Tuscany weekend

So i know this is coming a little late, but better late than never! right?

anyways. So two weekend ago i went on a school trip to Pisa, Florence and the Tuscan country side(i forget the name of the little town we were in). But we took a 7 am bus(early but worth it) and drove a few hours to Pisa. Pisa is a very small town, which basically only has the leaning tower of Pisa. When we got there we had a little walking tour of the Baptistery the Church and then the Leaning Tower. We learned that the tower is leaning because the ground is too soft, and that just about every other building built there, even the trees, lean as well. I really thought that was interesting, and i thought of my friend eric the entire time, because he is an architecture major. so when the tour was done we took the typical touristy pics then walked around town for a little bit. as we were walking back we happen upon a gelato shop that actually says yogurt so we were like "oo a change, i love yogurt!" so we went in and actually got amazing vanilla cherry ice cream, and wow i cant remember the other flavor right now...but it was really good. so ya we spent hte afternoon walking around pisa, ate mcdonalds for lunch(dont judge it was delicious) and then took the bus back to our hotel.

At the hotel we were provided with a very lovley dinner than we all just hung around the hotel bar and in our rooms for the night, it was a long day.

so the second day we went into florence. Since i had already been there it wasnt like o-m-g look at the duomo(i already knew it was pretty big). but it was nice to go back to the leather market and shop around with friends. When we were in the market we actually asked a local vendor for a good sandwich shop that was good. he told us of one around the corner, which we found and when we got there we did the roman thing. asked for the best sandwich, with truffles on it(looooove truffles). so the shop owner makes us all a truffle, sun dried tomato smoke provolone sandwich, it was heavenly. After lunch we split up and jen, lisa and i went to the ufizi(the museum with the birth of venus) and saw all of those amazing paintings. little to my knowledge the birth of venus is huuuge, and beautiful, im really glad we made it to the museum.

so we get back to the hotel eat dinner, and like natural italians everyone bought at least 2 bottles of wine, so the entire group from AUR was chilling together drinking wine and having a fun time. it was actually a really fun night.

the next day we get up some what early have breakfast and head to the tuscan country side. i was falling asleep on and off but when i was awake the scenery was amazing. beautiful rolling hills of green with vineyards lining the roads. it was soooo pretty. so we get there, get a tour of the vineyard, have a wine tasting and get lunch. but lunch for them is no normal lunch, it is a four course feast in their restaurant that has the most gorgeous view i have ever seen. so we sit down and they give us our third wine to taste with our antipasta dish. it was two types of salami and two types of proscutto with bruschetta. and let me tell you, this meat was amazing. it was so flavorful and delicious. then we get our second course which was pasta bolognese. but really good tuscan pasta in a really good bolognese sauce. and not only did we get firsts of the pasta, they came around and gave us seconds. but it was soo good, with thier fresh pecorino cheese sprinkled on top, my mouth waters just thinking about it! after the seconds of pasta a bunch of people start going outside to chill and look at the view(it was the perfect weather outside, sunny and warm, no jackets needed) and of course we take pictures and sit there sipping our wine while enjoying a nice break from stuffing our faces with amazing food. we come back in to the main course, roasted chicken and potatoes. the chicken literally fell off the bone(yes i was a big girl and ate chicken on the bone) but it was sooo good. we walk around a little more than come dessert. which i kid you not, tasted like an apricot humantashen. it was yummy and homey, made me think of purim :). but anyways we finish lunch early and are able to explore the vinyard some more. i have never seen such a pretty part of the country, or a prettier landscape or anythign just as breathtaking as the views of the countryside. if i can afford it when im older, i will buy a vacation home there. i can never get sick of the views of this place.

so after one of the most amazing days, we head home to rome, but it was good to get back

btw all pictures are on facebook!