"It is better to act and regret than to not act and regret." - Machiavelli

(Not that there's anything to be regretting around here, that quote just came up today and I quite like it.)

Buona sera! Had a grand old time last night with an INCREDIBLE bistecca alla Fiorentina at Caffe Italiano and some vino and prosecco (my favorite). The waiter fell in love with Iwona, so we were showered with some free beverages after. Then we stopped by the pizza place next store, made some Italian friends ("you come to my house, I show you the best wine in Florence" - oh boy), and headed to a bar down the street for a final dose of vino:

(some people thought pizza was necessary post 12lbs of steak. clearly i disapproved of this absurdity.)

As for today, I successfully went grocery shopping all by myself, got a bunch of cibo senza glutine, bought some peonies (Hillary!!) for fun, and almost died on the trek down and up Via Bolognese aka Mount Everest (singing along to my ipod like a dork the whole way). Pictures from my morning frolic:

(Piazza della Liberta)

(23 Via Bolognese. my future home.)


Class with George this afternoon was really interesting. Quote of the day:

"When painters want to represent landscapes, they stand on low ground to get a true view of the mountains and hills; they climb to the tops of the mountains to get a panorama over the valleys. Similarly, to know the people well one must be a prince, and to know princes well one must be, oneself, of the people."

- Machiavelli, The Prince

We talked about politics as profoundly relational, mainly that the reality of who you are is based on how other people perceive you to be - you must understand how others see you in order to fully know yourself. Nothing is real unless it's shared, and what you think about yourself isn't reality unless people see you in that same light. The reality of who we are is socially constructed (ahem Stephen Duncombe). Perception, like art, creates the illusion of reality - a painting provides the illusion of depth to create something real on what is, essentially, nothing but a flat canvas. In the same way, the way the world perceives us dictates the reality of ourselves. Whoa, that's a lot to think about.

We also talked a bit about fortuna, and arrived at this Machiavellian conclusion: any circumstance, no matter how good or bad, is an opportunity. We have the ability to utilize creativity to shape the situation into whatever form we see fit. Kind of the whole "if life throws you lemons, make lemonade" thing. Or throw the lemons at someone. Whichever you see fit.

Ok, enough blabbing! Tomorrow we're off to the Uffizi. Added more pictures here and there in past posts for those of you who maybe miss my face (and ridiculousness) just a little bit. A domani.

Ciao Amori!

Laura