It's been a long time

Well, its been a very long time since I've had enough time and energy to sit down and write here. My parents had been here for the past 9 days and the week before that I had mid-terms. Fortunately things are going to slow down for a bit now.

I had a great time with my parents. We spent about 5 days in Florence. We did all of the typical touristy things as well as a few not so touristy things. I did make my mother ride a really crowded public transportation bus. We saw the Duomo and the Uffizi (my dad still can't pronounce it right). We also went to a wine tasting. That was one of my favorite parts. It was just the three of us and the owner of the wine store. He let us try about 8 different wines and really took the time to educate us on wine. It was a great experience! We also saw the David, Dante's house, and climbed (though my mom a bit begrudgingly) all the way to the San Minato al Monte to hear the monks chant. Of course we also did a lot of shopping and eating and wine drinking. My dad took full advantage of the free flowing wine and had it at every lunch and every dinner!

We also spent a day in Pisa. It's impossible to describe the Leaning Tower. The pictures really do not show just how much the building is leaning. It doesn't seem physically possible for it to still be standing, but it is. We climbed all the way to the top. We even got my mom to climb up!

We also spent 2 days in Rome. That was really great! We got to see St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is breathing taking and St. Peter's is beautiful. The Vatican museum was a bit too large for me. We spent almost 3.5 hours in there and didn't see nearly everything! We also saw the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain. We also had a great dinner at a local causal restaurant. The waiters were so fun and joked around with us the whole night. A very drunk couple asked my father if he was my boyfriend! The food was also extremely delicious! On our second day we saw the Colosseum and some Roman ruins and the Pantheon. We also met up with my friend from high school who is studying in Rome and had lunch with him. I liked Rome, but it was too big of a city for me. I was really happy to get back to Florence and my comfort zone.

Now its back to school for the second half of my time here.