My parents came to visit!! It was simply the breath of fresh air that I needed after months without seeing any of my family!
They arrived on Thursday and lucked out with the gorgeous weather that we are starting to have in Florence. They stayed at a hotel with a stunning rooftop overlooking the Arno River and the city. While sitting and catching up on the rooftop, I got some color (and by that, I mean a sunburn) for the first time since last summer!
They brought me over Baker Cheese and Sea Salt & Vinegar Pringles, they know me so well.
On Thursday evening I took them to Il Rifrulo, the bar underneath our apartment where I am basically a local! They got to meet some of the bartenders and have a drink there before we went up to Piazzale Michaelangelo, my favorite sunset spot.
After watching the sunset, we had a great dinner at ZaZa, where they enjoyed their first Italian meal of the trip!
On Friday, I headed off to Paris with my friend Allie while my parents headed to Venice. Unfortunately, the time they decided to come landed over a trip I had already scheduled. Still, it worked out well because they got to see Venice, one of my favorite cities!
On Sunday, we all reunited for our wine tour in Chianti! It was a beautiful day and a great way to spend a Sunday.
The “Chianti Classico” expression defines one of the oldest and most genuine wine-region in the heart of Tuscany. You are surrounded by hills with rows of vines, olive trees, and oak forests, combined with small medieval villages and farmers’ houses at any given point on the journey to and in this region. We had a great tour guide who told us many interesting stories and facts about the tour and the location.
The tour consisted of two main stops. Each stop gave a tour of their generational family-owned wine business, and then glasses of some of their best red, white, and rosé wines!
Our first stop also included an aesthetically pleasing cheese board that included different cheese, meats, and flavors of honey as a part of our tour. We were served white wine and rosé with this serving and then red wine with the homemade pasta that the vineyard owner made freshly for us!
It was a great day in the Tuscany countryside with lots of wine, cheese, and bread.
On Monday, we had lunch at my favorite rooftop restaurant, Osteria delle Tre Panche. I had a nice time gap between my classes, so I got to fit in extra time with the ‘rents! That night, we ate at La Giostra, a fantastic restaurant in Florence, where we enjoyed some wine and a great dinner. We ended the night with two Limoncello shots.
Afterward, I took the parents to Lion’s Fountain, my favorite bar here!
Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with lavish dinners and much-needed quality time with the parents. My parents took all of my “abroad friends” out for dinner at Buca Mario on Tuesday. It felt like a “worlds collide” moment for me. It was great that they met all of the people I have been hanging out with for these months.
On Wednesday, I had some of the best food of my life in the most miniature proportions. We unintentionally made a reservation for a seven-course meal experience. Yes, seven courses. But, it was absolutely incredible and definitely unlike anything any of us have done before. The proportions of each course were small yet rich with flavor.
Dinner is usually my favorite part of any family vacation or gathering because it forces us all to be together and present, as cliché as that sounds.
Thursday morning, my Dad headed back (on what was soon to be an unintended, very long journey home filled with delays), and my mom and I headed to Greece! Them visiting me abroad is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and something I will remember forever.
Today marks exactly one month until I come home & see them again. As much as I love Italy, I couldn’t be more excited about that!
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