Who let the dogs out?

I went running earlier today, and I had an interesting experience with dogs. At one point I was taking a break from running at a scenic overlook, sitting on top of a fire hydrant (they have flat tops here, don't worry) just minding my own business when two dogs came seemingly out of no where. They must have sensed an invasion on their urinary territory (the fire hydrant). They were cute little dogs, well groomed and everything, and they were friendly, so I wasn't worried. The problem was I wanted to keep running, and they wanted to follow me. The roads are very narrow here, and the dogs were walking in the middle. There is really no room to get off to the side, considering that many of the streets are walled in, so I was scared that the dogs were going to get hit by a car. While I was in the process of trying to tell these dogs to go home in Italian by saying, "No, no, casa, no," an older man came by also walking a dog. I thought perhaps the dogs were his, because he was whistling and saying something to them. So I sent the dogs to go with him. Only after doing this did I realize that the dogs were not his. He gave me a look and asked something in Italian. I think he said, "Are these your dogs?" I just waved and kept running. I don't know what the man ended up doing with the dogs, but at least I got rid of them.

Later, when I was further out in the country I found a little path that went into the woods from the roadside. I followed it for a ways, only to find that it led to someone's villa. The view was amazing though, so I was just sitting on a rock, taking it in, when I had another dog encounter. This time it was a cute little beagle, also very well-groomed and friendly. I petted him for a little bit, but then I wanted to continue my run. I went back out to the road, and, once again, the dog followed. Luckily, this one hung back when I started running, but passing cars were starting to give me dirty looks. Obviously they thought the dog was mine and I was allowing him to run in the middle of the street. I don't know what it was today...maybe my scent is very attractive to dogs when I sweat or something.

On another note, I also had history class today. We walked around Florence with our teacher, Luciana, as a guide. She is such a fun teacher. Her first language was German, her second Italian, and English came somewhere after that. I think she has also lived in the Middle East for a period of time. Many times she is unsure how to say something, and she will gesture and say words in all different languages until we figure out the English word. If we don't get it, she just says, "Well, okay, you already know." She is so excited about everything that she shows us, so that makes the class fun. Today we looked at a couple little chapels, the old tower houses, the old Roman city walls, Dante's house, and the inside of a large home from the 13th century. Luciana is a great guide because she takes us to the nooks and crannies that aren't usually explored by tourists.