waiting with coffee cup in hand for me to write another update on the Italian adventure. First the updates…no duomo steps for me, I am not hauling these canned hams up 500 steps. I don’t think that they have oxygen waiting every hundred steps. However, Bweave does continue to keep the cool-o-meter on its highest setting. Also, my reports are that the “we got married in Switzerland” couple seems to be lying their way through all the Student Services personnel. They will get caught!
Wednesday night we went to the Bible School in Scandicci that Avanti Italia runs. They had cooked hotdogs and hamburgers and the students just loved it. They also had some good cheese dip along with some Rice Krispy Treats. However, I think that the best item on the menu was the oven roasted potatoes that Lauren Freels made. They were amazing! She had cut about 20 pounds of potatoes into spears, sprinkled the pan with olive oil, then sprinkled rosemary over them….the best ones were crispy on the bottom and kinda stuff to the pan….YUMMY!
I am afraid that yesterday might disappoint some of you. It was a calm rainy day at the villa. No one came downstairs in the their pjs. No one tried to slice their tongue off by licking the Nutella knife (the knives we use here are like steak knives and someone that many of you know did that last week. I told that person that if she sliced her tongue off that I would NOT rush her to the hospital!!). We spent yesterday just recovering from the whirlwind of the last few days.
Today was museum marathon day. Academia was first. While we were waiting in line some Americans approached me to ask if they were in the right line for reservations. I suppose that I now look so Italian and so sure of myself that they just knew I knew what was going on…of course, I didn’t but I told them that Tracy would be right back and could help them. In the meantime I asked where they were from and two couples were from Navarro County, Texas. My home! They actually lived at Richland-Chambers Creek and when I asked if they ever ate at the St. Elmo One-Stop they said they lived around the corner from it. Then I had to tell them that Gerry Harris and I had known each other from the crib up. They were so excited and had to write my name down. They said that they had just send Gerry a postcard because he puts them on a bulletin board in the restaurant side. I just love it that people in Firenze, Italia know Gerry Harris at the St. Elmo One-Stop.
After doing the Academia and the David we walked down the street to San Marco. It is one of my favorites and I am not sure why. It is just a little out of the way and out of the throngs of people who are scrambling to see the other big name sites in Florence. While sitting in the beautiful, peaceful courtyard I looked down to see this…it cracked me up! The good news is that this is NOT one of our girls!
Lunch for the faculty (that would be me), the tour guide and Tracy was at Gozzi Sergio Trattoria. Really good food at a reasonable price. The roasted pork had the most wonderful flavor. For future reference, it is right behind San Lorenzo market, just past the leather stores.
This afternoon, was San Lorenzo church, old Sacristy, and the Medici chapel I saw Reagan’s favorite Michelangelo sculpture, Night and Day.
There was a bus strike today in Florence. But some busses were still running and some were running but they wouldn’t pick anyone up. They are so unusual with their striking protocol. We rode busses in and make it just in time for the 9:15 am strike (isn’t that an unusual time to begin a strike!) and we had rented a charter bus to get us home. It was a good day and I am tired!
Bags and Names and Drama
Dear loyal readers…the last couple of days have been quieter. I know I haven't written in a day or two but I will try to catch up.
Michael's bag finally arrived a few minutes ago. He has been so sweet and patient on the outside but I know he has been frustrated on the inside. It was lost in Detroit, and lost in Amsterdam and lost in Rome. what a mess.
When I am working in an international semester I typically let the students choose what they want to call me (within the bounds of reason and good taste!). It is particularly hard when some of them either have me as a teacher/advisor on the Searcy campus or have known me for most of their lives. It seems that they have selected to call me The Weave or BWeave. They are funny and that makes me laugh.
Monday’s the Scavenger Hunt and visits to the Baptistry, Duomo (which is more beautiful inside than I remembered) and Opera de Duomo. The student went off at 8 am and Tracy, Leslie and I went to Robbie and Mona’s new apartment for brunch. It is out in the countryside and had the most spectacular views. Their apt. looks like it came right out of a magazine with the really cool layout of the kitchen and the cool loft and extra seating space that can double as a guest room. Later then we met the students downtown for the tours. Tracy had to drive and pick up the t-shirts for the Correi la Vita (their Race for the Cure). This year the designer is Ferragamo.
I had never been in the Opera del Duomo and it is very, very nice. My favorite was the choir lofts. Those people rejoicing is so engaging.
Monday night was lasagna night. YUM. I love how they fix it here at the villa.
