two awesome things came to florence this weekend: my friend meg who is visiting from rome and the chocolate festival!  i've been super busy being meg's personal tour guide, and i'm surprised at how well i already know the city.  yesterday we went to the san lorenzo leather market where they sell scarves and hats and carnevale masks and everything leather--the italian men flirt like crazy, trying to get all the girls who pass to buy something from their stands by telling them they've fallen in love with them.  if you play hard to get, they'll give you great deals--ended up getting a really great hat for a third of the price, wahoo!

we headed over to the chocolate festival that's set up ALL week in the piazza della repubblica where chocolatiers from all over the world come each year with everything chocolate.  i can't decide if it's the best or the worst thing that's ever happened to me since i've already gained about five pounds in the two days it's been here.

found some bc kids at the chocolate festival

after eating chocolate, we figured we should probably work it off somehow, so my friends and i climbed to the top of the duomo in the center of florence.  we climbed up tiny spiral staircases made of ancient stones that turned every which way and made our way to the top to have one of the most amazing views of florence.  we could see the entire city, it was amazing.

could even see our church from the top