Italia 2011: Libraries, Grocery Stores, and Hello Kitty

Mmm bus-stop yogurt

Today has been yet another exhausting day. No tours today, but this morning I was in the library (aka archive?) of the villa putting away some books. I'm not complaining about this though... I could spend 24/7 in there! What an amazing collection of materials on an immense number of artists and contemporary art, as well as an array of neat ephemera (invitations to art shows (one was even made of bronze), artistic little cards and letters to the Gori family, cds, etc.). All the materials are currently stored in giant shelf/cupboard things in alphabetical order. However, loose pieces of paper and delicate things like the invitations I mentioned are also just slotted in between the books, and as a result, many of them are getting bent, crushed, and probably lost. I spoke to Miranda about it and I'm really hoping she'll let me file all of these non-book items into folders to be stored separately... I (and my OCD) would find that really rewarding.

While I was putting away books, I flipped through them and discovered some artists whose work I really like. I've found some images of their work and inserted them below for your enjoyment. I really really like the work of Alberto Savinio, and as I came up the stairs from the library, I noticed that S. Gori actually has one of his paintings in the hall! So cool.

This afternoon Miranda drove Katie and I to the nearby grocery store. Our cupboards are literally bare, so we really had to stock up. Unfortunately, this also meant having to get the bus back. The walk from the grocery store to the bus stop is about 10 minutes. On the way, bus 25 (the bus we need to take) went past us twice. Then by the time we got to the bus stop, we had to wait in the sun 30 minutes for the next one. It got pretty hot in the sun, so I had one of the yogurts I bought (awesome european yogurt with 2 compartments - one for yogurt and one that holds delicious toppings like chocolate-y cereal and caramelized nuts), and ate it with a Hello Kitty spoon that came with a bowl I bought (see above picture). The worst part though, was after getting off the bus... walking uphill up a 1.5km driveway feeling like a packmule with sacks of groceries is not fun. At least I got some serious exercise. And we have food! Woohoo.

Ciao tutti!