What were you grateful for this week?
This week I was very grateful for being able to drink water out of the tap in America. It’s always a bit difficult to get water when traveling when I have to rely on filtered or bottled water.

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?
This week I had lots of trouble with a package my mom sent to me. It was taken a lot of time and I’m anxious to get it so it’s frustrating that it has been so hard to sort out. 

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. 
The amount of times the boys wanted to play Monopoly this week was extensive but I was willing to play whatever games made them happy. 

Tell us about your week! 

Saturday morning I took a train to Pisa with another au pair. I’m so glad I got to see it in person; it’s definitely something that pictures don’t do justice.

After Pisa we went the rest of the way to Florence where we arrived with enough time to explore the city at night. We walked through a lot of the city center center from Ponte Vecchio, a bridge crossing the Arno that is only for pedestrians and features many shops, to the Duomo. The main highlights of the night including stopping for ice cream and warm waffles, browsing at countless small shops, and looking up at all the lights that spanned the many of streets. It was a fun to get ourselves acquainted with the city.

The next day we we slept in a little before heading out. We wandered looking for a cafe to get breakfast. By shear luck, we stumbled upon the cutest restaurant that mixed American with Italian breakfast. The pancakes I had there were easily the best I’ve ever had in my entire life. We continued the day in a similar fashion to the day prior – wandering the streets, passing and admiring all the touristy attractions, and examining any and all stores that caught our eyes.

We eventually made it all the way to the other side of the river where we went to the Boboli Gardens of the Palazzi Pitti. From there, we could see the entire city. It was one of the my favorite parts of Florence. To finish the night we got apple pie cake and hot chocolate that were so good. It was an awesome end to a wonderful trip.