1.11.06

surprising outburst




it's one of our last days in florence and going to the batisteri is a definate must see. we go inside to rest our feet after another long day of sight seeing and kari, yoolee, lisa and i are all enjoying the gold leafed walled and intricate frescoes when all of a sudden...

someone totally cut the cheese!!!

GEEZ!!! have some respect!!! it's the house of god!




so we looked around for the culprit and spotted a lady covering her face and nodding her head in disappointment at the man next to her who sat with his arms crossed and a slight smile.

there was nothing else we could do but laugh...


a pretty amazing experience

i got a chance to explore the city by myself. it was nice to get away from everybody. you know get some andrew time and not have to worry about people needing to go to the bathroom or not wanting to go to a certain place b/c they're too tired or whatever. you know what i'm talking about... anyways...

it was late afternoon and i headed to one of the highest hills in florence. i got hot from climbing stairs, dodging cars and scooters, and when i got to the top i found out there was more to climb. there was this church at the top of the hill...



it was very unassuming. not as fancy as the duomo, but still nice. i went inside the dark church and heard the most amazing sound... monk chanting. it was like dream. as i made my way down to where they were i realized that i had stumbled upon a mass. and the thing that i didn't realize til i left was that it was being conducted in latin! it was strange, they conducted mass behind this fence. it didn't really make sense to me. i guess we were in the small chapel of the church.



i felt refreshed. it was nice. so i got outside and got this view...



another beautiful tuscan sunset...

the best steak EVER!!!

this was seriously the best steak ever! the guy come down and showed us the 1.5 kilo (3.3 lbs) steak and then cooked perfectly... brown on the outside with the grill marks, seasoned with salt and fresh ground pepper and i know this sounds gross and i don't even usually eat steak this way, but it was totally BLOODY!! YUMM!!! it was totally good...



so if you're ever in florence stop by osteria de benci. it's right on via de' benci. pretty close to some pretty cool bars and a mexican restaurant... (btw, the mexican food, really isn't mexican food. i ate there and it was alright. it doesn't really compare with the mexican food back in la, but a good effort. it certainly hit a spot)

Via De' Benci, 13/R
Florence, Italy
055 2344923

Florence

after having traveled norther italy, we finally stepped into the city where the renaissance began... FLORENCE... i had visions that it was going to be this amazing place filled with art, culture and endless amounts of "great" architecture...

i was traveling with the people in my studio, and with the way things were going this trip was going to be a stressful one. we got lost in the morning. there was an unusal fog floating around the autostrade which made for difficult navigation. but lucky for me, i don't drive stick and i didn't have to navigate so i slept in the back, waking up to take a bathroom break or listen to someone's ipod trying to learn italian. btw, i'm not to sure about the berlitz method or brand, i didn't learn too much from them. plus they're a little bit difficult to follow.

anyways we get to florence and the hotel is nowhere to be found. florence has an interesting address system. certain colors stand for a private residence and businesses, but you can also have the same number on the same streets too. odd. so finally we just park, a few of us go search for the place. we find out that the hotel is actually located in this office tower on the fourth floor, next to an attorney's office and some other random things.

the area we were staying in was kind of shady, but alright. it's a good thing that we were in a group and that usually means that no one walks alone. which is good, so people can watch your backs especially around the gypsies around the area.

here are just a few of the images from florence...


the view of the florence duomo. gruesome and grotesque, but pretty amazing...


lisa and i at the top of the duomo with the city as the back drop...


view of the uffizzi and the tuscan hillsides...

Monte Generoso!!!



while being in europe is a highly academic experience (seriously!) sometimes you just need to get away and go outside, especially when the weather is so good outside your window.
since we were still on a traveling kick since munich and doing things on the fly, a few of us decided that we would go to the top of monte generoso for shits and giggles.






me, lisa, kari and john on the summit of monte generoso


taking a look at vico morcote from the top of monte generoso


all roads lead to: GREAT VIEWS!

you can't tell right now but the von trapp kids are on top of this hill...


another place for amazing views, and of course animals!!! what is it with me, foreign countries and animals?


this one is for you steve!