Florentian Family Reunion
Megan and I spent this past weekend trying to see as much of her new home as possible without getting rained on. Although the poor weather limited the amount and type of activities we did, I still got a great sense of the magic of Florence. I am so excited to be back with my parents in late March and hopefully the four of us will have fully sunny days!
The week leading up to my trip was very laid back since my energy reserves were quite depleted. I think the back-to-back travel weekends, combined with late nights due to the time difference with the States, had finally caught up to me.
Olivia and I had a lot of work to do since she missed the entire previous week of school. I have never seen so much homework for a 6 year old, but we got through as much as we could in two days. I really hope that her learning how to add and subtract bilingually doesn’t mess her up for life. Math vocabulary is not my strong suit in Spanish…
On Thursday, we planted seeds with second grade and, man, was that a mess (both literally and figuratively). The teacher brought the class to a sharp close when one of the boys who was playing around, pushed his classmate into a rose bush. Needless to say many tears ensued.
My flight from Málaga to Rome was one of the craziest travel experiences I’ve had since living in Spain. The entire back half of the plane was filled with Spanish high school students who were going on a field trip to Italy. They were SO loud and rambunctious in the airport, but thankfully settled down for most of the flight. However, everyone else was up, out of their seats and chatting with the other passengers. I don’t know how the flight attendants held it together.
We landed in Rome (to lots of applause from the back) after a quick stint in a thunder and lightening cloud. I was very happy to be on the ground and out of the plane.
I was amazed by the high level of technology in the Rome airport and was very pleased to find that the connection with the train system was seamless. Once aboard, I got ready for my 1.5 hour journey to Florence!
Megan met me at the station and we walked the short distance back to her apartment. All of her roommates were in Interlaken, Switzerland this weekend so we had the place to ourselves. Her friend from high school, JP, who is also studying in Florence, came over and we had a quick catch up before all crashing. It had been a long travel day.
Friday morning I woke up and went for a quick solo exploration before accidentally running into Megan as she was leaving her place. The two of us trekked around doing some errands and getting some groceries.
We made an extremely late “breakfast” at nearly 1 pm and tried to plan a Sicily trip for late April. However, there are five of us total in this travel group and the two of us were quite unsuccessful in nailing down any details.
It had begun down pouring at this point and faced with the reality of the weather, I decided to take advantage of the downtime and have a nap. I think my body really needed the extra rest.
Megan and I got ready after our siestas and headed to a different part of the city where one of her professors was hosting a BioArt show. He has a clothing brand that makes shoes out of wood chips and bags out of wine bottle waste. It was definitely an eclectic group of people in there and we only stayed a few minutes since it was really cramped.
The two of us opted for dinner and passion fruit spritz’s at Mercato Centrale (a prepared foods market) near Megan’s apartment. I tried the vegan food stall and got a salad bowl which had the best vegan chicken I've ever had!
We rounded out the night watching Revenge of the Bridesmaids on YouTube and FaceTiming our parents. Megan stayed up a lot later than me to plan a trip with Dan for the end of her time here. They are going on an envious excursion of Sardinia and it looks amazing!
On Saturday I went for a stroll by myself and accidentally did the hike Megan wanted to take me on later that day. It was gorgeous to see the city from the vista of Piazzale Michelangelo and I also stumbled upon a bike race about to begin!
Once back at the apartment, Megan and I got ready and hurried across town to our cooking class! We had booked it the previous day as an activity to keep up occupied and out of the rain. It was supposed to be about three hours long but in typical Italian fashion, we took our sweet time and were there closer to four hours.
The restaurant where the class was held was stunning and I was very eager to dive right in on the cooking part. We were a full group of around 20 people and our two guides were energetic and adorable. All in all, it was a wonderful atmosphere. However, the lighting in the room was quite dim so my photos are not of the highest quality.
We began with a glass of Prosecco and tiramisu prep! One of our leaders told us that the name directly translates to “pull me up” since it was used to rejuvenate night shift workers in olden times. The mix of coffee, sugar, and fat is the perfect energy boost.
During the process, we learned a short tune to ensure we didn’t soak our lady finger biscuits too long: “You dip it, you flip it, you dip it, you’re fine!” An award winning piece of musical genius if you ask me.
After popping our individual tiramisus in the fridge, we began on our pasta. They had us make two types: spinach and ricotta filled ravioli and tagliatelle (fettuccine in the US).
Using the pasta making machine was easier than I anticipated although upon final reflection, I do think I added too much flour. Both my ravioli and my tagliatelle were a bit more dense and chewy than I would have liked. Always room for improvement next time!
