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Published: August 9th 2012
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I was extremely excited to see my parents as it had been the longest time I had gone without seeing them (3 months, not that long but we are a very close family). I had ducked out in the morning to go the the food market and get some birthday decorations as it was Dad's 60th birthday on the day after they arrived. They had already had 4 days in Dubai and 5 days in Rome. I got to the train station and anxiously awaited as all the peopled pilled off the train, I waited but no parents?! A few desperate phone calls later (no one answered) and I was almost in a panic until low and behold they both pop up behind me. Big hugs and we were off to my new home in Florence. Dad was exhausted and perhaps coming down with a flu so after setting up the 2nd bed he had a nap while Mum and I caught up on the news.
I had a well equipped kitchen but no oven so I had looked up microwave muffin recipes so I could make Dad a birthday treat. Mum and I blew up balloons, set the table
with a happy birthday table cloth and watched the muffins in the microwave. Dad timed it perfectly to wake up all of two minutes after the cakes were ready and the time had just clicked over to midnight in Australia when we could start celebrating his Aussie 60th in Florence. Mum went in to talk to him (I needed time to get the sparklers going via the gas stove) as he thought it weird he had been dreaming about balloons...how random, hehe. Timing perfect, cakes done, sparklers lit and he walked into the fully decorated kitchen/dining room! The surprise on his face was priceless. We all sat down and ate after giggling at Dad's 'true' dream.
Later that afternoon we all headed up to Piazalle Michelanglo to watch the sunset, and have chippies and drinks. It is a family tradition from the first year we lived on the farm that after a hard days work on in the paddocks we would all come in at sunset to have chippies and drinks on the patio so it was really special to be replicating a family tradition so far from home. The wine was perhaps a little different as was the
view! We had pizza for dinner in Santo Spirito and then went to listen to the buskers in Piazza Signoria before grabbing a gelato for the trip home. A perfect evening for my parents first night in Florence.
Although my apartment was fairly tiny we all managed to not encroach on eachothers space. It was an absolute delight coming home from uni at 1-2pm and smelling Dad's home cooked spagetti with super fresh market incredients from the marcato centrale which was only one block from my street. Other days it was a fresh caprese salad with fresh bread, cheese and proscuitto and sometimes he would try something based on a meal we had tried for dinner on a precious evening. I have always loved spending my school holidays at home with my family. We are very close and now that I am older and have moved away from home, we are closer than before, as strange as that sounds. Just being able to share my Florence experience with the two people that love me unconditionally and share it with them for 2 weeks was amazing.
Mum and Dad have not had an overseas holiday or more than a
weekend off since we moved to the farm 23 years ago, it has been too hard to leave the animals. I knew when I made the decision to move to Europe that it would also have to include convincing my parents to visit me and have a real holiday. When they realised I was seriously leaving Australia I could see th cogs clicking for Dad, he had always hungered after a food tour. Once I also convinced Mum she could find a "farm sitter" dreams of Paris and Switzerland were dusted off and started to look more realistic. Luckily Kevin (Jenny's Father in law) was a perfect candidate and readily agreed to look after our dog children back home. A few Grandparent emergencies almost cancelled the proceedings but luckily everything was ok in the end. I was so estatic they had agreed to a 5 week holiday! 2 with me and the rest exploring for the first time since we lived in America when I was 2.
But back to the explorations of Florence. We climbed the bell tower of the Duomo, finding the first lovely breeze since I arrived (it is not a breezy city), we all went
to a Florentine cooking class and learnt how to cook a 4 course delicious meal (and got to eat the fruits of our labour). We happened to be in Piazzale Signoria for the unveiling of the new Firenze soccer uniforms - doesn't sound nearly as exciting as it was because what involved was a spectacular 30 minute light and sound display projected on the walls of the town hall. Followed by the 1000 or so Italians who had come to see it singing and dancing and chanting various soccer songs. It was really quite exciting!
One of the highlights was definately the small group (8 people) wine tour which took us by minibus out to the tuscan wineries. Our first stop was a massive property owned by Italian royalty. Our guide was a lovely girl from Melbourne and she showed us how the wine is made and stored and showed us the massive grounds on the property before we went inside to taste and eat. Our next stop was a tiny village in the middle of nowhere ontop of a hill. It took 5 minutes to walk around the entire village but it was by far the most quaint
and typically Italian place I have visited so far. The only resident we saw was a tiny terrier dog who was most upset that I had decided to walk up to the church and take a phot of his very picturesque laneway. He told me in no uncertain terms that photos were not allowed. So we left for the next and final winery, the oldest resident watched from her balcony as we walked their massive gardens and saw the beautiful views of the surrounding vineyards. We had a wine tasting in the seller and then bought some wine and olive oil. This winery tasting seemed much more relaxed, it was more like sitting around having a chat with old friends.
The following day we headed for Sienna and San Gimingnano on another bus tour. Our guide was excellent and took us first to a church on a hill overlooking the town where we went inside to hear about their patron saint who starved herself to death in rememberance of Jesus and they saved her head. It is entombed in a box which you can see in the church....yes, her real decaying head, it wasn't my favourite sight so far
but definately the most morbid. The tour of the city showed us the different regions for Il Palio and the interesting stories about various buildings and monuments. I felt a connection to Sienna as I had already been here once but coming back and learning about the history was even better. Our afternoon stop in San Gimgingnano involved a quick stop for gelato before Colleen (a fellow tourist) and I wandered the many streets and laneways exploring this cute towered city.
In our last week together we explored Santa Croce, the Pitti Palace and Boboli gardens, visited Academia to see the magnificent David, got sick of christian artwork, got Dad an amazing leather wallet, me an amazing leather jacket and Mum a very sweet piece of artwork for the kitchen. We became almost locals as a wine bar in Sante Croce, and found a great place around the corner from my apartment with an indoor garden where we frequentes for dinner, chilled out at 'home' and generally had an amazing time just catching up.
For our final 'Hurrah' we returned to Piazzale Michelanglo to watch the sunset with a glass (or plastic cup) of wine, listened to an
amazing busking duo of cellist and guitarist who played both popular melodies and Italian classics. After the sun left us we headed to Nerone a restaurant recommended by my friend Noelene. It turned out to be the best food we've had in Florence so far! I was devastated to see them off on the train but I am pretty sure the travel bug has now bitten them too. I will hopefully see them before too long.
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