My morning started out like any other: I took a shower, got dressed and ate breakfast. I also checked my emails/facebook. I was super excited to have an email from Mike (in response to a request of mine) that included pictures of our babies...who aren't babies anymore!! Bama, Luna, and Nova are soo big now, but JUST as cute as they ever were! So that started my morning off with a smile! My favorite was Luna in a bowl; it amazes me what cats can fit in to. They are such sweet babies…I miss them!
#1 is Bama
#2 in the bowl is Luna
#3 (White) is Nova
On my walk to school I just tried to soak it all in. I wanted to take in everything…I just made sure that I looked around and took mental pictures. My throat was hurting so bad though and it was starting to make my ears hurt. I stopped at a bakery right by the school (the one with the Tiffany window display actually) and got a cup of hot tea. They had selections out for you to choose from, so I decided to try the fruity one. So, I fixed my tea with sugar and left.
Class was miserable. My throat was hurting so bad that I thought I might cry and it was still hurting in my ears. I am also so tired of Maria getting frustrated with me when I get something wrong. Today I was not the only one getting things wrong; everyone (all 3 of us) were having problems with the pronouns we were working on. I’m not really sure what makes her think that getting frustrated with me is going to make me learn or make the situation better. In fact, it makes it MUCH worse!!! I REALLY, REALLY wanted to just leave. The fruity tea was okay, but not great…however, it made my throat feel a little better.
During the break, I went to find some riccola lozenges because my cough drops were not working and I was almost out of sucrets. I went to the pharmacy first (which are like every two feet) and they didn’t have them, and so they sent me to the “tabacchi”. I bought a box and then went to get a small snack. I got one of the bars with the orange stuff inside and then headed back upstairs. The second half of my class was…ughh whatever! I was just ready to leave. I was headed to climb the stairs in the duomo. However, Fiona said that I shouldn’t go if I was sick because it was bad for your heart. I explained to her though that I had limited time and I would have to go do it. I was definitely not feeling like climbing steps, but again, I felt like I had NO choice.
So, I skipped class, the stupid art history class and went to lunch first. I went to the restaurant for my last lunch there. They had ribollita on the specials for the day, so OF COURSE, I ordered that. It came really quickly and immediately I was unsure of it because it had SO SO SO much oil…like there were pockets of oil.
However, I started eating it. It was good, but NOT nearly as good as Signora Gabriella’s ribollita. I was really hoping to get a picture with my regular waiter, but once I was finished eating, he was nowhere to be found.
After lunch I went to get a ticket to the duomo. I went to one door and asked where to buy it and the guy told me that the church was free. So then I saw a ticket office to climb the tower. I bought the all inclusive ticket so that I could see the crypt, the baptistery, museum (if I wanted), and the climb up the tower. It was 414 steps.
The steps were okay. There are a lot of spiral staircases in these buildings, which is really only bad on the way down...or when someone insists on passing you on them! There were a few “landing points” which was good because it really was made hard by not feeling well. One of the landings had a big bell on it...I'm assuming that it was the bell tower at one point. The view of Florence was beautiful. You could see so many things and I was really excited. However, I realized that this was not what I had intended to do, which was climb the dome; I did however, get a great view of the dome. I stayed up there for a while to take in the view and enjoy it…again, I wanted to soak it all in. Also, I needed the time to rest. I never knew what an extremely sore throat could do to you! It was beautiful up on the tower though, and TOTALLY worth it!!! I will let pictures speak for me: 
After I went back down all of those steps (going down is more painful for me though), I went to see the inside of the church. It was gorgeous. My favorite part was the clock
at the rear of the church. However, the tour book was right about the one in Siena being more decorative. However, I really enjoyed it.
THe inside of the dome was gorgeous...as with all of the churches in Italy! It is just amazing that someone was able to do all of this with nothing but old school scaffolding; 
no modern day "technology" or anything. That's part of what is so amazing Once again I was just awestruck at the detail and beauty that God has inspired. I really will just have to let the pictures speak for me. Then, I went down into the crypt, which had original foundations of the church. It was neat, but I was really unsure of what I was looking at most of the time. The most interesting part of it for me was that it was so old and historical. The history in Italy is just amazing; so much more than the U.S. The ironic thing here is that this country has more history than we can even imagine, but yet has only been a unified country for 150 years (in fact, this year is the 150th anniversary!). However, this creates a division in the country…they don’t have the same sense of unification that “we do”…well, I think we do…or we used to…or we should. Anyway, I enjoyed seeing the church and the crypt.
