Just thought you all would want to know...I jinxed my good luck. Got up to take a shower...NO HOT WATER. Figures. Also, no heat. And, even better, two hours later we went from having no hot water to NO WATER AT ALL. Doesn't help that last night was the coldest it has been since I got here. Thunderstorm now, snow in the forecast! Of course the one time it decides to snow in Florence is the one night that the heat is broken. Now all of this would be fine if I had some extra blankets or clothes to pile on. But no such luck on the blankets. And clothes? Well, I haven't done the wash in about 3 weeks due to the lack of hot water...every time I go to put anything in the washing machine...it won't run. I don't think I have really ever missed doing my laundry until now. So in the mean time, the cold water is back. Perhaps I will be attempting another ladle shower. Good thing the stove still works.
OH P.S. I completely forgot to mention yesterday that I went to the Olympic Village in Barcelona from the 1992 games. The stadium/track, pool, and baseball field were all being used, but it was really cool to see all the monuments built there. There was a "walk of fame" of sorts--just a bunch of plaques of different athletes' footprints, all in their shoes. Lance Armstrong has super tiny feet, and Roger Federer has huge feet! And it was funny to see all the different types of shoes for different sports. It's so strange to think that those games happened 16 years ago...it makes me feel old.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Espana!
I know it's been a while since I have updated you all on my European status...but here I am, just back from Spain, with more great stories of course! But first I will start out with my Florence adventures before heading off to Barcelona for the holiday.
After a horrible weekend last week, I finally turned in two papers totaling an astonishing THIRTY FOUR pages. I spent the better part of my week at the library, but I finally finished two research papers: one on the Mafia (which was super interesting), and one on Bernini's sculpture of Apollo and Daphne. I could not be happier to get those out of my hands. So, after quite a stressful weekend, Tuesday night became my official Thanksgiving. A bunch of us decided it would be fun to have Thanksgiving together before we all headed our separate ways for the long weekend, so we rented out a giant room in a restaurant close to our school. The chef there offered to make us an American Thanksgiving feast, with turkey and everything! He had to get a lot of the food imported from other places, and he even had one of his American friends teach him how to cook a turkey Thanksgiving style. The food turned out surprisingly delicious. There was turkey, obviously, but we also had real bread, with butter, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, salad, green beans, stuffing, and of course, pumpkin pie. mm mm gooood. The dinner was great, but even more entertaining were all the confused Italians in the rest of the restaurant wondering what the hell was happening. Random people kept peeking in...probably thinking "what are those Americans doing, why is there so much food, and how are they really eating all of that in one sitting?!" Quite amusing...
So after a delicous Thanksgiving, Barcelona was only a train, bus, and plane ride away. Who knew that we would need to leave 8 hours before our scheduled flight to get there on time?! Seems a bit rediculous to me, but hey, whatever saves money! So...we got into Barcelona at last, checked into our hostel, and wandered around the neighborhood at 11pm, starving and searching for anything edible. The first place looked a little sketch...it was called "Bar Granja," Spanish for "Farm Bar." Now, I don't know about you, but any place with the name farm in it doesn't exactly sound appetizing. So we moved on. The next place we found was definitely right up our American alley...HotDoks. Yes, we found a hot dog place. And they had fries. With salt. At last...a country that uses salt in their food...Halleluia! So after a wonderfully American meal, we headed off to bed, ready to explore Barcelona. The next day we took the metro downtown. It was so easy to get around in that city. I love that the metro is actually on time and takes you everywhere. It was so easy! I felt like by the end of the weekend I knew Barcelona better than Florence! So after learning the ins and outs of Spanish public transportation, we ventured around the water and walked up and down La Rambla, the famous main shopping street in Barcelona. We found an incredible market. (I have decided that markets are just fabulous, and every time I see a market now I go crazy). But this market, La Boqueria, was phenomenal. Huge. Massive. Blocks long. I have never seen so much fruit piled into one location. Or meat for that matter. But not in the same place...that would be gross. There were some interesting selections to say the least. My favorite was probably the random pig heads. One of them was even decked out in some sweet sunglasses. We saw full chickens, with the feathers still attached, needing to be plucked out, and pig brains, intestines, hooves, all sorts of fish, octupus, shark. You name it. I was very amused at all this, but I don't think Lauren was feelin' it (she's a vegetarian)...so, unfortunately, we didn't last too long in there.
Then we wandered around the waterfront. It reminded me a lot of California...Shoreline Village. The harbor was full of giant sail boats everywhere, and we walked over to the aquarium. Then we had lunch at a Spanish/Mexican restaurant. And then the trip took a turn for the worse. At the time, the chicken and cheese enchiladas smothered in green chile sounded like a grrrreat idea. I will come back to this... So after a tasty lunch, we wandered back to the area around our hostel. It started raining so we went to watch a movie for a bit, and then that night we headed to Hard Rock Cafe for a good ole American Thanksgiving treat. Sounds like we ate a lot of American food...it just so happens that Hard Rock cafe was the place to be for Thanksgiving, and it was really fun sitting around, meeting a bunch of random Americans from all over the place. The best part was when some guy accidentally elbowed me in the back. I turned around, he apologized, then we were about to go our separtate ways when he said hi. He looked vaguely familiar, so I asked him where he went to school...He said he had already graduated and was just visiting Barcelona for the week, but he went to...Vanderbilt. Of course. So then we had that moment where I was like "Oh my gosh, I go to Vanderbilt!" We got to talking about that, and I asked him what his major was. Commnications and Spanish. Of course. So I run into some random person in Barcelona from Vanderbilt who studied the same thing that I am now. What a small world. Turns out he looked familiar because we had class together last semester. Weird.
So that was Thanksgiving. But then three o clock in the morning rolled around...and that "tasty" lunch from earlier that day seemed to be making a comeback. Lauren and I were up all night, sick to our stomachs. Food poisoning is horrible! So all night and the next day were not so fun. We went to see La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's famous unfinished cathedral, but both of us were hunched over in pain the whole time that we went back to the hostel for the rest of the day. Bummer. It's a good thing we had quite a bit of time...we still ended up doing most of the stuff we wanted to on Saturday. Saturday was a much, much better day. We got up early, it was pouring, and seemed like a great day for museums. We went to the Picasso museum first. WOW. He had so many different styles...I had no idea that his early works were so realistic. It was definitely the coolest art gallery I have ever been to. To think that every single thing in that museum was done by Picasso is just unbelievable, and that is supposedly a small collection! It was also a relief to look at something that wasn't painted between 1430 and 1680. Renaissance art is so engrained in my head that looking at all Picasso's abstract works made the whole thing even more enjoyable. I could have spent hours in there. But remember...I was traveling with two girls who hate looking at art for more than 20 minutes. So I was kinda bummed, but I did make sure to see everything quickly. Then we went to the Chocolate museum. SO MUCH FUN! It was pretty small, but so cool!!! There were sculptures of horses and people and animals...pretty much anything...but sculpted in chocolate. And there was a bunch of stuff about the history of chocolate. Apparently Americans, on average, eat about 11 pounds of chocolate per year (that's an individual person!), and the Swiss eat about TWENTY THREE POUNDS! Woah. That is a ton of chocolate. That's billions of pounds of chocolate consumed in just one year! I was baffled at that thought. And maybe a little disguted. But of course, I ended up eating a ton of chocolate later that day, after visiting the gift shop. Haha.
Saturday night we went on a tour that I found on a brochure in our hostel. It included a Spanish dinner of tapas and sangria, and a flamenco show. The tapas were good...just pieces of bread with different toppings, like the Spanish version of a sandwhich, but with only one piece of bread. The flamenco show was one hundred percent my favorite part of the trip. The dancing was incredible, and the music even better. I have never seen anyone move their feet so quickly, and the expression and emotion in the dancing was so intense. And the Spanish guitar was beautiful. The show didn't last very long, but it was definitely worth it. And so, that was the end of our Barcelona adventure. I loved Spain...and it was so fun being in a country where I actually know the language. I mean, I know enough Italian by now to get around and ask questions, but knowing Spanish was great! I got directions, talked to people in stores, ordered stuff at restaurants, and just had random conversations all in Spanish. I didn't realize how well I knew the language until I was actually there using it. The words just came out, second nature, I didn't even have to think about it. It almost makes me regret not studying in Spain. Almost. So now I am just more determined to speak in Italian everywhere I go. Surprisingly, I found myself thinking a lot in Italian while I was in Spain. So that must mean I am retaining something! The two languages are so similar that at first it's really hard to tell them apart, especially from a distance. But when I got back to Florence today and heard people speaking Italian, it sounded so different for the first time. Cool.
So now, once again, I am back to my little bedroom in Florence, waiting for something new and exciting to tell you. It's currently thunderstorming outside, and I am a little nervous that the power could go out. In which case, I would have no idea what to do. We don't have candles or flashlights. And it's night. I can just imagine that happening, and the power not coming back on for a week or so. That would be typical Italy...especially considering last week we had no hot water or heat in our apartment for three days. That was miserable. It was colder inside the apartment than outside...and it was about 50 degrees outside. I had to wear everything I owned to keep from shivering in the middle of the night. And I showered by using a ladle to pour hot water on my hair, which I got by boiling water on the stove. It was quite a sight...and quite a disaster. So yes, I am back in Florence, with power and heat and hot water. For now.
