Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts

Friday, August 12, 2011

Friends in Italy... Part Three

Pizza from O'Vesuvio


Very tired. This will be brief.

PIzza the other night was awesome. Outdoor club was closed for the season, which was devastating, so we went to an indoor place called Space instead. Had lots of fun.... but not as much as we could have. One of my Pisa friends, Mike, came down to join us which was nice.

Yesterday we took the train to Siena and strolled around the beautiful city, making frequent stops in stores. I bought a fantastic sweater (see picture below. We had really good gourmet gelato from a place called Grom. We relaxed with a drink on the patio of the Irish pub, and all of a sudden I heard my name and turned around to see my friend and ex-student Stephanie. She's in Siena with the U of T study abroad program.

We got back to Florence, and Stacey opted to stay in for the night to get some much-needed rest. I thumb my nose at sleep. Tamara and I went out. We joined a pub crawl because one of the crawl guides, Matt, had given us a flyer the day before and we figured it sounded actually pretty good. For 18 euros we got an hour of open bar, a free shot at 4 bars afterwards, and entrance to Space. We had an absolute blast and met some cool people, including a group of aerospace engineering students from France. One of them is from Avignon. We had a long conversation about the bridge. Apparently it's underwhelming and in need of repair.

Things got dramatic when one of the French guys found out that a friend from home had committed suicide. There was lots of crying and consoling. We felt terrible for him, but I also felt bad for Matt as it was his first time being in charge of the crawl on his own, and this was quite a disastrous thing to have to deal with. I helped convince the french guys that their friend needed to go home and sleep. Once that downer was rectified, the night continued and we had an awesome time. Also, I've mentioned how I have run into my Turkish friend, Emre, on two separate occasions in Florence. Guess who tapped me on the shoulder last night...

Today the girls and I had a hardcore shopping day. It was successful. Got a gorgeous studded tuscan buffalo-leather collar for my dog, an awesome multi-functional schoolbag/laptop-tote for myself, and some cool clothes too. The second suitcase I bought the other day is pretty full...

Need 20 minute nap before we head out now for another night on the town. Tomorrow we catch the train at 8:30am for Milan (we couldn't go to Venice for the day as planned since the trains were sold out. It's probably for the best...).

Ciao


Stacey's karaoke skills on the bottom floor of Space (they keep the microphones turned off... a genius idea)

In the Campo of Siena

Pub Crawlin' with our new French friends

My turkish friend who pops up everywhere

My new bag, can also be made into a briefcase, messenger and a backpack

My new bag, can also be made into a tote, messenger and a backpack

New sweater from Siena

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Friends in Italy... Part Two


We're having the best time ever!!!

Yesterday we met up with Heather and Jenelle in Florence and went out first to Santa Maria Novella church (Stacey, Tamara and I waited outside since we weren't dressed appropriately). Then we grabbed a yummy little sandwich downtown and did some more sightseeing. We ended our afternoon with some wine drinking on a patio at Piazza Santo Spirito and then we grabbed a cab up to San Miniato al Monte, an 11th century basilica up on the hill overlooking Florence. We got there as the monks were chanting, which was a really beautiful experience. I have some video, but the internet here is terrible and it would take too long to post.

Afterwards we grabbed dinner at my favourite restaurant Za Za and stuffed ourselves silly, and then headed to the fortezza to browse the stalls and enjoy some delicious shisha. A fairly tame night...

This morning we woke up for the FANTASTIC breakfast at our hotel (best scrambled eggs and hot chocolate I've ever had), and then headed off for our adventurous day of horseback riding and wine tasting in the Chianti region. The tour company picked us up at the train station in Florence, and then drove us out to the countryside, making two stops for scenic picture-taking. We arrived at the ranch and got suited up. The horses were all really sweet. Mine was named Acadia. Tamara's was named Bruta (not to be confused with the Italian word "Brutta" which means ugly). The ride was gorgeous (we've been having perfect weather by the way) but now we all have very sore bums. After the ride, we were given some white wine, and then driven out to a nearby hilltop village where we got a great lunch at a tuscan restaurant.... we had crostini, cheese, prosciutto, mini gnocchi with meat ragu, and spaghetti with tomato sauce. Dessert was panna cotta (meh) with chocolate sauce (incredible). We also had more wine, and then went to a wine shop across the square for more tastings. After all of that, our fabulous guide drove us back to Florence. I was talking to a few of the guides and half-jokingly asked if there would be a chance I could get a job with them in a year's time when I'm done school. They said absolutely, and they'd be happy to help me.

Now we're getting ready for pizza and a night at my favourite outdoor club. Enjoy the pictures below!

Stacey, Jenelle, Heather and Tamara in front of the Duomo


Heather, Stacey and I in front of San Minato al Monte


Grabbing a drink while waiting for our table at Za Za


Stacey and I at the fortezza


Piazzale Michelangelo before horseback riding

Stacey on her horse


Me and Acadia


Horseback riding


Lunch after horseback riding