Fall break in Italia

Hello, all!

Maike and I have just arrived in Rome for the last leg of our Italian adventure, so I thought I'd attempt to relay a bit of it to you so there's not so much to write when I return. Of course, this means I have yet another keyboard style to get used to. There are letters on the Italian keyboard that are on neither the U.S. board nor the British board. What puzzles me, though, is that there's a £ symbol but no symbol for euros. Hmmm....

The first part of our trip was spent in Genoa. We had a heck of a time finding our bed and breakfast, which turned out to be our staying in a woman's apartment with her for a couple of nights. This was also quite a challenge, since she spoke absolutely no English. She was very nice and took care of us like we were her own kids, though. One morning, she wouldn't even let me leave the place without my jacket, saying, "Freddo, freddo, your mother!" (Cold, cold, your mother!)In the evenings she made us great coffee, and in the mornings we had a large breakfast, which was also a bit difficult to figure out. She poured us each bowls of coffee. What does one do with a bowl of coffee? And how does one figure this out with a non-English speaking Italian woman staring down at her? Well, frankly, one makes a mess. :)

Genoa is GORGEOUS. It is right on the Mediterranean. We took a cruise on the sea for awhile, did a bit of shopping, visited a cathedral, and rode a tram up to the top of a hill to see a view of the city. I'm really glad we went, despite our language difficulties. I am also really glad that we only spent a day and a half there - we would have run out of things to do, otherwise.

Next we took the train to Florence. This is also a very complicated process when no one speaks your language, but we managed. Our hostel was REALLY DODGY and the OCD part of me was soooo grossed out! But it was cheap, it was a bed, and it was in a really great location. We spent some time in the duomo, climbed 414 steps to the top of the campanile for a view of the city (there was no lift), and had a fantastic time at the Hospital of the Innocents and San Croce Cathedral. Each of these had intriguing works of art, great histories, and wondrous architecture.

We did a lot of shopping on the second day in Florence but, amazingly, I didn't end up buying anything. Except gelato. There was plenty of gelato. There was also more great coffee. We spent the morning at the Galleria Accademia where Michaelangelo's David is housed.

Our third day was least productive. We waited 5 and a half hours to get into the Ufizzi Gallery. No kidding. Then, we had about an hour and a half in the gallery before closing. It was worth it, I think, because Maike got to see some of her favorite paintings in person, and she explained the importance of some of the pieces to me. After that wait, though, we were exhausted, so we had an early dinner and retired to the hostel for the rest of the night.

As you can imagine, we have many more stories to tell, but this is all I have time for right now. I hope all is well in the States!