whatta weekend!

Having my parents in town was amazing. Not only was it great to spend time with them but I also really enjoyed showing them around 'my' city and introducing them to a few of my favorite things about Florence. For the record, they loved Tarocchi just as much as my roommates and I do! The pear ravioli was a hit and we ate there 3 times in just the short week they were here! Anyways, after realizing that they had seen more of Florence in 5 days than I had since my arrival back in January, they inspired me to take advantage of the beautiful weather and I had a spectacular weekend doing touristy things in Firenze.

view from the top

 On Friday afternoon, I climbed to the top of the Duomo (all 463 steps) and saw Florence in all of its glory. We decided to wait around until the sun started to set and boy am I glad we did. Not only did we see a fantastic sunset but we also saw a beautiful pink and purple sky stretching over the Ponte Vecchio on our walk back to the apartment. Being at the top of the Duomo and listening to the church bells ring at 5 pm really made me stop and realize how incredibly beautiful this city is.

Saturday morning, Devon and I woke up refreshed and ready to take advantage of another beautiful day! We headed to the Boboli Gardens, the gardens that sit behind the Pitti Palace aka the old home of the Medici family. My parents had raved about how beautiful it was when they were there even in the rain, so I was even more excited to explore it on a beautiful day.

We spent almost 3 full hours wandering around the immense gardens and didn't even finish seeing all of the property! We also explored their porcelain museum, which was a marvel in itself. 

After a long morning of walking around, we decided to slow things down a bit. Ever since I arrived in Florence, I've wanted to buy a pair of these really cool desert boot-like shoes that I see everyone wearing! I've been in and out of almost every shoe store in this city looking for the perfect pair, but to no avail. I guess the stars aligned for me on this wonderful Saturday because I stumbled upon a quaint little store that sold ONLY desert boots. After going back and forth between a few different colors, I finally bought them and couldn't be happier. I haven't taken a picture of the actual shoe, but pictured to the left is the shoe!

Midterms are quickly approaching and it's time to start getting serious about schoolwork. I don't know whether it's the exorbitant amounts of gelato or countless Italian distractions but I've found it very difficult to motivate myself to do schoolwork while here. But the time has come to revert back to my UVA tendencies and buckle down for the next week or so. On Saturday, Devon and 2 of our friends from UVA [and probably the rest of my program, at that] are going to Carnivale in Venice for the night! We're all incredibly excited as this is supposed to be one of the craziest festivals that Italy has to offer. Then, in just one short week, Brigid, Devon and I are off on our UK getaway! It's hard to believe it's almost Spring Break. This time last year I was preparing for Rome with some of my favorite girls [whom I miss oh so much, le sigh].

Anyways, I'll end with a video of my parents trying limoncello for the first time! For those that don't know, neither of my parents drink alcohol. But as they say, when in Italy do as the Italians do! On their last night in Florence, I asked the waiter to bring them each a small glass of limoncello so that they could taste. I was quite surprised with my dad's lack of reaction but my mom's face is spot on.  Ciao for now and, as always, thanks for reading!!

ps. the video won't upload right now because our internet is so shiesty but i promise i will upload it soon!