Merry go round!

Saturday- April 7

This morning my alarm work me up again five minutes before nine since Alessandro said he would bring breakfast to the room at nine. I laid in bed and he didn't end up coming with the breakfast until 9:45. Before he knocked on the door I really thought he forgot about us, but when that knock came on the door I popped out of bed. 

Check out was at 10, and my family was already getting ready and packing up, but I knew there was no way we were going to be out in time. 

My coffee and crossant were good and gave me that boost I needed to start my day. It was about 10:10 or so when we were all ready to check out, but Alessandro was no where to be found.

"There he is," Ali said as she pointed out the window. Mom went over to look and he was crossing the street and went into a cafe. I guess Italians just do things on their own time.

He eventually came back maybe five minutes later and we told him we were ready to check out. He was so cute and was asking how I was with my foot. He was geniunely worried, and it showed. 

After we paid for our stay we tried giving him more money because of his hospitality and kindness, but he refused to take it. He had even lent us his fridge because we needed to keep something for Jon's insulin. 

We thanked him for his help for the past two days and wished him well, then left. We decided to go get some food because we had about two hours until our train. 

We went to the place where Jon and mom had bought desserts Thursday night. We had forgotten the bowls that the desserts were in to return to them, but they didn't remember. It was a little dead inside, but they were open for coffee and breakfast if we wanted.

Jon ordered bread to snack on and Ali and I got cappoccinos and mom got her cafe latte. 

We relaxed there with our luggage for about an hour or so. The staff there was very friendly. 

Around noon we decided to head over to the closest metro to take to the train station instead of walking. When we got to the station we had to walk underground for a bit until I saw a sign that led up to the station. There was a mini mall of some sort that I had never seen before. When we surfaced to the top, we went to look at the departures board to make sure ours was on time. There was a weird symbol next to our train which I had not seen before. I looked to see if others had the symbol too and I realized it meant our train was behind a bit. 

We went to Chef's place, where I always get something to eat when I'm waiting in Rome for a train. Mom and I sat at a table while Jon and Ali went to go get something. I snacked on some crackers mom because I wasn't in the mood to spend money. 

It was really busy in the place, which I hadn't seen before either. Maybe it was the time, but it was something new for me too. 

We then went to our train and saw it was pulled in. We went on and found our seats. Luckily, we had a table this time and the seats were extra comfy. I could tell this was a fancier train than our last one. They're all so much nicer than the slow trains, but different brands of fast trains are nicer. We had three seats together and one across the isle. Ali sat with two other people and the three of us sat across from her. We told her she could move over and ask the person who had the seat next to me to switch her, but she said she was fine. After 10 minutes into the train ride, no one sat down next to me and we told her she could move over. She didn't want to because she didn't want to get in trouble. I chuckled a little bit because I knew she wouldn't get in trouble. 

When we got back into Florence I went back to my apartment for an hour or two to shower and relax for a bit. Around 5 I went back over to their apartment. We relaxed there for a bit and then went out to dinner at the Gatto, where we went the first night they were here. We were going to go out to dinner with Kate and her parents, Lydia and her parents and Jess, but they ended up going later, and we were hungry. 

Dinner was ascrumptious, as it always is at the Gatto. I went back to their apartment and we all lounged around. Mom and Ali went on a walk for a bit and when they came back they asked if we would want to go to midnight mass at the Cathedral. Mom said she was talking with a guard at the church and he said the mass was going to be in English. There were supposed to be fireworks at 11 and Easter mass at midnight. I had already had plans to go out for Jess's 21 birthday, so I unfortunately had to say no. 

I told them they were more than welcome to go without me, but mama said no. They walked me home and the three of them went to go see the parade and fireworks at the duomo. 

As I was walking home I saw Lydia and Jess leaving. I told them I was still coming out and that I would meet them over at the apartment with the six girls. I went upstairs and got ready, and then went over to the apartment.

When I got over there, there was our CCI group mixed with other people from Kent. We were all hanging out for an hour or so and then we decided to head out to the bar.


On our way there we decided it would be a wonderful idea to ride the merry-go-round in Piazza Republica. We were all dressed up and all piled on and the best part was it was only €1! We got some snobbish looks, but hey, you only live once and we won't see those people again.

When we got to the bar, we were downstairs for a bit and then we were led up to the VIP room like the last time we were there. Either someone there or the owner sent over a pretty expensive champagne, that was absolutely delicious. The night was filled with a lot of dancing and we had a lot of fun laughing and such. 

Lydia and I unfortunately had to leave early because my blister popped and I didn't want to get in infected. When we got home I was really surprised to see that it was already 2 in the morning! Time had flown by. 

Thankfully my foot didn't get infected, so I got ready for bed and then curled up under the covers after a long day.