Day 20: Part 2

Hello!

Dinner was kind of just meh. It was at a place called Le Carceri. The location was cool (inside an old prison) but the food wasn't special.

The first thing they brought out was called sfumata funghi;  it was kind of like a quiche textured thing made with mushrooms. It was actually very good. But then they didn't bring us anything else for at least 45 minutes. When we eventually got the next course, I was excited to see fat noodles with a red sauce. The noodles are called picci and the sauce was very sweet. I also enjoyed this dish thoroughly. We were seated outside in the cold and the bread they put in front of us at the beginning was hard by now. About 20 minutes after we ate our pasta dish they brought out the main course. For everyone but Katia and I, it was this weird meat thing that was rolled with cheese and covered with cabbage or something. I guess it wasn't too good. Then Katia and I got our dish...it was a whole bunch of rucola (?) with three cherry tomatoes and a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini. Ugh. The grilled veggies were so dry and the rucola was very bitter. So we got some oil and balsamic to try to fix it but it didn't help much. So Dr. Zaho asked them to bring us some potatoes, so we got very oily potato chunks after that. Once they cleared the plates away we got dessert. It was a creamy flan type thing with chocolate sauce drizzled on top of it. It was pretty good!

Overall the food was okay, but the company was great. I love everyone in this group and it's so fantastic to be with like-minded and equally strange people. We have one more week in Rome then a few people are going their own way while the rest of us go to Paris together. There will be lots of tears.

Now for a reflection on Florence:

This city is incredible. It's stunning in so many ways. I've created some of the best and happiest memories of my life here. I know that may sound like a stretch, but I really have experienced pure bliss in the short time I've been here. At dinner tonight we named the best and worst sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches of the city. Bests for me: my first glimpse of the cathedral from our crazy taxi ride (sight); the bells I hear every 15 or 30 minutes if I'm near a church (sound); the wafting scents from outside restaurants (smell); the medley of flavors all put together in the best panino in the city (taste); and the fluffy fake llama that sits outside a cool Peruvian store on our street (touch). Worsts for me: scary gypsy faces that peered into your soul (sight); men yelling on our street in the middle of the night (sound); the poop truck we encountered on the other side of the river (smell); the salad from last night (taste); and the toast in my scarf this morning (touch). The funny thing is, I think about the memories tied to the worst things about the city just as fondly as I think about the memories surrounding the best things about Florence. They were all surrounded by laughter and good times. Man, I love this place. The food is great, the people are nice, and the city itself has so much history and character that it feels like a living thing in itself. I'm going to miss it so much.

Now we go on to Rome in the morning!! I'm just as excited as I am sad.

Good night friends!