adventures

Ciao!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday afternoon. I know I just recently posted an entry but I'm just dying to tell yall a bit about the adventures I've had over the past 24 hours. Last night, after our last orientation session, Devon and I started to wander around looking for a place to eat. After about an hour of unsuccessful wandering [don't get me wrong, there are TONS of restaurants...just none that seemed to fit the budget we were looking for] we headed to our go-to restaurant that is at the end of our street. We discovered it the second night we were in Florence and literally have been there 4 out of the past 7 nights. It is delicious and I am slightly obsessed [I never remember the name of it because it's in Italian but next time I'm writing it down!] Well anyways, Devon and I sat down and were greeted by a waiter. We asked a few questions about dishes and he nicely informed me that he would be more than happy to prepare any type of pasta with whatever type of sauce I wanted. So, we placed our order and decided to splurge with some wine. The food came and it was delicious. We finished the wine pretty quickly, as it was only 2 small glasses for each of us. We were almost done with our food when he stopped by and grabbed the wine bottle from our table. Neither of us really WANTED any more wine, so we were a bit surprised when he headed to the bar to refill it. We decided we'd just enjoy the wine and sit and stay for a while. He brings the wine over and, as he sets it down, goes 'this is on the house!' So Devon and I were pretty excited about that. We finished eating and he came back over and asked if we were interested in any dessert. Both of us were thoroughly stuffed so we graciously declined. After a few more exchanges, he finally convinced us to 'taste' something. Little did we know a 'taste' meant a WHOLE dessert. I felt horrible because I literally could only eat about 4 bites of a massive and beautiful tiramisu but I was on the verge of getting sick so I had to throw in the towel. After he cleared our plates, he brought out 2 champagne glasses of 'a palette cleansing drink' for each of us. Thirsty from my dessert, I took a huge swig of my pretty yellow drink without realizing it was literally 100% alcohol. I had to do my best not to spit it out but, needless to say, the rest of the drink was a struggle to finish. He came back and offered us some cappuccino and we declined profusely but told him we appreciated the offer. Anxious to see our meal total, we waited for him to bring the check...25 euros! He literally didn't even charge us for the 2 entrees that we ordered! It's not customary to leave a tip in Italy but we were so appreciative that we wrote him a note saying thank you and left a hearty tip.

Since we don't have classes on Fridays, Devon and I ventured into the city to check out the leather market at San Lorenzo and the Mercato Centrale. We spent about 45 minutes wandering around the food market and I was very pleased with my purchases: 2 chicken breasts for less than 5 euros [side note: we are both slightly in love with the butcher - he is gorgeous], 2 huge sweet bell peppers, 4 zucchinis, 1 head of broccoli and 1 onion all for 1.97 EUROS. I literally was in shock when he told me the price, as I know peppers themselves cost more than that in America. After we finished our food shopping, we headed to the leather market. We ended up buying gloves from one of the vendors who was actually American. After a long conversation about Florence and life in general, we each left with a pair of beautiful leather gloves that are lined with cashmere [and a new friend Chris, yay]! He told us about some good local spots to hang out at night and we ventured to one of them later in the evening. It was definitely a refreshing and much needed break from the popular 'euro' clubs that are scattered all over crowds. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be around Americans. But to be honest, I came to Italy to interact with Italians, not Americans.

Today, we woke up at 7 and headed to Piazza de Santa Maria Novella to catch a bus to Sienna for our day trip. Besides the fact that it was LITERALLY freezing [actually I think it was 31 when we left], we really enjoyed visiting the city. It is most famous for its Duomo - it doesn't stand as tall as the one here in Florence but it is legitimately the most breathtaking and unbelievable thing I have ever seen. We spent almost 2 hours inside just exploring every wall and room, all the while in complete awe of it's grandiosity and beauty. After the tour of the Duomo, we ate lunch at a local place and chowed down on great pizza and risotto. Thoroughly stuffed, we continued to explore the city until it was time to leave. On the way back to Florence, we stopped in the city of San Gimignano. It's another very little city tucked into the mountains that is lined with old stone buildings and quaint nooks and crannies that are practically untouched. There was an overlook at the tip of the city with an amazing view of the Tuscan countryside, which again reminded me of the beauty of the country I now call home.

When we got home, Devon and I started cooking up our food that we bought at the market on Friday. I was very proud of both of us [and especially myself] for not igniting the apartment building or burning the chicken/veggies to a crisp. In fact, we just finished our delicious meal and are now sipping on the wine we bought in San Gimignano just this afternoon. I still can't believe that I'm going to be here in this fabulous country for the next 4 months - I've already made so many good memories and literally can't wait for more to come. I'll post again soon but until then, miss you all!

Ciao:)