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!

Who knew...

that this afternoon I would be in Italy driving the back roads with a Transylvanian while jamming to French techno music. Heck, I couldn't have dreamt that one up!

My Ant - Sunscreen Mascot

This is my Ant (and no, this is not a spelling error, for some reason I can't recall exactly why, but she went from being my "Auntie" to my "Aunt" and now to "Ant" and that's where it's stopped):


I love her.


She has a great laugh, it's kinda like a teehee...I am forced to laugh myself whenever I hear it.

And she is a big advocate of avoiding the sun's harmful rays and not getting sunburns.


So, when I got a sunburn like this:
(How the heck was I to think I should be sunscreening my back!!!)

Or this:
(This one was just pure dumbness.)

Or the burns on my ears, arms, and cheeks.
...I don't think of my Mom's scolding voice (does my Mom even have one of those??) and I don't just shrug it off...I picture my Ant's tsk-tsking and her shaking head. I feel like I've let her down!! In fact, I even hesistated puting pictures up as I know she checks the blog. But I did because I wanted her to know this: I learned my lesson. I now walk around lathered in SPF 60 and a hat, I look very uncool and un-Italian, but I do it 'cause I know it's better to be a dork with pale skin then to be the person with skin cancer.
People make fun of my SPF 60 sunscreen but I just think of my Ant and her smile of approval. So, kids, the lesson of the day, wear the freakin' sunscreen!!
And last but not least, thank you Ant for making me hear the sun say this everytime I got outside without sunscreen "Oooh! There's that Revanna chick, hey UV Rays, come on, lets get 'er!!

I have something exciting to tell you!

Lunch time is a bit crazy at Petraia because usually when there is more than one Italian in the room things can get loud...and at lunch there is usually 5 or 6. I don't say much during lunch, as I don't understand it alot and it would probably be hard to get a word in anyway, I just sit and watch, it's hilarious! But today there were only 3 Italians and I understood a conversation, all by myself, with no translating! Yipee! Some Italian is sticking! It was a stupid conversation about how to pronouce "Micheal" in Italian...but I understood everything that was going on! Heck, I need a pat on the back! I'm going to go study some more Italian! Ciao! I mean, Ciao-ciao-ciao! (That's more Italian, I guess it's better when you say it at least 3 times really fast.)

The Petraia House

Okay, are you ready for outstanding beauty? Petraia's acres are one thing but the house is unbelievable.
This picture is off the little courtyard, the glass door to the right is the entrance to the restaurant:

And here is the door up closer, beautiful, hey?
And this is the kitchen door. Notice there are chimmney's for a wood burning stove and oven, ah, every chef's dream!

Those are all the pictures I have of it right now but I think it gives you a pretty good idea of what it looks like. The inside is if not equally or more beautiful than the outside. But, sadly I have no pictures!
I hope everyone is having a great day!

It's been on my mind...

Occasionally (as in more then once a day) weird things just get stuck in my mind. And this one has been on my mind for at least the past week and a half and so I have to share it.

Okay, so you know the expression "I feel like the third wheel"? Well, I'm guessing they don't say that in here because of these things:

But my mind doesn't stop there, because if you can't be the third wheel then what would you be called? Not, the fourth 'cause we have cars. So, I guess it will have to be the fifth. So, next time you find yourself feeling 'like the third wheel' you can either think positively and remember that 3 wheels can work great together or you can just call yourself the fifth wheel.

Wow, I can't believe I'm posting this, although most of you know how my strange mind works it's another thing to see it infront of you. It was just my excuse to show you this car really...okay not really, I have actually been pondering this a while.

Don't worry a 'real' post will come soon!

Happy Easter Monday!

I have one last Easter treat for you. I found these on Friday and was thrilled. I'm fairly certain that quail eggs are the most precious, beautiful eggs I have ever seen. Don't you think?
And they're even cuter went set beside a hen's eggs!

I love it!