Monday....first day of school!

Santa Maria Novella, where we went to church on Sunday

I was so very excited for today, and it all turned out just as I had hoped. I got to school early, thinking that I would finish the registration and paperwork, but I got there before the secretary. I sat outside waiting for 9am, and then saw my old teacher Marco walking up the street. He was very surprised to see me, as he hadn't known that I would be here this week - turns out that that was because they confused my registration and thought that I wouldn't be here until July...but no matter. And even better....Marco will be my teacher, at least for this week. I'm in a class with a young Japanese girl and a woman from Poland, perhaps a few years younger than me. I have already learned so much, just in one day, and Marco tells me that he thinks that my Italian is better now than it was when I left here two years ago....I have no idea how that could be possible, but it makes me happy to hear that.

While I was at school, Aunt Clare and Mom went shopping at San Lorenzo market and bought a few presents and some things for themelves. Then we met up on the Oltr'arno side of the ponte vecchio and had lunch at Borgo antico, a restaurant that we had eaten at in 2005, when all seven of us ladies were here (AC, mom, me, Mary, Melissa, Pam and Yasmine). HUGE portions, including a salad for Aunt Clare that could have fed an entire family.

This afternoon included naps for all three of us, and then another dinner on the other side of the river at Quattro Leoni, which was SPECTACULAR. It seems that every dinner gets better and better....how can that be possible? And tonight, I had my first Limoncello of this trip....Melissa, it's even better than we remember!

Quattro Leoni restaurant on the other side of the Arno river

Tomorrow is the feast of St John, so it's a holiday and therefore there won't be any class at school. We're going to get on the train and go to Bologna, Modena, and Parma. It's still incredibly hot - temperatures in the 90s - so hopefully the air conditioning will be working on the trains!