My European Adventure

counting the days

2009-04-21T19:04:00.002+02:00

Today, after waking up early and eating breakfast, I walked around Florence. I went to all the markets and even the browsed through the shops along Via Cavour. I bought a ton of gifts for everyone that I still had to get gift for. After doing this wandering around for two or so hours, I went back to my hotel and picked up my luggage. I walked to the train station to catch the #7 bus back up to Fiesole for the last time. Riding the route brought back so many memories of all the times I had ridden it before. I kept thinking that at any moment one of the others or even Bob might hop on.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen but I made it up to Fiesole without any problems. After making the trek up to Villa Bonelli, I walked in and saw Chiara behind the front desk. She took me up to the room I'd be sharing with Betsy and her family. After plugging my laptop in I went and retrieved my suitcase from storage. I proceeded to then remove everything from the broken suitcase and place it on the bed. I then went through and tossed what I was going to toss. After doing that, I separated all my gifts from the rest of my clothes. After placing a layer of dirty laundry on the bottom of my suitcase I proceeded to pack my gifts and whatever else I could fit in the suitcase. After my big suitcase was full, I moved to my smaller suitcase. I only hope that they are not over weight as I have no recourse but to pay whatever fee it will be because I have no room to maneuver.

It was good to see Betsy and Eldon again. I have missed them and am glad we are traveling back together. I met Betsy's mom and brother today as well. They seem like nice people. I showed off all my gifts that I bought. Ooohed over pictures and gifts they bought. When Betsy took her family for a walk, Eldon and I went down to the Coop to get some dinner.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day, trying to move all the luggage we have to our last hotel in Italy. Being the same one as I stayed at last night, I don't think I'll have internet. I'm going to miss it here but I'm definitely ready to go home. My sister and grandma are picking me up at the airport and will be waiting with my cell phone and some chocolate milk. I've miss skim milk the most on the trip. Only two more days before I get to have some and see all the people I've missed. I'm going to be on campus on Friday into Saturday to catch up with all my friends. Call me, don't text as my plan has been removed. Can't wait to see everyone! Ciao!!

On the way home

2009-04-21T18:51:00.002+02:00

Monday morning came about too soon for my liking. Ania and I got up and prepared to leave Warsaw and Poland. We caught a taxi to the airport and there we separated. Ania had to go to the other terminal then the one I was in. I got in line to check-in but found out when I got to the desk that my bag was 3 kilograms or something over. So, I had to get out of the line and rearrange my luggage. I tossed out my towel and a zip-up sweatshirt right there in the airport and then transferred some of my gifts to my backpack. When I got back to the desk, after a long wait in line, I breathed easy when it weighed only the 20 it was supposed to. I walked to my gate and sat down and waited for a couple of hours before my flight boarded.

As my flight time got closer I apparently missed the boarding call. Twenty minutes before my flight was to leave I heard the final boarding call. I didn't hear them make the first call so I was panicked when I finally got on the airplane. My flight to Rome, though, was one of the best flights I have ever taken. Only two hours long, we were given a large sandwich and our choice of drink on the flight. The seats were also very comfortable and not crowded. I was surprised at this because it was such a short flight but it was one to remember.

When we landed in Rome, I hopped the shuttle train back to Roma Termini where I purchased another train ticket to Florence via a Eurostar. An hour and a half later, around 7 pm, I arrived in Florence. After stopping at the McDonalds for dinner, I walked to my hotel and checked-in. Didn't do much else once I got to Florence as I was exausted from all the traveling. I went to bed around midnight after completing a little paperwork.

Last day

2009-04-19T22:29:00.002+02:00

My last day to explore Warsaw. Tomorrow Ania flies home and I fly back to Italy. This morning, after preparing for the day, Ania and I walked back to the train station to get directions. She was going to her orphanage and needed to know how to get there. We walked back down the street a little ways to a shopping center where Ania got on a bus headed to Chotomow and her past. When she left, I went and browsed in the stores but didn't see anything I like. So, I wandered around town, heading toward our hostel. I decided to go to the market again and see if there was anything I'd like to get. I found a souvenir shop and bought a few more gifts for people before heading back to the hostel.

Back at the hostel I made an excel spreadsheet of all the things/gifts I have bought in Europe. It's really quite a work of genius, my spreadsheet, because it lists the gift, who it's for, where I purchased it, and how much in cost in euro/zlotty and in USD. I'll be able to use this when I fly home and have to claim my purchases. Once this was done I blogged a little and uploaded some pictures.

Ania came back around 5is and told me all about her time at the orphanage. We then walked to the market together where she bought some more gifts for her family and I browsed through the items available. We then found a restaurant to eat dinner. Neither of us had anything to eat all day besides chocolate so we were very hungry. Ania got chicken in a plum sauce and I got a chuck steak in roast sauce. We both had roasted potatoes for our side dish. My meal was fabulous. The sauce was very tasty and the steak was perfectly cooked. I really enjoyed the meal.

We walked back to the hostel and requested a taxi for tomorrow morning, 9 am. Ania and I will do a little shopping at the airport when we get there and spend the rest of our zlotty. I'm going to miss her, not sharing space with her anymore. She gets to go home and see her family. I have to wait a few more days, spend a little more time in Italy, before I get to see mine. I'm definitely ready to head home, be back home. I'm going to visit campus this Friday as I have things I need to take care of before school is out. But, I have to get some sleep so I'll be ready to fly to Italy and take a train from Rome to Florence. Wish me luck!

Exploring Warsaw

2009-04-19T13:29:00.002+02:00

Yesterday, after the horrible night we had, Ania and I slept for a few more hours before going out into the city. We left the hostel around noon and head toward Warsaw's Old Town. This is what we saw along the way.

The Staszic Palace, Neo-Classical design, was badly damaged then burnt down during the Warsaw Uprisimg in 1944. After being rebuilt in 1949 it now the Polish Academy of Sciences. In front of the palace is a monument to Nicholas Copernicus with a depiction of the solar system on the ground. I took a picture of this, it will be posted in my photos albums. Our next stop was the Church of the Holy Cross. A Baroque church, it houses the hearts of Chopin and Reymont in urns inside its pillars. Continuing toward the Old Town, we passed the University of Warsaw with its beautiful gates. We also passed by the Presidential Palace with its security guards at the gates and a park that had photos taken during WWII when Germany was bombing Warsaw on display. Finally entering the castle square, Ania and I took pictures of King Zygmunt's III column. He was the ruler who moved the capital of Poland from Krakow to Warsaw. We also took pictures inside the Royal Castle courtyard.

We decided to head toward the New Town next. We passed by the Church of Our Lady of Grace, a renaissance church, where a wedding was taking place. Matter of fact, there seemed to be multiple wedding occurring yesterday as we passed by a lot of churches and people in bridal attire. Anyway, from there we made it to the Old Town Market Square where the statue of the Warsaw Mermaid is. Images of the half fish and half women statue is used on the crest off Warsaw since the 14th century. Legend goes that there was once two mermaids from the Baltic Sea who swam towards the Danish straits. One ended up outside Copenhagen while the other ended up in the Vistula River near Warsaw. Fisherman, upset that the mermaid was freeing the fish from their nets, fell in love with the enchanting song of the mermaid. But, an evil merchant decided to catch the mermaid, and when he did, he kept her away from water and put her on display. The mermaid's cries were heard by the son of a fisherman and he and a friend freed her. In recognition, the mermaid swore to protect the fisherman from if they were ever in danger. That is why she is armed with a sword and shield.

Anyway, cool story, cool picture taken. We walked by the museum of Madam Curie, a Polish physicist and chemist who was a pioneer in radioactivity. She was the first person to be awarded two Nobel Prizes. We then walked by the Church of St. Kazimierz which acted as a hospital during the Warsaw Uprising. After praying for a while inside the Church of Our Lady Queen of Poland, or the Field-Cathedral of the Polish Army, we walked across the street to the Warsaw Uprising Monument. It was unveiled the day of the the 45th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising on August 1, 1984 and built in memory of the Warsaw Uprising heroes who fell during the 63 day struggle against the occupants of Warsaw.

Ania and I then decided to go to the Museum of the John Paul II collection. On the way we passed by the Krasinski Palace, also known as the Palace of the Republic. Formerly the seat of the administrative authorities, the Treasury and Supreme Court, it now houses the Special Collections of the National Library. Behind the building, there is a garden that we walked through to get to the JPII museum. Ania and I thought that it would be a museum on JPII but it wasn't. It was a museum that housed a collection of European paintings that was dedicated to John Paul II. Either way, it was interesting to see painting by other European artists, not just Italian. There was a room dedicated to portraits, mythological scenes, scenes from the bible, and paintings of Mary and Christ as a child.

When we left the museum, Ania and I headed back to our hostel. We did a little shopping along our route and I got a few more gifts for people. Our feet were tired, our bodies were tired, and me wanted food. We stopped by a small grocery store to get spaghetti sauce and then used the hostel's kitchen to make our dinner. We had an uneventful night, thankfully, but still went to bed late.

Warsaw--getting there

2009-04-18T20:09:00.002+02:00

Yesterday, Ania and I woke up early, around 9 am and prepared to head out of Krakow and travel to Warsaw. After packing the last of our things, cleaning up the kitchen and bathroom, and moving the furniture back where it was, Ania and I left our Krakow apartment. Struggling down the two floors of stairs to the main level with our suitcases was not fun but needed to be done. We walked through the park one last time as we headed toward the train station. Once there, we checked the departure board to see which platform our train would be one before heading to that platform. We had to carry out suitcases up two flights of stair to get to the platform before waiting ten minutes for our train to arrive.

Ania and I had tickets for car 7, seats 54 & 56 on the train. After climbing aboard our car, we made our way to the little cabin area where our seats were. The area was completely full already, I barely could fit my new, larger suitcase up on the rack. Ania had to take her bag and leave it out near the bathroom where there was room. She stood out there the entire time while I sat in our seats with the rest of our luggage. We left Krakow at noon and headed for Warsaw.

It was a long train ride to new my home for the next three days. The passenger car I was travelling in was small, cramped, and full. Baggage was placed on the racks above our heads with little room for any more. I had my backpack on my lap and Ania's on the seat next to me, her seat. With still an hour to go, my knees were protesting the position they had been stuck in for the last two hours and my bottom was going numb. It didn't help to move in the seat to find a better position because there was none to be had. Vacillating between too warm and warm, the temperature in the car was non-conducive for anything but dozing.

Having completed four Sudoku puzzles ranging from easy to tough I had no inclination to start a fifth but I did so anyway to try and pass the time. Giving up halfway through the game I stared out the window at the passing scenery. Plowed and planted fields, farmhouses, roads going here and there dotted the landscape; trees, power lines and the occasional automobile interspersed throughout. It reminded me of the countryside back home, of my family's house set off from the road, trees surrounding it on three sides, farmland surrounding them. It's springtime here, no snow in sight, everything is green and growing. Flowers are colorfully blooming, it is a time of rebirth.

I wrote that last little bit while on the train. When we got into Warsaw, Ania and I struggled off the train with our luggage and started walking towards our hostel. It was a half-hour walk to our hostel. We braved the Warsaw traffic and pedestrian walk-ways armed with our map and written Google directions. When we finally reached our hostel we were ready to just crash. After paying the remainder of our bill, we were given the key to room 10 and headed for it. Upon entering the room, Ania and I dropped everything to the floor, retrieved our laptops from their traveling locations and proceeded to log onto wireless internet for the first time since Villa Bonelli really. In Follonica, Orvieto, and Rome we had to pay for internet, it's included here. We spent a good 2-3 hours checking email, making phone calls, and surfing the net.

Around 7pm we walked to this American Bar style restaurant for dinner. There we ordered some non-Polish food and ate with gusto. The background music, unfortunately, was only Beyonce and her newest songs. When we got there "All My Single Ladies" was playing. We decided it was time to leave when it started playing for the third time. Fortunately for us we were done with our meal. On our way back to the hostel we found a grocery store where we picked up drinks and ice cream for dessert. Later that night I braved the bathroom to take a shower. It was an experience, but I wasn't interrupted thankfully. We stayed up late even though we were tired.

