It's official: I'm an almost permanent resident of Italy. After many long hours of being in transit, I have breathed Italian air, walked on Italian cobblestones, and jaywalked a busy Italian intersection. I'm also exhausted.
Our flight from Seattle to Frankfurt was long, boring, long, boring--and did I mention long and boring? Ten hours of my life was definitely well-spent in a seat the size of a postage stamp! Confined to a middle seat from which I exchanged maybe 15 words with my row-mates, I couldn't have been happier. With a grand total of two hours of sleep I was deliriously happy to spot the Alps during our connecting flight. You think I'm kidding, but how wrong you are!
The magnificently tall Alps sliced into the clear blue sky as we entered the country I'll soon call home. I couldn't help but doze against the window and wonder what awaited me on the peninsula beyond. Adrenaline shot through me as we began to make our descent. I couldn't help but feed my romanticized notions of this admittedly romantic country. Looking up I could see six comet-like jets crisscrossing across the sky. For a moment I wondered if I was missing something. Everyone had a direction they were going; yet I'm just going with the flow. Although this seem like a rather dejected notion, I've discovered that I'm perfectly contented to go with the Flo (Ha!). Today, for instance, after we arrived I unpacked and went to explore the with some of the girls in my pensione.
Let me back up for a moment: a pensione, the building I live in, is similar to a dorm setting. It's closer to a small hotel run by a family that cooks and cleans for the 18 (or so) of us residents who live here. I am in a double room with a friend of mine who is here for the year. Each room also has its own bathroom. We are kept very safe here at Soggiorno Laura, as the front door is locked and monitored 24hrs.
To be plopped down in a city like this is truly amazing! Walking down the narrow sidewalks, I reveled in wrapping my tongue around the delicious words of the Italian language: farmacia, pizzeria, gelateria . . . gorgeous. Most gorgeous of all was the sight of the Duomo. Absolutely incredible. I couldn't drag my eyes from it, which is quite a feat considering how massive it is! I mean, I had guessed it was big, but I couldn't fathom it being as goliath as it really is! I'd normally try to describe it and include a picture so you could follow along, but I didn't take any. I was too dumbfounded by the thing itself. It'll take a few more viewings before I can even attempt to capture its grandeur. Even then--I think such an goal is impossible.
The cold winds drove us from the darkening streets back to the safety of our pensione. I fiddled around until dinnertime--yep, official Italian dinner made by a true Italian family--attempting to stave off sleep; but such is inevitable with jetlag.
Buona notte!
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