With the end of abroad quickly approaching and “real” life on the horizon, we’ve come to the sudden realization that we have to make our final moments in Florence count. Panicked, we took out our prettiest colored pens, and in typical sorority girl fashion, made a neatly organized checklist of what we wanted to accomplish before going home. It was a struggle to narrow down our favorite places that we had to visit again, and new places that we needed to experience. Here’s our advice for your final days abroad…
1. Be Shamelessly Touristy
Before packing your bags and heading back to America, it is important to make sure you fit in all the last minute sites. Living in Florence, the smallest city on earth, for the last three and a half months really gave us no sense of urgency to complete all of the important tourist attractions at once. Day after day we would walk past sites that we know we must see with the laid back attitude that we have all the time in the world to experience them. For instance, the Carousel in Piazza della Repubblica that we neglected to ride even though we pass it daily, or a few museums that we put on the back burner have now waited too long! Now is our time to shine and plow through all of these attractions that we at one point felt we had so long to complete. Safe to say these next two weeks will be full of waiting in lines, touristy pictures, and lots of last minute activities that should have been completed months ago! Better late then never!
2. Eat
Okay, we know you want to go back to school spring semester looking your best, but now is not the time to worry about your spring break bod. Use your few weeks at home to get back into shape…that’s why America invented Whole Foods and Soul Cycle. The end of abroad means it’s time to double check those travel guides that you got from your sister’s friend’s cousin’s big, and make sure you’ve gone to every restaurant with “THE BEST GNOCCHI EVER!” If this means going out to eat for lunch and dinner for 10 days straight, it’s worth it. Even when you can’t fathom eating one more noodle or dousing your bread in another drop of olive oil, push through the pain, because Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Bowl isn’t going to satisfy your Italian cravings in a few months. Drink every drop of wine, destroy every bread bowl, scoop up that last bit of gelato, and embrace your last few moments in a foody paradise!
Although our blogs have frequently been about “surviving” in Florence, in reality, we have not only survived this city, but have enjoyed every second of our time here. It’s true what they say… “there’s no place like Duom.”
Amore always,
Katie & Jolie