Around 1 am, music started blasting from the main floor of our hostel. Ania and I didn't know what to do, thinking it would stop soon. After dozing until 4 am we had enough. Not only did the music not stop playing, it continued to blast throughout the hostel. Ania went downstairs and confronted the person working the desk downstairs. Turns out, she was having a party with a bunch of her friends, drinking and listening to blasting music. Ania told her to turn it off as we were trying to sleep. This morning we complained to the man at the desk. He said he would talk with the manager and we might get our money back for that first night but we'll see.

April 16, 2009

2009-04-17T21:32:00.004+02:00

Today, our last full day in Krakow was spent just walking all over the town. Ania and I went to the mall again today because she wanted to pick up a book to read. The selection at the Empiks, these bookstores that had a small selection of English titles, didn’t suit what she wanted to read. So we went to the American Bookstore, that’s the actual name of the store, and found something that suited for Ania. Afterward, we went to the internet café again to just do a quick email check.

Anna had not gotten back to Ania yet so we don’t know what we’re going to do with the keys. We’ll probably just leave them in the apartment or if we see the cleaning lady, just give them to her. But, I wanted to check my email/webtools to see what room Brittany got for me in LaSalle; turns out, according to Brittany, LaSalle filled up 5-10 minutes before my registration time, again. Last year, it filled up before my time and it did so again this year. I’m very pissed off about that fact because now I’m living in Heffron next year in a miniscule room with little to no space. I wanted to be comfortable my senior year and not have to deal with as many issues that I’ve had to deal with concerning rooming problems. I have too much stuff to do next year to have to deal with fire alarms and loud people that is prone to Heffron. I’m stating right now that I will be a huge annoyance to the people in charge if I have to put up with that all year. Brittany did sign me up for the wait list in LaSalle but who knows if that will even pan out.

(Deep breathe in and out. Cleanse the mind of troublesome thoughts.) Okay. Yesterday, while Ania and I were walking around the mall trying to find English books, I ran across the “Quantum of Solace” DVD and had to pick it up. I’ve wanted to see the newest Bond movie ever since it came out. I bought it for 39.99 zlotty in a Saturn store which, incidentally, does not sell cars but is like a Best Buy. Anyway, while the case is all in Polish, the movie can be played in English, Polish, and some other language with six options for subtitles. Ania and I watched it last night after dinner and again tonight. I love the movie. LOVE IT!!!! Seeing Siena and what I believe may be the coast near Cinque Terre just brought back fond memories of my time in Italy. I cannot believe I’m headed back there to leave so soon.

Ania and I leave for Warsaw tomorrow on the 12:00 train. After watching Bond again, we finished up packing. I just have the essentials that I’ll need tomorrow left to pack and then I’m done. We’re supposed to arrive in Warsaw around 3 pm and then it’s a half hour walk to our hostel. There we’re supposed to have free wireless so I’ll be able to upload all my blog entries, do a thorough job of checking my email, and contact my parents, friends, and classmates. Then on Monday, Ania flies home and I fly back to Rome before hitching a train to Florence for my last three nights in Europe. But, before that all happens, I have to get some sleep. Night!

April 14, 2009

2009-04-17T21:32:00.003+02:00

Today we were finally able to go to the grocery store. Ania and I picked up bread, yogurt, noodles, and a few other things the last us until we go to Warsaw on Friday. We were also able to go to the internet café, finally, and check our email. We booked our hostel for Warsaw today as well. We wanted to book the Oki Doki Hostel that is a ten minute walk from the train station. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any private double rooms available for the days we wanted to be there so we looked at a different hostel. The hostel we booked is called Hostel Tamka. It’s a half hour walk from the train station, but it had a private double room for us the three days we’re in Warsaw. Included in the price were linens, towels, breakfast, internet, laundry service, and storage for our luggage. This price, although we have to share a bathroom, was cheaper than that of Oki Doki’s private double. Anyway, we are only paying 210 zlotty or around $65 for the three nights, which was cheaper than any hotel I could find.

Those were the two highlights of our day today. In between grocery shopping and the internet café, we walked around the park for a bit. I also bought myself a purse from this little shop a few doors down from our apartment. It’s a smaller size with a short strap but long enough to stay on its own. It’s this really great spring green color and it was half off. I paid 51 zlotty for it which is around like $11, give or take; a great deal, I thought and Ania really liked it as well.

After dinner, Ania and I walked around town for more than an hour. We walked through the park, down to Wawel Castle and then around the river. We saw a duck fight, swans, and various couples performing public displays of affection on the grass. After walking back to our apartment, via the main market square which was closed down today; there were no little stalls open. Anyway, we walked through the square and got caramel ice cream sundaes which we enjoyed while walking through the park back to our apartment. This was our day today, very mellow and laid back. We were very glad that the grocery store was open and that the internet café was also open. We didn’t want to think about what would have happened had they been closed as well as the market as we were out of meal options and desperately needed provisions.

April 13, 2009

2009-04-17T21:32:00.001+02:00

Ania and I got up today knowing that we needed to go grocery shopping. But, as we had a list of things we wanted to do, that was our last stop. Our first stop of the day was the train station. There, we purchased our tickets from Krakow to Warsaw. At the first window we went to and asked about a train to Warsaw, we were told to go to another window. After waiting for a few minutes in line, we finally got up to the window. Once there, Ania asked for a local train to Warsaw. The teller behind the window didn’t really understand what we were asking. Fortunately for us, the gentleman who was in the line ahead of us stepped in and translated to the teller what we were looking for. After all was said and done, Ania and I purchased tickets to Warsaw via the express train for 97 zlotty. Because we were under 26, we receive a 25% discount so our tickets only cost 75 zlotty. Both Ania and I laughed after we left the train station because we found it hilarious that the teller had to ask if we were under 26. We found it funny to think we look older, but it could have been that the teller had to ask.

Our next item of business was to walk around the mall. Unfortunately, when we walked to the train station we noticed that the mall was still closed. So, we walked to the grocery store, but it too was closed. It seemed like the town of Krakow closed for Easter weekend and would not be open again until tomorrow. We walked to the internet café and hoped it would be open but it too was also closed. So, after walking around for a little bit, we headed back to our apartment. Once there we did a little cleaning. Ania did the breakfast dishes as I washed the dinner dishes. Then we both went to our separate rooms and started the first stages of packing. Since I bought my new suitcase I wanted to see how I would fit everything in. I put my smaller suitcase inside the big one and was relieved to see that it fit nicely and wasn’t wider than my new suitcase. I then packed what I could and folded everything else up. Afterward, I blogged for a little bit.

Around 5ish, we decided to head back to the train station to use the internet kiosks set up there to contact our families as we both knew that they would be worried. It was more expensive than the café we use but we both needed some internet time. I knew that I would have a “Are you okay?” email from my mom and I was right. After checking my three email accounts and waiting for facebook to load my time ran out. We then walked back to the apartment but stopped by a little restaurant for a little dinner. We decided to call it an early night as we had big plans for the next day and to get our sleeping schedules back on track. Ania tried to get the TV working but was unable to.

April 12, 2009

2009-04-17T21:31:00.004+02:00

Easter Sunday. My first Easter that I can remember that I am away from my family. We always go to Grandma’s house for Easter, have done for as long as I can remember. First, we would attend Easter Sunday Mass in the morning and then we would travel to Grandma’s house. There, with as many family members as could make it, we would have a large Easter dinner. Usually ham, turkey, venison or pork, pierogi, mashed potatoes, and various other trimmings would be served as the meal. Of course, deviled eggs would be served as well, those that were dyed the day before. For dessert there would always be a lamb cake, almost always poppy seed as it is Grandma’s favorite. But the most important aspect of the whole day would be that we were together as a family, enjoying the bounty of God, and celebrating the joyous occasion.

Grandma always has little baskets hidden around the house for all the cousins and parents. After greeting everyone already at her house, your first order of business was to find your basket. I always find everyone else’s before I find mine. Without fail, I am usually the last in my family to find her basket. I miss all these little traditions our family has surrounding this holiday. It’s been a rare event that has kept me away from my family during holidays. I don’t remember the last holiday, major holiday that I’ve been away from everyone. I think I’ve always been home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter. It’s weird to think of my family, immediate and extended, enjoying the holiday and each other’s company without me present. I’m not being pompous by saying this but I guess I miss that. I’m really missing my family now that I’ve been over here in Europe for so long. I guess distance does make the heart grow fonder.

So, on to what I did on this celebration of Christ’s rising from the dead. Ania and I awoke at 10 to prepare for the day. We walked to St. Mary’s Basilica around noon but when we got there Mass was already in progress so we left with the purpose of coming back for the 1pm Mass. We walked around the main square and ran into a few interesting performers. There was a man playing the xylophone on the corner near the church. He was accompanying the songs playing from the speaker set near him. The music was wonderful to listen to and he showed extreme talent in the songs he was playing. After pausing there and listening to him for a while, Ania and I continued on down the street. The next performers we came across were this older couple playing the accordion and cello. They were playing, when we first heard them, the chicken dance and other typical Polish music, polkas like ‘Roll Out the Barrel.’ It was glorious listening to them play because they took such joy in playing for the crowd in their traditional Polish attire. Ania and I walked around a little more before heading back to the Church. On our way we got distracted by the sound of Sting’s “Fields of Gold.” We walked over to the area where the man playing the song. He was playing an electric violin. We listened to him play two more songs before journeying back to the church for mass.

We entered the church as the previous Mass was just finishing. Ania and I took a seat near the back of the church. It was a different experience, attending a Polish Mass. I didn’t understand the majority of the Mass because I don’t know Polish. I knew when to say Alleluia, Amen, and make the sign of the cross but that was about it. Even Ania was stumped at some points because the Mass was different then the Polish Masses she attends back home. But, the basilica is so pretty inside that I just let the feeling and presence of the church command my attention during the mass.

After Mass, we walked to the other side of the square and bought pierogi and kielbasa for lunch from one of the stalls. We then went and got ice cream (lody) from another stall. We then just walked to the park and walked around through the park. We ended up down by Wewal Castle. Down there we came upon another musical group performing. When we got closer, Ania joked that it was the guys we saw in the market. I joked that it was a bunch of priests singing. Low and behold, it wasn’t priests singing but a bunch of monks. Both of us were slightly shocked because the group was all monks. Nuns were in the crowd dancing and the crowd was singing along. There was a monk playing the drum set, two or three playing various guitars, one on a flute of some sort, and one lead singing. It was the most interesting musical group I have ever seen. We stayed, watched, and listened for a while. It seemed the majority of the songs they played were religious themed but still interesting to listen too.

After we continued on our way we ended up back in the main market square. We walked a circle around the town. We headed back to the apartment to take a break before fixing dinner. We were slightly tired from our walk which took us around most of the center of town. Dinner consisted of the rest of the pasta we had and sauce with the rest of the Bundt cake we bought on Friday. Not much for an Easter dinner but nothing was open on Saturday and nothing would be open on Easter Sunday so we made do. After dinner we watched “The Italian Job” before getting ready for bed.

April 11, 2009

2009-04-17T21:31:00.003+02:00

Holy Saturday. Ania and I, after waking up in the afternoon, decided to go shopping for our Easter dinner. We leave the apartment with our grocery bags in hand and walk to the smaller store near our apartment. We found the store closed when we got there but didn’t think anything of it. We decided to walk, then, to the mall and use the grocery store there. When we got to the mall, it too was closed. At this point we were pretty disgusted with ourselves because we now had no way of buying any food for dinner for Easter. So, we just walked around the main market square and went inside the cloth hall that houses more sellers. I bought this set of Polish boxes that I’m going to give away as gifts to people. I also bought another gift in the market for another one of my aunts.

