N and R are living kind of like Italians

We've been in Florence for nearly two weeks now. We wanted to stay in one place long enough to see what things are like if you live here, and arent just sight seeing. I'm not sure 2 weeks is enough to know, but we're doing our best to live kind of like italians.

This means that laundry is quite an ordeal, as no one here uses dryers, just washing machines and hanging. Our approach is slightly less postcard worthy than the typical image of clotheslines hanging fromm windows across narrow tuscan alleyways. Laundry looks like this:

We've also adopted the typical italian eating habits. Breakfast is always bread smeared with nutella, and lunch is usualy very light, a sandwich made from hardy bread, a slice of cheese, tomatoe, and in my case a couple slices of proscuitto. Lunch sometimes looks like this:

By american standards this would hardly be considered a snack, but it is the small breakfasts and lunches that allow italians to eat GIANT dinners. I've been pretty good about cooking dinner at home. It is usually 3 courses, and I try to make food that is typical of this part of italy. Normally after lunch I will go to the farmer's markets to buy fresh pasta, cheese, and vegetables. The butchers in these markets are rather intimidating, and i'm afraid what i might end up buying by mistake since they dont really speak much english.

One of the markets I go to is Mercato Centrale, a large indoor farmers market not unlike reading terminal in philly. It is next to San Lorenzo Cathedral. San Lorenzo is famous for its leather market, which is always very busy with tourists. I think it is a sham, since most of the stalls are run by middle eastern and indian men, and the bags are probably made in china. The prices are also high since it is "italian" leather products. The market and cathedral looks like this: