New Florence Friends!

Florence has definetly lived up to my expectations. It is a beautiful 'tossed salad' (nice geography reference for everyone!) of flavours. People from all over the world living in a beautiful city. It's been fabulous!
My first full day here I decided to go and stand in line to see the statue David and it was so worth the time and money. He took my breath away. I actually sat and looked at him for amost 45 minutes. I was trying to figure out why he has such a pensive look on his face if he has apparently just triumphed over Goliath. It's a brain teaser!
Afterwards I wandered around town for awhile until I realized that I was starving so sat down in a cafe and ordered some food. I was sitting at a table for 4, but with just me there I told the hostess to feel free to sit others with me. She ended up seating 2 women down, both who are attending Italian language classes in Florence. Kirsten is from Vancouver and Beate is from Innsberg in Austria. We chatted for a while and then another woman from the table next to ours joined us. Her name is Natalia and she's originally from Poland but now lives in New York with her mother and sister. We exchanged numbers and I think we may get together tonight for a sunset dinner in Piazzale Michelangelo. Tuesday night I read about an event at the Odeon theatre, where for 11 Euros you can get a drink, buffet and a movie so I decided to check it out. The movie was 'A Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe'...so funny...I really liked it...it was pretty dumb, but the idea is so original that you can help but admire it! When I arrived I began to speak to a woman in line and her and her husband invited me to sit with them before the movie started. Their names are Vicky and Dave, and they are a couple from Florida who have been coming to Italy for years (Vicky's family is actually from Italy and her Grandfather is responsible for a lot of the architecture in Tristes - I think that's what she said anyway!). They help out a lot at an American Church called St. James, with a Thrift store, food bank, and dinners, among other things. We sat together during the movie as well, and they invited me to come to the church for their student dinner on Wednesday night. For 5 Euros you are provided with dinner and wine and great company. They also told me about a few other places to visit, including Lucca, Torino, and Tristes. I have actually rearranged my itinerary so I can for sure hit Lucca and Tristes, Torino might have to wait until later. They also told me about a huge second-hand clothing sale that takes place every Tuesday in a park. Vicky told me that she actually got a Valentino dress for around 20Euro! So once again I have changed my plan so I can be back in Florence Monday night to hit the sale on Tuesday morning! I love traveling!!!
Yesterday I ventured down to Palazzo Pitti, a huge palace where the Pitti family lived in the 16 Century. It has now been converted into various museums and a huge garden. I went to everything and saw Clothing from the original family, walked through the family's appartments (rediculously decorated...I took one picture but then got yelled at so that was all I could get!), the Museum of Modern Art, the Silver Museum, and my favorite, the exhibit on Mythology and Erotica...Hilarious. After hitting all the little museums I took a wander through the gardens which are huge so I only ended up seeing a small portion of them. I finally wandered back to my hostel around 5pm or so. On the way I passed a cute little store so went in to investigate and ended up buying a poncho...it's aqua blue...so pretty...but it's needed because it is all of a sudden fall in Italy. There is a chill in the air! I also bought a cordoroy skirk for only 10Euros in the market. But its ok because I donated some of the clothes I brought with me! I went to the student dinner last night (which was baked ham, scallop potatoes - best I've ever had! - and roasted vegetables), it was like a late Thanksgiving Dinner for this Canadian far from home! I also chatted with some of the students at the dinner. After dinner Vicky and Dave took my back to their villa to show me around. They are staying with a young widowed woman and her 3 girls. The villa was huge, but even more breathtaking was the gardens in the back. It contains a Grotto, which contains a crypt! So amazing. I took a few pictures and they worked out really well, considering it was pitch black. Vicky and Dave walked me back to the train station where we parted ways, me back to my hostel and them back to their villa. I think that this is one of my most favourit part of traveling...meeting these amazing people who come into your life for a few days or even a few hours and then move on, both of you forever changed by that brief meeting.
Today I am going to head to the Uffizi museum for the afternoon, then hopefully meet with those women again for dinner. Tomorrow I am off to Cinque Terre for 2 nights which I am REALLY excited about. I will post some more pictures in a few days, hopefully. Hope everyone at home had a great Thanksgiving and ate till they were about to explode!!