Cappuccio, Per Favore!

Sometimes, I forget to listen.  Well, lots of times.  Today, we started at a local caffeteria to get some breakfast.  I almost walked out, because it was wicked crowded and noisy, but then I decided to just stand and see and hear what everyone else was doing.  Here's what I learned:

• You can get all your food, coffee, etc, and then pay for it as you leave.  No need to wait in all those lines right away.
• When faced with imminent disappointment that the cappuccino seems awfully little (they are about 3 or 4 ounces here), just hang tight and listen.  The guy next you just ordered a "cappuccio," and it was lots bigger.  Ah, remember how your daddy called you "carina" when you were little instead of "cara," or called your daughter "nipotina" instead of "nipote?"  Adding the "ina" or "ino" makes it diminutive, so the "cappuccio" is the bigger form of cappuccino!  AHA!
• even if you cannot figure out exactly what each of those pastries are, there isn't a bad one among them - seriously.  Just point at one and you will be a happy girl!
• as packed as the caffeterias are in the morning, and as empty as the shops are (devoid of shopkeepers, that is, for two or three hours) in the afternoon, Italians don't seem to work very much; I may want to move here!

And so, buzzing along on my caffeine-induced high, I hit the streets.  The word for today was LEATHER.  I shopped the leather market stalls, saw the leather school (way overpriced), and then bought a really cute pair of shoes.  Now, maybe, just maybe, my feet can be as cutely covered as the rest of the Florentines.  

I also did a lot of nothing today, walked around a bit, relaxed some more, went shopping with Sara (thus, the shoes), did some "homework" so I could tell Sara my top choices for museums to see next week during our three-day museum blitz, and relaxed some more.  We decided to have a little glass of wine before deciding where to eat, but ended up eating at the wine bar (where we ate the first night), and are hitting the sack early to get up at 4:30 am to head to Rome for the day.

Oh yeah, and I did a load of laundry.  I feel soooooo productive.

Nothing else to report, except that Zeph has stopped saying, "Buongiorno," and replaced it with, "Cinque Terre."  He really needs to be a voiceover on the next Mario Brothers game.

OK, off to bed.  Buona notte!!