After a horrible weekend last week, I finally turned in two papers totaling an astonishing THIRTY FOUR pages. I spent the better part of my week at the library, but I finally finished two research papers: one on the Mafia (which was super interesting), and one on Bernini's sculpture of Apollo and Daphne. I could not be happier to get those out of my hands. So, after quite a stressful weekend, Tuesday night became my official Thanksgiving. A bunch of us decided it would be fun to have Thanksgiving together before we all headed our separate ways for the long weekend, so we rented out a giant room in a restaurant close to our school. The chef there offered to make us an American Thanksgiving feast, with turkey and everything! He had to get a lot of the food imported from other places, and he even had one of his American friends teach him how to cook a turkey Thanksgiving style. The food turned out surprisingly delicious. There was turkey, obviously, but we also had real bread, with butter, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, salad, green beans, stuffing, and of course, pumpkin pie. mm mm gooood. The dinner was great, but even more entertaining were all the confused Italians in the rest of the restaurant wondering what the hell was happening. Random people kept peeking in...probably thinking "what are those Americans doing, why is there so much food, and how are they really eating all of that in one sitting?!" Quite amusing...
So after a delicous Thanksgiving, Barcelona was only a train, bus, and plane ride away. Who knew that we would need to leave 8 hours before our scheduled flight to get there on time?! Seems a bit rediculous to me, but hey, whatever saves money! So...we got into Barcelona at last, checked into our hostel, and wandered around the neighborhood at 11pm, starving and searching for anything edible. The first place looked a little sketch...it was called "Bar Granja," Spanish for "Farm Bar." Now, I don't know about you, but any place with the name farm in it doesn't exactly sound appetizing. So we moved on. The next place we found was definitely right up our American alley...HotDoks. Yes, we found a hot dog place. And they had fries. With salt. At last...a country that uses salt in their food...Halleluia! So after a wonderfully American meal, we headed off to bed, ready to explore Barcelona. The next day we took the metro downtown. It was so easy to get around in that city. I love that the metro is actually on time and takes you everywhere. It was so easy! I felt like by the end of the weekend I knew Barcelona better than Florence! So after learning the ins and outs of Spanish public transportation, we ventured around the water and walked up and down La Rambla, the famous main shopping street in Barcelona. We found an incredible market. (I have decided that markets are just fabulous, and every time I see a market now I go crazy). But this market, La Boqueria, was phenomenal. Huge. Massive. Blocks long. I have never seen so much fruit piled into one location. Or meat for that matter. But not in the same place...that would be gross. There were some interesting selections to say the least. My favorite was probably the random pig heads. One of them was even decked out in some sweet sunglasses. We saw full chickens, with the feathers still attached, needing to be plucked out, and pig brains, intestines, hooves, all sorts of fish, octupus, shark. You name it. I was very amused at all this, but I don't think Lauren was feelin' it (she's a vegetarian)...so, unfortunately, we didn't last too long in there.
Then we wandered around the waterfront. It reminded me a lot of California...Shoreline Village. The harbor was full of giant sail boats everywhere, and we walked over to the aquarium. Then we had lunch at a Spanish/Mexican restaurant. And then the trip took a turn for the worse. At the time, the chicken and cheese enchiladas smothered in green chile sounded like a grrrreat idea. I will come back to this... So after a tasty lunch, we wandered back to the area around our hostel. It started raining so we went to watch a movie for a bit, and then that night we headed to Hard Rock Cafe for a good ole American Thanksgiving treat. Sounds like we ate a lot of American food...it just so happens that Hard Rock cafe was the place to be for Thanksgiving, and it was really fun sitting around, meeting a bunch of random Americans from all over the place. The best part was when some guy accidentally elbowed me in the back. I turned around, he apologized, then we were about to go our separtate ways when he said hi. He looked vaguely familiar, so I asked him where he went to school...He said he had already graduated and was just visiting Barcelona for the week, but he went to...Vanderbilt. Of course. So then we had that moment where I was like "Oh my gosh, I go to Vanderbilt!" We got to talking about that, and I asked him what his major was. Commnications and Spanish. Of course. So I run into some random person in Barcelona from Vanderbilt who studied the same thing that I am now. What a small world. Turns out he looked familiar because we had class together last semester. Weird.
So that was Thanksgiving. But then three o clock in the morning rolled around...and that "tasty" lunch from earlier that day seemed to be making a comeback. Lauren and I were up all night, sick to our stomachs. Food poisoning is horrible! So all night and the next day were not so fun. We went to see La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's famous unfinished cathedral, but both of us were hunched over in pain the whole time that we went back to the hostel for the rest of the day. Bummer. It's a good thing we had quite a bit of time...we still ended up doing most of the stuff we wanted to on Saturday. Saturday was a much, much better day. We got up early, it was pouring, and seemed like a great day for museums. We went to the Picasso museum first. WOW. He had so many different styles...I had no idea that his early works were so realistic. It was definitely the coolest art gallery I have ever been to. To think that every single thing in that museum was done by Picasso is just unbelievable, and that is supposedly a small collection! It was also a relief to look at something that wasn't painted between 1430 and 1680. Renaissance art is so engrained in my head that looking at all Picasso's abstract works made the whole thing even more enjoyable. I could have spent hours in there. But remember...I was traveling with two girls who hate looking at art for more than 20 minutes. So I was kinda bummed, but I did make sure to see everything quickly. Then we went to the Chocolate museum. SO MUCH FUN! It was pretty small, but so cool!!! There were sculptures of horses and people and animals...pretty much anything...but sculpted in chocolate. And there was a bunch of stuff about the history of chocolate. Apparently Americans, on average, eat about 11 pounds of chocolate per year (that's an individual person!), and the Swiss eat about TWENTY THREE POUNDS! Woah. That is a ton of chocolate. That's billions of pounds of chocolate consumed in just one year! I was baffled at that thought. And maybe a little disguted. But of course, I ended up eating a ton of chocolate later that day, after visiting the gift shop. Haha.
Saturday night we went on a tour that I found on a brochure in our hostel. It included a Spanish dinner of tapas and sangria, and a flamenco show. The tapas were good...just pieces of bread with different toppings, like the Spanish version of a sandwhich, but with only one piece of bread. The flamenco show was one hundred percent my favorite part of the trip. The dancing was incredible, and the music even better. I have never seen anyone move their feet so quickly, and the expression and emotion in the dancing was so intense. And the Spanish guitar was beautiful. The show didn't last very long, but it was definitely worth it. And so, that was the end of our Barcelona adventure. I loved Spain...and it was so fun being in a country where I actually know the language. I mean, I know enough Italian by now to get around and ask questions, but knowing Spanish was great! I got directions, talked to people in stores, ordered stuff at restaurants, and just had random conversations all in Spanish. I didn't realize how well I knew the language until I was actually there using it. The words just came out, second nature, I didn't even have to think about it. It almost makes me regret not studying in Spain. Almost. So now I am just more determined to speak in Italian everywhere I go. Surprisingly, I found myself thinking a lot in Italian while I was in Spain. So that must mean I am retaining something! The two languages are so similar that at first it's really hard to tell them apart, especially from a distance. But when I got back to Florence today and heard people speaking Italian, it sounded so different for the first time. Cool.
So now, once again, I am back to my little bedroom in Florence, waiting for something new and exciting to tell you. It's currently thunderstorming outside, and I am a little nervous that the power could go out. In which case, I would have no idea what to do. We don't have candles or flashlights. And it's night. I can just imagine that happening, and the power not coming back on for a week or so. That would be typical Italy...especially considering last week we had no hot water or heat in our apartment for three days. That was miserable. It was colder inside the apartment than outside...and it was about 50 degrees outside. I had to wear everything I owned to keep from shivering in the middle of the night. And I showered by using a ladle to pour hot water on my hair, which I got by boiling water on the stove. It was quite a sight...and quite a disaster. So yes, I am back in Florence, with power and heat and hot water. For now.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
finally, some more pictures
A few more snapshots...and a new post below!
At the saltmines in our great outfits...and Hitler's hideaway house.
The hills are alive with sound of music...
Lucerne along the river, and the Dying Lion sculpture.
In Paris! Bird's eye view of the city and Moulin Rouge.
The Opera House and, just for you Brooke, some girl with a panda sweatshirt.
A shot of the bridge, and WOW! the Eiffel Tower.
At the saltmines in our great outfits...and Hitler's hideaway house.
The hills are alive with sound of music...
Lucerne along the river, and the Dying Lion sculpture.
In Paris! Bird's eye view of the city and Moulin Rouge.
The Opera House and, just for you Brooke, some girl with a panda sweatshirt.
A shot of the bridge, and WOW! the Eiffel Tower.
V E N I C E
Another trip this past weekend, and I am exhanusted! We had classes in Venice, so our whole program took a train and left Florence to explore the land of canals. We left on Friday morning and got to Venice around noon, then took a water taxi to our hotel! Talk about inconvenient...those things move so slowly I could probably swim faster. But that would be gross...the canals smell terrible. One of the girls fell in. She reeked of sewage water the whole next day...gross.
Anyways, Venice was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been better. No rain! The only down side to the weekend? Class. Usually it's not too bad, but the lectures we had were so long and boring. On Friday we walked around all of Venice and went to a bunch of churches and saw San Marco (and obviously frolicked around with the pigeons), but our professor kept going and going and going...so literally FIVE HOURS LATER we were done, only to do the same thing on Saturday...and Sunday. So I could say that I truly experienced the finest Venetian culture, but really I spent more time inside churches, fading in and out of listening because my stomach would start growling, or something else would distract me. O well! During the little free time that we actually had I got to go on gondola ride. I went with two other girls, and some random German couple (so not exactly the most picturesque, romantic expectation, but great nonetheless) and we ate cookies and sipped wine while our nerdy gondolier showed us around the city. There are no cars anywhere in Venice...I think that was favorite part about it. You didn't have to worry about getting hit or run over like in Florence. And there weren't really any bikers either. (Speaking of which...I was walking to get lunch yesterday and some lady decided to run into me on her bicycle. She just peddled into me and then yelled at me and rang her little bell while she continued to peddle. I don't think she understood that she would have to go around me, not through me).
