Markets and pubs

blanket/rug vendor at Cascine Market

It's been a very good and relaxing week. A nice calm before the study storm of next week. Last Sunday, I went to check out PlusFlorence hostel with my friend Issam (who I originally met through the horseback riding excursion). He'll be hosting my birthday party there tomorrow, the 29th. PlusFlorence has been voted one of the top 10 hostels in Europe. It's more of a resort than just a dorm-style hostel! It's private to hostel residents only usually, but since Issam has a friend who works there, we'll be able to invite our friends to attend the party. The lounge area is more like a discotheque:





Issam asked me how many people I was expecting to invite. I don't know all that many people here, but I told him at most there would be 10 people attending that I know. He responds: "Ok, so we should have about 50 people or so." Yep, he's a very social Italian. This should be a total hoot. There's nothing more entertaining than partying with Italians and others.

On Tuesday, I went to Cascine Park Market. I can best compare it to a vast, open-air garage sale. There were tables with new clothes and other tables with second-hand clothes where everything was priced 1 euro. People were swarming those tables like chickens eating corn. Some of the tables:





It was a very festive atmosphere where people brought out their kids, friends and pets to browse all the different stalls. I found this especially cute:



I thought it was pretty adorable and efficient at the same time.

This week an exhibit also opened near my school that features photos from my fellow students. The exhibit required each participant to have 3 related photos. I chose three photos of cats that I've taken randomly over the past few weeks. One was of an alley cat from the island of Murano and the other two were from the castle town of Monteriggioni near Siena. My photos are to the left-most side below:





Last night, I found a new little bar when I was walking around with my friends. It was called Angie's Pub and didn't look like much from the outside. I'm amazed how many places in Florence though will look tiny from the outside, but once you walk in, it's a mini labyrinth-like hang out. Some wild decorations! There was also a DJ for reggae-night.



the bartender even got into the dancing - very cute

The Christmas feel has been slowly creeping into Florence. And I'm happy that I don't have TV at my apartment because I didn't first realize this because of non-stop commercials advertising the season. No, it was because lights over the streets.



It was subtle, but made me smile and look forward to the festive season even though I'll be home for the actual Christmas day. It makes me sad that I'll be leaving Florence soon but also happy now because I'm really starting to feel more and more like a local. It doesn't matter that I can't fluently speak Italian. It's a feeling of confidence in the city and recognizing people in the street and knowing people when I walk into my favorite stores.