In need of a guide

Where does one find heavy cream in Florence? Where are the gays? Where are the attractive Italian men? How do you differentiate between a homosexual and a heterosexual Italian man?Where do the cool kids hang out? Who are the cool kids? Most importantly, WHERE ARE THE MOVIE THEATERS?!

After hours and hours of research, I found that the movie theater (CinaCitta` CineClub) best suited to my taste is an hour and 40 minute walk across the Arno. I can't even bus it there it's so far. I'm going to have to save that trip for when I'm really desperate; I'll either take a taxi or, to save money, attempt to manage that trek. 

Maybe these questions will be answered in due time. It has only been a week after all. 

Impatient yet lazy and in need of a good movie-going experience,

xx thip

Fiesole

Today we went to Fiesole. It was roughly about a half hour bus ride from the Santa Maria Novella train station. Riding the bus wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't get pick-pocketed and I've been in way more crowded buses back in Los Angeles. 

Fiesole is gorgeous. The air is so fresh and crisp. This was also the first time I've seen nature in Europe; there was plenty of beautiful trees and green grass. I want to live there. Because in Florence, there is hardly any grass and trees in the city. 

We looked at the Etruscan and Roman ruins at the Fiesole museums. I wish we could've explored more despite the fact that I was pretty tired and I just wanted to nap on the grass. I preferred the Bandini museum, which housed religious art, over the other museum (I forgot its name) that primarily had Etruscan and Roman artifacts. 

After the museum visits, we walked up a steep street to a spot that has a wonderful view of the city. The Duomo was visible from there. Unfortunately, the view was more smoggy than I would have liked, but we plan on going back again for some fresh air and hot chocolate. From the lookout spot, we walked up to a monastery, which was also pretty amazing. I wish we had access to more rooms though.

We didn't want to leave after being there for only about four hours, so my roommates and I grabbed some dinner and left around 7PM. We were able to get seats on the bus ride back home and as we were going down, the sun was setting and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. 

Fiesole deserves more than a two-thumbs up or an A++.

Two of my roommates, Kylee and Apolonia.

Quick update

My roommate Stephanee has a three-day trial for wireless internet connected via USB port that can only be used from her computer. I may consider getting one on of my own or sharing-- we'll see how it goes.

I share an apartment with three other girls: Stephanee, Kylee, and Apolonia. There are three rooms-- two singles and a double. I share a room with Stephanee and the other girls get their own room. I don't mind. There's a nice dining room/den area complete with a sofa, dining table, TV, VCR (haha), and DVD player though we don't plan on watching much TV. The channels are mostly sports or news anyway. There's a decent-sized kitchen, washing machine, full bath, and balcony. 

I've been cooking for the past three nights. Pasta, pasta, pasta. We've also been walking EVERYWHERE... along the Arno river, to and fro from the Duomo, etc. We need to find a better, closer supermarket. 

We have cell phones now too. Will post photos of the apartment later, 'k? 

xx thip

First day in Europe

I left LAX this morning at 7:45AM to connect for a flight to Washington D.C. to transfer to Frankfurt and then finally Florence. The D.C. Dulles airport was nice in the sense that it had a smoking lounge conveniently located next to my departure gate. However, I had MAJOR difficulties with the Frankfurt Airport. And by major difficulties, I mean that the airport employees were mean and extremely unhelpful. They told me to go to this gate and when I went to that gate, they told me to go to this gate and so on. I also had a couple of employees literally make fun of me and laugh in my face. That, plus running around with a messenger bag filled with six books and a laptop was not my idea of my first impression of Germany-- or Europe in general. I eventually missed my flight and was ready to throw in the towel. But many nervous breakdowns and chainsmoking sessions later, I was able to get on the next flight to Florence.

Despite feeling like a sardine packed in a can (that's economy class for you) on approximately a 14 hour consecutive flight, I arrived in Florence complete with my luggage and curious about my new environment that I would call home for the next three months. I met one of my roommates, Appolonia, who had already been in Europe since August. She and I walked around Florence; we grabbed a snack, compared cell phone rates, and overall discussed what we hoped to get out of our trip. We explored the open-air markets and made note of the future events and art exhibits we'd like to visit.

I am currently sipping on some grappa complimentary of the very nice waiter at the hotel bar. It's still surreal to me that I'm going to be living here. Also, I miss my cats. But in any case, I can't wait to see what else is out here.

Arrividerci,

xx thip