The Love Affair with Italy has Begun

Ricardo and I have finally been able to tour around a bit.  Tuesday we went to Arezzo, yesterday we went to Fiesole (just north of Florence) and today we went to Scandicci and Firenze centro (downtown Florence).  In Fiesole yesterday we found the most unbelievable gelato, watched the church bells ring to call the locals to mass, and I saw my first ancient Roman ruins.  We also climbed up a large hill to see the most beautiful view of Florence. 

This picture doesn't even do the view justice.

We went to a restaurant last night near our casa that served horse as a meal.  Needless to say, we quickly left that place as soon as we saw that and it was hard for me to regain an appetite.  Let's hope that was an anomaly and not customary in Italy.  Luckily, we found a great substitute restaurant and had a tasty meal.

Today, we drove to Scandicci (right over the Arno River from Florence) to see an apartment owned by Ricardo's relative's friend, Barbara.  She was so nice and the apartment is so cool.  Every room is painted in a bright color and the apartment is very modern.  It is funny because we pictured living out in the hills of Tuscany in some villa before we came here.  Now that we're here, we realize this is very different than what you'd imagine.  It is hard to get anywhere in Tuscany and the roads are very, very narrow (to the point where you have to pull off the road if another car comes along).  We realized we would rather live a little closer to a big city so that we can easily travel around Italy.  We were impressed that we were able to hold a 30 minute conversation with Barbara strictly in Italian with little to no trouble.  I guess we know more than we think we do.

After we checked out the apartment we went over the river to Florence.  We found a small restaurant for dinner.  We drove along the Arno River to get back home afterwards.  I had heard/read of so many people having a "love affair" with Italy and was curious if it would happen to me.  It finally happened tonight when we were driving home.  Florence has a heartbeat just like New York.  I had the same feeling I did when I first went to New York and am anxious to explore more of Florence.  We are also finally feeling more comfortable and at home here.  Until the next adventure...

Arrivederci!