That night, we had already decided on going to a Folk Show at one of the local restaurants. We got there just before 7 and the place was packed. Ania and I found a little table at the back of the restaurant and sat down. She ordered beer and I ordered wine. After having been in Italy and having tasted some really good white and red wines, I can definitely say that the red I was given was not a very good wine, but, this is Poland and not Italy which in known for wines.

The show consisted of a group of five people, three guys and two girls. There was a trumpet player, a violinist, an accordion player, and two dancers. While the players played traditional and local songs, the dancers danced traditional and local dances. After a half hour of this, our food was brought out. Goulash soup was our dinner. While tasty it was not very filling. But, I enjoyed myself so I cannot complain. After dinner was another half hour of songs and dances. The two dancers periodically took the diners as partners and for one of the dances I was chosen. I’m glad I know somewhat how to polka because I was twirled, spun, and pretty much tossed around the very small dance floor with my partner. I had a ton of fun dancing though, even though it was very tiring after a while. When I walked back to Ania, she was laughing and crying at how I was practically tossed around the dance floor. She got pictures of it too which I will post later.

After dinner, we walked around town for a good hour or so before going back to the apartment and crashing again. We decided to go to the Easter Mass around 12 so we set our alarms and went to bed.

April 10th, 2009

2009-04-17T21:31:00.001+02:00

Friday, Good Friday, the day Jesus died. I should have gone to Mass today but, none of us got up until really late so we didn’t leave the apartment until around 2ish or so. We went to the mall first thing because Nikki wanted to get some pictures printed to we went to find a Kodak Express. At the mall, we hit the ground floor first. We stopped at this luggage store and I picked up a fairly large suitcase to replace Grandma’s that was destroyed when I came over to Italy three months ago. I cannot believe that it has been that long. Three months: in a foreign country on a foreign continent with limited access to my parents and family; three months: in places where I barely know the language, just enough to get me around. It had definitely been an experience that I will never forget.

But I digress. After buying my suitcase, Nikki found some place to print her pictures and then she went to check on the train to the airport. Ania and I went to the grocery store inside the mall to pick up a few things that we would need for the coming days: bread, snack food, drinks, etc. After walking back to the apartment and dropping off the food and my new suitcase, we went to the market square and walked around the stalls. Ania and Nikki bought some pierogi at the market and ate it there. The then went to the internet café to check on a few things while I went back to the apartment and made myself some noodles.

We all tried to go to bed early as Nikki had to be up at 4 to catch the train to the airport at 5. None of us could fall asleep until really late (or really early depending on how you look at it) so we were running on very little sleep when the alarms went off at 4 am. Ania and I walked Nikki to the train station through the quite streets of Krakow and the dark city park. It was kind of creepy walking through the deserted streets in the semidarkness. A funny thing happened on our way back to the apartment though. We had noticed that some of the streets were wet but didn’t think anything of it until we were walking down this one street on our way back when we saw the truck driving down the street toward us. It was washing the street but the water reached all the way to the buildings. It took a second for Ania and I to register the fact that this truck was coming at us and that we were going to get wet. We turned and ran for the doorway behind us and ‘hid’ ourselves inside the doorway until the truck passed by. The driver must have done something to the water because it came no where near us. We were laughing hysterically after this happened all the way to the apartment. Once back at the apartment we zonked out until noonish or so.

Author/Book Review (April 10, 2009)

2009-04-17T21:30:00.003+02:00

Meg Allison’s new book Dream Walk is one intense, action-packed, suspenseful novel. Although it was not my first eBook or even my first book by a Samhain author, it will forever stick out in my mind because of the intensity the novel had throughout the entire story. From the first page until the epilogue, I was hooked by the story. I came across Meg’s work after stumbling upon Samhain Publishing’s Yahoo! Group page. Fortunately for me the very next week was their Reader Appreciation/Read an EBook week. I logged on everyday to check out what was happening, read a multitude of excerpts by Samhain authors, and even won a few contests during the week. One of those contests that I won brought me to select Meg’s book as my prize. I had read her excerpt from Dream Walk the day before and put it on my to-be-bought-list. When I won one of the daily eBook giveaways from the group I chose Dream Walk, and I do not regret it now that I have finally read it.

The story: the heroin is a medium/erotic fiction writer who is losing sleep over nightmares where a demon is trying to make her insane. In walks the hero: a tall, dark and handsome bodyguard sent to protect the heroin from the demon. Both instantly feel the attraction that ignites between them upon their first meeting. The twists and turns throughout the story leave the reader turning the pages, unable to wait to see what happens next. A hot read that I could not put down and had to read in almost one sitting. I cannot wait until the next Sentinels book; Cami and Ian have only whetted my appetite for more. I’ll have to go out and buy more of Meg Allison’s books to keep me happy!

April 9, 2009

2009-04-17T21:30:00.001+02:00

After sleeping in this morning, we left the apartment after noon and walked around town. We had decided to go to a museum today but didn’t know which one yet. Upon entering the main market square, we saw that the Krakow Museum was now open. Turns out it was only closed because a new exhibit was opening. Ania asked the lady at the ticket office what museums were open in the city and she gave us a pamphlet of all the affiliated museums that explained what each was about. We decided not to see the exhibit in the Krakow Museum as it was of an actress we didn’t know about. Instead, we walked a short distance to the Town Hall Tower and went there instead.

There were three floors in the tower that we visited. It was interesting just walking up the old, medieval style tower stairs. The stone stairs were uneven and slightly hazardous to climb up as well as narrow. The first floor had a small exhibit showing period clothes as well as old pictures of the tower and the square. The next floor had copies of pictures taken from before automobiles were used. The last floor had windows to see the views of the city. It also had, in a glass case, the mechanism we assumed was used to run the clock on the tower.

After safely making our way back down the stairs, we walked around the market stalls. Browsing all the way through the stalls I couldn’t help but wish I had some way to transport home the items I really wanted to buy. But, trying to bring home glassware and expecting it to still be in one piece when it gets through customs. We walked around the market for a while then decided to walk around the edges of the market since we had not done that.

After a couple of hours just walking around and browsing the shops we came back to our apartment to rest a little before going out to eat. For dinner we went to this little outdoor eating place where all the servers are university students trying to earn money for summer trips. Nikki ordered cabbage rolls, Ania ordered tomato and rice soup, and I ordered venison stew in a bread bowl. All of our meals were delicious and we enjoyed them very much.

After dinner, we all went to the internet café and spent an hour on the internet doing various things. I finally booked my flight back to Italy. I decided to go into Rome instead of trying to get to Florence as it was much cheaper, about $200 cheaper, to go into Rome. Nikki told me that the most expensive train ticket from Rome to Florence was 36 euro so I’m saving a lot by flying into Rome. Plus, I know my way around the Rome airport, sort of, so I’ll be okay.

Anyway, after logging off, we walked back to this gelato/ice cream place we saw while walking around the square today. We went inside and sat down. The waitress brought us the menus and we each ordered a different sundae. Mine was this tall kiwi/apple concoction with kiwi, vanilla and strawberry ice cream with whipped cream and kiwi sauce on top. It was the most delicious mix of fruit slices, ice cream and toppings that I’ve ever had. Nikki ordered a similar sundae but with strawberries while Ania had a chocolate-themed sundae. We walked around for a little bit afterward as each of us was stuffed from dessert before heading back to the apartment for the night.

April 8, 2009

2009-04-17T21:29:00.004+02:00

After sleeping in until 11 today, we had a lazy afternoon. Ania and Nikki went to walk around town while I stayed behind and cleaned up the apartment a bit. Anna came over around 3:30 and took us to her office so we could pay the rent. She also asked us when to send the cleaning lady over to change the sheets and towels and such. As we had our Salt Mine tour at 4, we told Anna to just send the cleaning lady today.

Very soon after we got back to our apartment, we went back downstairs and met up with Mike, the guy taking us to our tour. We hopped into the van, the same one we took to Auschwitz, and drove about 45 minutes to a small town outside of Krakow where the salt mine is located. After about a 20 minute wait, we entered the salt mine with our English tour guide.

We walked down 54 floors, totaling about 340 steps before entering the first part of the salt mine opened to tourists around 34 meters below the surface. The tour consisted of only 1% of the total mine going down as low as 150 meters below the surface. We walked along the designated path, through caverns and chapels constructed by the miners with only primitive mining tools like the pick ax. There were many sculptures done by the miners in the rock salt found in the mine. The sculptures were magnificent to behold, especially knowing that no professional artist did the sculpting, only amateur miners.

The first chapel we visited was the chapel dedicated to St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things. Miners were said to have prayed to St. Anthony so that they would not be lost in the mine. After doing down more steps we visited a cavern turned into almost a cathedral. At 101 meters below the surface, the church was made entirely of salt: chandeliers, reliefs on the walls, statues, side chapels, floor, ceiling, walls—all of salt. There were reliefs of Harod and the magi, the slaughter of the innocents, the nativity, and travel to Bethlehem, fleeing into Egypt, the wedding of Cannes, the Last Supper, the crucifixion, and Doubting Thomas. All were beautiful reliefs, especially the one of the Last Supper which had excellent use of perspective but was only 12 centimeters deep. Inside the church, which our guide told us has Mass every Sunday and can be used for weddings; there was a salt monument to John Paul II, who visited the mines as a student twice and bishop once but never as the Pope.

We descended into many more caverns and other interesting sites before taking a lift back up to the surface. I bought a few gifts for people that I hope they will enjoy and even found something for Raquel’s baby shower.

After returning to the apartment we had a simple dinner of noodles and sauce before turning in for the night.

April 7, 2009

2009-04-17T21:29:00.003+02:00

We went to the mall in Krakow yesterday. We looked around before Ania and I left to walk around the town. We were going to go to the Krakow Museum, which is located in the main market square, but when we got there, we found that the Museum was closed due to construction. With that info under our belts, we decided to just walk around the market. We walked and browsed through every stall and made purchases for gifts for our family. I bought something for mom and Aunt Bridget, while Ania bought something for her mom and sister.

After looking at all the market stalls, we decided to go to the Florian gate. We looked all over for it before asking the people at information. Turns out, we walk by the gate every day when we go to the market for groceries. Very anti-climatic for all of us involved. But, Ania and I took pictures at the barbican, this little castle-looking building, and then the gate.

Afterwards, we went to the market and bought beef jerkey-like sticks of Polish meat and sat in the park for a little bit. When we got back to the apartment it was to find Nikki not there yet, and as she had the key, we decided to go do some shopping for supper in hopes she would be back by the time we were done. Ania and I picked up some eggs, butter, bread, and other things needed for a couple more days in our apartment. When we got back, we met up with Nikki and started dinner.

While the water was bubbling and the vegetables sautéing, we realized we forgot to pick up toilet paper. Nikki went out to get some and some more juice for dinner. By the time she got back, dinner was just about ready to eat. We ate really early and had the dishes done by like 6:30ish or so. The three of us then sat down, or rather lay down, and watched “Sex in the City.” After the movie, which got over by 9:30, I showered and we all went to bed.

April 6, 2009

2009-04-17T21:29:00.001+02:00

Today we visited Auschwitz. The representative of the company through which we booked the tour picked us up around 9 along with four other people. It took a little over an hour to get to Auschwitz. Once there, we watched a film about the concentration camp before entering Auschwitz. It was a different type of experience, walking through the once Polish army barracks turned Nazi concentration camp. We spent about two hours in the first camp, looking at various exhibitions set up in the old barracks. One exhibition housed all the items taken from the prisoners when they entered the camp. There was a room just filled with shoes; another with toothbrushes, hairbrushes, shaving brushes, and shoe brushes. Another room had all the women’s hair that was taken during the war. The hair was sent to German textile factories and was to be used as stiffening in fabric. We then visited the Death Block, number 11, where the nearby Death Wall is situated outside in the courtyard area. The whole overall experience was one that I will never forget.

