Mariela's post

This was written on Sunday the 7th but ended up as a draft. Enjoy!

Everyone's asleep at this point and I have a chance to post a quick update of my own. We're still in Rome and will be here until Wednesday. Adriana, Nathan and our Mom will head back to LA at 5am tomorrow. It's been lots of fun traveling as a big group. We've had many good laughs along the way.
The weather in Florence was a little rainier then Rome. Yesterday we were caught off guard with a quick thunderstorm which made Grampa and the kids want to run for cover. Nothing like nature to remind you how small you are. Today was acually very warm which was unfortnuele for me since I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt. Oh well.

Today Tia Tere. Tio Tony and Grampa went to mass at the Vatican and the attended a blessing by the  Pope. They reported a packed crowd with thousands of people with the view of the Pope about the size of a Lego figure. None the less, they were happy to have been by the Pope.

All the women in the group managed to buy Italian boots in the same shop. The girls are eyeing leather purses but are looking for the best deal. It's been an advantage to have Gramma Anita with us because she is a professional haggler and can talk anyone down. The stores don't usually lower their price but between she and Tony they had no chance. They've had people chase them down after they said they would find another vendor. Most stores and vendors have the same products.

It's been a new experience for us to stay in apartments. The washer worked well in Florwnce but the Rome one seems like it has a mind of its own. The Florence place had English information  on the knobs. This one is old school and is only suppose to run for 90 min. We found it still running after we've been out all day. At least our clothes were eztra clean aftrrwards. Also, there have been no dryers, just racks. Most clothes dry after a day or so. Common sense takes longer to translate to Italian- it took us few days to figure out that the clothes dry faster next to the heater. : )

Desserts
Desserts warrant their own paragraph. The place in Florence was located in a plaza which had this fantastic menu. The tortellini was incredible with this light cheese and a bit of pear. We had it each night we ate there. Sorry- I just couldn't leave that out. The cheesecake was the best I've ever had. It was light and fluffy but not too sweet. The gelato has been good to eat- its hard to avoid it because there are easy 3 on every block. If you have the will power to say no to the first few but buy the 7th or 8th one, you just give in to the yumminess. My favorite is Ferrero flavor,coconut and coffee. The Ferrero are those delicious chocolates that come in a pack of three at the checkout stand. They have a gelato that tastes just like the filling. Did I mention that our place is right above a bakery?! We wake up the smell of fresh bread. Hmm. We do have a plaza that is right outside our place. It's very convenient but it also has a bar so there are people up until late. No worries though. We are so tired we could sleep through anything at this point.

Tomorrow we'll be taking a train to Pompai. We'll post picture then.

G- night - Mariela