the walking justifies the buffet.

Today, I had set my alarm to go off at 9 AM, despite the fact that I had no class. Clearly I was deluding myself. I hit snooze and slept until 10:30, but I got going pretty quickly after that. Put laundry in, showered, ate, and was out the door by 11:30 to do some shopping. I hit what felt like every freakin' boot store in Florence, searching for anything that was reasonably priced, in my size, and not repulsive. I came up empty handed. I intend to try once more on Wednesday, but after that I'm throwing in the towel and having my mom ship me a pair of boots from the US.

The nice thing about Florence is that even while you're huffing about, completely frustrated at the lack of attractive boots, you run across things like this, which have a calming effect:




This is an outdoor museum located right next to Palazzo Vecchio. You heard me right: an OUTDOOR MUSEUM. You aren't allowed to eat up there by those statues, and they have guards there to make sure you don't. It is still so weird to me to be walking and just come across ancient pieces of art. Spend a day just walking around Gainesville and you are likely to come up with little more than empty Natty cans and discarded Alligators.


After my fruitless search for boots, I bought some groceries and headed back to the apartment, where I made a quick lunch. I then went to the library to make copies of this book I need for a paper. I spent about three hours there and got NOTHING done (oops). It is so hard to concentrate in this country! I'll be paying for that as soon as I get done blogging.


My roommates and I were hell bent on having sushi tonight for dinner, but it turns out that every sushi place in Florence is CLOSED on Monday for no apparent reason, so we settled for the aperitivo place across the street from our apartment.

I had a glass of prosecco, or sparkling wine.

Great spread!

We love this place because it is only 8 euro for a drink and unlimited access to the buffet, which is one of the best we've seen as far as aperitivo goes.

Like I said, now I'm off to procrastinate some more before finally settling down to do my Italian and writing homework. Wednesday, Gillian and I are planning to go exploring on the other side of the river to try and find this restaurant she ate at with her parents the last time she was here. We are also going to hit up the market at San Ambroggio, which is similar to Mercato Centrale, which is where we usually go, just to try something new.