Florence

This morning I woke up and though to myself "what am I going to write about today?", I had no plans for the day and at 8:30 I was lying in bed watching Dirty Dancing. But my saturday took a suprising turn when at 9:30 Tobey knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to join her, Michael, and Michael's parents in Florence for the day. I said what any of you would say when asked if you wanted to go to Florence for the day "Uh, heck yes". So, 10 minutes later I was showered, dressed, and packed and we were on our way to the train station! As soon as we got to Florence we headed to Tobey and Michael's favorite restaurant, which was utterly delicious! I started with penne and rabbit and then had a traditional Tuscan boiled dinner that is served with an anchovy-caper sauce. I didn't take a picture as it probably would have grossed you all out...let's just say that one of the boiled items was beef tongue. I did take a picture of the 1 kg steak that Micheal ordered and ate. Michael's father ordered tripe (stomach) which I also tried and actually like, ha, I just heard my Mom gag from here! Tobey and Micheal's Mom both wore their napkins tucked into their shirts...it looked ridiculous but by the end of the meal it was apparent that it had been necessary!

For the rest of the day we just walked around Florence with Tobey as our tour guide. She's a great tour guide...especially because she was wearing a red sweater which made her very easy to follow in a crowd!

Okay, so are you ready to see what I saw in Florence? (I apologize that some of pictures are slightly blurry, I was trying to be "untouristy" by taking really quick inconspicuous photos...next time I'll embrace the touristy side of me and take pictures slowly! And some may seem a little random but it's just what I saw and what tickled me.)

After lunch was went to see the Duomo.
It is unbelieveable. Tobey and I stood there with our mouths open in a totally different world for a few minutes until we were snapped back into 2009 by a car that almost ran us over. The Basilica di Stanta Maria del Fiore (or Duomo) started being built in 1296. I was standing infront of a building that Michelangelo had passed many times in his life. Surreal.

After that it was time for a snack...an cold, refreshing, delicious snack. Tobey's favorite Gelati shop. Now this ain't any old gelati shop, this is all natural, "real" gelati. It isn't piled high into cases, which is a no-no, but in little covered containers. I had pistachio, greek yogurt, and grapefruit. I think it's safe to say I have been ruined, no ice cream will ever taste as good as the one I had here. I can't even describe it....well, let me try....orgasmic.
My mouth is watering just from looking at the picture!

The next picture is for Tracy (aww, miss ya T-Race!!), it is rows of salt, all different kinds. Whenever we're at Superstore and we walk down the spice aisle it seems we always check out the different salts. So, I though of her when I saw this:
I didn't get her any though, I'm still trying to find a way to bring back some truffles, okay, maybe a truffle. Heehee!

Then I saw a pair of lime green-snake skin-cowboy boots that I kinda wanted. They are slightly hideous but they are also lime green-snake skin-cowboy boots.
Next up, a children's clothing store. "But Revanna, you don't have an children!" you say, and I reply "Uh, yeah, you're point?". Chantelle, I thought of you while I was in here, we've spent many a shopping trip browsing through the baby clothes, and yes, in Italy like in North America girl's clothes are still much cuter than boys.

After popping in at H&M I saw "David"...but not the real one. This is the fake one where the real one use to stand before his arm was broken off in a street fight, don't worry they fixed it. I didn't get a chance to see the actual "David", but I am sure I will as this was just the first Florence trip of many.

You can kinda tell that doppelganger David is newer because he's whiter than the statue beside him.

Then I rubbed this boar's snout and made a wish...it's like rubbing Mr. Eaton's foot for good luck (that is what you do right? I just got the awfulest feeling I made it up...I do that sometimes.)

His snout is so shiny and there were tons of people just waiting to rub it!

We passed by a store selling tights and I thought it looked so funny to see all those legs lined up with different colors of stockings on. Remember, I said some of these pictures are random!
I also saw this lady made out of chocolate. I especially like the trim of colorful sprinkles!

There were many other wonderous sights I saw but didn't take pictures of, I had to save something for the next trip! It was a great day and by the end of it my cheeks hurt from smiling. I laughed so much seeing all the funny people and things, and not my cute teehee laugh (do I even have one of those) but my gafaw-har-hee-haha one....you can dress a girl up but you can't take her out. Can you blame me though? I went from Charlottetown to an even smaller town and this was my first time being (I'm not counting airports) in an actual city since Christmas!

We got back on the train and made it home by 6:30 pm...what a wonderful way to spend a Saturday! I can't wait for the next Florence adventure!