Tuesday was Tuesday Market day with a picnic in the park. We had a group of students realize that we do go off and leave behind those who are not on time! They found their way but they didn’t get to sit with Mona and Tracy and me on the bus! I just love the Tuesday Market. They have such great things…the smell of that pork all those cheeses it just great. Then the picnic and some ball playing in the park…it was a good day.
Today is class day and I have already finished mine for the day. Tonight is supper at the Bible School. That will be great fun.
Only funny story that can be told in public is that at five minutes to midnight I was standing in my doorway making sure that the students were actually walking up the stairs to their rooms, when I noticed a particular student headed up wearing her pj’s. I asked if she had been downstairs in her pajamas and she looked a little stunned and said,” Yes….” We had to have a talk about NOT wearing your pajamas down stairs in public….oh my. BTW. That individual is NOT sick.
Our biggest excitement came yesterday when Tracy announced on the way home from the picnic that a couple from last fall’s group had gotten married on one of their free travels last fall. It seems that they got married in Switzerland but that it not legal in the US. They each lived in a dorm last Spring and are currently living in a dorm. AND this is the couple that made Jessica’s life very, very hard last fall. It seems that the families know they are “married” but it not legally in the US and that the families let them live together this summer but now they are in dorms because it is “cheaper” that way. I think that they may have some explaining to do in Searcy over the next couple of days. I just hope that Stu is involved in those discussions! He’ll set them straight!
HUF drama is so fun!
Love to all!
End of Week 1
So what did Robbie make me do on Thursday? Walk the streets of Florence for over six hours! The city is so interesting and beautiful that it is not such a chore. The hard part came when we had to climb the step way to Piazalle de Michelangelo. For the uninitiated…it is steeper than the climb to the villa. Oh my goodness. I did make every step of the looooonggg steeeepp climb. We had lunch there, and a cappuccino, and visited the San Miniato church which is even higher up the hill than the piazzale. Afterwards, we walked back in the central part of Florence for another hour. I have some tired, sore muscles.
Thursday night was the Welcome party and we had a great time. I think our group has some good leaders and some very sweet, kind souls. So far, no one has tried to be too exclusive and I am praying that it stays that way. Even the tall, good-looking athletes will talk to all the students.
Last night we got last minute tickets to the Fiorentina soccer game. Just like Jessica told me, I bought my purple and white scarf (worn as a do-rag) so that I could be decked out like all the Florentines. I think that one shop outside the stadium made a killing on the HUF students. Fiorentina lost because the officials robbed us…at least that was what all the Italians around me we screaming at them. The funniest part of the evening was the bus ride home. The people smashed in one small bus (on the 27 route) like it was a Japanese subway train. Our students were so crammed in that one described it as “unable to put a piece of paper between them). The drunk and smelly Italians at the back of the bus (where I had actually found a seat) were screaming at the driver all the way home.
Worship today was good as was the stop at the coffee/pastery bar. A large group (like 10 or so) of Christians from Holland came to services. There are also four American girls who are studying at the University of Florence there. It was so good to see Matt and Lauren Freels (Reagan, they said to tell you hey and to come over to visit!). We got lunch on the table and even said Reagan’s name over the pot of mashed potatoes. Some of the students have gone to play soccer and some are now sound asleep.
The weather is nice today. There are signs that it may not be hot forever, like a cool breeze or a little lower temperature. Scavenger Hunt tomorrow and the Tuesday Market the next day.
Hopefully the internet will be fixed tomorrow.
Ciao!
The First few Days
Well, I know that all my loyal readers (all four of you) have been waiting to see what I put on the blog about Italy. I arrived and it is as beautiful as I remembered it to be. The flowers are still in bloom and the grapes are starting to ripen. The weather has turned HOT. Everyone says that last week they were wearing jackets in the evening but I am having a hard time believing that. Right now I have the air conditioning on in my room.
The trip over was uneventful except for my plan to get an upgrade. I asked the man at the ticket counter in LR if I could get one and he looked at me like I had lost my mind and said there was no way he could upgrade an international flight. Now, I happen to know that just in May someone standing at that very computer offered to upgrade a Harding student on the international flight. So, he was just blowing me off. Then when I arrived in Memphis I went immediately to the ticket area behind the security (because I did not have enough time to go outside the security to the main ticket area) and asked very sweetly what were the possibilities. The lady there looked at me with distain, and here let me say that I looked pretty good, nicer clothes and makeup and all that, but she just turned her little snotty nose at me and said that if I wanted an upgrade on frequent flyer miles that I would have to go to the main ticket area and I would have to have done that 3 hours before the flight. Then she said in an even snottier voice that if I wanted to purchase a First class ticket that I could go there and purchase one for $3000 to $4000. What a witch.
