Let's play some ketchup

I've been pretty busy this last week or so. Besides switching in and out of around four classes, I've been on two field trips around Florence, one to the Baptistry and San Miniato, where we saw the Benedictine monks performing they evening chants. It was very nice up there. The church abbey is located on a hill south of the city in Oltrarno, and it is a different atmosphere. The other Florence field trip was to the Duomo, which was huge but did not impress me as much as some of the buildings we saw on our Saturday field trip to Ravenna. The Duomo is much more interesting on the outside than the inside, but it is still very neat. Saturday we went to Ravenna, a three hours bus ride west to the adriatic coast. It was a long day but well worth it and we ended up making some new friends out of it. Sunday we went with those friends to the Cinque Terre. It was another long and disjointed journey but turned out alright. It is beautiful there and I hope I can get the chance to go back before I leave florence.

I've been to two dinner parties, both long, very enjoyable escapades. We have yet to host one but the day will soon come, I feel.

Today I biked up along the Arno in search of a bike shop I saw on the internet. They had a pretty hip website and I had seen on another site on the internet that they had helped a citizen build a fixed gear bike, so I was hoping they could help me find a decent one. Here's the link. I went, and it turns out it is some sort of citizen office that is obviously at some point during the day overrun by italian youth, at least that's what the writing on the walls says, if you know what I mean. I was very afraid because the place was empty, or almost empty it turned out. The bike shop was closed, but I'll go back. They are open only 830-1030 wed and thurs.