Returning to my temporary home!

Leaning tower (leaning 15'!)

Cool canopy covering a courtyard inside of a palazzo

Orange garden at Villa Gamberaia

Catching the sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo

Arno river and bridges in the sunset

Ever since arriving back from our independent travel we have been exploring Florence more in depth.  We also had a few treats waiting for us... our first night back we had another group dinner which was absolutely wonderful and had the best Tiramisu. I could eat that everyday!  The following day when we had a site visit at the train station, we were treated to Italian hot chocolate after, which was much more rich and thicker than what I am used to.  I can only handle so much of that (hard for me to say with my love of chocolate), but it was a great treat on a chilly/rainy day! 

We went to Pisa to see the leaning tower on Monday.  I had already seen this with my aunt and cousin, which I am happy about since we had good weather on that day. When we visited as a class it was very rainy and cloudy.  We still had fun exploring the city, taking typical tourist photos 'holding' up the tower, and my professor shared a great story with us... When he visited in 1990 as a student, there were not railings on the perimeter of the tower.  Currently there are railings on the top two levels which you can go out on to have a better view of the city.  I was slightly afraid being on the top tier... rain + marble floors + worn down Toms made me a tad nervous.  I thought for sure I was going to slip and slide somewhere... I could not have ever done that without the railing in tact.. props to my professor!  On our lunch break in Pisa I had to get another Porchetta sandwich.... a little taste of home and I am finding them all over Italy.  Thank goodness! 

Tuesday we had a tour of a few palazzo's in the area.. my favorite was Palazzo Strozzi which had an awesome courtyard.  The photo above of the canopy was the canopy placed over this specific courtyard to help keep the rain out.  It still allowed the natural light to filter through all the floors and created a nice cover to the courtyard.

We went to a villa on the outskirts of Florence on Wednesday.  We visited Villa Gamberaia where we looked at the gardens more-so than the architecture of the villa.  We walked through the Renaissance and Mannerist gardens and also explored an orange garden.  This was neat to see, as each tree was planted in its own pot.  In the cooler months, the pots would be moved into a building created specifically for the orange trees to help protect them from the cold weather.  The views from the villa were amazing!  I couldn't imagine having those views to wake up to everyday.  The weather was great this day, so some of us ventured up to the top of Piazza Michelangelo to catch the sunset over the city.  It was stunning. We spent time at the Uffizi gallery on Thursday exploring the incredible art collection and the architecture on the interior.  Later that night, Laura and I ventured to a local bar to see what the nightlife was like... a live band, good drinks and friendly people.  This seems to be a reoccurring theme in every city.  I. Love. Europe. 

We began our 3 day weekend today, so naturally I slept in to catch up on some sleep and hit up the markets to get some shopping done!  I also completed a drawing analysis, so at least I worked on homework for a few hours :) 

Tomorrow we are going on a vineyard tour and on Sunday we are catching a futbol game!  This is shaping up to be a pretty great weekend!  Updates to come soon!