Mom, Dad, and Aunt Cindy arrived in Florence Thursday afternoon! I met them in their hotel lobby. We then walked around for a bit and went to a restaurant by the fake David and had a lunch/dinner. Then we came back to the hotel and just hung out and went to bed. They were all pretty jet-lagged. Understandable.
The next day we did Pitti Palace and The Boboli Gardens. In the palace, there were several things to see. We saw the palace apartments (so just like all the main rooms. Aka tons of rooms filled with tons of art) and we also saw the costume exhibit. After the palace we went out to the gardens, which were beautiful! Great views of Florence, too! We also went to the Bardini Gardens which were very beautiful as well. We then had lunch right outside the palace. After lunch I wanted some gelato (naturally) so we began our search for Vivoli. Vivoli is the best gelato place in Florence. I had been there just once before when my professors took us on a walking tour of the city. The problem is, it’s super tricky to find. So we walked around for a while, then Aunt Cindy stopped and asked someone where to go. Anyways, we found it! SO good! I also felt since it was hard to find/maybe I would never make it back/I had walked around SO much that day…. that I should get the medium size…so I did. Banana and Chocolate. We came back to the hotel and rested and then had dinner at this place right across from the hotel. It’s called “Obika: A Mozeralla Bar”. Mmm! I love cheese. So we had a platter with three kinds of mozzarella, then mom and I split a pizza and a salad. I had gelato after dinner, too. Zoops.
Saturday was our first of two days with our wonderful driver David! He was our driver on both Saturday and Sunday. We planned to just do 2 day trips with him to Siena and Luca, but it was fantastic because we actually ended up seeing SO much more! He picked us up at 9 at the hotel. First, we stopped at the American cemetery in Florence. Then we went to Greve in Chianti, he wanted to take us there because only on Saturdays they have farmers’ markets and its only locals that go. We got to the market and mom bought some grapes, Aunt Cindy bought a hat…and guess what I bought!? A hair dryer and straightener! Hahah What else would you get at a farmers’ market!? There was a little store at the end selling them and they were way cheaper than they are here in Florence! Legit.
After Greve we got in the car and drove to Siena. Siena was kinda crowded, but really cool! We looked at the piazza where they hold the Palio, we went in the beautiful cathedral, and then we went to the top of this wall by the cathedral and had a gorgeous panoramic view of Siena. Got some great pictures! After Siena we drove for a bit. The drive between Siena and San Gimignano was so pretty. Filled with vineyards and very green. Looked a lot like the good ol’ NV. Between Siena and San Gimignano we stopped and had lunch at a winery. It had beautiful views (check the pics on FB). Lunch was a “light lunch” but we were stuffed! It was delicious with great wine, too! Then we drove to San Gimignano. We got there and walked through the town. It’s a pretty small town, but they have these cool huge towers! I got gelato when I was there. Then we got back in the car and drove back to Florence. We then just hung out in the hotel and went to sleep. It was a long day.
Sunday we met David again at 9 and drove to Pisa. I have been there in ‘09 (where Cara and I took our legit Christmas card picture). I really love Pisa, you get so many great pictures there! It was a little bit different from ’09 because the tower didn’t have that belt on it, and the tower looked cleaner. Oh annnnddd Cara and I took our cool jump Christmas card pic on the grass, but now you can’t even go on the grass! It’s all roped off. Booo! After we got some pics, we went in both the cathedral and baptistery. After Pisa we drove to Lucca, where we spent majority of the day. We walked around a bunch. Lots of little shops were closed because it was a Sunday. We had lunch in Lucca, I got pesto gnocchi. After Lucca we headed back to Florence, but stopped at the church in the hills called San Miniato. We went in the church and took some pics of the view (It looks over all of Florence). Then we came back and had dinner at 13 Gobi. After that they walked me back to Gallo and met my roomies :) That’s a pretty good summary of our weekend.
During this week I have been going to classes and then joining the fam for dinner. Monday night Ali (my friend from home) joined us for dinner,too. During the day the fam has just been shopping, and seeing probably every single church in the city of Florence. I am staying with them in the hotel some nights, but not others. Classes have been fine. Really overwhelming to have 4 classes on both Mondays and Tuesdays…..I hate it. Wednesdays are better and Thursdays are legit cause I only have 2 classes. This Friday is my last day with my fam :(, but on Saturday I am doing a day trip to Venice with one of my roomies (Nancy) and Ali (same Ali as mentioned above). So I’m really excited for that! Sunday I’ll just catch up on work and stuff. Oh and as of yesterday I have been away from home for a month! Pretty weird…can’t decide if it feels like a month or if it feels longer /shorter. Whatever it is, it has been an amazing month and can’t wait for the next two months that follow!
Al
Best time ever! Grandpa on the way. Who's next!?
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