It's been a fairly uneventful week as weeks go, mostly because it's been horribly dismal weather. I had a killer migraine on Wednesday which kept me in bed most of the day, but by Thursday I finally started to feel better. Thanks for all the well wishes, I think they really did me well.
This weekend has been primarily spent wandering around the city and getting to know it better. We've gone to gelato every night since we found the gelato place on Tuesday, but because it's a 35 minute walk away, I never feel bad about it. It practically walks itself off (or so I tell myself). Thursday we did a little shopping and ate at this buffet place around the corner called Kitch. Friday we slept in and went to lunch at this incredible pizza "by the slice" place (2.50 for each of us, and so great). Here they make pizzas in long strips instead of circles like home, so a slice is really just a square of whatever size you'd like, and then you purchase it by weight. It's delicious though. Rob managed to find a pizza with what looks like hot dog slices on top...surprisingly, delicious. After we meant to go do laundry but just started to wander through new districts of the city and through bookstores. We also went to the Pitti Palace and looked at some of the art in the museum there. It'll take several trips to see it all though.
Last night (I suppose it was still Friday), we went to a really fancy, delicious restaurant across the Arno called Quattro Leone. It was pretty expensive, but such good food, so it was worth it for just a one-time thing. Their specialty is a sort of pasta pouch filled with, of all things, pear. They serve it with a cream sauce and it's unexpectedly divine. I think we're finally getting used to the pace of dinner here...we were at that restaurant for two and a half hours and it hardly seemed like any time at all. When we get back to the states we'll probably feel so rushed, we won't know what to do with ourselves.
Today I accidentally slept in again, and then we went for a walk with the intention of just getting lunch and some groceries. We ended up going to get gelato again (surprise, surprise), but I've been feeling tired, so we came back to the pensione. I still feel jealous spending daylight hours inside, but when I think about how far we walk on a daily basis (it's at least a mile to the gelato place alone), I don't feel as bad about it.
Other than that, not much to report. Tomorrow is our long-awaited trip to Viareggio for carnevale, so I should have lots to say after that. We finally chose where to go for Valentine's day (next weekend!): Cinque Terre. We booked the hotel today and the train is only ten euro to get there and back, so that should be easy. I can't wait to do some hiking and just enjoy the beautiful sights. I also can't wait to see the ocean! I've been working on booking some of our other trips, since they're only going to get more expensive, but so far haven't had too much luck. We're running out of weekends though! We're still looking for inexpensive tickets to Athens for our last week after school gets out, and we're also keeping our eye on tickets either to Prague or to Scotland. With those two or three trips plus our spring break in Germany and our school trips to Southern France and possibly Vienna, we're going to be really busy!
Anyway, I'm off to take a nap and finally do my laundry. Hope all is well in the States!
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YES CINQUE TERRE!!!! You made the right decision - that was my favorite place in all of Italy. Which town are you staying in? Vernazza is, in my opinion, the true gem of the five, but Manarola had the best swimming. And obviously you'll have to do the hike between the towns! Ahhh, I'm so excited for you, can you tell? :) Most of all - I'm glad you're feeling better!!
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