Two- Due

February 5th, 2011

Hot water works! It is amazing. And our toilet is fixed. All is well in the apartment. Win.

So here are some other fun things that have been going on. The other night Gladys, Alyssa and I went out on the town. We made friends with two guys from Pistoia. Their names are Guiseppe and Alessando. Pistoia is a little town a ways from Florence, but perhaps they can be our tour guides. Hanging out with them was great. Alyssa and Gladys are both from Vegas, so they had heard of it. But who has ever heard of Albuquerque? Guiseppe kept saying Abu Dhabi, essentially. Hilarious. So there we were, in Florence, toasting to Abu Dhabi.

Another highlight was a walking tour in Florence that started at the Ponte Vecchio and went to San Minato and Piazzale Michelangelo. I learned some interesting facts I didn't know about Ponte Vecchio. One, it was the first bridge built across the Arno in Florence by the Romans. Second, it was the only bridge NOT destroyed in WWII. And lastly, the Italians put large windows in the walkway above the bridge (the Corridoio Vasariano) so that Hitler would have a nice view of the river. Interesting stuff, right?
San Miniato is a beautiful Romanesque church from the 11th century, and the views of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo are breathtaking. It was warm and sunny, to boot!
After the tour we went to the Chocolate Festival going on in Santa Croce. Chocolate everything. Amazing.

Last major thing coming to mind is our trip to Pisa! And that means... THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA! Hahaha. It really is a bizarre tower, and it looks just like the pictures. Of course, we had to take sleezey tourist pictures with the tower, which was fun. Syvetlana took a picture with it and said "Syvetlana holds Leaning Tower with pinky finger." Love her. But I can't lie, I pulled a creeper and took pictures of as many other tourists as I could who were "holding up the leaning tower." I was just amused and happy. The other highlight in Pisa was our food. We had lunch at Porton Rosso and gelato at Bottega del Gelato. I had pasta with shrimp (can't remember what it was called) that was to die for. The place was adorable, as well. My amaretto and nicciola (hazelnut) gelato was heavenly. All and all it was a great day in Pisa!

Lastly, the internet people should be coming very soon! When they do, I will add pictures on here. It just is too slow and spotty to do it now. Until next time... Arrivederci!