Farewell Firenze

As I sit here in bed on my last night in Firenze I can't help but think just how fast time goes by. I cannot believe my adventure here has come to an end. I have been to 7 countries and over 30 cities all in less than 4 months. I truly can't even explain to anyone just how amazing this time has been and I probably never will be able to.  The only thing I will be able to do is share some of the recipes I learned while here to try and let my family and friends relive my trip through their taste buds.

But my trip here has been about so much more than food. I have learned to become so much more independent, to go with the flow, to relax even when I see a gypsy in a supermarket or when a sketchy Italian man tries to sell me a rose, and I have learned a whole new way of life. It will definitely take some adjusting eating a big breakfast in the morning instead of just my regular macchiato and if I eat dinner before 9pm, that will be weird too. It's crazy how in such a short amount of time I have really adapted to a new culture. However, there are so many things about home that I miss and will be so excited to get back to. These things include: clothes driers, not having to rely on wifi for everything, bread with salt, normal plug ins, and Diet Coke.

This last week has just been about soaking up our last views of Florence. We went to the Boboli Gardens on Friday with our friend Liza who was visiting, went out for Dana's 21st birthday and then Carleen's birthday the next night. I said goodbye to all my teachers and took my exams...I had to cook asparagus risotto for Food, Culture, an Society, chocolate mousse for chocolates, pasta alla norma for pastas, and crepes for Contemporary Cooking. Fingers crossed that I passed!! haha

But other than finals, we really just enjoyed as much food, gelato, and sights as possible. We went to the leather market, went to both the Sant' Ambrogio and San Lorenzo food markets, went to the Rose Gardens and the Piazzale Michelangelo many times. And tonight we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants called La Giostra where I had the pear and pecorino ravioli. And then we strolled around one last time and took some last photos with our friend the Duomo. I still can't believe I got to call this city my home for nearly 4 months! I cannot wait to return some day and get to show my children what an amazing opportunity I got to have when I was only 21 years old! I'm so blessed and grateful for this chance to live abroad and I think it will help me so much when I pick up again and move to New York for the summer...lots to look forward to!

Well it's late here and I have to be up in 2 hours for my plane but I hope you enjoyed my blog! I can't wait to be back in Minnesota in 24 hours!!

Saying goodbye to Chef Desy:(

Look what's in the gypsy's basket

So they do have money after all....

Boboli Gardens

Boboli

View of Florence from the Rose Gardens

Happy Birthday Donna!!

My city:)

Happy Birthday!!

Free Birthday Champagne? Why suuuure!

Saying goodbye to Chef Cecilia

My chocolates final

Roses

More Roses

My perfect macchiato breakfast
made by our favorite barista, Sandra:)

One last Gusta

Last night out:(

Saying goodbye to my boyfriend, Neptune

Hope you enjoyed my pictures!!! Until my next trip....

xoxo,
Alli

Munchin' in Munchen

Ciao! I cannot believe that all my travelling around Europe has come to an end:( We got back on Sunday from our last trip which was Munich Germany for Springfest! And thankfully it was the last bus trip I'll be on in awhile! We left Thursday night at around 7:30 and got to Munich at about 3:30 in the morning. We went straight to bed.

Friday, Day 1: We woke up early around 8:30 because we were supposed to do a bike tour of the city. However, there was some complications and somehow there weren't enough bikes for us to go so we ended up just wandering around the city of Munich for while and checking it out. It is actually such a pretty city. Everyone bikes, it's very green, and there are open markets everywhere! We got some coffee and then made our way to the beer tents. The only way to describe springfest is the Minnesota State Fair. Delicious fair food, carnival rides, and huge beer tents where 1 beer is 1liter! 1 beer was 10 euros and was equivalent to 4 beers so 2 beers in one day is all you need haha. Here are some pics from our first day:

Springfest Entrance!

Love us some beer!

Me with my huge beer!

Drinkin' my beer

Mikey with her beer

 That was pretty much all our Friday consisted of:
beer, sausage, pretzels, and chocolate covered bananas. Oh and then we had to ride a few rides too.

Day 2, Saturday: We were actually able to do the bike tour today which we were so happy about! We woke up around 9 and were on the bike tour by 1030. We got to bike for about an hour around Munich and then we stopped at the Beer Gardens which were in the middle of the park and you could get beer and food of course. Then we finished the bike tour and on our way back we stopped at this one bridge called surfer's bridge. People actually surf right under this bridge. It was so random but so cool! After the bike tour of course we hit the beer tents for round 2!

Church in Munich

Government Building

Surfers Bridge

Mikey and Colleen

Just making German friends!

Delia and I with our beers

Some more Cornell friends

Delia and I

 Day 3, Sunday: Before we left Munich at 3pm, we took a day trip to the Dachau Concentration camp. We took a train to Dachau and then took a bus to the camp. It was a very emotional and moving experience. We got to see where the barracks were and saw the crematorium as well. It was not easy to get through but we were really glad we did it. Then we went back to our hostel to get on our bus back to Florence.

I cannot believe that was our last trip! It was such a great and fun way to finish off my abroad experience. And now I have just a week left, with so much left to still do in Florence! It seems like just yesterday we arrived and had no clue what we were doing in a foreign country and now it has become my home:) We have planned out our last week in terms of what restaurants we are eating at each night, of course. I am getting more and more excited to come home, but I know it will be so sad when officially have to say bye to this amazing city:( But enough of that, it's not time yet!!! I will give you one last update before my journey ends. My friend Liza is visiting from Paris right now and it is Dana's 21st birthday tomorrow so there is still a lot more fun to be had!

xoxoxo,
Alli