Italy: Night 1/Day 2
Here we go! There is so much to blog that I'm gonna do it one day at a time. Also, I cut way down on the photos so as not to annoy you with picture overload (or myself with upload overload) so if you're dying to see everything (and, really, it is all pretty good), email me and I'll be happy to send you a link to all of my photos on ofoto.com. I just don't want to post the link here for any Tom, Dick and Harry to see (unless that Tom is my stepPops).
So on Friday night, Shannon, Kerri and I headed to JFK terminal and checked in giddily. "We're going to Italy!!!" we exclaimed to the nonplussed airline employee.
On the plane, we kept up our enthusiasm, despite the fact that Shannon and I were both so sick we were on antibiotics and that poor Kerri was squeezed between the both of us for 9 hours.
I think the meds must have gotten to Shannon because around hour 3, I came back from the bathroom to find my travelmates replaced by these creatures:
We had a short layover in Rome, where we observed many Italian women's icy exteriors. We decided to emulate them. (Honestly, one guy we met later in the week said to us in broken English, "Really, Italian women are stone. cold."
We then boarded a puddle-jumper to Firenze. The joy of traveling!
Despite our exhaustion, we were beyond excited to be out of our regular lives and onto the upcoming week. What adventures could lie ahead? Only the Mediterranean knew.
We had already begun writing in a journal I had purchased for all four of us to write in during the week, and Kerri kept it up her end.
Shannon and I just window-gazed and daydreamed.
Upon our arrival in Firenze, we grabbed a taxi and I taught Shannon how (I thought) to say "we need to go to..." and then the address. I didn't think there were many drivers out there worse than New York cabbies, but this guy really seemed to be perturbed by us and/or on a suicide mission. Shannon was a-scared.
So were we.
Jennifer graciously met us at our temporary apartment, which we secured through the mother of a friend of Jennifer's boyfriend.
It's hard to catch feverish hugs with no flash.
We were ecstatic to see her, as it was the first time all four of us had been together since everyone up and left New York last summer. Not only was this to be an awesome trip to a foreign land, it was also just going to be great for all of us to hang out together.
So. The apartment. Freaking AWESOME! First of all, super-cool chandeliers all over the place.
Two bedrooms and a nice big kitchen, and two (TWO) balconies, the first of which was in Kerri's room.
Then, Shannon's and my room, also with cool chandelier, and an amazing amount of light.
And a gorgeous armoir.
You know how I get with cool bathroom mirrors.
The other balcony was just outside of the kitchen, and overlooked the network of apartments around us.
Just beautiful.
Sassy!
Jennifer brought us not only fixin's for dinner, but also these amazing little pastries that are like Munchkins, but awesomer, and filled with rice pudding. I don't know what they're called but we've been calling them rice balls (bawls if you now live in Long Island).
"We're in Italy!!!"
We decided the next course of action should be dinner-making. You'll never believe it: I cooked. (with Shannon)
Okay, here I've gotta say that even the airport food on the way to Italy was amazing. Restaurants were, of course, amazing too, but I think one of my favorite meals all week was this one: penne, pesto, chopped tomatoes. Red wine. Baguette. Incredibly simple and, well, incredible.
Cin-cin!
We decided to go out just for a bit and see the city, so we all put on our trusty money belts. You would not believe how dorky these things are, but according to travel books it's your best bet when you don't want to get pickpocketed and/or lose your passport.
We took a bus to the heart of the city and it was quiet and beautiful and exactly how I remembered it.
It was kind of trippy for my first experience back in Firenze to be at night (and exhausted). But it all came rushing back.
The beautiful architecture.
La Piazza Della Signoria, where I spent many an afternoon as a 20-year-old student abroad.
The bridges over the Arno, aglow at night.
The Ponte Vecchio, usually alight with glittering jewelry, empty and eerily lit at night.
You KNOW we got some gelato. I think it was Kerri's first, and maybe Shannon's (but I could be wrong). I think this was the same shop where I had my first gelato so many years ago.
As you'll see in the coming entries, I'm a big fan of staying behind everyone to get a walking photo.
We went to Jennifer's and my old apartment on Borgo Tegollaio, and looked up to our old window.
A surrealistic nostalgia overtook me at the sight of a former life, or rather, a bygone time that changed my life.
Then I turned around and Kerri and Shannon were doing their patented dance to "Get Low" with the ragged, sluggish defeat of two girls who'd just been across the world and around Firenze in 24 hours.
