Sick of Italian Food!

View of Florence

Senior Picture

Hello Everyone!  I hope you all are doing well and staying warm!

Napes and I officially had it with Italian food, it's good - but we can only handle so much pasta, paninis, and pizza - so we found a restaurant/bar called the Red Garter that had burgers and salads.  There is no such thing as "italian dressing" or "cesar dressing", one of the many things thought up by America I assume.  I was hoping for a delicious salad before my meals, but they come naked.  Speaking of naked, we have been to many museums and cathedrals and seen many many naked people in all the paintings, but back to the food.  I have been homesick for many things, and one thing in particular that I can't get used to is their Diet Coke...called Coca-Cola Light.  It does not taste the same, more sweet and less carbonation.  We have been trying to eat in spots that are favored by the locals and have found some great little hole in the wall restaurants!  Luckily, Napes and I like the same foods, so we each order something different and split it so we can try lots of yummy foods!  

We have been to all the main sites in Florence, including the cathedrals and museums.  We went to Santa Croce which is a cathedral that holds many tombs, in particular the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo!  We went to the Uffizi museum which is one of the most famous museums in the world and saw works by Michelangelo, Boticelli, and Leonardo Da Vinci.  We went to the gallery that is home to David, but weren't happy when they wouldn't let us take a picture of him.  He is much bigger in person than he looks in pictures.  I'd say he looks to be over 20 feet tall.  We also went across the river and climbed up a big hill that overlooks Florence and got some great pictures.  It is much bigger than you would expect for a city that's population is only about 400,000. 

Shopping is good in Florence too, Napes and I both found some good Italian leather handbags and got good deals on them (at least we think so!).  I wanted a pair of boots, a handbag, and a scarf, I found them all so will be doing no more shopping!!!  

The guy that runs our hostel, Leonardo, is very friendly and has given us lots of great advice on places to go for drinks and food.  He wrote all over a map he gave us with recommendations and we have done most of them.  

We had drinks with a crew of Italian soccer referees.  They spoke very little English, and the guy that could translate for us was a jokester.  One of the guys was interested in me, but the translator was telling me that he has 30 wives and wanted me to be his 31st.  It was all pretty funny when we all found out what he was really interpreting.  

We leave for Germany in the morning and are ready for a change of pace.  Cheap beer and cheap food in particular is what we look forward to, there is no such thing in Florence.  We have been spoiled with good weather so far, so we are expecting to have to bundle up warm for our venture up north.  The train ride should be pretty because we will be going through the mountains in Austria and Switzerland, which will make it a long train ride as well.  We will stay 2 nights in Munich, but will only have one full day to see the sights.  Our plan is to rent a car in Munich and drive to Rothenberg to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  

Love and Miss you all!  Happy Holidays!!! : )

Jenna