Florence!

I had so much fun in Florence! We arrived in Florence at about 11 in the morning, checked in, dropped our bags and went shopping in the market. :) The market is pretty awesome, at times overwhelming. The streets are lined with vendors selling everything from souvenirs to leather jackets and purses. After walking through the market some, we had lunch at what seemed to be a nice little ristorante. It turned out to be a place that made all of it's food ahead of time and reheated it (leaving the middle of almost everything cold) after we ordered. Not at all what we expected! We had never come across a restaurant that did this until Florence, and after walking around, we realized that many places did it! We were a little bummed, but made sure to stear clear of restaurants that have pizza on display inside...

Anyways, I was continuously shocked by Florence's beauty. We saw Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazza della Republica, Piazza della Signoria, Piazza Santa Croce, Piazzale Michelangelo, and so much more! I unfortunately got sick on my last day and missed mass in the Basilica di Santa Maria and tour through the Uffizi Museum. After reading some of the history of Florence, it felt so cool to stay in the place where Michelangelo and so many other amazing people once lived.

On Saturday, we went on a wine tasting and cooking class in the tuscan country side-- it was gorgeous! We tasted one type of Chardonnay, several types of Chianti (which is the wine from this area) and one type of dessert wine (which tasted just like super sweet raisins!). Along with our wine, we we served bread with olive oil from the Tuscan region. It was all so good, and I learned so much about the wine. I didn't realized before that there is so much that goes into making wine, or so much that can make one wine taste so different from another. Then I learned how to make pasta! We made spinach and ricotta ravioli and fettuccine pasta, which we ate for lunch! The program was awesome! We actually went to someone's house in the Tuscan mountains to cook and eat! While we were making the pasta, the owner of the house made the antipasti, or appetizer, (1 slice of pizza, some barley salad, a piece of zucchini keish, and some eggplant parmesan), the sauce for the ravioli (butter and sage melted together--simple but amazing), the sauce for the fettuccine (a simple tomato sauce made from scratch), and, of course, the tiramisu! Wow, it was a perfect lunch! 


Since I was sick on my last day, I didn't get to enjoy as much as I hoped, but I still shopped in the market and walked around the city some. Sometimes, no matter where in the world you are, you just need a nap, so on Sunday, the best part of my day was when I took a nap waiting for the bus to come :)