Wednesday night, Kenan and I spent some time making sweets for Austin's arrival. Since we have no oven in our apartment, we have to settle for no-bake (baked) goods. We made our own Reese's and they turned out to be pretty good-- but who knows, maybe it's just because we are deprived of the lovely chocolatey- peanut butter treat here in Italy.
Thursday morning, I came back from a run to hear the words "Train Strike" coming from Anna's mouth. Of. course. I became a bit worried that Austin wouldn't get here that day, but it turns out he made it here early and had not even heard of the strike until I brought it up. Really, only half (if that) of the trains were cancelled. The train station was pleasantly quiet as well-- so it all turned out for the best.
It was great to see him after 2 months of being here and even greater that I got to show him around the new city I had been living in and the new culture I had been experiencing. After dropping his stuff off at the apartment we headed our for a long walk around the city. Now, thinking back to how insanely tired I was when I arrived, I'm pretty impressed that he could walk at all or understand anything I was rambling on about for that matter. We decided to stay in that night because jet lag quickly overtook him, but the next day was completely jam packed with exploring the city. Many of the things we did, I had yet to see as well! We got up early to head to the Uffizi and see the greatest art of the Renaissance and earlier. I had really only seen about 4 rooms of work from the pre-session, so it was nice to continue the journey around the massive museum.
Afterwards, fog still rolling through the city, we set off to see the Boboli Gardens. Best idea. They were absolutely gorgeous and even with the cloudy skies, the pale green of the trees and water shone brilliantly through. We meandered through different parts of the garden, and as we headed to the far right gardens, the sun peaked through the clouds and the day was instantly beautiful. I had thought the gardens were nice, but boy did they sparkle as the sun broke through the canopy of trees we walked under. I had not been to the Boboli Gardens yet, and I now know I will definitely be back. Every turn was a different journey! After the gardens, stomaches grumbling, we headed to Gusta Pizza to try some of the best Pizza in Florence. Arriving right after school got out, we had to wait in line for a little while but the food was, as usual, very worth it.
That night for the sunset, we headed to my favorite place in Florence: Piazzale Michelangelo. People of all ages were there, some with wine, others with cameras, to press play and watch the sky turn to a deep pink and bright orange over the tuscan hills filled with olive trees. It was the best short film I had ever seen! Afterwards we headed to my favorite restaurant in town (so far), Baldovino (I told you it was a packed day). With a wonderful atmosphere and incredible food, it was a dinner well spent. Sleepy-eyed after a long day, we walked back to the apartment to hang out with everyone before Austin had to head to the hostel he was staying at that night. It was then time to say a quick goodbye again (this time only for a week and a half) as I was headed to Rome the next day at 5:45 am with the school and Austin is off to the northern region of Lombardia to WWOOF. We'll meet up again next week in Florence for my spring break and head to the Cinque Terre and Sardegna. Needless to say, I cant wait. My post about Rome will be up soon... definitely above expectations. Ciao for now! |
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