la casa di Valentina

-We finally made it to Valentina's house for a weekend! Her family lives a little over an hour outside of Florence in the beautiful "compagna" (countryside) of Castiglion Fiorentino. When we pulled up to her house, her adorable grandma was standing on the porch awaiting our arrival. She had been making homemade lasagne noodles for our lunch!! So italian :)

We went inside, ate a little bit of food, and then Vale took us in her tiny little red Fiat "cinquecento" car and we toured her hometown, Cortona, and up to Chiesa Santa Margherita at the top of a hill. Vale's family has a tiny little one bedroom apartment in the historical center of Castiglion Fiorentino, where her dad's family lived when he was growing up-which is where we got to stay :) 

For lunch that day, we had:

-Homemade lasagne

-Chicken and sausage

-spinach, roasted potatoes

-and (if that wasn't enough) gelato with fresh strawberries!!!

 

Italy is COVERED in these beautiful red pop

The next day, we went to a HUGE lake and relaxed in the sun. It was beautiful!! I am so glad that we were able to spend some time getting to know Valentina better, and be able to see her home and her family--things that are so important to her! She is the sweetest girl, and I am so glad that I got to live with her this year. She has helped me improve my Italian so much, and she always is interested in talking and getting to know me. I'm really going to miss her! You can bet that I will come and stay with her when I come back to Italy!!

Valentina and I- such a wonderful girl!!