Spain/Italy - Day 7

I could not sleep at all the night before. I think I slept too much in Mallorca! I started getting repacked and ready to go by 5:00 am. Took the metro to the airport and was on my way to Florence

My friends were on a full day tour and wouldn’t be back until around 8:00pm so I booked a cooking class for myself just to kill some time. 

When I got to Florence they let me check in early and upgraded my room (this keeps happening, I’ve had such great luck with hotel room upgrades and flights with empty seats next to me!)

I changed and headed out to shop. Since I packed only in a carryon I wasn’t able to buy anything but it was still fun to wander around the streets of Florence and look at all the fashion. It’s been 3 years since I was there last. 

One thing that’s very sweet in Italy is that a few times after someone found out we’re American they would say something like, “American!? We haven’t seen Americans in over a year!” and they really make you feel like you’ve been missed. I know Florence was hit hard in the beginning of the pandemic and they depend heavily on tourism so I think they took us being there as a good sign. It’s interesting to be going through a pandemic along with everyone else in the world. It kept us apart for so long but also brought us together in someways. 

The cooking class was amazing. Normally the instructor said he would teach classes up up to 20 people but today it was just me and one retired couple from Iowa. (He hasn’t had a large class since the pandemic hit.) We learned how to make ravioli, fettuccini carbonara, chicken and panna cotta. 

The class ended at about 8:00 and by the time I made it back to the hotel it was closer to 9:00. My friends were back from their tour. Alisha wanted to have a chill night in the hotel and get to bed early. Kyli wanted to make the most of her last night in Italy and explore the city nightlife. We found a happy medium and just grabbed a 5€ bottle of wine and sat underneath the duomo and chatted for a few hours. It was such a magical night to be in the most beautiful place with friends that I adore. Alisha kept saying, “I just can’t believe you’re here!” It’s surreal that we get to live a life like this. Nothing special was planned for this night but it’s easily one of the top 5 most magical evenings of my life.