Our second day in Paris began with a 7:30 am wake up call. Feeling more rested than I have all semester, I woke up ready to take on the day!

After an INCREDIBLE breakfast of croissants, fruit, juice, coffee, and NUTELLA, which also consisted of more great conversation while Mathilde’s dad was playing beautiful jazz music throughout the house in the background (okay, reading this back, I realize this sounds like a scene out of a book, but I SWEAR, it was real life!), we were all ready to set out for our first real, great day of sightseeing in Paris!

When we first stepped outside, we were hit with the brisk smell of snow (for all of you New Englanders out there, you’ll know what I mean when I say “it smells like snow!”) Thankfully, the rain was holding off so far, and in the daylight, I was able to get my first real glimpse of the beautiful and cute, quaint street in which Mathilde’s parents lived! The houses lined the street and it reminded me of what you might see in England (although, I’m not necessarily the best judge seeing as the only real glimpse of England and their houses comes from what I’ve seen throughout the Harry Potter movies)

It was my first experience one the Paris subway system, and, although it was cleaner than the D.C. metro station, it reminded me a lot of D.C. It took us about twenty five minutes to train right into the heart of Paris, and when we got off of the subway and took the flight of stairs up to the main street; we came out just down the road from the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower really is all it’s cracked up to be! We walked the promenade along the Sine River and the clouds hung low in the sky – threatening – but, thankfully, not letting any rain loose. When we made it to the bottom of the Eiffel Tower, we queued in line to get our tickets for the 700+ steps up to the second level of the tower. Overall, the trip up and down the Eiffel tower was just over 1,400 steps. (I’m tired just thinking about it!!....Although, after climbing the Great Wall and the Duomo, I felt pretty well prepared for this climb) As we climbed higher and higher the rain began to come down slowly, although, it never really reached the streets of Paris (I’ve always found that so interesting!).  The most beautiful thing about Paris, in my opinion, is the fact that there are no sky scrapers. So when you are standing on the second level of the Eiffel Tower, you can see far into the distance, and when you are on the streets, you don’t feel oppressed by high, towering buildings, but rather, you feel safe within the confines of the welcoming buildings.

By the time we had descended the Eiffel Tower, the rain had finally begun to come down a bit harder and we were all glad for a short reprieve from walking and being outside, as our next activity was a cruise along the Sine River in which we would get to see many of Paris’ most famous attractions, like: The Palais de Chaillot, the Grand Palais, the Louvre Museum, the Palace of Justice, Notre Dame, and the smaller replica of the Statue of Liberty. (Oh, just a side note, should I be embarrassed to admit that I saw the Statue of Liberty in Paris BEFORE I’ve even seen the Statue of Liberty in New York?!)

Our river cruise lasted just over an hour, and thankfully, that was the point in which it was raining hardest! But we were warm and cozy within the heated confines of the boat! The tour was so relaxing and it was so interesting to get to see everything along the river! Alex told me that way back in time, when places were being settled, buildings and towns were constructed around rivers because they were a great way to get supplies and to sustain a town, which, luckily for us tourists, also means that the best, most important places are mainly located along the river!

After our river tour, we took the train three stops to the center of Paris where Mathilde took us to her favorite crêperie for lunch. It was SO DELICIOUS!!!! The crepes were made of Buckwheat which actually, I liked better than typical crepes, and my crepe was filled with tomato, onion and cheese! It was TO DIE FOR!!! Then, naturally, at a crêperie you HAVE to get dessert, so Alex and I split a Nutella, banana crepe! YUMMIEEE!!!!

After lunch, we walked around the main center part of Paris for a little as we slowly made our way to Notre Dame! There was a special mass going on that day, which was lucky for us!!! Here’s a little piece of the story:



VENERATION OF THE CROWN OF THORNS

 FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH AND EVERY FRIDAY DURING LENT AT 3 PM, ON GOOD FRIDAY FROM 10 AM TO 5 PM.

