Florence. Is by far the most beautiful city in the world. I don't care where you are, or where you are from, I will disagree until the day I die. There is so much magic in this city that I literally feel like it is home. On Wednesday, I had my Italian food and culture class at 2pm, any my language class ends at 12:20pm everyday. So, we decided on our lunch break to visit the Palazzo Pitti (or the Pitti Palace), which is one of the palaces owned by the Medici during the Renaissance when they ruled Firenze and all of Tuscany. What a splendid lunch break that was indeed. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but even if I did, a picture cannot do this place justice. It is spectacular. Every square inch of the walls is covered in paintings and murals and gold and splendid art.

In the second picture, I forgot that I opened a shop here in Florence years ago. I decided to stop by and see how things were running in the shop. Good news that everything is doing well-tourism is up despite the economic standpoint, and the store Anna is prospering. =)

On Thursday after class, there is just so much to see in Palazzo Pitti, we decided to visit the Boboli Gardens of the Medici Palace. We stayed there for 3 hours and didn't even see everything. That place is HUGE. And SOO beautiful! I decided I am going to study there. It is literally a 5 minute walk from my school and my apartment, and my museum pass gets me in for free unlimited times. Great place to study? Why not? I'm in Firenze.

My friend Sara and I decided to go running and exercise along the river Arno and run the stairs up to Michelangelo's Piazza, which has the most amazing views of Florence and we watched the sunset. Cristel met us up there because she forgot to bring her running shoes. It is quite a trek, but so worth it and such good exercise! We even got surprised by street performers who were amazingly talented and their manager came running across the steps to greet us and give us a kiss on the hand. You can see her laying down on the steps in front of the performers, her name is Cleo.

Today, we visited San Gimignano and Siena with the entire program. I have some incredible pictures to add. I learned so much about the history and more about the Medici. I really enjoyed it, despite how hot and humid it was.

I went inside the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen in my entire life. The Cathedral of Siena was so incredible I cried. I actually had to turn my head from the tour because I was so moved by the beauty and intensity of this place. Wait until you see the pictures, although they literally cannot do it justice.