few pics

 

(1) Me and some friends hanging out in the Roman ruins in Fiesole (I'm the one in green).

(2) The top painting is the one I bought at the wine festival last weekend.

(3) Hanging out on the bridge overlooking the Ponte Vecchio.

one week to go...

Disclaimer: I’m sitting down to right this super hungry and waiting for dinner so sorry if it comes out a little less than poetic. haha.

So I have officially been away from the states for 2 weeks now. It seems like so much longer when I stop to think about all the things I have done in Florence, friendships I have made and traveling we’ve done. Its been great to be able to cram so much into these couple of weeks here, but good to know we’re moving on to a more regular schedule in Parma too.

I last posted after my best day in Italy so far, and that title still stands. Sunday we planned to go to these two outlying locations known for their gardens according to my Fodor’s book, but turned out to be a little less impressive that what we had been promised. We had all anticipated a much more open space outside of the city with flowers, greenery and quiet, but instead we were dropped off at some random street corner by a bus driver who promised that this was the stop we wanted. We ended up walking in the wrong direction, but luckily found a sign plus a cute Italian couple that told us where we wanted to go. We finally arrived and after seeing the Boboli gardens earlier in the week we weren’t too impressed by a large house with a sizable garden in the back. Eating lunch, reading for our homework and then heading back seemed to be just what everyone wanted to do so we were only there for a couple of hours and then headed back to the more comfortable area of Florence we have come to know. On the way back, some of us stopped at a flea market that was visible from the bus in hopes of finding some amazing Italian treasure amidst the massive tents and people, but again left feeling a little less than satisfied. The market was huge in size, but seemed to offer nothing more than what you might find anywhere else in the world (minus the millions of old termite-eaten Italian books at every other table). After that day we were ready for a good night back at home in the hotel.

On Monday we started our last week of classes at the Medici Palace and San Lorenzo. Both of these locations are notable because of their importance to the city politics (the Medici bank was housed at the palace) and societal significance as they both demonstrated the masses of wealth during the 15th century in Florence. While we were in the Medici Palace attempting to have our usual lecture, a protest was simultaneously going on outside where state employers were protesting the very building we were in (it is now home to the Florentine police). It was a peaceful protest, although our professor did tell us to simply say we were Canadian and did not work for the police if they did decide to charge, but humorous to be standing in a building trying to learn about its significance while realizing the important/controversial role it still holds. After class some of us went to read and chill out on the bridge overlooking the Ponte Vecchio (hard life I lead, I know.) Our MTV Italy books had recommended that we sit on these triangular outsets from the bridge to get away from the flow of traffic and have a great view of the bridge. It was definitely worth the trip (and the slight hesitation to jump down onto the outset because we were fearful of getting back up) and let us chill out for a little while after class. Afterwards we all headed back to the Supermarket near the hotel, grabbed a loaf of bread, brie and some wine juice boxes (yes, only in Italy) and went to the nearby Piazza della Liberta to eat. Other than almost being attacked like everyone’s reoccurring nightmare after watching Birds while trying to eat lunch (and this is NOT an exaggeration) we had a good time talking about our plans for the weekend and still getting to know each other. That night was interesting as everyone in the group (minus those that were too sick) went out together to the karaoke bar for two of the kids birthdays. It was fun knowing that we were all hanging out together even though we all clearly still wanted to sit in the groups we have formed. Several people sang karaoke, but then around one the birthday girl decided she wanted to venture over to a club to see M.I.M.S. perform so most of the group minus the birthday boy and 3 of us either went with her or back to the hotel. The four of us stayed at the bar until closing just hanging out and singing some more songs. I even got in on the action and sang “Sweet Caroline” (a BC classic) and “Bohemian Rhapsody” with Stephanie and Nate. The instrumental back-ups were not very good so we struggled to say the least, but it was a good first time up on the stage.