After a 15 minute break, we drove to the nearby Birkenau camp, the second of the Auschwitz camps, the death camp. This is the camp with the infamous wall with the train tracks running through the gate. We only spent about an hour here but it was enough. We visited the ruins of gas chambers and crematoriums, more barracks that housed the prisoners, and the barracks that had the toilets and wash-basins that were too few for the number of prisoners in the camp. It was awful to see all of this; awful to think that people were evil enough to think of such an organized way to destroy millions of lives. I’m glad we went to visit the camp, it brought home the momentous damaged caused by one crazy, evil man.

After returning back to Krakow, we found a place to eat out for dinner. We had some great food, potato soup and pierogi. After dinner we returned to our apartments and went to bed after staying up late and talking.

April 5, 2009

2009-04-17T21:28:00.005+02:00

We went and visited Wawel Castle today. We bought tickets to view the private apartments of the castle and also to see the Cathedral. Our tour for the private apartments wasn’t until 3:20 so we toured the Cathedral first. We all got audio guides and listened to our virtual guide as we walked about the Cathedral. It was a very interesting and engaging experience. I forgot my camera so I’ll have to get pictures from Ania later.

When we toured the private apartments, our group had many different people in it. It was an English tour but we had people from Sweden and Spain among the group members. The tour only took about 40 minutes but was very fascinating. Most of the paintings and artwork were extraordinary to look at as well as much of the Polish furniture. I really enjoyed the tour and would go back to the castle to visit other exhibitions that we didn’t see.

That night, we had pasta again but this time with chicken, peppers, and other vegetables. It was an experience trying to cook everything on this tiny stove with these tiny pots and pans. We called it another early night as we had our tour of Auschwitz in the morning.

April 4, 2009

2009-04-17T21:28:00.004+02:00

From the station, we found our way to our apartment after asking help a few times. Anna was waiting for us there and let us into our second floor apartment. We got a bigger apartment then they originally told us because they figured we were going to be here for 2 weeks, at least Ania and I will, so they wanted to give a kitchen so we could cook.

The apartment has 4 rooms plus the entry way: a bathroom, kitchen, and then 2 bedrooms; there are actually 8 twin sized beds in the apartment. After letting Anna out and choosing who would sleep where, we all crashed until the afternoon.

When we finally woke up later that afternoon, we walked around town a bit. We went to an info place to get a map and ask a few questions. After withdrawing money from the ATM, we walked around the main square area Rynek Głowny. Here we got some lunch, steak and kielbasa along with Polish beer. We then located a grocery store to purchase items to make for dinner.

Dinner that night was pasta with a red sauce. We also purchased some bread, yogurt, and other items needed for us to survive. We watched the movie “Mona Lisa Smile” after dinner and then went to bed.

April 3, 2009

2009-04-17T21:28:00.001+02:00

Leaving day. Today, everyone except Courtney and Adam who are staying in Rome until the 5th packed up and headed out. Allyson, her dad Mike, Ania, Nikki and I all headed toward Roma Termini together. We walked to the metro and then together to the station. It was hard saying goodbye to Allyson after so long of a time being together. I hope their trip was safe and okay. Nikki, Ania and I bought our train tickets to the airport and then waited. Ania and I saw Bob at the train station which was funny-weird in the sense that Bob seemed to always be just around the corner this entire trip.

After reaching the airport, the three of us waited in the check-in line for like 2 hours. They didn’t start checking in people for our 3:05 flight until 1:30. We thought we were going to miss the flight, but we got checked in and through security with a lot of time to spare. The flight was about 30 minutes late taking off but only took 1.5 hours so we landed on time at 5:05 in Prague. When we gathered our luggage and left the airport we took a shuttle to the main train station in Prague.

Driving through the streets of Prague was like taking a step back in time. It was amazing to see the old buildings and just look. I hope I can make it back there but it probably won’t be on this trip. When we arrived at the train station we purchased our tickets for the overnight train to Krakow and then had to wait 2 hours before we could board. Hanging around the train station was weird and a little creepy so I was happy when they finally announced which platform our train was on.

The three of us girls boarded the train with our luggage and found a section of the train for ourselves. After the train guy validated our tickets, we shut the lights off and prepared for a long night. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too difficult to fall asleep. We mostly dozed as it was either too hot or cold in the car. Nikki and I slept on the seats while Ania took the floor. It wasn’t the most comfortable arrangement but it worked. Around 3 am, another train guy punched our tickets and we then dozed until 6:30 when we arrived in Krakow.

April 2, 2009

2009-04-17T21:27:00.002+02:00

Today I went to the Colosseo by myself. I know my mom will probably be angry that I went by myself but I enjoyed it. I woke up around 8, went to breakfast, and walked to the metro by 8:30. I took the metro from Otaviano to Termini then switched lines and took went from Termini to Colosseo. There, I got off the metro and walked over to the Colosseo. I hooked up with an English guide and by 10 I was being taken around for a tour.

I really enjoyed the tour of the Colosseo although I don’t think 20 euro was worth it since I was unable to attend the tour of Palatine hill because I needed to be back for the Scavi tour. So, after the Colosseo tour was completed, which was very interesting and fact filled, I walked around Palatine hill myself. I took a ton of pictures, but have since forgotten what some of the pictures are of. I will have to Google search and find what I took pictures of.

Around 11:30ish I hopped back on the metro and retraced my steps back to St. Peter’s Square. I met up with Eldon and then with Nikki and we went on our Scavi tour. For some reason I thought it was a tour of the Catacombs. It wasn’t. It was a tour of the necropolis buried underneath St. Peter’s. We saw the old burial ground that Constantine buried and helped preserve for the future. We saw many familial tombs consisting of various religions including Christianity. We then saw St. Peter’s tomb, which is/was a hole in the ground. That’s all the early Christians were able to afford. Our guide told us of the six layers on top of Peter’s tomb. The early Christians built a monument on top of Peter’s grave, Constantine built a monument on top of the earlier monument, and two medieval rulers did the same, until you come to the present day altar seen in St. Peter’s Basilica. The tour was very interesting and fact filled. I really enjoyed it very much.

That night, we had only 8 people at dinner, including Bob and Allyson’s dad, Mike. It was a low-key, night with most of us calling it early do to leaving in the morning. Courtney, having moved into my room after Betsy left, was my new roommate. I packed my bags and went to bed early.

April 1, 2009

2009-04-17T21:27:00.001+02:00

Today we got to see the Pope. There was a Papal audience at 10:30 in St. Peter’s Square. We got really good seats near the center aisle and were very close to the Pope-mobile when it came by. The whole thing took about 1 ½ hours total. First a reading from Mathew was done, in like multiple languages: French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, and English. Then the Pope did a little spiel. After his speech, each of the Bishops that read the reading in their respective language announced the various groups that were there today. So, all the big groups were announced and then the Pope would say the summary of his speech is that language. It was pretty cool. Even St. Mary’s was announced and we, of course, cheered. Overall it was an interesting experience.

God must have watching today because he held off the rain until after the whole thing was with and everyone was filing out. So, we all headed back to the hotel to regroup. I was going to go with Allyson and her dad, Mike, to the Colosseo today, but with the rain we decided to go tomorrow. They went, instead, to tour St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum. I went with the group to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Eldon and I then split from the group to go to The Fountain of Trevi, and to San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) church. I rode the metro again, tried to figure out how to take it to the airport, and then Eldon and I walked to the supermarket near the hotel.

The Fountain of Trevi is the most beautiful fountain of Rome and symbolizes the Baroque era. The fountain was completed in 1762 and inaugurated by Pope Clement XIII. The scenic effect is guaranteed by the small space of the surrounding square which serves as a theatre. The center statue represents Neptune and the side statues symbolize the abundance and the health that water has always given to the city of Rome.

The Pantheon, during classical antiquity, was a temple dedicated to all gods of pagan Rome. Marco Vipsanio Agrippa built it between 27 and 25 BC to celebrate his victory against the Persians. The original rectangular shape was modified after two fires when Adriano rebuilt it in a circular shape in AD 125. That is why it then became known as the ‘Rotunda’. In 608 AD it became a Christian church.

The Colosseo is the biggest amphitheatre ever built in the antiquity. It was started in 72 AD by the emperor Vespasiano of the Flavia family, that is why it’s also know as the ‘Amphitheatre Flavium.’ With its 50 meters high and its elegant architecture, it had a capacity of 55,000 spectators. Inside there were held gladiator duels and fantastic naval battles.

Most of the time we were walking around Roma today, it was raining. I’m glad Allyson and I didn’t go to the Colosseo because we would have been miserable as everything to see is not covered. I’m going to head there tomorrow morning before my Scavi tour with Eldon and Nikki. Then, the only other thing I really want to see is Saint Cecilia’s church.

I got a ton of pictures today: of the Pope, the audience, the various sights we saw, etc. I cannot wait to get internet to put them on facebook and my blog. I just hope it is not raining tomorrow and that everyone who’s leaving tomorrow travels safely.

March 31, 2009

2009-04-17T21:25:00.000+02:00

We left Follonica the same way we arrived, in a flurry of suitcases trying not to be blown away by the wind. Instead of taking the train, we took a coach bus to Orvieto. The trip to Orvieto seemed to take forever; it also seemed like we were traveling back to Florence as I saw many signs say Siena and Firenze. But, as Bob explained to me later, we had to go that way to get onto the autostrade to take us to Orvieto.

Orvieto is a city situated on top of a plateau. When we arrived we had to walk a short way up an incline to our hotel. Our first night, Eldon checked out the churches and came back and told us that about a free concert being preformed. So, we went to the concert that night. It was completely amazing. The music was classical, one composition by Brahms; I can’t remember what the other piece was. But it was soooo good to listen to a concert; it brought back memories of my concerts. I guess that I miss playing in a band but the SMU band doesn’t seem as challenging as I would have wanted.

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was pretty blah because it was raining off and on most of the time. We went to see these underground caves that had some old artifacts from Etruscan/Roman time; it was pretty cool. Jill and I then walked all the way to the end of the plateau where there was a look-out point of sorts. By this time it was raining pretty steadily. We walked around this garden area, took a bunch of pictures, and then walked back to the hotel. I went to Mass on Sunday, in a side chapel in the Duomo. It was in Italian so I didn’t really understand much. I tried to translate but I couldn’t catch all the words. I pretty much just let the feeling run through me and didn’t really hear anything.

Monday, we took the cable car down to the lower part of the town, off the plateau, where we then took a train to Rome. We got off in Rome at the Roma Termini station where the group then split up. Bob gave us the option of taking a taxi, where he would pay half of the fair, or taking the metro. Four took the metro, including me, while the rest took a taxi. It was an interesting experience, taking the metro with my entire luggage, but we finally made it to our hotel after getting off the metro at the nearest spot and then walking past the Vatican and meeting up with Bob, on accident, near the hotel.

The hotel is a renovated nunnery. The rooms look like a freshman dorm and but it’s comfortable and very near the Vatican, just like a ten minute walk or so. Bob walked us around the Vatican after we dropped our luggage off and then we had dinner.

Tuesday, today, Ania and I went to see St. Peter’s Basilica. We first went underneath the basilica and saw some of the pope’s tombs, including that of Pope John Paul II’s tomb. It was very moving experience. There were a lot of teenagers there that didn’t seem to understand the significance of what they were seeing but one has to be committed to their faith in order to feel the deep spiritual aspect of the tour. We then went into the basilica and walked around. We saw Michelangelo’s Pieta along with a lot of other sculptures and paintings. It was an amazing sight to behold.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel where we met up with Nikki and Bailey. We went with them to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. We got a discount at the ticket office by showing our ISIC cards, 8 euro instead of 14 euro. Anyway, we really wanted to see the Sistine Chapel so we headed that way first. One hour, multiple courtyards, numerous sculpture rooms, tapestries, paintings, and artifacts later, we finally made it to the Sistine Chapel. It was everything you thought it would be including a pain in the neck, literally. You had to crane you neck to see the ceiling and there were people all over the place it was so crowded. But we saw what we came to see and then found our way out of the museum.

