Gold Makes the Ugly Beautiful

I had class Monday morning so my parents did their own thing and then I met up with them and we headed to the leather market.  I have been looking for a leather jacket since I got here but wasn’t having much luck finding one so I decided to have them help.  We went to Massimo, where I instantly fell in love with one. That was easy. Next it was on to gifts for friends and family at home.  Pretty easy since the leather market has tons of stuff. We had some time to kill before dinner so we went to La Terrazza on top of La Reniscente and had some drinks as we watched the sun set.  It was so crazy that I was sitting in Florence with my parents but I couldn’t have been happier. 

Dinner was at La Giostra which I had been to before for Jaclyn’s 21st birthday.  It was delicious as usual and my parents were very pleased as well.  I was still really tired so I headed back to my apartment to relax and get some work done. 

Pause: Being that there is never a dull moment in my life some sort of odd/hilarious fiasco must have ensued (a week without it is just unheard of). When I got back to my apartment I put some deep conditioner in my hair since it had been feeling pretty dry but I’m too scared to get it cut here.  I was letting it sit while I did my homework and was planning on showering before hitting the hay.  However when I went to check the water, it was ice cold.  Knowing the water in Italy, I gave it a few minutes and checked back again.  This water wasn’t changing anytime soon and my regimen of checking continued every half hour until 2am! Thoroughly annoyed, I went to sleep with a towel on my pillow and had to shower at the wee hours of the morning. NOT a happy camper.

My parents arrived soon after my early morning shower and we went to the synagogue 3 blocks from my apartment...good thing I had no idea it existed. We went inside and it was huge!  High ceilings, intricate designs, really old.  There were also ruins from the original, which was bombed during WWII.  

After the temple we walked to the Academia so I could finally see The David.  The David is pretty much the only thing there is to see there because the rest of the artworks isn’t that exciting. I then took them to Pino’s which I had been raving about since we arrived and my parents quickly saw why I loved it so much (that is, after my dad insisted on becoming friends with Pino). The weather was a bit cloudy by the time we were done but The Bobboli Gardens were a must so we spent some time there and then ima and I went shopping while my dad went back and took a nap.  

We met him for dinner at Gusta Pizza, casual but delicious since my parents wanted something low key.  Needless to say they were very impressed and loved it.  I did a pretty good job at providing good food this vacation, if I do say so myself.  

Thursday I was in class all day but I met them for our last night together at Golden View Open Bar.  It’s a restaurant on the other side of the rive that gives great views of the Arno.  The dinner was delicious and after they dropped the rest of my stuff off at my apartment it was time to say goodbye (They were doing day trips to places I’d already been over the weekend so I was going to Amsterdam).  

It was a great week in Florence with them and I was really sad to see them go but kept in mind that I’d see them again in a month.  I couldn’t have asked for a better week with them and was so happy they came to visit and were able to see my second home and the life I have here.