Tuesday we had class at the Museo del Operal del Duomo where all of the original structures built for the cathedral complex are housed. It was interesting to see some of the original ideas for the outside of the cathedral in drawings and other simulations. Our professor was less than happy with having to be there though because he had to make the trip down to Rome for the afternoon so he rushed through and left us an hour early to do more touring of the museum if we wished. I stayed to see some of the instruments used in the construction process as well as some more old relics. Yesterday was also our friend’s 20th birthday so we decided we would go out to eat with him to celebrate that. Since we get free dinner at the hotel every night we opted for lunch since we always have to pay for that anyway. Just down the street from our hotel is apparently the best place to get a steak in town so we figured that would be the perfect place to take him. My roommates and I decided to split to meals in order to keep down the cost (only 10 euros for each of us). We ordered a pasta with zucchini flower sauce and a steak. When the food arrived it looked AMAZING because we were so used to seeing our mass produced meals at dinners at the hotel and proved to taste pretty good too. Well, I guess that is until we figured out a few bites in hat in fact we had ordered liver instead of steak. I had thought it was weird they didn’t ask us how we wanted our steak prepared, but assumed that the chef had his own set of rules and was going to cook it his way. The taste wasn’t bad, but as per usual I had an issue with the texture and so didn’t end up eating too much of it. The boys split the 40 euro Florentine steak though and loved it. It was probably the rarest and largest meat I have ever seen served, but they were convinced it was well worth the money. I think Jeff had a good birthday meal, so despite my stomach’s later discontent with my meal it was a good afternoon out. Six of us that had gone to lunch left the restaurant an headed over to the train station to buy tickets for this weekends adventures. We were a little concerned after our bad experiences there before, but lucked out and got tickets to do two day trips this weekend. Saturday we are going to go to Cinque Terre (my main priority when I came to study abroad) and Sunday we are going to Assisi (a place I have been wanting to go back to since I left 4 years ago). I’m excited about it because we have a great group of us going and we will also get to see two amazing sights in one weekend while also being able to sleep in our hotel beds (and not pay for lodging) at night. The photograph options are endless for this weekend so I am extremely excited about documenting it all.

Today we had class at the convent at San Marco. We looked at several frescoes and were able to see some of the friars’ dormitories as well. It amazes me every day how much there is to see here in Florence. I feel like we are getting a very comprehensive tour of the city, but still feel like we will leave with plenty to see if we ever want to return. After class my roommates and I headed up to Piazza del Michelangelo and San Miniato for the afternoon. It was a little bit of a hike up there, but once we reached the top we had yet another gorgeous view of the entire city. I think I have officially taken a picture of the Duomo from every angle possible, haha. After eating lunch there we headed back down to go bag shopping. Several of the girls here have found some really great leather bags at decent prices so Sarah and I were hopeful that we could find our own. We went to two different open air markets, but didn’t find anything we were in love with (much to the chagrin of several of the vendors). Sans bags we walked back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon where I have just been journaling and reading until dinner (which I am hoping will be better than the eggplant, peas and an apple I had last night).

Tomorrow is our last day of class in Florence and we are going to see the David. Obviously a must see when you are here and fun that we get to do it on our last day. Friday morning we start out early at 7:30 when we go as a class to Siena for the day. It is supposed to be about a 2 hour bus ride (maybe sleep a little longer) then we will have a couple hours of class followed by some free time. Hopefully the weather will be better than our trip to Pisa so that we can enjoy the free-time a little bit more.

Hard to believe I will be settled in Parma this time next week. Hopefully I will have made it to the grocery store since I’ll be in charge of cooking for myself and have my laundry done. I have been holding out on laundry since I have been here because we have to pay for the laundro-mat and its also a few blocks away. I think I will make it, but will land in Parma very ready to wash my clothes.

Its been good to be emailing back and forth with a few of you over the past couple of days. I feel like I am finally getting into a routine and have figured out when its best to be online so I can talk to you all. Hopefully that’ll become more of the trend.

I probably won’t post again until after my whirlwind of a weekend, so the next update (Sunday or Monday) should be a good one.

Love,
E

P.S. Congrats to Alli on making student council yesterday!! I’m so happy for you!!

