Lala In Italia: Tuscany

On the Sunday of our Florence trip, Chels, Alycia, Melissa and I woke up at 7:30 to climb the Duomo at 8:00. The Duomo was closed unfortunately (an inconvenience?), so we ended up climbing the clock tower instead. There were 416 steps I believe to the top. It was quite a challenge because I am not much of an athlete as most of you already know. It was a gorgeous view from the top (like everything else here) and so worth it. It was actually nicer because we were able to see the Duomo. So, in the end, it all worked out like everything else here in Italia!

I needed to take a little break at the halfway point. I was a tad winded to say the least.

I'm a champ.

Me, Chels, Melissa, Alycia

It's always hard to tell but the climb was worth the view.

After our climbing adventure, we wondered the streets for Florence a little more and window/stand shopped for a little before we headed back to pack up. API set up a wine tasting in Tuscany for us at the Castello Il Palagio which was pretty unreal. It reminded me of Letters to Juliet, corny I know. I could definitely live in Tuscany one day. There was actually a wedding being set up while we were there. If I don't live there eventually then I wouldn't mind tying the knot there. Getting married in a castle turned winery in Tuscany? That would be a joke.

I'm not a huge fan of wine but I have been trying my best to learn to like it. It really is an acquired taste. Chels says that I'm doing better than I was which I really hope is true. I still have to drink a sip of water after red because it is too dry?? I'm not a wine-o, so I'm not sure if that is the right word. We did learn how to taste the wine, how to hold the glass, what legs are (still a little confused on that part?), and which wine is which. API was pretty amazing for adding this to our excursion. I'm not going to lie, we got a little tipsy (sorry famiglia) and was a lot of fun.

The bus ride home was pretty nice. Audra (one of our program managers) put Tangled and FRIENDS on. I mean come on? That is exactly what I needed because I am obsessed with both. We stopped at this amazing little shop/market/heaven at our halfway point. There were too many free samples to count (Carol, you would have died). There were chocolate covered nuts and espresso beans, crackers and cheeses, dips, and flavored liquor. Everyone went a little crazy. Out of all the little tasty snacks, I ended up buying Pringles and Coke because LaLa is obsessed with Pringles in Italy. It is so strange because I can't remember the last time I ate Pringles back home. I can eat an entire can in one sitting. I don't know if that is talent or sad? or maybe a little bit of both? Oh well, it is a little comfort food thing since Italy doesn't know what fried chicken is. Here are some pictures from our Tuscany adventure: