Almost time to come home!

Well, what a trip this has been. Absolutely the trip of a lifetime. Here are the plans for the rest of our time here...hanging out in Prato today, trying to hit all of our favorite spots one more time,like pastries and capucio at Betti's, gelatto at Valentino's, and scibatta bread at the bakery next to the church. Maybe one more trip to the castle and definitely a run to the grocery store to pick up a few new favorite pasta sauces and delicious cookies so I can share a taste of Italy with my friends and family at home. Tomorrow is our last day here and we are going to Pistoia, the next town over, to have a fish fry with the church. We're going early to help prepare the food, I'm super excited about cooking with Italian women. Hopefully I'll pick up a few secrets to bring home and add to my own cooking. Our flight leaves from Florence at 7 am on Saturday morning and we arrive in ABQ at 8 pm Saturday night. Then I'll fly to Lubbock Sunday afternoon and finally arrive home in Abilene Sunday night after 3 weeks of being away. Thank you to my sweet husband for letting me be gone for so long...I miss you!

Here are a few Italian phrases I've learned in the past 2 1/2 weeks:
Andiamo! (let's go!)
Tutto posto (everything's in place)
un cono piccolo con cioccolato e cafe (one small cone with chocolate and coffee, this was extremely good to know when ordering gelatto)
prosima fermata (next stop)
Dove il mio criceta? Asbeta! Non o un criceta. (where is my hamster? wait! I don't have a hamster.)

I've learned a few other things, but those are what I say most often. I have had so much fun learning another language, but I think I still have a long way to go before I could be let loose on my own!

I'll try to post a few more pictures before I come home, but I'll have tons to show when I get back. I've taken almost 700! Italy is an extremely photogenic place, I'll miss it very much.