Firenze (Florence) and Pisa

Hello All!

I have had an amazing past few days (I feel like I say that a lot)! On Wednesday, I had a very busy, busy day. I had class for about 8 hours, which is typical. However, the last class is my cooking class, and this week we hosted the entire school, the President of Lorenzo Di’Medici, and many of his friends. We cooked for about 30 people. It was crazy busy but it was so much fun and everyone really enjoyed the food. That night we had a little going away party for the 3 cities group. This group is the 6 students who spend about 1 month in 3 different cities (Tuscania, Rome, and Florence). Sadly, they left us last week, and we miss them so much already. The party had a Toga theme, don’t ask me why. But it was so much fun and my toga was really cute  Then, Thursday was equally as busy. We had our last game of Ultimate Frisbee and then rushed off to a wine tasting at a great restaurant in Tuscania. This was an event that was sponsored by LDM, and it included lots of different kinds of wines and dinner (for free!). We all had so much fun and it was a nice last dinner with the 3 cities group. After dinner, we went and got gelato and went to the park to enjoy the night. We ended up playing lots of games from our childhood (i.e. freeze tag- the kind where you have to crawl under people’s legs to unfreeze them). It was a blast!
Early the next morning we had to leave for Firenze. As soon as we got into the city we were off. We took a guided tour around much of Firenze and then went to the Academia Gallery to see Michelangelo’s David. I am always so surprised when I see these famous pieces of art. I am expecting them to be great and awesome, but they always exceed my expectations. It is truly something that cannot be expressed in words. You all have to come here to see these masterpieces (preferably when I’m here)! Then, we decided to go back to the hotel to take a nap- I know, we’re lame. Then, we met with our group (API) and had aperitivo at a local bar. An aperitivo is basically like the American “happy hour”. Italians eat at very strange times. They eat lunch around 2 pm (14:00) and dinner between 8 and 10 (20:00 to 22:00). Because of this, they usually go and have drinks and eat the snacks at the bar. But these snacks are not like our snacks. They are much more appetizing than wings and peanuts. I think I tried about 10 different dishes and everything was so tasty! Then, the four of us (API Tuscania) took a slow walk around and really enjoyed our evening. We went to the Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge overlooking the Arno River) and sat there enjoying its beauty for probably over an hour. We sat on the wall and people-watched, well more like lover-watched. It is probably the most romantic place in Italy. Then, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next day, we did more touring, but in the afternoon we went shopping! I am so thankful that I did not study in Florence because I would have spent much more money! They have so much leather! They have huge open air markets that sell goods for great prices, and it is really hard to resist. We then had a great authentic Italian lunch. We ate the traditional Florentine “Riboletta”, which is a soup made of old bread and vegetables. I know…it sounds appetizing, but, it is really good! They began making it when the majority of the population was very poor and couldn’t afford anything else. After our lunch, we went to our hotel to collect our suitcases and make our trek to our hostel. The four of us decided to stay in Florence and extra night and take a day trip to Pisa on Sunday. Our hostel was surprisingly nice, thank God! We had a four bedroom suite with our own bathroom! It also had free internet, gym, pool, and sauna. We were pleasantly surprised. I ended up paying 17 euro for the night.
The next morning we went to a bar and had a cappuccino and cornetto (with nutella!!!!!!!). We feel like we eat dessert for breakfast everyday…it’s awesome. Then we went to market again and then went to the train station. Our train experience was great and arrived in Pisa around 1 pm (13:00). We then checked our luggage so we wouldn’t have to lug it throughout the town of Pisa. It was the best 3 euro I have ever spent, considering the walk to the tower was over 30 minutes! We then got to the Tower and again we were breathless (from the walk and the view hehe). It was so beautiful! We of course took the corny touristy pictures of us holding up the tower. We couldn’t resist. Then, we went to various shops and collected different food items for a picnic! We decided to skip the tourist filled restaurants and have a quiet lunch in a piazza. It was a good decision. We had different types of sandwiches, pizza, and bread. Carbs, carbs, carbs! Oh, and COKE! We continued our “Coke Club” in Pisa. We then made our way to the train station and had cappuccino and gelato while we waited for 5:45 to role around. I am really surprised that I am not 30 pounds heavier yet…well maybe I am, but I haven’t noticed. We just eat and eat and eat- it’s great! We feel like our days revolve around meal time. Once we boarded the train we had about a 2 ½ hour ride, but it flew by! Because Pisa and Tarquinia (our end point) are both on the coast, our entire train ride was down the coast! We watched the SUN SET on the MEDITERRANEAN in a TRAIN on our way back from PISA and FLORENCE. How cool is that?
That night, one of our Italian friends (Marco) picked us up from the train station and took us to his farm house for dinner. A few of our other friends were there and we had a nice meal. It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend. Even though I was absolutely exhausted on Monday, it was worth it. This week is so busy with school work, but I can’t complain. We have more exciting trips this weekend. Friday I am going to Tarquinia and taking a bike tour and going wine tasting with API. Then, Saturday and Sunday I will be at Cinque Terre, which is the 5 cities on the coast in northern Italy. I hear that it is the most beautiful place in Italy! I am very excited! I will be sure to fill you in next week! I love you all!