Saying Goodbye

In Italy very few people drive cars; most people walk where they are going or ride their bikes. Today we rented bikes and rode them around town. Before today I haven’t ridden a bike in years, thankfully I still remember how to ride. We started at our hotel and rode to their local market place. This market is open once a week and sells things like purses, shoes, and clothes. It is a great deal like an American flea market. It is also right across the street from the pier. It was nice to be able to walk out on the pier and to see nothing but ocean. It is moments like this I am reminded how small I am in comparison to everything else in the world. When we finished at the market we rode to this path in a park. It was beautiful. The path swerved around the trees instead of them cutting the trees down for the path. I love that here in Italy they really seem to try to preserve nature. Along the path we came upon this quaint little bridge. It made for the perfect photo opportunity so we all got off our bikes and took a group picture. As we were finishing our picture a bride and groom arrived to take pictures at the same spot. They looked lovely and I wish them a life of happiness together. We all got back on our bikes and continued along the path which led us to vacation villas of the wealthy. They had stunning homes and it seems such a pity that they only use them for such a short time of the year. After we finished gawking and dreaming of owning a home like that one day we went to lunch. I ate at small bar which served Panini’s. The waitress didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Italian so I pointed to the menu and hoped it would be good. Thankfully not only was it good it was delicious. I followed up my lunch with some Gelato. I am going to miss being able to eat Gelato whenever I want to when I go home. There are Gelato shops everywhere but you have to watch out for the tourist Gelato because it doesn’t taste near as good as the rest. After lunch we rode our bikes back to the hotel and returned them to the rental place. I wish more people rode bikes in America it was such a great experience and I am going to miss that bike. Tonight was our last night all together as a group. It is a bitter sweet time here at the Hotel Eden as we all share our last meal together. I have made many lasting friendships with these people and can’t wait to see where life takes each and every one of us. Now its time to make even more memories in Florence!