February 8, 2009

went to mass at Santissima Annunziata. I was running a little late, though, so I rode Nadia's bike up there. I think I'm starting to get the hang of biking around Florence. It wasn't nearly as scary this time. I think Santissima Annunziata has the most community feel of all the churches I've gone to so far. There was an altar boy which I haven't seen at any other mass, and I didn't see a schedule of tourist hours anywhere. There were pews reserved for children and babies, too, which was different, and a bunch of little kids got to bring up the gifts. Churches seem to attract the shortest people in Florence, though. Out on the street I never feel that tall, but every time I go to church, I feel like I'm towering over all the other women. The two girls sitting next to me today barely came up to my shoulder, and I saw one nun who couldn't have been more than four and a half feet tall. The Italian women must shrink a lot as they grow older, because these little old ladies don't look like midgets; they just look like gravity got the better of them.