Florence!!- 28-31 (SB6)

I will never forget the days in Florence with Cris, Marcello, Fabio, Fernando, Adriana, Fernando, Cris's brother, Yuri (Mr.U) and all of the other friends that came and went through the apartment. It was the most amazing time of my life! We had some drinks and laughed a lot, listened to good music, took lots of photos, made new friends, walked a lot, chilled on the bridge, met creepy Italians, listened to an array of languages in the house and had loads of fun doing all of this!! We saw the Duomo and Plazza del Michaelangelo, which were both amazing! Seeing the sun set over Florence from atop the Plazza will forever be engrained in my memory. I have a feeling Cris and I will stay in touch, too. I hope to go back and visit him someday and I know that he wants to come to Wales, so we will meet again! Overall, the best 2 1/2 days of my life!!! I cannot even really write down all that I want to, to explain how great my time in Florence was. It is one of those experiences that really is just better kept inside and treasured. I learned so much about different cultures. I mean, I don't know much Spanish and definitely don't know Portugese. The guys and their friends are Brazillian, so Portugese is their first language. Cris spoke very good English, but I liked sitting back listening to them all talk to each other. I think that was the first time in my life when I realized how hard it must be for people in America that don't speak english as their first language. You really feel lost and kind of left out. You have no idea what is being said or if someone is talking about you. It is very confusing and frustrating! I loved it though!

We had to leave early in the morning on the 31st and it was sad to say goodbye to Marcello and Cris. We had really just began to bond with everyone and I did not want to leave, but Venice was calling us! We got Cris a mini soccer ball and we all signed it, along with the recipe cards that Mel and I made up. they had traditional American recipes on them. When Cris saw his gift, he almost started crying and I was so excited that he liked it. Someone else had wanted to get him wine, but I knew from talking to him that a soccer ball would be much better! Again, I will never forget those days, the people or the lessons learned!