An Assignment

Yesterday I had a meeting about an internship with The Florentine, the english language newspaper here that publishes every two weeks. In preparation, I came up with a list of seven (7) terrific ideas to show my potential editor so that she knows that I'd be an active, aggressive, creative, on-the-ball, all-around awesome intern. After reading off my list (while using emphatic hand gestures, because words alone did not capture how terrific these ideas were), my potential editor stared at me blankly for a moment and then said, "Is that all?" 

Okay, so my list of ideas didn't quite make it to the double digits, but it's about quality over quantity, right? And I had some pretty good story suggestions -- some of my ideas (i.e. more than half) were so good that they had already been published in previous issues! For some reason my potential editor saw this as a bad thing. 

But I still got the internship. And my first story is due in seven (7) days. And it's supposed to be about mushroom hunting. Specifically, my personal experience in mushroom hunting. Which is kind of a problem, since I have never been mushroom hunting, and I am way too poor/unwilling to pay 120 euros for a mushroom hunting guide. I also do not have a mushroom hunting license. 

So ... does anyone have advice on illicit mushroom hunting in the immediate Tuscan area?

P.S. 18 people have died in the last 10 days while hunting for mushrooms in Northern Italy. I am SO excited about this assignment.