Rarity of life #297593874: When Cooper blogs about a communal event before I do. Sooooooo, I guess I’ve been busy, but there is still no excuse for not blogging. I’ll try and post different photos from the Coop-dog…
Anyhow…
Yahooo! No, not Yahoo as in the search engine, but yahoo as in whoo diddily plus a side of excitement on the side. I am hoping to dive into documenting the two week trip to Europe, but please note that a number of events will be left out (due to memory problems) and quite a bit will be uneventful (i.e. all I’ll talk about is what we ate). Nonetheless, my wallet is 29839287 times thinner and my thighs are 23979835 times wider (actually just looked at my thighs and yes, they are honestly larger).
Because Cooper is addicted to taking photos, the vast majority of images seen below are his. If he is seen in a photo I was lucky enough to take the camera out of his hands for a brief moment before withdrawal symptoms set in. For a better presentation of the trip, go to www.coopercarras.com. He did a much better job than I did.
Day 0: First arrival in Florence, late evening
Consumed mass amounts of amazing pizza and walked through a make shift German festival. Yup, a make shift German festival in Florence.
Day 1: Florence, Italy
The time change had a positive impact on us today because we were able to get up at 6am and conquer Florence without other tourists around (something we learned was a very welcome event). Unfortunately, my luggage was stuck in Rome so I had to wear the same outfit for nearly 72 hours, even after a bird left a surprise on my pants and hand. No worries though…we went on an expedition to take photos of the town and people and hiked up steep streets in search of a great vantage point for a shot of the city. Unfortunately, no vantage point was found, but we had an awesome walk and took some pretty good photos along the way.
A slight rain storm forced us to take shelter and eat lunch at a spot near the Duomo. Of course this means jacked up prices and low food quality. Allison enjoyed her piece of toast with tomato and basil on it for $9.00 US (!aye carumba!), but Cooper was the winner with four cheese gnocchi. Luckily the cheap table wine made us happy enough to enjoy the food no matter what. Following lunch Allison had to work in the afternoon (and pray for her luggage to arrive) while Cooper sought a laundromat. Yup, laundromat seeking just after Day 1. We went to a mediocre pasta/pizza spot and called it a night.
Day 2: Florence, Italy and to the Villa
Again we got up before the masses of tourists and American students studying abroad awoke so we had most of the city to ourselves (except for the commuters on their scooters). We did a brief stint in town before heading back for our free breakfast (oh my, how Allison LOVES her free breakfasts!!) and then Allison worked while Cooper went grocery shopping before we headed to the villa.
The villa was amazing. I’m sure Cooper will post tons of photos of the place once the editing process is complete. But, until then, let me just say it was a renovated spot from the 1400’s…it was beautiful…it was on top of a hill with a pool and an olive orchard…and it house nearly all of the 40+ guests. Awesome. While there we were treated to coffee, juice and pastries in our room in the morning, there was wine tasting in the afternoon…
And for the rehearsal dinner we sat near the largest chandelier I have ever seen…
Ate the best meat plate I’ve ever come across…
And of course had pizza…
I hate to admit this, but we never once had gelato while in Florence. For some reason the opportunity never arose at the right moment even though it was on our minds nearly every minute of the day. So sad.
The wedding was beautiful and sooooo emotional. It was extremely hard to take photos all day because my eyes were welling up. So it goes.
Next leg of the trip: OFF TO SWITZERLAND!!