Ciao! Sono Brianna: Week with the whole Coleman clan

During May my whole family was able to come visit me and here is our top 10 from the week!

1. Luggage. Saturday I went to go pick up the family at the airport and we found out that their luggage did not make their flights. We were told though that it would be on the next flight over and would get in later that afternoon. While we waited I took them to the duomo area where we went to my one of my favorite restaurants Luinis for some food and then got gelato at one of the best gelato places. We came back to my dorm for a little bit of downtime since they were jet lagged and then went and climbed to the top of the duomo. After we went back to the airport and found out that my sisters suitcase did not make it but that meant.... shopping!! I said out of all the places to lose luggage at least it was in the fashion capital of the world. We ended up getting their suitcase a few days later. That night we went to dinner at a pizzeria and Sydney decided she was too tired so she fell asleep while at dinner.

2. Florence. The next day we left early to get on a train to Florence. We waited in line to see Michelangelo's David statue and the entire Accademia Gallery. There were so many paintings throughout the museum and Syndey and my mom loved reading about all the paintings and then having Syd find various things on the paintings. After that we got some lunch at a nearby restaurant and walked around seeing the various sights Florence has to offer. Of course we climbed the bell tower of the dumo and there were so many stairs... WE WERE DYING! It was soo hott and such small corridors; we had to keep cheering each other on throughout the journey up. We shopped around the leather market to get us girls some purses and dad a belt. Then we stopped at a restaurant for dinner where we all got various pastas. Then the family took a train to Rome and I came home to Milan since I had school and various group projects.

3. Food market. There has been an international food market in Milan for the past few weeks so when my family came back to Milan on Tuesday night, Wednesday that was our first stop. I met them down at duomo after I was finished with class and while I was in class they went inside the duomo. Marissa and Sydney forgot to wear long pants so they luckily had some of my clothes still so they put it on over their clothes. We went to the food market where we had a hummus platter, some brats, a meat plate and cheese. We walked around the castle and while there Sydney got a HORRIBLE bloody nose right in the middle of us trying to take a family picture. There is always something with my family.

4. Maya. That night I took them to their first aperitivo at Maya which is where you buy a drink and then get an unlimited buffet so they got to try a lot of different Italian dishes. There were a lot of different pasta, lasagna, rice dishes and their favorite thing was the chocolate cake with the chocolate fondue fountain.

5. Old Fashion. Later that night I was able to take Jack with me and my friends to our favorite place to go out. All of my friends didn’t understand how he puts up with my loudness and everyone kept saying we looked identical... Not sure if that’s a good thing or not considering that means either I look like a boy or Jack a girl.

6. Como. Jack and I slept through our alarms on Thursday morning and we were supposed to meet my parents and sisters at the train station since he stayed with me in my dorm. We were woken up by a very frantic mother who thought we had either died, been taken by strangers or who knows what other thoughts were running through her head! We got on a train though to Lake Como which is the biggest lake in Italy and George Clooney has a house on it. Mom and Dad had packed lunch food for us that day so we were able to have a picnic in the middle of a park. Of course it ended with all of us siblings piling on top of Jack. While at Como we went on a tourist train around the Lake and saw various parts of Como and then were able to take a ferry over to a different area of Como. Also, every city we went to in Italy we had to try the gelato so Como was no different. We left Como right before dinner so when we came back to Milan we went to a pizza place our airbnb guy had recommended and it was by far the BIGGEST pizza I have ever gotten in Italy. My sisters and mom thought they wouldn’t be able to finish there’s.... but they finished all of it.

7. Cinque Terre Hike. We had to wake up around 5 am on Friday morning to make our train to Cinque Terre. Once we got there we stopped at a place for breakfast were we had the WORST cappuccino ever, which I didn’t think was possible in Italy. We then hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza.... It took us under two hours but boy were we sweating. Cinque Terre is made up of 5 cities and the hike in-between Monterosso and Vernazza is the most challenging. There were soo many stairs and steep inclines. At one point us kids started sprinting because we all wanted to be in front... that was a huge mistake.

8. Cinque Terre day 1. When we got to Vernazza we walked around for a bit and then took a ferry over to Rio Maggiore. We were starving so we stopped at this takeout pizza place and got this pizza that was big enough for all of us to split. It was made to feed 8 people and it did since we count Jack and Syndey as eating for two people. We hung out by the rocks for a while and then took a ferry back to Monterosso. That night we went to dinner on the coast and for our appetizer we got the best pesto bruschetta. I also think we might have eaten about 6 baskets of bread. After we went back to the apartment and played a few games of parents against kids. That game is so rigged! The questions for the parents are so much harder than the ones for the kids.

9. Cinque Terre day 2. The next day we woke up and went to the beach for the entire day. We needed a day in the sun but more importantly a day spent relaxing. We rented kayaks and kayaked around the ocean. The weirdest thing about that beach were the gypsies walking around offering messages. Everyone in my family thought it was normal besides me!! That night we caught our train back to Milan and us sisters watch Mama Mia and we all just hung out.

10. My family. I know that the trip was a lot for my family but having them come visit me in Italy meant the world. Being able to show them around Milan, my home for the past 5 months, and then being able to travel around Italy while they were here was amazing. Us kids are also getting to that age where we genuinely get along for at least 80 percent of the time! My siblings are also TOO TALL! Marissa is officially taller than I am.... The week with them was incredible and I wouldn't have changed it for the world. LOVE YOU ALL!