Le Cascine

Though Posh and I were originally planning to go to the beach in Viareggio, after our full day yesterday we decided to stay in Florence. The weather was still warm and sunny so I asked my German roommate (no nickname yet) if she'd like to go to Le Cascine with me. She is a jogger and I have been very inactive the past couple of months, so we decided to jog around the park. My friend Lana came along and the three of us ended up spending a few hours there, of which we jogged for about 30 minutes straight. That's pretty good for me!

It was my first time around Florence:

• without makeup
• wearing athletic clothes
• without vision correction

Since I didn't have a proper bag to jog with, I carried around a clear plastic bag which held my water bottle and cell phone (protected by a clean sock--Posh told me to!). 

It was incredible how different Florence was in the centre of the city and in the depths of the park. We all felt as if we had gone to Switzerland (or in my case, Stanley Park) because the deeper we walked, the fewer people we'd see and the quieter it was, notwithstanding the birds singing.

After our jog we stopped in an open field and did an impromptu yoga class in the sun. Then we just laid in the grass without any conception of time or urgency. 

On our way back towards the real world, we discovered a never-ending outdoor mercato near the banks of the Arno. Of all the days and times to be walking amongst a crowd, it had to be post-jogging and sans-makeup! And to our (hungry) discontent, there were very many tempting food and clothing stalls, but none of us had brought any money!

Today's word of the day is comunque, meaning "however" or "but". I need to start keeping track of which words/expressions I've been teaching you, but I've been very lazy.