A trip come and gone

Wednesday was an easier morning, with a late breakfast at the Bible school and our morning meeting. From the Bible school we went to hear director Jay Russell speak at the Villa where he was speaking in class for the HUF students. He is the director of films such as "My Dog Skip," "Water Horse," and "Ladder 49." He spoke about his career and opportunities we may have in the filming industry.

Following class, there was a 30th year celebration for the HUF program and several influential people were in attendance. I was able to meet with the deputy mayor of Florence. He is an interesting man and has spent a lifetime in politics and loves the city of Florence.

The peak of the day happened when we were able to see the Statue of David. It was an inspiring piece of art and I was lucky to have the chance to see the statue. We from the museum to dinner at a restaurant close to the church building.

We had the evening off, which I was able to get lost with one of my friends staying at the Villa. He encouraged me to get on a bus assuming that it would just circle around and bring us back to our destination. He was wrong. The bus continued on its route about 30 minutes outside of town and it stopped. We were on the last route of the evening for that particular bus and needed to get off in a village outside of Florence. I had no idea what to do because for the first time of our trip I left both my passport and money back at the Bible school. I had 10 euro on me and that was it. We were able to convince the driver to take us to a different bus stop by the deposit center. From there we walked for a few miles until we caught a bus that took us to the center of town. It was quite the event. I did however miss my bus back home because of the detour and had to wait by myself for 45 minutes at midnight for the next bus. Sorry mom, it was a pretty touch and go situation. I however made it back to the Bible school to end a very long night.

Thursday, the writing crew got up and spent the morning at different museums and then had a traditional lunch in Florence. The way meals work is there is a pasta dish to start off the meal and the second course was a meat with different sides. It was one of the best meals I've had in my time here and the best part was it cost me nothing. The rest of the afternoon was spent working on some articles I needed to finish up and the off to dinner at the Villa.

The dinner was good and the evening was filled with relaxing and having fun with the HUF group. It was one of the nicest nights we've had here because there was nothing to worry about. At the Villa, the Scandicci Jazz Band played a concert for the group.

Its hard to believe the week is over and my time in Florence is winding down. Time has flown by and my time is up. Tomorrow, I think I will be visiting Pisa and Cinque Terre.