Italy: Carrara and Florence

We were welcomed into Carrara by our friends, Chiara, Benoit, Leo, and Alyssa. We entered Italy after four weeks in France, and it was a whole different scene!

The Italians are much more expressive with their feelings and opinions, and it's kind of super admirable and fantastic! Many nights at dinner we'd have intellectual conversations and heated debates where everyone would get so animated and opinionated and start raising there voice and stand up and get so, so into the conversation. They could have such intense debates and still hug and be content at the end; it was really fantastic to watch. And the Italian language itself is so much more curvy and wave-like and expressive, as oppose to French or even English.

 The week was spent going to beaches–Punta Corvo, Punta Bianca– having delicious, real Italian home cooked meals made by our friends' grandparents, an average of two or three ice creams a day from the delicious gelato place, Paradiso, hiking around Cinque Terre (five earths; there were five little towns along the coast that you could hike all the way through), playing guitar on the gorgeous terrace of our rental studio, meeting new people, powering through the autobiography of Malcom X for school, walks and talks with my dad, laughs with my brother, observing people, culture, new ways of life. Although I would have to say Carrara did not astound me with any of the lush beauty and nature of some of the other places we've visited so far this summer, it was an enjoyable week.

We left our friends and visited Florence for three days, exploring the massive, beautiful, numerous statues that line every square, every street, every museum. We had delicious food and scrumptious desserts, and explored the Italian culture and history through gardens, tours, walks, museums, churches, basilicas, shops, talking with locals. It was a great learning-experience and a fun short stop.