I had decided before I went into the church that I was going to go to the tights store (Calezonia…or something) to get my fun colored tights and cute boot socks before I went back to school. I didn’t buy them yesterday because I was still trying to decide if I wanted them. So, I still had 15 minutes before I had to be at my private lesson, so I went and bought the mustard yellow tights, these pretty “blue” tights, and then the cutest boot socks which are tan with darker brown at the top! I was really excited about them…I love colored tights (AND I was already wearing red tights that day!!!).
After I bought my tights/socks, I went back to the school for my private lesson. On my way I stopped to take a picture of this thing in the piazza that is like a bronze 3D "map" of the center of Florence!
I always (well now always) enjoy these. I like Cristina. We did my homework and then just had conversation. The thing I like about having conversation with her is that she does not pressure me…if I cannot think of a word she waits patiently or she helps me out if she sees I am struggling. Also, if she can see that I truly do not understand, she prompts me in English. I know that this is not really their method, but here is what it does for me: IT KEEPS ME FROM GETTING ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED AND WANTING TO QUIT!! This helps me make progress, because when I am not overwhelmingly frustrated, I think better! Cristina and I talked about New York City, about me going home, about football, about coming back to Italy, and mamma’s bakery. She had told me about it before, but especially today because she said that they have apple pie. Ohh, we started our lesson with, “Buon Thanksgiving”! She is so cute! She said that her and a friend were going to mamma’s bakery tomorrow for lunch because you can get a “bagel”! Cirstina says bagel funny too…the a is more like the A in Alabama. So, we found out yesterday that mamma’s bakery closes at 5, so after our lesson I had to “hurry” there because it was across the river. She was excited that I was going here.
After our lesson I checked my email and I was excited to see an email from Erin that said we could skype today. She said to call her around 1 her time, which was perfect because that would be 7 my time and I would definitely be home and writing my blog/emails/facebook stuff. So, with that excitement, I headed to Mamma’s Bakery. The walk was a little longer than I anticipated. It was a little more hidden than I anticipated as well. I was feeling like I was in the wrong place, or I had missed a turn or something; so I stopped and ask this guy and he didn’t know a WORD of English…he kept saying, “Ponte Vecchio??? Pitti?? Ponte Vecchio???” I tried to just say “Mamma’s Bakery” thinking that he would recognize the name. However, he called another guy over and he said that it was just down the street.
Mamma’s Bakery: What a cute little place. The man who owns it is American and was so sweet. There were two girls in front of me ordering apple pie. I was a little concerned that I might not be able eto get an apple pie because there were only three pieces left. So, they ordered theirs and a coffee and then it was my turn. The hot tea was only 1 euro, what a steal (also because you filled your own hot water…Italians do NOT like to give you a full to-go cup). SO, I asked about the whole pie and he said that you could buy them, but you had to order them ahead of time. However, he had a lady that was supposed to come hours ago for her apple and pumpkin pie and if she didn’t show by 5, it was mine! I was a little sad about how much it was going to cost, but I knew if I could get it that it would be totally worth it! So, I ordered my slice of pie, which he only charged me 3 euros for because it was smaller than the pieces the two girls had and so he felt bad charging me 4 euros. I was grateful for this and also ordered a hot tea. Again, you could pick your tea and so I tried this vanilla one! I went and found a table. 
