Thanksgiving

I had really been dreading this day since I left home, but my Thanksgiving turned out to be great! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and we have such fun traditions at home that I couldn't imagine not being there, but it was ok. Even though it's not a holiday here, I still woke up feeling so happy and excited. First thing I did once the kids were out the door was go to the market in the square to buy a dozen apples. I told my family here all about Thanksgiving and promised them one of my mom's best apple pies- one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions. I spent the morning baking two pies (one for my family and one to take to dinner), and then met my Italian class at the American bakery down the street for lunch. Our teacher had her first bagel, which she ordered with "cheese creme" and loved it!

That night, I got to talk to my family and lots of our friends at the hunting camp. It made me a little bit sad that I wasn't there, but it was still great to hear their voices. I will definitely look forward to being back with everyone next year. Afterwards, I went to the rectory at the English church here for dinner with the Dunnams and a few of their friends. They were so sweet to include me in their plans! We had a wonderful home cooked Italian meal and it was great to hang out with such nice people. Actually, half of the guests that night were British, but they enjoyed the celebration too.





I am so thankful for each and every one of you! Your emails, messages, letters, and prayers mean so much to me. When I got sad thinking about what I was missing out on, I just turned that feeling around and realized that I should be thankful for having so much to miss! I think, more than anything since I've been here, I've been thankful...for this opportunity and for the people who have made it possible. THANK YOU!!

Brussels

Although I've only been back in Florence for a few days now, it seems like last weekend in Brussels was years ago. It was so much fun though and I am SO glad I got to have that experience with three great friends! My weekend started out Friday morning when I took a train to Bologna. My flight didn’t leave until that evening, but I had never been to Bologna, so I took the day to explore a new city. I am so glad I did, I love Bologna! I didn’t know much about it, and I didn’t really know what to do, so I walked from the train station down the main street. All of the sidewalks are arcades lined with charming little shops and cafes. Also, everything was being decorated for Christmas, so that just added to the magical architecture and atmosphere. Bologna has a great bar scene- not like the kind of bar scene in Athens- but an Italian bar is like a coffee shop with pastries and sandwiches. As I was looking for a place to have lunch, I was determined to find a restaurant because I felt like lunch at a bar just wouldn’t be satisfying. Well, I was wrong! I just happened to stumble upon the only bar that I had even heard of from a friend so I went inside to check it out. I ended up staying for lunch and I loved everything about it! After lunch, I was so excited to find out that there was a chocolate festival going on in Bologna all weekend! There were different stations set up all over town, so I wandered through the main square in complete awe of every different kind of chocolate you could ever imagine. Anything and everything that could possibly be made with chocolate, out of chocolate, or dipped in chocolate was in this huge tent. I tried a few things, but I had to remind myself that I was on my way to one of the best chocolate places in the world! It was a great afternoon and the perfect way to start my trip.


I met Burney back at the train station and we went to the airport together. We had an easy flight and arrived in Brussels with no problems. Molly and Caroline were already at the hotel, so we met them there and got ready for dinner. We lucked out again with a great hotel room in an awesome part of town! It was pretty late by the time we left the hotel and we quickly realized we weren’t in Italy anymore, where it’s not out of the ordinary to sit down for dinner after 10. But, we ended up finding a great restaurant with an available table and an awesome menu.

The next morning, we set out determined to have a waffle...it was definitely a success! Chocolate, strawberries, and bananas are the perfect toppings! We spent the rest of the day walking around the beautiful city and checking out the main attractions. We also went to the Margurite Museum of Art where Caroline and I loved seeing familiar paintings that we had studied in school. Burney and Molly were just glad the museum had a good cafe! That evening on our way home, we stopped at the coolest restaurant/bar place that opens up onto the sidewalk at night. It's pretty much just a bar with an outdoor kitchen behind it, where you walk up and order, then stand around one of the tall cafe tables along the sidewalk. My friends got their "mussels in Brussels" but I just couldn't do it. That night, we went to an awesome dinner at Smoods, a restaurant we had been looking at for weeks since we started planning this trip. They have a really cool website too, definitely check it out. Everything was great!

We spent the next day pretty much doing the same thing. Walking a lot and exploring different parts of town. I felt like every time we turned a corner, we were in a new city. Sadly, Caroline had to leave that afternoon. Burney, Molly, and I said bye to her then relaxed most of the evening and night. It was such a fun weekend! It's weird to be able to just hop on a plane and go to a new country for the weekend...I love Europe!

Our flight left SO early Monday morning, so by the time I got back to Florence, it was just like any other normal day. But, when I picked the kids up from school that afternoon, they both ran up and hugged me and said they had missed me! It was so sweet and it made me realize no matter how much I love travelling, it is also great to come back to a place that I love.