But yeah...the gondola ride was wonderful. And then we had a group dinner. SEAFOOD at last! Obviously Venice is known for having delicious seafood, so I had some shrimp rice stuff and clam spaghetti and some sort of white fish with potatoes and peppers for dinner. yummm. I was little bummed to miss out on dessert...but I left early to go see a chamber concert of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It was incredible. I don't usually go for the all instrumental classical stuff, but these musicians were unbelievable. Best part ofthe whole concert: the cellist had his nose pierced. It was pretty subtle, but every now and then he would start swaying his head around and the light would catch it just right, and the little diamond stud would glitter. It got to the point where I just couldn't stop laughing...plus his emotional sway dancing expression was hilarious. He was def into the music way more than any of the other guys. Hah.
Other than exploring around some of the glass shops (which were extremely colorful and beautiful), that really was the extent of my Venice adventure. I think I did a lot with the little free time that we actually had. So now I'm back in Florence with no plans for the weekend and I couldn't be happier. Perhaps I will try to get ahead on some of my work?! Doubtful...I will probably waste my time watching TV on the internet. I found an awesome site that lets you download episodes from pretty much any show, any season. Dangerous. Currently I am "catching up" on about 7 shows. In other words...I sit in my bed and watch Grey's Anatomy for 4 hours before doing my homework. Then once I'm caught up on that...I move on to One Tree Hill, Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl...you name it, I'm pathetic.
Well, in the hope of being productive, I'm gonna go read some more of my Mafia book for a research paper. A plus...the reading is actually interesting, and it's for a class. Who would have thought...
Anyways, Venice was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been better. No rain! The only down side to the weekend? Class. Usually it's not too bad, but the lectures we had were so long and boring. On Friday we walked around all of Venice and went to a bunch of churches and saw San Marco (and obviously frolicked around with the pigeons), but our professor kept going and going and going...so literally FIVE HOURS LATER we were done, only to do the same thing on Saturday...and Sunday. So I could say that I truly experienced the finest Venetian culture, but really I spent more time inside churches, fading in and out of listening because my stomach would start growling, or something else would distract me. O well! During the little free time that we actually had I got to go on gondola ride. I went with two other girls, and some random German couple (so not exactly the most picturesque, romantic expectation, but great nonetheless) and we ate cookies and sipped wine while our nerdy gondolier showed us around the city. There are no cars anywhere in Venice...I think that was favorite part about it. You didn't have to worry about getting hit or run over like in Florence. And there weren't really any bikers either. (Speaking of which...I was walking to get lunch yesterday and some lady decided to run into me on her bicycle. She just peddled into me and then yelled at me and rang her little bell while she continued to peddle. I don't think she understood that she would have to go around me, not through me).
But yeah...the gondola ride was wonderful. And then we had a group dinner. SEAFOOD at last! Obviously Venice is known for having delicious seafood, so I had some shrimp rice stuff and clam spaghetti and some sort of white fish with potatoes and peppers for dinner. yummm. I was little bummed to miss out on dessert...but I left early to go see a chamber concert of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It was incredible. I don't usually go for the all instrumental classical stuff, but these musicians were unbelievable. Best part ofthe whole concert: the cellist had his nose pierced. It was pretty subtle, but every now and then he would start swaying his head around and the light would catch it just right, and the little diamond stud would glitter. It got to the point where I just couldn't stop laughing...plus his emotional sway dancing expression was hilarious. He was def into the music way more than any of the other guys. Hah.
Other than exploring around some of the glass shops (which were extremely colorful and beautiful), that really was the extent of my Venice adventure. I think I did a lot with the little free time that we actually had. So now I'm back in Florence with no plans for the weekend and I couldn't be happier. Perhaps I will try to get ahead on some of my work?! Doubtful...I will probably waste my time watching TV on the internet. I found an awesome site that lets you download episodes from pretty much any show, any season. Dangerous. Currently I am "catching up" on about 7 shows. In other words...I sit in my bed and watch Grey's Anatomy for 4 hours before doing my homework. Then once I'm caught up on that...I move on to One Tree Hill, Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl...you name it, I'm pathetic.
Well, in the hope of being productive, I'm gonna go read some more of my Mafia book for a research paper. A plus...the reading is actually interesting, and it's for a class. Who would have thought...
Monday, November 3, 2008
Fall Break
After what was quite the long, exhausting week traveling around, I am finally back in Florence! The week was so incredible...I don't know where to begin, so I'll go from the beginning...but this is gonna be a long one.
Day One: The clock screams 4:15 AM, and I am out of bed. We caught a 5 AM bus to Pisa, where we flew out to Paris. So far, smooth travels...remember that. After the quick hour flight, we caught a train to the metro station and then took the metro to out hotel in Paris. Unfortunately...we caught the wrong metro. 4 hours later...and finally we found the hotel. I suppose the fact that I spoke the best French out of our group didn't help, considering I only know bonjour, si vous ples, and merci. Maybe we should have brought a French guide? Well, it probably wouldn't have been so entertaining to take the easy way out! So after quite the log haul to find our hotel, we ventured back onto the subway and headed downtown. We saw all the usual sights...Eiffel Tower, the Lourve, Champs de Elysse, Arc di Triumph, Notre Dame, the Opera House, and a bunch of amazing churches. They were all so incredible. The Eiffle Tower is soooo tall...it's hard to imagine how man actually built that monstronsity. But then again, the same goes for the Notre Dame, and pretty much everything giant and amazing in Europe. WOW. My favorite place? I bet you can guess...The Opera House. O MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS I have never been inside a place that was so inspirational. I suddenly felt like I should just bust out an aria...but I'm pretty sure the people rehearsing wouldn't have appreciated that. This is the opera house that inspired The Phantom of the Opera...there actually is a lake underneath it...sooo coool, but you can't actually see the lake (it was put there when construction started for some sort of architectural purpose). Oh it was so beautiful...decorated all in gold and ruby red...just like you would imagine from hundreds of years ago. We saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre...she is quite small...and you can't even get very close to see her, so that was kind of a bummer. But the rest of Leonardo's collection was there...and those were awesome! And then of course we saw a bunch of other stuff that is famous...but not in comparison.
In my hope to write a shorter novel than this entry will already be, I'm just gonna let you fill in the details about the rest of Paris...except I must mention the FOOD. One day we decided to have a little French picnic, so I found a market, and we all got French baguettes and rotisserie chicken and fruit and cheese...and had a Parisian picnic under the Eiffel Tower! That was by far the best meal I ate...so cheap and so yummy. I also had some amazing apple crepes one day...and obviously we found a Mexican restaurant for dinner one night. Haha. It figures that I would find the one Mexican restaurant in Paris and decide to eat there. Oh, and I can't forget Angelina's and hot chocolate. We waited in line for an hour just to get seated at this cafe that had the most delicious hot chocolate I've ever tasted...it was milk chocolate and white chocolate mixed together...so creamy. yummm
Ok moving on...We got to the train station on Day Four of our European adventure...only to find out that our train tickets that were advertised online for 80 euro had decided to jump up to 150 euro. Ouch...my wallet took a hit after that. But it all turned out well, and thankfully we left just in time to avoid the giant snowstorm that hit Zurich one day later...we never would have made it to Lucerne. So after a four hour train ride, we took the bus to Erin's aunt's friend's house, and we stayed with her family. It was very nice to have a real bed to sleep in, a home cooked meal, and real people to spend time with! Annie (that's the friend) made us fondue the night we got in...it was so scrumptous. Oh, and we had carmel apples and some more hot cocoa...swiss style...for dessert. On Wednesday we bundled up to face the SNOW that had fallen overnight, and we ventured into Lucerne to explore the old town. Too bad we couldn't really see the mountains--the fog was thick, but Lucerne is right at the base of the Swiss Alps. I really would have wanted to go skiing, but there wasn't enough snow on the ground (or enough money in my wallet...) But we wandered the streets...the buildings are so pretty...painted and decorated in Medieval style. We saw the famous dying lion statue there...It's this sculpture of a giant lion, like 3 times life size, that is carved into the side of a mountain. It seems pretty random, but it was really cool. And then we went to a glacier museum and a mirror maze, which was quite entertaining, and very disorienting! After a quick stop at STARBUCKS (yes, starbucks...I have never been so happy to find one) we headed back to the bus and back to the house and back to the train station.
