Florence, meet my family. Family, meet Florence.

Now as many of you know, I am a homebody. I love coming home, I love being home, I love spending time with my family, and any other ways of saying that there is no place I would rather be can be filled in here. Luckily, my homesickness has been little to non-existent. Scratch that…I obviously miss home, but in a longing way not a “Lets throw in the towel and go home” way. I had a bad battle with that little devil my first year of college, which I think is why I was so prepared to come abroad. I have obviously missed the comforts of home and my amazing support system of a family, but when you have an amazing city at your disposal with so much to offer it is no longer about wanting to go home; instead, it is about sharing this amazing thing of yours with the people that mean the most you.

So, there was a countdown from the day I left the states till about two weeks ago where I anxiously awaited sharing Florence and my study abroad experience with my parents and brother. A week was obviously not long enough, but I am so thankful that I had seven days to show them everything about Florence and the past couple months, as well as explore it with them. As I showed them around and fast walked through things so that we could do everything, my mom’s meandering and sometimes slow walk, Matthew’s knack for stopping for artsy photos, and Dad’s “I’ll do anything you guys want” attitude, not only allowed me to be a tour guide but a tourist once again. Since becoming accustomed to being an inhabitant of Florence rather than a tourist, I may have lost some appreciation and my “Lets stop and smell the roses” attitude. Luckily, a week playing both tour guide and tourist renewed my love for this city, my experience, and helped me realize that I need to take full advantage of these last four weeks. Side Note: Four weeks?! I feel like I just started this journey…how could it be almost over, already?

The Conlon tour for the week was not complete without our partners in crime and good friends the Cilmi’s. Ever since Tommy and I were put in the same nursery and pre-school school classes at St. Mary’s, the families have been thick as thieves. I think it was a comfort to Mom knowing I had someone close with me on this journey, and Anna was thankful that I was here to clue her in on what was going on when Tommy may not give a satisfactory answer.

Anyways…

The week was a whirlwind (P.S. I am still sleeping it off and catching up on all the early wake ups). I am pretty sure we covered every major flavor of Florence and a great sampling of Tuscany. Thursday, when I was finally out of class for the day and knew that my parents had already arrived, I sprinted as fast as humanly possible to see them. Arriving at the comfortable and beautiful apartment that they rented for the week’s stay, I spied–from the street–Dad already taking in the sights and some shut eye on the terrace. Couldn’t blame him though, the Medici Chapel is quite a view. So with that running up the stairs ensued and making up for almost eight weeks of no Mama hugs was first priority.

When I say we made the most of the week I mean it. Once hellos, hugs, and recaps of travel were done we all got to seeing and exploring Florence. Within the first night and three hours we knocked seeing the Duomo, eating cold cuts and having wine at an Osteria, walking to the Arno to see the Ponte Vecchio, taking in Santa Croce, dinner, and seeing my apartment. Now talk about a way to beat jet lag! Kinda. Matt did almost fall asleep at the dinner table; either from jet lag or his glass of red wine, but we are unsure of which to blame.

Strategically, the visit came during Easter and the start of April (i.e when Florence starts to really thrive and be alive with activity.) Therefore, our week should be subtitled “The Stealthy Vacation,” because we beat all the craziness of all the tourists and their lines. The longest we probably waited was on my parents last day when we made a visit to David, and by wait I mean 25 minutes. One cannot even find a shorter wait than that at Disney World on an off day!

Dad in his happy place at the Butcher, with the Easter roast

Friday morning, I was the alarm clock. I made sure they were all up out of bed, so as to not sleep the day away. If I hadn’t been so punctual with my nine A.M. arrival we may not have been timely to pick out an awesome cut of pork from the Mercado Centrale for Easter Dinner. I kept them moving. We did all fresh shopping for Easter Dinner, which Dad wanted to make, at Florence’s signature and oldest market. Obviously, mom didn’t leave without a few extra add-ons like truffle oil and fresh balsamic, and Matt didn’t let us get on our way without a proper breakfast and shot of caffeine. They’re lucky we were at the Mercado; missing the comforts of American breakfast has been my biggest enemy for the semester. Note: that morning I had the most delicious egg sandwich on Focaccia with truffle oil and arugula. If there is one thing my brother taught me amongst the week’s outings it is this: you make time for every major meal and a snack in between. In order to adjust and not be too over zealous, I was able to show them around Florence a bit more and take in some new sights for myself: the Medici Family’s beautiful Boboli Gardens and a sunset in Fiesole (a town right outside of the Florence city center) that overlooked the city.

A rainy day excursion in Cinque Terre calls for a dysfunctional selfie

Unfortunately, like many a theme of my adventures, the weather was not on our side. Saturday was our outing to what is known as the Italian Riviera, or as you might recognize Cinque Terre. Located in the region of Liguria, Cinque Terre (or what literally means “Five Towns,”) is a beautiful and picturesque area with all walking trail from each town to the next. The rain unfortunately limited our ability to walk from town to town along the coast but it may have been a great deterrent of other tourists. What I mean is, we may not have looked the driest or been the happiest campers having to buy umbrellas from the street vendors–which would collapse with a single gust of wind–but we didn’t deal with any lines, crowds, or overly touristic activities. We were able to wander, shop, have some snacks and refreshing drinks (Mom, Emily my roommate, and I had the most delicious spritzer with Prosecco, Limoncello, and soda water!), enjoy the sights, and the colors of the buildings stood out wonderfully amongst the grayness of the horizon. Every cloud does have a silver lining, but Mr. Sun can we please show up a little bit more these last couple weeks and adventures?

