A Moment You Will Always Remember

So I think this is probably my last required blog post for the internship (I'll keep posting more! Just no more of the blog topics provided by YIIP)... I'm going to attempt to tackle "a moment you will always remember". I'm going to do a really bad job...

Essentially... I will always remember LOTS of moments. Especially EVERY moment I spent in Florence. I may live a solid 2-hour trek away from the city, but I get there as often as possible and I desperately want to live there someday soon (*side note to my parents... yes, I know I said that about Reykjavik last year. I desperately want to live both places. It's feasible... Can't a girl dream big? Or at least have several dreams, so if one ends up being more feasible than the others, then there are main dreams and backup dreams?).

Anyways. Florence. Love it. I'm sure it would get frustrating living there, having to battle through swarms of tourists half the year, plus the sweltering heat, plus the endless noise from concerts and drunken tourist hooligans. But for the time being, I love it. It's a magical place where unique, once-in-a-lifetime moments occur on a regular basis. I've already mentioned some of the random friendships that have started in Florence. Trust me, there are many more.

I'll never forget the American girls who invited me to be an honorary member of their sorority after we spent 20 minutes together battling the broken bathroom door at my favorite Florence bar.

I'll never forget the night of my birthday, at my favorite Florence restaurant, Za Za, when Katie and I cheered up a waiter after an obnoxious tourist yelled at him for not speaking English "well enough".

I'll never forget the first time I tasted pizza from Pizzeria O'Vesuvio.

I'll never forget the time I figured out that chocolate gelato and yogurt gelato together taste like cheesecake.

I'll never forget the time I dared to try gorgonzola gelato (...yes, it's as terrible as it sounds).

I'll never forget dancing on Ponte Vecchio with a bunch of strangers while the Ponte Vecchio guitar guy played "Don't Worry Be Happy".

I'll never forget yesterday afternoon, when I was walking through some back alleys to go meet a friend at Piazza Signoria, and I walked past a church window where inside was a little concert going on with stunning music being played by a cellist, violinist, and pianist (see video below).

I'll also never forget yesterday, when I was walking through Via Tornabuoni, thinking to myself "I'm STARVING! I just want a SNACK! Something with TRUFFLES!" and I turned a corner to find myself face to face with an adorable antique cafe with the words "Panini Tartufati" (Truffle Sandwiches) written across the windows. This place seriously just sells little 2-bite sandwiches with different truffle products inside, like truffle butter, and truffled cheese, and truffled foie gras.

Of course this entire internship has been an incredible, unforgettable experience, and there are a million more moments at Celle, Pistoia, and beyond that I will always remember, but I just wanted to try to convey the bizarre way that fleeting Florence moments can really surprise you and stick with you. If your response to reading this is "big whoop, you met people and ate food", I say to you... "you just had to be there".

BTW, FYI, in case you were wondering... today is the most beautiful, breezy, sunny, colourful July day that Italy has ever seen.