Italia: Day 5

Today was our second day in Florence, and the first thing on the to-do list was to visit the famous cathedral, Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower. The outside was beautiful and unlike any other cathedral I'd ever seen. Not only were there life-like statues covering the high walls, but there were also stones of green and red, which made the whole thing even more impressive. When I walked inside, I was shocked. It was very plain. The walls weren't covered in paintings and gold-leaf like most of the churches. The white walls and ceilings were outlined in wood. The only part that was decorated was the dome, which had a spiral shaped painting of judgement day.

Because it was freezing outside when we left the church, Nia and I hurried over to an Irish pub to get some hot chocolate. The hot chocolate in Italy was extremely different from that in the US and France. It's thick, and almost has to be eaten with a spoon. It reminds me of melted chocolate.

Next, we wandered around Florence and came across a cute market. It was huge! It had wine, fruits and vegetables, and meat. My favorite part was upstairs. There, there was a huge restaurant with many different stations. Each station had a theme; for example, one made many kinds of pizza and another made many kinds of pasta. I decided I wanted to get lasagna. It was delicious and one of the best decisions I've ever made. After, even though I was stuffed, I had to get gelato. Good thing I brought like 40 lactose pills.

Next up, was a wine tour! You can't go to Tuscany without sampling

some red wine. I'm not a huge fan of red wine, but I wanted to see the countryside and I figured maybe they'd give us bread or something. The drive up was beautiful: rolling hills and grape vines everywhere. It was a little foggy outside, but I think it added to the wonder of the region. On the tour, we went to two different vineyards and tried six different wines. They were all made and aged differently, so it was cool to try a mixture. I'm still not a fan of red wine, but I did buy some really yummy olive oil!

After a quick nap at the hostel upon our return from wine country, we had dinner at a very unique restaurant. There were many signs on the door that said "American-Italian not served here" or "Keep an open

mind." It scared me a little, but we went in anyway. We ordered an appetizer to split of bread with Italian sausage which was really tasty and savory. Then, I ordered ravioli as my entree, which was also really good. Finally, I stuffed myself with chocolate cake which was amazing given my love of chocolate. At the end of the meal, the waiter brought us a bottle of Limoncello, which we refused. But as we looked around the restaurant, everyone seemed to be getting a free bottle. Twenty minutes later, after forcing down a single shot (that stuff was STRONG), we got up to pay. However, before we were allowed to pay and leave, the waiters made us take another shot. That stuff is disgusting; it tastes like alcoholic lemon Pledge. And after two shots of it (on top of the wine earlier), I was definitely feeling the Asian Flush.

We went back to the hostel to join our roommates (named Kiwi and Raison, I kid you not) for a couple of beers. It was a nice way to end the day: talking about the differences between Europe and the US. Did you know that college is free in many European countries?