Night: Zurich Train Station: Dark, Cold, Scary. The adventures of the night train begin! Okay, so yes it was dark and cold, but scary? Not at all! That's probably because we got a 4 person cabin, so no strangers! And the conductor was super nice and became our best friend. He woke us up in the morning to make sure we didn't miss out stop in Slazburg. Not that we were actually sleeping in the first place...worst "mattress" I've ever slept on. So we got into Salzburg at 4:30 AM, ready to go...but apparently the town wasn't ready for us! It was dead...so we wandered over to our hotel (which turned out to be extrememly nice...4 stars...a great find by Olivia!). We hung out in the lobby for a couple hours, and then the manager was nice enough to let us check into our rooms at 7 AM...that's 6 hours earlier than we expected, and it was very nice to sleep for a few hours before facing the cold again. All day Thursday we just explored Salzburg. It was my second time there (since my choir trip senior year of high school)...so I split off from some off the other girls, and Kristen and I took an adventure of our own. First we explored the cemetery..yes I know that sounds like a creepo thing to do, but it is so beautiful and peaceful there...and we ventured up throught the catacombs in the side of the mountain. That was neat. Then we took a finicular up to the top of the mountain and explored the ancient castle walls. The view was gorgeous...it ended up clearing up by the time we got to the top, so you could see all the Alps and the hills and pastures, and the entire city spread out below. We couldn't stop taking pictures. We also wandered around a marionette museum while we were up there...that was silly. Kristen and I attempted to work our own little show. It's much harder than you would think to move those suckers around! After a few hours and some more hot chocolate, we went back down he mountain and found a great restaurant. We had soup and crisp apple strudel! We felt quite Austrian. Then we walked around the town, eventually ending at our hotel across the river. Early to bed, and early to rise for the Sound of Music tour! My halloween consisted of a bus full of random people singing along to all the sound of music songs and seeing all the places where the movie was shot. That was fun...even though I had seen most of the sights before, our tour guide was hilarious. He asked a little boy on our bus why cows wear bells...and the little boy answered, "Well, it's because their horns don't work!" Haha...he was pretty clever. Oh, and then between sites, our tour guide decided it would be a great idea to teach the entire bus a new rendition of the "Do, Re, Mi" song (some German guys taught it to him on the last tour). It goes a little something like this:
Do, a beer, a German beer.
Ray, the guy who serves the drinks.
Me, the one I buy beer for.
Far, a long way to the bar.
So, I think I'll have a beer.
La, la la la la la la.
Tea, no thanks, I'll have a beer.
Do!
So then we all sang along...hilarious. Anyways...after that tour we headed off to see the saltmines. We actually crossed the border to Germany, and on the way we saw Hitler's house, and all the areas he developed during WWII. That was kinda creepy, but man, he did pick quite a beautiful location. I'd live there. So when we got to the saltmines we had to wear jumpsuits and take a little mini choo choo train (like the ones in the mall for little kids) into the mine, and then we got SLIDE down the shafts! We linked into groups of four and then held on tight and slid down the mine! It was sooo much fun...like being 6 years old again! And then we got see how salt was extracted from the earth, and learn about how salt used to be so valuable that it was used as money, and cool stuff like that. And then...we saw the salt lake. It looked like a mirror...I couldn't even tell it was water at first. It's this lake in the middle of the mine that is soooo salty (we got to taste it...yuck) but so incredibly crisp and clear. We took a boat across the lake, and they play a super sweet, but very corny, light show while we went across. And then after seeing some salt deposits, we took a finicular back up the mine, and the little choo choo train out. It felt like an educational DisneyLand experience. The jumpsuits totally sealed the deal. Plus, now I can say I really did dress up for Halloween!
So that was the end of our eurotrip...all that was left to do was to get back to florence. Seems easy enough, right?
Wrong. Although our flights were already booked, the train already settled, everything in order, there was obviously no way to avoide all glitches. The flying went smootly. We arrived in Milan at 8, and then had to take an hour bus ride from the airport to the train station. Duhn Duhn Duhn...disaster. When we got to the train station, the 10 train we planned on taking wasn't running. There's Italy for you...completely unreliable transportation system. So, in a frantic occurance of events the folloing took place:
We ran over to an internet cafe to look up our options.
1. Get comfy in the sketchy Milan train station, try to sleep (but not really, since we would have to watch our stuff, praying it wouldn't get stolen), and then catch an early train out. um...NO
2. Find a hotel within our budget (not likely) and then take the train at 5:30 the next morning.
or 3. Go back to the airport, one hour away, in a speeding taxi to get there by midnight in time to rent a car before they closed, proceed to drive 4 hours across Italy in the dead of the night, through fog and rain, and get back to florence at 4.
We went with option 3. Obviously! It was quite the adventure...but luckily it all worked out, and there were limited crazy Italian drivers on the road. We were perfectly safe, just very exhausted. I have never been so glad to get back to my crummy, mini twin size bed in Florence.
Woah...what a week. Quite a few stories, and so many great memories! I'm sure I've left out so many things, but there is no way to fit in everything. Now that I have been typing for the past hour, I am assuming this is wayyyy to long. So, enjoy...and I will post some pictures when I get a chance!
Day One: The clock screams 4:15 AM, and I am out of bed. We caught a 5 AM bus to Pisa, where we flew out to Paris. So far, smooth travels...remember that. After the quick hour flight, we caught a train to the metro station and then took the metro to out hotel in Paris. Unfortunately...we caught the wrong metro. 4 hours later...and finally we found the hotel. I suppose the fact that I spoke the best French out of our group didn't help, considering I only know bonjour, si vous ples, and merci. Maybe we should have brought a French guide? Well, it probably wouldn't have been so entertaining to take the easy way out! So after quite the log haul to find our hotel, we ventured back onto the subway and headed downtown. We saw all the usual sights...Eiffel Tower, the Lourve, Champs de Elysse, Arc di Triumph, Notre Dame, the Opera House, and a bunch of amazing churches. They were all so incredible. The Eiffle Tower is soooo tall...it's hard to imagine how man actually built that monstronsity. But then again, the same goes for the Notre Dame, and pretty much everything giant and amazing in Europe. WOW. My favorite place? I bet you can guess...The Opera House. O MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS I have never been inside a place that was so inspirational. I suddenly felt like I should just bust out an aria...but I'm pretty sure the people rehearsing wouldn't have appreciated that. This is the opera house that inspired The Phantom of the Opera...there actually is a lake underneath it...sooo coool, but you can't actually see the lake (it was put there when construction started for some sort of architectural purpose). Oh it was so beautiful...decorated all in gold and ruby red...just like you would imagine from hundreds of years ago. We saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre...she is quite small...and you can't even get very close to see her, so that was kind of a bummer. But the rest of Leonardo's collection was there...and those were awesome! And then of course we saw a bunch of other stuff that is famous...but not in comparison.
In my hope to write a shorter novel than this entry will already be, I'm just gonna let you fill in the details about the rest of Paris...except I must mention the FOOD. One day we decided to have a little French picnic, so I found a market, and we all got French baguettes and rotisserie chicken and fruit and cheese...and had a Parisian picnic under the Eiffel Tower! That was by far the best meal I ate...so cheap and so yummy. I also had some amazing apple crepes one day...and obviously we found a Mexican restaurant for dinner one night. Haha. It figures that I would find the one Mexican restaurant in Paris and decide to eat there. Oh, and I can't forget Angelina's and hot chocolate. We waited in line for an hour just to get seated at this cafe that had the most delicious hot chocolate I've ever tasted...it was milk chocolate and white chocolate mixed together...so creamy. yummm
Ok moving on...We got to the train station on Day Four of our European adventure...only to find out that our train tickets that were advertised online for 80 euro had decided to jump up to 150 euro. Ouch...my wallet took a hit after that. But it all turned out well, and thankfully we left just in time to avoid the giant snowstorm that hit Zurich one day later...we never would have made it to Lucerne. So after a four hour train ride, we took the bus to Erin's aunt's friend's house, and we stayed with her family. It was very nice to have a real bed to sleep in, a home cooked meal, and real people to spend time with! Annie (that's the friend) made us fondue the night we got in...it was so scrumptous. Oh, and we had carmel apples and some more hot cocoa...swiss style...for dessert. On Wednesday we bundled up to face the SNOW that had fallen overnight, and we ventured into Lucerne to explore the old town. Too bad we couldn't really see the mountains--the fog was thick, but Lucerne is right at the base of the Swiss Alps. I really would have wanted to go skiing, but there wasn't enough snow on the ground (or enough money in my wallet...) But we wandered the streets...the buildings are so pretty...painted and decorated in Medieval style. We saw the famous dying lion statue there...It's this sculpture of a giant lion, like 3 times life size, that is carved into the side of a mountain. It seems pretty random, but it was really cool. And then we went to a glacier museum and a mirror maze, which was quite entertaining, and very disorienting! After a quick stop at STARBUCKS (yes, starbucks...I have never been so happy to find one) we headed back to the bus and back to the house and back to the train station.
