Wander-ling: Day 11&12

  Hello, friends! I'm finally catching up to the present date in my Wander-ling posts! Unfortunately, friends, my European Summer Vacation is coming to a close soon. I've got one week left and then I'm back in the States! Don't cry, though. I'm going to make the most of the next week. Anyways! Let's get into what I did on day 11 and 12 of my trip. 


Day 11: July 24
Thursdays in Florence

  We woke up ridiculously early to go on another group trip to Florence, also known as Firenze. The train came at 7:30, so my sister and I were up at like 6:30. It was terrible. It was okay, though, because we all went down to "Il Drago" to get our cappucinos and pastries, which were delicious. I love going down to Il Drago, because the lady there makes the prettiest cappucinos. After breakfast, the students, my dad, Don, and I boarded the train to Florence. 

One and a half hours later...

  We arrived in Florence after a bit of time on the train. The first stop in our Florentine expedition was our appointment in the Academy. For those of you that don't know, the Academy is an art institution housing many great works, such as The David and several Michaelangelo sculptures. If you don't know who Michaelangelo is...shame. For the first time in history at the Academy, we were allowed to take pictures without flash! We've never been able to take pictures before, and it was awesome. It did, however, take a bit of fun out of it. I don't know, being able to document the Academy via film was awesome, but it just made it a bit less exclusive. Either way, I did enjoy taking pictures of The David without having to look over my shoulder for security.

  After the Academy, we walked around Florence for a bit. We were just killing time before lunch. Unfortunately, there was a freaking downpour. It was raining so hard! Gah! We went into a little cafe to escape from the rain, where I got yet another decorated cappucinno. By this time, it was time for lunch, so we rounded up our students for lunch at "Penello's". We've taken our students to this restaurant every year in the program and for good reason, too. The food is absolutely amazing. I got veal with truffle sauce, which I get every year. Why do Americans even bother cooking food? This one is just too good! For dessert: tiramisu.
  Later, we walked around a bit and visited "Ponte Vecchio". We also did a bit of shopping in the large outdoor market and I got some sunglasses. By that time, it was time to get back on the train, so we went to the train station and headed back towards the center. 
  The rest of the day commenced with some major chilling at the center and blogging. Woo!






Day 12: July 25
A Friday in Florence


 Day 2 of Florence commenced with a fun, yet long train ride over. Don asked my sister of she listened to "Bull Dog" and she said, "...You mean Pitbull?". I've never seen a man laugh so hard in my whole entire life. It was a great moment. 
  After arriving in Florence, we had a tour scheduled of the Uffizi. This is another art institute in Florence with many great works. Again, we were allowed to take pictures in here. The tour guide that we had for this tour of the Uffizi was very good and enthusiastic. I really enjoyed the tour. Some of my favorite paintings in this museum include The Birth of Venus and Prima Vera. I love Prima Vera even more. Botticelli is a genius. The tour was very fun, but by the end, we were ready for lunch.
  We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Florence known as "Za-Za's". If you ever go there, get something with truffles. It's their specialty. I got fettucine with a creamy truffle sauce and truffle french fries. Oh my gosh. Incredible.
  After lunch, we did a bit more shopping. I was on a mission to get a leather purse. My current leather purse is one that I got from Florence a couple of years ago and it's in pretty bad condition. It was time to replace it. I found a brown satchel that I really liked a purchased it from a vendor in the market. I also ended up getting a little leather elephant keychain to keep on my car keys. Afterwards, we went back on the train.

  For the rest of the day, I ate dinner, hung out, got gelato, and watched Dirty Dancing with the students. It was a very long and tiring day, but I definitely had a lot of fun.

-Love Ling