March 21

I woke up early this morning to get in some last minute studying. Yes, studying. I had two midterms today: one in Renaissance Civilization and the other in Italian. Renaissance wasn't a piece of tiramisu, per se, but I think my essay on Massacio's art was enough to seal a good grade. I was actually quite nervous for my Italian exam. The class has covered a lot of material and, geez, Italian has a lot of articles (li, le, lo, la, ne, nel, del, de, l' and on). Poor Maggie had to spend the afternoon alone exploring Florence while Kelsey and I finished up our tests. But, something tells me she didn't mind--Florence ain't all that bad, right? After a horrifying 30 minute wait at the LdM print center to print all of my spring break boarding passes, I met up with Kelsey and Maggie to play tour guide. We stopped by Piazzale Michelangelo and enjoyed the views and live music. By the time dinner rolled around, we had one thing on the brain: Gusta Pizza. Gusta has a huge study abroad student following, but also comes packed with Italians--a sign it has to be good. Gusta didn't open until 7, but we started a line at the entrance of the restaurant around 6:45 that soon wrapped around the building. We were beyond bummed when the manager opened their back door first; the restaurant quickly filled up and we watched with vengeful eyes from the windows in the front. Another 30 minute wait at the back door, and we finally had ordered. My favorite pizza of theirs is called the Gusta: rucola, Parmesan-Reggiano, cherry tomatoes. We shared a small table with another group, but it was all worth the wait. We ended the night with episodes of New Girl (can't tell you how much I missed that show) and I could barely keep my eyes open by 10pm. Pooped, pooped, pooped.