Stonehill Invades Firenze!!!

Stonehill girls at Piazzale Michaelangelo, overlooking the city of Florence!

Hello again!

This weekend was a very special weekend for me, as 3 of my best friends from Stonehill who are studying in London/England came to visit me here in Italy! They arrived in Florence on Friday afternoon after stopping briefly in Pisa to pose with some leaning tower or something... weird... ;-)

On friday I showed them to their hostel and then took them on a brief walk around my neighborhood and through the San Lorenzo markets. Then we walked past the Duomo (I didn't even stop to look at it, but my friends were blown away. I guess I had forgotten how cool it can be when you've never seen it before!) to a cafe where we enjoyed some good italian coffee before heading to Grom, the best gelato in the city. It was a great afternoon all around. That night we all went out and I was very happy to spend time with my new friends in Florence and my old friends from Stonehill!

The next day I took them on a walking tour of sorts (thanks to my Quarters of Florence class I know FAR too much about this city) and I felt like I was back at stonehill leading campus tours! I showed them the major landmarks including Santa Maria Novella, Ponte Vecchio, Piaza Michaelangelo, Palazzo Vecchio, and perhaps most importantly the Sandwich Shoppe, a favorite of any student studying in Florence. yum! :-)

By the afternoon it had started raining and we were all tired from walking around the city so we headed back to my apartment and watched a movie. It felt like we were back at school!

Boland 120 reunited in Italia! <3

When we were done with the movie we went to mass at the Duomo, and after that I wowed my friends with my culinary skills by cooking enough spaghetti carbonara to feed a small army. After dinner we went over to my friend christine's apartment for a low-key night of wine, halloween-type games, and good fun.

All in all it was a great weekend that gave me the chance to reconnect with some of my best friends. Next weekend I will be headed to Vienna, Austria with my friends in Florence, and I just found out that my friend Rachel from Stonehill will be there at the same time! So exciting!

That's all for now, thanks for reading!