Presentations went til about one. The presentations here were top notch. Unbelievable the talent and intellect of my fellow students. How honored I am to be with them all. Then Lorri from Holland made us all Holland style pancakes. Yum. We gave Michael a card to 'Michael the Magnificent' on a Venus post card with a bottle of olive oil. He loved that. He is off to Holland today for a holiday with his family. We will not see him there. I finished my essay and left it on his desk by 3:00. I went shopping and tried to see a few sights like the Baptistery and the Boboli gardens at the Pitti Palace. The palace was closing, so that is for next time, but the ticket man felt sorry for this tired sweating women who arrived on foot too late and gave her a free pass into the Boboli gardens of Eleanora Medici. They are traditional Italian gardens. Some parts are not well kept and the green was suffering from the heat. No flowers aside from a side rose garden. The garden ascends high up behind the palace, sweeping the hill like a fan. There are terraced pathways that lead you up and funnel you back down again to the beginning. It is a maze but you can not get lost as it is designed to head you to the start which is also the end of the garden. fountains and gazebos and grandeur. The views of the city were wonderful. An excellent hill work out for all my athletic friends.
Then I went to the group dinner and got home after 11 and have been packing. I waited a long while for the bus at the stop but it seemed to never show. At that hour it only comes on the hour apparently. How ever there is also this thing called 'Italian' time. A girl came and was checking the schedule, and then moved further down the street to watch for the bus. Finally after a while I asked her if the bus was coming - otherwise I had a walk ahead of me alone. She spoke enough English to guide me. From her vantage point she was watching two different bus stops. When one was sighted she motioned me to follow her. I did. We went across the meridian and ran over the road ways and side walk and another little area and there it was, the bus we needed. It was not the one I usually take, not 37 or 13 or 12. Anyhow I trusted her and hopped on. It took me right where I needed to go to walk to my hotel. I was home by 11:30 and I started to pack. Yikes,I do not know how I got here as nothing was going into the suitcase as easily as it had came out. There is no room for my purchases. I had to abandon a few items and pounce on my suitcase. I made it but my bag is very heavy. We are only allowed 20Kg and one 10kg carry on bag. I technically have three carry on bags, but could combine two so that makes two. Oh well I will pay if need be. Good night - 12:30 a.m.
I am posting this on the 18th.
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