     The relics of the Passion presented at Notre-Dame de Paris include a piece of the Cross, which had been kept in Rome and delivered by Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, a nail of the Passion and the Holy Crown of Thorns.
    Of these relics, the Crown of Thorns is without a doubt the most precious and the most revered. Despite numerous studies and historical and scientific research efforts, its authenticity cannot be certified. It has been the object of more than sixteen centuries of fervent Christian prayer.
    Saint John tells that, in the night between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, Roman soldiers mocked Christ and his Sovereignty by placing a thorny crown on his head (John 19:12).
   The crown housed in the Paris cathedral is a circle of canes bundled together and held by gold threads. The thorns were attached to this braided circle, which measures 21 centimetres in diameter. The thorns were divided up over the centuries by the Byzantine emperors and the Kings of France. There are seventy, all of the same type, which have been confirmed as the original thorns.
    The accounts of 4th century pilgrims to Jerusalem allude to the Crown of Thorns and the instruments of the Passion of Christ. In 409, Saint Paulinus of Nola mentions is as being one of the relics kept in the basilica on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. In 570, Anthony the Martyr found it exhibited for veneration in the Basilica of Zion. Around 575, Cassiodorus, in his Exposition on the 75th Psalm, exclaimed, Jerusalem has the Column, here, there is the Crown of Thorns! In 870, once again in Jerusalem, Bernard the Monk noted it as well.
    Between the 7th and the 10th centuries, the relics were moved progressively to the Byzantine emperors’ chapel in Constantinople, mainly to keep them safe from pillaging, like that suffered by the Holy Sepulchre during the Persian invasions. In 1238, Byzantium was governed by Latin Emperor Baldwin of Constantinople. As he was in great financial difficulty, he decided to pawn the relics in a Venetian bank to get credit.

 To continue reading this amazing story, follow this link!! : http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/spip.php?article339

                After spending a few hours in Notre Dame, we were pleasantly surprised to find upon leaving, that the sun had finally come out and the skies were a beautiful bright blue!

                After Notre Dame, we continued our streak of seeing churches and made the treck up to the Montmartre Church. Unfortunately, you cannot take any photos inside, and NO WONDER!, it’s because the inside is so beautiful! When you first walk in, your eyes are immediately drawn to the enormous mosaic taking up the entire part of the dome over the alter of Jesus Christ with his arms spread apart. THANKFULLY, you can always count on Google images to have a few great pictures of things you’re NOT supposed to have pictures of – YAY INTERNET! So here is a photo of the inside of the church!

After we had our fill of the beautiful church (although, really, I don’t think I could ever get enough of the beauty!), we walked over to a small square full of restaurants, cafes, and painters doing caricatures and oil paintings of people. Mathilde told us that it was a very popular place for locals to go and visit and that in the summer there are even more painters (hard to believe after seeing how many were spread out on the small patch of grass in the center of the square!) in the summer time!

At that point, we were all spent from a long day of excitement, sightseeing, walking, climbing, and eating and we were ready to hop on the train back home where we knew there would be a warm home, good food and great company. Butttttt, before that, it luckily happened to be five minutes to 6:00, which meant that if we waited for five minutes, we would be able to see the Eiffel Tower light up for a few minutes! So, naturally, we had to wait! And, we did! But after getting to see the Eiffel Tower light show, we made our way to the subway and trained back home.

It was another delicious dinner that filled us up!!! For an appetizer, we had beets (my first time!!!) they took a little getting used to, but I have to admit, they were pretty good! Then, we had potatoes in a cheese sauce and a white fish with a sauce on it – all of which was TO DIE FOR! And then they brought out an assortment of cheeses to eat as our FIRST dessert before bringing out a steaming plate of apple tart and a scoop of ice cream, which just settled in our stomachs perfectly and made us feel warm, tired and ready for bed!!

By that time, it was already 10:00 and I was ready for a nice hot shower and that comfy bed that felt like a cloud and was calling my name! ……………………….. (to be continued) ………………………..

