Trying to catch up.

Hey everyone.. Just to let you know im going to try to put different pictures on here and myspace so check both. Anyway i dont even remember where i left off.... I really have that feeling everyday that ive done more than i would in like a month in fairbanks. So I think when i left off last was the day I climbed the Duomo. Me and three of my roommates (the other three hadnt arrived yet) set off to eat. I had arrived before everyone else so already had found some interesting places and was familiar with our neighborhood. There is a tattoria on the corner from our street that sells really good pastry and piza and ive been trying to go everyday so they will get to know me. After stopping there and getting some fresh pizza with sausage we set off to see my favorite discovery, the church in the pictures i posted previously. The church faces a large very open piazza with a large man on horse statue in the middle and a couple small statues on the side. Surprisingly there is never lots of tourists there. (ive gone about 5 times. i cant get enough) The buildings left and right of the piazza have marble steps that people relax and eat on. Once youve walked through the piazza you reach large wooden doors that, when open, signify that you are allowed to enter. Inside these doors is a large room with four columns, just inside of the corners. In all four corners there are beautiful paintings that wrap around the corners. When i first came in here i thought this was all that was inside. Anyway i led my roommates to the wooden doors where i saw three obviously american ladies (a mother and two daughters that were about 25) I think im obsessed with this church beacause i just want to show it to everyone! Anyway I walked up to them and introduced myself. After talking for a little bit i told them how they had to see this church. They were interested so i showed them and my roommates to the doors. I allowed them to go in themselves so they could experience it the way i did. After they saw the church we talked to the girls and they wanted to see the duomo. We walked through the street market and went to the duomo. Our traveling partners took some time to look around the outside. We saw that tyhe line to get in was pretty small so we decided to enter. I hadnt been inside yet so i was excited. I had spent the last few days marveling at the outside and now was getting to enter. Going in was free, which surprised me. The girls had to put on paper covers because their shoulders were uncovered. As i entered i felt that feeling you get when you enter a huge open space. This was easily the biggest building that ive ever been in. Huge columns led up to the high ceilings. The walls (like everywhere in florence!) were covered in art and statue. As i walked towards the domed end i cauld a glimpse of the painting that covered the inside of the dome. It was breathtaking. People were staring up and crying. It seemed to me to be a visualization of Dantes inferno. The bottom layer was filled with gruesome images of death and pain, complete with a multi headed devil eating people.(i posted a picture in the previous blog) The top was beautiful angels and what looked to be Jesus or God. After walking around inside for a while we decided to climb to the top. We had seen people at the top previously when we only were familiar with the outside of this awe inspiring structure. (why cant we do things like this now? they didnt have cranes or machinery and they top anything ive ever seen over and over again) To climb to the top was 6 euro. We begain climbing and then we kept climbing and climbing. Along the way there were open areas with statues and metal relics. We reached a point where we walked around the bottom of the painting and i was within feet of it. Seeing it up close made me wonder how someone could come up with art like that. The detail and imagination was incredible. The top of the duomo wasnt much further. The top had people but wasnt too full. There was room to walk around and take pictures. It was cool to see florence from above. The city was much bigger than i expected. The hills were covered in castles and large, beautiful villas. After the duomo we parted ways with the ladies, who were from chicago. The next day i woke up again at about 7 (which ive been doing since i got here) You kinda have to get up early because the streets are so loud since were so close to the street market. Me and the roommates that were able to get up went to the fresh market to shop for last nights dinner. The market was a large two story building two blocks from our house. The bottom floor is full of meat, cheese, bread and other goods. The top is all veggies and fruit. Everything is brought in fresh daily. At an olive oil and vinegar booth a nice italian lady offered to let us taste some balsamic. She first gave us the regular balsamic then worked up to some that was aged 2 years, then 5, then 8, then finally 10. You can definitely tell the differnce. It was so good. Thick and kinda sweet it got better and better. We bought some. Since we are students we only got the one that was aged 5 years. We were going to make spaghetti so we bought fresh hamburger, bell pepper, feta cheese, bread, pesto, homemade noodles, onions and garlic, and a few bottles of vino (2 for 5 euro!) we also got large bushels of basil and oregano for only .70 euro each. We also got lettuce, tomatoes on the vine and some assorted cheese. The only thing not fresh was the red sauce, which came in a jar. When we arrived home we decided that me and jason (roommate from cali) would make the first dinner. We started by cutting up the garlic, (making sure to take out the bitter root) onions, bell pepper and basil. I poured some olive oil in and started cooking! We have 5 girls on the same floor as up that we can talk to through windows (including one in the kitchen) so we conversated with them while we cooked. Next we started the pasta water and put the hamburger in. While that cooked i made a salad with fresh cucumber, bell pepper, feta, vine tomatoes and ground pepper (thanks pops!) after that was done i put it in the fridge to wait. While jason was stirring the meat i cut a loaf of bread and put pesto and feta on it and set it aside, to be put in the stove when everything was almost ready. After the meat cooked through we added the redsauce, basil, oregano, a little vino and let it cook. Our stove is a gas flame range with an electric oven which seems to be typical italian, mismatched and up to no certain standard, which isnt necessarily a bad thing. While everything was being cooked we had appetizers of fresh salami, assorted cheeses with bread and olive oil and balsamic to eat. As everything was finishing up we set the table and opened some more wine. We made the salad dressing out of the excellen balsamic and great olive oil we bought at the market. It was a great feeling to sit down and eat our first meal all together, especially one that we made. All my roommates are going to cooking school and weve agreed to take turns making meals so this was only the first of many. Im excited because everyone is from different areas. Theres Jason the energetic skinny guy from Cali, theres will the hard partier (who had to get stitches already from his a drunken night) , Steele the one with the most experience and the most serious disposition who i share a room with, then theres anton whos going to berkely and is a fun guy, scott who lives in germany but is from pennsylvania, and mario who looks like jason giambi and has italian parents. Hes from new york but can read and speak italian so he helps up all often. Everyone brings something to the group and has different cooking styles we all get along and it should be a good experience. After dinner (which was very good if i dont say so myself) we went to our neighbors, the american girls, because they were lucky enough to have a nice patio to sit on. Even tho it was a simple meal it was very satisfying. Jason pulled out a nice Cuban cigar and we enjoyed that also. Great night.