Night: Zurich Train Station: Dark, Cold, Scary. The adventures of the night train begin! Okay, so yes it was dark and cold, but scary? Not at all! That's probably because we got a 4 person cabin, so no strangers! And the conductor was super nice and became our best friend. He woke us up in the morning to make sure we didn't miss out stop in Slazburg. Not that we were actually sleeping in the first place...worst "mattress" I've ever slept on. So we got into Salzburg at 4:30 AM, ready to go...but apparently the town wasn't ready for us! It was dead...so we wandered over to our hotel (which turned out to be extrememly nice...4 stars...a great find by Olivia!). We hung out in the lobby for a couple hours, and then the manager was nice enough to let us check into our rooms at 7 AM...that's 6 hours earlier than we expected, and it was very nice to sleep for a few hours before facing the cold again. All day Thursday we just explored Salzburg. It was my second time there (since my choir trip senior year of high school)...so I split off from some off the other girls, and Kristen and I took an adventure of our own. First we explored the cemetery..yes I know that sounds like a creepo thing to do, but it is so beautiful and peaceful there...and we ventured up throught the catacombs in the side of the mountain. That was neat. Then we took a finicular up to the top of the mountain and explored the ancient castle walls. The view was gorgeous...it ended up clearing up by the time we got to the top, so you could see all the Alps and the hills and pastures, and the entire city spread out below. We couldn't stop taking pictures. We also wandered around a marionette museum while we were up there...that was silly. Kristen and I attempted to work our own little show. It's much harder than you would think to move those suckers around! After a few hours and some more hot chocolate, we went back down he mountain and found a great restaurant. We had soup and crisp apple strudel! We felt quite Austrian. Then we walked around the town, eventually ending at our hotel across the river. Early to bed, and early to rise for the Sound of Music tour! My halloween consisted of a bus full of random people singing along to all the sound of music songs and seeing all the places where the movie was shot. That was fun...even though I had seen most of the sights before, our tour guide was hilarious. He asked a little boy on our bus why cows wear bells...and the little boy answered, "Well, it's because their horns don't work!" Haha...he was pretty clever. Oh, and then between sites, our tour guide decided it would be a great idea to teach the entire bus a new rendition of the "Do, Re, Mi" song (some German guys taught it to him on the last tour). It goes a little something like this:
Do, a beer, a German beer.
Ray, the guy who serves the drinks.
Me, the one I buy beer for.
Far, a long way to the bar.
So, I think I'll have a beer.
La, la la la la la la.
Tea, no thanks, I'll have a beer.
Do!
So then we all sang along...hilarious. Anyways...after that tour we headed off to see the saltmines. We actually crossed the border to Germany, and on the way we saw Hitler's house, and all the areas he developed during WWII. That was kinda creepy, but man, he did pick quite a beautiful location. I'd live there. So when we got to the saltmines we had to wear jumpsuits and take a little mini choo choo train (like the ones in the mall for little kids) into the mine, and then we got SLIDE down the shafts! We linked into groups of four and then held on tight and slid down the mine! It was sooo much fun...like being 6 years old again! And then we got see how salt was extracted from the earth, and learn about how salt used to be so valuable that it was used as money, and cool stuff like that. And then...we saw the salt lake. It looked like a mirror...I couldn't even tell it was water at first. It's this lake in the middle of the mine that is soooo salty (we got to taste it...yuck) but so incredibly crisp and clear. We took a boat across the lake, and they play a super sweet, but very corny, light show while we went across. And then after seeing some salt deposits, we took a finicular back up the mine, and the little choo choo train out. It felt like an educational DisneyLand experience. The jumpsuits totally sealed the deal. Plus, now I can say I really did dress up for Halloween!
So that was the end of our eurotrip...all that was left to do was to get back to florence. Seems easy enough, right?
Wrong. Although our flights were already booked, the train already settled, everything in order, there was obviously no way to avoide all glitches. The flying went smootly. We arrived in Milan at 8, and then had to take an hour bus ride from the airport to the train station. Duhn Duhn Duhn...disaster. When we got to the train station, the 10 train we planned on taking wasn't running. There's Italy for you...completely unreliable transportation system. So, in a frantic occurance of events the folloing took place:
We ran over to an internet cafe to look up our options.
1. Get comfy in the sketchy Milan train station, try to sleep (but not really, since we would have to watch our stuff, praying it wouldn't get stolen), and then catch an early train out. um...NO
2. Find a hotel within our budget (not likely) and then take the train at 5:30 the next morning.
or 3. Go back to the airport, one hour away, in a speeding taxi to get there by midnight in time to rent a car before they closed, proceed to drive 4 hours across Italy in the dead of the night, through fog and rain, and get back to florence at 4.
We went with option 3. Obviously! It was quite the adventure...but luckily it all worked out, and there were limited crazy Italian drivers on the road. We were perfectly safe, just very exhausted. I have never been so glad to get back to my crummy, mini twin size bed in Florence.
Woah...what a week. Quite a few stories, and so many great memories! I'm sure I've left out so many things, but there is no way to fit in everything. Now that I have been typing for the past hour, I am assuming this is wayyyy to long. So, enjoy...and I will post some pictures when I get a chance!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
midterms and muggers
Hip hip hooray midterms are over! Well sorta...I do have an Italian exam tomorrow, but I have decided that studying for that would be overrated and totally not worth it. I have studied so much in the past week that my brain is on overdrive and there is no space left for new information. Today I had my art history test, so I stayed up to the wee hours of 4am last night cramming...and I'm pretty sure it paid off! Therefore, I decided to take a 4 hour nap today after the test, and then I got Mexican food for dinner. I am so excited about the place I found. I got nachos and a steak burrito for 6 euro! And is was super delicious...so I'll probably go there for lunch tomorrow. haha. Then after dinner, I wandered around the corner and found a bar that has American coffee!!!! I have never been so excited to have a latte. yummm. So today was filled with wonderfully un-Italian food and culture, and it was so great!
But then I had a bit of a freak situation...Lauren went to walk over to our school around 7 tonight to print out some papers, and while we were walking we almost got mugged! A guy came up behind us on his bike, and we thought he was going to pass us, but then he grabbed Lauren's arm and pushed up against the wall and started shaking us, screaming "le borse, le borse" (give me your purses)! I was so freaked out, I started screaming at the top of my lungs...something along the lines of "get the hell away from us, leave us alone...ahhhhhh." It seemed to work...he hopped on his bike and rode away laughing, like it was some kind of joke. jackass. I think he realized that my super screachy scream was calling attention in our direction...there were people like 50 feet away from us (who didn't even react, might I add...how horrible)! So anyway, we are totally fine, but just really shaken up. And now I never want to leave the apartment past 6pm. Especially since we were together...I will not ever go anywhere alone again!
So much for having an exciting, uplifiting story to tell you all. midterms and muggers...ugh. I'm sure I will come back next week with exciting adventures from France, Switzerland, and Austria. Saturday marks the beginning of fall break, and I have never been more pumped! Which means...I won't have my computer all next week, but I'll be able to access e-mail if anyone is desperate to talk to me =) Ciao for now!
But then I had a bit of a freak situation...Lauren went to walk over to our school around 7 tonight to print out some papers, and while we were walking we almost got mugged! A guy came up behind us on his bike, and we thought he was going to pass us, but then he grabbed Lauren's arm and pushed up against the wall and started shaking us, screaming "le borse, le borse" (give me your purses)! I was so freaked out, I started screaming at the top of my lungs...something along the lines of "get the hell away from us, leave us alone...ahhhhhh." It seemed to work...he hopped on his bike and rode away laughing, like it was some kind of joke. jackass. I think he realized that my super screachy scream was calling attention in our direction...there were people like 50 feet away from us (who didn't even react, might I add...how horrible)! So anyway, we are totally fine, but just really shaken up. And now I never want to leave the apartment past 6pm. Especially since we were together...I will not ever go anywhere alone again!
So much for having an exciting, uplifiting story to tell you all. midterms and muggers...ugh. I'm sure I will come back next week with exciting adventures from France, Switzerland, and Austria. Saturday marks the beginning of fall break, and I have never been more pumped! Which means...I won't have my computer all next week, but I'll be able to access e-mail if anyone is desperate to talk to me =) Ciao for now!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Time to buckle down and stress out
Sorry that I haven't updated the blog in almost 2 weeks...I had two papers due last week, and now midterms start tomorrow. These classes were easy sailing until now! With four tests in the next three days, I really don't have any exciting news other than the extensive amounts of studying that I have done. I guess I could tell you about the really cool library that I spend a lot of time at. The British Institute here has an English library that is filled with super old books...it even smells old in there. The library is so neat though. There are ladders everywhere that slide around, like in Beauty and the Beast! I've had to climb up a few times to get some books down, which has proven to be quite difficult. I always feel like I'm gonna fall once I have all the books and I have to go back down the ladder. But I really just want to break out into song every time I get up there, just like Belle! I'm not sure the librarians would be too fond of that outburst...
Other than that, I guess I have taken a few day trips the past couple weekends. I took the bus to Siena last Saturday. It's a town about an hour south of Florence. I went with two other people in the program, and we just explored all day. I took a bunch of pictures, did some sketching, and had a SIX EURO CAPPUCCINO! It was ridiculously ginormous! But very delicious, and worth it to get to sit on a balcony overlooking the city.
Then yesterday I went to Perugia for the international Chocolate Festival. Ahhhhh! I have never seen so much chocolate. I bought a ChocoCard for 5 euro and got free samples at a bunch of the booths. I sampled some chocolate yogurt, liqueur, sausage, bananas...all sorts of interesting things. They even had chocolate pasta! Liz and stood in line for 45 minutes to get our famously delicious Perugian hot chocolate. The booth had this horrible jingle (in English) that kept playing over, and over, and over. So for 45 minutes i listened to..."when the rain is falling and it's cold outside, there's a magical feeling that you just can't hide...." and so on. The melody will forever be engrained in my memory. BUT that was without a doubt the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted. It was more like hot pudding--you had to eat it with a spoon! Then we saw the world's largest chocolate cow...lifesize! Don't worry, I got a picture with it in my Milka chocolate cow headband. The most amusing part was...after you left the hut where that giant cow was, the next booth was this lady doing crazy exercise dancing. She had fast, loud, out of control music blaring, and she was giving an excercise class! I guess if you are planning on eating as much chocolate as I did it would be in your best interest to participate. It was hilarious! In Italian...fast movement...belly full of chocolate. It could have been disastrous.
