landmark [land-mahrk]
a prominent or conspicuous object on land that serves as a guide, esp. to ships at sea or to travelers on a road; a distinguishing landscape feature marking a site or location
Synonyms include: benchmark, guide, monument, memorial

(I am determined to blog about our ENTIRE trip no matter how long it takes! One of my New Year's resolutions is to finish everything I start so here I continue...)

Every nation has its famous landmarks: the Statue of the Liberty here in the U.S., the Eiffel Tower in France, Big Ben in the U.K. And then there's Italy. Well, there's literally a monument or famous landmark everywhere you turn!

Mission #7 - Buy ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner

Point of Origin - 63 Via de la Pergola (our apartment)

Destination - San Lorenzo Market

Our 3rd day in Florence was Thanksgiving Day here at home. We had a fieldtrip planned that afternoon so we split up that morning to accomplish 2 things: 1) To pick up the rental car, which Cile, Randy and Pat took care of and 2) Shop for Thanksgiving dinner. Kay and I assisted Chef Seong with this. Where better to shop for fresh produce than Florence's San Lorenzo Market!
San Lorenzo Market is wow! Everything you could possibly want to cook with is sold here: fish, meat, vegetables, fruit, breads, pastries, wines, freakin' lines of prosciutto hanging from the ceiling - everything! It was here that we realized what a "multi-national" guy Seong could be. The 3 of us were walking through the vegetable area, saying "Buongiorno" to all the vendors. Out of nowhere, this guy popped out, saw Seong and yelled in the clearest, loudest voice possible, "GOOD MORNING, JAPONES!!!" hahaha! Kay and I wanted to cry - we were laughing soooo hard!One mistaken identity, 3 caffe lattes, a run-in with a bread-guy who spoke better english than we did, and several bags of groceries later and we were off!

Mission #8 - Find the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Point of Origin - Florence, Italy

Destination - Pisa, Italy

After finding ourselves at the end of a one-way street in Florence (with vespas, bicycles and pedestrians giving us the evil eye), then stopping at a gas station only to walk across the street to ask a lady at a bus stop where "il torre di Pisa" was, we finally decided to park the van. Cile was like, "It has to be around here somewhere. The sign pointed this way!" So we parked and walked down this alley-like street.

We weren't sure where we were walking, but we knew the sign with a picture of the leaning tower pointed this way so we went. The street, placed between buildings on each side was narrow enough that you couldn't really see much ahead. But a few minutes into our walk and BAM! LEANING TOWER!
It really wasn't as tall as we expected, but we were amazed nonetheless. You see something like this in magazines, books, on tv and sometimes even cartoons. I really never imagined I'd ever see it in person. The Leaning Tower was built to be the bell tower for the Duomo (I swear, Italy has a hundreds of them!) next to it. The inside of the Cathedral, like every church we saw during our visit, was nothing less than extraordinary.

I think the detail involved in every aspect of its construction is what makes it so awe-inspiring. The long hallways on each side of the altar is guided by a line of pillars, the frescas of holy images, the marble walls - amazing!
And we were there?! Crazy! We opted not to climb the tower though. It costs about 6 euros to get up there. After having climbed to the top of the Duomo in Florence, we figured nothing could top that so we stayed close to the ground. Duomo snobs!! hahaha!
We brought snacks, thinking/hoping we could stop somewhere and eat, but we didn't have much time so we improvised. Hunger makes you do that. We had everything; bread, meat, condiments, tools. All we were missing was space...and the ability to use a knife without fearing for your life!

Pat, Kay and I managed to make sandwiches from the middle row of our Saab. It was no Quizno's, but it sufficed us until dinnertime.
Yes, that is indeed the driver eating. Mind you, the car is a stick...

Mission #9 - Prepare Thanksgiving dinner
Point of Origin - Hunger
Destination - Unfathomable food coma

Before we cut, boiled, broiled or fried a darn thing, we took shots...the Korean way!

We always anticipated dinner over there. What am I saying? We anticipated EVERY meal over there! From breakfast to brunch to lunch to snacking to dinner, with gelato breaks in between - we couldn't get enough!

Randy manned the stove, Seong manned the oven, Cile grated fresh parmesan cheese, Pat and I cut...everything...

...and of course Nonna slept. Geez! Kay didn't lift a finger that night except to pick up a fork to eat or a glass to drink!

And then we feasted: pork chops, eggplant parmagian, rissotto, twice-baked potatoes, mushrooms and...CHOW MEIN! (Pat started to miss Chinese food. haha!)

That was our happy Thanksgiving in Italy...