Allora...

My last weekend in Florence was pure bliss. How am I ever going to leave, now that it's getting so lovely?

Friday morning I got up early and went with nine other girls to a castle about an hour outside of Florence called Trebbio for lunch and wine tasting! They gave us a tour of the castle, one of the only inhabited castles in all of Italy, as well as the incredible cellars. The castle was especially incredible because it was the residence of a well known renaissance banking family in Florence called the Pazzi, who planned a conspiracy against the even better known Medici family for control of Florence in the 1400s. It was in this castle that they got together to plan that (ultimately, failed) conspiracy. So cool. I love history :) I just can't believe I got to play around in a castle where something so momentous happened over five hundred years ago! The weather was perfect for exploring such a mysterious castle -- dark and rainy. The thunder and lightning really added to the atmosphere!

We had the most wonderful morning, learning to properly taste wine and all about how Chianti is made. I'm so excited to bring my newfound knowledge home to my friends and family, so we can all have good wine together! Well, you know, after September. I still can't believe after four months of being legal, I will not be allowed to have wine with dinner or purchase wine in the grocery store all summer. It's a little ridiculous.

On Saturday, Rob and I once again hopped the SITA bus, this time to San Casciano, a hill town between Florence and Siena. We were picked up at the bus station by my music history professor, Anita, and her adorable little Italian husband Paolo. They gave us a tour of the city and the countryside, as well as their house, which was very recently a barn for sheep but was turned into a home eight years ago. They have the most incredible collection of music and art, as Paolo's father was a fairly prestigious artist. So much beautiful art! So, the main purpose of this visit was for me to get to meet Anita's friend Jody, a music teacher from New York that came to study abroad here in the 70s and, well, never left (bet you never thought of that possibility, eh family?). She's an incredible singer and so she was going to listen to me sing and give me some pointers. Instead, I got an hour long lesson on the basics that was really, pardon the pun, like music to my ears. This semester's voice lessons with Sharon I fear have done more harm than good, so it was really nice to just head back to the beginning and be given some things to work on that I feel I can actually accomplish. She made me excited to sing again :)

We also had a really fun, awesome lunch with Anita and Paolo complete with local wines, the most delicious pasta I've had in all of Italy (with an easy recipe I can make at home!), my first fruitcake (delicious), and a whole ton of ridiculous conversation and laughter. It was truly a wonderful day. It's a little bit sad, but I feel like the people I'll miss most from Italy are my professors. They've become real friends.

Yesterday it was horribly rainy, which was actually kind of a blessing because our trip to Cinque Terre got postponed indefinitely (the trail is still closed anyway, so it wouldn't have been that different than February), but we got a lot of studying done. I also started reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth ....oh gosh, I can't remember. Well, in any case, it's really wonderful. The first third is about her four months living in Rome, and there was so much I could relate to and so much that made me thankful for the time I've spent here. I also read through the part she spends in India getting reconnected with her faith, and I feel really inspired and centered after reading it. It's a good place to be during finals week.

Speaking of which, I just had my first final! It went alright...the test questions were, predictably, on the things I assumed wouldn't be on the test because we hadn't spent much time on them in class, but I still feel like I knew enough to do well. I have another final this afternoon (music history, which I'm only worried for because I want to do well to make Anita happy), and then one a day for the next three. I am going to do my best to study enough to do well, but not so much that I don't get to be out there enjoying my time in Italy...because on Saturday morning, it's all over. Well, at least for Italy. So that's just five days left in Italy. Wow.

It really is impossible to believe. It's been a whirlwind. I wish I had gotten a handle on things much earlier, especially my homesickness, so I could have been out there experiencing more and trying new things...but it's okay. I'm letting myself off the hook. There's only so much you can do in four months, and only so much you can grow and let yourself experience before it gets to be a little overwhelming.

It's funny...there are tons of reasons I'm glad to be headed home. I'm looking forward to having control over my life again (as in, I can cook for myself, eat when I want, study when I want, go to the gym, drive myself places, etc.) and really excited to be with my family again, but I don't know if I feel anymore like I got rid of the travel bug. Last week I was thinking I'd be content to just plop myself back in the United States and live there for the rest of my life. Today, I'm not so sure. I still feel like there's so much of Italy left to experience, and that's just one country! Still, I do have a wonderful appreciation of the United States I never had before this. I really do appreciate my freedom, especially when it comes to personal expression. I feel blessed to live in a country with relative political stability and where people are generally accepting of one another, regardless of how strange we are.

But still...
I don't know how long I'll be able to hold still once I get home. The world is an exciting place full of opportunities.

Speaking of opportunities, I feel like I best be seizing the day and making the best of it. I've got a bit of studying to do, then I'm off to enjoy the sunshine. Ciao!