Ania and I headed back to the hotel for a little rest. On the way we stopped and got gelato. Back at the hotel, after logging online for a bit, we went our separate ways. I met Allyson’s dad at one point, before dinner, when they headed out to see the city. Dinner was a fun affair as we listened to Mike’s many stories.

Contest from one of my new favorite authors

2009-04-09T20:18:00.002+02:00

Grand Prize: $100 GC to Amazon.com
Runner Up: $25 GC to B&N and a box of surprise paperbacks and other goodies (like chocolate, bath goodies, ect). This is going to be a NICE prize!
Runner Up: $25 GC to B&N and a box of surprise paperbacks and other goodies. (same as above)

Plus chances to win books (almost) every day for a month!

Go to http://www.anyabast.com/blog/ for details on how to enter.

Hey Everyone

2009-04-09T20:15:00.001+02:00

I'm doing great, just thought I'd stop by and tell everyone. I don't have wireless in my apartment in Krakow so I cannot upload any of my posts that I'm writing in a Word document on my laptop. Give me until we get to Warsaw for those. I really am having a blast in Poland and cannot wait to get home to tell all my stories. I love and miss all of you!!!!

Almost done with the semester

2009-03-27T22:20:00.002+01:00

March 27, 2009

Today I took my second to last final here in Italy. It’s been a long road since Monday, coming back from my weekend in the Almalfi Coast. We didn’t arrive back at Villa Bonelli until around midnight. I stayed up until after 1 am, taking a shower and checking my email again. Monday morning we had our last Global Issues class and Bob gave us some information on the cities we would be traveling too. Then, I packed. I packed up everything I possibly could, did a load of laundry, and waited.

We had our last dinner at Etrusca together. Many people said it was the same as our first meal. I’ll have to check back to my blog to make sure but I think they were right. We had spaghetti with the oil and garlic and pepper sauce and then pizza. Everyone was making jokes about our time in Fiesole, things we said the first night there, and so on. It was a happy time, but with the lingering hint of sadness hidden beneath. At the end of dinner, before dessert, Lorenzo stood up and made a toast that all of us agreed to. He toasted Bob, thanking him for everything, and hoping that we weren’t the worst group he had. “Good food, good friends, and great times” I think was what he finished with. It fit the evening.

We returned to Villa Bonelli for our last night as a group, I’m coming back for one night before I leave with Betsy and Eldon. Then the next morning, after eating breakfast, I finished packing up everything else. I took my suitcase down to the storage area, along with everyone else, and we all headed to take the bus to the train station.

On the train to Follonica, I took my first final, Literature. It was a pretty easy final but I had not been feeling good again. I’ve caught my third cold since coming on this trip, my fourth cold since I’ve gotten the flu shot. On the train I had a huge headache and the sniffles. Then, I really had to go the bathroom. When I got up to see where the bathroom was I picked the wrong end of the train. I waited 2 ½ hours, almost just before we got off the train in Follonica, before checking and finding the bathroom on the other end of the car; stupid me, putting myself through the agony, without checking the other end of the car.

Anyway, we had to walk a ways to get to our hotel in Follonica which is right on the beach. The wind that day was horribly strong. It was a chore to walk against it. But, we finally got to our hotel, settled in, and explored. Our rooms face the beach and are better than the ones at Villa Bonelli. We have breakfast and dinner at the hotel. After breakfast, we take whatever final was scheduled for that day. I’ve had to take four finals in a row, one each day. Literature, Art, History, and Global Issues today. It was very stressful because after you took one final, you turned around and started studying for the next with no breaks. UGH!!!! Anyway, they’re done except for language on Sunday.

I’m going to miss it here, even though we’ve only been here a couple of days. I’m still sick, but it’s peaceful here. Falling asleep and waking up to the sea on the beach everyday. The beds are really comfortable too. We leave for Orvieto tomorrow. The bus is picking us up at 11ish or so. We’re only spending like two days in Orvieto before heading off to Rome and the end of our program.

I still need to find a flight back to Florence, and we need to book our train from Prague to Krakow. I’m going to purchase internet tonight and check all that out. But, now I’m going to take a nap, in the sunlight streaming through my balcony window overlooking the sea.

Dinner was great, again. I love eating at the hotel. Bob ordered wine for everyone; I had a little too much. But I had a great spaghetti course and then cooked salmon that tasted heavenly. We leave tomorrow so I bought some internet time. I have to run though because there is soooo much I have to do in this hour and not enough time to do it with.

I love all of you and hopefully Orvieto has free internet! CIAO!!!!!

Videos

2009-03-23T18:15:00.007+01:00

These are mostly videos of the waves coming in and hopefully the sound as well. Peaceful and serene.

March 22, 2009--Pompeii

2009-03-23T14:14:00.002+01:00

Today I got to sleep in, well a little anyway, until 9 am. I packed up my stuff that I brought with me and went down to breakfast with Bailey. After dropping our stuff off at the meeting place, Bailey and I walked into town to find an ATM and pick up some goodies for the ride home. The ATM we were sent to was broken, so no good there, but Bailey got some granola bars.

We got onto the bus and drove to Pompeii around noon. We arrived in Pompeii at 2ish and met up with our guide. He took us around Pompeii, explaining all these different aspects about Pompeii. We saw the gladiator practice arena, the music amphitheater, stores, bakeries, and many homes. We visited the red light district of Pompeii and saw the erotic frescoes as well as the chambers used. We then went to the main forum of Pompeii where I got a great picture of Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius is only 7 miles away from Pompeii, interesting little fact. We walked by many of the pots found after excavation as well as the plaster replicas of those who got caught in the volcanic gases and died. There is one cast of a dog which has the original bronze chains still on its neck. There is also a cast of a woman that may have been pregnant at the time of her death. Some other places we saw in Pompeii included many mosaics of wealthy families. We also visited two houses of the upper class and a Roman bath.

Some facts about Pompeii: only the first level of the city was preserved. On the first day of the explosion, volcanic ash rained down on the city covering about 9 feet deep. Those that didn't leave the first day, around 4000 or so, died the second day of asphyxiation caused by the volcanic gases. When the lava came, it covered the rest of the town and destroyed the second level of the buildings.

I had a great time touring Pompeii and am glad that I came on the trip to visit it. But, we had to head back to Florence at 5. We stopped around 7:30 to get some dinner before booking it back to Florence. We made it back to the station just after 10:30 so Betsy, Bailey, and I got a little something at McDonald's and waited for the 11:30 bus. We made it back to Villa Bonelli around midnight and were greeted by most of the group. Hugs were exchanged and quick stories were told. I didn't get to sleep until after 1 am.

March 21, 2009--Capri

2009-03-23T13:55:00.002+01:00

Today, we woke up super early and met at the reception desk at 7:45. We then took the bus down to the marina to take a ferry over to Capri. We waited at the marina for about an hour because our ferry didn't leave until 9:15 am. It was very cold and windy and the waves were very choppy. Riding the ferry was very cool, it was like a really big bus/train with rows of seats for people to sit on. Not exactly what I'd pictured, but then I'd never ridden a ferry before.

When we got to Capri we were told that going to the Blue Grotto was definitely out as the waves were too choppy. Taken from Wikipedia: The Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra) is a noted sea cave on the coast of the island of Capri, Italy. Sunlight, passing through an underwater cavity and shining through the seawater, creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern.

Instead, half the group took a bus up to Capri Town while the other half walked up. I walked up and was definitely feeling yesterday's walk in my calves. I could feel my tendons stretching as we walked up stairs and inclines to get to the town. The walk up took about 15-20 minutes and we met the group that took the bus up on the top. After numerous pictures were taken, we started walking through the town. We walked past what is known as the living room of Capri, one of the main squares where people can people-watch.

We then walked to Augustus' Garden. This garden is very beautiful and has many gorgeous views of the water as it's set up sooo high. After the garden, we walked down this very winding path to get to the beach (check out my photos to see the path.) At the beach, it was warmer as we were on the other side of the island. Many people, Betsy and Bailey included, went for a dip in the sea. I chilled out, enjoyed the view, and did a little Sudoku. The group went off to have lunch while Betsy and I stayed at the beach and ate what we brought with us. We joined up with the group eating lunch when it got a little chilly on the beach.

After lunch, the three of us girls and Allyson, our tour guide, walked back up the winding path to the town. We bought some gelato and did a little tourists shopping. I bought some bottles of Lemoncello to bring back home for the family to taste. The four of us then walked back down to the marina where Betsy and Bailey bought sweatshirts at one of the shops. I bought a dishtowel with a map of Italy on it showing all the various types of pasta in Italy. I'm sure Aunt Jen will get a kick out of it.

After taking the ferry back to Sorrento and the bus back to our hostel, there was a mad dash for the showers in the girls bathroom. Dinner that night was provided by the hostel. It was a Mexican barbecue with chicken or beef tacos. I good meal and, with the cover band playing, decent entertainment. I called it, or tried to, early to prepare for Sunday. I ended up staying up until midnight like I normally do then falling asleep.

March 20, 2009

2009-03-23T13:53:00.001+01:00

The hostel is really nice; Betsy, Bailey, and I are in a room with 6 other girls. When you think of hostel (shared rooms, shared girls bath, bunk beds, and lockers) that’s what we have. But only, this hostel is nicer than the horror movie style hostels. Everything is really clean and hip. There’s free wireless internet, complimentary breakfast which consisted of croissants, cookies, cereal, tea, coffee, orange juice, and pineapple juice. It was good, if a little sugary.

The group met up together at 10:30 to head to the coast town of Positano. We took our bus to the town along this really curving road. The thing about this road is that it follows the cliff edges to the coast towns. The only thing keeping the vehicle from plummeting to a watery grave is a two foot high, one foot deep concrete wall on the edge of the road. The bus did its accelerate and brake routine all the way to Positano. I was glad to get off the bus when it finally stopped.

We stopped at this look-out point to take pictures and see the whole of Positano. It’s a picturesque town from afar but up close it’s a little dingy. We walked down to the beach, down many many many steps. I would tell you how far I walked around today but my pedometer finally died today. After falling out of my pocket and crashing to the ground multiple times, it finally gave up (at least the battery did). But, we finally got down to the beach.

Bailey and I took tons of pictures at the beach. I even took a video of the waves and the sound of the water. I think we just stared out at the sea which I believe is the Mare Tirreno, or Tyrrhenian Sea, part of the Mediterranean. Anyway, after all the pictures, finding the rocks we wanted, and getting caught unawares by the wave, Bailey and I started to walk around town a little bit. Betsy decided to stay and lie on the beach. Before going to far, Bailey and I met up with one of our tour guides, Remy and these two other guys, Josh and Joe. We decided to find someplace to go eat some lunch together. We ended up walking all over the place before finding this little restaurant up another hill.

Lunch was a really fun affair. We sat down around 1, 1:15ish and didn’t leave until 3:30. But, while we all ordered a first course, two of the guys ordered a second course afterward. We all shared a bottle of a good red wine with our meal as well. Conversation ran the whole gamut. We talked about stereotypes, where we all live, school, and just stuff in general. There were no lags in conversation or any awkward pauses. I had a good time.

When we left the restaurant we decided to walk back to the meeting point. We were to meet at 4:30 by the Bar International up this really big hill. By this point, it had been raining out for an hour or so. We started retracing our steps to get back up the hills to the bar. My umbrella broke halfway through the walk up. The winds buffeting us were brutal. Remy’s umbrella also broke during the walk. Somehow, Bailey’s held up to the fierce winds that slammed into us some times while pushing us at others. When we finally made it to the bar, we were semi-soaked and out of breath.

We found most of the group waiting in the bar already. Drinks were ordered and more conversation was had. Betsy was already there so Bailey and I didn’t have to worry about going and finding her. When 4:30 came around we walked to the bus, getting hit by the rain and wind again and traveled back to our hostel.

