The weekend after Rimini, Amanda (my kindergarten BFF) came to visit me! She had a nice, long time to hang around Florence- from Wednesday night to Monday morning. Unfortunately, the first day she was here the weather wasn't great, but we did walk around the city a lot, like up to Michelangelo's steps and around the Santa Croce, which was nice. That night we went to dinner at one of my favorite places to take guests, Trattoria Contadino, which serves you a 3 course meal+ bread, wine and water for only 12 Euro. I went there when Maddie visited me as well (I think I forgot to mention that she was in and out of Florence a few weeks ago, but it was GREAT seeing her and I don't know how I forgot if I did). Friday, we walked around the city a little more- got lunch at Za-Zas, bought presents at the market (Matt, if you're reading this, I hope she didn't tell you about your present yet... it's a GREAT surprise) and saw various other sights around town. Then the next day, we took a day trip to San Gimignano, which is this tiny Tuscan town that has the best preserved fortressses of any city in the area- so there are all of these HUGE towers still standing, which apparently inspired people to start calling it the Manhattan of Tuscany. It was a really cute place to go for the day and I'm so glad I got to see it! And that Amanda saw more of Tuscany than just Florence, which is beautiful, but so is the countryside! Sunday was filled with more Florence touring and shopping, and then Monday I sent her off and prepared for my last week of classes. The weekend after that week, I took it easy to study/soak up my last days in Florence, but I did get to take another day trip to Cinque Terre which I thoroughly enjoyed, again. And now I'm in my final countdown (and also a countdown to my birthday!).
I really can't believe my semester is already over. The saying "time flies" is so trite, but it's really true in this case. I have just had the most amazing time this semester getting to know a city that was completely foreign to me on January 16 and now feels like home. Every single day of last week and this past one, I have been struck by one thing or another that I realize I am going to miss so much when I'm at home. Whether it's my hilarious attempts to speak Italian, my English teacher Stefano's ridiculous quotes (his latest, when asked about his broken finger: I can bent it a little more. Maybe by Christmas I can, I don't know, pick up a bug), my beautiful apartment, the outdoor/indoor markets just steps from my school, the great SHOPPING, the amazing history/art all around me, the friendly (and sometimes, overly so) Italian people, the easy travel or the great people I've met on my program, I know that there is so much I am leaving here (or sending off to their own homes, in the case of my friends) that I am going to pine for for quite some time. I don't even know how to express how thankful I am that I was given this opportunity, and I hope I take lots and lots that I've learned back with me(although currently, my suitcases are wishing I was taking a little bit less stuff). I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this (and I do have one more post left) and I will see y'all SO soon!