So, I got on my coach ticket with three yelling babies within four rows of me. The gentleman sitting next to me was quite nice and did not want to sit and chat. We did have a short conversation over our airline meal and he told me that he was on his way to present a paper at a conference in South Africa on economic development in Africa. I told him that I have a friend interested in that but I forgot to give him David J’s contact info. He asked why I was going to Rome and I told him about HUF. He said that he thought I was a teacher (should I be worried about that?). When I told him that I taught speech-language pathology he got very excited and said that he has a friend in the government in Nigeria who wants to bring speech pathologist to Nigeria. So, we exchanged business cards and our new master’s program may have a clinical site available in Nigeria. I only slept for about an hour and a half…planes are too busy for me to sleep.
The arrival and meeting up with the students in Amsterdam was so easy. We got to Rome on time with the strangest bit of airline food I have ever seen…I think it was risotto with some chicken, but they called it exotic chicken salad.
We had a long wait for our luggage at the Rome airport. After about 45 minutes everyone had their bags except two. One was Michael Kee and the other was the one person we all knew would have trouble. After another 10-15 minutes of filling out forms and fighting off Italian women who didn’t have their luggage either but were refusing to wait in line, we discovered that their suitcases were still in Detroit! That was not good news. I am very sad to report that the bags have still not arrived three days later. I think that our university attorney should start a lawsuit or something.
Traffic was bad and our two and half hour bus trip to Scandicci turned into three and a half. And let me say that the food where we stopped for supper was not bad at all. Other student groups have complained but they are just whiney babies.
I was assigned the Loft room. For those familiar with the villa, it is just up the stairs from the faculty dining area. It is a cozy little space but I don’t see how Dan survied it without banging his head on this twelve in square beam in the middle of the room. I know that he is much taller than the ceiling in this room.
So, we are all exhausted and I have had 1 1/2 hours of sleep in 36 hours and they try to get me to fill out the Visa forms for the government. I was so punchy that I messed up three forms (Italian government does not like messy forms!). I finally has to say that I would do it the next morning.
Wednesday, we oriented and went on our Scandicci walk. Of course, Mario’s Café was a stopping point. We took the first of 750 group photos that we will take this semester. Then we walked down in front of the Superal and down the street toward the bus 16 stop and had gelato. My first flavor choices were fior de latte and choccolatte. YUM! Then we turned the students loose and Leslie Teague and I went back to the Superal for shop a little (no shampoo carried on the plane and checked suitcase was full of books). Guess which student set off the alarm in the Superal while she was looking for the bathroom?
Tracy came and picked us up so I still didn’t walk up the hill…It will come. I will be in pain. But wait until I tell you what Robbie made me do on Thursday!!!! That will be in the next post. It’s evening Tea Time so I must make my way downstairs to tea and cookies.
I will add photos later when the internet connection gets repaired!
But What About a Coat??
I have temporarily moved my office to my dining room table. There is an adjunct (sweet, wonderful Sara) using my office this semester. The dining table looks like a wreck. I have one more project to put the finishing touches on (a web class) before I put all this stuff into piles for the semester.
And speaking of piles...there are several piles in other parts of the house that are all waiting to be placed into a suitcase. I haven't finished pulling out all the clothes I will need for the next four months but I have purchased most of the toiletries.
There is one major decision that still needs to be made and it regards a coat. I was thinking that I could get by with a wool ruauna and layers under it...layers like a lined windbreaker, and/or sweatshirt, and/or turtlenecks. My daughter (who actually lived in Florence through a winter) says that is not nearly enough. She believes I need a winter coat. I don't have a good coat. I could buy one on-line and get Tammie and Vivian to bring it to me...but then I would have to haul it around southern Italy where I KNOW I will not need it. Maybe Barbara Duke could bring it in October (can you tell that I am thinking out loud!). The family really can't bring it in December because I want to go to Germany and visit a Christmas market or two with Julie Ellis before the family arrives. What to do?!
I do have ready to leave the house the following all important items:
passport (it is ALWAYS ready to go!)
plane ticket
Eurail pass
International Driver's License (worst photo ever!)
Eurail map
best street map of Florence ever with shops and gelaterias marked on it
Reagan's marking of the her favorite places on that same map
a cute little pop-out map of Florence
iPod loaded with great mood music for walking around Florence
cell phone for overseas (I will send the phone number as soon as I figure it out!)
brand new laptop for the faculty at HUF to use
So I am actually ready to walk out the door. I can fling some kind of clothes into a suitcase and be ready in 10 minutes.
Can you tell that my brain is already there?
