16 April 2011

Devoto's Take Florence


 mom came to visit!!!!!


Holy moly do we have a lot to catch up on. Last time I left you was the day before spring break hahaha. so lucky for you im going to make probably 3 posts in order to catch you up. Oh geez.

this post will focus on the week my mom came to visit and spring break. Where to even begin.... Spring break was epic. beyond epic. it was unbelievable. ok I am getting ahead of myself. Let's go to the beginning.

So I returned from France on Monday and on Tuesday I was skipping with my dad when he asked if I wanted mom to come visit. Obviously I wanted her too. He responded saying "good. she will be there on Thursday!" hahaha I was in shock....  "are you kidding me?".  nope. he was dead serious. Leave it to my family to not plan a vacation to Italy until about 2 days before. They are crazy. So I talk to my mom and sure enough she and her sister, aunt mary alice, decided to come to Florence to visit me for a week. I was beyond excited. I am super close with my mom so ive missed her a lot being over here. And the timing could not have been better. I had been here for about half of the semester and I was ready for some quality momma devoto time :). Anyways it was a whirlwind week once they arrived. When they got here, I met up with them as soon as I got out of class. I went to their hotel to meet them. Hahah long story but we couldn't find each other in the hotel. A couple could tell I was lost and so they asked if I was looking for 2 women. I said yes and they pointed me in the right direction. I was walking to the terrace, where the couple said they were, but ran into my mom in aunt in a room on the way. I saw my mom and lost it hahaha crying uncontrollably. it was embarrassing but it was just so great to see her. I couldn't help it! So that day, thrusday, we walked all over florence, hitting all the major landmarks and basically a layout of the city.
in front of the Duomo!

Gilli for dessert

Pitti Palace

The Friday they were here, we went with all of the girls on a horseback riding tour through tuscany/vineyards. Then we went to this castle/old city for a wine tasting and dinner. It was so fun and so beautiful!

all the girls before horseback riding

mommy :)

literally riding through the vineyards at sunset

love these girls



wine tasting


The next day, the 3 of us took a day trip to Cinque Terre. It was absolutely beautiful! We went to all of the towns, shopped, walked around, and then made our way back to Florence that night. too fun.





via dell'Amor (walk of love) 


The last couple of days they were here we tore up Florence haha. One night we went to this enoteca right across from the Pitti Palace and had the most amazing dinner/wine tasting. Our waiter was unbelievable and knew everything possible about the wines he served. It was amazing. We must have been there for atleast 4 hours. The food they served was cooked fresh by this precious woman who ended up giving my mom and aunt a private cooking lesson the following day. The hotel they stayed at was unbelievable. We would end each night relaxing on the rooftop terrace overlooking Florence. We went to mass one night at the Duomo. We went shopping. One night we took the girls to Spera's pizza... it was an interesting experience haha but the food was pretty good. Also, my mom and I had dinner together one night at La Giostra, which is known for their pear ravioli. It was delish. We did so much I can barely remember everything but it was one of the best weeks. I loved having my mom here and showing my aunt around Florence. They left on Wednesday and Thursday was the start of spring break. But i think thats going to have to be another post.... so check back soon to read all about our epic week in Greece.

dinner at La Giostra

dinner at enoteca pitti

ciao! xoxo