Giorno n1 - I was expecting a phone call from Mom after she, Aunt Jill, and Lindsey landed in Rome on Friday morning before they took the train to Florence. Apparently, there was some confusion with the phone card so my morning was spent instead on the phone with Dad wondering where the heck they were. Finally around noon I received a call from the Hotel L'Orologio reception desk saying they (and my organic peanut butter) had arrived and checked in safely. I must have looked like an insane person - sprinting through Piazza del Duomo in Crocs and with soaking wet hair to get to hotel in Piazza Santa Maria Novella (did I mention Mom also brought Kashi bars?). Everyone was tired/hungry/dirty/jet-lagged and Aunt Jill submitted a proposal which would become a resounding theme throughout the week - "Wine?". I took them to the café next to my school in Piazza Strozzi called Collé Beret for appetizers and of course, wine. I had never been to Collé Beret (judging by those I had seen eating there, it was not in my price range) but the wine was fantastic and the waitress asked us how we knew to go there "because it's not for tourists." There my family got their first preview of my awful, broken, baby Italian when I explained my status as American student (which in their eyes is still - tourist). Lindsey definitely spoke better Italian than I did. With our forces combined the trip suffered minimal language barrier issues. After our lunch we did some walking around the Duomo area and went to see my apartment. Aunt Jill had made reservations at Uncle Joe's favorite Florentine restaurant called Buca San Mario located less than a block from the Hotel L'Orologio. The food was amazing, we ordered way too much and finished it all anyway (another reoccurring theme). After dinner we visited Grom, Florence's "famous gelateria", and a cheap student hotspot called "Wine Bar" before heading back to the hotel for bed.
Giorno n2 - Shopping - Eating - Shopping - Aperitivo with Lena at Kitsch, followed by a drink at the Enoteca between Kitsch and my apartment and ending with a drink at Rex before retiring to the hotel.
Giorno n3 -By Sunday we all (excluding Lindsey) were feeling the effects of non-stop food and wine consumption. Despite this, we were able to manage an incredibly productive day of tourism. Mom and I woke up early to see David and grab some things from my apartment before meeting Aunt Jill and Lindsey to climb the Duomo. The rainy weather combined with our perpetual state of food coma allowed us the energy to get through the Pitti Palace, but we skipped the Boboli Gardens in order to refuel at Gusta Osteria in Santo Spirito. After lunch, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and did (just a little) more shopping in the department stores on Tournabuoni. For dinner we made a reservation at Acqua al 2, the restaurant famous for its blueberry steak (but the balsamic was fantastic also) and finished up Florence with the Snickers gelato Lindsey had been seeking out since Friday.
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