Florence! Ciao Bella

Finally it was Friday, time to travel once again. But before doing anything I had to take my Italian-speaking exam with Magda. Since Magda was behind and we had a train to catch Claire and I went in together, it was pretty easy and Magda laughed at pretty much everything we TRIED to say in Italian then gave us hugs and told us our grade is very positive! I am defiantly going to miss that lady, she somehow made a 3 hour class at 9 in the morning entertaining. I ran home after the exam showered and packed up my sexy hiking backpack for FLORENCE! I was so excited for good weather and to see my parents again! We arrived in Florence around 5pm and wandered around till we found the hostel, which was conveniently located near my parents’ suite. My parents came to meet me and brought me to their room, which was huge. It had a huge bed, couch, TV, bathroom with a Badai, and full kitchen! It was such a treat from the usual smelly hostels that we usually stay at. I changed out of my traveling clothes and we went to dinner in the Piazza del signora (right outside of their hotel). It was amazing, as all Italian food is. I was so happy to be with my parents at a nice restaurant. We split a bottle of Chianti and I had spinach and ricotta filled tortellini in a truffle sauce. Truffles are like a fancy and tastier mushroom, it was DELICIOUS! After dinner Mom went to bed and me and Dad met up with the rest of the crew. We walked down the street to an Irish Pub called Lions Fountain. Dad bought the first round of beers for the group and the bartender gave us all a free shot. Then Greg even bought shots of Gin for him Meeks and Dad. After a few hours we decided to head back to the hotel, Of course we stopped at a Kebab place on the way home where Greg got one. He made my dad try it and he even enjoyed it. We woke up around 10am the next morning to go sight seeing and shopping. First we saw the Duomo, which is the 3^rd largest church in Italy. After walking through the church and seeing Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the dome we walked up the 414 steps to the top of the Campinile aka bell tower right next to the Duomo. The stairs were narrow and steep and we were all out of breathe by the time we go to the top but it was worth it. I could see all of Florence and the top of the Duomo. We lucked out, it was 60 degrees and sunny in Firenze and even hotter at the top of the tower. We took pictures and soaked up the sun for a while before coming to the bottom. After all the climbing we stopped for Gelato, which originated in Florence. I got half limone and half fragolia (lemon & strawberry) it was very refreshing. Then we walked 5 minutes down the road to the Michael Angelo museum. There we saw lots of famous statues by Lorenzo, Monaco, and of course the DAVID by Michelangelo. I expected it to be the same size as us but it was HUGE!! I could stop staring at it. Around the same area was Piazza Santa Croce. There we all sat down for lunch a restaurant. It was so nice out we sat outside. I got Spaghetti carbonara and everyone else got pizza and even our sodas came with ice! We were all very satisfied. After lunch we walked down via del corso, which is were all the shopping is. I bought a pink silk scarf and we window-shopped for a while. My mom went into a souvenir shop and the gates closed on her, she freaked out, it was hilarious! Then we walked along the river and crossed over by the Old Bridge or Ponte Vecchio. We walked up a bunch of steps to the top where we had a full view of the city at sunset. It was gorgeous! We took lots of pics and bought souvenirs and I got my “Ciao Bella” shirt I was dying to find! I went back to the hotel to get ready for my early birthday dinner. We all got dressed up and went to a restaurant called il Latini. It must have been a popular place because when we walked up to the entrance it was crowded with people trying to get in. Good thing pops got us a reservation. It was a family style restaurant, so we started off with 2 liters of red wine for the table. Then our appetizers came, which included various slices of meat, bread, peppers filled with mushrooms, chicken liver and other random food. We weren’t even finished with the second course came out; pasta. We got 3 types of pasta; one was ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta in a red sauce, penne in a meat sauce, and a flat noodle in a cream sauce. We all indulged, then the rabbit came, which we were all excited for except for my parents because they haven’t had Pavlov’s (our chefs) delicious rabbit. Then they came out with an assortment of deserts and a piece of pie with a candle in it and everyone sang happy birthday. I even got a free bottle of Chianti from the restaurant! After eating we all received shots of whiskey and lemon cello. We went to the Red Garter after dinner and got some beers before heading back to the hotel. The next morning my parents went to Venice and I went to Pisa for the day to see the leaning tower. We took a bunch of pictures then headed back to Swissyland.