MOM AND DAD ARE IN FLORENCE!

Tomorrow I take my two hardest midterms, so I'll be brief.
Mom and Dad are here! And I'm bunking up and spending the night with them.
We've spent every waking moment together for the past two/three days. It's been fabulous! It's so surreal that I get to take them around on my cobblestone streets and lead them to my favorite spots in Florence. I love seeing them enjoy the things that have become so dear to my heart...and my growing up.
They're exhausted but having a great time. Mom takes a while to adjust to the time change. About an hour ago she started getting REALLY hyper because it's the time of day back in the States that she comes alive. I'm sure right now she's laying in bed staring at the ceiling wishing she could sleep.
Venice was GORGEOUS. I'd love to say it's my favorite, but each city is so "particular," to use a word Italians love. San Marco's Basilica, its square, the Correr Museum, the Doges' palace, the Bridge of Sighs, ahhhhh. I love it all! Being by the water makes the city more magical (although I'm sure it'd be tiresome to live with the flooding year-round!). If you get the chance, GO! Don't listen to what people say about it being dirty or smelly...it's full of history and beauty and its the most unique city I've ever visited.
We came to Florence yesterday and toured my apartment - they loved my windows, my vaulted ceilings, my Florentine cabinets. Then, we met up with my friend Garrett, who is studying in Milan, and we all took a walking tour of Piazza Signoria, Repubblica, and the Duomo at night. There are a fraction of the crowds and everything is lit up perfectly. They loved it! We stopped by my apartment to grab a tub of peanut butter (yes, M&D brought me JIF from home--such a delicacy!) and stumbled upon Jess and Alexi! They were meeting up with some more of our friends after a day of SKYDIVING over Arrezzo. And yes, my friends actually jumped out of a plane. I'm so impressed. I love how full of life they are. Mom and Dad loved to meet them, too. They were so happy to get to see my friends and listen to their crazy stories. I can't wait for them to meet my other roommate, Leyla, next! They were still raving today about how much fun Jess seemed. And she is!
So, today we went to a service at the Anglican English-speaking church, St. Mark's, and then decided to get lunch...all my usual places were closed. Dang. We walked around forever, I became frustrated because I wanted my parents to enjoy Tuscan food, and we finally decided to just go into a restaurant. They asked if we had a reservation, we said no, they said it'd be thirty minutes, then ran back and told us they had an opening in the back. Well, sure, we'll take it. This place loved food. The server told us to not even bother about the menu, he would tell us what was good. So, we ordered an antipasto with the creamiest cheese (burrata, similar to the Italian word for butter, "burro"), endives, cherry tomatoes, and arugula, and each got pasta for our entree. I had gnocchi with pear and gorgonzola. To die for! Mom and Garrett had tagliotelli with mushrooms and truffles, and Daddy had wild boar on parpadelle. Everything was so good, and pasta was SO FRESH! We loved our special Tuscan lunch.
We then headed to Santa Croce (where Michaelangelo, DaVinci, Machiavelli, and more famous Florentines are buried!) to admire the frescoes by Giotto and look at all of the ornate tombs. So crazy. There is a beautiful courtyard as well, and I took some good pics.
Thennnnnnnn we headed to the Duomo for a bit, then decided we needed to head home so Garrett could catch a train back to Milan. That and we were tired from walking everywhere. We found another sweet little church on the way home. Beautifully ornate and intimate.
At the flat, Gare made some PB sandwiches to take back with him on the train, and I got to study a bit. Mom and Dad took naps. We then led him to the train station, put him on the train, and walked around for a bit.
I love to brag on my dad. The man. knows. everything. He's researched every bit of Florence and even rented a flat for a half a week that is ONE street over, almost DIRECTLY where my apartment is located. The flat is wonderful! So homey, big, has a pullout sofa that I can't figure out, a stove, and ta-da: a washer AND dryer! Only the rich folks have room/money for a dryer...everyone else just hangs up their clothes on clotheslines. This machine does the wash then right after does the drying cycle. Best invention ever. Now my clothes smell like watermelon instead of mildew. Sighhhhhh.
We met an Italian couple at the apartment first, and there was a bit of a language barrier. Everything is stocked, though, and they even had Tuscan wine and cantucci for us! How sweet. We have fresh fruit, coffee, juice, water, a microwave, a toaster, and it's a piece of heaven. Thank you, Daddy.
Oh, and to my Florentine friends, let me rub this in: In Venice, I took A BATH. Ohhhh it was lovely. I just laid there and let the water fill all the way around me. Glorioussssss. It's the little things, you know?
Walking home after putting G on the train, we started getting a craving...for Chinese food. I kid you not, we ate tonight at a place called "China Town," and it was DELICIOUS. I've craved an eggroll ever since I left Georgia, and tonight, my craving was satiated.
Tomorrow is full of class for me, but Mom and Dad are touring all over the city for the next two days. We'll have an early lunch at my favorite panini place, I'll head to class, take and Italian Renaissance History exam, then take a cooking exam, cook something with swiss chard (our ingredient of the week), and hopefully come and crash at Mom and Dad's place. We're planning to get gelato tomorrow night; we'll try out a new gelateria. We had gelato last night, and the woman remembered me. We're pretty much best friends now. We even got a discount. I'm such a regular. At the gelateria. Maybe that's a bad thing.
Daddy had "blood orange" gelato, and he loved every bit. Mom had berry yogurt (typical) and adored hers, and Garrett had cookies and a chocolate sorbet. I had panna cotta and berry yogurt. Perfect. We licked it up and kept touring the town.
Ahhhh, I better go to sleep now. I get up in 8 hours! Yay!
Sorry for not writing for a while; you know how it is...Midterms, parents coming, trains...craziness. Hope you all are well!
And GO DAWGS!