La mia vita a Firenze: December 10, 2011-Last day in Florence

December 10, 2011

This morning I slept in until about 9:30 and had a nice, long breakfast. Then I showered and straightened my hair and headed out around 11:30 to meet Leah at Santa Maria Novella. We walked together to Piazza del Duomo where we met up with Becca. We had thought about climbing the Duomo but it was raining a little bit and we didn’t think it would be too much fun to do it in the rain. So we decided to just walk around Florence and take everything in one last time. We walked all over town, which was lovely, and the spitting rain actually made everything so beautiful. We walked across Ponte Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti and then headed back across the river to Piazza della Republica. There we tasted some olive oil, honey, jam, and wine at the Saturday market, which was fun. After that we decided to ride on the carousel because we had all wanted to do it the whole time we were here and never had. It was only 1.50 Euro so we all paid for it with the spare change we had been meaning to use up. We had so much fun (more fun than any of the little kids, I think) and were so happy we had done it :) After that we wandered our way back through the center and toward the train station. We all split ways around 2:00 so Leah could go pack, I could pack up a few last minute things, and Becca could get all her bags together to leave this evening. On my way home I got off the bus at the stop by Gelateria de’ Medici, got one last cone of crema de Medici and walked the rest of the way home.

When I got home I had a little lunch and finished all of the packing that I can do until tomorrow morning right before I leave. Franzi’s boyfriend is coming this afternoon so she was already moved out and had brought all of her stuff to their hotel so the room looked so barren. I’m glad I’m only here one more night because it looks so sad. After packing and weighing my bags, I hung out with Andrea and Daniela for a little while. Daniela even called ahead and reserved a taxi for me tomorrow morning! Then, around 3:45, I caught the bus back into town to meet Becca. We met at the train station at 4:00 and caught the bus to the airport. She is going to travel with her boyfriend for a week who is studying abroad in Tanzania! I went to help her with her bags and give her some moral support as she had kind of a long journey in front of her. After seeing her off, I caught the bus back to Florence.

At 6:30, I met Leah at the train station once again and we headed to the restaurant we had gone to together at the beginning of the trip, ZaZa, for dinner. The restaurant didn’t open until 7:00 because they eat so late hear but we just took a leisurely walk through the Christmas-lit streets to pass the time. We decided to eat in the “screened-in porch” (it was more of a tent-like thing) at Za-Za because it was so warm outside and, combined with the heat lamps, we didn’t even need a coat on or anything. We had just ordered our food when Franzi came by with her boyfriend, Joe, to introduce him to us and they decided to join us for dinner as well. We all enjoyed white wine and delicious pasta (I had gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce that was so delicious) and had the most lovely time. Even when it rained a little bit it was so cozy to hear it on the tent above our heads. We called it a night around 8:45 because Leah still had some packing to do, Joe was exhausted from traveling, and I (and Leah) wanted to get to bed early because we need to get up so early tomorrow. I caught the bus home but got off one stop early so I could walk in the rain for a couple of blocks and take in Florence at night one last time…it really is beautiful in the rain :)

When I got home, Andrea and Daniela were still out so I turned on some music and packed a few more last minute things. I was really happy when they came home just ten minutes after me because I love just having them around—especially on my last night. They had met friends from Spain from dinner but they were also exhausted from traveling so kept dinner pretty short. Now Daniela and Andrea are just in the living room reading and I am finishing up everything I need to do before I go to bed but it’s still nice that we’re all home as a family, even when we’re not doing something specific together. Once I post this I will probably head to bed pretty soon because Daniela reserved a taxi for me for 6:45 so I will be up very early tomorrow morning—it’s going to be a long day but I am so excited to go home! Of course it is bitter sweet but, after seeing most everyone else leave today, I am pretty ready. I am very sad to leave my host family, however. ANYWAY, I can’t believe this is my last blog post from Florence…118 blog posts…pretty incredible, huh? Thank you all so much for reading what I have had to say over the past three and the months—I really do appreciate it :)

All my love and then some,

Kari