My Parents Left me in Europe

So, midterm week actually ended over a week ago, but as soon as they were finished my parents came into town!!! That's my sad excuse as to why I have left no REAL post in about two weeks.

Sadly, now it is just me again chillin' in Florence as my parents left this morning to return to the U. S. of A. I know they were probably ready to be back, but we had a wonderful time, and I loved having them here for a little while. We saw Florence (in fact I think I saw some of Florence for the first time - it's different being a tourist), and then we went to Rome for two days and Cinque Terre for two days and then Florence again, and we finished with a nice lunch in Chianti. I hope they enjoyed Italy as much as I have since August.

Pictures of Florence Day 1 (post jetlag)

Have you ever seen the Colosseum? Well you should because it's awesome. I think it was actually bigger than I imagined. We took a guided tour through that and the Roman Ruins on our second day of Rome. On the first we saw the pope. Yep, that's right, the pope. On Sundays at noon he comes out to bless the crowd and we were in the crowd. It was so cool, especially when I understood some of his little mini-sermon which was in Italian. He did greet everyone about 7 times in a different language each time. I'm not catholic, but it was still quite an experience. That same day we saw St. Peter's Basilica which was also beautiful. There was some sort of Parade/Spanish Mass going on while we were in there, but it almost just added to it. They were singing in Spanish and these priests came down while we were slowly walking around checking out the statues and the high altar and the dome. We also saw the alleged tomb of St. Peter (the first pope) and John Paul II. I also mailed myself a post card from the Vatican - now how many people have something postmarked "Vatican City." Well, I do as soon as it gets to me. Not to brag or anything.

I Saw the Pope.

After Rome we returned to Florence, but only to catch another train the following day to Cinque Terre. I'd been before, but it was raining. And I'm not going to lie, I was a little disheartened when the morning we left was looking a little cloudy, but it cleared up in no time, and I finally got to see the five little cliff side towns in the sunlight instead of in the gloom. Going to Cinque Terre was also a nice relief from the hectic travel of seeing things in Rome and Florence. We hiked and ate crepes and road trains and stared astonishingly at the sea. It was wonderful.

Absolutely Stunning.

We finished off with another more relaxing day in Florence. We started by returning to the Central Market and then visiting the Boboli Gardens which I'm sad I hadn't ventured to before as they are also beautiful and quite relaxing. Then we headed up the hill to Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato for the fantastic views over Florence. When we got to San Miniato there were either priests or monks chanting or singing inside and we sat on a pew for a little while and listened. (I still say they were chanting monks, but I'm not sure the dilemma will ever be solved.) Then, oddly enough someone decided to turn San Miniato Pink for a night. They had these giant pink stage lights set up and as it started to get dark they turned them on and the whole facade of San Miniato turned Pink. If nothing else I got to take some good photos. My mom and I decided that San Miniato thought they weren't getting enought visitors and the whole show was a crazy marketing scheme as you could see the church that is typically hidden in the dark, clearly from the other side of the river.

The Pink Church.

On our final day, we turned the pace down even more and took a bus to Chianti where I went only a few weeks ago and did a tour of the wine cellar and the vineyard and whatnot and then had that amazing five-course meal again. I have to say, I think it was better the second time, but just as filling. I may even ride that bus out there again, just to go through the countryside and see all the fall colors again. It is getting so gorgeous when you actually see trees.

Florence needs more trees.

I shall try not to go so long again without a good post, but as you can see, it was only in an effort to have a number of big adventures to share. Everyone say hello to the fall for me and enjoy the trees.

And since I'm way behind:

I made Octopus and Chocolate Cake.