Stephanie In The City: Like monkeys in a cage..

February 6

Here is some background on the past couple days. On Friday Becky, Kelsey, and I went out to dinner with Colleen, Tara, and Topher. Colleen and Tara are studying in Perugia and come to Florence for the weekend. It was so good to see them! Of course we took them to our spot. Then on Saturday, left the house late like usual, it takes forever for all of us to get ready. We went to the chocolate festival, which was absolutely amazing! The best and most chocolate I have ever seen right in from of Santa Croce. I had a skewer with bananas and strawberries covered in white chocolate. I also bought delicious truffles that melt with just one touch of the tongue. Then we decided to wander to new territory and found ourselves right by the river at the end where there were actual streets with cars and lights. I took us to Piazalle Michelangelo (quite proud of myself) and it was probably the most amazing view I have ever seen in my entire life. It’s even better than the Duomo because you really are able to see the whole city in its entirety. It was a hard walk up to; I can’t wait to go running there. That will definitely keep me in shape here. We are one week in and it’s not looking too good. After that little excursion we went home to eat, went back out to shop, and ALMOST saw George Clooney. I know you are dying right now. He was in this store and there were news crews, but then by the end of it there was a huge mob and they told it was a joke and he wasn’t really in there. I swear I saw his beautiful peppered hair from the window, but I guess I will never know. All I know I cant wait to party with Jersey Shore when they start filming their next season in Italy. After shopping usually comes dinner and we went to this place called Dante’s where they give you free wine. I had amazing pizza! Then comes more drinking at a bar or club. We found a random guy on the street and he led us to a pub, we drank beer, listened to awful live music, and finally decided to leave our new friends. We proceeded to be chased home by a group of 15 Italian guys that were literally singing it us. We kept giving them attention, so they kept following. it was hilarious.

Best view in town.

Palm trees in Italy... whatttt?

Today Becky, Kelsey, Katherine, and I wandered around and this consisted of: buying fresh bread and cheese at the market, shopping, chocolate festival again of course, playing cards, and just walking around. Quite a good day if I do say so myself!

This evening Becky, Kelsey, and I went to our favorite restaurant, Il Sasso di Dante that is right next door to our place. We only wanted some vino and dessert, but left feeling like we were animals at the zoo. We sat right next to the kitchen, bad idea. The two chefs would take a peek at us every couple minutes without fail. The first few times we went there it was expected since we get stared at literally every place we go. Are we some sort of alien foreign beings? I mean they probably have never seen such beauty in their lives, so naturally the staring makes sense. At first it was kind of amusing, but then they started talking in Italian while staring at us, so it makes it even more awkward. Do we give them a bitchy stare, a flirty wink, ignore them.. who knows? I think it’s safe to say next time we will sit closer to the front of the restaurant.

Now I am currently sitting in my bed writing this blog and just had yet another fantastic conversation on facebook with Caio! There you go, hope you enjoyed that. :) Now here a few pictures of where we are living, since I haven't posted any yet. Enjoy!