So there you have it!!!!

Day two of my WONDERFUL WEEKEND IN PARIS!

Stay tuned, tomorrow (hopefully), I’ll post about our last day in Paris!

Hoping all is well!!!!

39 days until I’m home!!!

Sending my love and warm thoughts to everyone back in the states!

Xoxoxoxoo

La vita e bella 

So, are you jealous already? Just from the title of this post? If you’re not jealous yet, you WILL be when you’re done reading this post about the A-M-A-Z-I-N-G time I had this weekend while in Paris with Alex.

First, let me begin with my (typical) disclaimer that this is going to be a loooooong post….

***WARNING: LONG POST****

HINT: This would be a good time to get that cup of tea, or coffee and get cozy on your couch to read all about my adventures!

Ah, where to begin? Well, I suppose I’ll start right from the very beginning, which actually brings us back about 6 years now……..

Six years ago, my family and I had the opportunity to invite a French exchange student to our home for about four weeks over the summer. It was through this wonderful experience that I first met the intelligent, kind, and fun Mathilde. In fact, our family loved Mathilde so much that we invited her to come back and visit our family again the following summer, not on a program this time, so that we could take her to Washington D.C. on our family vacation!

Since that time, our family has stayed in touch with Mathilde, and when my sister went to Cambridge, England to study abroad her junior year of college, Mathilde – who also happened to be studying in England at the time – met up with my sister! Now, it’s my turn to study abroad, and when Mathilde learned that I was studying in Florence, we got in touch and began discussing metting up. This time in PARIS! I was so excited to have the opportunity to get to visit Mathilde in Paris, one: because I have heard so many wonderful things about France, and Paris in particular, and two, because I felt that it was so interesting, almost as if a journey was coming full circle: we had gotten to show Mathilde where we grew up and lived, and now, she had the opportunity to do the same for me!

After getting things going – getting flight tickets, finding a good available weekend for everyone, booking bus tickets, and getting excited – Alex and I were so excited to finally get to make it to Paris to see all the wonderful sights!

Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sure, I had heard all about the Eiffel Tower and Versailles, but still, I didn’t really know what to expect. But boy can I now say that I was in for a treat! This past weekend Mathilde, her boyfriend and her family were nothing but kind, hospitable, accommodating, wonderful and pleasant and they made my trip to Paris better than anything I ever could have imagined. You just don’t get opportunities like this all of the time, and it’s important that you always appreciate them!

Thursday, after Alex registered for his classes for our spring semester at Bryant (yes, it’s already that time of year…..), we began our journey to Paris. Our first obstacle was actually finding the Terrivision bus that would take us from Florence to Pisa. Thankfully, a kind man in the Farmacia pointed us in the right direction! After showing up at what we THOUGHT was the right time – it turns out that when I bought the tickets online, I accidentally selected a bus time from Pisa to Florence and not Florence to Pisa…. But apparently that happens all of the time, so they just let us hop on the next bus headed to Pisa! – (thank goodness we planned to show up early!) Crisis averted, we were finally settled on our bus and headed to the Pisa airport by 1:15. By the time we got on our flight, we were able to really start getting excited for Paris!

**INSERT MOVIE SCENE**

I kid you not; my flight experience from Pisa to Paris was RIGHT out of a movie. You know those movies where the main character, already in a flustered or depressed mood, gets stuck sitting in front of the feisty, terrible six year old who kicks the seat the entire time while the parents do nothing? Yup, that lucky main character would be me. I have to give the kid credit for having enough energy to kick my seat for an hour and forty minutes, that’s no easy feat.

And THEN, to top off the hilarity of the entire flight, when we finally landed in Paris, the airline (Ryanair) played a trumpet fanfare sound effect (like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_2QdFrcTFU) to announce our arrival. It was great! Hahhahah

After getting off of our flight, we made our way to the arrivals gate and awaited Mathilde and Guillaume ’s (her boyfriend)  arrival to pick us up!