So now I'm sitting in my bed, stuffing my face with chocolate to overcome my depression from studying. It's not working. But by Wednesday I will be done, and headed off to Paris, Switzerland, and Austria for my fall break! Until then, I miss you all! And...if anyone feels the need to send me anything American to pull me out of my homesickness...I can always send you my address =)
Other than that, I guess I have taken a few day trips the past couple weekends. I took the bus to Siena last Saturday. It's a town about an hour south of Florence. I went with two other people in the program, and we just explored all day. I took a bunch of pictures, did some sketching, and had a SIX EURO CAPPUCCINO! It was ridiculously ginormous! But very delicious, and worth it to get to sit on a balcony overlooking the city.
Then yesterday I went to Perugia for the international Chocolate Festival. Ahhhhh! I have never seen so much chocolate. I bought a ChocoCard for 5 euro and got free samples at a bunch of the booths. I sampled some chocolate yogurt, liqueur, sausage, bananas...all sorts of interesting things. They even had chocolate pasta! Liz and stood in line for 45 minutes to get our famously delicious Perugian hot chocolate. The booth had this horrible jingle (in English) that kept playing over, and over, and over. So for 45 minutes i listened to..."when the rain is falling and it's cold outside, there's a magical feeling that you just can't hide...." and so on. The melody will forever be engrained in my memory. BUT that was without a doubt the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted. It was more like hot pudding--you had to eat it with a spoon! Then we saw the world's largest chocolate cow...lifesize! Don't worry, I got a picture with it in my Milka chocolate cow headband. The most amusing part was...after you left the hut where that giant cow was, the next booth was this lady doing crazy exercise dancing. She had fast, loud, out of control music blaring, and she was giving an excercise class! I guess if you are planning on eating as much chocolate as I did it would be in your best interest to participate. It was hilarious! In Italian...fast movement...belly full of chocolate. It could have been disastrous.
So now I'm sitting in my bed, stuffing my face with chocolate to overcome my depression from studying. It's not working. But by Wednesday I will be done, and headed off to Paris, Switzerland, and Austria for my fall break! Until then, I miss you all! And...if anyone feels the need to send me anything American to pull me out of my homesickness...I can always send you my address =)
Monday, October 6, 2008
pictures, pictures, and more pictures
Okay so the picture formatting here is messed up and I can't figure it out, so the descriptions might not match up, but I tried!
Sorento market and talking on the audio phone
Pompeii on the left, and that crazy embalmed doggie
Hangin' out on some ruins! And then a great view of Mt. Vesuvius
Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum at night...
...and the Colosseum from the inside, next to the Ancient Roman Forum
Our wooden boat in Capri...and the great caves inside the White Grotto
________
Swimming in the Mediterranean, and the magical glow of the Blue Grotto...oooaahhhh
________
Ahoy! Captain Olivia and the Spanish Steps
Hangin' out on some ruins! And then a great view of Mt. Vesuvius
Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum at night...
...and the Colosseum from the inside, next to the Ancient Roman Forum
Our wooden boat in Capri...and the great caves inside the White Grotto
________
Swimming in the Mediterranean, and the magical glow of the Blue Grotto...oooaahhhh
________
Ahoy! Captain Olivia and the Spanish Steps
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Capri, Pompeii, Rome
So it's been a while since I last filled you all in on my adventures. The past 10 days have been jam packed with so much stuff I don't even know where to begin! I left on Friday morning for Sorento. We took the train through Rome and Naples (which is quite possibly the dirtiest city I have ever seen), and then we switched trains to get to Sorento. It was a good 5 hour trip, and then we checked into out hostel, which was horrible...We crammed six people into a room that would comfortably fit two. The bathroom was so small you could literally take a shower while brushing your teeth on the toilet. How fun! Oh, and you had to ask for hot water (which didn't even really get hot and only lasted for 15 minutes at a time). Then once you turned on the water in the shower, the bottom would fill up so quickly that you could really only have the water running for three minutes before the entire bathroom would start flooding. So it was interesting, to say the least. But, in the end it worked out, and we only really slept in there because there was so much stuff to do. Sorento was such a great little town. There were so many shops, and the city is right on the water, so the views were just marvelous! I went running while we were there one day...which apparently is a rare sight because so many people gave me the strangest looks like they had never seen anything like it before. I even had a police officer walk across the street, pull out his camera phone, and take a picture of me while I was running! I'm sure that was a nice shot...my face bright red and all sweaty...attractive.
The night scene was quite entertaining in Sorento. Of course, we managed to find the only Irish pub there. The bartenders were from Ireland and the whole place was packed with Irish people that were there for a wedding. It was so much fun! All these old Irish men were doing a jig and singing horribly to American songs. It was quite a sight. Later we found a disco dance place, and I got to go behind the bar! I met the owner, and he took me back there and taught me how to make some drinks...so I was bartender for a few minutes! Everyone was pretty jealous...but it was so crowded in there I just got stressed out from all the people. So that was Sorento.
Saturday morning we all got up early and took the train to Pompeii. We just happened to show up on the one day when admission was free....how lucky! So we got those super sweet nerdy audio guides, and we walked around all day looking like we were talking on play phones. So fun! We got to see Mt. Vesuvius, the only active volcano in Europe today. And the ruins were magnificent. I didn't think Pompeii would be that big, but it seriously was a good sized city. It's incredible to think that people started building that city over 2100 years ago! What amazes me even more is that it was totally covered up when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, so it was all discovered underground and there are so many things in tact! We saw a bunch of embalmed bodies...which was cool, but also kinda creepy. We even saw an embalmed dog! The positions that all those bodies were preserved in were so strange, too. I just can't believe that there are actually bones of people preserved from so long ago. But then again, I guess we do have bones of dinosaurs...and they are really really old. So Pompeii was amazing, but so was CAPRI!
On Sunday morning 18 of us took a ferry to Capri, and we took a cruise around the island in a tiny little authentic wooden Italian boat. It was incredible. I have never seen water that clear and bluish turquoise. There were places where the water was so clear you could see the bottom...it looked like it was only about 10 feet deep, but really it was 60 feet deep! The best part about the whole thing: we got to go swimming! We jumped off cliffs...well, sorta. I jumped off some rocks that were maybe 10 feet up, but some of the guys dove off the rocks a good 60 feet up! The water was so warm, but very salty, and very painful in my eyes. Lauren got stung by a jellyfish while we were swimming and then her arm swelled up. But she wouldn't let anyone pee on it. I wonder if that really works...? Ooo, I also got to be the captain for a while. Our boat captain man let me take control and drive around--that was super exciting until the giant waves started coming. I definietly was not feelin' that! We got to see all the grottos (cave like things), and there was one, called the Blue grotto, that you had to take a mini boat into. Only three people in each boat, and you had to duck down to get through this tiny space to enter the cave. But o my gosh...the water inside glowed in the dark. It was such a bright flourescent blue, and the only thing you could see was the water, other than that it was pitch black. It kinda reminded me of the pirate ride at Disneyland. WOW. I'm gonna post a bunch of pictures so you can see how amazing it was. The whole time all I could think about was how all my friends at school are probably studying right now, and here I am, living the tough life on my cruise around Capri.
So after one of the most movie-esque weekends I will ever have, I headed off to spend the week in Roma. The train was 2 hours, and we went straght to the Colosseum when we got there. WOAH talk about old. That structure is the most incredible man-made thing I have ever seen. It amazes me that wayyyy back in the second century there was enough technology to build such a thing. It was HUGE. But really, there wasn't a whole lot to do except just look at it, so we were only there for about 20 minutes. Then we moved on to the ancient Roman forum. I saw a bunch of the ruins of the palaces and buildings that Caesar constructed. The ruins were kept in tact very well, and it was interesting to see the way cities were set up way back then. Every church and temple had a specific purpose, and there were like 40 of them! We then went on a walking tour of the rest of Rome. We went to the Pantheon (which is NOT to be confused with the PARTHENON) We also stopped at the Spanish Steps and Trevie Fountain, and threw in our three coins each for good luck! That fountain is so ginormous and sooooo pretty. And sooooo crowded. I have never seen so many tourists in one place! For once...I was one of them!
I had my cultural history class on Tuesday morning on Futurism and Fascism in Italy, and we went to the modern art museum to see a bunch of stuff from the 18th and 19th century. It's funny to me that the 18th and 19th centuries are considered modern...but I guess compared to how old the city of Rome actually is, that is pretty comtemporary. I personally am not a big fan of modern art, but there was one artist, Giacomo Bella, that I really liked. His earlier stuff was pretty impressionistic, almost like Seurat style, but his pointillism was made up of dots that were all patterned in different ways. His paintings were beautiful, and then it was really cool to see how his style drastically changed when Fascism came around. Looked like two completely different artists. Later that afternoon we went to the Borghese gallery. That's where all the famous Bernini scultures are, including his version of the David. I could have looked at those sculptures for hours. It's been really fun going to all these museums with people who know a lot about the work because it makes such a difference when you understand the stories behind them. Usually I wouldn't really pay a whole lot of attention to sculpture, but taking this drawing class has totally changed my perspective on absolutely everything!
