Duomo

Last Wednesday we climbed the Duomo, the highest point in Florence. The outside of the building is painted white, green and red and the design of the outside of the building was unbelievable. It is so amazing that we live only 10 minutes away from such intricate architecture. Not to mention right in our back yard is a beautiful church. I had no idea what the climb was going to be like when Randall told us we were going to the top of the Duomo. It started as regular stairs and we reached a platform that went along the circumfrence of the bottom of the actual dome. From this point, we were able to see the art work on the inside of the dome. The painting was unlike anything I have ever seen. The bottom consisted of paintings of devils and it went up each class until it reaches the angels. It was unbelievable. The most stunning part was that the people who painted it stood on latters and painted it upside down. After climbing to the beginning of the dome, we climbed up to the top of it. The stairs were incredibly narrow and went up like a spiral. It was also incredibly clostrophobic. It was like climbing the statue of Liberty. However, once you got to the top of the duomo and stepped outside and looked at the view of the city, it was completely worth the climb. The city of Florence was so much bigger than I has imagined. You could see the synogogue that we visited and the river and even how far away our apartment was! It was amazing.

The Supermarket

Going to the supermarket in another country has certainly been a unique experience. To start, Italy uses a completely different metric system. Rather than using lbs they use kgs - which of course I have no idea how to convert. Also, no one in the supermarket speaks English, and everything is in Italian, so if you are confused about anything - bring your Italian dictionary. All of the fruit and vegetables are fresh daily and cheap!! Its fabulous. However, you have to put on a plastic glove to touch any of the fruit. I guess this prevents people from spreading the germs on their hands. However, it just makes me wonder why we don't do that in America and what in result, my fruit and veggies have on them. I noticed that in Italy, they do not drink a lot of milk. At home there would be half an isle of different sizes and kinds of milk. However, here, the milk containers are small, and each different kind is a different color. They don't sell skim milk, the best you can get is 1%. This has been difficult, as I usually have a glass of milk before bed every night. Buying ground meat was also quite an adventure seeing as how I don't speak English or have a clue how much a kg is. I just pointed to what I wanted and told the man "si si" and he packaged it up while laughing at me. Another thing that I must say I hate about Italy is that you cant use the tap water. I have definetly spent a good portion of money buying water bottles here. I can only imagine how excited Italians are when they come to America and realize they don't have to pay for a bottle of water. One thing I like about Italy is that there is essentially a liquour store IN the grocery store. Most of the stuff is rather cheap compared to what you would get if you walked into a cafe and asked for a drink. I also love that the drinking age is younger....not that I drink at all. The last challenge was the check out line. First I had to figure out what the woman was sayign when she told me the final price. And then I realized that you have to bag things yourself, and you have to ask them if you need more than one bag. It was incredibly confusing. But overall, I love the supermarket here - because EVERYTHING is fresh and cheap!!

Cinque Terre

Saturday Lauren, Michael and I went to Cinque Terre. We spent the night in La Spezia at a hotel and then took a bus to the train station in the morning which brings you to the first town of the five in Cinque Terre. Getting off the train was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my entire life. The towns are built upon gigantic cliffs that overlook the coast. I immediatly thought that I couldnt believe how anyone could travel to Italy and not see Chinque Terre - it was gorgeous. Ontop of the mountains between the towns were acres upon acres of vineyards and grasslands covered with trees. Through the entire set of five towns is a coastal pathway in which you can walk, or should I say hike, from town to town. Another option is that you can take the train from town to town. However, had the girls and I not hiked the first four towns, the experience would have been COMPLETELY different. The hike is essential. We started out not having a clue what we were getting ourselves into. Three girls in flip flops, jeans skirts and bikini tops. Everyone else was wearing hiking gear, sneakers and some even had walking sticks. I really didn't know if the three of us would make it. I knew how much I was used to exercising at home - but I had no clue about the girls. However, the two of them really impressed me. We took breaks when needed, but other than that, we really powered through. By the end of the hike, if you stopped - your legs would spasm, so we spent the last hour simply staring at the ground where we were stepping and trecking through the mountains. The view the entire time was heavenly and it truly got us through knowing that everything ahead of us was going to be even more beautiful. When we got to the end, the three of us connected in celebration that we had completed the vigorous hike! We sat down and had margaritas and enjoyed the rest of the day at the beach. The experience would have been no where as near as incredible without having hiked through the mountains for 5 hours. Sure, I can sit on a beach anytime and get a tan. But to do something like we did gave us all such a sense of accomplishment that we had really gone out and seen the world!

Differences

Since coming to Florence, there have been many culture shocking differences that I have noticed between being here and being home, some more intense than others. One drastic difference that I have noticed are the "courting rituals" that the Italian men use towards American women. For example, we were out to dinner one night and Michael got her hair stroked by an Italian man. Also, there was one day when we were walking home from the train station and a guy straight grabbed for her crotch. Other instances like this have occurred from bystanders when we walk down the street. Telling me I look like Barbie, or commenting on whether my roommates breasts are artificial or original. Although I am told that this is just Italian culture and to roll with it, I really wonder what the men who are making this gestures are thinking. American men barely ever even come up and talk, or say hello, nevertheless yell sexual inuendos at you. It makes me wonder whether they are solely doing it to be obnoxious or whether they think that by yelling at us, it makes us feel flattered and appreciate them more. I also wonder how they act towards Italian women and if those women put up with this behavior.
Another difference that has stood out to me has to do with money in Italy. Personally, money isn't something that I throw around freely. I know when I get losen the purse strings, but I also am very concerned about where I spend my money and making sure I am getting what I pay for. I have noticed that in Italy, money is less crucial to the people who are making it. When I work, I want to make sure I get every cent for what I did. However, in the markets, you are able to bargain with sellers for merchanidise. Also, I have rode in two taxi's in which it was taking the girls and I a longer time to gather our change and figure out what we owed the driver. One time the total was $15.75 and the other time it was $11.50. In both instances, the driver rounded down. The first time, Lauren was truly upset that we couldnt find the change and eventually found it, and he still didn't make us pay. It just seemed like this would never happen in America. If you got in a cab and werent able to pay for it, youd probably be driven right back to where you came from.