Don't Forget to Look Up!!

At the Diner with our fresh-squeezed orange juice :)

Ideal meal.

The view from the top of the Duomo!

We made it to the top!

Fancy and Ramsay

Juliet's balcony

Yes...this is a real dog. I almost stole it.

In the Verona Colliseum.

Garda Lake!

On the Boat!

The massive water fall!

The smaller waterfall.

With our Alabama friends!

The Hills are Alive!

With my friend Olivia!

 

 Wednesday night we went back to the Art Bar and got our favorite fruit cocktails! Caroline Allen and her friend Annie ended up being there at the same time and I loved getting to catch up with them! On Thursday night we decided to celebrate another end to our school week by going to another highly recommended restaurant called La Giostra (we love a good excuse to celebrate)! We all got their famous pear pasta that was to die for. The whole time we were admiring this gorgeous blonde, “perfect” American couple with their precious baby. That of course started conversation about our ideal futures, which is always a fun topic! 

We started Friday morning off with another DELICIOUS meal (surprised?) at an American restaurant called the Diner. I had an omelet, fresh squeezed orange juice and a massive bowl of fruit aka my ideal meal. The Italian man next to us was appalled that they put whipped cream and chocolate chips on his pancakes and he sent them back. What in the world?! After the Diner we did some shopping at Zara (I love that store too much) and the markets. Later that day we climbed the Duomo, which was so cool! We were so glad we waited until the end of our trip because we could see everywhere we’ve been throughout Florence! That night we went to a restaurant on our street called Il Golpe, where we had waiters (who named themselves Fancy and Ramsay for some reason…Italian humor haha) who loved kidding around with us American girls! After dinner we went back to La Carriara, our favorite gelato place and the gelato man was so happy to see us again. Maybe since we’ve given him so much business in the past few weeks, he will give us free gelato on the last night we are here? That’s wishful thinking! Nothing is free here! Can’t wait for those free public bathrooms and free water at restaurants when I get home :)

ML, Katie and I left very early Saturday morning for the Alps trip through the school. The trip began with a little tour of a town called Verona, which is about 45 minutes away from Venice. It is known for having was is supposedly Juliet’s balcony from “Romeo and Juliet” and a coliseum that looks like a miniature version of the Coliseum in Rome. Our next stop was Garda Lake, which is a huge, gorgeous, aqua blue, fresh water lake. I have never seen a lake so blue in my life! Some of us took a boat ride which was so relaxing and peaceful! The tour guide was only speaking Italian, so ML decided she would act like she knew what he was saying and so she convinced some of us that he was talking about giant whale sized fish that live in the lake. Most of us realized very quickly that she was kidding, except for our gullible friend, James. It was hysterical (sorry for the small details…I just don’t want to forget them!). Needless to say, we could have cared less about learning anything about the lake. We just loved feeling the breeze against our face and admiring the water! That night we had dinner at the hotel and sat with some very sweet girls from Alabama named Elizabeth, Rachel and Patricia. Yay for new southern friends!!

The next day we went hiking through the Alps of Italy! As we were walking along the trails and looking down to make sure we didn’t trip, Katie said “don’t forget to look up” at the snow capped mountains, perfectly blue sky, and thousands of spruce trees all around us. That was exactly what I needed to hear so that I wouldn’t miss the extraordinary views, but also so I wouldn’t forget to “look up” and stay hopeful on Fathers day. After about an hour, we made it to our first stop, which was a massive waterfall!! It was amazing! We walked under it and all around it to get multiple views. There is something about the combination of mountains and water that I just absolutely love! We walked for another hour or so and sat by another gorgeous waterfall that was smaller, but very quaint and beautiful. Our last stop was a huge open area of rolling hills where we had the perfect view of the snow-capped mountains! We all felt like we were in the Sound of Music! Katie, ML and I talked about how this weekend just reminded us of how big and powerful God truly is. I feel so blessed to have seen more of His spectacular creation! What a weekend.

This week we are planning on doing our favorite things one last time, eating a lot of gelato, and just soaking it all in!!