Appartamento!

8-28-09
Hooray! My luggage arrived at the hotel today! Well, half of it anyways. Thank goodness at least one of my suitcases was Barney Purple and could be easily plucked from the sea of drab, misplaced black suitcases. I would call the airport to find out about my other (larger) suitcase, but I have not bought a phone plan yet. Maybe I should do that…
Any who, one thing I did purchase today was an apartment! Well, not purchase per say, but signed a lease. This is not just any apartment either; this particular apartment is a portion of an old Medici Palace a few short blocks away from both Santa Croce and the Duomo, complete with original ceiling frescos and all! It is BEAUTIFUL and one of the oldest buildings in Florence, not to mention a HUGE relief knowing I have a place to live. It’s just surreal. I am sharing it with 4 other girls. Its two bedrooms yes, but the bedrooms are enormous. I really mean that. (I mean just think, it used to belong to the Medici family.) They are really big enough to fit four beds comfortably, but I think we will stick to just 5 girls. It is fully furnished; there are large desks, futons, wardrobe closets, lamps, linens, and of course the beds in both rooms. There are two large bathrooms with a washer, an enormous living and kitchen space with all cooking the cooking supplies, dishware, table, couch and television, a large foyer with umbrellas, drying racks for clothes, games, umbrellas, shoe racks, and a bookshelf complete with books. The amazing part is that rent is only 440 Euros per month including all utilities (water, gas, electric, internet, satellite tv), which I hear can get outrageously expensive here. I can’t wait to move in on Monday!
Anyway, a couple of us went to the Piazza Duomo and Piazza Signoria last night. I guess night time is the right time over here. Everyone just comes and hangs out in the Piazzas after the sun goes down. The streets are lined with gypsies and street performers and friends chatting. The part that is so unreal is that these people are just living amongst all of this amazing and historic art every day. You can just walk up to some of the most famous Hellenistic and romantic sculptures and touch them. I took some pictures. Rape of the Sabine Women is my favorite Hellenistic sculptures and I noticed it at the Piazza Signoria. The warthog statue is actually very famous. Apparently if you feed the warthog coins, it’s a premonition that you will one day return to Florence.
Anyways, this entry is rambling and I am beginning to crave gelato. I’m sorry if I don’t get back to emails and posts right away, you have to pay for the internet at the hotel and half the time it doesn’t really work. I’ll try to talk to you all soon! Ciao!
(the internet is too slow to upload images right now sorry!)