OUR LAST DAY IN FLORENCE

Well, our last day in Florence was blistering hot (probably the hottest day since we arrived).  Maybe it was the city's effort to try and make us happy to be leaving.  Can't say that it worked.  Our month in Florence was truly magical.   It was also difficult to say goodbye to Dan and Rachel.  We loved having them with us, but our time together went by so quickly.  They are now in Montalcino and then off to Cinque Terre.  We are back in Dayton.  Our flights home went well and we were met at the airport in Cincinnati by Joel and Christian.  We know that it was a big sacrifice for Joel to have us gone for so long --- just more proof of how much he loves us and how he would do anything to make us happy.  Melissa and I are very lucky girls. We love you, Joel.  Thanks for making our adventure possible.  We will remember it for the rest of our lives.
xoxoxo

Il Tempio Maggiore di Firenze-- The Great Synagogue of Flornece.  The synagogue was built in the late 1800's.
During WWII, Fascist soldiers used it as a vehicle garage.  In August, 1944, retreating German troops tried to destroy the synagogue.  The Italian resistance was able to defuse most of the explosives and only minimal damage was done. The synagogue was restored after the war.

Ruth's Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant, located next door to the synagogue.

Chabad of Florence

Rachel and Dan in front of the statue of Dante in the Piazza Santa Croce

Court yard behind the Leather School of the Church

Pizzicheria Antonia Porrati (Antonio is the man holding the prosciutto with me)

Melissa, Dan and Rachel after our incredible lunch at Antonio's

Last night in Florence.  Until next time..........

DAN E DANIELE SI RIUNISCONO

Last night, we met Daniele at the Lion's Fountain--an Irish Pub in our piazza-- for a drink before dinner (Melissa was out with her friends and met up with us a little later before dinner). It was the first time in over 10 years that Daniele and Dan have seen each other and it was also the first time Daniele met Rachel.  We had a great dinner at La Giostra (one of Rachel's favorite restaurants in Florence, and one which happens to be a 50 second walk from our apartment).  We toasted Dan and Daniele's reunion as well as Daniele's 47th birthday, which is on Monday.  Afterwards, we said goodbye to Daniele until the next time we find ourselves in Florence (which hopefully will be one day in the not-so-distant future)!

I got up early this morning because I didn't want to waste even one minute on my last day here.  I am sitting at our table writing this post while looking at Brunelleschi's  Duomo and listening to the bells chiming from Giotto's bell tower. Melissa and I are  truly sad that this adventure is coming to a close, but we are also looking forward to being back home with Joel and the rest of our loved ones and friends.

FRIDAY, JULY 26: LAST DAY OF CLASS (SO SAD)

Today was a sad day since we had to say good bye to our wonderful Italian teachers and all the great people we have met from around the world. Our experience here in Florence and especially at the school was even better than I could have ever imagined!  I will never forget this month and the special time that I got to spend with my beautiful daughter in the country that I love so much.

My "break buddies" Sanne (The Netherlands) and Morgane (Switzerland)

Rory O'Connell (Ireland) --wearing a Kool Aid shirt that he bought at a Walmart
while visiting the U.S.!

Juliette (the Netherlands) and Claudia (Austria)

Claudia and Carmen (Spain)

Site seeing with our teacher, Duccio

Rory and Loic Dutoit (Switzerland)

Morgane and Daniella (Great Britain)

Nina (Poland)

Jack Crichton  (Great Britain)

Duccio and the Conversation Class

Juliette and Sanne

SO HAPPY TO HAVE DAN AND RACHEL WITH US :)

Dan and Rachel arrived at 5 pm on Wednesday, June 25.  It was just so great to see their faces!  We had an early dinner at Sostanza, where I said good bye to all my "friends" there (that was the fourth time Melissa and I had been there in as many weeks!!).  When I told our waiter we were going back home on Sunday, he told me he thought that I lived in Florence because my Italian is so good!  Thank you Instituto Italiano!  After dinner we walked along the Arno, crossed the Ponte Vecchio, saw an opera in rehearsal, walked to the Piazza della Signoria where a symphony was playing, watched a Charlie Chaplain-like clown who performs in the street outside the Piazza della Repubblica every night, then walked to the Duomo, and finally ended up at Riva Reno for gelato (of course), before retiring to the apartment.  It was really a great evening.

Today, July 26, Dan and Rachel walked to the school and joined us for our break between classes at Caffè Martelli for an espresso and a snack.  They went to the San Lorenzo market during our second class and then cam back to the school where they met our teachers and our friends.  One of Melissa's friends (from the U.S.) asked Melissa why her brother was Mexican!!!  We then went to lunch at ZaZa and then to the Uffizi Gallery.  Sitting for a few minutes at the Piazza della Signoria we saw the guy with the blue clown hair (that we had seen on our street a few nights ago--and whose picture I included in a previous post).  Turns out, he IS a clown and was really quite funny (in a creepy clown sort of way).  Melissa met Carly and Jordan in the Piazza  and Dan, Rachel and I went home for a little rest.
Tonight we are going to dinner at La Giostra (one of Rachel's favorites and a place she had recommended to me).

