Tuscan Weekend Sept 16-18

Through my program there are several included trips, some day long ones and one weekend long excursion. The trip was from Friday through Sunday.
Friday we left the city, heading toward the coast to see the city of Tolemea. This was the most adorable fishing town. The old city walls still stand from when it was a castle that stood on the rocky peninsula. The water is sparkling on three sides, the sun shines brightly and the breeze blows coolly. Set in a Mediterranean bay, the town now holds boats, ranging from not so expensive to so very expensive. The higher paths offered a breath taking view and down below there are some majestic trails along the water. It is not a large town, but it has character and so much charm. For dinner we ate at the hotel, a five course meal. The first was brushetta, followed by pea soup which wasn't too bad. Next was tortellini in a seafood sauce, followed by a fish dish, ending with tirimisu. It wasn't my favorite meal, too much fish for my tastes. However it was nice to have local food.
Saturday we drove to a sea side village where old tombs had been discovered from different eras. They ranged from age and size depending on how much money a family had. The largest was over ten meters long. We were able to go inside, however the lights didn't work so what we saw would be what they saw when ever putting a body in, darkness. We did get to peak with a flashlight though. The rest of the day was spent at the beach, which was a bit too long. But the weather was nice and the water was perfect for swimming. For dinner that night we had the same meal, but at a lesser quality of the night before. It was disappointing at least and gelato was necessary afterward.
Sunday was reserved for a horse show. On the way there the bus driver got lost and we found ourselves on a dirt road. Dirt roads are not very big nor are they meant for tour buses. To say the least it was interesting. Once at the organic farm, we watch a show that displayed how the cows were captured one by one in order to be branded. The cowboys also taught some people to lasso. Although it wasn't a horse show, it was still interesting. Afterward there was a wonderful dinner (including no beef). The starter was a cheese with balsamic viniger and olive oil. Next came a wonderful serving of turkey and potatoes, Finishing with a cookie dessert. Throughout the whole meal we had our share of wine and delicious bread. This was hands down the best meal of the trip.

Il Duomo- The Cathedral of Firenze

The Duomo is kind of the center of the city. I use it as my land mark no matter where I am going since it is visible from most of the city. It is a massive structure that consist of three buildings total. There is the cathedral, the tower and the baptistery. All three were redone when Firenze was the capital of Italy in 1865. Along with the Duomo, many other churches received face lifts. The Duomo is covered in marble, three colors. Red, white and green representing the colors of Italy. The majority of it is white, the most common stone. There is the least amount of red as it is the most rare. All of the stones are harvested from Tuscany. It truly is a beautiful structure.

In order to get into the church for free, I attended the Saturday mass. If you want to climb up into the dome, then it costs 8 euro. The mass was held on one of the side alters, that is off of the main alter. I felt like my head was on a swivel. There was so much detail to look at and admire. I plan to return until I have had my fill of the gorgeous building.

Cioa Italia!

I have finally made it! And the trip here was long. It feels like every time I travel what can go wrong happens to me. NYC was a hot mess after our little tropical storm over the weekend, so I was late getting into the airport. And the airport was having its own issues with all the flights that got changed. However I did make it through even though I was not calm by the time I got to my gate. Once boarded I am saying final farewells before the no more cell phone phase starts, and the goodbyes lasted long then expected. I am pretty sure my mom got at least four, every time I thought we were leaving... and then we wouldn't. In the end we took off an hour and a half late. My connection in Rome was an hour and a half after the original landing time. Thankfully there were at least 20 other students on the connecting flight so the airline made sure we got on it. Both flights were pleasant. On the first flight I met a very pleasant Italian women who was in the process of moving from Rome to NYC with her fiance ( her wedding was that coming weekend!). She was so nice to me, using her Italian to ask the flight attendants about my connecting flight and even walking with me in the Rome air port to catch the flight. This is Rome, not that you can tell.
I land in Florence almost two hours late. Alitalia lost almost twenty people laugage, and some of these girls had four bags so I didn't exactly feel bad. So I wait in line and give them information to send it to my apartment (this ended up being wrong but that was a later issue). So I make it to my apartment at 3 pm and I could not get in. My keys do not look like US keys and it didn't help that I was on the wrong floor. The way the floor counting works here is that the floor that is on the street level is 0 then going up, but I didn't know that yet. Luckily my roommates were home and let me in.
So I am in my apartment and this long long day has just happened. The obvious next thing to do is to get Gelato! And let me tell you it was fantastic. Walking this city is one of my favorite things to do. There is so much charm and charisma. My next post will have more happy details I promise!