So since the last time I've posted I have done so pretty awesome stuff!! I've been feeling very fortunate!!
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were pretty boring because basically all I did was class. Wednesday I started to feel sick with a cold and some congestion and what not, however, I am in Florence and being sick is not going to slow me down!! I only have a couple months left!!
Thursday Gen and I walked around Florence and did a little exploring. I have no idea where we ended up and couldn't get back there again but we had a lot of fun!! We also got some shopping done! :)
Friday was a very exciting day!! Gen and I went to the Chianti region and when horseback riding and wine tasting!!! I had sooo much fun!! I don't think I've gotten to ride any horses since Hannah and I went to horse camp (I think in between 7th and 8th grade)!! I didn't have a helmet on so that scared me a little bit but it was soo much fun!! We went on about an hour and a half ride. I never learned the name of my horse. :( They didn't tell us and I forgot to ask! I wish I could go again!! That would be awesome!! After we finished horseback riding we saw more of the horses and saw a couple of ponies that were 3 or 4 months old!! They were adorable!!! One of the moms was the softest horse I have ever pet!! I wanted to pet her all day long!! I also got to feed some of the horses hay!! I love feeding horses!! After we finished with the horses we sat down and had a little glass of wine. We also played with the cutest little bull dog. I forget her name, I think it was Duchessa. She was adorable!! After that we went to a small little town and got to try 4 different types of wine. They were very good!! Four small glasses of wine with no food are not a good combination for me though!! I was glad that next we were going to go get some lunch!! We had some good appetizers with some delicious pasta....and more wine...I mostly just drank the water. After that we headed back to Florence and I packed and got ready for Saturday and Sunday's trip!!
Saturday morning we left around 5. We were supposed to meet at the bus at 4:45. Emily, Allison, Elizabeth, (the girls from next door) and I got there at 4:45. At 4:46 I realized I forgot my passport. I ran back to the apartment and got back to the bus right around 5. Luckily the other three saved me a seat and I got two seats to myself. It was very enjoyable! :) We headed off to Monte Carlo and had a tour of the area. We got to see the changing of the guards which was pretty interesting but I wish I had had a better view. After we were finished at Monte Carlo we headed to Nice. We explored the Old Town part of Nice and also went and hung out on the beach. The beach was beautiful!! I love the smell of salt water in the breeze!! That night we had a traditional French meal. Wasn't as good as the Swiss meal we had but it was still pretty good!! We started off with a Nicoise Salad. Minus the olives it was really good, I didn't even mind the tuna! Then we had chicken (I think) difficult to eat because it was still all on the bones and we weren't quite sure how to cut it off. Tasted good though!! We also had potatoes that were almost like homestyle french fries. With both of them we had a horseradish type sauce. Actually, I couldn't decide what type of sauce it was but that's what Elizabeth told me it was!! The desert was were the meal lacked (I'm sure you can think of lots and lots of yummy french deserts) what we got was a rectangle of ice cream with pistachios and other types of nuts mixed in. Not the biggest fan but after dinner we walked around and found nutella crepes!!! YUM!!! After that we were all pretty tired so we went back to the hotel and got ready for bed and were asleep fairly early.
Sunday we woke up and went down to breakfast. Breakfast started at 7:30...I think we got down there at 7:35 and waited in line. By the time we actually got to the food there were no eggs, no croissants, no cheese, no bowls for cereal, basically all we had to eat was a mini french baguette (which don't get me wrong...I love french baguettes, however, when you see croissants and scrambled eggs piled on other peoples plates...you want more than a mini french baguette!!). I did end up eating 2 of those french baguettes though with strawberry jam and butter on them. Put bread in front of me, I eat it! After that we headed to St. Paul France and walked around. Most of the stores were still closed but the area was very cute!! We sat down at a little cafe so Elizabeth and Allison could drink some cappuccinos. After that we walked around some more and took pictures of the area. After that we headed to Cannes. It was very very windy there!! First we stopped and looked at the beach. Spent some time there where we saw an old lady go swimming and the strip on the beach! After that we walked around and decided to grab some lunch. We didn't have much time after lunch so we walked around and stopped at a small store. I wish we had, had more time to walk around Cannes but out of all the places we went I'm glad that was the place we were the most rushed because the other places were my favorite. After Cannes we went to a small town called Eze. There we went to a perfume shop called Fragonard. At the shop they showed us how they make the perfume and told us about some of the different scents that they used to make their perfumes. They use different plants form all over the world. They then showed us some of the different perfumes that they sell. It was very interesting! After Eze we headed back to Florence.
So much fun!!
