Friends are the Best Medici(ne)

Feeling so much better!!! My ear stopped bleeding today and now it just feels annoying. I can't hear out of it much, so I have to stand on the left of the group so I can hear what is going on in conversation using my right ear. The main point I would like to make, however, is that I'm feeling better and plan on continuing this pattern of improvement.

Yesterday I got to see Julia and Korones. What perfect timing. Familiar faces were just what I needed, and Julia showed me around Florence a bit, we stopped in a bookstore and I read from "Twitterature" which I definitely recommend you all check out because it was hilar, and then we went to the beautiful Syracuse abroad campus. The campus was gorgeous, and I was just really happy to be there with Jules. I ended up falling asleep on her shoulder and she put me on a couch in a dark, warm room for two hours to have a lil nappy. By the time I woke up, it was time to walk back to the hostel. I got a little lost on the way so I stopped into a few bookstores and got a .70 euro vanilla ice cream cone from McDonalds, which was an excellent call. The night ended with spaghetti dinner at the hostel with the girls and laptop time.

Today we woke up for breakfast at the hostel and continued with a free walking tour. We got to see a lot of Florence's palaces and churches, and we heard some great stories and learned random facts. At our last stop, the Pitti Palace, we conveniently ran into Boy Group #1 and we walked to a gorgeous look out with them, got delicious pizza, crossed the Ponte Vecchio, and saw the Uffitzi Gallery. The Uffitzi was sooo great, and I was so happy to see the Botticelli paintings Birth of Venus and Primavera. They are really as beautiful as they are supposed to be. Also, I got this art book as a gift when I was younger and I'm pretty sure that Primavera was in it and I always used to make up stories about it and it was just so cool to see it in person. The museum also featured Rembrandts and da Vincis, and lots of pictures of baby Jesus. Cute.

After the Uffitzi, we walked home to our hostel. I really like the hostel, and free breakfast/wifi/dinner is just the greatest thing to ever happen to our eurotrip. Boy Group #2 changed their plans and they are staying here for the night also, and it's great that we can all hang out!

Fun day in Firenze with the Friends!