Chocolate Castles as wel

We truly have fallen in love with Italy. We came here with so many intentions of seeing as many of the tourist attractions as possible, never thinking about what would actually capture our hearts.

Waking up each morning here in Florence has opened our eyes to so many new things!

We are able to look out and see beautiful hills and cypress trees as we listen to the church bells ringing, seeing the church in the distance! We watch housewives hanging clothes out on the lines as some of them look up and wave to us, as we stand on the balcony wishing we had learned some Italian and could carry on a conversation with them.

Yesterday was such a precious experience for me. Our landlord invited me to come over and watch her mom make tiramisu! As I sat in their kitchen, Paulo, Laura’s sweet mom began whipping cream, slowly stirring egg whiles in the mascarpone mixture and then allowing me to dip the biscotti biscuits in the prepared coffee before placing them over the smooth rich creamy mixture! What a treat. But then as i rose to leave, they handed me the beautiful bowl of tiramisu and told me it was mine to take home so we would have a great dessert for our friends flying in today!

It is experiences like this that have made us stop and give thanks to God allowing us to be here! Yes, the beautiful old buildings are amazing to see! The art that lines the museums is so beautiful it brings tears to your eyes! But once again it is the people who touch our hearts that gives us our most amazing memories. Will we remember going thru the Vatican? Of course! Will we look back and brag about learning the bus system, navigating the trains and being able to actually order in a restaurant where no one speaks English? Absolutely! But my most favorite memories will be the days that Randy and I walked to the grocery store almost daily! The afternoons when we stopped in to our favorite coffee/pastry shop down the street and got so excited when the owner began to kid with us because he now recognized us from being in there so much! The mornings when we hung out clothes on the line as pigeons flew over, landing on the roof next to us, just daring us to leave the door open so she could fly in or nest under the sink on the balcony. Randy and I have had afternoons when folks stopped us, asking directions and we could actually answer them. If they knew English or we could point to a map for them!

The month is going so quickly, but the memories are becoming already so dear and special to is both! Today the sun is shining, the doors and windows are open as we await our sweet friends! We are excited to not only to show them some tourist attractions but the heart and soul of Florence….the people!