Really wish David and Joel were here

Dan and Rachel at Sostanza after our prosciutto and melon antipasto

View of the Arno from the Vasari Corridor in the Uffizi

View of the bridges of Florence from the Vasari Corridor

View of the Palazzo Vecchio from the terrace at the Uffizi

Dan, after a long, hot afternoon

Rachel looking a little more peppy

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24: THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

It is so hard to believe that our time here is almost up.  Three more days and it is back to reality.  We have had such an incredible time, but are looking forward to being back with Joel and seeing all our family and friends again.  Today,  Melissa was exhausted after school so we came back home and she napped for a good part of the afternoon.  Shortly before dinner, Daniele called because he had some time and he had promised Melissa a ride on his Vespa.  He took her all around the city and she loved every minute of it.  After her ride, we went to dinner, where we sat next to an older couple from the Upper West Side of Manhattan who asked me if I was Italian!  They then decided they wanted to fix-up their 23 year old granddaughter with David!  After dinner (and of course, gelato), we came back to the apartment so that I, being a true nerd, could do my homework and Melissa could get ready to go clubbing with her friends!  Oy.  We have Dan and Rachel's room upstairs ready for their arrival tomorrow in the early evening.  It will be so great to share our experience here with them, even if it is only for a couple of days.

TUESDAY, JULY 24

Tuesday was also a fun day (although we spent the afternoon apart).  After school, Melissa went with friends to lunch and then to a public pool (which was very large, with multiple diving boards) and had a lot of fun.  I decided to go the Museo Nazionale del Bargello which is not too far from school and our apartment and which houses some of Michelangelo's earlier works (as well of those of his students), in addition to work by Donatello (but no other Ninja Turtles, Danny).   It is a beautiful museum which once housed barracks and then a prison (and was built in the 13th century).  I then went to one of my favorite panini places to grab a sandwich and returned home, hung some laundry on the line and went to the grocery store.  After Melissa got home, we got ready to go to see La Boheme (my favorite opera) at St. Mark's Anglican Church on the south bank of the Arno.  Although it was an amateur performance before a small audience of about 150 people, and not the full opera, it was surprisingly good.  The four characters all had really beautiful voices and were accompanied only by a piano.  During the intermission, they served Prosecco and we all spilled out into the street and drank our wine while waiting for the second act to begin.  Both Melissa and I really enjoyed the performance and were so glad that we went. We had a quick bite to eat at a forgettable restaurant and returned home exhausted, once again.

Museo Nazionale del Bargello

Picture from the courtyard of the Bargello (photography is prohibited in the museum)

Guy with blue clown hair walking down our street (who we found out, actually IS a clown).
See the picture below.

Approaching the Ponte S. Trinità on our way to the Opera.  We noticed a woman
next to us who reminded us of someone in Melissa's class.  Later at the opera, we discovered
that she was playing the character of Musetta!

Beautiful light on the Ponte Vecchio

Two not-so-romantic boat rides down the Arno

The "set" of Act 1 Scene 1 of La Boheme (the apartment of  Rodolfo
and Marcello in Paris)

The church where the opera was performed

David Righeschi, the actor who played Rodolfo (who resembles the young Pavarotti)

Melissa meets our neighbor with the crazy blue clown hair

MONDAY JULY 22

Monday we were exhausted from not sleeping too well the night before, so after school we decided to go to a park to read, relax and get out of the crowded city center.  We found a large park on line called Il Parco delle Cascine which Google said would be about a 30 minute walk from our apartment.  Since it was unbearably hot, we decided to call a cab (and luckily we did, because it would have been a much longer walk than 30 minutes).  When we arrived, we were not very impressed by the park, but since we were there, we laid out our towels on the grass in the shade and tried to relax (which was impossible, since we were probably very close to a yellow jacket nest).  I killed about 6 yellow jackets with my book, but they kept sending in reinforcements, so we decided to move further down.  We sprayed ourselves and our towels generously with bug spray, had a few laughs, then actually napped for a little bit.  Fortunately, Daniele was on his way back from Portofino and he came to the park to pick us up.  We drove back into town and he waited in the van while we showered and changed.  We then went to Fiesole with him and he and Melissa played tennis for about 1.5 hours (while I, the ultimate nerd, did my Italian homework).  Later we went to a great pizza place for dinner and were back home by midnight.