...da Firenze

Tags: angel carnevale di viareggio this is an actual person despite what photoshop says

a poem titled “In Florence”

So I had to write a poem for my Writing About Florence class about the foreign and the familiar. I’m not sure if I like it or not but I think I like it enough to put it on here.

My professor kept asking people who read their poems out loud, “is this your first poem? Have you ever written poetry before?” One girl said that this was her first poem ever. I find that hard to believe. You never had to write a poem in middle school? Really? Even my little brother has written a poem and he’s 12. I remember the first line clearly:

Happiness is like a good cup of joe.

Therefore, saying you don’t write poetry/have never written poetry is not an excuse to write bad poetry and yes, there is such a thing as bad poetry.

On Rome, Viareggio, and Jane Austen

Firenze 1:05 pm

Rome. No Venice, but I did go to Carnevale di Viareggio.

Rome probably would have been better if I hadn’t missed the bus in the morning. The whole trip is tainted with my stupidity. So, I had to e-mail five people to get Francesca’s number so that I could meet the group in Rome. I blew 45 euros, a couple hours and a trip to St. Peter’s Basilica but at least I made it. Fortunately (maybe), the school brilliantly decided to plan the Rome trip on a weekend when the Vatican was closed so St. Peter’s is the only thing I missed. Unfortunately, the weather decided to ice up the Colosseum floor so our tour group wasn’t allowed to go inside. We were able to see the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Jewish Ghetto, and Piazza Navona. I spent about 2 hours eating lunch and then I went off by myself to see the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Everything was unreal – especially the Trevi Fountain because I did not expect it to be so massive and so crowded. It was beautiful. I still really want to go to the Vatican and inside of the Colosseum, so hopefully I’ll be able to do that with my Mom when she visits.

I decided not to go to Venice with my class. One, I was sick and I didn’t feel like walking around near the cold water for the entire. I’m pretty sure that would have put me out of commission for the next week. Two, it would have cost me 80euro and it was only a day trip. Just to take some pics? No thanks.