Ahh Toscana

Week 4--an easy week! We were in Salsomaggiore for Monday and Tuesday (in the same school). We stayed literally one minute from the school, and it managed to take us 25 minutes to get there on Monday morning. How? We have no idea. Our navigator is the worst. The maps are over a year old--the one way streets now go different ways, there are new roundabouts....We also did Bugsy Malone for the first time. It's a musical that the kids get to be in....we just sort of facilitate it. One of the actual lines in the show (after Bugsy says his girls are sexy) is "They won't be sexy if we hit them!" We think this is hilarious. We went to Parma on Sunday and Monday. Parma is basically the home of proscuitto. We had dinner on Valentine's day in this EXCELLENT restaurant. A totally typical Parma dinner with prosciutto, pasta, and a red wine called Lambrusco. It's fizzy and sweet. All you white wine drinkers might just like it! We also happened upon a CHOCOLATE festival in the main piazza. Dangerous. And delicious. We went in again on Monday for some general shopping and wandering around. It was basically dark for most of the time, but it was nice to just have a walk around. So beautiful there!

Then on Tuesday night, we drove to Arezzo! Hooray! We stayed about 10 minutes from the center in a real apartment. We had a kitchen and living room, and three bedrooms. So nice to have some space! We had a nice dinner of SALAD on Tuesday night (mmm vegetables), which we discovered was the last night of Carnevale. So Caroline and I walked into the center to check it out. The streets were flooded with people in costumes (think Halloween). On the way into the center we saw this guy in a costume and asked where we should go to see some of Carnevale (we didn't know it was going to be all in the street)--we ended up meeting up with his friends in a cafe. It was actually pretty awkward because there was a table full of guys, mostly dressed up as girls, one old man from Verona having dinner alone but occasionally joining in the conversation, Caroline, and me. But we stayed for some wine because it was funny, and then had a stroll through the piazza.

We were working about 30 minutes outside Arezzo in Castiglion Fiorentino on Wednesday and Thursday morning. BUT the drive was GORGEOUS. Both times I forgot to take my camera (dumb). It's a struggle to get myself dressed and out the door in the morning...Anyway, the mornings were sunny and it was just SO nice to see so much green everywhere! I actually walked around with a t-shirt on! The town we were working in was very cute and surrounded by beautiful hills. Actually, we performed in a gym that was once a church! So funny. Imagine an old, beautiful church with decorative walls, and basketball hoops. So strange. I did my workshops on the 4th floor (so many stairs to climb!) with STUNNING views. What a nice life those kids have.

On Wednesday afternoon, I went on a walk through Arezzo. It was so nice! It felt really comfortable and easy being there, because I knew people and places. I went for gelato at my favorite gelateria, visited Antonio the leather man and bought a present for Pres's bday, and went to the Accademia dell'Arte! Unfortunately, no one I really knew was there, but I got to see the school and use the internet which was so good. I left my number for my friend Dory--who invited me Thursday for dinner and cabaret at ADA. BUT her dog died on Thursday evening so it all got cancelled. What luck! Thursday afternoon I did a lot of laundry at the laundrette which was actually nice because it only to 1 hour to wash and dry. We went for a light dinner and then went to Mr. Bloom's (a bar) in the center where I used to go at ADA. Also, the school we worked in on Thursday was so close to ADA! I literally could see it from the window of my classroom. How strange to end up in that little school...

So on Friday night we were supposed to head to Rome to stay in the ACLE flat for the weekend, but then we realized we were working not at all near Rome on Monday and called the office to make sure that was intentional. They ended up letting us stay in Florence for the weekend!! We stayed right outside the city in the nicest agriturismo. They made us the best breakfast! They cooked beans in the fire in this huge pit all night long, and dumped them on homemade bread with olive oil. Then we had a huge sampling of homemade jams and fresh blackberry juice and cakes. Mmmmm. All with stunning views. So good. Had a really great sightseeing day in Florence on Saturday. We took the bus into the center, went to the galleria l'accademia, where the David is (knocks me out), the Duomo (knocks me out). We also had a delicious dinner. There's this soup Florence is know for called Ribollita. It's hearty vegetable soup with bread in it and I ate it every day we were in Florence. So good after a cold day outside!

Sunday we went back into the center to have lunch and pick up Caroline (who studied in Florence for a year and spent the weekend with friends). Her friends made us coffee and then we hit the road!

Now we've started on a difficult week 5...We had three shows and workshops back to back this morning--5 minute breaks between. In the middle of the last show kids and parents were literally walking through our show to exit because we were set up in a corridor--such a mess. My kids in the last workshop were rowdy to boot. So an afternoon nap was in order! We have full days for most of this week with lots of driving, but we are looking so forward to next week when we start our residence in Rome!! We are not quite sure how long we will be there, but at LEAST a week. We were supposed to be in residence the last 2.5 weeks before Easter break, but we've now been put in early. We hope we get to stay until Easter! We get to buy groceries and unpack our bags. So excited for that. And we have internet in the flat! Every day!

Have some great pics that I'll post soon!! Got to upload them first, but have to rehearse NOW.

Much love to all--I miss you guys!