Trenitalia

I cannot stop making jokes about Italy's train company -- Trenitalia. No one else seems as enthused. I think it's especially hilarious since Germany's company is 'DB'. Ah, the jokes are endless. Alright, alright, no more translation jokes.

Today is our second day in Florence. So many museums, so much time.

My favorite game to play is 'Avoid The Americans' since there seem to be millions everywhere I've gone. I figure out which neighborhoods my guidebook tells me to hang out in, then find other neighborhoods on a map and go there instead. Voila! It's much more fun to be around people who don't know what I'm saying and who will sell me a banana for 20 cents than to be around Michelle, a raving drunken UVA graduate from Maryland who we met on the street who was furious that 'NO ONE in Munich speaks English!!! NO ONE!!! It's so annoying!!! And they hate me!!!'

Venice was incredibly beautiful. Florence feels like Manhattan with famous masterpieces stuck in the middle of unbelievable churches and buildings. We are staying with a woman and her daughter who rent out five rooms in their flat to tourists. It is like staying with your grandmother, who speaks very very little English. I understand about 10 percent of what she says to me, and I imagine she understands about 15 percent of what I say to her. But she's lovely.

I have averaged about three eatings of gelato per day. I do not understand how it is so much better than normal ice cream.

Munich was like being in an MTV-planned frat party in the middle of Germany. I saw more Americans vomiting from alcohol intake than I did throughout four years of college. Weird.

Time to get home to grandma. We are off to Cinque Terre tomorrow.