The soup is on and the bruschetta made!

Buona sera mi amici

Tonight is Italian night.  Now doesn't that sound funny.  I am making homemade chicken broth and tomorrow I will make soup for dinner.  Tonight is is pasta with chicken alfredo and bruschetta to start.
Most of the day was spent cleaning my kitchen...and I mean clean.  I washed down anything and everything...including the walls...which was kinda sketchy because I think I scrubbed too hard and took
some of the paint off.  I stripped the cupboards and disinfected everything.  Then the bathroom was next.
That took me a good part of the day.  I decided to go the Supermarket Stanza because I passed it yesterday and thought I knew where it was.  So I began the walk!  Well I should know better than to think I know where something is and of course it wasn't there.  Sometimes it is just better to trust my knowingness.
In the meantime I had walked about an hour.  It is easy to do that here...or at least for me. Today was overcast with some rain and cold.  I think the cold is from the dampness.  I passed a book store and went in and bought a calendar and a Rodin type magazine.  I am always looking for pictures of human form so that I can draw constructs from them to practice.  My apartment is starting to take shape as you can see below..just the kitchen and bathroom.  I think I will tackle the rest another day.

While in the bookstore I overheard the cashier teaching this English speaking woman and I kind of butted in on the conversation apologizing to eavesdrop.  This lady apparently has an apt and has been coming here for 12 years. There was something about her that was a bit off but hey...most of us are a bit off sometimes.  Anyhow she told me that she went to my school for two years.  Didn't say much more than that and I didn't ask.  I am certain I will meet various kinds of interesting characters.  If I had to give her a name for my book it would be Josephine.  I am sure she has an interesting story to tell.  She kinda looked like that actress in Under the Tuscan Sun...the eccentric one.

Another thing that I have observed in this city is the number of dogs there are.  If you take an early morning stroll you are bound to see 20 dogs along your way.  What I find interesting is that most Florentinians/foreigner dog owners do not pick up the dog shit.  So sometimes I walk looking down so I don't step in it because you can't always smell it...remember the car exhausted competing with the perfume.  Today I noticed that people actually step in it and it flattens and the rain washes it away.  Funny thing this is.   Makes me laugh.  I find I am laughing a lot these days.  Everytime I learn something knew about this culture.  I notice too that I am looking younger, more relaxed and less stressed than when I first arrived.

Well I still trying to figure out my oven and stove top.  Must get back to prepping for my delicious dinner.  I miss you guys and look forward to hearing from you.  You can comment ... just click on anonymous and leave your initials if you don't want to identify yourself.  Hey I have to get fingerprinted...commenting on a blog is nothing.
Till we meet next time.
Buona sera.