After almost an hour the cart finally exploded! Buona Pasqua (or as mom said, “Buona Pasta!”

Now, Easter in Italy is quite an amazing thing; something I was so excited to experience from the moment I decided to come abroad. Mom, however, may have been more excited. Once her ticket to Italy was booked, the first thing she said to me was not, “Aren’t you excited?” It was more, “I know exactly what we are doing Easter morning.” No, it was not an egg hunt in the Medici’s old palace, but an explosion of some ancient cart. Yes, the morning we celebrate as Jesus conquering death is when Florentine tradition sets an antique cart a fire with firecrackers and whimsical sparklers. Okay, it is not as barbaric or hypocritical as the last sentence made it out to be; it was actually pretty amazing. This folk tradition finds its origins after the First Crusade when Pazzino de’Pazzi returned with three flints from the Church of Holy Sepulchure, and a cart with a large candle would spread holy fire. Today, followed by much pomp and circumstance, the glorified fireworks show is supposed to guarantee a good harvest, stable civic life, and good business. It was definitely an experience and a story for the family books, and I am just so happy that mom’s long-term bucket list item was checked off. Easter was not complete without a beautiful mass (said in Italian, when we thought it would have English too…oops), and a family dinner at “home.” It was truly a blessing to share the holiday still with my family and in such a wonderful and aprapoe place.

By the time Monday hit–and I am sure I have bored you at this point–it was hard to believe the visit was almost half way over. At this point, I am not sure if the jet lag had truly subsided or if everyone (Mom, Dad, Matt, Anna & Tom) had just grown numb to it. However, in keeping up with our bucket lists, we departed early for a “Tuscany in a Day” experience. Now, Tuscany is a large region but in a matter of about 12 hours, I think we managed to get the gist of the whole thing. We saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa and took all our ridiculous/cliché photos with it, visited the UNESCO World Heritage site and picturesque town of San Gimignano…Well about San Gimignano…

Unfortunately, Easter Monday is still considered a holiday in Italy. Where Easter Sunday is for celebrating with family, Easter Monday is about celebrating with friends. Therefore, the roads in Tuscany and into San Gimignano were packed and delayed us a bit, and already being limited with time since being on a group tour, our visit to San Gimignano was all of forty-five minutes. Now in that forty-five minutes I only saw a brief glimpse of they city’s overlook and its Medieval towers. When you have been on a bus for two plus hours, there are several bathroom stops, snacks, and the necessary souvenir purchases that need to occur. So, amidst the disfunction of the family (Dad waiting on a eight person deep line for the men’s room that didn’t move quickly, Mom & I wanting postcards and a couple small trinkets, Matthew needing his mid-day snack, Anna on the hunt for native San Gimignano wine) there wasn’t much leisure to seeing the city. I think we would have liked it, but on a group tour you give and you take; plus, all it means is that we’ll have to get back there for more than forty-five minutes someday.

Now I’ve really probably lost you to my wordiness and loquacious storytelling abilities so I’ll leave you with these fun pictures from Pisa…

Lean with it and rock with it, Mom and Dad

Hold it right there, Matt

I’ll huff and puff, and I’ll blow the tower down

…but we divert back to the day’s itinerary briefly…We enjoyed a lovely lunch and wine tasting at a family-run winery right outside of San Gimignano, and continued on to Siena. Now I was in the minority of the group to like Siena. A bit dark, and not as open as the other areas and cities in Tuscany, we learned all about Siena’s history, the famous horse race “Palio di Siena,” within the Piazza that the horses run, visited Siena’s beautiful cathedral with the supposed relic of St. John the Baptist’s arm, and bought a box of traditional Tuscan cookies that cost you an arm and a leg. By the end of it all, we had a great understanding of Tuscany but there is no denying that we were exhausted (and I wasn’t even jet lagged!)

Almost to the top of the Duomo!

Within, the last two days of the weeks, we retired to Florence and just enjoyed all of its art, sights, and culture. However, I would like to applaud my mother that with her brand new, titanium knee, which was only replaced in July, climbed the 463 steps to the top of Brunelleschi’s Duomo–the centerpiece and trademark sight of Florence. I was winded and powered through, but she is the real superstar and a feat she will be proud to share with her Orthopedic surgeon during her next check-up. You go Mom! I’m so glad I was able to do it with you, and wouldn’t have wanted my first time climbing the Duomo to be with anyone but you (and the rest of the gang.) So with that feat completed we strolled the streets of Florence, made some purchases in the Leather Market and bought gold on the Ponte Vecchio, made a stop to Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus,” and spent some quality selfie time with David.

Lastly though, as the sun set on our last night as a family in Florence, I shared my favorite view of Florence with Mom, Dad and Matt from Piazzale Michelangelo–a spot I believe I have mentioned here before. If there is one way to end a wonderful week with the people who mean the most to you while in Florence it is from the other side of the river on top of the hill, at sunset, and overlooking the city’s wonderful and timeless skyline.

So, with that I leave you with this fact: I have four weeks left in Florence and will be home in just about a month. While I am excited to come home to the comforts of home, my family, see friends, and be back in the U.S. of A, you can bet that I am making the most of my precious time here in Florence.

Ciao for now and thanks for reading thus far (especially if you read till the end of this one)!

Con Amore,

Melissa