Florence in July

July 14, 2013

    It was so hot today. Walking through the Florencian heat for three hours with no water, I got a little heatsick, and felt like I was going to faint. I'm sure I was jolly company for my mother and sister, at that point... We went through the gardens, which were nice but no flowers, and then stopped by a boutique and market on the way back. An ice-cold apple has never been so good, and then I had some "limone" gelato which was ecstasy. Then we all layed down at the place for a while, gathering our strength. Octopus and pasta for lunch, biscotti and milk for dessert.
    I suppose I should talk about something other than food. We have to keep filling the AC, otherwise it burns out if there isn't any water in it. We're all getting tanner, little by little, and I feel like our legs are very strong from walking around so much. \no handsome Italians have taken us off on their vespas yet, but Ellen did get a wolf whistle today (she was wearing a crop top). I saw a very handsome Italian who served me gelato today; he smiled at me and dropped my cup (who knows what that means).
    It's strange to see dogs peeing right on the sidewalk, but there isn't any grass. People also pee on the sidewalk, probably because public washrooms cost money. There can be very foul wafts of smells in Florence, sometimes rotten eggs and sometimes excrement, but the houses and buildings are still so beautiful. I cannot pin down the city, cannot understand its many ways, which probably makes sense~it just has many ways because it has many people. And yet it is also so much the same~the same types of faces, the same cigarettes, the same heat and food, and the same peddlars hawking their wares hopefully and doggedly each day. Does no one get tired of it?
    And yet, I'm not tired. We leave day after tomorrow and I'm still intrigued. I guess that's how it should be.