FLORENCE at LAST!

We've all been long awaiting Florence for a few days now, just because we were all extremely eager to cover more ground! Turns out, I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived! For some reason, I was not expecting much from Italy. I honestly had a mini heart attack when we arrived yesterday and started wandering around. First off, there is legitimately a Gelaterie on every corner. Basically , they're like Starbucks because they pimp out every corner. Oh, then Ben & Jerry's has the audacity to open up right next to a gelaterie right next to the Duomo. GET OUT OF TOWN. LITERALLY, GET OUT OF TOWN. Brand name stores feel sacreligious to me in Europe.

The first night we wandered over to this adorable restaurant right near Ponte Vecchio. After spending all of my money in Paris with rediculously overpriced food , it was reassuring to see an entree for 7 euro after seeing nothing that was under 15 in Paris. THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE MEAL was the fact that first off we got a jug of house wine for 5 euro. I was hailing to the gods of wine. Second, the moment the penne alla arrabiata touched my lips, I was SOLD. Mind you, this is before I even bought my tiramisu gelato right on the Ponte Vecchio while watching boys put a canoe in the water. The sun was setting, and the view is dreamy. We also walked into the first leather store and I melted. That was it. I did myself in for a shopping expedition.

Today ( 6/21/2011) , we went on a lovely tour of Ufizzi with a professor from Polimoda ( the branch of FIT in Italy) . It was extremely informative and also a great review from Art History last semester. When I knew the artist, style, title or detail of the painting, I couldn't help but be like "ohhhhh yeah, check me OUT remembering this information from a Friday night Art History class. " GOME. Anyhow, besides that victory, we found an adorable little cafe in which we visited multiple times today because we were treated like goddesses by the lovely waiter, Eddie. Oh the stories.

Good thing for Eddie, he was able to recommend a lovely little spot for us to eat another fabulous unreal dinner with more cheap wine. Aka the only thing that really matters. We were literally sitting steps away from the Duomo outside while a woman was belting out beautiful opera. It made us all sit back and be like " check out our lives right now" . When I was eating my pasta tonight with the bolognaise sauce, I was having flashbacks of when my grandmother served me in her cute little 1960's kitchen in East Meadow , NY . Tears were literally coming out of my face. I think the Italy part of this trip is definitely more emotional for me because of my grandmother. She is my favorite person in the whole world, and she is the reason why I am so cultured and why I enjoy really old school Italian food. My grandma basically raised me since my parents were always working ( ofcourse I'm not complaining because I know my parents work so hard to give our family a wonderful and happy life, and they sure make my dreams come true) . Anyhow, I was always at my grandma's. We'd watch old Esther Williams movies, Thats Entertainment, The Ed Sullivan Show, Johnny Carter, Red Skelton, etc. Everything about my grandma's house was magical to me. It felt like she'd always pull out treasures and memorabilia from the past. I think this is why I am so interested in traveling, and the world and just discovering beautiful things. However, the most important lesson I ever learned from my grandmother was to just enjoy life. It was the most simple advice, however it made the biggest difference to my outlook on life. I am a very lucky girl to be blessed with such a wonderful family.

My life is a postcard and a movie all at the same time during this experience. I wish my eyes were videocameras and I could just tape every moment of my life. I think I want to upgrade to that ability in life.

Well now, tomorrow we have a bunch planned and it is going to be even better than today . It didn't happen yet, but I just have the funny feeling. You know.