A few weekends ago my friend Dan came to visit. We had a really good time and he seemed to like Florence a lot. We went to Siena that Saturday to see the Cathedral and the museum. The Siena Cathedral is very Gothic with a lot of points and angles and the interior is very busy. It was not one of my favorites but it was cool to be able to compare different styles of architecture. There's a wonderful Piazza in Siena that opens up to the old civic center shaped like a shell. There were people just lounging in the sun, a lot of children playing, and even more pigeons scrounging for food. Dad says seagulls are rats with wings but I would argue pigeons take that particular prize.
Three of the Kenyon girls moved out of our apartment. We thought there was mold in their rooms but apparently it's some kind of mineral?? They chose to move out anyway, arguing 11 people was too much for one apartment and it would be better for everyone. Unfortunately that means the "barbies" out number Kenyon... we'll see how that goes. They've been having sooooo many problems with the Palazzo that they had to bring in someone to mediate between the two parties. There has been a lot of tension with people moving and the Penn State girls don't clean and all this other stuff. Drama is also starting between Kenyon girls. Two are feeling ostracized and think some of the other girls are being mean and trying to push them away. It's hard because I get along with everyone so per usual, both groups are talking to me about it. Everyone's just going to have to relax and enjoy Italy. I haven't been in any drama or had any issues so far so everything is ok on my end!
I finally went to the huge street market last week. It's called the Market at San Lorenzo. Talk about huge. It goes on for the longest time with twists and turns down little back streets and around buildings. I bought a cashmere scarf for 12 USD and a really really nice leather messenger bag. The scarves are so cheap it wouldn't surprise me if I came home with more than one
The outskirts of the market can be sketchy and are definitely more aggressive. The best line we've got came from the market. As we walked by one of the men say, "Oh! You dropped something!" followed by, "You dropped my heart!" No, it doesn't make any sense but they seem to think it's very clever. The first time it happened I almost looked at the ground because I actually thought I dropped something. Haha. Just some random stuff:
-We saw one of Massacio's famous frescos, The Tribute Money. I'm a big fan of Massacio's so it was very cool to see it in person.
-I successfully made baked pasta that was edible!
-While Dan was here we went to this little bar on the edge of town owned by this nice, old, but very toothless old man. It was the first time I've had a really hard time communicating with someone. I couldn't understand a single word coming out of his mouth. It made me very thankful for the amount of Italian I knew before getting here.
