Making friends

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I was heading into Florence to meet a friend for dinner when I got a call from her that she is delayed because the buses are striking - she was told when she called the helpline that service should resume in about 2 hours.  I myself am suspicious...it sounds more like an extended coffee break than any kind of effective strike, but there you go.  So anyway, I have some sudden free time while I wait for her and stopped into an internet point.

As predicted, I am making friends with my neighbors ... or more accurately, their scarey-ass cats.  I came back home to my apartment the other day and was tooling around when I suddenly turned around and there, sitting in my window ledge, was this freaky cat just staring at me...and we have no screens in the window.  Mind you, I'm on the 6th floor facing the street.  I would've thought my windows were safely within a cat-free zone.  But no.  And this cat, unlike the other benign cats I've met that dress up in cowboy outfist and play the banjo (aka Charlie Tsai), was a devil cat.  I tried to shoo him away but it only resulted in a sad kind of standoff, and I think the cat won.  I shut the window but he just stood there staring at me evily, so finally I just closed the shutters on him.  I thought I had made myself clear on my stance on cats but then the next night, I was sitting in my apartment and there was a sudden thud - the cat had returned throwing himself at my window.  He just stayed pressed up against it staring at me.  This cat has totally beat me in our psychological war.  Crazy Italian cats.

Italian lessons are going well.  Yesterday, the German dude leaned over to tell me something and without warning, his chair broke and he bit it hard.  It was awesome.  And I'm glad to see that I haven't lost my touch and the men still fall at my feet even in Italy.  :-) I am set this weekend to watch a flag throwing contest here in Florence.  Lots of men in tights throwing flags.  No more need be said.  And then I am attempting a °relaxing° bike ride in tuscany...apparently its alot of uphills but there is a wine tasting at the end so I'll have inspiration.  Ciao for now - and thanks for the emails!