Wednesday night we all went to this family style resturant with a HUGE group of people that went on our Amalfi trip to a resturant called Gatto y el Volpe (cat and the wolf?). They served 3 trays of antipastas and 3 different pastas...oh and don't forget the unlimited wine. We then took our friends to THE BEST gelato by our house and tried to make a night out of it but the city seemed kinda dead.
Thursday: We had class in the morning to say goodbye to our AMAZING Italian teacher, Matilde. She took us to coffee and then let us out early. Christa and I took this as a sign to go shopping and grab lunch before our housing walk-through. After the walk through we went back out to shop and got caught in a huge storm but bought some sweet ponchos from a gypse and made the best of it. We headed back to our apt to get ready for farewell dinner and then headed out as a group. The dinner was right below Piazza Michelangelo, but since it was raining we couldnt go up to see the view of the city. Dinner, however, was quite the ordeal. It lasted 5.5 hours! 2-3 antipastas, 3 pastas, 2 meat dishes, and dessert! It was obviously good but not the best. Afterwards I crashed.
Friday morning, I ran a few errands , finished packing, and headed off to Viareggio (an Italian beach about an 1.5 hrs outside of Florence). I met up with 3 of my friends from the FSU/Colgate program and laid out for the rest of the day. We got a great dinner with more fresh pasta and a wonderful house wine, then headed back to enjoy sitting on the beach at night.
Saturday our friend, Jeff, came and met up with us. We all laid out, swam in the ocean (since you have to have swimming caps to swim in any of the pools), grabbed lunch, magnums (really good ice cream bars), back to the beach, caught a train back to florence, packed, got ready for dinner...then came the walk to dinner. About 45 minutes from my apartment to the restaurant, passing the Duomo, Piazza del Republica, Piazza Signori..thats when leaving sets in. It was just before sunset so all the buildings had a mystical redish light glow. I took in the last moments of being in the city and then finally arrived at the restaurant to meet 4 friends from FSu program. They convinced me I had to order the bistecca alla floretina (since i'd yet to have it) and caprese salad...and red wine. It was the perfect meal. After saying goodbye, I made one of the guys walk me home and stop at my favorite gelateria with me. It was a great fair-well :)
Now im sitting in O'hare, already in reverse culture shock and wanting to be back in Florence. Nothing will ever replace that trip!
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