It was so great to see her again! The airport was about forty minutes from where her parents live, (we stayed at her parent’s house) and the four of us spent the entire car ride talking about politics!

Here are a few interesting points I remember from that conversation:

-          Did you know there have been up to 12 candidates for president in France during ONE election before?

-          In France, a President’s term is 7 years and they can serve two terms

-          France doesn’t have an Electoral College either, the votes come directly from the people

We also talked about how the driving point system in France and how it’s difficult to pass your driving test in France.

By the time we arrived at her parents B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L home, we were tired from a long day, but excited to meet her parents.

Mathilde’s parents were so lovely, so welcoming, hospitable, kind, and inviting! I can’t express enough how welcoming they were, they really made me and Alex feel as though we were at home. Their house was beautiful! Something you would expect to see splashed across the pages of a Southern Living magazine, but not in an un-inviting way! The instant I walked in, I felt at home!

After taking a few minutes to get settled in our room and to freshen up, we all met back downstairs in the living room to talk, and have some DEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS appetizers! My favorite appetizer of the weekend was toasted bread with a tuna fish spread which consisted of tuna fish, seasonings, and spreadable cheese blended together and then spread over the toasted bread. IT WAS TO DIE FOR!

It was such an interesting dynamic, the six of us all together. Mathilde’s parents (although they tried very hard and were doing quite well!) didn’t speak much English, and neither Alex or I speak French, so Mathilde and her boyfriend were translating back and forth for the four of us, and yet, it was so cool and so interesting because we still all managed to carry on some sort of Franglish conversation. (Oh, and that term “Franglish” was invented by Guillaume as a combination of French and English…how cleaver! hahah)

After our appetizers, it was time for our first home-cooked French meal. And let me just tell you, even writing about it now, my mouth is watering remembering the deliciousness of the meal!

The dish is called a "raclette", which is a typical French meal from the Alpes (it's basically cheese with potatoes and ham). Of course, I had salmon with my dish instead, which was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!

So the way that it works, is you have a Raclette grill right in the middle of the table, which looks like this:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_K36ioyK-wTo/TP25WAvyenI/AAAAAAAABMY/AJImzJXXDUE/s1600/Raclette_Grill.jpg

And you put your potato on the top part to cook a little more, and then you pull out the little dishes underneath with the handle and you put your cheese in there to melt.

After the cheese melts, you take the potato off and you cut up some potato, put it on top of a slice of meat (or in my case, Salmon) and then you pour some of the hot, melted cheese over it and eat it! It was to die for!! Alex and I couldn’t stop eating (stereotypical Americans :p). The meal was wonderful and after our stomachs were so happy!

After finishing dinner, we weren’t quite done yet! Mathilde’s grandmother made some delicious crepes for us to have for dessert. Mathilde and her family showed Alex and I a few different ways in which you can fold the crepe after smothering it with some Nutella, or maple syrup, or even jam! (Naturally, I chose the Nutella!)

After a phenomenal meal, Alex and I were well fed and ready to get to bed in preparation of what promised to be another amazing day the next morning!  

Since that post was already long enough, and it was only day one, I’ll cut you a little slack and break down my posts into days! I think that’s enough for now! I’ll be sure to post later on today, or tomorrow about Day two in Paris! But here’s a little sneak peak: Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower and another incredible day!

UPDATE:

40 days until I’m home!!!

Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday I was publishing my first post?!

HAPPY MONDAY TO EVERYONE!! I hope you all had a relaxing weekend and are ready to take on another day!!!

Keeping everyone in my thoughts and prayers!

Sending my love to all!!!

Xoxoxoxox

Kat

La vita e bella!

Ciao a tutti!!!

How is everyone?! 

I'VE RETURNED FROM PARIS!!! 