I took a shower as soon as we got back to the hostel. Now, most everyone has left to go grab dinner but since lunch was so large for me, I’m just going to snack on granola bars. Tomorrow we have to be up and ready to go by 7:45 as we are taking a ferry over to Capri. I would love to go visit the Blue Grotto but I don’t think it’s going to happen as the sea needs to be very calm or they don’t run the tour. With the weather like it is and it’s expected to be windy but no rain tomorrow so probably a no for the Blue Grotto. Oh, well. I’m sure that I’ll find something to occupy my time tomorrow on the island of Capri.

March 19, 2009--Happy Birthday Mom!!!

2009-03-23T13:48:00.001+01:00

Today is my mother’s birthday. This is the third birthday that I’ve missed in my immediate family since I’ve been over here in Italy. It’s kind of sad to think about it so I don’t a lot. I’ll have to think of really good gifts to bring home to each of them. I sent mom an email this morning wishing her a happy birthday.

We had our last Art class today, as well. We all met in front of the Pitti Palace at 1pm and bought a ticket that included two museums and two gardens. We first went into this museum that had ancient pieces and the modern interpretations of it. It was interesting to see some of the modern sculptures next to the old roman sculptures. Some of them were very weird while others didn’t look to bad. There were also modern paintings interpreting different sculptures or paintings. Overall, it was a really interesting exhibit.

The next stop in the museum was the precious metals portion. We saw pieces of marble inlay, jewelry, gold-work, and many other trinkets from the Medici family. There were a lot of precious stones in jewelry or crazy sculptures. My favorite room was filled with different types of jewelry. There were diamond and amethyst tiaras, massive earrings and necklaces, bracelets and tons of rings. Whatever stone there is out there, I’m sure it was set in a piece of jewelry in this museum. It was just glorious to see because as you walked into the room, it sparkled.

After the precious metals room, we walked across the inner courtyard of the Pitti Palace and up a good four flights of stairs to get to the Costume Museum. Here they showcased many women’s fashion from the 15 century to modern designs. There were also some 17th/18th century men’s designs as well. I loved the really old women’s clothing in the museum. The dresses were all gorgeous, even the modern ones. There was also a room with shoes and parasols from way back when. None of the guys were really interested in this particular museum but a few girls were, including me.

After looking at the Costume Museum, we went outside into the Boboli Garden. This garden is huge, and I mean HUGE! It was absolutely gorgeous as well. We walked around for a little bit, found this pond/fountain/island maze thing and continued on to the newest part of the garden: an exhibit on Pompeii. They had a replica of an ancient Pompeii courtyard garden set up in the Boboli Garden. This was very interesting to see as well; all the architecture, the water system, and the plants. (I cannot wait until I get to see Pompeii on Sunday.)

We then walked up this huge hill to get to the somewhat top of the Boboli Garden. After walking some more we exited the Boboli Garden and went to the next garden, the Bardini Garden. This one was smaller, quainter, but just as gorgeous and soothing as the Boboli Garden. In each garden, I felt calmer and more relaxed. The beauty of the gardens soothed my frayed nerves from this week. I didn’t want to leave so soon but I needed to get back up to Fiesole to grab my backpack and then head back down to Florence to the station to leave for the Almalfi Coast.

On my mother’s birthday, I experienced my first thunderstorm in Italy. Betsy and I were riding the #7 bus up to Fiesole when it started down-pouring in San Domenico. By the time we get up to Fiesole, it’s coming down in buckets and even hailing a little. Betsy and I run up the hill to Villa Bonelli but had to stop halfway in the doorway of the Coop because the rain was coming down sooo hard. By that point, my jeans were soaked through in the front and my sweatshirt was soaked in the back. I did not have my umbrella on me because it didn’t look like it was going to rain when I went into town earlier. When Betsy and I finally get to Villa Bonelli, our first thought is to get into dry clothes. When we walked into the room, however, it was to find that we left our window open and that we had a growing puddle on the floor. We cleaned up the mess, got into dry clothes/shoes, and headed back out to catch the bus down to the station. By this time Bailey, who is also going with us, caught up to us and headed out with us.

The ride to our hostel was horrible. The bus was completely full so there were no empty seats. The three of us had the back five seats with these two other guys. It was the most uncomfortable ride because there was no room and our seats didn’t recline so I couldn’t fall asleep; added to that was the fact that the bus driver was swerving all over the road and would accelerate then brake. It was also storming quite ferociously outside: thunder, lightening, and torrential rain. This all made for a nauseous ride and I was grateful when we finally got to the Seven Hostel around 2:15 am. We unpacked and all fell into bed, with our alarms set for 9 am.

Wireless is back!!

2009-03-18T21:17:00.002+01:00

We got the wireless back at Villa Bonelli right before dinner tonight. It was a crazy, mad dash to grab up laptops once word got out. The first thing I did was go through all three of my email accounts and finally read everything. Dinner interrupted my reunion with my beloved laptop, though. Dinner was good. We had the garlic pasta again but pork for the second course instead of pizza or chicken. It was a good change for once and really enjoyable to eat.

But, to start with the beginning of my day, I had history class. My last history class in Italy with Luciana. After going over what will be on the final, we went to the Roman Ruins in Fiesole. We have been waiting to go there ever since the beginning of the semester but it just opened at the beginning of March. It was only 6 euro to get in and well worth the cost. There is a Roman amphitheater, ruins from a Roman bath, and ruins from an Etruscan and Roman temple. It was all very cool to see the history preserved in this place. I could tell where the rooms in the bath were, where the swimming pools and dressing rooms were. I could tell where the Etruscan Temple was in comparison to the Roman Temple that was built over top it. It was just an amazing experience to behold and I would gladly pay 6 euro to see it again with my camera, which I forgot in my room. After class, Luciana gave each of us her business card in case we are ever back in Fiesole. It felt sad to be saying goodbye because she is such a great teacher.

In language class, we went over the practice test, figured out what sections would be on the actual test, and then watched more of the movie. Chiara gave a burned copy of the movie to Courtney so we would all have the opportunity to watch it. As our last language class, I didn't feel the same as with history. We did our normal "Ciao" after class and walked out of the classroom.

After class, a few of us went downtown to take care of a few things. Betsy, Eldon, and I went to this embroidery stand near the Stazione. We bought an apron and had Lorenzo's name embroidered on it for his birthday. It's sooo cool because it also has 'King of the Grill' embroidered on it as well. The five of us that are traveling this weekend all chipped in to buy it since we will not be here for his birthday on Saturday. The three of us then went to the hotel we're going to be staying at for our last night in Florence and in Italy and booked a room for Eldon that night and a room for me on the 20th. They asked for no credit cards so if I don't make it it's not a big deal.

Afterward, Betsy and I went to the place where we are supposed to be able to get our taxes back on purchases. Unfortunately, you can only get taxes back on purchases over 150 euro and only if you have the special invoice that the store is supposed to give you. So, I don't know if we'll be able to get taxes back on our small purchases or not. We then walked through on of the markets and Betsy bought jerseys for her brothers. Upon arriving at the bus stop near the Duomo, we met up with Lorenzo and his sister and cousin who came over to visit him.

I'm now needing to pack for this weekend, pack to leave Fiesole, and figure out what to do with my schedule. UGH!!!!! Too much to do in sooooo little time. Got to go! Ciao!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-18T21:07:00.005+01:00

St. Patrick’s Day. Two days before my mother’s birthday. A Tuesday here in Italy.

I had my literature class this morning. None of us knew what we were going to do for class since she pushed back the final to next week. So when we arrived in class we were surprised with a movie of one of Machiavelli’s works. We get about 30 minutes into the movie before it stops working. Chiara was frustrated with it because she had purchased the movie and it wasn’t working. So instead, we talked about a contemporary of Machiavelli before calling class 40 minutes early. That was our last literature class. I didn't realize that until later that day. It's kind of weird to think about it, that we're that close to being done with our semester abroad.

Those of us in literature went back to Villa Bonelli to wait until Language class at 11. What we found upon returning to class was most of the guys already drinking in lieu of St. Patrick’s Day. Did I mention that most of the group was wearing green? It was weird to see all the various shades of green everyone was wearing. Freaky weird. But, it is a major day in America and the Irish Pubs in Italy go all out for it too.

In Language class we watched part of a movie as well. This time it was on purpose though. We had a little assignment dealing with the beginning of the movie and then we watched the first part of the movie for the rest of class. “A Beautiful Life” is the title of the movie, in English, although we watched it in Italian with English subtitles. Before we left class, Chiara handed out a practice test for us to work on as our Italian final is also next week. The practice test was not so difficult once I focused on it but everything was in Italian and I’m not the greatest at understanding the language yet.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing laundry for me. With the dryer broken, I had to hang everything up. There were clothes all over the bathroom, the room, the window and the shutters. Any possible place for me to hang something, there was a piece of clothing on it. But my laundry is done now and I will have the pick of my clothes for the Almalfi coast this weekend.

I still haven’t heard from Dr. Minnerath yet but I’m hoping tomorrow I’ll get a response back. My whole schedule is a mess due to the switch in the Honors course. I’m thinking of taking Analytical Chemistry but the lab interferes with my Micro lab. As it is I’m sitting at only 13 credits and I need 15 for my scholarship. I don’t know what Bio Research to sign up for if Minnerath is not teaching next semester. She really needs to get back to me so I can finalize everything. Ugh!!!!

On the brighter side, though, Bob thinks that Wi-Fi maybe up tomorrow. One can only hope at this point, but I’m not holding my breath. It’s off to bed with me now. Ciao!

March 16

2009-03-18T21:07:00.001+01:00

Another day in Paradise. Today was a gorgeous day out. I sat up on the main landing of Villa Bonelli, out in the sun, for a good 3 hours this afternoon. Courtney, Adam, Eldon, and I played cards while sitting in the sun. We periodically switched seats to change the angle of the sun on each respective person. I know I got a little burnt because at the end I was feeling a little sore. I was out in the sun too long because when we came back inside I got an instant headache. Too much sun with too little water to hydrate me.

In Global Issues today, Bob scared us with a little speech saying that he assumes we read everything thoroughly and that’s how he is going to test us. He also warned us about bringing in guests to the hotel. Some people have been doing that and that is illegal and Bob said the next time it happens, said person will be going home the next day. He was very upset and I was embarrassed sitting in class having to listen to it because the situation never should have gotten to that point.

I wanted to do laundry today but the dryer is out of commission so I’ll have to do laundry tomorrow, not that big of a problem. The wireless internet is down at Villa Bonelli. The router apparently blew and they might get it fixed by this weekend but who knows. This is really a bad time for the internet to be down because class scheduling starts this next week and we are all still trying to plan our after stuff.

Ania and I officially booked our apartment in Krakow. We now just need to find our way from Prague to Krakow and I need to book a flight back to Florence. I also need to book a room for that night because Betsy and her family don’t come back to Florence until the 21st and I’ll be back on the 20th. I’m going to ask Villa Bonelli otherwise I’ll find something in town.

We leave for Rome next Tuesday so I have to start thinking about what I’m going to take with me. I know I’ll have a backpack and a suitcase but I need to decide what clothes and other stuff I’m bringing with me. I also need to figure out how to secure everything I’m leaving here at Villa Bonelli in my broken suitcase.

The rest of the day went pretty well. We had a different type of pasta for dinner, yeah variety!!!! But otherwise, I found out that my Honors course switched days so now my schedule is off. I cannot take radiation biology because that’s when Honors is now. I cannot take Analytical Chemistry because the lab is the same time as my microbiology lab. I cannot take Physical Chemistry because the class runs over into another class of my that I’m taking for the St. T’s Institute. Dr. Minnerath is going on Sabbatical so I don’t know what I’m going to do about research and everything. She hasn’t gotten back to me regarding my emails and now they’re useless because of the Honors change. I don’t know what other courses I should take. I’m going to have to really take the time and figure it out but without internet access on my laptop it will take some maneuvering to figure out. I’m over stressing the situation, I know, but I register on Monday and I’m the type of person who stresses out about something until it’s finalized or over with. It’s just who I am, especially since I’m an ocean away from those I need to talk to and those that I can talk to.