Back to the apartment we went, for a well-earned brick-like sleep. Well, I slept like a brick anyway. Apparently there were some air-conditioning issues for the other girls. I dunno.
Next time: more Firenze! Same blog time, same blog channel.
love,
*jenna*
So on Friday night, Shannon, Kerri and I headed to JFK terminal and checked in giddily. "We're going to Italy!!!" we exclaimed to the nonplussed airline employee.
On the plane, we kept up our enthusiasm, despite the fact that Shannon and I were both so sick we were on antibiotics and that poor Kerri was squeezed between the both of us for 9 hours.
I think the meds must have gotten to Shannon because around hour 3, I came back from the bathroom to find my travelmates replaced by these creatures:
We had a short layover in Rome, where we observed many Italian women's icy exteriors. We decided to emulate them. (Honestly, one guy we met later in the week said to us in broken English, "Really, Italian women are stone. cold."
We then boarded a puddle-jumper to Firenze. The joy of traveling!
Despite our exhaustion, we were beyond excited to be out of our regular lives and onto the upcoming week. What adventures could lie ahead? Only the Mediterranean knew.
We had already begun writing in a journal I had purchased for all four of us to write in during the week, and Kerri kept it up her end.
Shannon and I just window-gazed and daydreamed.
Upon our arrival in Firenze, we grabbed a taxi and I taught Shannon how (I thought) to say "we need to go to..." and then the address. I didn't think there were many drivers out there worse than New York cabbies, but this guy really seemed to be perturbed by us and/or on a suicide mission. Shannon was a-scared.
So were we.
Jennifer graciously met us at our temporary apartment, which we secured through the mother of a friend of Jennifer's boyfriend.
It's hard to catch feverish hugs with no flash.
We were ecstatic to see her, as it was the first time all four of us had been together since everyone up and left New York last summer. Not only was this to be an awesome trip to a foreign land, it was also just going to be great for all of us to hang out together.
So. The apartment. Freaking AWESOME! First of all, super-cool chandeliers all over the place.
Two bedrooms and a nice big kitchen, and two (TWO) balconies, the first of which was in Kerri's room.
Then, Shannon's and my room, also with cool chandelier, and an amazing amount of light.
And a gorgeous armoir.
You know how I get with cool bathroom mirrors.
The other balcony was just outside of the kitchen, and overlooked the network of apartments around us.
Just beautiful.
Sassy!
Jennifer brought us not only fixin's for dinner, but also these amazing little pastries that are like Munchkins, but awesomer, and filled with rice pudding. I don't know what they're called but we've been calling them rice balls (bawls if you now live in Long Island).
"We're in Italy!!!"
We decided the next course of action should be dinner-making. You'll never believe it: I cooked. (with Shannon)
Okay, here I've gotta say that even the airport food on the way to Italy was amazing. Restaurants were, of course, amazing too, but I think one of my favorite meals all week was this one: penne, pesto, chopped tomatoes. Red wine. Baguette. Incredibly simple and, well, incredible.
Cin-cin!
We decided to go out just for a bit and see the city, so we all put on our trusty money belts. You would not believe how dorky these things are, but according to travel books it's your best bet when you don't want to get pickpocketed and/or lose your passport.
We took a bus to the heart of the city and it was quiet and beautiful and exactly how I remembered it.
It was kind of trippy for my first experience back in Firenze to be at night (and exhausted). But it all came rushing back.
The beautiful architecture.
La Piazza Della Signoria, where I spent many an afternoon as a 20-year-old student abroad.
The bridges over the Arno, aglow at night.
The Ponte Vecchio, usually alight with glittering jewelry, empty and eerily lit at night.
You KNOW we got some gelato. I think it was Kerri's first, and maybe Shannon's (but I could be wrong). I think this was the same shop where I had my first gelato so many years ago.
As you'll see in the coming entries, I'm a big fan of staying behind everyone to get a walking photo.
We went to Jennifer's and my old apartment on Borgo Tegollaio, and looked up to our old window.
A surrealistic nostalgia overtook me at the sight of a former life, or rather, a bygone time that changed my life.
Then I turned around and Kerri and Shannon were doing their patented dance to "Get Low" with the ragged, sluggish defeat of two girls who'd just been across the world and around Firenze in 24 hours.
Back to the apartment we went, for a well-earned brick-like sleep. Well, I slept like a brick anyway. Apparently there were some air-conditioning issues for the other girls. I dunno.
Next time: more Firenze! Same blog time, same blog channel.
love,
*jenna*
posted by jenna at 2:48 PM
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