It-Alli-a: "1 is a Womanizer, 1 Needs a Ouija Board, and 1 Uses a Phychic"

Sabato, Gennaio 30:

This day was our first field trip to Arezzo! Our tour guide, Giovanni was hilarious! He had so many fun anecdotes, I wish I could bottle him up and take him along all my trips! The first part of the trip was nice, then the rain came! (I wouldn't have minded as much if I had remembered my umbrella! I guess I will need another trip to the market). We ate lunch at Il Chioschetto (it was one of the only restaurant open at siesta time in the afternoon and we were all soooo hungry! There we had our first Italian Pizze! (Oh, my goodness, we all had been craving pizza for sooo long!) The waiter even spoke English, but we all still tried out some of our Itlalian. I think we were entertaining to some local diners as they sat patiently watching us and smiling at our broken Italian. I tried to order some Iced Tea, but was informed this is only a summer drink (ahhhh, so sad!!!) After a long lunch we made our way back to the train station so we could prepare for our 1.5ish mile hike back up to Santa Chiara. All in all, we walked 5.5 miles that day.

Anecdotes of the Day (courtesy of Giovanni):

-His wife is from Dallas, and taught him English so we should be able to understand him (saying it with a Texan accent and throwing a Y'all in there)

-"The worst thing the Italian government did was save the Fiat! They are taking over, they're everywhere. (and they're ruining buildings with all their pollution!)"

-mocking the Italian government and the people running for office, he jokes that "one is a womanizer, one needs a Ouija Board, and one uses a psychic"

-He warned the guys not to date women from Arezzo because they have such high taste and will expect the guys to buy them everything.

-"Italian women may be beautiful, but once you take off their purse, coat, and clothes there is nothing left!, Their purse is all the weight they have!" He went on to say, "My wife is beautiful and has a nice smile, and when you get rid of her purse and clothes, she is STILL THERE!"

-He bashed on the pope too: "Unhappy pope. Always makes faces when he hugs little children", "he makes announcements [with hands together in a bow], that he [the pope] is going on vacation. While the little man is here working. Why don't you work for once and give all of us a vacation!"

-His mom said he used to talk so fast as a kid, being a tour guide is perfect for him.

-He gets so excited about facts, he starts to tell his wife something and "she says I know, I know Giovanni, you told me before!...I heard it before! But it gets really bad when she just asks to stay in the car. Then I get sad!"

(window detail on a hotel)

(Ruins of a Roman Amphitheater in Arezzo)

(Medieval storefront)

(Clock tower in Piazza Grande, Arezzo)

(Store fronts facing the Piazza Grande. These were shown in the movie "Life is Beautiful". The middle creme one is from the scene where the lady drops the key to the man below.)

(the loggia adjacent to the Piazza Grande)

(Wealthy families' coats of arms. The large one on the right is from the Medici Family.)

(Old Man. I've noticed I like to take pictures of unsuspecting old people. They just make such great scale figures!)

(Old Couple. More unsuspecting old people. This couple was so patient as they waited for me to take a picture of the fort wall that surrounds Arezzo, but they didn't realize I really wanted them in my picture.)