Day 117

--Day 117 of 119 days. Do you realize that this means I only have two more nights in Firenze? The thing is, I realize it, I keep reminding myself of it, try to remember every detail I can, but it still hasn’t hit me. I’m not expecting that punch to the cheek until I am home for a little while. But, in the mean time, I am going to take my sister, Michelle’s lovely advice that she gave to my other sister:

“You don't think about the future. You live in the present like every day is your last. You take a million pictures and write down all the little things that made you fall in love with your experience. You are living the beautiful life...so give it everything you got.”

I have been keeping this in mind for the past few weeks (especially after I received the quote). After fetching our bags and making the trek from the kind family’s apartment –the family who held our bags while we were in Greece –to our hostel (and praying my arms were a wee bit stronger), Nikki and I were in need of a shower. We soon ventured back into the sun.

On the way to lunch, we found a black and white photobooth that we had been meaning to stop in, especially after watching the film Amelie. Here are the photos, my oh my.. =)

me in the photobooth

photograph by Nikki

Nikki e io

photograph by booth 

We also stumbled upon a market of vendors, who were selling Sicilian arancini di riso (aka my Grandma’s delicious rice balls!) So good, but Grandma, yours were definitely better! And for lunch, we had our last Gusta Pizza. Sidenote: as you can see, Nikki and I are making our rounds to our favorite places to see, eat, visit, etc.

Sicilian rice balls! Nom!

photograph by Nikki

We visited the Pitti Palace to go into the Galleria D’arte Moderna, which I had not visited yet. It was great to get to see yet another gallery in the immenseness of the palace, and to see more modern art as well! As usual, I took down some notes of names of artists and pieces I liked for various reasons. Nikki and I (I apologize for saying that so many times by now! Haha but we are havin’ a grand old time) went to Volume caffé, another one of my favorites. We had cappuccini and hung around drawing, writing, and making nonsense for a while. 

notes and things from the gallery of modern art

the moon & the sun

For dinner, we went to the delicious osteria (restaurant) that Meredith introduced us to last week. Again, another delicious sharing of dishes, and complimentary champagne tonight! What lucky gals! We sat on the wall near the Arno eating some gelato from another one of our favorite gelato places, and eventually wandered back. 

Day 116

--Departure from Kefalonia. After being the “prisoner in a lawn chair” passenger on the way to the airport, and the stressful Ryanair baggage endeavors, we were aboard the plane and our on way to Pisa. And then a bus from Pisa to Florence.

weighing down

re we moving forward or backward?

sketches from the flight

Once Nikki and I were settled back into Florence, we went out for a dinner that was recommended by Linsday, and it was extremely delicious. We had pappa al pomodoro and ravioli with formaggi (cheese, but I forgot what type) and pears. So so much good food!

We stopped at Perche No, my favorite gelato place, and sat in Piazza Signoria. In the piazza, there was the usual guitar man going at his regular performance (which I have heard oh-so many times) . However, there were a few elements that made this overplayed set new and refreshed. There was an Italian couple dancing a slow, smooth tango to the acoustic (and almost Spanish-esque) guitar playing. It was so wonderful to watch them dance. And it was also great to watch the people in the piazza, like the infinitely cool woman who was pale, slender with too many gold bracelets and the little Italian girl who kept pulling a man’s hair. 

On our walk back, we suddenly became intrigued with a large crowd of people watching the Italian Charlie Chaplin hobbled around the square. He was quite hilarious, no matter how appropriate, or inappropriate, he acted. Oh, Florence in the evening, you shall be missed quite dearly.

Day 47

--Greg left at 4:15 in the morning, which led to a frantic searching for a taxi and a sad, rushed goodbye. That is the gist of Greg’s visit to Florence and Rome, and I will leave my caught-up blog posts at that =) 

Day 46

--Today is Greg’s last full day in Florence, which came all too fast. The two of us went up to Fiesole, which is a town on a hill that has a gorgeous view of Florence and also of the Tuscan country side (I may or may not have blogged about Fiesole several times by now.. sorry, sorry, sorry!) In our adventures of walking around the exterior roads of Fiesole to get a 360 degree view, we made a friend from California, Ashley. 

on Fiesole 

photograph by Greg

cat & Ashley

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

During this Fiesole trip, we decided to explore within the monastery. It was really neat and slightly eerie to see into the old, unused rooms of the nuns. Some doors of these tiny rooms were open, and others were closed, but you could still peek in through the keyhole. As always, it was grand sitting up on that wall, feet hanging over the edge, as I look at the city I have come to study in, live in, and love.

one of the nun rooms

photograph by Greg

boots

photograph by Greg

The rest of the day consisted of last minute shopping, food and food, and lots of packing and rearranging. And, of course, I couldn’t let him leave without going on a long walk along my river. It is a tiny, beautiful river that you can walk along beneath the level of the sidewalk. Gosh, I love that river.

il fiume

photograph by Greg

me

photograph by Greg

Greg

leaves

photograph by Greg

 Gregory

Day 45

-- Poor Greg. I made him run through the entire Uffizi museum in one afternoon. I am still surprised he didn’t drag me out of there half way through, but the Uffizi has Florence’s greatest art all in one location! 

