The weekend before Mardi Gras I flew to Paris to see Olivia. It was soooo great to see one of my best friends in the world, and we both kept expressing our disbelief that we got to visit each other (something that is definitely not a regular occurence) all the way across the ocean! My flight unfortunately kept getting delayed, so I didn't get to her apartment until after 1 AM! So on Friday, after some much needed sleep, we headed out to explore. We had delicious onion soup for lunch and then went to the French Pantheon, which, much to our surprise, is the burial place of tons of famous people. I was most excited about Emile Zola (since I have such a complicated relationship with his book Germinal) and Marie Curie! It was interesting to see the inside of a French church after seeing soooo many Italian cathedrals. After that we went to the Sacre Coeur and sat on the steps for awhile, taking in the view and listening to a cheesy musician- minus the view part, it kind of reminded me of Jackson Square. That night we had a delicious fondue dinner... at a restaurant that serves wine in baby bottles?! That was weirder than I thought it was going to be, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself nonetheless. The next day, we got lunch with Liv's roommate and Maddie (I can't say enough how cool it is to see my high school friends over here!) and did some shopping. After we left Maddie, we did a pretty extensive tour of Pere Lachaise, the cemetary where all kinds of people, from Oscar Wilde to Chopin to Jim Morrison are buried. That night, Olivia and I ate some delicious rotisserie chicken and potatoes that we had purchased from a street market earlier, and then went out for a little while, first to a place called student bar that serves their cocktails with a marshmellow inside, and then somewhere down the street where we met up with Misa! It was seriously a little Franklin reunion in Paris. The next morning we slept forever (you will see why I was so tired when I recount my family's visit) and then I caught my flight back to Florence that night! My family arrived a few hours before I did, and after a little bit of confusion, made it safely to their hotel, right down the block from my school!
I saw my parents and Emma Monday morning before class and then spent the afternoon walking with them around the Arno- we window-shopped on the Ponte Vecchio and went to the Piazza Michelangiolo so I could show them the great view! That night we had a delicious dinner at Za-Za. The next day, we visited the Accademia and saw the David (it is SO big! And amazing!), then did some shopping and celebrated Mardi Gras with the best dinner I have had yet in Italy- at a place called Il Latini. Five courses, no menu, just a waiter telling you your options. SO delicious. Unfortunately, after Tuesday, the cold I had been fighting for about two weeks took a turn for the worse and Wednesday when I visited the Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens with my family I had to leave early because I was having stabbing chest pains. An afternoon of resting in their hotel room definitely helped, but my dad thinks I might have had walking pneumonia and I honestly did not start feeling truly better until maybe yesterday. BUT that didn't stop me from going to Siena with them the next day, where we had a delicious meal at the restaurant I wrote about earlier. We finally tried Bistecca Fiorentina, which was REALLY rare (I could hear my roommate JulieAnn freaking out all the way from Thailand) but very delicious. Friday (my final day with my family, since I had to go on my school trip) my dad bought Emma and me Valentine's Day presents on the Ponte Vecchio and then we ventured to Pisa, and took the required tower pictures (I am going to post my dad's because it cracks me up! He wore a suit the almost the whole time they were here. Definitely not typical tourist in Bermuda shorts!). I was sad to see them go, but glad that they made it back safe (after getting delayed because of the crazy winter storms on the East Coast!), and excited to remember that I still have one family visitor to look forward to- Jacob comes in 26 days! In case my countdown wasn't a clue, I am SO excited to see my brother!!
My field trip to Milan/Mantua/Ferrara was fairly uneventful. The waking up early part was a lot less painful than Venice since it was not nearly as cold and we had a lot more time to rest. It was Fashion Week in Milan, but unfortunately we didn't really see many indicators because we were only there for a few hours during the day. It was also the last day of Carnivale (but only for Milan! Everywhere else in Italy finishes on Mardi Gras like we do), so of course there were lots of crowds and confetti. We visited a palace in Milan and then the Duomo, which is really beautiful- lots of stained glass. Some friends and I enjoyed a long lunch before our bus took us to Mantua, which is a really quaint little town. That night we had a DELICIOUS dinner there that included a quiche with peas, pumpkin ravioli, and some amazing chicken salad! The next day we toured Mantua's palace before heading to Ferrara to tour- guess what? Its palace! We arrived back in Florence to some gross weather that didn't stop until yesterday- which is super ironic because some friends and I cancelled a bike/wine tour for yesterday because of the weather! But we still have plenty of time to do that in April, when the weather will be even better. And I got to go on a great hike with my roommate Stacey yesterday in Fiesole- on the hill where Leonardo da Vinci did his first flight thing.
I am still totally in love with Florence and my friends here, but I have definitely been missing all of y'all at home a lot recently- I really missed everyone in New Orleans because it was Mardi Gras (although Jenna, Mimi, Isha and Charlotte took some precious pictures pretending I was there... which was seriously SUCH a sweet gesture!), and after almost two months of being away, the vacation feeling is wearing off and I'm realizing that I won't get to have one of my mandatory weekend trips home this semester and that I'm not going to see my friends in Chapel Hill until AUGUST. But I have so much to look forward to- tons of trips, Jake's visit, and beautiful weather to experience in Florence in the next two months and then my final summer as a college kid... so bizarre! Until next time, ciao ciao! I love all of y'all!
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