Since we've arrived in the States a few weeks ago, we've been busier than ever. We have flown to different cities (and states), stayed in our relative's and friend's houses, and driven around a little bit. We've been to Las Vegas, Denver, Breckenridge (CO), Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Los Gatos, and Sacramento. We've done a lot in such a short amount of time and have visited almost everyone we came here to see.

Before I left on my trip to the US, I was quite emozionata (emotional) about leaving my beloved city. I ran around town to see a few of my friends in the days before I left to say good-bye. It was quite difficult for me to see a few of my friends, so I ended up not seeing them all face-to-face. It sounded like forever when I told them that I'd be gone an entire month. I didn't want to dwell on my not being there as I really wanted to enjoy my time in the US.

Today is the first day that we didn't have to go to the airport and take a plane. Today, in Las Vegas, we took a taxi to the Fashion Show mall, which is on the other end of town from our hotel. We haven't been in a mall since we were in the US last year; I forgot how big and airy the malls are.

For the past three days, we've been flying in and out of different cities and countries. We've gone from Pisa to London, from London to San Francisco, and today from San Jose to Las Vegas. We arrived in Las Vegas where the temperatures felt much more like what we have in Florence right now, although much dryer.

Everyone told me how I should know that flying out of Heathrow would be a nightmare. I found, however, that things went quite smoothly. We checked in at the self-service area, checked in our luggage, went through security, and that was it.

On our trip to San Francisco, we decided to fare uno scalo (have a layover) in London for the night. We haven't been in a few years and love the city and wanted to see a few friends for dinner.

I went all over town today buying a few last minute items before we take off to the US for a few weeks. I have already written down what I'm going to do when I get to California and it is all centered around food.

After dropping off my sample at the punto prelievi/analisi (samples/analysis laboratory) almost 9 days ago, the risultati (results) were finally ready to be picked up today. The last time I was at the punto prelievi/analisi, I read on a sign that they only give out the risultati between 11:30AM and 12:30PM. In big print underneath, it said, "Né prima né dopo." (Not before and not after.)

I read an article in this month's Per Me magazine in which I learned a few things from a sondaggio (survey) of 500 Italians regarding città italiane (Italian cities). The results involved a few of my favorite cities: Rome, Venice, Milan, and, of course, Florence.

Every once in a while while I'm walking in the streets of Florence alone, a man will often inch up alongside of me and talk to me. My reaction is to look straight ahead and ignore him. The guy gets frustrated and even if he says something rude, he eventually stops.