The beginning of the week has already flown by and we are all trying to have as much fun as possible. There are so many places that we still want to go see, or eat at! Mainly eat at, we really love food. Monday we hiked up to the piazza Michelangelo to see the beautiful views of the city. This spot was amazing, every place that I have been in the city can be seen from this hilltop. The Duomo looks like it takes over the whole city from this view. 
After the hike, we did a scavenger hunt for our sisters event planning class, and then went to their event! The appertivo food was amazing and they really did a great job. For dinner we went out to a little place by the Uffizi gallery and it was so good! I ordered a beef stew, I was not in the pasta mood at all! Of course we got gelato for dessert! My new favorite mix is dark chocolate and then getting a mint flavor. They use real mint in the gelato and it tastes so much better than mint chocolate chip at home does. I just have one more Gelateria to try, Vivoli, so hopefully I will have a chance to go! 
Tuesday I met up with some of my sisters and we went shopping to get some last minute gifts. Naturally before dinner we had to appertivo, probably our favorite thing to do in Italy! Later on, we had a group dinner at Red Garter, an american style restaurant and bar. The burgers were really great and it was nice to have some american food. I’m not used to eating burgers anymore, especially because our burgers were huge! 
Yesterday we went to the Ronald McDonald House that is in Florence. The house is basically brand new, and it is truly a blessing that the this house is in Italy. It is not part of the Italian culture to volunteer, and there have been people in the neighborhood that have knocked on the door of RMH and asked for a hamburger. The kids were so happy to have us, and I think that they had a really great day. One of the girls, Sara, told us that she had the best day of her life. The language barrier was not a problem for us at all.
Kids are kids, and they just want to have fun! From playing water tag, to musical chairs, we tried to keep them as busy as possible and I think they all had a great time. My sisters and I donated to the house as well, and the staff could not believe that we would show up to help out, but also donate money to the house. It was my favorite visit to a Ronald McDonald House.
We went out to a great restaurant at night to celebrate all of our good work for the day, and it was one of my favorite meals.
It was also St Giovanni day, so there were fireworks at 10 last night. St. John the Baptist is the St of Florence and it is common for cities to celebrate the St. of the city, so I didn’t miss out on the 4th of July!
I can’t believe that the week is basically over already! 
Off in Italia 