Three Months Down

Three months. Three months? One quarter of my year in Italy is in the past now. I can't believe it. I try to focus everyday on enjoying the moment and not taking advantage of anything, but it just doesn't seem like it's already been that long. There have definitely been times (and I'm sure there will be more in the future) when I wished that the day or week would just be over. But then I just have to step back and remind myself that my days here are limited and I can't rush that time. I've loved my time here so far, and every experience (good and not so good) has taught me something that I've already been able to use or will probably use somewhere down the road.

When I was going through the process of finding a family, I remember one mother telling me that the beginning transition period is the hardest and that I should really allow myself three months to feel settled and at home. Now, I completely agree. Things are feeling more natural everyday and I would definitely say that I'm adjusted to real life here.

Not too much has been going on this past week, things have been pretty quiet. The weather has been amazing and the kids have been especially sweet. I'm in the process of packing for this weekend, I leave tomorrow for Brussels! I'm so excited!! Chocolate, beer, and waffles...bring it on! Right now though I'm heading out the door to have lunch with a friend, but I'll leave you with this beautiful picture of the sun setting over the Ponte Vecchio. I hope everyone has a great weekend and a relaxing Thanksgiving break!

Sunday Funday

After a lazy morning yesterday, we all got in the car and drove about 2 hours outside of Florence to the mountains where the family has rented a house for the winter. Before we left, Lucia mentioned that it was snowing there, so of course I was so excited, but not expecting to see much. Well, I was wrong! As we made our way up the mountain, the snow on the side of the road was getting whiter and whiter, until we got to our house and it was pouring snow! I think I was more excited than the kids. We spent the afternoon looking around the house and taking inventory of things we would need next time.

When we got back to Florence, Lucia told me she had an extra ticket for the opera that night and asked if I would like to go. Of course I did, so after dinner we changed clothes and went to the show. It was really neat! The opera was actually sung in Russian, with Italian subtitles projected over the stage. I didn't get much of the dialogue, but I still enjoyed the dancing, music, and costumes. It was a fun day!

I don't have too many plans for this week...I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again soon...in Brussels! Burney, Molly, Caroline, and I booked our flights and hotel last week and are all meeting up there in two weekends. I'm so excited!

November Already?

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already November. Fall is definitely in the air! The weather was perfect last week, of course it’s cloudy and raining as I write this, but overall, it’s been nice lately. And the trees are changing! I had a pretty uneventful Halloween, stuck in bed with the flu, but I’m starting to feel better. The family is taking good care of me and the kids couldn’t have been sweeter. I don’t have much to write about since I haven’t done anything except watch movies and sleep for the past few days, but I really wanted to share these pictures. Florence is beautiful right now!








My favorite house along my running path:

Another Great Weekend in Florence

I don't even know where to start. To say last weekend was fun would be a huge understatement...I guess I'll just start from the beginning. One of Burney's good friends from high school, Molly, is being an au pair in Geneva this year and the three of us have been planning on celebrating Molly's birthday in Florence since we all decided to come over here (missed you though, Caroline!). Well, that weekend finally arrived and it was even better than any of us could have imagined. Molly got in town early Thursday morning and spent the day getting reacquainted with Florence (she studied abroad here with Burney one month before Kristen and I did) while I was with the family. We went out to a great dinner that night then met up with some of my friends from my Italian class. They have made friends with the owner of a popular restaurant in Florence, so we met up with them there, where we joined an Italian birthday party complete with birthday cake and Prosecco.

Friday morning we walked down the street to find a hotel room for Molly and Burney to stay in for the weekend and ended up getting the last room (and the best one) and a little hotel close to my house. It just happened to have an extra bed for me too! The rest of the day was cold and rainy so Molly and I had a long lunch and a lazy afternoon then got ready for the night. We went back to that restaurant with my friends for appetizers, anxiously awaiting Burney's arrival. She finally got here and we had an amazing reunion dinner at Fusion (the cool restaurant Caroline and I went to a few weeks ago).



