Mom & Dad come to Firenze

Perfect Week 2.18 - 2. 26

Mom and Dad got here friday afternoon. We had a relaxing day - went out for some pizza, walked around Florence, and then had a big dinner all together at Carla's. It was a huge dinner and I had some trouble breathing afterwards...

Saturday

The first full day in Florence, we started the day off with a walk to Piazza Michelangelo.

Unfortunately it was a little cloudy, and when we got to the top it started thundering! First time I had heard thunder in Italy. Luckily we made it down before it really started raining, and took shelter in a really cute cafe where we had a great little lunch. By the time we were done, the rain had stopped....and that was the last of the rain for the rest of the week.

After the little hike, we walked to the Ponte Vecchio and explored the area.

Finally, we walked to Santa Croce, a beautiful church where many important people are buried...including Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli.

Still beautiful despite the overcast day!

Sunday

Carla wanted to show off her favorite place, Fiesole, to my parents. We took a bus to the top of the mountain to see the beautiful view and have some great pizza. We explored the area, checked out the little market and church, and then walked the steep roads back home.

After Fiesole, we took Carla, Antonio and Stefano out to dinner at "La Giostra," a really great little restaurant that's actually owned by two princes. It's a really fun place, and we had a wonderful dinner.

On Monday I had to go to class and Mom and Dad headed to San Gimignano, Siena and Chianti for the day.

Tuesday - Saturday

I went to my normal classes on tuesday while Mom and Dad explored the Uffizi, a huge museum in Florence, and then checked out Michelangelo's "David." After my classes, we hopped on a train to Rome! We got in a little late, so we checked into the hotel, relaxed for a little while, and then went in search of a dinner spot. Not an easy feat. Eventually though, we ended up at a cute restaurant with a huge menu of cheeses and had a really good time!

Wednesday

First stop was the Pantheon. Easily just as amazing the second time.

Also found out that the top of the pantheon is totally open...so when it rains...it rains in!

We also went to Sant' Ignazio and saw the amazing fresco by Andrea Pozzo on the ceiling.

We decided to explore a bit. We came to Piazza Navonna, famous for it's fountain by Bernini at the center called the "Fountain of the Four Rivers." It's a massive piazza!

After all of this, Mom and Dad had booked a special private tour of the Vatican that went from 1 to about 530...really covered everything in detail, and it was awesome! She also gave us a pretty extensive list of restaurant recommendations...almost all of which we checked out. After our busy day exploring, we went to a really perfect italian restaurant and had some wine and pizza and pasta - mom got the pasta all'amatriciana, a famous dish of Rome - it was amazing.

Thursday

We woke up early, had a little breakfast and then headed straight for the Colosseum. Again, just as good the second time around and the weather was perfect.

After the Colosseum, we took a little break and found another restaurant that our tour guide had recommended - a little past the main touristy area so it was a little calmer and more relaxed. We each got pizza - it was wonderful!

Yummmm

I spy the Colosseum

Then, we headed on to the Ancient Walk/Roman Forum - it's a long walk through tons of ruins.

Mom & dad peeking through a hole in some of the ruins.

View of some of the Roman Forum from above

We had some time to spare since we weren't ready for dinner yet, so we went to the Trevi Fountain! This time around I got to see it in the daylight...definitely able to appreciate it a little more. It's massive!

Friday

We woke up early and went to Campo de Fiori for a market we had heard a lot about. It was pretty cool - tons of fresh fruits, vegetables and pastas.

Italians are all about the artichokes

mini strawberries!

We walked into this big butcher shop and the guys were super friendly. We were even lucky enough to get some meat samples! My favorite. (not)

We made sure to get pictures outside the butcher shop because we loved it so much.

Campo de Fiori

The oil stain on the placemat looked like a smiley!

:)

We ended up going back to the perfect little italian restaurant we had been to two nights before because we had loved it so much. It was just as good the second time, and we made some kind Italian friends who were sitting next to us and kept wanting us to drink more with them.

All in all...It was an amazing weekend and I think mom and dad got a pretty solid taste of Italy! I was VERY sad to see them leave...but it was an amazing time and hopefully we can all make it back again in the future. Awesome week!