La Cupola ed Aji Tei

After putting it off for over three months, I was sparked to finally climb the steps of the Duomo's cupola thanks to my Swiss roommate. On our way to school this morning I asked what her plans were and she said her and her friends were going to do it, so I asked if Posh and I could join. The sky was clear and sunny so there were no more excuses. Florence's challenge accepted.

"463 steps to yell to all of Florence that I love you!"

The nice thing about living here is that you can go to the sights on a weekday afternoon and you won't find queues as lengthy as those that plague the touristy spots on weekends. That being said, my teachers have said that this year has yielded significantly more tourists than previous years. By now I've gotten used to being surrounded by other languages (mostly English).

Everyone breaks the rules, even in church--and especially Italians. For an example, look at the photo I posted on Twitter from Fiesole.

After waiting for less than 10 minutes we were walking up the narrow steps. The first few minutes are always the hardest (at least for this out-of-shape-girl) and then the burning you feel in your thighs becomes normal. I'm saying this as if I did this kind of thing every day, but I'm mostly comparing this to the climb up the Campanile di Giotto which was over a month ago.

As you can see on your right, not the best place for claustrophobes. And when you reach the top, a sheer nightmare for acrophobes. I belong to none of these categories so I could enjoy the panorama of Florence with just a touch of tiredness.

Main sights from left to right: Campanile di Giotto, Piazza del Duomo, Basilica di San Lorenzo (domed building on the right)

Florence's palazzi, the Tuscan hills, and to the right, the Great Synagogue

We also got a pretty close view of the painted ceiling of the cupola with lots of disturbing images on the bottom, where Hell is represented.

Later that night, my roommates and a friend of mine met with K-Bravo and his buddies for a buffet dinner at Aji Tei, a Japanese restaurant where I had gone for lunch twice before and that is well-priced and has good quality food for Italian standards (lunch buffet is 12€ and includes water, dessert, and coffee). There were eight of us in total (3 girls:5 guys) and I really enjoyed everyone's company. But for 23€ I would not return again for dinner since the selection was pretty similar to what they serve for lunch and the dessert was a fruit salad instead of the tofu-chocolate cheesecake I have enjoyed in the past. And you know how I am with fruits...

At some point K-Bravo, who is Japanese, asked the Asian waiter a question in Japanese. After receiving a blank stare in response he asked (in Italian) whether he spoke Japanese. You know what they say when you assume.

We followed up a full dinner with...gelato at La Carraia, of course! I had cookies and zuppa inglese (English trifle) and we sat on the bridge while Posh, hyper from the post-dinner coffee, started imitating people as they passed us. Some of us may or may have not also sung the Backstreet Boys' I Want it That Way. I had forgotten what a good song it is.

Today's word of the day is nonostante, a conjunction meaning "even though" or "although". We have been reviewing conjunctions in Italian class lately, my most despised grammar section of them all, probably because I have never taken the time to look up all of their definitions. They're complicated because some must be used with verbs in the indicative form and others (such as nonostante) with the subjunctive form--and sometimes there are exceptions!