Carnevale and Slowing Down

The exotic journeys have come to a pause. So if you don't want to read any more, I understand. haha. But really--now that the crazy month of February has come to a close, I'm sticking around Firenze for a while. I can't really say I'm upset about it. I love this place. But I did make one final excursion up to Venice with my German friend Anna and her friend Eleonora on Sunday. Anna goes to the Accademia di Bell'Arte (a really prestigious art school in Florence) and I follow her around and creep on her Italian friends and pretend like they're mine. It's fine. So she invited me to join she and Ele on their day trip to Venezia on Sunday to see the elegant celebration of Carnevale that is so famous in Venice. I'm not going to lie, I agreed out of boredom. The idea of Carnevale doesn't really do much for me. I think the masks are kind of scary and I don't really understand what any self-respecting person is doing dressing up like this and posing in a street while tourists take pictures of them. For fun. Call me crazy, but it's just not really my scene. Perhaps if I had done more research on the custom it would have been more interesting, but I had fun hanging out with my friends and wandering around the city anyways.
Carnevale for me is really just leading up to Mardi Gras. I'm my parents' child. Tuesday is actually another holiday in Italy called "Il Giorno delle Donne" which just means Women's Day. It's like Mother's Day but for all women, I guess. Apparently everyone's just nice to females and they all go out on the town sans dudes for the night. And we never celebrated Jenna's 21st birthday that was last Tuesday. Sounds like three fabulous reasons for next Tuesday to be a lot of fun, in my opinion. Sorry, I digress.
On Monday we went out to lunch in Chianti again. Kristen's parents were visiting, and our language school paid for the whole clan to get lunch at a really fun restaurant that made stellar hamburgers. Strange, I know. But they were absolutely delicious and I'm never really opposed to a drive through the Tuscan countryside...or hamburgers for that matter. Who am I kidding?
Not having any obligations is always nice for a few days-- especially after all of the traveling we had been doing. But I am going out of my mind. I'm not going to say I'm bored, because I'm in Florence and you're actually not allowed to be bored. But my friends have been preoccupied so I found myself literally wandering around aimlessly on Tuesday afternoon. I realized during my walk, though, that there was a beautiful church up on a hillside outside of the city that I'd always wanted to visit but had never taken the time to. Perfect opportunity--even though it was really cold and windy this week. So I made the trek up past Piazzale San Michelangelo, iPod and camera in pocket, ready to do some damage. When I got up there I was the only tourist poking around and the church was a little spooky in the late afternoon light, but it was absolutely gorgeous inside, as it is outside. There is no artificial light inside, so stepping in is like stepping back in time. Feels pretty weird. Anyways, when I got back that night I was really excited to tell the Rizzis all about my adventure. (Mostly because I'm afraid they think I'm a lazy piece of crap because I haven't gone to school in a long time and I wanted to sound productive.) However, when I tried to tell them where I went that afternoon I apparently butchered the name. I couldn't tell you now what I said, but the church is called San Miniato del Monte. But Mario's response when I said "Questo pomeriggio sono andata a San _____" was "Oh, isn't it beautiful?" I obviously agreed-- quite pleased with myself for being so proactive that afternoon. Until Mario kept talking. "It's such a beautiful city. Makes you feel like you're in the Renaissance. They make great white wine there." Well, shit. We're obviously not talking about the same thing here, Mario. HOWEVER because I'm the most awkward person in the world, instead of correcting myself I went along with it. "Oh, I didn't try the wine. I should go back when it's warmer." What, Lauren? There is no reason for you to be lying right now. Then Lils chimes in, "Wow, you went all the way to San____ today? How did you get there?" Me: "Oh, you know. The bus." Lils: "That was fast. You were only gone for a few hours. You must not have been there very long." Me: "Nope. My friends were cold. We're going to go back when it's warmer." Needless to say I changed the subject VERY quickly. Probably asking some stupid question about Burlusconi. That always gets Mario ranting. Oh, the beauty of language barriers. And me being exponentially more awkward than the average person...
Vi voglio bene, ragazzi. E mi mancate moltissimo.
Baci.