My hostel is really nice, though very peaceful. I've been sitting in the room off the kitchen chilling out for about two hours and haven't seen a soul. However, it's really beautiful, so I'm going to embrace the peace and quiet. What do I mean by beautiful? Well, hostel backs up to a courtyard and appartments. In the center is a garden. Over the roof of a nearby appartment, I can see green hills dotted with terracotta colored houses. It's picturesque to say the least. Also, there is a church nearby and I can hear the bells every hour. Wow.
Florence feels so different from Rome. People are more likely to stop and actually talk to you. In Rome, everyone is rushing somewhere all the time. In Florence people are more likely to stop and make a comment about something, or just smile. It's nice. It's also weird. I've definitely seen more mohawks, tatoos, and piercings that in all my days in Rome. But, I'm used to weird, so it almost makes me feel more at home.
The kitchen at this hostel is really nice, so I'm excited to do some cooking. In case I haven't mentioned it, the ingredients are just soooo good. Going to the grocery store is one of the most exciting things. That being said, I did go out to eat for lunch today and ended up having the best gnocchi of my life. Correct that, gnocchi has not existed for me before today.
So, I assume everyone knows, but in case not, gnocchi is a potato pasta dumpling thing. It's really good, but is often not done correctly and so comes out gummy. More importantly, it is so processed and starchy that it doesn't even taste like potato. This gnocchi was light and had authentic potato taste. It was awesome. It came in the sheeps-milk cheese sauce, tossed with fried eggplant cubes. This picture may not be entirely appetizing, but oh my gosh was this meal good. Anyway, back to the cheese sauce: I was a little afraid that it would be super salty or tangy, like most of the sheeps milk cheese we get in the states. But I'm telling you, I hardly knew it wasn't from a cow, it was so unbelievably creamy and mild. Ugh, wonderful.
I also had some gelato today, just saying. Oh, but the entire reason I had the gnocchi or gelato was because I was waiting for my laundry to wash and dry at this small mom and pop run laundromat. Since I had about an hour to kill (turned into 2) I started walking around, shortly I came upon a super famous piazza (whose name I can't remember, but I definitely visited before). Well, what should I hear but James Taylor playing. It turns out that there was this small American folk music concert going on. So, I sat down on the grass and listened to more James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. It was really random and very much appreciated. I kept thinking, this would never happen in Rome! Rome has art--film, theatre, what have you--but a mid-afternoon concert with people milling about and sitting on the grass, not so much. I don't know how Romans feel about grass...
Okay, that's it for me for tonight. I'm gonna go cook something and then go to bed, so I can get up and go roaming in my favorite city!
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