I had saved many of the touristy things around Florence to do during the time my parents were here... now I'll go into some detail into the must see sights of Florence. Monday was Halloween and Italians celebrate the holiday a little differently, it was the fist Halloween in years that I did not consume one piece of candy! or carve any pumpkins.. Halloween in America, especially on the college scene, "Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it," small reference to Mean Girls but its describes Halloween the best! In Italy, if you do dress up for Halloween, you dress scary - blood, guts and gory costumes... Many of the bars were promoting a Halloween themed night, so all my friends and I decided we needed fast easy costumes!
black cats!
lame I know... but it was quick & easy!
Although Italians don't really celebrate Halloween, they do celebrate All Saints Day - which meant no class on Tuesday and a full day of touring Florence with Mom and Dad. We attempted to go to Sienna in the morning and had some difficulties with the train, so we walked throughout Florence, crossed the Arno and checked out Palazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace) and the Boboli Gardens. Pitti Palace is a renaissance palace located on the south side of the Arno, is currently home to the Palatine Gallery, Modern Art Gallery, Royal Apartments, Costume Gallery. The Palace dates back from 1458 and was originally the residence of Luca Pitti and a Florentine banker. The Boboli Gardens are located behind Pitti Palace and are laid out as in mid 16th century garden style - present day the gardens cover over 11 acres and have come to form an outdoor museum of garden sculptures.
in front of Pitti Palace
Boboli Gardens
Boboli Gardens & Pitti Palace
the Grotto
After walking around the Palace and Gardens we had worked up quite an appetite.... considering we were on the South Side of the River, there was no question as to where we were going to lunch.. GUSTAPIZZA. Sorry Charrdonnay's you've got nothing on this pizza. Pizzas made to order, to ensure the freshest ingredients there are only 9 pizzas on the menu and a daily special. If you are in Florence for anytime at all, you must make a stop at Gusta, I know people that have ate there at least once a week this semester!
GUSTAPIZZA - Margarita Pizza - delicious!
Continuing our tour of the south side of the Arno River, I brought my parents to one of my favorite places in Florence. Although its a slight hike to get to Piazza Michelangelo has some of the most incredible views of the city.
the trek up...
so worth that view!
precious :)
as much as I would love to continue to write in my blog, rather than my literature paper.. I should probably get to work on that. When I hit a road block, I'll be back to update some more! Ciao tutti!
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