I live in Italy...for 25 more days.

Man, it both seems like I've been here forever and like I've just arrived. One second I'm going crazy missing people and the next I don't want to leave. I'm sure I'll be ready to go when the time comes, but I also know I'll be ready to come back soon after getting there. I'm going to miss this place and the newness to everything. There is this refreshing feeling that comes with the unfamiliarity of life in a foreign land. I wish there were a way to recreate such a feeling in a familiar place like home. I guess that's why they say you experience reverse culture shock upon return; they also say it's worse than the original case of culture shock. I believe it.

Okay, so moving on past the inner thoughts of me:

On Saturday I went to Venice,
and
On Sunday I went to an Olive Press.

I had a supremely successful weekend.

Venice was. . . grand. Yes, that word will do; it was grand. I mean, the place has no cars. In fact, it has no streets, at least not the kind of streets we have. We (my roommate, Amber, and I) stepped out of the train station and suddenly we were standing only meters from the Grand Canal. So, we hopped a Vaporatto (which is like a bus, but it's a boat, so it's a bus/boat), and we headed down the canal to Piazza San Marco. I'm not even kidding; I've never seen a place like it. It was grand. (And here I need to put in a slight apology to one fantastic mother of mine - you would have just loved Venice. Mi dispiace.)

There's not really much else to say about Venice. We only got lost once, and Murano glass is sweet. That'll do.

The olive press was also quite grand, though intriguingly amazing might be a better description. The trip I went on actually included a two hour hike through Fiesole to get to the Olive Press, which I didn't know about, but which turned out to be pretty awesome all on its own. The rainy season is trying to actually begin, and so, from the hills of Fiesole we could see a light fog hanging over Florence. Incredible.

After a strenuous, mostly uphill, hike, we sat down for lunch at this fattoria above the olive press. I had agnello (lamb), which was delicious. The Olive Press tour would be better explained with pictures so I'll just put a link to the fotos on here once I get them uploaded, and I'll put explanations under each foto telling what the stuff is. And then, when I get home, I'll give everyone a lesson in buying good olive oil.

Fotos and Explanations.

Probably the best thing about yesterday (maybe even better than the fact that I toured an olive press) was that I spoke Italian for probably half the day. I made two foreign friends who I had the opportunity to speak to during the hike. The first was actually a girl from Germany who is working as a aupair for an Italian family. The second was a guy who lives in Florence. He was great because, though he obviously spoke fluent Italian, he spoke slowly for me and repeated himself when needed, but didn't get frustrated when it took me and minute to comprehend. Josefina and Armondo. An olive press. A nice hike on a foggy day. Un bel tramonto. The perfect Sunday.