Una Bella Giornata

What an amazing day. I don't mean that anything spectacular happened. I mean, the weather. I have clearly brought the beautiful weather with me from Colorado. I went to Colorado, planning on snow and freezing coldness. Nope! it was in the mid to high 70s the whole time. It is not quite that warm here in Florence, but it is amazing for November.

When I arrived, it was cloudy and began to rain as we walked to Acqua al'Due that first night. By the time we had finished the best port wine sauce chicken of all time, the rain had stopped and has not returned since. We went out early this morning and enjoyed sun and fresh air. I am truly praying it will stay this way for my family's visit. I would hate for them to experience Firenze in the rain.

You will be proud to know, I did fulfill my duty of having Cookies n' Cream Gelato last night. It was just as amazing as it was the night before. I tried to analyze it a little bit more and have determined there may be a hint of nutella and the cookies are definitely a shortbread of some kind. Oh the science of Italian deliciousness!

With all this gelato and good eating, I am afraid what will happen to my recently Pilates toned body. I have been going religiously to The Pilates Place in Grass Valley for about 3 months now and I love it! I have to say, I do miss it and I think tomorrow shall be the day I get back in the habbit, as I brought some equipment with me. I do hope to start sharing Pilates Shots From Italia in my postings.

I have found one secret to staying healthy here, however. We all know that walking in Europe is a part of the daily experience. It used to be that when I came here, I ate, I walked and it all evened out. Well, itt did not really work that way last time. This morning, Alex and I were late for a very important appointment and we had to walk quickly. I realized that when I was here last time, I was so lazy, that my walking was slow and languous. So, my new rule: Walk like you are late for something. AND, as we all know, Italians ARE always late for something, so this really makes sensse, now doesn't it?

Another exciting thinkg going here is all of the Obama Buzz. Everyone wants to know who I voted for, who you would have voted for, etc! There were even two women who came into the shop form Oregon and Washington. When Alex asked them if they were happy with Obama, they told him they didn't like Obama or McCain, so they decided not to vote and come to Italy instead............Wow. I have been really amazed at how involved people here are in American Politics. I asked Antonio behind the Bar La Badia, "Perche?" To which he simply replied, "Michelle, if America goes down, we all go down. So, we care, eh?" I get the impresison overall that Europeans, at least Florentines, are happy with the hope of change. We shall see!