The fact that it's been more than six years since I spent the semester in Florence boggles my mind. I could of sworn it was yesterday that I rode my bike across the river for Christopher's IM soccer match, spent night after night on the rooftop of our apartment having life chats with Alison over an extra large bottle of Chianti, or dancing the night away at Space Electronica. Sigh...
Andy had a few days off with the team on a road trip (he still can't play due to a visa issue with the league) so we jumped at the chance to head north for Florence. My amazing host family was happy to host us and even provided wonderfully comfortable and familiar accommodations - my (well, mine and Ali's) old suite!
After dropping our bags, I gave Andy the
not so grand tour of our room, bathroom, balcony and rooftop. The views were medium but at least the company was good.
Andy got to know Baldo (and all about AC Milano) in the living room while Laura caught me up on all the family goings on before leaving for choir. Per usual, we had an incredible dinner with Baldo before retiring to the living room for whiskey, cigars and the AC Milano soccer channel. Oh yeah, and Harry made a new friend (surprise, surprise). Some things never change. And I'm okay with that.
Tuesday morning we hit the town for Day One of "Pack All You Can Into Less Than Two Days of Touring in Florence." Among many other things, we stopped by Villa Rossa (my school while studying abroad), indulged in some serious Italian grub at Trattoria Anita (a favorite of Christopher and mine back in the day), touched the boar's nose (signifying our return to Florence someday) and marveled at the beauty of the Duomo.
While waiting in line for the Academy, we stumbled upon this little piece of graffiti beauty. Seeing as both Santa Clara and Pepperdine have abroad programs in Florence, we couldn't help smile at this. Though if I was the artist, it would absolutely read ClaraPep.
Baldeschi family dinner followed our busy day and as usual, Laura delivered. The wine was flowing as we dined on homemade lasagna, chicken, potatoes, veggies and more. I can't forget the chocolate, hazelnut and pear cake - divine!
Post-dinner cigar smoking, soccer watching and whiskey drinking ensued. I even dabbled with the cigar smoking and provided some quality laughs for all involved.
Day Two brought us along the river for a long walk in the morning, through Piazza Repubblica, to The Oil Shoppe for lunch and then Vivoli for gelato. The weather was nicer and the sky bluer, so we stopped back at a few of our favorite places for more pictures. Harry even met another friend along the way - a sassy horse near the Duomo.
Laura prepared a fabulous lunch for us before our journey home. Of course, one last cigar and rooftop session was in order.
It was a perfect trip. Grazie Mille to Laura and Baldo for hosting us, cooking for us and loving us.
on to the next one...
