end of a very relaxing weekend...

this past weekend was wonderful! we were unsure of the weather so we ended up staying in florence and saving the wine tasting for another weekend. during the day on friday, a couple of my roommates and i went to the BIG local market right next to the san lorenzo market that i mentioned in one of my earlier posts. this particular food market is indoor and you can buy absolutely anything and everything is fresh. we wanted to make a big dinner that night so we walked around and tried all the different foods and decided to buy ricotta and spinach ravioli for the first course (italians have pasta as the first course so we figured we should follow suit). we literally saw them make the ravioli that we bought. i have never tasted pasta so fresh. we tossed them in a pesto sauce that was also delicious! then, we went to the meat section and had them cut up some chicken breast that we were planning to cook in olive oil, seasoning and sun dried tomatoes. while in the various meat departments, we had our first sense of culture shock. italians buy every single part of an animals body to cook with--stomach lining, feet, ears, and even full cow heads. at one point, one of the butchers was carrying around an entire cow leg. oddly enough it didn't make me feel queazy. at least it's not like china where they sell dog and cat at the markets (or maybe that is just a myth). but the butchers were so friendly and noticed that we were staring at the cow heads on the counters. they came over and explained to us that when cooked with fresh veggies and sauces, cow heads taste delicious. we opted to buy JUST fresh veggies without any cow parts.

our dinner that night was fantastic! we were very proud of our culinary masterpiece and decided to finish off the meal with some gelato from downstairs. i don't know if i previously mentioned the fact that we live DIRECTLY above the best gelato in florence. its called vivoli--all the locals and guide books agree that it is the best in the entire city. the sizes are funny because there are about 7 to choose from. the large is 10 euro and huge! we all decided to get that size the night before we leave to celebrate. i always get the extra small (which really is an extra small size) with two different flavors. my roommates and i want to try every flavor before we leave. we also understand that our jeans will not button at the end of the trip but that is a sacrifice we are willing to make.

the next night we finished our leftovers for dinner then went a pub that is right down the street from us. it's called the lions fountain and after that night, it is one of my favorite places in florence. the atmosphere was so casual and fun. when i went up to order a beer, the bartender was this adorable girl who spoke perfect english. i found out she was from boston and is only 18. she graduated from high school and didn't want to go to college so she moved to florence and is taking classes here and speaks fluent italian. she was so sweet--i cant wait to go back and hear more about her life! she seemed really interesting. 

on sunday, one of my roommates, marian and i decided to head over to piazza micchelagelo. its on the other side of the bridge and was supposed to have the most incredible view of florence. it was a beautiful day so the 20 minute walk was wonderful. we had to walk up a HUGE flight of stairs to get there but once we got to the top--it was absolutely worth it. i was speechless--we could see the entire city! it was at that moment that i truly realized where i was and what i was doing. obviously i have appreciated this experience from the beginning, but being able to see the city like that was so beautiful. florence really is such a spectacular place. i took a video of it so i will post it on youtube and put the link on my blog. i cant wait to take bubba, mom and dad to see it when they visit. i am going to try and visit that piazza as much as i can while i'm here.

since the weather ended up being nice this weekend we didn't want to do the museums, so i didn't get to see david. but i definitely will pay him a visit this week and also while bubba is in town. i cant believe he gets here on friday--it will be so fun to have him here! mom was so nice to send my ugg boots to wear around the apartment because it is SO COLD!! she also included a little valentines gift for me to open--i cant wait to see what it is! mom has seriously been my rock throughout this entire process. and dad too--there is no way i could have done any of this without them.

the paper i mentioned in a previous post is due on tuesday so i am starting that today and hopefully it will go well. this next week will consist of booking flights for spring break, planning things for bubba's arrival and homework.

i hope everyone had a great weekend and i will update my pictures and videos as soon as possible.

lovelovelove