hello, from italy

hey friends,
i'm currently in florence and writing from a super old school computer with an italian keyboard. it's taking me a while to type everything correctly right now so please excuse any strange grammar mistakes.
it was last week today that i took off for barcelona and so far, so good. things have been a bit tricky getting adjusted to constantly being on the go and the stress of trying to see everything at once, but im hoping by the end of this coming week i will be 100% in the groove of things. i spent a few days in barcelona and then 2 in venice, and now tonight i'm in florence and early tomorrow afternoon off to roma. ends up the day we come, aka today, monday, is the one day a few of the museums with florence's jewels are closed. primarily, i'm talking about michelangelo's david. super sad i'm not going to get to see it, but i guess that's okay. another reason to come back to this wonderful country.
on the train to venice the other day i was in a car with an older italian man who i happened to hear on the phone for a few seconds. I was doing my sudoku per usual and i look up to gaze out the window when i hear the older man say "Ciao, Lugi, Ciao!," with such gusto and that spot on italian inflection. it made my day. also, i may have imagined it, but i'm pretty sure i've run across a few marios too. gold.
venice was magical, just like everyone says. it was full of beautiful old buildings and secret corners, and yes, you really do get lost in the blink of an eye. luckily my friend helped me keep my bearings but i'm pretty sure if i were to go wandering again alone i would need to plan at least 1.5 hrs to find my way back to wherever i started. for at least a meal and a half i munched on a big fresh thing of grainy bread with some cheese and it was beautiful. wine is super cheap too. ahhh, the italian diet. gratzi gratzi to them for it!
today while walking around in florence an older italian man started talking to me in italian, and when i said 'english, i only speak english' he seemed confused that i wasn't italian. i felt proud of this, or at least for the fact that it seemed like i fit in. when i proceeded to tell him i'm an american and from austin, texas, the warmth kind of faded and i found him looking me up and down. i think my big chacos screamed american/tourist and he seemed not as pleased and i suddenly found myself feeling a bit down and ashamed that i wasn't the italian he had hoped for, haha. anywho, it was nice talking to a local for a few minutes and i'm hoping there's more of that to come.

it's cold, rainy and dark in this little hostile room of 6 so i'm going to wrap this up so i can go munch on some more milk chocolate butter biscuits. hopefully i will be able to write a bit more in a week.
ciao luigi, ciao,
xx