I love where I am!!

There are so many things to say about Florence, then Italy, and even in a larger scale Europe. I am going to be honest and say that I would be totally fine with never leaving! At least once a day I remind my roommates how much I love Florence, and how I just love being here. Here are a few things that make Florence "e il meglio che c'e!!"

1. Artisans. If you are an artist, you buy a shop and everyday, all day, you work in your shop painting, sculpting, hat-making, sewing...people pass by your shop and look in the window to watch you at work. What an amazing life- everyday you do what you love and are passionate about!
2. Window Shopping. Every store has elaborate displays with incredible clothing. Plus there are stores everywhere! Such incredible shopping, it is really ridiculous!
3. Every Italian has a beautiful dog. Every dog wears an ensemble. Every dog goes grocery shopping or clothes shopping with their owener -- taking a break in between by just popping a squat on the street to pee or poop.
4. Absolutely zero sterotypes. This is just one of the most incredible things. I love being here because you wake up every morning and put on whatever you're feeeling for the day. Clothes are an expression of personality, individual taste. There is no way to group people together, it's beautiful! Everyone is confident in their own expression. I have become a mood dresser for sure! Meg and I have been trying to figure out what our style is, and until just recently we came to a conclusion: we dress the way we feel-- it is so much less stressful not having to try to place yourself into this mold other people create for yourself!
5. Work out videos. Some of you may know that Meg and I brought several workout videos to 'do' to keep us fit here in Italia. Well the problem occureeed when the videos required weights and we thought that bringing more clothes was more important than packing ten pounds worth of weights. So...what did we do to resolve this? Only in Italy can you use wine bottles as weights in your work out videos! Please picture it: me holding a one legged squat position while I use two wine bottles as my free weights in a bicep curl. Only in Italy, right?!
6. Pastries. There is ALWAYS an amazing pastry shop around every corner. Meg and I are currently in the process of becoming freinds and regulars at this incredible pastry shop around the corner from our house. every day there are new pastries filled with nutella, mini chocolate pies, sfogli and so so so much more!!
7. Gelato. Meg and I are getting so nervous about coming back to the states and not having a delicous secret gelato shop to complete our lunch or dinner. Waco really needs to hop on the train with this Gelato business. If you are reading this and are an entrepreneur, I beg you to start a gelato shop out at Baylor. You would bank!!
8. Italian Food. OH MY GOODNESS. The food here is incomprable. I am able to eat parmesan with just about every meal (Amy I know you would feel like you were in Heaven just like I do when they bring a huge bowl of parmesean to you at every meal)! I really could not even begin to describe how _______ this food is. (You could fill that blank with just about every honorable word you could think of and it still would not suffice.)
9. Sunsets. Sunrises. Breathtaking, remarkable... it is insane! When I go running I run lungarno (along the Arno river) and by the end of the run I am crossing the bridge just in time to see the sun rising behind the Montagne di Italia! It is like nothing you have ever seen before!! And recently my roommates and I have started this tradition of going once a week to Piazza di Michelangelo (which overlooks the entire city of Florence). We bring a bottle of wine and some cheese as we watch the sun set over the city of Florence. It is indescribable. Literally the sky is scattered with an array of pastels......aammaazziinngg!
10. Chill. I have never been so relaxed in my entire life. I have not been stressed once since I have been here. I love love love it!! Every dinner we plan for at least a two hour session, there are no 'to go' coffees. If you want a cappuccino you go to a cafe and you sit while you drink your cappuccino, and then you leave. It is the way life is meant to be spent-- relaxed!

This is the first list of the many resons I have for loving Florence. There will be more to come..trust me! And I also want to apologize for the grammar, spelling, etc. Meg is not with me to check this over before I post! She is always the good writer...im just letting you know my thoughts which are a bit scattered (like me)! Ha well I hope you enjoy this little insight of our lives!

Ode to Nutella

Ode to Nutella

Sweet, o so sweet,

Why no sooner did we meet?

The very presence your scent,

Chocolate-hazelnut, begins my descent.

More and more I desire,

The sweet taste of your attire.

When I dip into you,

Parts of me become anew.

Parts of you seem to remain,

In the crevasse of my domain.

On my lip you will stay,

Until, my saliva melts you away.

Why must your stay be short lived?

When there is so much more you could have gived.

I need no other to satisfy,

Please be replenished or I will die.

This is a poem my roommate wrote in the midst of a Nutella high. It is currently written out on a poster and hanging in our kitchen.