Speaking of sculptures, we had a class trip to the Vatican and St. Peter's on Thursday. There are sooooo many phenomenal pieces in the Vatican museums. I got to see the Pieta, Laocoon and Torso Belvedere sculptures there, which are truly the most intricate, incredible displays of human anatomy I have seen. The way the muscles are sculpted are so realistic...I was in awe! But then...the Sistine Chapel...I could have spent a lifetime in there just staring at all the frescoes. It is so incredible to me that Michelangelo painted the entire ceiling in just 2 years. The thing is so immense it made me dizzy to look up for that long. But wow! I have never felt so small. And then we went into St. Peter's...which is the most incredible cathedral I have ever seen. (And I can say I have been to some very amazing cathedrals). It was giant...just like everything seems to be that I am describing here...ha ha. But it was so cool to think that I was in the same place where the pope lives and works! Everything was so perfectly placed, and the lighting in the whole place was so calm and quiet. It was like a dream. I don't think there is any way for me to really describe how incredible all of these places are, except for WOW WOW WOW!
So that's what I did for the past week, and now I am back to Florence with no plans for the next few weekends. I'm looking forward to relaxing. Not having to walk 5 miles a day will be a big relief. I really appreciate how small Florence is in comparison to Rome after having to walk at least 5 miles everyday. It wears you out! So I will be sure to post some pictures up in the next few days...even the illegal ones that some of my friends snuck inside the Sistine Chapel. Maybe then it will be just a little easier to imagine the incredible-ness. Ciao for now!
The night scene was quite entertaining in Sorento. Of course, we managed to find the only Irish pub there. The bartenders were from Ireland and the whole place was packed with Irish people that were there for a wedding. It was so much fun! All these old Irish men were doing a jig and singing horribly to American songs. It was quite a sight. Later we found a disco dance place, and I got to go behind the bar! I met the owner, and he took me back there and taught me how to make some drinks...so I was bartender for a few minutes! Everyone was pretty jealous...but it was so crowded in there I just got stressed out from all the people. So that was Sorento.
Saturday morning we all got up early and took the train to Pompeii. We just happened to show up on the one day when admission was free....how lucky! So we got those super sweet nerdy audio guides, and we walked around all day looking like we were talking on play phones. So fun! We got to see Mt. Vesuvius, the only active volcano in Europe today. And the ruins were magnificent. I didn't think Pompeii would be that big, but it seriously was a good sized city. It's incredible to think that people started building that city over 2100 years ago! What amazes me even more is that it was totally covered up when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, so it was all discovered underground and there are so many things in tact! We saw a bunch of embalmed bodies...which was cool, but also kinda creepy. We even saw an embalmed dog! The positions that all those bodies were preserved in were so strange, too. I just can't believe that there are actually bones of people preserved from so long ago. But then again, I guess we do have bones of dinosaurs...and they are really really old. So Pompeii was amazing, but so was CAPRI!
On Sunday morning 18 of us took a ferry to Capri, and we took a cruise around the island in a tiny little authentic wooden Italian boat. It was incredible. I have never seen water that clear and bluish turquoise. There were places where the water was so clear you could see the bottom...it looked like it was only about 10 feet deep, but really it was 60 feet deep! The best part about the whole thing: we got to go swimming! We jumped off cliffs...well, sorta. I jumped off some rocks that were maybe 10 feet up, but some of the guys dove off the rocks a good 60 feet up! The water was so warm, but very salty, and very painful in my eyes. Lauren got stung by a jellyfish while we were swimming and then her arm swelled up. But she wouldn't let anyone pee on it. I wonder if that really works...? Ooo, I also got to be the captain for a while. Our boat captain man let me take control and drive around--that was super exciting until the giant waves started coming. I definietly was not feelin' that! We got to see all the grottos (cave like things), and there was one, called the Blue grotto, that you had to take a mini boat into. Only three people in each boat, and you had to duck down to get through this tiny space to enter the cave. But o my gosh...the water inside glowed in the dark. It was such a bright flourescent blue, and the only thing you could see was the water, other than that it was pitch black. It kinda reminded me of the pirate ride at Disneyland. WOW. I'm gonna post a bunch of pictures so you can see how amazing it was. The whole time all I could think about was how all my friends at school are probably studying right now, and here I am, living the tough life on my cruise around Capri.
So after one of the most movie-esque weekends I will ever have, I headed off to spend the week in Roma. The train was 2 hours, and we went straght to the Colosseum when we got there. WOAH talk about old. That structure is the most incredible man-made thing I have ever seen. It amazes me that wayyyy back in the second century there was enough technology to build such a thing. It was HUGE. But really, there wasn't a whole lot to do except just look at it, so we were only there for about 20 minutes. Then we moved on to the ancient Roman forum. I saw a bunch of the ruins of the palaces and buildings that Caesar constructed. The ruins were kept in tact very well, and it was interesting to see the way cities were set up way back then. Every church and temple had a specific purpose, and there were like 40 of them! We then went on a walking tour of the rest of Rome. We went to the Pantheon (which is NOT to be confused with the PARTHENON) We also stopped at the Spanish Steps and Trevie Fountain, and threw in our three coins each for good luck! That fountain is so ginormous and sooooo pretty. And sooooo crowded. I have never seen so many tourists in one place! For once...I was one of them!
I had my cultural history class on Tuesday morning on Futurism and Fascism in Italy, and we went to the modern art museum to see a bunch of stuff from the 18th and 19th century. It's funny to me that the 18th and 19th centuries are considered modern...but I guess compared to how old the city of Rome actually is, that is pretty comtemporary. I personally am not a big fan of modern art, but there was one artist, Giacomo Bella, that I really liked. His earlier stuff was pretty impressionistic, almost like Seurat style, but his pointillism was made up of dots that were all patterned in different ways. His paintings were beautiful, and then it was really cool to see how his style drastically changed when Fascism came around. Looked like two completely different artists. Later that afternoon we went to the Borghese gallery. That's where all the famous Bernini scultures are, including his version of the David. I could have looked at those sculptures for hours. It's been really fun going to all these museums with people who know a lot about the work because it makes such a difference when you understand the stories behind them. Usually I wouldn't really pay a whole lot of attention to sculpture, but taking this drawing class has totally changed my perspective on absolutely everything!
Speaking of sculptures, we had a class trip to the Vatican and St. Peter's on Thursday. There are sooooo many phenomenal pieces in the Vatican museums. I got to see the Pieta, Laocoon and Torso Belvedere sculptures there, which are truly the most intricate, incredible displays of human anatomy I have seen. The way the muscles are sculpted are so realistic...I was in awe! But then...the Sistine Chapel...I could have spent a lifetime in there just staring at all the frescoes. It is so incredible to me that Michelangelo painted the entire ceiling in just 2 years. The thing is so immense it made me dizzy to look up for that long. But wow! I have never felt so small. And then we went into St. Peter's...which is the most incredible cathedral I have ever seen. (And I can say I have been to some very amazing cathedrals). It was giant...just like everything seems to be that I am describing here...ha ha. But it was so cool to think that I was in the same place where the pope lives and works! Everything was so perfectly placed, and the lighting in the whole place was so calm and quiet. It was like a dream. I don't think there is any way for me to really describe how incredible all of these places are, except for WOW WOW WOW!
So that's what I did for the past week, and now I am back to Florence with no plans for the next few weekends. I'm looking forward to relaxing. Not having to walk 5 miles a day will be a big relief. I really appreciate how small Florence is in comparison to Rome after having to walk at least 5 miles everyday. It wears you out! So I will be sure to post some pictures up in the next few days...even the illegal ones that some of my friends snuck inside the Sistine Chapel. Maybe then it will be just a little easier to imagine the incredible-ness. Ciao for now!
Monday, September 22, 2008
MAFIA
For the most part, this past week was pretty uneventful. Classes are getting much much harder...and since they only meet once a week, I have TONS of reading to do. I just finished reading 200 pages of the most boring art history ever written. But I decided that it will all be worth to see the Sistine Chapel ceiling when I'm in Rome next week!
So far, my drawing class is sooooo incredible, and definitely my favorite! We meet for six hours once a week at different places around Florence. We've gone to the Uffizi twice and the Boboli Gardens, and we just sit around and draw for six hours...whatever you want. It's so wonderful, and the teacher is super laid back and hilarious! Last week I was working on a drawing of a statue of Venus, and he came by to look over everything. He said it was great...but I should do something else...something more entertaining. So, he made me draw the backside of a sculpture from an awkward angle...so now I have a drawing of horse's ass in my sketchbook...really nice. The best part is, for my homework, I just have to find something I like in Florence and draw some more! so fun =)
Oh, and, in my cultural history class today we learned about the MAFIA! I found out that the mafia only really exists in Sicily, and there are other organized crime groups all over Italy. The biggest, sketchiest, most dangerous, most powerful group is called the Camorra, from Naples. It's made up of a group of about 40 families that have been around since the 1800s, and they control pretty much the entire economy through illegal and legal businesses...their biggest industry: cocaine. They control over 80% of the cocaine trade in Italy, 50% in Europe, 30% of the global economy. woah...and the coolest part is, it's totally a current issue. A guy in Barcelona, Marino Santafede, got arrested for his involvement in the Camorra and the cocaine trade with South America a few days ago...he had 24,000 euro in his pocket when the police picked him up. So i decided that maybe that's why people deal coke...apparently, in Florence alone, 1 million euros worth of cocaine is dealt every week.
Okay, enough on the details of drug running operations...I was just very intrigued. I didn't think that the mafia was still actually around and active!
So yes, classes have turned out to be quite interesting. I feel like I'm finally settling into Florence. I can actually go for a walk without getting lost. Liz and I went exploring today and found a bunch of super authentic Italian markets with fresh fruit and veggies and cheese and meat! Everything is so much cheaper when you don't have to buy it in the middle of downtown where all the tourists are. I'm ready for the tourist season to die down...they are everywhere...all the time.
