Day 8

Today we went to Firenze to meet Mel. Things got off to a bad start. We got off at the wrong Termini and had to get a taxi to get us to the right station. We were 40 minutes late and poor Mel was freaking just as bad as I was. Firenze is a beautiful, bellimesso, city. There is so much history there. We got to see Brunelleschi’s doors & ceiling. Gorgeous. We just walked around town and saw all the major things: artwork & statues. Then we took the bus back to her house where she made us lunch. Poor girl shouldn’t have gone to the trouble. We also met her friend Suzy. She’s a very lively girl who loves her American Television. If I knew our DVDs would work here, I’d send her several seasons of Angel. I think I made a friend when I said I liked Buffy. Some interesting things we learned at lunch: the mafia is still a huge problem here in Italia and is nothing like what is portrayed on television & movies; never eat meatballs in Germany; and finally, Mel’s friend really loves stupid American T.V. Apparently she loves “My Name is Earl” and freaked out when Cliff and I told her that we knew people like that. It wasn’t a bad freak out, but a freak out nonetheless. We’ve got 5 days left here and I don’t want to leave. The things I miss about America: dryers and water pressure. Oh, they have paid toilets here and that’s really odd. I’ve never seen one before. They’re like .5 Euros to use. Cliff told me if he had to pay for a toilet, it better have 5-ply toilet paper, the seat should be hot or cold to his specifications, and his back should be massaged while he’s sitting there. Lovely huh? Mel told me that she shouldn’t teach me to swear in Italian. Mean friend of mine isn’t she? I told her that I’d teach her to swear fluently in English. I thought it was a wonderful trade-off. Mel if you’re reading this, you know I’m just teasing you.  Overall, we had the best time with Mel and her friend. Now that I’ve got her address, I’ve got so much to mail her. Her pocketbook was covered in pins so I’ve got to find some really cute pins to send. Hmm, I wonder if they have Netflix here in Italia. Enough for now. More later.

Ciao