Florence!

We left for Florence Thursday on the 12:22 train and arrived around 5:00 pm. Our hotel was about a two minute walk from the train station and about a five minute walk from the Duomo.  After we got settled into the hotel, we went to dinner as a group. Jocelyn and I stayed out a little bit after to walk around and explore. On Friday, we had a walking tour of the city. We hit all of the major landmarks in about 4 hours- Accademia, Duomo, Ponte Veccio. It was so interesting to learn the history of this ancient city. We were all pretty exhausted after the tour, so we went back to the hotel to rest for a little. That night, we went to a salon to hear an artist and a wine expert speak. The artist worked with clay, and all of his work was reminiscent of a bad acid trip. I wasn’t very impressed. The wine expert was an encyclopedia of knowledge. He knew everything there was to know about wine, down to the genus of the grape. After the salon, we went to dinner as a group at a restaurant our villa owner suggested, which, of course, was delicious.  Saturday was a free day. Some of us climbed the Duomo and then walked to Palazzo Michelangelo, which overlooks all of Florence. We also saw the cast of the Jersey Shore while we were walking around!! Jocelyn and I spent the rest of the day shopping in the leather market and in the various shops. I came away with a leather jacket and a new purse. Don’t worry, Mom. I spent my own money. We also found Grom, which had the most delicious gelato I have ever had (Thanks for the tip, Zach!). That night, a few of us went to dinner and then to a discotheque called Space Club- not kidding. On Sunday we packed up to leave. Our train had a layover in Orte, a little town about an hour from Spoleto. Our connecting train to Spoleto didn’t show up, so we spent the next three and a half hour in the little grocery store/café in the station playing cards and writing.  When we finally got back to the villa, we all passed out from an exhausting, but exciting, weekend. Tomorrow we have cooking classes!! I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself.