Day 5 & 6- Playing Tourist!

I'm baaaack! So for most of the weekend I played tourist in Firenze Centro taking pictures of everything I saw...LOL....(I know that doesn't sound like me at all...HAH!). I have a TON of pics posted on FB but here are some of the most beautiful ones. I am going to try and head DT each day this week and see one or two more things. I have afternoons off so I may as well make as much use of it as I can!

The pics above are (right to left):

1) Ponte Vecchio- Shop's-filled bridge crossing the Arno River

2) Palazza Vecchio- Florence's Town Hall

3 & 4) The Duomo Cathedral up close

5) The bronze doors of the Battistero

Saturday I went down DT all day. I ate at a little alley restaurant called Australiano- an Australian Eatery; they even had Burgers and French Fries! However being in Italy I feel like I can NOT eat American foods so I have tried to stick to Italian dishes. I ate the best bruschetta I have ever tasted, made with fresh bread & tomatoes and margherita pizza..mmmmmmm!

After touring Centro from 10:30am- 4pm I headed home to take a nap. Saturday night I went back DT to eat dinner and get some pictures of the city at night. And can I just say WOW. I ate at a restaurant called Regginella, a Cucinca Toscana. The wine was phenomenal, the food even better, I met two Canadian couples and the waiters there were all alot of fun and spoke fluent english (along with about 3-4 other languages!!-- quite incredible!).

Sunday was a little more quiet. I lazed around until about 2pm with the patio doors open and sunshine pouring in :) Michelle, Simone and I went back to centro for the afternoon just to walk around. The city was crazy-- it was beautiful out so it was PACKED. We had a drink (God bless espresso) before heading back to the suburbs for dinner with Simone's parents.

Simone's parents are true Italians and ADORABLE. His father even reminds me of my dad a little bit-- he's SO cute! At dinner I felt like I was in a movie--his mother cooked and abundence of food (including fresh vegetables from his fathers garden) and an Italian variation of roast beef ( I think...lol)..mmmm, they all talked with their hands....ALOT. It was really fun to watch them interact (as his parents do not speak english at all)....talk about being immersed in Italian culture- incredible.

After that we packed up and headed back to my apartment-- exhausted from a full weekend!! This week should be busy- work here is picking up. We will see what tomorrow brings! (this weekend I head to Venice-- WOO HOO!!)

Ciao!

The link to the other pictures: http://unb.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034954&l=737cd&id=121403429

Day Quattro- Firenze Centro

Salve!!

It's now Day Quattro in Italia...I think that time is going to crawl and fly at the same time.

Today was good. Got up & worked in the morning then drank tea on my balcony (so cliche, but so true!!). Michelle and Simone came over in the afternoon to hook up my DVD player...I can now officially watch Entourage- HOORAY! I walked back with them to pick up a bus pass and it's a good thing I did....the first 4 places we went to didn't have them...it would have been really cute me trying to explain what I wanted I am sure....LOL.

Anyhow-- have my bus pass so I am officially let loose to do some exploring assolo! I braved the bus and found my way to Centro, w/ no problems at all! All the pics posted here and on FB are from Firenze Centro (DT Florence) this afternoon. The large church picture is the famous called Santa Maria Novella (although I only have pictures on the back brick church and not the front Marble portion for now) built 14th century by Dominican monks (yee-haw!).

The other photo's are of the different world that is EU!- Centro Streets, street vendors, etc. One of my favorites was the pic of Hotel Montreal (yay Canadia :) Speaking of which Florence was CRAWLING with Canucks....in the hour I was in Centro I met two Canadian couples...one from Van and one from T.O-- who knew?!

All went very well DT, I didn't get lost found my way back to where the bus dropped me off only to realize that it was a one way street and well.....guess I am not going to get back to where I started on a one way street now am I?! After wandering around aimlessly for 45 mins- no joke -and checking every possible stop I could think of I broke down and called Michelle for directions...LOL.

Just a little nudge and I was back on track! Made it to Michelle's for dinner (again, I didn't write down what the dished were called and now can't tell you the names). I will try to explain what we had....think- sun dried tomato slices w/ slices of fresh (HEAVENLY) mozzarella and seasoned with basil and olive oil as one aperitif, then salted bread sticks rolled in procuitto (aka raw ham)--probably one of the best things I have even eaten. Our meal was similar to a meat pie but with a light, light pastry crust and inside was fresh mozzarella and ham- BENISSIMO. BENNISIMO!!

That was pretty much my day in a nutshell! I should have more to report after tomorrow's adventures...and LOTS more pictures!!

Lastly-- for those of you with or without a Facebook account you should be able to access more pictures on there :)

http://unb.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034784&l=c6059&id=121403429

Buonanotte!

xoxox

Day 3- The rain arrived

Buon Giorno!

