Breakfast and Rain Storms

Thursday, September 27, 2007.

Wow. Huge breakfast spread here. Well, at least huge comparatively speaking. There’s bread for toast, and rolls, and sweet croissants. Strong black coffee and tea. Juice, milk, water. Cereal and sweet cookies. Butter, cream cheese, jam. Ham, cheese, even brie! I wish I could sneak Adam and Jen in here for breakfast (their hotel doesn’t supply it)—but it looks like they’ve got a tracking system here; all of the guests’ names are listed on a chalk board and as new people come down for breakfast, the attendant crosses off their names. Well, we could always pretend they’re the Figueroa couple or something, heh.

Last night was a quiet evening. After a simple meal of pizza and wine/beer, we headed back to our hotels for an early night. On the way back to the hotel, it started raining (it had been raining earlier in the evening, before dinner, and I thought, ugh, I guess I’ll have to find a street vendor and buy an umbrella so I don’t get soaked). And as I’d predicted a bunch of street vendors showed up on various street corners selling umbrellas. Bought one for 5 euro—probably a rip off but it was better than the alternative of getting soaking wet. And it’s nice and small and compact, so easy to pack in my backpack, too. I’m sure I’ll need it once I get to Paris.

After dinner, came back to the hotel and did some photo updates, commentary, and writing. Got super sleepy around 930pm or so, so I closed my eyes for a bit… and promptly dozed off (that’s the problem with doing all my writing from bed). I woke around midnight (I think?), and noticed the rain coming down in buckets—then the thunder and lightning started. I can’t remember the last time I witnessed a thunder and lightning storm. Waaaaay cool. Too bad I was too sleepy to get up and enjoy it properly (which means running around outside naked in the rain hoping to get struck by lightning. kidding. no, really.).

I’ve finished breakfast and am writing in my hotel room. Wow. It’s really coming down now. It rains in Vancouver, but it’s usually a pissy, drizzly kinda rain that sorta lasts all day without really giving up. Here, in Florence, the rain comes down in sheets for short bursts, then stops. Then starts up again with no warning. Just a few minutes ago, there was also the boom of thunder, seemingly right above my head. What’s odd is that it’s also sunny, and I can see outside my window that the clouds are moving quite quickly eastward. I wonder if there’s a rainbow somewhere. Oh, I just saw some lightning… and there’s more thunder. Yowsers. And it’s only 930am! (if i've uploaded this video correctly, you should be able to hear the rain that was falling in the courtyard outside my room, and a boom of thunder, too...)