Saturday

I enjoyed sleeping in today and then spending some time working on my course paper.  I felt good about the progress I made, in fact I didn't really want to quit writing but Charis and I had plans to try to find the museum of musical instruments today.  The other girls in our apartment went to the beach, which is about 45 min away by bus.  Charis and I are not beach lovin people -- which to those of you who are is really incomprehensible. But the sand, the sun and the water are all wasted on us.

We navigated our way to an unfamiliar part of town and managed to pick the right bus and using our map found our way to the right building.  We had the place to ourselves -- go figure! :)  It was great fun seeing the collection of old instruments from around the world, some of which were totally inexplicable.  Something I had not seen before were instrument like a violin but only slightly wider than the fingerboard.  Also, they had a whole collection of lutes made from armadillos. The variations on the piano and organ were pretty cool too.

We felt like pros as we made our way to the bus stop and had no trouble getting back to familiar territory.  It may seem like a small accomplishment but for us it was big!

Our apartment and a couple of girls from another have been having fun hanging out together and we decided tonight was the best night to really splurge at a good restaurant.  We chose the one in our neighborhood situated in the piazza with the fountain.  It is always packed and hard to get into without a reservation.  We made reservations early in the evening and went back for dinner at 7:30.

I had an avacado-mango-palm heart salad with balsamic vinaigrette, ravioli and tiramisu for dessert.  We all agreed it was one of the best places we've eaten yet. The fountain area is always crowded with people just hanging out with friends every single night.  Sometimes someone plays music and it's always an active place.

It's a little hard thinking this is our last week here. The time has flown by and at the same time it feels like we've been here an age.  I will be ready to be home but I'm determined to just take the moments as they come without tingeing them with regret.

We're planning to check out the 1st-sunday-of-the-month antiques market tomorrow...I just have to keep remembering to keep it light and flat! Here's hoping tomorrow is a little cooler than today.  It was in the upper 80's and seemed even hotter walking on the hot cobblestones.  We do not have air conditioning in our apartment. We open our windows wide and hope for a breeze! Considering the weather we've left behind, I guess I'd better shut up about it, though. :)

Time for me to get busy with more writing before heading to bed.  See you all soon!