1/10/2005: Things I've learned so far

• You will feel threatened at all times--if not by cars, then by speeding Vespas or bikes.
• If you do not get run over from the side, you will be run over from behind or head-on.
• It is okay to walk down the middle of the street.
• Mini Coopers can appear very large when next to Smart cars and similar miniscule vehicles.

So today we took a long walking tour through Florence. We saw the Duomo, which, as I mentioned yesterday, is absolutely monstrous in size. I took very few pictures of it because pictures and words are completely inadequate when trying to describe it. You simply have to see it in person because it is breathtaking. All the detail and the color on the outside is just outstanding. The inside is much simpler. Apparently, the façade on the outside was only put up in the 1880s, which surprised me a lot -- before, the outside was covered in just rough stonework. Another thing that surprised me was that the Medici chapel was not more elaborate on the outside, especially since that family was all about showing its wealth and power. The inside is rather nice though.

Oh, and just to give you some bearing on how far money goes here -- my lunch today was $9.50 Euro, which equates to $12.56 American. I had lasagna (the portion size was good, so that kind of made up for the fact that it cost 7 Euros) and hot chocolate (so rich, it was like drinking Hershey's syrup, but it was really really good).

I think that is all for now. Ciao!