I went to the monastery at San Marco where the great artist Fra Angelico painted the cells of the monks. I was very happy sitting in the cloister and then exploring the monastery and looking at the beautiful paintings. I think it was my favorite thing, and I'm glad I saved it for the last day.
Afterwards I bought my train ticket to the airport and then walked over to the Duomo. I was already exhausted by then and so didn't plan on walking up the 460 steps to the top of the dome, but I decided I would, since I didn't know when I'd come back to Florence and since this is Brunelleschi's masterpiece that I have studied and read about for years. So I did it, despite my claustrophobia and my acrophobia. I was shaking most of the time, but I finally made it up there and saw quite a view. It was pretty great and I'm glad I did it. I was a little wobly coming down and i banged my hurt arm on a pole or something and hurt it kinda badly. Good thing I had bandaids with me.
Afterwards I bought my train ticket to the airport and then walked over to the Duomo. I was already exhausted by then and so didn't plan on walking up the 460 steps to the top of the dome, but I decided I would, since I didn't know when I'd come back to Florence and since this is Brunelleschi's masterpiece that I have studied and read about for years. So I did it, despite my claustrophobia and my acrophobia. I was shaking most of the time, but I finally made it up there and saw quite a view. It was pretty great and I'm glad I did it. I was a little wobly coming down and i banged my hurt arm on a pole or something and hurt it kinda badly. Good thing I had bandaids with me. 
After that I got some last minute shopping done and came back to the apartment by 4. I probably should have stayed out longer, since its my last day, but I am so exhausted and my feet feel like they are broken and bruised. So I came back, made some food and packed up my stuff. I'm all ready to go now. Soon Jendar and her roommate Joanna will come back and I will take them out to dinner to say thank you for letting me stay here without paying anything. After that we'll get the best gelato I have ever had and hang out on one of the bridges. A perfect ending, yeah?
Gosh, I am going to miss this place. I'm going to miss the people and the grocery stores and the way everyone drives. I'm going to miss the busses and the different smells of the city. That's what I noticed most on my first day, how different it smells here. I leave tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning and get home around midnight, which will be about 8:00 here. That's 24 hours of traveling that I am not looking forward to. When I get back I am going to stay at my sister's house for a couple of days to take care of her animals while she and her husband are out of town. I'll have a nice tv all to myself and hopefully I'll be able to recover from my jetlag before i get back to Provo on Saturday night. We'll see.
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