Unfortunately today was the first rainy day I've had...and did it rain! I was woke up this morning to worst crashing thunder I have EVER heard- it was nuts. And from that wake up call on it continued to pour :(

I went for a short walk to avoid cabin fever but apart from that most of my day was spent inside. Tomorrow I am going to buy my bus pass and will head DT (aka: Centro) to do a little exploring-- could be interesting.

I don't know what the plan will be for tomorrow night? A moderator I know what telling me about a Bar in Centro where alot of American students hang out so I may try to venture if I get really brave! Otherwise Michelle, Simone, Nicholas and I are going back to Centro this weeked. I should have some good pictures for you!!

Stay tuned! ;-)

Day 2 in Firenze

Ciao!! Come va??

Ok, so day #2 already-- time is going to fly I can just tell!



I think I have conquered the jet-lag and seem to be doing ok. So far so good.



Today started off with bang.....or should I say...screech? or...... scream? Yes- my first morning in the new apartment, new city, new country and I woke up to the sound of a strange screeching noise, that sounded only persistent and loud enough to be one thing-- yes a fire alarm. Now why is it that by nature we now always assume when we hear this noise that it is just a drill? Even from my sleepy-stupar I remember convincing myself that it was just a drill and would turn off. (Can we say TOO MANY FIRE DRILLS?!). Anyhow, after a solid 5 mins of this shrill, awful beeping I acknowledged that this was not just going to stop and stuck my head out the door to investigate (keep in mind at this point I have just woken from a dead sleep and am a MESS). To my delight the hall way actually looks smokey. YAY!



So here I am dressed in some combinatin of clothing I threw on, armed with a US cell phone that doesn't work and my trusty Italian phrase books heading down the stairs to get out of the building (which, please note: I fully believed was on fire at this point). Anyhow I decided-- since I don't speak Italian to ask anyone around here what the hell was going on-- that I could find a pay phone to call Michelle. After walking a couple of blocks and finding no phone I hear sirens coming down our street. Here they come, I think, heading to my on-fire apartment on my first day in Italy-- what are the chances!? You can only imagine my surprise when that fire truck went right on by!



As I am sure you have concluded at this point, my buildng was not on fire. It WAS indeed an alarm. As near as I can figure someone burnt a meal in their apartment in a BIG way- but this has not been confirmed. Mallisimo!

Annnnyway ok, enough about that! Today was actually pretty quiet (good-quiet!). Michelle picked me up after the apartment chaos and we went grocery shopped. My fridge is now stocked :) In my journeys thus far I really think North America can learn a great deal from it's EU counterparts-- why haven't we thought of this stuff?!- for example...at the grocery store when you want to take a cart to use for shopping you need to put $2 in a machine (b/c the carts are all locked together) and then you can take it. THEN, when you come back and plug it back into the little lock thing- you get your $2 back!

Now see-- something that simple could make our parking lots a whole lot less -cart-over-run!

Hmm now after this we went to Michelle's where Simone made a full fledged Italian lunch. I thought I was going to have to roll out of there...the amount of pasta, wine and apperitif's consumed was not what I am used to (but FABULOUS...haha!). I would try to explain to you the foods we ate but Lord know's I would butcher the names so there's no use. (side note: I REALLY need to start carrying a note pad so I can record this stuff as it's happening and not have these issues)

After lunch we walked with Simone and the baby from Michelle's to my house- which is incredibly close- so now at least I can find my way there! They also showed me where another couple of shops, grocery stores, markets and places to buy bus tickets were. Now I just need t become brave enough to go and buy one...LOL

The rest of the night was spent at the apartment working-- wa hoo! No need to write about that huh??

Ciao Ciao!

xoxo

I'm here, I'm here!!

Well as you all know (or should know!), I arrived in Italy this morning. Flights were fairly smooth but custom/ security in Franfurt was a MESS....think- arriving 2 hours before my flight BOARDING time, and being stuck so long in security that I had to run to my gate. Niiiiiice!

Michelle and Simone picked me up at the Florence airport (FLR) with baby Nicholas in hand and may I just say he is EVERY BIT as cute as the pictures! Next stop was the apartment to get me settled in and catch up on some sleep....7 hours time difference really plays tricks with you!

The afternoon was spent napping and then we went out for dinner and gelato. We went into San Domenico (I am pretty sure that was the name...lol) to one of their favorite local Trattorias for my first taste of real Italian cuisine. The pizza did not let me down, and the red wine was superb--boo yah! I am going to LOVE this country! Next stop: Gelato (it really was a 'must'). Biscotti/ Cookies Gelato= probably the best thing I have ever tasted!

We then went to a look-out point to check out the view. It was really dark but we could see the Piazza, the Duomo, and in incredible view of the valley Florence sits in. I forgot my camera for this portion of the journey but fear-not I will be back!!

Anyhow, here is a link to some more pictures of my new apartment (http://unb.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034648&l=714e4&id=121403429)

....look how cute it is!!

Ciao!!

xxoxoox