Okay, so I know I've said this a fair amount of times already (okay, pretty much every weekend I get home from an amazing trip....) but literally, this weekend was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Words cannot even begin to describe how wonderfully Mathilde and her family treated me and Alex, how amazing Paris was, how breathtaking all of the sights, tastes and sounds were, how relaxed, and how awe-struck I was....the list goes on and on! 

Unfortunately, after a loooooooooong day (today we woke up early and went to Versailles!!! then caught our flight/bus home and only just got in an hour or so ago!), I think I'm in need of a good night's sleep! Soooo, that means that the best part of my blogging about Paris will have to come tomorrow!! But trust me! You won't be upset over waiting!! 

I was keeping a journal on all of the things we did, saw, ate, and experienced while in Paris, so I have pages- and I mean PAGES - of notes in a journal devoted to our trip to Paris that I can't wait to translate over to my blog to share with everyone!!! 

Here's a quick low-down of everything Alex and I got to do with Mathilde, her boyfriend Guillaume, and her family while in Paris:


Thursday night, when we first got in, we got a tour of Mathilde's beeeeeeeeautiful home, and we got to meet her wonderfully hospitable parents! After a DEEEEEELICIOUS dinner (to be detailed more fully in tomorrow's blog), we got to bed early because the next day promised to be a busy day!!!


Friday, we saw:
The Eiffel Tower! (see picture above!)
A river cruise tour of all the amazing monuments alone the Sine river
Lunch at a DELICIOUS Creperie 
Visited Montmarte church 
Had a DELICIOUS home cooked meal at Mathilde's house 
BED!

Saturday,
We went to the Louvre:
 -- went to the exhibit on Islam (awesome!) 
 -- Saw the Mona Lisa!! 
 -- Saw the statue of Venus (the original!) 
 -- Saw the Greek/ Egyptian and Roman exhibits, too!

Had a picnic at a park by the Louvre

Walked down Avenue des Champs - Elysees!!
Stopped at the Mercedes Benz show room
Saw the Arc de Triomphe 
ATE MACAROONS! SOOO YUMMIE!
Trained back home to Mathilde's for another AMAZING dinner
BED

Sunday, our last day (wah!)
Went to Versailles!!!!!!!!! 
Had a picnic by the gardens at Versailles 
drove to the airport (SAD!)
Flew/ bussed back to Florence

Anyways! 

Check out Toby and Gunthers page to see some of their adventures in Paris!!

And be sure to check back in tomorrow for a nice **(warning)** LOOOOOOOONG post on how AMAZING Paris was this weekend and all the wonderful things Alex and I got to see and do!! 

Hoping all is well!!!

xxoxoxoxoxo

Kat

Ciao!!

My heart and prayers go out to everyone back in the states that have been affected by the hurricane. Even though I am countries away, I have kept you all in my thoughts and prayers! I hope, that through everything, my blog has been something that can put a smile on your face and brighten your day! 

Things over my way have been relatively uneventful! Yesterday, Monday, I got back three of my midterms, which, thankfully, I did really well on! After a long day of three classes, and getting back into the swing of classes, I got some homework done and settled into bed reading a new book! 

This morning, it was a beautiful, crisp (who am I kidding, it was COLD) morning! After getting ready, I walked a short distance to the hotel that Alex's family is staying at, where I met them to take them to the Tuesday Markets! 

The Tuesday Markets are great because, unlike the street vendors that all of the tourists go to, the tusday markets are where the Italians go to do their weekly shopping. You won't find many people that can speak English at these markets, which actually makes for a really interesting experience! We spent a wonderful two hours there just taking in all the sights, sounds, and wonderful sounds! 

After the markets, I headed back to my apartment, where Alex, made me a surprise lunch which consisted of pasta shaped as little Eiffel Towers! IT WAS SO CUTE!!! and delicious!! He actually got them at the Eiffel tower when he was there last week, in anticipation of our trip to Paris this weekend! Which, if I haven't mentioned that I'm going, I CAN'T WAIT!!! 