A lot of catching up to do...

Sorry my posting schedule on this blog has turned out to be less than consistent.  With being in the room at odd hours of the day and always wanting to crash at night when we finally get back, I never seem to have time to update you all.  Life is going REALLY well though.  Today was by far my favorite day so far (note the pic), but before I get to that I’ll update you on the past couple of days…

 

Wednesday we had class from 8:45 until 11 in the Bargello Museum.  It’s an amazing statue museum in Florence that houses works by Michelangelo and some of his contemporaries.  After the museum a few of us tried to find some trendy yet relatively well-priced stores in the area to shop in, but were unsuccessful in finding either of those qualities.  Everything here is so expensive (on top of the conversion back to the US dollar) plus I am so set in my style of Anthropologie that the trends here don’t quite seem to fit, haha.  I am excited about finding some accessories, like earrings and a bag, but haven’t quite fallen in love with anything yet.  Despite the unsuccessful shopping endeavor, we returned back to the hotel pretty content after a good class and as per usual had a pretty chill afternoon here.  A few of us went out that night since we didn’t have class until three on Thursday and knew we wouldn’t be able to the following night because we had early class on Friday.  We went to a place called Fiddler’s Elbow, another pub (I think there’s a trend here), and had a good night of just sitting around and talking until around closing.  The buses stop running as frequently after 12 am so we walked back to the hotel, which was actually pretty nice.  I really feel as though I can get around this city with ease now after only being here for a week and a half between our classes and investigating on our own time.  Its nice to know the city, but I’m definitely glad to be moving on in another week to a new city.   

 

Thursday morning my roommates and I decided to get up early despite the fact that we didn’t have class until 3 so that we could make the most of the day.  I feel like so many of the other kids here spend a lot of time sleeping and lounging when we have late classes, but I don’t think I could sleep much later anyway because I feel so obligated to get out and explore more of the city while I’m here.  We had heard of a place called the Boboli Gardens from both our professor and many of our guide books so we decided that would be a good destination for a gorgeous fall morning.  The gardens are huge and originally the backyard for the Medici family, but now open to the public.  Although flowers weren’t really in bloom it was still impressive to see all of the green space within the city and some of the views of both the countryside and city were great.  Lots of photo-ops!  Class that afternoon was first held in Santa Maria del Carmine and then finished in Santa Maria Novella (about a 15 minute walk from each other).  Both of these churches were quite impressive despite the fact that all of the churches are starting to look similar at first-glance.  I love actually knowing the terms to use to describe what we’re seeing, so intellectual and European, I know. Haha.  Like I said before, we had an early class on Friday so we stayed in Thursday night and played a couple of games of Shanghai (I STILL have not freaking won that game) and caught up on some much needed sleep.

 

Friday was our first trip with our Art History class.  We had to meet the bus outside of our hotel at 7:45 and then had about an hour drive to Pisa for the day.  Originally we were supposed to have about 2 hours of lecture there and then another 2 hours or so of free-time, but it down poured from the moment we woke up that morning so it wasn’t very suitable for eating lunch out on the green near the leaning tower or doing much shopping.  We did manage to have a good class despite having to take all of our notes while inside the buildings, but everyone was quite ready to leave when it was over.  A lot of the group had plans to travel to Lucca, Cinque Terre or Rome for the weekend so the bus driver dropped off all but five of us at their locations and then took us back to the hotel.  It was nice to have fewer of us here so that we could eat dinner at our leisure, not have to worry about what time others were coming back and just make plans for ourselves.  It’ll be interesting having everyone back here after the peaceful weekend, but I’m excited to hear about what they did.

