Where to begin?? We didn’t do a big trip this past weekend, but I still have lots to tell!! I’ll start from last Monday… my friend Jen was in town from Paris! I only was able to see her for a few hours, but it was so great to see her. I am beginning to move away from the shock of being in Italy and feeling much more settled in. Along with that comes a little bit of homesickness. I didn’t realize how much I missed my family and friends until after I saw Jen. It was like a breath of fresh air being able to just talk to someone that has known me since I was like 6 years old! I was so happy to see and talk to her while showing her around my new city. On Tuesday the museums and galleries were open for free from 6pm to 11pm. The famous art gallery here is named the Uffizi Gallery and it houses anything from Michelangelo to Bertolini to old religious pictures from previous Italian families. It was huge. We walked through it all, but it was hard to appreciate everything in such a short period of time without a guide. We saw the famous painting the Birth of Venus… it was beautiful. So neat to just live in a city with amazing art and architecture and history. After the Uffizi we traveled north towards our apartment and toward the Accademia which is home to Michelangelo’s the David. Stunning. Huge. Incredible. Flawless. Breathtaking. Unbelievable. I was not prepared to be so taken away by the beauty that is David. He was simply incredible. I was amazed that someone actually created that... it was truly a gift from God that Michelangelo had. So stunning. The remainder of the week was filled with some play time and work time. My wine class is going well.. but to be honest its kind of a lot of work for being in Italy. My professor is pretty tough! But I am loving all the wines and I can't wait to bring some home and share them with all of you.
On Friday night we went out for a nice dinner to a restaurant called Aque Al Due (they actually have a two restaurants in the states too in San Diego and Washington DC... so if you're ever there you should check this place out!!!) We ordered a salad sampler which came with three different salads... all very good. Then we had a pasta sampler which came with five very small portions of different pastas. These were not amazing, but they were pretty good. My favorite one had a spicey meat in it, it was yummy. Then we ordered the steak sampler :) AMAZING!! One steak was dressed in a blueberry topping, the other in balsamic, and the third was a shaved meat on a piece of bread with tomatoes and parmesan (parm is surprisingly really expensive here... weird) The balsamic was by far my favorite. It had the right amount of sweet and salty taste and was delicious. The steak was so tender and amazing... ugh I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
Saturday we stayed in Florence. I shopped around with my roommate Caroline for a little bit because July is a huge sale month for Florence. It was really neat. Then we went to mass at the Duomo. I am sooo glad I got to do this. The Duomo, if I haven't mentioned it before is a huge landmark in the center of Florence. It is an enormous cathedral with a beautiful baptistery across from it dedicated to St. John the Baptist (Florence's patron saint). It was very neat. The mass was in English and there was no music.. they said everything. It was kind of odd. The mass only lasted around 40 minutes too... also very strange for being in one of the most Catholic countries in the world. But it was a really great experience. After mass, we had drinks and apertivo with our friend Lacey. It was a great, great night!!
Sunday we went horseback riding through Tuscany. Now this was cool. We met at the train station at 9:30 and our tour guide, Peter took us to the Chianti region of Tuscany (between Florence and Siena). He pointed out the largest monastery in Northern Italy and other interesting things. He told us that the farm with the horses was all family owned and operated still. They had horses, pigs, lots of dogs and cats, vineyards and olive trees. It was so fun to just ride through the vineyards and the beautiful Tuscan countryside... truly like a dream come true!! Next we went to an old castle about 10 minutes away. This castle belonged to Siena many years ago and was eventually taken over by Florence. The walls and buildings inside still remain and have not been rebuilt ever. It was very authentic and very cool. We had a three course meal and wine inside the castle, then went to a winery and did a wine tasting. I bought a bottle of white to bring home, that I think my roommates may have called dibs on?? I'm not sure yet :) This was one of my favorite days in Italy so far. It was seriously so much fun and something not everyone is able to experience. I had a great time and also learned a lot too. I would recommend it to anyone going to Italy... is was a great time!!
Right now I am sitting in a cafe eating an apricot filled pastry... its really delicious!! I am about to go meet Nate who is in Florence just for the day. We will probably go out to dinner tonight and go to the Beatles bar again. I am very excited!! On Thursday my roommates and I leave for the Amalfi coast!! Look for another blog about it next week!!
ti amo molto!! ciao!
Kimmy
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