Sunday, December 6, 2009

Christmas Market!

Look what I stumbled upon today. A German Christmas Market! I love these. They used to have a big one in Chicago, and last time I was in Europe they were all over. They're not as popular in Italy, but Florence has a pretty big one. Dante was watching the whole event with a disapproving look.

For some reason the Uffizi Gallery put me in a bad mood. Maybe I was already grumpy when I went, but I definitely was upon leaving. I’m just not big on crowds and disorganization, and this place had plenty. I rented an audio guide, and the guy had a smug way of way of saying “if you’re in the right room, you will see . . .” Jerk. How am I supposed to know if I’m in the right room when nothing is marked?! What, should the painting of the Madonna tip me off, because those are pretty much everywhere!


Sorry, had to vent a bit. And this is a stereotype, but it’s holding true. Asian tourists are quite pushy. I was cut off more than once by one of them, and the only time I saw one of the Gallery guard people get excited and yell was when an Asian girl started to pull food from her bag and eat it. Right in front of Botticelli.


The Christmas Market cheered me up, though, and so did a little shopping. There is a huge open market in Florence with stall after stall of scarves, leather jackets, purses, jewelry, you name it. I resisted buying any leather jackets or boots, although every vendor assured me they would give me a "special discount." Sure. The most important purchase I made was on my way back to the hotel, when I came across an electronics store and got an alarm clock. I've been missing that the entire time. In fact, I overslept this morning because I apparently didn't set the phone alarm correctly. I decided I couldn't risk that in the morning since I have such a tight schedule.


Here’s the sturdy German meal I had for dinner at the Christmas Market. I had to restrain myself from running to the French crepe stand instead, where they were making fresh crepes with Nutella and bananas. But maybe Tuesday . . .

4 comments:

  1. Techno-nerd question: is your pic of Dante from stock pictures, or is it one you took with your camera and uploaded? I'm only curious because when I click on it, it doesn't zoom ;)

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  2. That's strange. I took it myself, along with the others. Too bad it doesn't zoom! His expression is interesting.

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  3. We'll have to see how big we can make it when you get back and do your slide show!

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  4. I couldn't resist the urge to try to hack the blogsite to get at the zoomed picture:

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RSqso7hEsw0/SxwhA9YurDI/AAAAAAAAAEI/SDfwIP8hu_w/s1600-h/IMG_0258.jpg

    It is there, just not linked when I click it, I guess.

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