The British visit Italy

Ciao a tutti,

On Saturday, my best friend Chelsea arrived from London to spend a few days in Florence. I was the first leg of her trip, as her semester in London ended on Friday and she had to be out of her apartment. She stayed in Florence from Saturday through this morning, and we had a great time. Now, she's in Rome for a few days and will then be heading to Greece before returning to America.

On Saturday, I took the train and met her in Pisa and we visited the Leaning Tower, which I hadn't seen until then. Everyone had told me that it was literally the only thing to see in Pisa, so I waited until I had a second reason to go and see it. I wanted to kill two birds with one stone for the price of the train ride. We arrived back in Florence in the evening and then went out to dinner at a nice restaurant that Grace had recommended to me, called "Coquinarius." Chelsea went nuts over the pecorino cheese and my eggplant-filled ravioli. Afterwards, we met up with all my friends to drink wine on the Ponte Vecchio and go dancing. We all had a great time together and everyone thought Chelsea was hilarious. (It's because she does a great job at making fun of me and people seem to love it. She's the only person permitted to do that, by the way.) On Sunday morning the sun was shining, so we decided to spend a few hours in the Boboli Gardens. Gorgeous and very relaxing as usual. We had lunch at one of my two favorite sandwich places, did a little shopping, and got drinks on the terrace rooftop of a department store called Rinascente. We headed back to Maria Pia's early for a little relaxation time and she made us a delicious dinner.

On Monday morning, we climbed the Duomo, got lunch at Antico Noe, got gelato at Vestri, and then walked to Piazzale Michelangelo and drank a little white wine. I unfortunately had class at 5, so I left Chelsea and she went to walk around for a little while. I had a lot of trouble focusing in class because I was so eager to hang out with Chelsea instead! When I got out, we went to dinner at "A La Spada," another new place for me. Chelsea's mom had requested that we go because she works with a man who is friends or cousins of the owners of the restaurant. I had the most amazing ravioli ever. They were standard inside with a truffle mushroom cream sauce and mushroom bits. Soooo delicious!

On Tuesday morning, we visited the Bargello Museum and then got a sit down lunch at Pizzaiuolo. Chelsea LOVED her pizza, so I was happy about that. We shopped some more and sought out two different gelato places in search of "Mint" for her. I was so glad when we finally found it. At 5, I had class again, so Chelsea toured the Duomo and then went back to her hotel for a nap. We met after class and had dinner at Kitsch, the best aperitivo place. She loved the fact that it was all you can eat "picking" food with a drink for only 8 euro altogether. Sadly, none of my friends could make the dinner, but we still had a nice time. I took her to happy hour at Kikuya afterwards and when we were tired of the bar atmosphere, we walked along the river, listened to the singers outside the Uffizi, and finished on the Ponte Vecchio. We decided to call it an early night because I had a test this morning. We bid farewell last night because I would still have been taking my test when she was scheduled to leave for Rome.

The test today went well, and I enjoyed the gorgeous day. I was sad to see Chelsea leave, but we had a wonderful time together and I'm so glad that we were able to catch up on each other's lives. I had felt distant because we have both been so busy with our study abroad experiences! It was nice to see a person that has known me for so long. It was really comforting having her around, especially since I had been feeling more lonely after my Dad left.

While Chelsea was here, I received the unfortunate news that the Fanelli's are no longer coming to Ireland. Grandpa is too sick, so they have decided to reschedule. I completely understand and I know they will be better off coming at another time, when they don't have the worries on their minds. So consequently, I will not be going to Ireland either. Chelsea was with me when I found out and advised against my ideas to go alone, so I was lucky enough to be able to book a flight to La Coruna, Spain, with Kevin, Maggie Rossi and Carla. (RyanAir allowed me to change my flight for a big fee, because there are no refunds allowed.) So, instead of going to Ireland on Friday, we will be taking the train to Rome, staying the night, and then flying to Spain on Saturday morning. I can't wait to see Kathryn and lay on the beach! While the trip ended up costing a lot more, I'm happy that I didn't lose the money altogether, and just had to add to the price a little bit. I'm also glad that I'll be able to occupy my time in Coruna with people that I enjoy, because staying alone in Florence during a difficult time for the Fanelli's would have been really hard for me.

I'll write more soon!

Ciao!