Having a birthday in Florence

     The day began with learning il passato prossimo (past tense) in my language class, with Chiara and Maureen from California.  There are a bazillion grammar rules in Italian which don't translate into English all the time.  For instance, in English, we have the simple past tense, but in Italian, the past tense is formed with essere or avare ( to be or to have) and a past participle--at least that's what I understand---and I could be wrong, because the whole class is in Italian.
     Instead of studying, I came back and read The Celestine Prophecy (note to my book group at home!) and hung out in my sunny apartment. Nicole had bought me a bouquet of yellow daisies which she left in a vase on our white table.

    To celebrate,  Dawn, Monika, Nicole and I ate at il Gastone, a restaurant recommended by one of my cooking teachers.  I had a cod, eggplant, and pecorino cheese dish and chocolate cake for dessert.  I would describe the decor as modern, white and gleaming.  (Sorry, folks, but I have lost my English vocabulary.)  I have no new revelations except that Florence expects one to look beautiful (did I write this already?) And I am panicking because I only have a week and a half left here and want to squeeze every last drop out of it!!