Questa fine-settimana era fantastica! Or in English, this weekend was fantastic! After treating myself to a countless number of gelatos over the first few days, (not really countless....dont worry mother) I woke up Saturday morning with a strong desire to exercise. My roommate Cara and I took a quick job down to the Arno....but something felt strange. Despite how casual a quick jog can be, it certainly was a little out of the norm to pass by "Piazzas", famous monuments, and not to mention the Arno...while simply dressed in my Nike attire and running shoes. I felt rather out of place casually running along side these historic monuments. Firenze e' una bella città !
For Saturday's first excursion, the Abbey Road group took a bus up to Fiesole for the afternoon. On the outskirts of the city, Fiesole sits on top of a large hill that overlooks Florence. No camera, video or any other form of visual substitution could compare to my eye's view of the city. Surrounded by extravagant trees and large mountains, Florence sat proud among nature's beauty...proud to be the most elegant man made creation in sight. After enjoying a wonderful pranzo, played a few games of il calcio (soccer), and walked around the precious little town, the group headed back to Florence in preparation for our next excursion.
When the sun set itself on the other side of the Arno for the night, Abbey Road took another journey up to the Piazza di Michelangelo where we were blessed with another fantastic view of the city. The incredibly long walk across the river and up a few hilltops were worth it when we had finally made it. The view was closer than that of Fiesole, but something about the Florence building edges breaking lines in the sky made everything seem unreal. Shaking my head i realized i wasnt looking at another painting or drawing in Ms. Howards Italian class....I was actually here. This was the real thing.
Saturday night i slept like a bambina but when I woke up another adventure was already planned. Sunday morning, Abbey Road took the train into the city of Lucca. Lucca is a medieval city who's wall still surrounds the edges. My roomate Rosaliee and I had one of the BEST lunches we've ever had while we were in the city! At a little shop called 'Heaven Sent' sat two panini's and 2 gelatos waiting for us to literally eat them up. I cannot even begin to tell you how fantastic these sandwiches were. If you're ever in Lucca, Heaven Sent is where it's at.
Later in the day, the group took a bike ride around along the city wall which was really a wonderful experience. Then we climbed a tower to over look the city. 240 steps up (we counted each one), the view was fantastic! The wind was stronger higher up, but it made the experience worth while!
After dinner in Lucca (with FANTASTIC food) the group raced to catch our train. (literally...the later one was cancelled and we all broke into a run) The weekend the Abbey Road program gave was was absolutely fantastic! I love the experience they have given us, it's too much to ask for!
