Thanksgiving in Rome with my Mom!

Well I've become the worst blogger and haven't blogged in half a month...whoops! But I have an excuse, I've been insanely busy with school, travels, and my MOM VISITED! :]
It was so wonderful. I didn't realize how much I missed home and her until she arrived. It really isn't easy to be away from home for so long, especially the people who care about you so I feel really lucky that she was able to come visit me in Italy.
Our trip started arriving at her lovely hotel, the Hotel Burchianti. That place was so charming and the owner's were more than welcoming. Mom's room was absolutely adorable with a single bed, and cute little trinkets here and there. She only got TV in italian but it was funny to watch the simpsons or the news in italian.
We visited everything in Florence, and I mean everything! We had pretty poor weather but I must say we were the best tourists there ever were. We were able to visit all of the great museums like the Uffitzi, the Accademia (where they house the David), Palazzo Vecchio, Baptistery and San Marco. We climbed to the top of the Duomo, and hiked it up to the Piazza Michaelangelo, Piazza Signoria, Piazza Santa Croce. And if it weren't for our umbrellas, this trip wouldn't have been so pleasant. Read my mom's comment because she added in all the details I forgot about that we did. And it's from her point of view! We went to the Boboli Gardens, experienced a wine tasting event, and drank cappucinos. The views were stunning and I was so happy to experience those places with her, it's something really special.

Now, my Mom is one of the best cooks I know. She's cooked for my family our whole life and let me say how excited I was for her to come and show me how to cook (without an oven!). Now being the great Mom she is, she brought me the FAMILY SIZE pack of twizzlers pull n peel. That is motherly love because everyone knows my great obsession with that candy. But really, she is a great cook. We found the centrale market and she was a pro in there. Finding all the ingrediants we needed, the right amount, and within a good amount of time, enough to get a delicious lunch in the place as well. Mind you, it is not easy to find all the ingrediants for some meals (especially me, an inexperienced cook). She made it look easy. Except for the first two night, she cooked all the dinners until we went to Rome and they were all soo delicious! My mouth still waters for that Florentine Chicken. We shared a bottle of wine, and she showed me her ways. I'm not the easiest to teach but I think I picked up a few pointers. Another great thing about my mom is that when we go shopping (a typically very difficult experience) and find something, we really find something, like the best thing. We search and search for items and some days we get nothing and go home in a tiff but then there are those golden days when we find the perfect item and it's grand. Well we had one of those in Italy. On our way back from the Boboli Gardens, I happened to wander into a random leather shop and I was about to surrender when Mom told me to just ask the guy. See I have an issue, my feet are huge! And most shoe places don't sell my size, ok almost all places don't sell my size but Mom was insistent that we ask the man if he had the boots for large feet. I asked him if he had my size (yes I will not actually say the size on here) and he just said "let me look at your feet". Italy has different shoe sizes and I didn't know my italian shoe size but this man was able to just glance at my foot and know. He just knew. Then he pulled out these adorable tan leather boots with a laced up back and put them on my feet. It was like a cinderella moment. They fit and they were great. I was shocked and my Mom just had that look like "I told you so". I loved that man until he told me that it took "2 and a half cows" to make my boots...lovely.

We also did a great day trip to Pisa and Lucca to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and eat some great chocolate.
Well, after 6 days in Florence, it was time for Mom and I to head off to Rome! Roman Holiday during thanksgiving with my Mom, yes it was great. We took the fast train there on wednesday and arrived around night time. Well, Rome is a lot bigger than Florence so we had to take a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver, not so safe. I know Chicago drivers are crazy but they are crazy in a good way. Rome taxi drivers are just crazy. This guy was speedy! And he dropped us off in the wrong location and I think he even over-charged Mom. Needless to say we didn't take a taxi again. In Rome, we ate a lot of great food, drank a lot of delicious wine, and saw a lot of sights!
Our first big day was at the Spanish Steps, a large garden (I can't remember the name), and went to the Colosseum. Well the Colosseum was quite an experience. On our way there, we had a run in with a LARGE group of protestors heading in the same direction as us. We thought we were in the clear for a bit when they stopped just a few feet from the colosseum and so Mom and I started walking in, when suddenly, the group CHARGED the Colosseum, yes they were sprinting inside it!

I just remember saying "umm...mom..." and she grabbed me and we stood up on the side of the Colosseum to avoid being run over. From there we watched as hundreds broke inside and the armored police followed. As soon as we could, we fled the entrance and across the street. From there we spent the next hour observing the mob chant and cheer and more police arriving, it was intense. Though after some time, it cleared up and they moved on and Mom and I were able to enter the giant Colosseum. It was pretty magnificent. Then we looked around at the ruins and headed back to our hotel. It was thanksgiving and we needed to go out for some dinner. I was able to get some turkey! But with lettuce and tomatoes on top, not so fattening like the thanksgiving meal I'm used to.

But I must say I was very thankful that day. My Mom had come to Italy on Thanksgiving to spend time with me and tour around. She could've stayed home with the family and enjoyed the traditional holiday but I really appreciated her coming to be with me. It was one of the big highlights of my trip overall. My Mom's pretty great.

The next day we went to see Vatican City, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. Those were some beautiful places for sure. It was so grand! Mom also found on the walls of the Basilica "Petrvs" and we spent a good 10 minutes trying to get a picture of her pointing to it without it looking like she was giving the middle finger. It was pretty hilarious.

So many more great moments happened while my Mom was with me for 10 days but I think this blog post would be way too long (not that it already isn't haha). I'm very lucky to have had her come and I know it'll be something we remember for a long time! I mean how many people get to say they spent Thanksgiving in Italy with their Mom. I'm really happy I did!

Love you Mom!