A bit more Prosecco and flour-covered hands later, we had two plates of beautifully crafted, fresh pasta. Megan and I were both starving by this point and were very much looking forward to sampling our creations.
After trying our meal, I would give our pasta making skills a 7.5 out of 10. I think for being novices we did quite a bang up job. The tiramisu was also the perfect sweet treat to round out the experience :)
We had to run back to her apartment in the rain, but the cooking class was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Both of us took a small rest to digest and warm up after getting soaked. However, spotting a break in the weather, we soon headed back out for a riverside walk.
Megan and I made it probably 45 minutes before the skies opened up again and we were very grateful that I had brought along my umbrella. We ended our walking loop at JP's apartment and met his roommates after a funny interaction with a man in the gelato shop.
We decided on good old fashioned falafel for dinner and despite a mini snafu with a cash-only situation, it was a delicious, filling meal. Megan and I watched another movie post dinner and called it a night.
On Sunday, we had a slow wake up before a smoothie run where we both got iterations of something mango-y. My mango lassi flavor was good but missing a little of the tang and zest that I was hoping it would have.
We finally had some sunshine so we did a few chores and then left for our walking excursion. Just as I was closing the front door, Megan realized that her keys were still inside…with her roommates in Switzerland, this meant we couldn’t get back in until they arrived home around 9:00 pm. Good thing for five hour hikes and friends like JP!
After acknowledging our fate for the afternoon, we started in on our 13 mile hike around the Tuscan hillside. I had found this loop when we were planning a longer hike, and it turned out to be just what we were looking for! Steep, windy uphill roads, quaint Italian villas lining either side, and of course, jaw dropping views of the Florence skyline.
It was the perfect temperature and the beautiful, movie-esque surroundings made marching along more than enjoyable. We packed light in the snack department and I was crossing my fingers neither of us got hangry before making it back to the city (we ended up being just fine).
We passed through two smaller villages on our way up and then we entered Monte Ceceri park. Since some of the loop was properly in the mountains, we got a great mix of pavement and off-road terrain.
Upon entering back into the city, we were both complaining about our tight legs and squished toes. We trudged to the market in look for some food ASAP. Megan got her classic, a margarita pizza, and I tried out one of the massive vegan burgers.
We scarfed down our food and happily relaxed as it hit our system. There is nothing like a post hike/bike/long run meal :)
Still having hours to kill before her roommates returned, we headed over to JPs to spend some quality couch time with him and his roommate. I am so grateful they were in the city because it had gotten quite chilly as the sun was lowering, and we would have been two unhappy hikers.
We made a 9:15 reservation at their friend groups favorite place, Trattoria Zá Zá. Megan and I intercepted her roomies and we all made it back to the apartment for a quick outfit change before dinner.
Her roommates, Meghan and Ella, are hilarious and full of energy. It was really nice meet them and hear about their wild Interlaken adventures over pasta. Megan (sister) and her friends all order the same thing every time they go to Zá Zás: truffle tagliatelle. I knew I wanted to stray from the norm because I could try a bite of that, so I went with the gnocchi pomodoro and I am so happy I did. It was perfect! The sauce was a great balance of acidic and salty and the little potato pastas were fluffy enough to melt in your mouth.
All being in desperate need of a shower and a warm bed, we went back to the apartment right when we wrapped up our meals. I showered quickly and made up my bed on the pull-out couch before organizing my things for my travel day. We said goodnight and I tucked in for a solid four hour rest.
I woke up at 4:40 am on Monday to catch the shuttle bus from the train station to the Pisa airport. It wasn’t as jarring to wake up that early as I was expecting, and the walk in the cold morning definitely helped jumpstarted my system and kept me alert.
My time in Florence, although rainy, was wonderful and I am really looking forward to coming back in a month with my parents. I think Megan and I have some new spots to check out as a whole family (hint hint: SimBIOsis- an organic pizzaria and wine bar!). Our cooking class and almost half marathon length hike were definitely highlights for me.
I made it back to Motril a little before 2:00 pm yesterday and ran into Sophie during my stop at our usual grocery store. Since I leave for Portugal today at 4:00 pm, I needed to use my Monday afternoon wisely to get my laundry, grocery shopping, and other chores done. We have this Wednesday and Thursday off from work since it is Día de Andalucía. A group of us are off to Lisbon, Sintra and Porto to take advantage of the long weekend!
That will all be in next weeks update and then I’m taking the week off. A rest and reset weekend is long overdue for me.
your parents are going to love traveling with you. I get to keep reina for the whole time. Good stuff. Hugs, GR