After lunch, since I have no classes, the rest of the afternoon was relatively relaxing! I just ran a few errands, made some dinner and now am trying to stave off this cold by drinking some hot tea and updating my blog! 

As an ending note: in case you are stuck in your house with no power, and are reading my blog with the last remains of your battery life because you just love my blog that much, check out these few blog posts from my favorite inspirational blog:

TRAIN YOURSELF TO BE MORE POSITIVE IN 5 STEPS
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/train-yourself-to-be-more-positive-in-5-steps/

10 Ways to be Great Today
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/10-ways-to-be-great-today/



On another note: 

CHRISTMAS IS IN 55 DAYS!!!

andddddd........

I'm home in 45 days! 

Can anyone believe how quickly the time is going?! 

Anyways, I'll do my best to post again soon!! I leave on Thursday and return late Sunday, so if I don't get a farewell post up, expect a WONDERFUL post on Monday morning when you wake up!!!

Sending my love and well wishes to everyone! 

Quick shout out to my WONDERFUL dad!!! Without whom I would not be experiencing everything I am here in Italy! Thank you so much dad for everything you have always done for me and for always encouraging me to chase my dreams! 

Well, fall break was great, but today is Monday and it's also the first day back to classes after that lovely week off! 

It's finally sunny out, for the first time in the past few days, and I've already had my first class, in which I received back my first midterm grade (I did well!), so needless to say, I'm in a pretty great mood! There is something to be said about having a nice long week off and then getting to return to the intellectual stimulation of a classroom. I, personally, enjoy it! I'm excited to, hopefully, finish off the rest of this semester strong and am excited to learn new things! 

Currently, I am working on a reaction to the description of Achilles' Shield in book 18 of The Iliad. Which reminds me! Over break I watched that movie "Troy", the one with Brad Pitt (ever heard of it?) well, let me tell you.... SAVE YOURSELF, DO NOT WATCH THAT TERRIBLE MOVIE! Now, I wouldn't say I'm a movie critic or anything....okay, well maybe an amateur one. But this movie, which, can I just say, my teacher for my class on The Iliad literally spent a good 45 minutes of our class RAVING about what a great movie "Troy" was, and how it was the **ONLY** movie to expertly depict the events that occurred in The Iliad... ect. ect. ect...... So, I thought to myself, "this man seems pretty intelligent, he seems to have a great understanding of The Iliad, and I'm sure he would only suggest a movie based on the epic poem, if it was TRULY amazing, why not give it a try?!" ..... worst.mistake. 

Brad Pitt hardly did anything great in the movie aside from look good, the acting, aside from Eric Banna, (who actually did the best job of the entire cast), was TERRIBLE, the fight scenes were laughable (at best), there was a (to use the words of my professor - slighty out of context) "gross misunderstanding" of the depiction of the events of the Trojan war (in my opinion), and I was glad when my internet cut out on me with ten minutes left of the movie so I no longer had to endure it. 

Was that all a bit too harsh? I'm sorry if I've offended anyone, but, boy, did that feel good to get off my chest! 

Anyways, I did truly enjoy reading The Iliad and found that after you get past reading about war and death, the epic poem is truly a piece of art. 

Anyway, I cannot delay too much longer in finishing up my assignment on my personal reaction to The Iliad, but I thought I would leave everyone with an interesting little article I saw in the newspaper they put out for us to read called: "The Florentine". 

So where to begin?! 

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG POST! Enjoy it though! I think it will make you smile....and make you hungry at the same time :) 

Today was another AMAZING day here in Florence! Never mind the fact that it was rainy, and that only ONE store in Florence seems to sell Spinach, today was great!!! 

After waking up TOO early (again :( ), I got to read some of my book (Kindle says I'm 89% done! weeeeee), sip on a cup of steaming tea and relax in the peace and quite that often comes with being the first person awake on a cloudy and rainy day. (Have I mentioned, I love these kinds of days? I love the rain!) 

