happy easter!!

first off, i want to wish everyone a happy easter! i hope it is a fabulous day filled with lots of family and chocolate!

this weekend has been fabulous! yesterday, one of my roommates and i decided to make a day trip to chinque terre--a beautiful area north west of florence. the stretch of land on the coast consists of five towns that are all totally breathtaking. we started out at the 5th town and worked out way down the coast. we hiked from the 5th town to the 4th. the hike was really difficult! we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. the scenery was incredible because the trails take you directly along the coast line.  the 4th town (the picture above) was our favorite of the day. we decided to stop and have their specialty food which is foccacia bread with olives, pesto, onions or cheese. we tried a little of each--they were so yummy!  from the 4th town, we took a fairy past the 3rd town and directly to the 2nd. the hike from the 2nd to 1st town is a breeze compared to the hike we started the day with.the buildings in the towns were painted different vibrant colors built up against massive mountains. there are even little beaches in each location. all of the towns looked like they were straight out of the movies 'sisterhood of the traveling pants' and 'mama mia'. it was a long day but absolutely worth it. it is one of my all time favorite places--i cant wait to go back someday!

this morning, the girls and i went to an easter mass at a great church located on the other side of the river all the way on top of a hill. the church is called san minato (mom and dad--thats the one i took you to when you were here!) a great story behind the church is that during the war, michelangelo covered it with mattresses to protect it from being destroyed. san minato was one of his favorite churches so he had all the florentines carry their mattresses up the hill and tied them all together to cover the face of the church. the mass was in italian but i could piece some of it together but for the most part i was lost! as for the rest of the day, i am planning to hide easter eggs around the apartment for the girls and they are going to hide the packages that mom gave me to open on easter. could mom be any more amazing? im half way across the world and she still finds a way to bring me gifts from the easter bunny!

thats all for now but ill make sure and post pictures from the weekend as soon as possible. again, happy easter and big hugs to all!!

lovelovelove