I’m just going to call it a night early. Try and sleep and hope for the best.

March 15

2009-03-18T21:05:00.003+01:00

Today actually started at 12:30 am for me. That was when everyone came back from the bars and beach after leaving the guesthouse after dinner. When we finally woke up for good, we all packed up our bags and paid Manuel for our stay. We also told him about the broken plate and glasses and offered to pay but he said it was fine. So we hopped on the train from Monterosso to La Spezia.

In La Spezia we found out that there was no direct connection to Firenze so we bought our tickets and headed to Pisa. From Pisa we got on a train to Firenze not more than five minutes from getting of our first train. After arriving in Firenze we were lucky enough to have the #7 bus waiting for us at the station and rode it all the way up to Fiesole.

When we arrived at Villa Bonelli we found out the internet was down. Not good after most of us hadn’t called home in a while. We all, at least Betsy and I, called it an early night due to exhaustion and lack of internet to amuse us. Another very lazy Sunday.

March 14th

2009-03-18T21:05:00.001+01:00

Today we hiked Cinque Terre. We bought our ticket at Monterosso, grabbed a map, and hopped on the train to the first of the five cities. Our ticket included our passes onto the trail, bus and train transport to and in the cities, and many other things we weren’t aware of until we got back to Monterosso.

We took the train from Monterosso to Riomaggiore, where we then hiked the Via dell’amore or lover’s lane, the first part of the five hour total hike. Unfortunately for us, that was the only part of the Coastal Paths that was opened. But the path was a gorgeous to walk along and I took many pictures that I will upload as soon as possible. We picked a beautiful day to hike because it was sunny and warm and the views were postcard perfect. We stopped many times along the way to just look and soak up the sun.

When we got to Manorola, the 2nd city, we walked along the coastal path as long as we could before turning back. Before we did that, though, we walked out onto these rocks in this cove area and sat and enjoyed the view and the sun. I have a fair share of pictures, even though my battery threatened death multiple times throughout the day. From the 2nd city we took the train to the 3rd city of Corniglia. Here we climbed 328 steps to the top of the cliff where the city is at. I bought some earrings to match two of my necklaces: one I bought in San Gimignano and the other I got for my birthday, the Lia Sophia one. I also swear I saw Robert Patterson driving in the city but I might have been mistaken. We then walked back down the 328 steps to catch the train to the next city.

We decided against stopping in the 4th city of Vernazza today because it was 5:30 before we got on the train. When we were back in Monterosso, our first order of business was finding the meat we were grilling tonight and the pasta we were cooking. I split from the group to head back to our ‘guesthouse’ as my contacts were killing my eyes. On the way I stopped at this little corner store right before the steps up to our guesthouse. I bought these caring for 1 euro each. One was of two dolphins and the other was a turtle. The turtle’s shell came off so it’s like a little jewelry holder or some other such thing.

We are now grilling and cooking our food outside, preparing for dinner. Whew!!! Dinner was an event. There was no stove so everything was cooked on the grill. Three different types of pastas had to be cooked before Lorenzo even got to the meat. It was a great time, great party, and everyone way enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, one plate and four glasses were broken during the night. Tomorrow, we will fess up to the owner when we pay fro the rooms. But, we cleaned up everything: washed all the dishes, pots and panes, glasses, and silverware we used and didn’t use; we cleaned the tables and all the cooking areas; and we put everything back to where it was when we found it.

I am now sitting in my bed, finishing writing this. I feel the sun I got today on my face and arms. When I wake tomorrow I’m sure I’ll be slightly burnt. I cannot wait to get back to Firenze and Fiesole though. This weekend was a great trip with all of us but…well but. There seems to be always a but on our trips. For this trip, it’s the fact that I don’t like to get drunk. I don’t like to lose control of myself that much. People say they don’t like to lose control of themselves yet still get drunk, but that’s not me. I’ve never been falling on the floor, puking my guts out, cannot remember what I did last night drunk, and I don’t ever want to be. Some people on this trip must don’t understand that about me. I feel like I need to be the sober, responsible one when everybody else is drunk. I don’t mind it, taking on that responsibility. I like to feel useful and needed, and if filing that position is how I can do that then that’s fine with me. I’m not going to apologize for not being drunk and making a fool of myself by being loud and running on the beach. I’m not sorry that I don’t do those things. I have fun my own way and that’s just not it.

We now since I’ve vented, I’m going to bed. Very therapeutic, venting is. Good for the body and soul. Bonanotte! Ciao!

Friday the 13th

2009-03-18T21:02:00.001+01:00

Friday the 13th. Supposed to be an unlucky day or a day filled with superstition. For me, Friday the 13th is just another day in Italy/MN/WI/where ever I am. This is the 2nd Friday the 13th this year, the first being last month. Kayla was the one to actually remind me of this little fact.

So today we went to Cinque Terre. I woke up like I normally do, 8 am, and started to pack. When Betsy and I went to eat breakfast we found a bottle of Champagne outside our room from ‘Bob.’ Bob doesn’t acknowledge these little gifts: flowers for Valentine’s Day, flowers for Women’s Day, wine for birthdays, etc. We know they’re from Bob and thank him accordingly but he always insists they’re not from him.

After catching the bus down to the station, we all got on the train to La Spezia. Close to 3 hours later we disembark the train at La Spezia, purchased our tickets to Monterosso, and hopped back on another train. When the train left La Spezia, it went through a lot of tunnels before the landscape changed. After leaving one tunnel, instead of hills and tress and homes, we saw water and waves and rocks. All or most of us gasped and ran to the windows on that side of the train. Pictures were taken, heads were stuck out the window, and the excitement began.

We passed through the first four of the five Cinque Terre towns. Each time we stopped at the town, we marveled at the views. It was gorgeous to see. I believe Bob told us it is the Adriatic Sea, but it is really the Mediterranean Sea. It was just amazing to see and amazing to behold.

Upon disembarking the train in Monterosso, the fifth town, we walked along this boardwalk type place on our way to Manuel’s Guesthouse, the place we are staying at. Many stops were made along the way for more pictures. We met up with Manuel at this wine bar, where Betsy said he’d be waiting, and walked up the 132 or so steps to our place for the weekend.

We had four rooms, each with a different number of people occupying them. The guys shared a room with two queens and two twin beds. Courtney and Michelle are in a room with a queen bed; Nikki, Bailey, and Jill are sharing a triple room; and Betsy, Ania, Allyson, and I are sharing a quad. We thought we were getting two triples and 2 quads but this way worked out better for us all.

After dropping our stuff off in our rooms and taking care of paperwork, we headed out to explore the town. Wine and food was bought for the weekend and it was decided that we would eat out tonight and grill our tomorrow. We then found the restaurant to go to for dinner. It was right near the beach and had a good variety of dishes. Then came the beach.

We walked down to the water and behaved like tourists. Many of the group, not me though, rolled up their pants and took off their socks and shoes and walked along the shoreline. I did walk out near the water and put my hands in. It was pretty cold water, definitely not warm enough to swim in. But that did not stop Lorenzo from taking a little dip. Betsy accidentally pushed him into the water so he went in totally figuring ‘why not’ since he was mostly wet already. It was a great relaxing time since most of the day was spent traveling and being uncomfortable on the trains.

We went back to the hotel/Guesthouse to prepare for dinner. Allyson straightened my hair and Ania did my make-up. We just had fun dressing up for dinner; Betsy even wore a dress. Maybe I forgot to mention it, but we came to Cinque Terre because it’s Betsy’s Birthday tomorrow and because we wanted to see these cities. We’re killing two birds with one stone in a sense. So this weekend is a celebration for Betsy since she’s turning 21.

Dinner was fabulous. Ania and I shared spaghetti with seafood for our first course. The dish had octopus, clams and mussels in it along with a tomato sauce over the spaghetti. It was a delicious meal that was very filling. Unfortunately we didn’t think it was going to be that much so we also ordered Grilled sea bass for the second course. OMG!!! It came out Grilled but looking like a fish. Our waiter proceeded to clean it for us at the table. It was really amazing to see. He skinned the top, took away the spine and head and left us with a great fish dish. With lemon squeezed on top and a little salt, we both ate our fish right up. Did I mention it was a whole fish; the size of like a woman’s size 8 shoe. A pretty big fish. Thank goodness it was good otherwise I would have regretted the bill. Overall it was a pretty expensive meal for Ania and I but we both don’t plan on spending much more this weekend since we brought food with us to tide us over and because the grilling out tomorrow night.

Monterosso is a beautiful city and I cannot wait to hike to the other four cities tomorrow. It is going to be a great weekend and a memorable birthday for Betsy. I hope for no drama but it’s bound to happen. But, I’m off to bed. I need to rest to build up my strength for five hours of hiking tomorrow. That’s how long it’s supposed to take to hike through all five of the cities, not including browsing the individual cities. I’m going to get postcards here to send home and to keep. Maybe I’ll even find some gifts for people.

The Internet is Down

2009-03-17T16:35:00.002+01:00

The internet is down at Villa Bonelli. The wireless router blew on Sunday and might be fixed by this weekend. Until then, communication will be limited. I'm going to the Almafi Coast this weekend so hopefully on Monday I can get my past blogs up.

Mikey's David

2009-03-12T21:00:00.002+01:00

Okay, so just like the title may have told you, we went and saw Michelangelo's David today for art class. When I first saw the David, my initial reaction was: "Wow! It's so big!" I didn't expect the David to be so large. It is not a My-Sized-David like I'd imagined. No, it's like three, maybe four times my size. I mean, David is huge! Very tall. Definitely not what I expected. His hands are also out of proportion with the rest of his body. We were told that before he was moved to the Academia, his left hand was cracked during the 3rd republic of the Medici's but was restored and then moved. Also, in 1991, a crazy man with a hammer attacked the feet of David. That too was restored and resulted in increased security in the Academia.

The rest of the Academia was interesting to see as well. There was a wing that held musical instruments. Violin, pianos, and cellos were displayed, some really old. Another part of the museum showed plaster models of marble sculptures. It was interesting to see the rough work that comes before the original masterpiece. There was also an assortment of different paintings that were from the "School of" different artists. We saw the original crucifixes, etc. of Cimabue and Giotto and here were the artists that studied from these masters.

Before going to the Academia, we went and got our tickets for Cinque Terre. We're leaving on the 11:57 train to La Spezia were we will have to get on another train to Monterosso al Mare, where our hotel is. I cannot wait to get away from Florence for a while. It's great being here, don't get me wrong, but I need to see other things.

Ania got confirmation today about our apartment in Krakow. It is an Art Apartment, kind of like a studio apartment. Here is the description from the site: Filled with contemporary art by two of Krakow's brightest young talents, this classic Krakow apartment is located on an attractive square that's right next door to the palace which houses the Wyspianski Museum, making it an ideal location for artists and art lovers. The flat comes with shower and coffee/tea facilities, rounded off by a wonderful view over the Old Theatre. The two main rooms would be ideal for a couple or a young family. (http://www.krakow-apartments.com/Krakow-flats/apartment-info/30-Art)

It is located just around the corner from the main Market Square. We are being offered this apartment for 2400 PLN total, including bills. The price also includes linens, towels and cleaning once a week.

Ania is getting back to them about a few things and with the change in the dates she originally told them but it looks like we have a place to stay when we get to Poland. Still looking for a way from Prague to Krakow but we're on top of that as well. I must go now because I have to pack for this weekend and call home. Ciao!

Oh Wednesday

2009-03-11T21:00:00.000+01:00

Wednesdays I have history class. Today for class, we met downtown by the Palazzo de Medici. But, because it was a Wednesday, the Palazzo is closed to the general public. School groups can come in the afternoon, but Lucianna tried and was told no for us. So, with the Palazzo being closed we moved onto the next option. That's what I love about Lucianna and history class; if one thing goes not quite right, well, move onto the next.