 

And now for today!  It was such a good chill day, but also got us out of Florence for a while and able to experience a big part of the Italian culture.  The five of us still around for the weekend had made plans to go to Greve after receiving recommendations from other students who had gone earlier in the week.  Greve is the supposed capital of the Chianti wine region so we were hoping to get there and go to a wine tasting and then walk or bike around the vineyards, but didn’t really have a lot of definite plans yet.  Thank goodness for that!  When we were on the bus, we thought we had missed our stop in Greve because they don’t announce them and so we began to panic a little that we were going to have our “plans” ruined.  Luckily, a couple of girls from California sitting in front of us overheard our discussion about what we should do next and told us about a wine festival going on at the last stop the bus would be making.  We quickly decided that that sounded like a good idea and made plans to follow them there even though we later figured out we had not yet missed our stop in Greve.  The wine festival was so much fun!  We paid 12 euros for a wine glass and to enter the festival and then the rest of the day was free.  We spent about 4 hours walking around the city, sampling all sorts of wine (I’m ready for a break from red wine for a while, although it was great), eating lunch and meeting some really cute couples.  There were a lot of individuals from the US there, but it was even nice to interact with them (despite the lack of authentic Italian vibe) because they talked to us about other places we should travel and taught us a little about the wine.  One of the highlights of the day for me was buying my first piece of artwork.  We all know how obsessed I am with art, but this painting isn’t even that similar to my typical taste.  This particular artist sat at a table at the festival today and painted as people passed by in the piazza, all influenced by the festival atmosphere.  I had been admiring his art all day, but couldn’t decide if it was something that I wanted to spend my money on.  I told myself that if the painting I liked was still there at the end of the day, then it was meant to be.  Well, my painting sold about 30 minutes after I made that decision, naturally.  I kept checking back at the station throughout the day, but never saw anything I liked as much.  Finally after much debate and as we were deciding when to leave I made the executive decision to go for it.  I went back to the stand and asked him to make one specifically for me because he had one very similar on display, but I wanted mine to have a black background instead.  It is hard to describe the painting without downplaying it so I will wait to upload a photo later and let it speak for itself.  After I got my personally-made painting, we got on the bus to go back to Florence just in time for me to have a quick phone call with the fam and go to dinner.  Then to end the day perfectly we just got back from getting gelato at Florence’s most famous gelateria, Vivoli.  It was a good one for my first cup since I have been here and definitely ended the day off well. 

 

Tomorrow we are headed to Villa dei Castello and Villa la Petraia, a couple of towns that are accessible by public buses, for the day.  It probably won’t be as nice as today, but I’m hoping for at least some nice weather again (today was low 70s and sunny!) and a good end to a nice weekend.  Only a week or so until I will have more reliable internet and can get the pics up for you guys!  I’m stoked about classes and traveling this week, but ready to move on to the next chapter too.

 

I’ve been so excited to hear about amazing things going on with all of you this week!!  Sounds like IV is doing AMAZINGLY well and pretty much everyone is loving life back at BC.  The family seems to be doing well too which is nice to hear when I can’t be with all of you.  Keep the updates coming and I’ll try to stay on top of this as much as I can.

 

Love you all!

DUOMO and other adventures.

As I am sitting here typing this blog into a word document from my hotel room, I am barely able to keep my eyes open.  Its been a long day already and its only 6 pm, haha.  We just got back from class and have dinner in about an hour, but I thought I would try and keep myself awake until then by updating you guys.

 

Yesterday was a good day because we spent about 4 hours walking around and learning about the Duomo.  For those of you that don’t know, the Duomo is the central cathedral in Florence and probably the biggest tourist attraction here (except for the food).  We were supposed to have class from 10-1, but ended up finishing up the lecture around 11:45 or so.  It was a nice surprise given that we knew we were in for a long wait in line to climb to the top of the Duomo.  We stood in line for about 40 minutes, paid our 6 euros and then headed up the 467 steps to the top of the dome.  Half-way up they give you a break and allow you to walk around the inside of the dome and get a very close look at the frescoes.  When you finally make it to the top you get a great view of the city of Florence.  We were able to take pictures of the Baptistery tower (my current facebook profile picture) as well as pictures of the city and surrounding towns.  It was definitely worth the climb up and we made sure to get our 6 euros out of the pictures we took.  After that adventure we went to a café so some people could get lunch (I have been snagging fruit and a cereal bar from breakfast so that I don’t have to pay for lunches. Smart, I know.).  After everyone had eaten we headed back to the hotel where we chilled out for the afternoon because I wasn’t feeling very well and there is a stomach flu going around so I took some medicine and laid down for the afternoon.  We had dinner at the hotel (salmon!) and then continued to chill out here until we went out to a karaoke bar for the night.  A couple of our friends sang, but I nominated myself as the camera girl and remained perfectly planted in my chair. Haha.  It was fun to get out and spend some time with friends in a fairly low-key environment in the city.  Although we didn’t end up leaving there until 1:15 or so, which made waking up at 8:45 a little less than ideal. 