Our beautiful balcony


Saturday morning was pretty much the same routine: sleep in, be lazy, go to a long lunch, enjoy each other's company, get ready for dinner. Yes, the whole weekend was planned around our meals...it's fine. That afternoon, I got a call from one of my college friend's parents who were in Florence for the weekend. They were having dinner that night at the same place we were planning on having drinks before dinner, so we all planned to meet up. One of Molly's favorite places in the world is Villa San Michele (PLEASE google this) and one of her only requests was that we go there for Bellinis on her birthday. Burney and I did not argue. They had both visited before, but it was my first time and I fell in love too! It's right outside Florence, about a 15 minute drive, on top of the surrounding hills. It had a beautiful view of the city at night, I can only imagine it at sunset...but we all enjoyed our Bellinis and the huge spread of snacks that came with them. The typical Italian bar food is chips, peanuts, and olives, but this was unbelievable! We took one sip of our drinks and busted out laughing, are we really doing all of this?? We also had a great time visiting with Scott's parents. They couldn't believe that we actually wanted to hang out with parents, but we were all craving a little bit of home and it was great catching up with them!

After Villa San Michele, we headed to La Giostra (another one worth googling) for dinner, Molly's other birthday request. It's another one of her favorite's and now one of mine too. We had late reservations, then took so long to decide what to get and savored every last bite of our meals, that before we knew it we were the only ones left in the restaurant. They were turning out lights and the waiters were leaving, but we just weren't quite ready to go. The owner of the restaurant and part-time chef joined us at our table and we sat there for hours talking all about everywhere he's travelled (it was hilarious hearing him talk about the people in New Orleans), cooking, and the Italian language. It was amazing.



Villa San Michele








La Giostra




Molly headed out Sunday morning, but Burney didn't have to be back until Monday afternoon, so she stayed one more night with me. We just had to go back to La Giostra that night because there were so many things we still wanted to try...of course everything was delicious! I don't think I've laughed more in four days than I did this weekend. We are still in awe of the experiences we are having and don't even know what to do except to laugh. It was great being with friends from home and people who can understand all of the new situations we are going through. We're already starting to plan the next trip!

After seeing Burney off, I jumped straight back into the real world and got to work with the family and school. It was fun spending time with the kids after being out for a few days, I was really starting to miss them! I also spent the past few days studying for my Italian mid-term today and I think it went pretty well. Our teacher rewarded us by cancelling the lesson tomorrow so we can all go to lunch together! I love Italy...

Uma and Me

The same morning that I went to Rome, Lucia and Martino left town for 4 days. The grandparents picked the kids up from school that day and kept them all weekend, leaving me with some time off! Lucia asked me specifically to spend some time with Uma while they were gone, she was in need of some TLC. So, Friday afternoon after I slept in and went for a run, I put Uma’s leash on her and we went out on the town. We walked all over Florence, stopping in a few stores, but mostly window shopping. I wanted to go back to San Miniato, but it was too far for her to walk, so I dropped her off at home and made the hike up to the beautiful church. It is also a monastery, and every evening is open to the public to hear the monks chanting. I got there in time to walk around the cathedral a little bit, then sat down for the chants. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it turns out they chant the whole church service, so I ended up staying for mass. It took place underneath the main alter of the church, in a very dim, stone-walled room. I felt like I was back in the 1500’s, I’m sure most of the rituals haven’t even changed since then. It was so cool. By the time I left, it was getting dark and cold, so I never made it back to the cemetery, but I'll go back sometime soon. I spent the rest of the night curled up with Uma on the couch, watching some American TV.






Saturday was equally as relaxing and wonderful. I made myself some warm vegetable soup for lunch then met up with Barbara and Sophia at The Festival of Creativity on the other side of town. It was mainly geared toward a younger age, but I enjoyed walking around the books and food floor! They had all different types of booths set up with exotic spices, cheeses, breads, wines, herbs, and a huge section of books- kid’s books, novels, and cookbooks mostly. As we were leaving, Barbara invited me to go to the movies with them! We saw the Disney movie, “Up.” Stupidly, I didn’t know it was going to be in Italian until it started, but I followed along pretty well. It was pretty easy since it was animated, but I did pick up on more words than I thought I would. Last night, I got to skype with my whole family at once! Emily is home for the weekend, so they all crowded around the computer to say hello, it was great.

After being here for a few weeks, I got an email from a friend at Georgia saying that some of their best family friends from Mobile were moving to Florence this fall. The husband had been chosen to be the new rector at St. James English Church here. Well, last Sunday was his first service in Florence and Caroline and I went. It was great; I loved the church, music, and all people there. Afterwards, I introduced myself to Reverend Dunnam and his wife and they could not have been nicer! They were so friendly and kind, already inviting me to spend some time with them as soon as they get settled. I went back for church this morning and spoke to each of them for a little while again. I’m looking forward to getting to know both of them while I’m here.

Right now, I am enjoying my last few hours of quiet before the kids get home at this really cool little cafe down the street (actually, it’s the same place I met that American woman who I had lunch with one day). They have a separate reading room off of the dining area that is the perfect place to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate on this cold October day!