How the Mighty Have Fallen

Acqua al Due has been my favorite restaurant anywhere in the world since 1999. In 2001 there was a strong contender in Abuja, Nigeria -- Wahoos, or something, a delicious Indian place -- but Acqua al Due won on the strength of their pasta assagio. The Pasta Assagio is a series of five different types of pasta, allowing the diner to sample a number of different tastes in one meal. Last night, I went to Acqua al Due with Ana and David, expecting a phenomenal experience of pasta-liciousness. Unfortunately, the entire experience was lackluster. The pasta dishes were the same as the ones I sampled on my last trip, instead of spontaneous tastings of the dishes that your neighboring diners ordered. And the service was awful. Sigh. I guess I'll have to start the search for a new favorite (yum!).

Today I spent hours gawking in the Uffizi. The visit was free, thanks to my magic NYU letter stating that I am a budding art historian. It was so amazing to see so many masterpieces in one place. After that, I floated through the day, visiting the funerary chapel of the Medicis designed by Michelangelo, and having a tasty dinner with some very fun girls from Flint, Michigan. The night ended with a fantastic drink at an open-air bar near our hotel (only Italians would have a weekly DJed party on a Sunday night) and now I'm off to bed. Wow, I love it here!

Viva Italia!

Today was BEAUTIFUL. I am so happy, people are smiling at me in the street -- although this afternoon, I realized that they were actually just smiling back. I haven't been in Italy in the summer since 1999, and I forgot that it is so exceedingly wonderful here in this season. I usually visited in the winter, when it's cheaper and work was slower. But it's glorious -- perfect temperature, warm sun, fluffy clouds against that famous Tuscan blue sky, rolling hills -- just lovely. Okay, after that tirade, you might expect better pictures than this one, but this is all I've got -- a view of the Ponte Vecchio with the hills and clouds behind it.

yesterday I wandered around Florence (in clean clothes!!!) enjoying views of the outside of Orsanmichele, the Doors of Paradise on the Baptistery, the Duomo, San Lorenzo -- basically, all sorts of images I've been studying all year and can now see in person. I won't bore you with how exciting that is to me, but my little budding art historian's heart is aflutter. I was not as impressed with the Italian man who asked me directions, and then offered me a cappuccino at 'the best place in town.' I was jet-lagged, so it took me a walk to discover that the 'best place in town' was, indeed, his apartment. I declined on the doorstep. I did get an invitation to dinner this week, but I think I'll pass! Instead, I joined the NYU/taxi girl, Ana, and her friend David for pizza, wine and a tasty salad with the milkiest mozzarella ever. I happened to run into them in front of Santa Croce -- nice coincidence!

This morning I did some work for school, visiting San Giovanni Valdarno to study works by Scheggia, Masaccio's little brother. It's a good thing I'm traveling alone -- I spent two hours looking at two pictures! After a super-tasty farmer's market lunch, I went back to Florence and gawked at the amazing things inside Santa Maria Novella -- home of Masaccio's Trinita fresco, a beautiful set of frescos by Domenico Ghirlandaio, and... actually, I'm not going to list the amazing-ness. I could never fit it all in. But suffice to say, it was wonderful -- and nicely capped off by my first gelato of the day! I'm off to Mass and then to dinner with the NYU people at my favorite restaurant EVER! YAY! Hope your Saturdays are just as great!