Viaggio In Italia: Goodbye Florence

This post is a little difficult since it was just yesterday that I was in Florence, but am typing this from my bedroom in America (sad)...

It was a very relaxing day in Florence. Another student, Sonya, and I decided to spend the day leisurely walking and shopping. We walked all around the city, up and down the various streets (sometimes more than once on certain streets). We found a great little vintage shop that I bought a dress and then went on a chase for some shoes Sonya had seen the day before. Believe it or not, we found the store and both bought sandals. I don't advise this practice...if you are ever in this situation BUY the shoes, especially if they are only 15 euro (which was the case). But regardless we had a good time and discovered some different areas. We also decided to have a sit down lunch, since it was our last day and we deserved a treat. For lunch, we split a pizza and gnocchi with pesto sauce. Sonya is a doctoral student at ODU. I enjoyed spending time with her and learning about being in a PhD program. We discussed counseling practice and struggles I have had as a Master's student. It was so helpful to have this time with her to be able to get to know her better and get a different point of view when it comes to counseling. Sonya is studying to become a counselor educator (so she will eventually be a professor) and hearing her side of the counseling puzzle was valuable.

I probably could spend a week in Florence alone but we had to head back to the villa. Dinner was spaghetti and was delizioso!! Since it was our last night, we had a brief reflection about our time at casa cares. We were asked what item would we add to a collage to signify our time during the trip. Each person shared different experiences that made this trip unforgettable, from the churches to the bus rides, trips on the train to the food and wine, so much shopping and the wonderful hospitality of Paul and Antoinette, this trip was incredible!