 

My roommates and I woke up early this morning to try and find a flea market that my Fodor’s book had suggested, but were unsuccessful in finding it despite walking around for about an hour.  We did get to see a part of the city that we hadn’t ventured into yet though and then found another market near the Duomo that we could shop at.  I didn’t buy anything, but the other girls bought t-shirts for the soccer game that we’re going to on Sunday and scarfs.  It was a good way to spend the morning and then we had about two hours to kill until we were supposed to meet up for class at three in Piazza Santa Croce.  We ended up just finding a big bench and sat to eat our lunches and chat until three.  There was a really good band playing in the Piazza which was fun to watch and then we spent the time people watching and commenting on European lifestyle.  Class from 3-4:45 was rough today because we had been awake for so long beforehand, but it was good none the less.  We learned all about the church and the individuals who were buried there as well as the artists behind the painted tombs.  This class is so interesting, but like I said before, very intense.  I feel like I am learning so much and it is information that I definitely feel like I will want to look back over many years from now which is awesome.

 

Tomorrow we have class from 8:45-11 so its going to be quite an early morning.  I think we are going to stay in for the night so we can be rested for the rest of the week, but Nate and I were thinking about teaching people Shanghai tonight (for those of you who know what this means know how excited I am).

 

I have gotten several emails from some of you guys and am LOVING getting them.  I hope to hear from the rest of you soon.  Its odd to think I was still in the states this time last week because we have already done so much, but I am extremely excited that we have some awesome things planned in the near-future. 

 

Ciao,

E

First Weekend in Florence

Our first weekend in Florence was quite eventful.  I last posted when we were getting ready to go out to a pub on Friday night and although we did make it to the pub, it proved to be an interesting situation.  It was a pub in Italy, trying to be British but with Asian bartenders (and the nastiest bathrooms so far).  Our goal of finding “our place” by the end of the night was not successful to say the least, but we haven’t given up yet. 

 

Saturday morning we got up and went to Fiesole for the afternoon.  It is a cute town only about 20 minutes away on the bus system.  Since BC already paid for our bus passes while we’re here, it was a pretty cheap day.  We walked around the town for a little while once we arrived only to find out that the museum and ruins we were looking for were actually right back where we started.  Story of my life, haha.  The ruins were very interesting and they had a gorgeous back-drop of Florence on one side and the Tuscan country side on the other.  We grabbed lunch at a restaurant in the main square and then started to walk down the mountain to see more breathtaking views of the entire city.  The weather was not the best, rainy when we arrived and then overcast for the rest of the day, but we did manage to snag some good photographs.  It was nice to get away for a few hours and start the process of planning weekend trips. 

 

Last night we just hung around the hotel because we were pretty exhausted from the week and I finally got to use skype for the first time, although the internet is still pretty sketchy here.  It goes in and out all the time, but I managed to talk to Alli for at least a couple of minutes.  Hopefully I’ll get to have more of those convos when I get to Parma and the internet is much more stable. 

