For my last weekend in Florence, my mom and my sister came to visit me for a week. After not seeing them for four months, this was definitely a welcome sight-although I asked them to bring me Kraft mac and cheese, which they forgot, so I’m not sure how to feel about that.

The three of us visited Florence for a day a few years ago, but didn’t really retain any of the information from that day. So, we were expecting that I-since I’ve spent the past few months living in Firenze-would be showing them around. Instead, my mom ended up showing me around. It turns out, I haven’t actually seen that much of Florence. Although all the traveling I did every weekend was great, it left me with almost no time to explore Florence, since I have class during the weekend. This is something that really bothered me, and I’m still trying to decide if I regret traveling so much or not.

While my mom and sister were here, I started to realize exactly how much I had changed during these past few months. For example, while we were at dinner, my mom was getting very impatient, since she was used to the fast paced American dinner. I used to be like this, but I found that I thought the food actually came a bit early when it eventually did. Throughout the week, I found myself explaining all the differences in Italian and American culture to my family-something I’m sure they got very tired of hearing.

While they were here, we did all the touristy things in Florence, such as seeing Il Davide, Il Duomo, and shopping-shopping-shopping. The best part of all of us being the same size? We all share clothes and therefore, our shopping sprees are just so much fun. And quite honestly, a little bit ridiculous.

My mom and sister left this morning, which brings me to the present. I am leaving for the US in thirty hours (I counted) and I’m still not quite sure what to make of it. I’m so excited to see my boyfriend, but at the same time, I definitely gave my heart to Florence these past few months. The worst part is, I can’t even really enjoy this last day in Florence, because I have three exams coming up. However, I’m still going to make the most of it-no sleep until I get home, because in a week when I’m bored at work, I’ll be regretting it if I don’t go to a secret bakery at 3AM one last time!