Andrea is excited because . .

Holy crap guys, we're going to Italy!! I have spent hours feverishly flipping through my Rick Steve's Italy travel guide, and am getting more and more anxious to leave by the second.  I am now able to stumble through moderately meager (but important) conversations such as:

"Buon Giorno Signore, per favore, dov'e un buon ristorante fare sfoggio?"

          -Good day sir, please, where is a good restaurant nearby to splurge? 

and 

"Buona sera cameriere, vorrei spaghetti alle vongole per favore!"

          -Good evening waiter, I would like spaghetti with clams please!

I'm not sure if this qualifies me to be a temporary Italian, but I'll try my best anyway . . .

In any case, here are a few more things I'm rather looking forward to:

1.  Breathing in the sea air on the ferry to Venice

2. First drinks with new friends in St. Mark's Square

3. Sitting on a stone bench; looking around and thinking, "I'm really here!"

4. Feeling the history around me. 

5. Renting a bike and zooming around Florence.

6. Getting tired and spending 90 minutes continuing to "zoom" around Florence in a minibus while resting my aching feet. 

7. Some extra museums: The Palazzo Mocenigo Costume Museum in Venice, and The Galileo Science Museum in Florence.

8. The cooking class on our free day, and every bit of delicious italian cuisine I will eat over the next two weeks.

9.  Being. In. Tuscany. so excited!

10. Seeing Don Giovanni at La Fenice, and five and a half hours of BEING in La Scala, not to mention the Opera it's self. 

A piu tardi

e

Buon Viaggio!