view from the Uffizi

photograph by Greg

After lunch, we climbed the Duomo, which I had been waiting for Greg to do this activity. In climbing the Duomo, I pray that one is not closterphobic, as the stair wells are extremely narrow with the ceiling slanting close to your head from above. During part of the climb up, we were inside the actual dome of the church, which was quite incredible to be so close to the large fresco that is spread across the inside of the dome. I could reach my hand up and touch it, and I also have an extreme appreciation for fresco art and artists as I have experienced its challenges in my class.

fresco ceiling of dome

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

over's locks on the walk up the dome

photograph by Greg

Once we got to the top, we had a wonderful view over the city of Florence, and from within the heart of the city itself. We sat around the top of the duomo until the sunset, which was an even better sight to see.

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

Us

photograph by Greg

myself near the top of the Duomo

photograph by Greg

those very narrow stairs

photograph by Greg

And at night, the girls and I took Greg to our favorite evening spots: the Fiddler’s Elbow (a pub) and the Joshua Tree Pub. Some Irish pubs for me Irish lad!

Day 44

--After visiting the David at the Accademia, and letting Greg be in awe with the masterpiece for the first time, it was time for chocolate! There is currently a chocolate festival in Florence where some great chocolatiers from around parts of Europe came to display and sell their craftsmanship, delicious tastes, and unique flavors. There was a variety of chocolate from fondue to ciocolata calda (hot chocolate, or rather liquid chocolate) to truffles to chocolate shapes and even to chocolate flavored liquors.

chocolates (believe it or not)

photograph by Greg

more chocolates

photograph by Greg

d more!

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

view from the hotel window

photograph by Greg

Greg and I visited the Arno at dusk, which is one of my favorite things. We went to Gusta Pizza, of course, and then finance homework filled the rest of my night unfortunately. Studying abroad still includes the “studying” factor. Shucks! 

il fiume

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

Day 43

--Happy Valentine’s Day! What a lucky gal I am that I get to be in Italy and with my love today! We visited and wandered around the Duomo, Piazza Signoria, the Ponte Vecchio and grabbed some gelato from my favorite gelato place.

cathedral of the Duomo

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

lunch!

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

close-up of the Ponte Vecchio

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

shops on the Ponte Vecchio

photograph by Greg

After dragging Greg to my fresco class, we got a dinner recommendation from my friend, Ledi, who lives in Florence. We had a nice dinner with complimentary champagne and two large, buone pizze in the shape of hearts. And after our dinner, Nikki joined up with us for a night at Be Bop. Be Bop is a tiny venue underground where cover bands play the same set weekly, including the Beatles, ACDC, etc. Well, we attended the show on the performance of The Beatles, which was just grand! There were the four “beatles” dressed to boot, and singing some of the great hits of the fab four. My favorite part about this show was the band’s fantastic Italian, “british” accents. They were to killer accents.

Day 41

--Today was a perfect Sunday to go to Vatican City! We went through St. Peter’s Basilica, which Greg absolutely loved. It is hugely immense, with so many stunning details inside. And unfortunetly, I was unable to show Greg the incredible work that is Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel since it is apparently not open on Sundays (note to self).

Later in the day, we took a train back to Firenze, which broke down for 135 minutes, and eventually we switched onto another train and got back safe and sound.   

il Vaticano

photograph by Greg

inside St. Peter's Basilica 

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

la pieta

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

Day 38 to Day 47

--Even though I've started some of the posts about Greg's visit, I would like to preface it with a few things. The reason why I have put off blogging about his visit is because it was such an amazing time, and the experience of having him visit me while I was living in Italy was beyond incredible, and therefore beyond words that I could putdown in text. What a unique and cherished experience. I also didn't want to spend any of my 9/10 days working on my blog, since I was soaking in as much time as I could get. And this also led to me being many days behind in blogging, which means lots of catching up.


Please pardon the belatedness of this post as well as the lack of justice that I may not be able to put into it through text, spoken words, or images. But I will continue to do it as much justice as I can!

Day 40

--The goal of the day was to make it to the Orange Garden in Rome, a recommendation by none other than my wonderful Italian Angie. After getting quite lost, becoming soaked in the falling snow and sleet, and finally finding the garden, we came to a roadblock. The garden was closed because it was snowing. I am still not sure why you would lock up a garden if it was snowing, but I was very bummed out. 

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

the locked up orange garden

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

As the day and walking continued, Greg and I were getting more and more drenched by the sleet, and the umbrella wasn’t helping out in the fight against the wind. The sights were beautiful as they were covered in some snow, but our wet and frozen feet were a bit angry. We were able to see the Colosseum, ruins, and grabbed some coffee to warm us up.

photograph by Greg

a coffee break if you ever need one!

photograph by Greg

In the evening, we ventured up via Corso, visiting the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Capital. I will let Greg’s photographs do a lot of the talking, as they have better words than I.

slippery Spanish Steps

photograph by Greg

photograph by Greg

under the Pantheon

photograph by Greg

the Colosseum at night

photograph by Greg