The Fiercely Fine and Ferocious Four- June 16th

Katelyn (Blasiar)

I woke up this fabulous morn, birds twittering in my ear... and they told me I had two days left in Florence, and I hadn't done an ounce of shopping aside from what I purchased in Venice. Crap. So I quickly dressed and got ready quietly, because I had been told that the majority of the apartment wished to sleep in.
I grabbed my money and my sketching materials and headed to the Medici chapel first, because I had yet to see its wonder. Inside, I slowly made my way through the chapel to Michelangelo's sculptures of Dawn and Dusk (Lorenzo's tomb) and Night and Day (Giuliano's tomb) to the tune of a teacher shushing a large group of Portuguese students. The statues were amazing; more detailed and beautiful than I could have imagined. (Sorry, no pics allowed, and my sketches don't do any justice.)

After the chapel, I strolled around the adjacent outdoor market, and procured quite a few treasures. I took my booty (I guess technically both my booties) back to the apartment, where the girls were still sleeping in (long week!), and then went back to the markets again to check more people off my souvenir list. I repeated this pattern a few times because I hate carrying things while I look upon other things. At some point, a very kindly gentleman swindled me into buying an authentic Italian leather jacket... though I don't truly consider being "swindled", because I talked him down to 60% off. Maybe I swindled him... Another kindly Italian gentleman laughed hysterically at me when I purchased an umbrella from him (in the shape of the Duomo!!!) but packed it away even though it was raining. He couldn't fathom why one would buy an umbrella and decide not to use it (um... because it's in the shape of the Duomo! And I was already wet and liked the rain on my skin). "Crazy American girl!" he chuckled. Disclaimer: Photo not taken in Italy

When I finished shopping, I went back to the apartment (where Tamra seemed to be missing), and chatted with Amy and Taylor before shopping a little more in their company.

We went to Il Porcospino (the Porcupine) to have dinner together, and our waiter "LOVES Texans," so the wine flowed just as well as the conversation. This was by far my best restaurant experience in Italy. (We went back with Tamra the next night, it was so good.)

Taylor, Amy, and I met up with Payton and the other girls to try a bit of his Absinthe (which I decided I'm not a fan of because it tastes like black licorice... icky). We all made a beautiful piece of watercolor art together, then headed over to Julian's bar to meet up with Zach and the other ID girls. It was a fantastically fun night, but the free-flowing wine + the Absinthe + the beer = headache for Katelyn in the morning. No buono.