After reading and updating my blog for you faithful followers out there, Kelsey woke up, and for some CRAZY reason, we had an inkling of motivation and decided to do the Insanity DVD ab work out! It kicked our butts, but it felt good! Then, after a quick shower, we were ready to embark on our adventures for the day! 

We set out in hopes of stumbling upon a cute little restaurant we had yet been to for a yummy breakfast. Well.....after about thirty minutes of walking and being told by all the places that we stopped into, that breakfast was no longer going on, we gave in (SORRY!) and headed over to this place called "The Diner" which is - dare I admit it? - an "American" breakfast place. It was pretty good! Not quite like the breakfast I love so much back in the States, but it did a pretty decent job! I had some scrambled eggs with wheat toast and that HUGE mug of coffee you see pictured above! It was so nice to enjoy a big brunch. Kelsey and I talked about everything from politics (another no no! strike two I think?) to american breakfast, and her trip to England and Amsterdam! It was such a lovely lunch and so cozy. It was nice to get out of the house on a rainy day and do something to bright and fun! 

After our hour long brunch, we headed over the Ponte Vecchio and back to Pitti Palace (I told you there were a lot of exhibits to see there!!) This time, we went to see the Costume Gallery and the Treasures Gallery. Both of which were amazing. 

Insert funny story here:

So, while we were walking through the Costume Gallery, we had only seen about 10 different outfits when the exhibit transitioned (not so smoothly, might I add) from the Costume Gallery to..................... (drum roll, please) THE NATIVE AMERICAN EXHIBIT....... W.H.A.T?! Someone, please explain the correlation between the two, or how that makes ANY sense at all? Kelsey and I were literally full belly laughing. We were so confused. It wasn't like there was any other room we should have gone into first, there was only one way to go, and it just happened to lead us into the Native American exhibit! I mean, the exhibit ended up being very interesting, and seeing as we had no choice but to go through it, we continued through the exhibit! BUT WAIT, the best part of this story is yet to come..... 

So, after going through the Native American exhibit and enjoying it, we were then brought back to finish the Costume Gallery....... EXCUSE ME? hahahah someone please direct me to the brilliant person who designed the layout of this exhibit so that they may inform me what exactly it was they were thinking when creating the layout designs? 

Anyway, Kelsey and I FINALLY got to finish seeing the Costume Gallery which was really interesting and there were some beautiful dresses that I admit I'd wear even today if I had somewhere to wear them to! 

After the Costume/ Native American exhibit, we decided to check out one more exhibit and so we entered the Treasure's Gallery.  I wish I could have taken photos to show you all the beautiful artifacts they had in each of the exhibits! If anyone is planning to come to Florence, GO TO PITTI PALACE! You can literally spend days there and still feel enamored by the beauty and all of the things that are in the exhibits! 

Here's a link to check out some things in the Costume Gallery: 
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/costume_gallery.html

After we were done with the exhibits, Kelsey and I decided to try and find something to make for dinner! We decided to make shell pasta with spinach, tomato and a little melted cheese! 
It came out so delicious!!!! Check out the photo below (on the right) of the end result! It was sooo good! DAD: you'd be so proud of me!!!! 

And that DEEEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS looking photo on the right? I know, your drooling just looking at the photo... aren't you? (don't worry, no one can see you, so JUDGEMENT FREE ZONE!... drool away!) Yup, those would be Macaroons! Kelsey had some and I'd never had them before so I figured, ah, what the heck, might as well try! THEY. WERE.SO.DELICIOUS!! Then, as if they weren't good enough plain, Kelsey had the GENIUS idea to put Nutella on half of them and bake them all!! HEAVEN. HEAVEN. HEAVEN. that is the only proper way to describe the taste of the Macaroons cooked with or without the nutella topping! So delicious!!! My tummy is happy just thinking of it all!!! 

OOOHHH YES, about the title of this post! Let me explain..... well, maybe the photo does the job, but still, let me tell you the story.