Well those two weeks flew by! My time in Prato comes to an end tomorrow, then it’s a quick visit to Rome then home via a 7 hour stopover in Doha airport (oh boy am I looking forward to that??)
Prato, for those not in the know, is a 20 minute train trip from Florence. So it’s not nearly as touristy (at all) and a hell of a lot cheaper. Mind you, we still had fun going into Florence for the shopping!
Should you be going to Italy and want to spend some time in Tuscany, I can’t recommend Prato enough. It’s only 20 minutes to Florence but without the price tag attached. My apartment – Calamai Riverside Apartments – was just wonderful. A short walk into town and right next to the river (you can hire bikes just up the road… which I did with Nicolle… we are NOT as fit as we remember)
Classes were really good, but very intense. My European Union unit wasn’t what I was expecting but still, it’s a unit out of the way in two weeks! Australians at War continued to impress. Very much one of the most fascinating units I have ever done.
But the food was the star of the show… What did I get in Italy I hear you ask – a tan and about 7 kilos heavier. My god… the gelati in Prato is just superb. For absolute quality, you can’t beat Roberta’s limone, melone and fragola. For quantity, but still homemade scrummy gelati the store near the little train station is the place to go. Next time I am over I will be setting aside a specific gelati budget. So many flavours… so little time. We quickly found our coffee haunt – a gorgeous little tabacchi bar with two of the nicest Italian people on the planet… plus one incredibly attractive young man with a (?) lord of the rings tattoo on his arm. Great coffee and again, so cheap! 90 cents for an espresso or 1.20 for a latte. (but when in Prato… espresso all the way!) We also had our regular restaurant – the local, Francescos. The best pesto penne ever! Fabulous gnocchi and fresh ravioli that hits the spot perfectly. Then there was the bakery for all your lunch time needs – big slices of pizze with eggplant, tomato and zucchini. Yum yum yum!
Time was of course spent in Florence. Bags were purchased… Bell Towers climbed. Gelati sampled and dismissed as being inferior to any in Prato.
But all good things come to an end and if I want to not have a heart attack by the time I am 25 I do indeed need to head home, get back into the swing of real uni, working and playing with my puppy dog.
You’ll probably hear from me once more (when I’m stuck in Doha for 7 hours!!!) but until then… Toodle-pip, Slán, Au Revoir, Adios, Yasou, Elveda and CIAO!
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