I pretty much say this every day, but living in Florence gets more fun everyday!
Last night was a blast. Ana and I walked home from school together and ran a few errands. I picked up some groceries for dinner. When we got home she had to run out again, so I made dinner. Very simple - I just made some whitefish with cherry tomatoes, lemon, shallots, and basil. Then we had some bread and olive oil and fruit salad. We ate around 9 when Jackie got home from class. We were just going to hang out, but our friend Sergio called and invited us out, so we went out for a while. Alex called me after a while and invited us over to where he was, so Ana and I went while Jackie stayed with Sergio.
When we started to get tired Alex and Alex came over. The five of us just hung out for a few hours and sat around and talked.
This morning the three of us girls had to leave around 9 for our bike trip. Our friend Kate from upstairs decided to come too. We walked over to the meeting spot and waited. There were about 15 of us going. Two Scottish guys in their late twenties showed us and split us into two vans. They drove us up a mountain, about 45 minutes.
We finally got to our destination, which was a castle. The castle has been turned into a winery. We got a tour of the winery and then got to taste the wine and oil they make there. After that we all got on bikes. They provided us with helmets and water bottles. We started the bike ride. The destination was lunch. The ride was pretty easy going to the restaurant - all down hill. We all rode single file on the side of the road. It was a little scary sometimes because cars whizz by (no speed limits), but it was fine.
We got to a little local restaurant and they already had a table set up for all of us. Jackie, Kate, and I sat by a couple traveling Europe (who wouldn’t stop talking) and a young couple on their honeymoon. Lunch started with salad, bread, olive oil, and wine. We got our pick of the main course. I had vegetable penne which was amazing. Then we also got desert. I chose gelato, but it ended up being coffee so I traded Jackie for her chocolate torte.
After lunch we rode again, back to the winery. We took a different path. We rode 30 minutes on a flat road, but then we got to a huge hill. Everyone except 5 of us got in the van and rode to the top. Kate, Jackie, Ana, and I decided to try it. Well, we rode for a little bit, then ended up walking our bikes. When we were 3/4 of the way up on of the directors came by with his van and picked us up. It was intense. (Jackie made it all the way, though.) At the top of the hill we stopped at a cafe and got water. Then we headed back to the winery.
We rode about 14 miles and had so much fun. They drove us back to Florence and the 4 of us headed home. That was a long walk after all that riding. (Especially going up all the stairs into our apartment.) Jackie and I took a quick nap and then cleaned and bought groceries for the weekend. Alex and Kate were coming over for dinner, but Alex wanted to cook again so we waited for him to finish grocery shopping. He showed up right as the market was closing, though, so they wouldn’t let us shop.
We came back here and I made lunch for myself, Jackie, Ana, and Alex for the beach tomorrow. Alex threw together some quick penne pasta which was amazing. Oh, and yesterday Ana and I discovered gelato from Conad (the grocery store across the street) and we are obsessed. So after dinner we had some gelato. Kate and Ana decided to go out, but Jackie, Alex, and I decided to just hang out. We sat around for a while and then we watched a movie. Tomorrow we have to be at the train station around 8:45 for the beach. It’s a free trip through our school, so we know a lot of people going. I think it’s going to be fun, but a long day.
Sunday Jackie, Ana, and I are heading to Siena for a day trip. We’re just going to pack food and walk around all day. I’m looking forward to that. I’m also looking forward to Katie coming back because it’s weird not having her here!
|
