Una notte fuori. A night out.

Ciao!
Well I had a very good night out yesterday, so I hope that you all survived not having a blog!

On Fridays I don't have anything planned, so I slept in until noon, and had my breakfast, which served as my lunch. I then had a very leisurely afternoon getting ready and hanging out with Stella before heading out. Around 4:15 I left my apartment and headed down the road a few minutes to the base of Piazzale Michelangelo. For those of you that do not know, Piazzale Michelangelo is one of the most well known spots to take the panoramic shots of Florence. (That is where the photo at the top of my blog was taken.)

I got to the bottom of the hill and had to start my climb up!

You have to start weaving your way up these roads, which aren't open to cars, and then you have to cross 2 roads that are open to cars (be careful!) and then continue up the hill.

Half way up! (I'm starting to get a little tired.)

I made it! It only took about 5 or 6 minutes, but it was steep!

View to the West.

A view to the East.

 

We all hung out up there for about an hour or so waiting until the sunset, and then until all the city lights came on. It was cold, but definitely worth it!

After we all started getting cold, and hungry, we decided to start walking back down the hill. We were trying to decide what we were going to do for the night. Some people wanted to go out, and I had made the comment of not having had a mixed drink before. At this comment everyone swarmed me, completely shocked, and said that I HAD to go out with them. They said that they were going to take me out and that I would stay at their place for the night. It was only 6:30pm at this point, so I decided that I would quick hop on the bus and grab some stuff for the night for sleeping and that I would meet them back up at their apartment. I was back at their apartment at 7:30 and we made some pasta before we went out. Then once everyone was ready we walked a couple blocks down from their apartment and went to a bar. (This is a normal kind of bar that you would think of in the U.S.)

I got a menu and everyone was trying to help me pick something to drink. I settled on a Long Island.

My first mixed drink!! (I would just like to say that it was really weird drinking in public, and not even getting carded.)

The group of friends that I went out with.

I ended up getting a second Long Island because I couldn't decide on something else that I would like, and I didn't want to get something and end up hating it.

We ended up leaving the bar around midnight and we were all really hungry. We walked down the block to a Kebab place. A few other people in our program had gone here before and said it was really good. It was!! For those of you that don't know what a kebab is, it was kind of like a combination of a gyro and a wrap.  Now, even though it was delicious, everyone says that you do not want to get one when you are sober, because they aren't that good sober. I decided I will take everyone's word for it, although I can't believe it could be true, because it was really good.

And as if we hadn't had enough food after the kebab, we then headed over a few more blocks and went to the secret bakery!

Yes, a secret bakery! People know where the bakery is basically by word of mouth because there aren't any signs by the door. You head down a dead end street, and there is a back door that you knock on. Someone from the bakery will come open up the door and ask you what you would like. They have cornettos (which are pastries like croissants) that you can get filled either with chocolate, crème or marmalade. Then once you tell them what you'd like, they close the door and come back a few minutes later with your pastries! They are 1 euro a piece and they are delicious! I got 2 chocolate filled cornettos. I saved one for the morning. They are much better then if you buy them in the morning because these are fresh and still warm!

This is the pastry that made it to the morning. You can't see it, but there is chocolate hiding on the inside! :)

2009- at sunrise                                                        2013- at sunset

The picture on the left I took when I was in Florence 4 years ago. And the picture on the right I took last night. It is crazy to see how this journey has come full circle. It was at that exact moment 4 years ago, up in Piazzale Michelangelo, as I was looking out over Florence that I realized that was where I wanted to study abroad. It was absolutely beautiful as the sun was rising and while the city is large, it can be very small and peaceful at the same time.

I still can't believe I live here!