“Fate plays tricks on us all. If you’re not laughing, then you don’t get the joke."

Hi everyone, it’s Marc (Laura’s boyfriend). I know you’re all used to Laura’s blog entries sprinkled with beautiful, sepia-toned pictures and references in Italian that you (or at least I) don’t understand, but Laura’s off at class, so I thought I’d give her a rest and fill in for a day.

I arrived here in Florence on Friday morning, and it’s been kind of a whirlwind ever since. We’ve done the typical “you gotta see this when you’re in Florence” things like the top of the Duomo and the Piazza di Michelangelo, sure, but we’ve also done a lot of less-touristy things that Laura has discovered during her first month here (Hannah and Branson, that steak place was every bit as good as advertised… good call). I’ve gone to the “good” gelato place, the “great” gelato place, the “incredible” gelato place, and the “oh my gosh, we have to go to this gelato place” gelato place. Our hotel is right in the middle of town, but that hasn’t stopped me from instinctively walking in the wrong direction every time we leave to go somewhere. Laura has shown me around with unfailing good humor and patiently ordered for me in Italian on more than one occasion. Molto bene, Arachidi. Grazie. (oh, and Ali, I’ve heard the “voice” quite a bit… “yehhhh…”)

More than anything, it’s just been good to see Laura, and to get to experience some of the things that she’s seen and done over the last five weeks or so. I leave on Wednesday, so you’ll all get your regular correspondent back. Until then, we have plans for dinner at Circolo dell’Unione Firenze tonight and maybe another walk through the Piazza della Signoria. It’s been a quick few days, but I’m really glad I came. In keeping with tradition:

“A domani! Ciao!”