Two Peas Abroad: Rome if you want to...well Florence that is.

This past weekend we went to Florence to visit some of our best friends Meredith and Marybeth who are studying abroad there right now. I think we are still pinching ourselves that we actually pulled it off because neither Catherine or I have ever booked our own flight before until now. Funny that the first time we do it's from Spain to Italy...not exactly your natural progression for travel independence! We woke up at 4:20 (AM!), took a cab to the airport, flew from Sevilla to Valencia, got on another plane and flew from Valencia to Rome where we were picked up and taken to the train station and then took a train from Rome to Florence. Phew. That exhausts me just writing that!

Everything went so smoothly each step of the way that we kept just looking at each other going "Are we sure we are doing this right?" God was completely opening and closing every door for us and leading us the entire way. In Matthew 6:26 God says "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in the barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Yet again, how cool is that!? God cares so much about the birds and everything else in creation so they will never have to worry about a thing and yet he cares and loves us THAT much more because we were after all created in His image as the final cherry on top of all creation. (And if you really think about it, woman was actually the final touch...but I'm just saying :) )

This trip was such a reminder of the Lord being our Father and loving us the way a protective parent does. Even though we looked like we were traveling alone and making our way through these foreign lands, God was evidently with us every step of the way walking in front of us and making sure that we got to each place safe and sound. God has been rocking my world in all of the different ways He is teaching me that took until now for me to begin to grasp these incredible lessons. I am the daughter of a King which makes me a princess! Regardless of whether or not I marry a prince someday...metaphorically or literally that is.

The weekend was so fun, we ate some incredible food, made a lot of new italian friends and some memories that I know will last a life time. I can already see my 40 year old self telling stories saying "When I went to Italy in college...." haha. The motto for the weekend quickly became "When in Rome!" Even though we were in Florence, it seemed to add a nice touch to anything we were doing. Catherine and I did the college thing too and both slept on Mere's couch which added to the fun of it all because we all got to be together the whole time! Surprisingly we slept extremely well and got almost 8 full hours both nights. Maybe I'll become a nomad and sleep on couches the rest of my life! Or maybe I won't. Only time will tell. Well I am going to stop typing and just let you look at the rest of the pictures now!

Ryan Air- you were good to us! Now we know why you are the cheapest way to fly. You sell smokeless cigarettes during the flight.

First day in Florence and the beginning of our hike/walk

We stopped at this monastery along the way and explored for a little

Michelangelo's Look Out. We took about an hour hike/walk around the city to this spot just for this view. Totally worth it!

"Would you mind taking a picture of us...but we aren't going to look"- Catherine

We also were all wearing blatantly American/Texas shirts. Oops!

We figured we might as well have one of our faces as well. :)

Frolicking in Florence. You're never too old.

Best. Night. Ever.

This random Italian man decided to jump in our picture. We had no idea at the time and wondered why Mary Beth was laughing so hard!

Happy camper.

We were in Italy...we had to get the full experience!

Cutest little girl ever. She was in a stroller and jumped out and started dancing all by herself putting on an incredible show for everyone at the restaurant. She came up to us in our seats and held out her hand and said something in italian which basically was like "Well aren't you going to join me?" So naturally we jumped right on up and joined her! (Even if we were the only ones dancing...)