Firenze: End of Week 4

Friday morning I woke up early to pick up Anna and Allison at the train station at 10:45. They were the first people to visit me so it was nice. The three of us and Ashley went to Cafe Michelangelo so they could both get some caffine and then went to Pino's where I finally learned to order my sandwich completely in Italian (finally..) Afterwards, we walked around and went into some cute stores before deciding to get gelato. It was such a beautiful day, and we ate our gelato on the steps of the Santa Croce. We then hung out in our apartment and ended up watching The Phantom of the Opera dubbed in Italian on our TV---which we had never previously turned on. I was pretty tired from Thursday night, so I took a nap before dinner. Ashley found a cheap flight to Paris, so we booked it! Katie was on a day trip with class, so when she got home, we took Anna and Allison to Oibo, their first aperitivo.. which was delicious as always. I got a strawberry daiquiri this time instead of trying something new. We ended up leaving our apartment late to go out and we went first to Salamanca, then checked out Red Garter which was not fun, then took them to Eby's for an Eby's shot, then to Kikuyah, and lastly to Full-Up. I just really wanted them to see the places we like to go out to and since everything is in close proximity to each other, it wasn't very difficult to do so.

Saturday, we slept in till 1 and went to the San Lorenzo market for the first time. I was really excited because I wanted to buy a black leather jacket. At first, we just walked down the tents looking at what was being sold, and the people at the tents were just aggressive and trying to get us to try on their stuff. One guy even stopped me to show me a jacket and told me it was free, and when I said no, it isn't, tried to get me to go with him into the store. As if American's really would believe a coat is free. Ashley and Katie ended up coming with me into some of the actual leather stores which was a much better experience. The first store I went into was nice, and the guy gave me a really great deal on a jacket, except it was pretty thin and I didn't think it was the best quality. It was more for the style than for warmth, and I did want a jacket that would be a little warmer, so I kept on looking. The guy did say if I came back he'd give it to me for the same price, so that was nice. The next couple of stores went the same but I didn't find anything I liked. I finally went into this store called BiBi and found a jacket I really liked. I was able to get about 50 euro off but wasn't sure if he would take 10 more off, so I just kept it at that price and bought it! I do kind of want to get a bag, but I'll have to look around more. I haven't been splurging on other clothing and I haven't really been shopping much so it wouldn't be bad if I did get a bag. I'm going back this weekend to look for scarves because they have really great deals and cute scarves and I only have one with me now. Ashley ended up buying black heeled boots which were really nice, and a cross body bag as well. Anna, Allison, and Katie ended up buying scarves too.


My new leather jacket!!

Afterwards, we went to check out the Chocolate Fair again so that Anna and Allison could buy some since it was the last day of the fair. They bought chocolates and they both took chocolate shots out of chocolate shot glasses. Allison also bought a chocolate covered waffle which looked amazing.

For dinner that night, we went to Gusta Pizza where we finally signed the receipt with our names on it and placed it under the glass of the table, where it will (hopefully) stay visible for a long time :)

That night, we went to Kikuyah and started talking to these Italian guys who were pretending they were American and Spanish and Ashley and I ended up playing Jenga with them. Katie, Anna, and Allison ended up joining us and it was really fun. We all ended up going to Twice which was pretty fun as well. Apparently all you need to do to play Jenga is just ask the bartender for the set.

Ashley, Katie and I had signed up to go to Viareggio for their Carnevale that Sunday, so we unfortunately didn't take Anna and Allison to sight see. They ended up going to Piazzale Michelangelo, as well as the Santa Croce. The carnevale was sooo amazing though! I didn't really know what to expect, but when we got into the enclosed area for the parade, the first float we see is this giant dog float that was growling! The floats were so intricate and amazing, and they moved! People were on the bottom of the floats dancing and throwing confetti which was so much fun. Half the floats appeared to have a political meaning, and seemed pretty inappropriate. It has started to rain when we got there but ended up clearing up while the parade was going on. Here are a few pictures: