Day 12

        Today it was just Italian class in the morning and then we were given the rest of the afternoon to whatever we pleased. In Italian, we did not learn any new material; we just reviewed for our quiz tomorrow. Surprisingly, the review actually made me feel better about the quiz; I guess I actually know more Italian than I thought. That’s something that never happens! After class I was starving and went with a few girls to a new sandwich place near our school. I believe it is called Olive Oil, or something like that. This place was a little hole in the wall, but it was AMAZING! There were so many sandwich’s on the menu (including many vegetarian sandwich’s), that I had to do “ene mene mine mo” to choose which one to get. I ended up getting a sandwich on with pesto, regular and sundried tomatoes, lettuce and ricotta cheese (I think that is it). It was perfecto and may have been better than Pino’s… Then it was time to visit the San Lorenzo market. Me and another girl passed up the museums for shopping! On the way to the market, we came across one of the many areas in Florence, where the gelato festival was being held. Of course we made a stop there, but didn’t stay long once we realized there was not that much gelato and it cost six euros for five tastings. However, I did manage to walk away with a jar of a nutella like spread/cream, which was made from real pistachios! I bought it with my grandma in mind, I know she would love it and can make something great with it! After a few signature pictures with the festival signs, we finally made it to the market. I only ended up getting a couple gifts, but I guess you could say it was a successful shopping trip. Then it was to the other side of the Ponte Vecchio. This is when the search for a leather jacket began, as my friend and I walked into a leather store just to see what they had. We did not end up buying a jacket, but we did find one of the best gelato places nearby! I have learned that the best gelato is when the gelato is covered and not stacked in huge piles behind glass and also when the pistachio is true to the actual color of a pistachio. The gelato at this place was covered and the pistachio looked exactly like pistachios! It was a huge success! After walking around a bit more, we ended up on a street, which had leather shop after leather shop. In a store called Gabi, I did find a jacket I really liked and it even had half my name already sown into it “Gabi”! I want to say that it just might be meant to be.

        After a long day of wandering around Florence, I am completely exhausted. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to go out and tour some more. Right now I am thinking about visiting the synagogue here! Ciao!

Gelato Festival!