Day 15-Firenze-Friday-2/11/11

It's weird because this blog is the only thing that helps me keep track of the dates.  Yes, I have my Italian cell phone, but I don't have a planner and I feel weird without one.  I'll probably have to try and find one in Rome, especially if I want to start planning trips!  Today was my day off from school.  Molly and I slept in then decided to walk around the Duomo area.  It was kind of a cloudy day which was upsetting since it was our last day in Firenze :(  I finally decided to buy something because I couldn't resist and you wanna know what it is?  Lol you will laugh because I am so not a girl.  I bought a journal.  Lol because besides writing this blog I am keeping a journal everyday too and I'm already half full in my first one so why not start my second one with a journal made in Italy?!  I'm excited about it.  It suits me.  After we walked around we got hungry and decided to get some lunch.  We were by the Duomo which is usually more expensive so we were shocked when we found a lunch deal for 9 Euro that got us each a salad, bruschetta, spaghetti, and a glass of wine.  I was super excited because even though I am in Italy I have yet to try their spaghetti.  Do I even have to say how good it was?  Lol, well it was delicious along with their bruschetta which I can't get over how much I love.  I actually ate everything really slow too which is a first for me because I like to eat really fast… my mom always yells at me about it, I figured out one day at breakfast that I got that habit from my dad, thanks dad ;) haha jk.  Anyways we sat for a long time enjoying ourselves, the food, conversation, and atmosphere before leaving.  We walked slowly towards the school because we had to be there at three to go on our trip to the hills.  I didn't know what to expect if we were busing or walking, but it turns out we were walking and I'm so happy because it was a great workout and well worth the trip.  It was about a half hour walk and the last part was literally straight up on a super steep hill of steps.  We got to the top and it was an amazing view of Florence, absolutely gorgeous!  I wish I had known about this all along because I probably would have gone up there everyday it was sooo breathtaking!  We followed our tour guide and went to a church even higher up!  It was awesome!  I have a ton of pictures because I couldn't get over the beauty of the view so I will definitely put them up so you can see what I'm talking about.  Seriously though, the scene looks fake, but I assure you it is absolutely real and even a picture couldn't capture the beauty of it.  After that we walked back to the hotel, the walk back went way faster because it was downhill and we were reenergized from hanging out up on top of the hill for awhile.  We got back in time for a quick cat nap before dinner :)  lol I'm just trying to fit into the Italian culture ;) After our nap we went down to dinner.  It was penne noodles with olives and tomato sauce.  Very simple, but the olives added a ton of flavor.  The meal was an eggplant lasagna with out the lasagna noodles  and I loved it!  It was basically eggplant and tomato sauce and different cheeses, but it was soo good!  We had it with potatoes again which I didn't understand, who knew they would serve us potatoes so often in Italy of all places?  For dessert we  had a red wine soaked pear and it sounds really disgusting, but it was actually pretty good.  I felt bad though because I was so full from the food before that I didn't have room for the pear.  After dinner we went back to the room.  Jodine and Clara came over and the four of us studied for our final exam.  I finally got to call my dad and talk to him which was good :)  Then I went to bed.