Pete and M.A. come to Firenze!

Last Wednesday, the 27th, my parents flew into Rome and took the train to the Santa Maria Novella train station here in Florence. I got out of class and walked a few blocks to meet them at their hotel, only to turn the corner and see my mom running down the street in a hot pink jacket with her arms spread out ready to embrace me for a huge hug! It was cute. After going back to school to finish my classes for the day, my parents met me at my pensione and I showed them around and they said hello to my roommates, and I showed them around my school and then had to take a midterm that afternoon before meeting them for dinner at one of mine and my friends' favorite restaurants, Trattoria ZaZa. We had amazing food and drank wonderful wine and it was a great first night for them in Florence. 

The next day, my parents came to lunch at my pensione and met my pensione owners and some of my other hallmates. After that, all of my friends (literally, every last one of them) left for Barcelona for the long Halloween weekend. So we said goodbye and I showed my parents around the center of the city and lead them to some sights like the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio. We walked by the Museo Di Academia, where Michelangelo's David is kept, and there was absolutely NO line, which is totally not normal, so we went inside and it was definitely worth seeing. The David is enormous and amazing. After, we eventually ventured over to the other side of the Arno and went to a pub called the Friends Bar for some Italian beer. We then walked to a nice restaurant that had been recommended to me by several people called Ristorante Buca Mario. We didn't make a reservation so we waited in a fast-growing line outside of the restaurant when it opened at 7:30 (my parents thought it was so weird that everywhere opened so late... but that's Italia for you!) and they eventually sat us in this very back room with all the Asian tourists. It was pretty comical. We joked and called it the "Loser Room." Dinner was fabulous and afterward we walked home and my mom and I  took a ride on the merry-go-round, pretty funny. Fortunately my dad documented it.

The Following day, Friday, I took my parents on the same Chianti bike tour that I went on with my friends a few weeks ago. The day was beautiful, about 70 degrees and sunny. We were so lucky! It was the last weekend that the bike tours were going on and we had such an awesome day. Our tour guide asked me to be the "caboose" and hang in the back of the line to make sure no one got lost, and in return he gave me a free I-Bike-Italy t-shirt! Pretty good deal. My parents loved the bike ride and had such a great day. I had a really great time doing the bike ride for the second time because it was a totally different experience going with my parents vs. going with 25 other students. It was a really great day and it was great to get out of the city and get some exercise! 

We were pretty exhausted after the bike ride, but we made it out that night and went to a little Trattoria near the Museo Di Palazzo Vecchio, which is right near the Uffitzi Gallery. After dinner we followed our ears to an Irish man playing on his acoustic guitar a number of American songs from bands like U2, Simon and Garfunkle, John Denver and The Beatles. We bought "vino take-away" along with plastic cups and listened for a while to this awesome little outdoor concert. It was so amazing, listening to this random guy play in this little area near the Uffitzi gallery, one of the oldest museums in the world, which houses all the Medici family's artwork that they owned when they lived and ruled in Florence. It is the largest collection of art in Florence and the most popular museum. Anyway, it was a fantastic way to end the night! The following day we spent walking around Florence and I took my parents to try their first Doner Kebab, which is kind of like a pita sandwich and they make it by shaving off roasted meat, turkey and pork I think, from this giant rotisserie thing and stuff a pita/panini bread looking thing with the meat and then with lettuce, tomato, onion, cabbage, french fries, taziki sauce and chili sauce - so GOOD. We eat them all the time because they are cheap and portable and awesome. My parents loved them too! After eating we went to the Santa Croce, where Michaelangelo and Galileo's tombs are kept, and then I took them up to the Piazza Michaelangelo which is about a 30 minute walk from the center of Florence. Up at the piazza is one of the best views of the city. Even though it was cloudy and a bit cold, the view was amazing. 

After visiting the Piazza we took the bus up to the ancient city of Fiesole. It is supposed to be the best view of Florence, only a 15 minute bus ride away. The day was pretty cloudy so we couldn't see the city very well, but we went into a really cool outdoor museum that houses some ancient Roman ruins from the 4th century. It was so cool! The crisp autumn weather actually made the scenery look that much cooler, with the fall colors coming out in the trees. It was a really nice afternoon. We took the bus back to Florence and got ready to go to dinner at Dante's Pizzeria, a Trattoria where my friends and I go often on the weekends because they give students unlimited liters of the house wine! Unfortunately my parents did not pass as students so we did not get free wine. But we had a great dinner and I think we are going back tonight and taking my friends, and my roommate Leslie and her Mom are also joining! My parents' trip is almost coming to an end and it has been a wonderful weekend, and I'm also really excited for my friends to get back from Barcelona in a couple hours!