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

Day 39

--Greg and I hopped on a train to go to Roma. And in Rome, there was quite a bit of snow, which was beautiful. On our walk back from a delicious dinner (of two different types of fresh-made pasta noodles), it started snowing. 

Perfect first evening in Rome.

Day 38

--Day 38, you say?

Ohh hey, guess what? Do you remember that guy, ya ya, that one guy who visited me back in February? Yes! That’s the one! Greg! Sir Gregory! Well, it is now the end of April, however, I did prepare you for the out-of-order in the posts for days for this blog didn’t I? (If you are doubting me, Thomas, see above underneath the title of my blog.)

That’s right, I did. It’s is better late than never, so a very belated set of posts it is!

So, evening of February 9^th, Greg arrives! One of the longest waits of my life, but definitely worth the anxious day that led up to it!