I cannot believe my time in Italy has already come to an end.
It's a little unreal. I had such an amazing experience and can't even imagine going back and living in America right now.
My last day in Florence was the greatest way to end a trip.
A little back story, my Italian class was a six credit course, so we had it every monday thru thursday. As you can probably imagine, being with the same 9 people everyday brings a class close. I used (cant believe I'm using past tense) to love going to class because I got to see those wonderful people.
So the last day some of us met up to get lunch and what not. We went to Pizzaiuolo, this famous and talked about pizza place because it serves napoli pizza. It was absolutely delicious, but very filling.
[margherita pizza- probably one of the things I'm going to miss the most]
Then Grace and I headed off on our date with David, while the others went a did a little shopping. Yes I know, terrible that we still hadn't seen him til then. He was so much more than I expected. He literally took my breath away.
After, we met back up with the others and went to a Sicilian gelateria and had granitas- probably one of the best things I've ever had! It's kinda like a slushie, but so not at the same time. But it's basically crushed ice with fruit inside. Then they also put a scoop of gelato on top- YUM. I had a lemon granita with strawberry gelato.
At that point I left them to start packing as it was already 6 and I was leaving the next morning. But we met up at 10 that night to go to the gelato festival!! I swear italians have the best ideas.
Before heading over, we took a ride on the carousel that sits in the Piazza della Repubblica. It's right next to our school and we pass it all the time, so we thought it was a necessity to ride.
Then the gelato festival. What you did was buy a gelato card that was good for 5 tastes of gelato (really, a huge cup of it) and one gelato cocktail, along with a bag and cookies and balloon, but no one cares about that stuff. I split a card with Victoria and we had the greatest time trying all these gelatos!Charles lucked out because if we couldn't finish our cups, we gave it to him, so he didn't even buy a card. Then it started raining, but hey it was our last night so we didn't care.
We headed over to get our gelato cocktails (right??). First we had a gelato mojito. Oh my gosh so good!!
We stayed at the festival for a few hours, then I headed home because I had to finish up packing. But it literally was the best day. That is what I'm going to miss about Florence- the simpicity of life. My cooking teacher told us a saying one day, "Americans live to work, and Italians work to live". That could not be more true. Italians put value more on their relationships rather than work. Everyone enjoys one anothers company over a long lunch/dinner or a cup of coffee. I learned that there are three things that should be taken into account when drinking coffee: caldo, comodo, compagnia. Basically the coffee, whichever you get. The place you drink it. And the company you keep while you drink. Coffee in Italy can be both a quick pick me up, or a social drink. Coffee and food are so important to Italians not only because it is delicious (which in Italy, you can't go wrong), but because it is the time that they get to catch up with one another and share the moment with the ones they love. This is probably one of the biggest lessons I will cherish.
Sorry that was a little rambly. I don't really know where my train of thought is going.
I don't think my brain is yet realizing that being in Milan at the moment isn't just another weekend trip;it's my last stop before heading home....
