If I had said we were in the homestretch before, that was not much compared to now. Thanksgiving is one week away which means I’m sure the flurry of preparations at home look similar to our beginning preparations to leave Spain. Conversations are filled with jokes about how we will not have nearly enough room in our luggage, questions about COVID tests, and hurried planning of how to fill our last days. As I write this, it is just about 10 days before Haley and I will arrive in the Philadelphia airport, sleepy and dragging multiple overstuffed suitcases. I will talk more about our mixed feelings about leaving later, as the days tick down even further, but for now we are just in planning and prep mode. Our final weekend in Spain is almost here, and while that will be fun, we also have been recuperating from our past weekend: our final trip together for a while!
This past weekend, Haley, two of our program friends, and I went to Italy! We flew into Pisa and got to see the Leaning Tower which felt very surreal. One of those places that you’ve seen pictures of so often that it is very strange to see in person. The Tower is within a little grass park next to Pisa’s Duomo and the area is always filled with pedestrians or tourists getting their own cheesy picture with the Tower (us included). The Leaning Tower is definitely one of those things you marvel at, especially because as an environmental science student, I wonder if an architectural-environmental mistake like that could even happen now. The Leaning Tower is basically the main sight of Pisa, though it does have the beautiful Italian pale-colored houses and autumn colors in the trees. We made our way to the Pisa Central train station to catch our ride into Florence, where we stayed the rest of the weekend. Our Airbnb was beautiful, with brightly colored bedroom walls, a tiny fireplace, and even a skylight! We stayed on the left bank of the Arno River in Florence, just across a bridge from the city center- and there are lots of bridges to choose from! Ponte Vecchio is the main bridge, though you can’t even tell you are on a bridge when you walk across. Ponte Vecchio is filled to the brim with shops, mainly gold and jewelry, and you only get flashes of views of the river between shops before you realize you’ve crossed into town. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much sparkly jewelry in one place! We spent of our two days in Florence walking around and just looking. We saw the outside of the Florence Duomo Cathedral, Piazza Della Signoria, and the Uffizi Museum. We visited Michelangelo’s David in La Accademia Galleria and walked through the Boboli Gardens. We tired ourselves out rushing up the hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo, but the beautiful sunset and panoramic view of Florence was very worth it. We saw lots of sculptures, ancient Italian art, and beautiful old houses among the skinny streets. Most of all (and this was one of my favorite parts), we ate a lot. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen tables for 4 as full as ours always were. We spent the mornings with croissants and Italian lattes, and our afternoons and evenings with pasta. Our first night in Florence, we got wonderful pizza in a little place and even got the pizzas in heart shapes as a compliment from the cook! Once pizza was out of the way though, it was lots of pasta, wine, gelato, and a bit of cheese tasting in there too. We tried multiple different restaurants recommended to us by friends and all of it was amazing. Strangely enough, however, I think our collective favorite pastas were the ones we made by hand! The pasta class was on our final night in Florence, which began with a rush into the Airbnb to escape a quick rainstorm, and then to a cheese and wine flight tasting after a rest. We tried various game meats and cheese with some jams and flights of bubbly wine. Then came the time for our pasta-making class, which ended up being wonderful. We made tortellini, ravioli, and tagliatelle and met people from all over the world. The dough making was harder than I thought it would be, but I think I feel confident making some homemade pasta myself (with a little trial and error). Another chef besides our teacher took our pasta in the back kitchen as we produced it and cooked each one up, the stuffed pasta in a butter and sage sauce and the tagliatelle in a tomato basil sauce. The whole class sat family dinner style at our long table and ate the pasta and carried conversation about where we were from, especially us and a Canadian-French couple at the table. This experience definitely proved things are even better when homemade! Although there was some sadness surrounding our final trip together as new friends from this program, Florence was a beautiful and perfect last location. We ate well and saw beautiful things and got to know each other even better. It wasn’t easy to leave Italy, but made a little easier knowing how close we all are to being back in our own hometowns. For those going abroad, Florence comes highly recommended from me (if I have not convinced you already) Until next time!
2 Comments
lisa garland
11/18/2021 12:06:51 pm
you write so well that you make me feel like I am right there with you seeing all the sughts smelling and tasting all the yummy pasta . Only 9 more days soak it up . Love you cant wait till you are home safe and sound a
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Keli Emmons
11/18/2021 12:25:41 pm
Hannah,
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