My girlfriend and I decided to take a day trip to Lucca yesterday. With such wonderful weather we've been having, I couldn't wait for our trip to Lucca. The last time I visited Lucca was almost three years ago and I remembered how much I liked it. I enjoy taking day trips in the spring because there seem to be fewer tourists. The streets in Florence were rather busy yesterday morning when we left, but I don't notice the crowds that much until I'm a part of them.

Today I made my way through the busy piazze to go to the Mercato Centrale (Central Market) in San Lorenzo. I miss going to my mercato in Sant'Ambrogio, but because there's only one pescivendolo (fish stand), I prefer to go to the Mercato Centrale to buy fish. I like to browse the multiple pescivendoli because I appreciate the choice that is available to me.

Two girlfriends of mine from Chile arrived in Florence on Friday to visit me. And when someone comes into town to visit, I always have to plug all my favorite places to visit. I told them that they had to visit the Bargello along with the Uffizi. The Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia has been on my list of places to visit and today, I finally got my chance.

I love Florence so much that sometimes I don't even want to leave it. I was happy however when my suoceri (in-laws) asked me out to lunch for primo maggio (May 1st, which is Labor Day in Italy) to the same osteria (restaurant) we went to in Castagno d'Andrea for Easter. When we went there just about five weeks ago, it was snowing so I was hoping for clear skies and warmer weather. Unfortunately, it was raining when we left, but after lunch, the sky cleared and we all went for a walk.

Last Saturday, I received a phone call from the woman at the comune (city hall) who is working on transcribing our marriage. She told me that the Consolato italiano (Italian consulate) had put the date of my divorce as my date of birth, including the year. To rectify it, she asked me to come by on Tuesday to sign a document stating the change to be made to our atto di matrimonio (marriage certificate).

After numerous sunny days in Florence, I thought for sure that the sun would be shining for my day trip to Siena today. But, this morning I woke up to the sound of rain. I admit I was a little disappointed, but not much would prevent me from visiting Siena as it's one of my favorite Tuscan cities to visit.

A dear friend of mine told me last year that I could ordinare una messa (order a mass) for my parents who had passed away a few years ago. She told me that there were two churches that allow people to ordinare una messa for the defunti (deceased). The first one, Santissima Annunziata, was right next to where I used to live last year. I went there at least ten times, but could never get the attention of anyone who worked there. The idea faded in my mind and then last week it came back, and I decided to do something about it.

Today I went to the Mostra internazionale dell'Artigianato with a new girlfriend of mine. I love artigianato (handicrafts), which is the slogan for this year's mostra (show). I am always amazed by the beautiful objects that these artists create and share with the world. I look forward to this mostra every year.

This morning I was sitting in Piazza Strozzi waiting for a good friend of mine so we could have a coffee. The sun was out, but I was sitting in the shade on the cement lip of the palazzo. The weather has been warming up, and at 10 this morning I was comfortable sitting outside. I began to write in my notebook while I was waiting and a zingara (gypsy) carrying a baby came to ask me for money. "Per favore, una monetina. (Please, a coin.)" I ignored her and kept writing. I pretended that she wasn't there and after a few tries, she stopped addressing me and just sat down about a foot away from me.

This morning I had to go to the Azienda USL di Firenze, which is Florence's healthcare office, to renew my healthcare tessera (card). The tessera allows me to get free healthcare in Italy, but mine expired last year with my previous permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay). A friend of mine had to come as well to sign up and get her tessera, so we decided to go together and turn it into something fun and interesting to do.

My plan for today was to just go to the comune (city hall) to drop off my notarized autocertificazione (self-declaration) and see my girlfriend Haruko for lunch. My plans always feel a bit loose as I'm happy changing them and adapting to whatever comes up. At noon, we still hadn't decided on where to go or where to meet. I called up Haruko and we decided on going to Osir, which is my favorite Chinese restaurant in Florence, because I hadn't been in a long time and she hadn't yet been.

After many visits to the comune earlier this year and one visit to an empty office on Monday, I finally got an answer about our certificato di matrimonio (marriage certificate) this last Tuesday. I found out that it arrived on March 10th from the Italian Consulate in the States, but had not yet been trascritto (transcribed).

After coming back from Thailand, I had secretly hoped that the weather would be warmer when we returned to Florence. I was thinking that by the middle of April, the temperatures would be a bit higher here, but lately it's been only about 10° to 13°C (50° to 56°F).

On the front of the Palazzo Vecchio is a large red gonfalone (banner) that says, "Human Rights in Tibet." A friend of mine told me it was there and I had to take a walk this evening to see it for myself. As I stood in Piazza della Signoria I wondered who thought of printing it and displaying it in front of the Palazzo Vecchio above the Giglio di Firenze (Florentine Lily) and below the flags for Europe, Italy and Florence.

The first thing I noticed during my first stroll through Florence wasn't the tourists, but the zingari (gypsies). When we were on the train from Rome, I had overheard an Italian woman talk about how there were a lot of zingari. I tend to not see them, but today, it seemed that they were everywhere I went.