Finally, the day I felt like I had been counting down to for ages: the day Brian got here to visit me!! After he dropped his stuff off at my apartment and got the full tour we spent the rest of the day just walking around exploring. I couldn't wait to show him everything! One of our very first stops was the Ponte Vecchio. At night he had his first gelato experiences at one of my favorite places: GROM. The next day we went straight to the best place on earth for lunch: Gusta Pizza. We made sure to stick to the tradition and sign the slip that our order number was on and stick it under the our table. I am pretty sure he fell in love with the very first bite. I was just a little disappointed that he didn't want to get his made in the shape of a heart like I did. Once we were full I figured we would take a trip to the Boboli Gardens because they are literally right around the corner. Unfortunately, they ended up being closed for the day but we quickly made a better plan. We decided to rent segways! I had never done this before and was a little nervous. After we both got the hang of it though we were racing through the entire city. It was soo much fun!! We met up with Alyssa and her boyfriend Andy for happy hour at Tijuana which, is a Mexican Grill. We each ordered one of their huge, famous margaritas. Afterwards we went to Osteria II Gatto E la Volpe so he could try the best fresh mozzarella and penne alla vodka everrr. Once it was late enough we all went to two of the American bars that we go to pretty much every week. Our first stop was Uncle Jimmy's which, has a long list of different type of bombs you can order. After that we went to Lion's Fountain.

Monday I decided to skip my first two classes and bring him to Pino's for lunch which, in my opinion, has the best paninis out of the millions of places here. It didn't take long for him to agree. Afterwards we walked through both the outside and the inside of the central market. On our way out he bought two soccer jerseys for himself. Unfortunately, I had to go to Italian class then because I couldn't miss it. That night we went to Zaza for dinner with Jaclyn and Natalie. Zaza is known for their truffle sauce which, I knew he had never had before in his life. I brought him there so he could try something new that is extremely rare to find in the United States. Once the night time came around we went to this bar called Naima with all of my friends. We shared a pitcher of Sangria. After that we went to this club called YAB.

We ended up sleeping in later than I was hoping to on Tuesday so as soon as we were ready and out we got lunch at All'Antico Vinaio. This place always has a line down the street so I knew it was a must. Once again I had to leave to go to Italian class which, sucked. As it was getting time for the sun to set we went to climb the Duomo with Alyssa and Andy. This was the first time that I had gotten to do it too which, was exciting. Once we reached the top about 460 steps later I was amazed by the view. I know for a fact that I will definitely be doing that again plenty of times before I leave.  For dinner my friends made a reservation at this restaurant called Santo Spirito. We are all obsessed with their ham and cheese appetizer and Brian immediately was too. All nine of us ended up ordering the same exact pasta dish which, was pretty funny. Later on we went to this bar called Kikuya to so that Brian could try his very first dragon beer. We literally went right next door after the Red Garter where we danced all night long. We had a blast!! By the end of the week he still said that Red Garter was his  favorite place out of them all.

We took the train to Venice wednesday morning. Once we arrived we had to take a water bus to the stop where our hotel was. It drove us through a decent amount of canals which, was great because we got to see a lot of the city. It was gorgeous and nothing like anything I had ever seen before. We spent our entire time there trying to figure out how the people live like that. There were zero cars. Every form of transportation is done through water. Peoples front doors literally opened up to a set of stairs leading down to the water too. Each individual definitely needed to own his/her own boat to do anything at all! Our hotel was very vintage and just a block outside of San Marco Square (the center of the city). We literally turned the corner and walked straight into the Basilica Di San Marco. We aimlessly walked up and down random streets because neither of us had ever been there before. Next we took a gondola ride which, I had been dying to do for forever! It was so calm and relaxing. Although the weather could have been better, it was still cool to get to see the city from a different point of view. The guy steering our gondola was extremely nice too and answered whatever questions we had. We ate dinner outside at this cute restaurant right on the water. It was all lit up and had vines and flowers everywhere. We shared a bottle of red wine which was, by far, the best red wine I had ever had. The whole thing was perfect!

After arriving back in Florence Brian insisted that we went back to Pino's so we did just that. At that point it was already time for me to go to Italian class again. As soon as I was done he insisted that we then go back to Tijuana. It was easy to see what places were at the top of his list. The two of us went back each ordering different margaritas this time of course to try something new. Afterwards I brought him to his very first aperitivo this night. Aperitivo is when you go to a bar/restaurant a little earlier than you would for a normal dinner. You order and pay for a single drink and then it is an all you can eat appetizer buffet. Aperitivo is an Italian tradition to go before dinner. However, me and Brian did it the way that me and my friends always do it and stuffed our faces so that we got a cheap dinner out of it. Later on I brought him to shot cafe. Here we split their two specialties with my friend Taylor: the huge pitcher with the super long neon straws and the ten shots lit on fire. When we left there we went to the bar Old Stove which, is one of the only Italian bars that we actually go to here.

On our last day we got Gusta Pizza for the second time for lunch. We decided to give Boboli Gardens a second try after that. Luckily, it was open this time. I had never been there before either. I was amazed with how beautiful it was. It was nice to see some nature and greenery for once because the streets of Florence have not even a patch of grass to be found. We went exploring around the entire place pretty much. I picked a mini bouquet of flowers because they were so pretty. I am 100% going back there as it gets even warmer out. It would be the perfect study spot for finals. As soon as we left we headed straight to Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset. We sat on the huge staircase looking over the entire city with our bottle of wine as it slowly became dark out. It was the perfect ending to the week. For dinner we went to this very local Italian restaurant called Trattoria Anita. We decided to treat ourselves and each order both a first and second dish. He tried risotto for the first time when I told him theirs was to die for. We stayed there for almost two hours just finishing our bottle of wine and talking. For dessert we went to Gelateria Dei Neri. We had to fit it in before he left because this place is rated the best gelato in the city. He got a nutella crepe with gelato on top and I got a nutella waffle with gelato on top. They were both delicious. Once we got home we both passed out from a food coma after that entire week of nonstop eating.

I was so happy that Brian got to visit me. We were both so lucky to have been given that opportunity. We had the perfect week together and had a ton of fun. It was definitely hard to have to say goodbye to him again. Florence definitely won't be the same without him anymore.