This week I'm headed to the Amalfi coast and exploring Pompeii. Then we spend a week in Rome with our professors. We have visits scheduled to the Vatican and the Colosseum, and all the fancy Roman places, so it should be a busy week! I still can't believe that I will get to see everything in person...welcome to Italy! I can't wait!
So far, my drawing class is sooooo incredible, and definitely my favorite! We meet for six hours once a week at different places around Florence. We've gone to the Uffizi twice and the Boboli Gardens, and we just sit around and draw for six hours...whatever you want. It's so wonderful, and the teacher is super laid back and hilarious! Last week I was working on a drawing of a statue of Venus, and he came by to look over everything. He said it was great...but I should do something else...something more entertaining. So, he made me draw the backside of a sculpture from an awkward angle...so now I have a drawing of horse's ass in my sketchbook...really nice. The best part is, for my homework, I just have to find something I like in Florence and draw some more! so fun =)
Oh, and, in my cultural history class today we learned about the MAFIA! I found out that the mafia only really exists in Sicily, and there are other organized crime groups all over Italy. The biggest, sketchiest, most dangerous, most powerful group is called the Camorra, from Naples. It's made up of a group of about 40 families that have been around since the 1800s, and they control pretty much the entire economy through illegal and legal businesses...their biggest industry: cocaine. They control over 80% of the cocaine trade in Italy, 50% in Europe, 30% of the global economy. woah...and the coolest part is, it's totally a current issue. A guy in Barcelona, Marino Santafede, got arrested for his involvement in the Camorra and the cocaine trade with South America a few days ago...he had 24,000 euro in his pocket when the police picked him up. So i decided that maybe that's why people deal coke...apparently, in Florence alone, 1 million euros worth of cocaine is dealt every week.
Okay, enough on the details of drug running operations...I was just very intrigued. I didn't think that the mafia was still actually around and active!
So yes, classes have turned out to be quite interesting. I feel like I'm finally settling into Florence. I can actually go for a walk without getting lost. Liz and I went exploring today and found a bunch of super authentic Italian markets with fresh fruit and veggies and cheese and meat! Everything is so much cheaper when you don't have to buy it in the middle of downtown where all the tourists are. I'm ready for the tourist season to die down...they are everywhere...all the time.
This week I'm headed to the Amalfi coast and exploring Pompeii. Then we spend a week in Rome with our professors. We have visits scheduled to the Vatican and the Colosseum, and all the fancy Roman places, so it should be a busy week! I still can't believe that I will get to see everything in person...welcome to Italy! I can't wait!
Monday, September 15, 2008
7 hours of hiking and finally, the beach
With the first week of classes over, this weekend marked my first adventure outside Tuscany. But it all started in Florence at La Tavola, where I went to a cooking class! I learned how to make gnocchi, eggplant, and...tramisu!...and the chef said I should become a cook. The tiramisu was surprisingly easy to make, and sooo incredibly delicious. Also, really awesome, I ordered at a restaurant yesterday with a bunch of people and the waiter asked if I was Italian! My response: "...um no, do I look Italian?!" And he said, "...um no, but your accent is very authentic." We had a pretty indepth conversation, considering I've only been here 10 days, about studying here and what else I was doing. So apparently I can totally pass for a native speaker...woah!
After my cooking adventures, I headed off to Cinque Terre for the rest of the weekend. Cinque Terre ("Five Lands") is on the eastern coast of Italy, and is made up of five coastal towns that overlook the ocean from super high cliffs. We stayed at a hostel in the first town, Riomaggiore. You can either take a train between the five towns, or...you can hike. And hike we did! For SEVEN HOURS. It started out easy...too easy. The trail was paved, there were handrails. No problems. But then...you get past the second town and go on to Corniglia. The dreadful hike into Corniglia finishes with a climb of 368 stairs. But these are not your regular stairs...they're wayyy steep and, mind you, you have to climb them after hiking all uphill. And that's only the beggining. After Corniglia you go on to Vernazza and Montorossa. These were my favorite towns. We stopped for lunch under an explosion of giant colorful umbrellas (I ate octopus!) and watched sail boats and awkward men in tiny speedos play around in the water. But then we had to hike again. This was worse than that hike to Piazza di Michelangiolo (which now seems like a short stroll). And like that hike, I have never climbed up a ski mountain...but I imagine that this was much, much worse. And, like that other hike, it was hot. And it would randomly start pooring, but the rain was also hot. So...I was hot. Story of Italy: it's hot. 
But we finally made it to Montorosso and laid on the beach and relaxed...for about 20 minutes...until it was time to go back...ALL THE WAY BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED. I thought I was tired before. But to do it all over again...my body hated me yesterday. It definitely didn't help that I got attacked by some monstrous beetle type bug. I have a bruise where it bit me...and it feels like I got a shot. I've decided that there is really nothing I can do to avoid the bugs here...they just really like me! So in the end, we finally made it back to our hostel and ate dinner by the water, and totally passed out. The weekend was amazing. I seriously think Cinque Terre tops my list as one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. But there's no way I am ready to hike those 16 miles uphill any time soon!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
No big deal...just a regular Sunday afternoon in Italy
I'm sitting here in my apartment...it's 5 am and I'm watching the Bronocos on my computer! Oh what I'll do for some American football. Too bad I can only see little x's moving across the screen. But what a great game!!!
Anyways...Yesterday Liz, Erin, Lauren, Kristen and I went horseback riding in Tuscany, followed by dinner and wine tasting at a Tuscan castle from the middle ages. O my gosh, it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life! My horse was ginormous...apparently I was voted the most experienced rider of anyone there, so I got paired up with a monstrous horse. The ride lasted about 2 hours through Tuscany, and we saw a bunch of villas and vineyards, and then we ended at the castle for dinner...which seems to last about 3 hours no matter what you do. But then I guess it does take a while to eat a 5 course meal! Speaking of which...on Friday we had a welcome dinner for our program that took literally five and a half hours! We ate so much food, but you don't even get full because because it takes so long for the food to come out. Plus, you walk so much in this city that you're always hungry.
We hiked up to the Piazza di San Michelangelo, which is at the top of the city. It's a good three miles I'd say from our apartment...but uphill the entire way. Like climbing up a ski mountain uphill...and it was so hot and humid...but the view from the top was incredible! You can see the entire city, and the sun was setting by the time we got there...ah, how wonderful!
Other than that, classes started today, so I'm on my way to learning Italian. That class meets for 6 hours a week, same with my drawing class. Then I have 2 other classes about Italian culture and history, so it should be exciting. But a lot of work...18 hours of credit! Well, I'm back to bed for an hour before I have to get to class. Miss you all!
Anyways...Yesterday Liz, Erin, Lauren, Kristen and I went horseback riding in Tuscany, followed by dinner and wine tasting at a Tuscan castle from the middle ages. O my gosh, it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life! My horse was ginormous...apparently I was voted the most experienced rider of anyone there, so I got paired up with a monstrous horse. The ride lasted about 2 hours through Tuscany, and we saw a bunch of villas and vineyards, and then we ended at the castle for dinner...which seems to last about 3 hours no matter what you do. But then I guess it does take a while to eat a 5 course meal! Speaking of which...on Friday we had a welcome dinner for our program that took literally five and a half hours! We ate so much food, but you don't even get full because because it takes so long for the food to come out. Plus, you walk so much in this city that you're always hungry.
We hiked up to the Piazza di San Michelangelo, which is at the top of the city. It's a good three miles I'd say from our apartment...but uphill the entire way. Like climbing up a ski mountain uphill...and it was so hot and humid...but the view from the top was incredible! You can see the entire city, and the sun was setting by the time we got there...ah, how wonderful!Other than that, classes started today, so I'm on my way to learning Italian. That class meets for 6 hours a week, same with my drawing class. Then I have 2 other classes about Italian culture and history, so it should be exciting. But a lot of work...18 hours of credit! Well, I'm back to bed for an hour before I have to get to class. Miss you all!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
mosquito mayhem
My first night out in the city was filled with Irish pubs, karaoke, an Italian discoteca, and tons of mosquitos. I never thought a mosquito could be so sneaky...but you can't even feel the suckers biting you out here. I literally have 12 bites on one leg alone. The worst part is they swell up super huge before you even know that they're there. And then once you see them, you obviously have to start scratching away. Then you start feeling like mosquitos are attacking you all over, but it's just your imagination. AH! I'm just hoping that they will disappear with the hot weather.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Day One!
After what felt like a lifetime on airplanes and taxis, I finally got to Florence this morning at 10am. Now, nearly 12 hours later, I am surprisingly still awake and running on some hidden source of energy! The city is amazing...our apartment is literally an eight minute walk from the city center...where the Duomo is, and so many other amazing sites. There are carts everywhere filled with purses and scarves, and all sorts of other things to distract me form saving my money. Though, so far, I've only spent money on a bottle of water that turned out to be disappointingly disgusting because it was sparkling and bubbly. gross... Then my friend Lauren and I nearly got attacked by some wacko man in the middle of the square. Apparently he thought it was funny to scream and run around at the top of his lungs and try to catch us...not too funny, but our very first strange experience. Moving on to the grocery store...not really the same stuff there either. The milk is...warm. I don't do warm milk. Which means I won't be eating cereal for the next four months. Truly a tragedy, and major letdown in my breakfast options. So for the most part, Florence has been great so far. It's super hot and super humid, but probably one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.
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