 

We woke up this morning for breakfast around 9:30, but then went back to bed afterwards because some of us had been awake for part of the night listening to some of the other students in the program come back from the bars at about 3 am (fun, fun).  We slept until about 11:30 and then my roommates and I headed to a nearby park to do our reading for our class and just get out of the hotel.  There was a big storm that came through while we were out there, but it managed to miss the little area we were in, so we were able to stay out there for a few hours and eat lunch as well.  We came back to the hotel and since most of the others were either having a super chill day or at Fiesole we just hung around the hotel until about 5 or so, reading and writing in our journals.  At that time my roommates and I went to a local English International Christian Church service.  It is behind the Uffizi, so it took us a little while to get there (especially since we had to walk because the buses weren’t very reliable) but we made it in time and were able to stay for about an hour until we had to leave to make it back to the hotel for dinner at 7:15.  The service was nice, a lot of songs that I knew and then they had a guest speaker discuss a new program he has started in the area that connects English-speaking college students in the area with local Italians to learn the culture and language in a more intimate way.  Unfortunately we won’t be in town long enough to be able to join the program, but it was encouraging to hear that those opportunities are available.  It was a whirlwind couple of hours trying to catch buses and run across the city, but we also think we may have discovered another area of the city that we would like to hang out in.  It looked much less touristy and had some cute shops around.  Hopefully we’ll make it back over there soon to check it out.

 

Tomorrow we have class from 10-1 in the Duomo and then my friends and I have decided to pay the extra 6 euro to climb up into the bell tower to see the spectacular view of the city.  It is supposed to be good weather, so hopefully we’ll enjoy that time as well.  We spent a good chunk of last night also planning out the rest of our time here in Florence.  We have every day planned except for two between now and when we leave.  I’m stoked to have a schedule and be able to plan to see so much of the city.  The highlight of the next couple of weeks is going to be Octoberfest in Munich I feel.  We are going to take two night trains (one Friday and one Saturday) so that we don’t have to pay for lodging, but will get the experience while we’re there.  We’ll come back pretty exhausted Sunday morning, but will be able to recuperate that day and then be ready to take our final for art history class on Monday.

 

So many plans!  I can’t wait to share all of the experiences with you all.  I have been taking pictures and sharing them with friends here, but I won’t be able to upload a good portion of them until I get to Parma.  I promise I’m healthy and visiting gorgeous places, but until October you will just have to take my word for it. 

 

I think its time for a shower and maybe a card game or something with the roommates.  Don’t forget to update me on your lives!

 

Much love,

E

here's a real update...

Ciao!

 

So I have officially been in Italy for a total of about 3.5 days, but it feels like its been forever (in the best way possible!).  I immediately came into a great living situation with 2 other girls (Sarah and Kristen) and have met some other great people as well.  It has been a jam packed few days, but the non-stop life is making me sleep like a baby (even more so). 

 

After I arrived at the hotel on my first day (with all my luggage!) I unpacked, changed clothes and went out to explore/grab lunch with my roommates.  We finally found an internet café so I could let my dad know I made it to the hotel safely only to find out later that we could get internet in the hotel.  Oh well, its not free in either place (so I probably won’t be online too much until I get to Parma) so it wasn’t a waste of money at least.  I met up with Nate, a friend I have known since freshman year, outside of the Duomo that afternoon and he gave us a quick tour of the city.  I have since come to know my way around the city pretty well, although I’m sure I still have a lot to learn.  If you need to know how to get to the Duomo though, I’m your girl.  That first night was pretty uneventful, after a dinner at the hotel we ended up going out for a quick stroll around the closest piazza and then we were back in our beds asleep by 9:40 pm.  I hadn’t slept but 5 hours in the 48+ hours surrounding my traveling so I was in dire need.  I passed out and didn’t wake up for another 11.5 hours.  It was amazing!

