Pisa, Italy!

Buongiorno!

Ok, in case you haven't guessed, I have NO IDEA how to spell that. Apologies!

So here's a little round-up of the rest of the time in Spain...
post-Cordoba we took the bus (say YES to public transportation!) back to Sevilla and I, once again, met up with Sydney and Chelsea. We may have gone to Starbucks (yes, yes we did... there were just SO MANY) and then wayyyyy later that night I was whisked away to the most amazing vegetarian restaurant in the world.

And this is the part where I tell you what I ate!

starters: hummus on toast. It has been FIVE MONTHS since I had mashed up chick peas with tahini and garlic. It was SO GOOD.
plat principal: tofu skewers with balsamic dressing. And french fries. And mayo. Which Sydney HAD TO EAT. And a little bit of asparagus.
dessert: vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. And a few bites of the richest chocolate cake I have ever had.
and of course, red wine.

I'd just like to give a huge shout out holler THANK YOU to Chelsea for that meal because I STILL remember it and it was fantastico and I think she's still recovering from her cream of cauliflower soup.
We finished off our night watching the L-Word. Viva YouTube.

The next morning WAY TOO EARLY Darija, Sasha and I all went to the airport and flew to Pisa. I freaking LOVE ryanair because it's all so easy.

Got off the plane in Pisa, took the bus into town (all together now: say YES to public transportation!) and fell into the arms of Amy and Emily! Our group of three now made five and we head off to our first Italian restaurant.

Don't forget, everyone, that I had bought my garden back in Sevilla so while everyone was eating raviolis in creamy garlic sauces (I may have had a bite or two) I was eating a red pepper sandwich. Yes, that is indeed a piece of red pepper in between two pieces of bread. And it was deLISH.

We then made our way to the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Guess what... It is TOTALLY LEANING and no matter how many times you nod your head and say things like "duh" to that, it's still TOTALLY WEIRD to see it lean like that. I mean it just LEANS.

ISN'T THAT THE CRAZIEST.

So we proceeded to take a majillion touristy pictures. Pushing the tower. Leaning on the leaning tower. Cartwheels, etc. I'd like to put the following picture of my friend, Emily, up here on my blog for the whole world to see because I think it shows the strength of our relationship. Or something.

Following our Leaning Tower of Pisa adventures we went and found our first gelato experience. For the three minutes it took me to eat my first gelato, I was without words. I, Emily Findley, was speechless. And I didn't even get the tiramisu mousse! (which, by the way, I totally regreat because we could not find tiramisu mousse anywhere else in Italy (we found tiramisu but not the mousse combination)). IT WAS SO GOOD. I ate it so fast I didn't even have time to take a picture of my first cone (which was Fiesta! (a chocoalte-orange combination) and straccioldfdfaaadf (ummmmm the italian word for vanilla and chocolate chip)).

Post-gelato we got on the train (all together... say YES to public transportation) and headed to Florence. More on Florence later.

Leaning Tower: A+ because WHOA IT REALLY LEANS like that
Gelato: again, I have no words.