The two girls in front of me were saying, “now this feels more like Thanksgiving”; as I walked past them, I told them that I agreed. So, I sat and ate my pie, drank my amazing tea, and wrote out some blog thoughts. The pie was REALLY good; it had a lot of apples in it and the crust was amazing and topped with powdered sugar! It was nice to just sit and enjoy the “American” food! I had arrived around 3:45, so I still had a little while to wait. He offered to just let me call, but I couldn’t have headed home because it was too far of a walk. So, I went out for about a 15 min walk. When I came back he said that I could have it at 4:30, but only if I wanted the pumpkin pie. Well, I did not want the pumpkin pie because I don’t really like pumpkin pie and I thought that the family might appreciate the apple pie more (he agreed)…I mean what is more “American” than apple pie?!?!? So, I went and sat back down. It was interesting to watch these three Italian teenagers/20 somethings. The girl was wearing jean shorts and colored tights (A HUGE trend in Italy). They were funny to watch, just their dynamics! The two American girls were still sitting there too. They were talking about partying and stuff, which was kind of funny to listen to, but also kind of annoying. Around 4:50 he came and said, “It’s yours; Whichever one you want, or both!!!!!” I was SO excited because it was another semi-Eat, Pray, Love moment. She introduces them to Thanksgiving, and while this wouldn’t be quite the same, it was close…as close as I was going to get. So, I used their clean restroom and then went to get my beautiful pie. Literally, it was pretty and in a pretty little box. I knew that this was going to be a long walk home with my heavy purse, bag of tights, and now box with beautiful pie in it.
The walk home was nice. Florence is really pretty at night. The lights of the stores and the street lights are just beautiful. It was not easy to carry that pie though; I had to keep it flat and steady and pray that no one bumped into me!! I passed the two American girls from the bakery as I walked. I stopped in a tea shop and asked if they had Romeo and Juliet that Signora Gabriella makes, but it was so expensive. I stopped on the Ponte Vecchio and took a picture with the beautiful/colorful sunset. I had someone take a picture of me as well. The strange thing was that the couple I had someone take my picture, I had taken their picture inside the Duomo earlier. I don’t think that they recognized me, but I recognized them! I tried once again to just take it all in and enjoy it. The sunset was GORGEOUS from the bridge.
There were a lot more Christmas lights hung, but none were lit! I was sad that they weren’t lit up yet.
I was really bummed when I got home and no one was home! However, I took that time to pack and work on blogs, and talked to my momma and daddy before they left for the Jackson’s Thanksgiving lunch. I was getting really bummed that I wasn’t there for Thanksgiving. I never thought I would care that much about Thanksgiving, but I was feeling kind of lonely. When I hung up with them I tried to call Erin but she couldn’t answer. So, I did some more packing. I didn’t want to leave it all for Friday evening.
When Signora Gabriella got home I gave her the pie and wine and told her that it was for Thanksgiving. She seemed happy, but went right to cooking. So I did some MORE packing and writing and then it was time for dinner. It was just the three of us (Lorenzo was at a work thing). Before we began, they were so sweet to toast to me and we all clinked glasses and then began eating. We had Gnocchi in tomato “sauce”. Then we had meat, which I knew was veal because I had seen it the day before. The meat was really thin and really good (and well done!!!). We also had some salad, which has some sort of dressing that you cannot see, but it is good. Every few bites are pretty salty, but it’s still good! Then….we had the apple pie.
They asked me all kinds of questions about it; they wanted to know how to make it, did I make it, was it a common for Thanksgiving, and how many apples were needed for an apple pie, and other questions. They had never heard of apple pie and definitely never had it. I was really excited about this; it made me feel good to share something with them and for them to enjoy it. Signora Gabriella tried to give me a huge piece, but I traded with Guenda because I had already eaten a slice earlier. Their stomach capacity amazes me though. What also amazes me is how fast they eat; I don’t know how they do not have a consistent stomach ache from the amount they eat and the speed at which they eat it all. They offered the wine, but I said that we should just wait until Friday night (and they agreed that we should wait on Lorenzo and save him some pie!).
After I got ready for bed and killed some time, I had a skype date with ERin. It was about midnight my time and we talked for about 30 minutes. I had been EXHAUSTED, but when I started talking to Erin, I was fine...energized even. I was just so excited to be seeing her face and hearing her voice!!! We talked about Thanksgiving, Erin needing to move to NYC with me, and life. Erin had made some of her favorite Thanksgiving foods, so she went to have Thanksgiving food and I went to sleep! Perfect ending to the day!
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