Mi mancherai, Firenze :(

I am going to miss Florence sooo much. I have been doing a lot of thinking....today i walked around after my italian oral final--which i think went really well!--and got a sandwich and ate in Piazza Signoria by Palazzo Vecchio and people watched. These Italian guys came up to my two friends and I and took pictures with us...it was really funny. haha oh, how i will miss the italian boys...ha just kidding! They are un po' pazzo (a little crazy!) then i went and got gelato, walked home and ran into some friends. we talked about how much we are going to miss being here. i have had the best semester ever...literally my roommate and i were packing last night and we were so sad. it is hard for us to even think about not living here. i feel in many ways, like we just moved in. but then i think about all the things i have done this semester...i have had such an amazing life over these past 3 and a half months. i am going to run a little list of places I have been just to jog my memory and to let you know :) i am smiling as i write this because I have loved each and every place and feel so fortunate to have been able to do this...
Outside of Italy:
Paris, Amsterdam
Italy:
Florence, Venice, Rome, Montepulciano, Cortona, Siena, San Gimignano, Arezzo, Urbino, Monterchi, Rimmini, San Sepulcro, Lucca, Cinque Terre, Orvieto, Todi, Assis, Ravenna, Bologna, Chianti region, Pisa
I have loved traveling in Italy. I feel like I could spend an entire year in Italy and not see every little thing there is to see. That is why this country is SOOO amazing!
Things I am going to miss...
-nonna and nonno--everything about them! her cooking, her little phrases (va bene, grazie, ciao bella! buonanotte!...just they way they say these things are so cute and i will never forget them)
-my walk to and from school
-the lady that works in the chocolate shop in Le Cure and the man that works in the Pasticceria
-walking into a store and speaking Italian
-saying "grazie!" , "ciao!"
-hearing italian everywhere i go
-seeing cute old couples roaming the streets in le Cure hand in hand
-seeing nonna and nonno leave for their walk every night at 5:00
-i will even miss the crazy barking of our dog, Bianca, and even our cat, Leo
-my Italian teacher, Donnatella--she has been so amazing and sweet and has helped my italian improve significantly
-Enoteca Bonnati (via gioberti--Stefano, Roberto, Salvaggio, Sarah, Mario, Luca)
-the food and wine
-jogging (up to Fiesole, discovering new Italian villas, seeing cute families roam the streets)
-hearing/ seeing vespas everywhere
-the smell of nonna's cooking
-gelato! (favorite places--perche no!, grom, cavini, place on the street of the accademia)
-place by Dante's house to get food and wine, sit outside
-all the artwork--living in an outdoor museum
-taking an art history class in a city that was the heart of the Renaissance
-the view from Fiesole of the whole city
-Kellin and Sarah--my art history TA's! they were amazing!
-site visits and looking assignments for my art history class--for my class I saw almost every single of the most important churches/frescoes/chapels/museums in the city
-the bars we went to all the time; Williams Pub, Moyo, Lochness, even this American Bar Red Garter because of the Kereoke!, JJ's, Lion's Fountain
-restaurants--Coquinarious, La Lampara, Il Latini, the place in Le Cure that I can't remember the name of
-the forno on via de servi where I often bought pizza and biscotti from
-Piazza S.S. Annunciata--walking through it every time I go to the Duomo from school
-telling friends "I'll meet you at the Duomo in 20 minutes!"
-hanging out by Santa Croce
-knowing the city so well after the first few weeks here
-my roomie, Kayte!
-all my friends who i have met who i am not sure when i will see again--but many go to Boulder and have friends in LA so I hope we can hang out again (Leigh, Tricia, Kelly, Kait, Ali), Laura (USC), Kayte, Mike, Devin, Tamara, Katie (there are 23456 Katie's in this program! 4 in my Italian class of 12 alone!), Daniel, Reaghan...
-my home in Le Cure--cute and modest and perfect :)
-coming home after a long day
-being able to take a train anywhere--basically how easy traveling is
-being able to be in Paris or Amsterdam in less than 2 hours
-being able to communicate with people in another language
-people watching
-late at night when there are not too many people out, walking by the Duomo or Santa Croce with friends and talking about how cool it is that when we go out, we walk by some of the most famous churches in the world!
-even Twice I will miss!
-taking the bus! Ya bus #1!
-Via Cuoco
-free entrace through the reservation line to the Uffizi--can't get better than that!
-Oil Shoppe, Antico Noe, I Fratellini
-the cute couple who works at our cafe at school! they always say "ciao bella! grazie bella! dimmi!" and i will also miss my omlette con spinaci!
-being able to get a REALLY good piece of pizza for 1 Euro
-fresh ingredients
-schiacciatta
-nonna's roasted pearl onions
-our "intervale" during Italian
-meeting at Piazza Liberta
-Be Bop--Beatles night on Tuesday night!
-more to come....because i will miss so many things about studying here... :)
sorry for that long exhausting list! it is for you all to see what i love and also for me to remember little things now that i may not remember later....i can't believe i am leaving! I do not want this semester to end.
i love you and miss you all! Ci vediamo a presto! (I will see you soon!)