 

Day two started with me feeling much more refreshed from my long night’s sleep and excited about getting to know this city.  We had breakfast at the hotel (the do have granola and yogurt!) followed by a meeting led by our coordinator, Caterina.  After the meeting on cell phone options we all went and used the public bus system for the first time (all of my practice on the BC buses definitely had me prepared).  We met our art history teacher and had our first lecture of the semester.  The class is going to be absolutely wonderful!  The instructor, Rocky, is originally from Rhode Island so there is no issue with an accent, but he has been living in Florence for the past 14 years, so he knows his stuff!  Every day before class starts he gives us a machine that we plug our headphones into and then are able to hear him clearly give the lectures since all of it is outside and mostly in very touristy areas.  The first day was pretty low key as we only visited two piazzas, but he made sure to pack in the information. Rocky gave us our syllabus (including plans for day visits to Pisa and Siena!) so that we would know all that we will be seeing in class and can make plans to view everything else on our own.  After our first class, we grabbed lunch and then headed back to the hotel for some chill time until another orientation meeting at 3 pm.  We finalized our classes and then went and got cell phones at a store just around the block.  I got one just to call people in case of emergency, but it will also be nice because with the plan we all paid for (for only 8 euros a month) that gives us 2,000 minutes we can each spend calling each other in Italy as well as 4,000 texts (no worries, I’ll be able to keep up my mad texting skills).  After a relatively chill afternoon we had our welcome dinner at a local restaurant where they served us our first 4-course meal complete with veggies/brushetta, pasta, all different kinds of meat (fried chicken, pork, chick peas) and a dark chocolate dessert.  Oh, and our first Tuscan wine!  It was a great night, but in true Italian form it took us from 8 until 10:15 or so to eat.  The timing was actually nice to be able to space out all of the food and then have some good conversation as well.  I think I can get used to this lifestyle. 

 

Today has been filled with activity as well, although we’re realizing how much free time we have in Florence with our minimal class schedule.  We typically have class either two to three hours a day, 5 days a week and other than that, our schedule is up to us.  Its nice, but me being the planner that I am, want to have some sort of structure to my life. I had planned on sticking around the city this weekend since its our first, but with all the free time we have decided to take a day trip to Fiesola (a near-by city) tomorrow to have lunch in a park there and visit a museum.  It is supposed to be gorgeous and very relaxed so I’m excited for our first trip!  It is going to take us about 30 minutes on a bus, that we already have a month pass for, to reach the town so it’s a very reasonable day trip adventure. We’ve also tried to start planning other weekend trips, but have gotten quite overwhelmed with all the possibilities.  We are toying around with going to Octoberfest next weekend in Germany, or perhaps Rome if that doesn’t work out, then Cinque Terre the following weekend, as well as a vineyard biking tour, Asissi, Venice, Verona, Alps, Paris, London, and Milan thrown in there as well.  It seems like we are jumping into things so quickly (given that I have only known some of these people for a couple of days), but we are realizing how quickly our time here is going to fly so we’re ready to start all of our trips ASAP. 

 

Today we did the tour of the Uffizi (and no I did not use their restrooms, although I did snag a picture) in 2 hours and then were on our own again.  Tonight we’re planning on going out to some local pub to hopefully just chill out and hang out at some of the local places in town.  With people not eating dinner here until 8 or so, they don’t start going out until much later either so it gives us plenty of time to get ready afterwards and maybe even get a quick nap.

 

I’m so unbelievably excited for what this semester has to offer and feel SO blessed to already have met some great people.  I will try and keep you all as updated as I can, but like I said the internet isn’t free so I am actually typing out all of my emails in word and then pasting them online so I am charged for less internet access.  I would love to hear from you all though and will be sure to get back to your with an e-mail soon.

 

Buona notte!

I MADE IT

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to put a quick note up here that I made it safely to Florence!  I am stealing wireless right now so I don't have a lot of time, but thought this would be an easy way to let you all know.  Everything went pretty well.  I wasn't able to sleep at all, so I'm exhausted now but am trying to stay awake until I can sleep at a normal time here tonight.  I've met up with a few friends all ready and we did a couple hour tour of the city to get a general sense, but then had to give up because we were all exhausted.  We'll start having more planned days starting tomorrow so I am looking forward to that.  

Well my friend is convincing me to watch house with him to keep me awake until dinner so I think I am going to go do that and shower.  

I miss you all!! Looking forward to hearing from you soon. 

Much love,

E