Where in the world is Rachel

for lunch, i decided to walk back to piazzale michelangelo. on my way up i was stopped by a cute italian man. he told me his name was mauro and asked if i spoke italian, i said no, sorry. then he asked something else...dont know what. then he asked if we could get coffee. regrettably i said no, mainly because i dont drink coffee and he doesnt speak english and that wouldn't have been good. but he was very cute! :)

i sat at the piazza for a while, writing and thinking. i then decided to head to ponte vecchio and just walk around. again as i passed palazzo vecchio, i saw this huge ceremony taking place! everyone was dressed in medeval costumes! i stayed and watched for a little bit, then went to my hostel to put the food in the fridge. i asked the owners what was going on and they said it was a huge ceremony of the first ever soccer game played! it happened 500 years ago in florence! the city was alive with excitement! it was fun to watch the proceedings.

later on, i was just sitting in the piazza dell la signoria and this girl started talking to me. she is from south africa and also traveling alone. we chatted for a while and ended up exchanging info, now i have a contact in capetown! not bad! :)

the highlight of the day would have to be the number of people who came up to me asking for directions or help...in italian! :) either i look like a local or just look italian in general! it made me feel good. :) i was even able to be helpful for some people! of course, i answered in spanish...not italian, which through people off. :)

well, tomorrow i am off to church and then taking an overnight train to brindisi! i paid the extra 10 euros for a bed on the train, still 14 euros total for a bed on an overnight 8 hour train ride, not bad! thank you eurail pass! :)