14 Days, 21 Hours, 9 Minutes til AMERICA!

As our time in Florence comes to a close it's all starting to hit us that this fantasy world we've been living in these past 4 months will soon be over.  I'm starting to realize how much 4 months abroad can truly open your eyes to so many things.  I've learned so much about myself through this process of living abroad and I hope that I come back to the states a more knowledgable and cultured young woman.

Since we're trying to do as many things as possible before leaving Florence we decided to take advantage of our day off school and spend the day in Chianti wine country horseback riding and tasting the wonderful Chianti wines.

I can truly say that this trip has been by far my favorite and most memorable one while abroad!

Myself, Josephine, Brittany, and Adair set off to a camp ground in Chiant where the tour group FlorenceTown was stationed.  Here we were told that the horseback riding group was too big so we would split up into 2 groups.  We ended up having our own private tour...lucky us!!

Our tour guide Tom was a 24 year old student from London studying in Florence to become a sommelier. With a british accent, fluent in italian, and a wealth of knowledge for wine the girls and I were in heaven!

We spent the day roaming the streets of Tuscany with Tom visiting Machiavell's house, a small local deli to try new cheeses and meat, and ended at the Principe Vineyard.  The wine was fantastic and with our own personal sommelier with us we were able to learn so much about the different Chianti wines.

The winery is also known for its extra virgin olive oil.  With their most popular being their organic, double filtrated oil, we couldn't leave without buying some!

Mom- I had wine and olive oil from here shipped home so expect it to arrive in about 3 weeks :)

After lunch we were taken to the horse stables and geared up for a ride through the vineyards.  Since it was just us 4 girls on the tour our guide took us on a little "advanced" journey through the trails.  As we galloped and trotted around 2 guys on dirt bikes decided to fly by us causing my horse, Golia to freak out!  He went completely bonkers and I ended up being thrown off him and tumbled onto the ground.  Luckily Golia was a very small horse so it wasn't a big fall, however I broke my watch :(

I got up quickly and watched as our guide cussed out the dirbikers in italian..quite hilarious to see.

Other than the horse incident the day was so fun!  I enjoyed spending time with the girls and of course, hanging out with Tom. lol

Sad to have only 16 days left in Florence, but excited to be back home soon to see everyone! Ciao Tutti.