Lucianna took as down the street to the San Lorenzo church which we had already been too. She was going to show us the 'step' (I don't know if this is the right word or not) of Michelangelo. I don't know if this is the right thing because where Lucianna was going to take us was under renovation and thus unable to be seen. Strike two.

So, we moved onto option number three. We went to see the Princes Chapel and the new sacristy designed by Michelangelo in the San Lorenzo church. We purchased our tickets, 6 euro, and went into the crypt of the chapel. All over the floor are markers designating which Medici is buried there. There is also the statue of Maria Louisa Medici who is responsible for the public being able to view the Medici collection. After looking at all the dead people and relics in the crypt, we went upstairs to see the chapel.

My jaw literally dropped when we entered the chapel. The thing was huge. It made me feel about this small (holds thumb and index finger about a centimeter apart). Everything was huge int he church. The statues depicting Cosimo and Ferdinando were gigantic. The six sarcophagi were also giant sized. It was just amazing to see everything. The marble, precious stones, and semi precious stones that were everywhere were overwhelming. Everything was just beautiful to behold, I didn't want to leave.

After viewing the chapel we went onto the new sacristy designed by Michelangelo. Everything in the new sacristy was done by Michelangelo. He designed it and sculpted all the sculptures. It was pretty cool to see everything but I liked the chapel better.

As that only took up about an hour of class, we walked to our next destination, a little museum dedicated to those who work on marble inlay. That museum was a sight to behold. The process of inlaying marble is very time consuming. The artist must first draw the design. Then a painting needs to be done of the design; watercolor or oil, it didn't matter. After the painting was done, the marble pieces were chosen and then cut to size. The whole process is fascinating and is still done today. We were able, as a group, to attach ourselves to another English group touring the museum. It was interesting to hear what their guide had to say about everything. All I know is that it was beautiful to see and I would love a table top like those in my house; too bad they're really expensive.

After history class, Betsy, Allyson, and I walked over to the FlorenceForFun office. Betsy and I booked our Amalfi Coast weekend for March 19th. Here's a little info about the trip taken from the website:

Spend a weekend on the Amalfi Coast in the region of Campania in the south of Italy.
Experience everything that the Amalfi Coast has to offer - gorgeous colorful towns, great food, day trips to Positano and the Island of Capri and on the way back to Florence visit Pompeii.

Experience all that a classic Italian sea-side resort has to offer - colorful small towns cascading down the cliff-side towards the sea, fresh seafood, local produce and food traditions such as Neapolitan Pizza and Limoncello. Gorgeous beaches and the clear blue Mediterranean Sea. The exclusive island of Capri with its elegant towns, expensive shops and the rich and famous who arrive on their private luxury boats for vacation. Visit the Blue Grotto renown for its glistening aquamarine waters and head up to AnaCapri for some of the most spectacular views over the Gulf of Naples.

Contrast that with a glimpse into ancient life at the Pompeii archaeological site. Easily one of the most important excavations, see what life was like before 79AD when Mt Vesuvius erupted covering the town of Pompeii in 6 meters of volcanic lava and ash.

I cannot wait for this trip because I really want to see Pompeii. I've always had a fascination for volcanoes and I've always wanted to see the ruins of Pompeii, and now I will be going there. Yeah!!!!

I also found out today, during language, that the two finals I thought were going to be next week are no longer going to be next week. So I have no finals until we head to Rome.

I'm headed off to bed now after a relaxing shower. I was hit with this major headache during dinner, which was amazing as usual. My wrist is also hurting, kind of feels like carpel tunnel but hopefully not. I'm going to pay more attention to how my hands are when I'm on my laptop for the rest of this trip. Oh, I also just booked my flight from Rome to Prague! Now all I need to do is find a way to Krakow where I'll be staying for the majority of my after time. Then, of course, I'll need to find a way back to Florence for my flight home. I cannot believe that the time has gone by sooooo quickly. I'm ready for it to be over though; I'm missing everyone back home.

Marzo è pazzo

2009-03-10T21:26:00.002+01:00

March is crazy. No really, our Italian professor, Chiara told us that is the saying here in Italy. March is crazy because it can be raining one day and beautiful the next. Not like that's what happened today. No, today was another great day. Not as great as Saturday was when it was warm and sunny out. Today was warm but had a slight chilly wind to it. It was also overcast, but still warm.

I didn't sleep very well again last night. I don't know why I'm not sleeping well but it's probably due to stress. I had my early class today, Literature. We went over what is going to be on the final and what it is that we need to study. My literature final is next Tuesday. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! It's too much of a reminder that this trip is almost coming to a close.

After Literature we had Language. Our final for this class is also next Tuesday. Chiara was going to have it next Wednesday but next Tuesday is St. Patrick's Day and most of the group wants to go out that night and would thus be in no shape on Wednesday to take a final. It doesn't matter to me either way but I kind of didn't want two finals in a row. We went over more verb conjugation today before moving on to large numbers.

I didn't do to much this afternoon. I was online for a lot of it but then I went and took a walk to the park. I needed to get out of Villa Bonelli for a while. Just needed to be by myself. So I went for a walk. After reaching the park, I took a path that's not really a path but is a path. It's one of those that has warning signs by it but doesn't mean you cannot walk it. I'm halfway down this path before I come upon this dog. The dog looked creepy so when it turned around and when back the way it came from, I did the same. A little bit later I hear it running up to me. I choked on a scream because at that exact moment a jogger rounding the curve. I got a huge scare and the jogger apologized but I still was pretty shock up.

I took a different path but the mood was no longer with me. So I turned around and headed back toward Villa Bonelli.

A lot of the group went out to eat tonight as we don't get a meal on Tuesdays. Betsy and I stayed in and ate leftovers and fruit. I'm calling it another early night on account of not sleeping well the last two nights. Take care all. Ciao.

Oh what a day!!!

2009-03-09T21:19:00.004+01:00

Okay, Monday mornings really blow. I mean it. I didn't sleep well last night and then had to go to class this morning. The only upside was that it's warming up here in Fiesole. We had Bob's Global Issues class this morning and then the rest of the day was mine to do with as I pleased.

I wrote a little something for the sisters of SAI and have decided to post the part about International Women's Day here as well to better explain this great day. I got most of this information off of the website to go there if you want to know more.

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. It is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam (http://www.internationalwomensday.com/). It is a day for confronting issues, discussing topics, and expanding our horizons. Events were celebrated across the globe on this day and the days preceding it as well as throughout the entire month of March.

Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events (http://www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp). Now it is a day to honor mothers, girlfriends, wives, sisters, and colleagues.

Now that that is over, I'll tell you of the rest of my day. Ania and I and the others in our little group worked on what we're doing for after. So the decision as of today is that we are going to go to Poland right after the program is done. Somehow get to Krakow and spend the majority of our time there, Ania and I. There is soooo much to do and we're booking tours and events and getting an apartment set up. The site is: http://www.krakow-tours.com/. Turns out Prague is only a 6 hour car drive away so we'll visit it one of the days we're there. Nikki, this other girl coming with us, will be with us for the first week before meeting up with others in France.

Also, on one of my Yahoo! groups I'm a member of, they are celebrating Reader Appreciation and Read an E-book week. You can only win once from the group but as many times for the author contests. I won the first author contest yesterday because I'm in Italy and thus ahead of most of the people in this group. Today I won as part of the group giving away books.

So I have had a really great day. It started out kind of blah, went a little stressful and has ended greatly. I'm going to bed early though as I have an early class. Mi manca tutto di voi!!! CIAO!!!!

Festa Della Donna

2009-03-08T11:41:00.004+01:00

Today is International Women's Day! It's a day to celebrate women. On this glorious day, I won my first online contest. One of the Yahoo! groups I have subscribed to is having a Reader Appreciation week where various authors are giving away a ton of free stuff: ebooks, print books, and an ereader. One of the authors posted her contest very early Sunday morning and I was the first to answer correctly. Well, not exactly correctly as I counter one of her books twice, but she gave it to me anyway. The prize was a free ebook of my choice that she has written. It's soooo cool!!! I know I'm just going to love this week and this group.

I've been chained to my computer all day posting on this group, hoping to win. I did take a walk to the piazza this afternoon to check out all the stalls for Women's Day but basically I chilled for another day.

Dinner tonight was pasta and pizza with gelato for dessert. A very good meal but not very satisfying as it's what we usually have. As we were leaving the restaurant, all the women were given mimosas, little yellow flowers, from our waiter. The flowers are now in the glass with the roses we got this morning from Bob. They look sooooo pretty sitting on our desks.

I'm going to bed soon, as I've been up for a while and am tired now. I cannot believe my time here is almost done. Pretty soon, I'll be back home working at Kwik Trip instead of taking the bus into Firenze.

What a beautiful day

2009-03-08T10:47:00.002+01:00

So, let's go back to Friday, shall we. On Friday, Betsy, Allison, and Ania left for Venice. I decided to stay here in Fiesole because I needed some me time away from the group and what better time than when your roommate is away. So I stayed behind. No one was signed up to do laundry so I quickly assigned myself the next 6 hours for laundry. That's how I spent my day on Friday, doing laundry. It usually takes about an hour and a half to wash a load of clothes and then, if you're lucky, two hours to dry. Maybe now you understand why this is a whole day event.

I did four loads of laundry Friday: one of shirts, one of jeans, one of delicates, and one of socks and underwear. Now the first load I washed, socks and underwear, dried completely when I threw it in the dryer. My second load, shirts, dried almost all the way. I didn't dry my jeans in the dryer because I knew it wouldn't do any good. Those I hung up on our heated towel racks, outside my window on our clothesline, and over the chair in the room. When I took the shirts out of the dryer and put them where ever there was an available drying surface. My delicates, clothes that are either hand-wash or delicate cycle, I threw in the dryer and they also came out almost dry. I'm just happy to have clean clothes and socks again. It's a great feeling to finish your last load of laundry here because you have accomplished something.

In between doing laundry, I cleaned up the room. I cleaned and organized and separated everything of mine. The closet is now neat and organized so I can find everything. My desk is organized and put together again. I even went through all my receipts and separated the food receipts from other purchases I can get taxes back on. Each pile is now in an envelope waiting for its time to be useful to me.

Overall, I had a very productive day and a lot of me time in the process.

Saturday was simply gorgeous out. I walked down to Florence in the afternoon under cloudless skies and 60 degree weather. I was a beautiful, warm day out. Most of the group left super early to go to Bologna and Bailey left to go to Pisa. So there was just four of us left in Villa Bonelli. Jill and Lorenzo went for a run/walk around and came back praising the weather. That's when I left to walk down to Florence.

I do not even think I can describe the weather, but I'll try. It's like that first day of Spring when you can open the windows to the house to let the breeze in. Or when you can lie out on the grass and just soak up the Vitamin D. It's like the first day on campus when you can go without a coat after winter and sit in the plaza without getting cold. That's what it was like yesterday. And after a week of rain, it was even better. I checked the weather for the rest of the week and it's supposed to be low 60s, high 50s and mostly sunny. Yeah, spring is finally here.

So, I walked down into Firenze and went to the Supermarket. I picked up only the essentials as I only had my purse with me: chocolate, tictacs, and a bottle of Gatorade. Yup, the essentials. I then finished my walk by going to the Duomo and waiting on the steps for Mass to start. While waiting, since I was an hour early, I met up with these two girls, from Minnesota, waiting for their sister who is studying in Florence. We chatted about a lot of things, where to go, what to avoid, and the differences between Italy and the US. It was cool talking to someone from back home about everything. It also made the time go by much quicker than if I had been there waiting by myself.

Now, Mass. There was a different priest presiding over Mass than before. I don't know how to put this politely or politically correct but the guy creeped me out. He seemed to be mocking at times and patronizing at others. I just didn't like the feel I got from him. It didn't help that the helper guy was also very creepy. I may be making too much of a fuss but I was glad when Mass was over because I just couldn't handle it. The priest scared me, that's all. No big deal.

After Mass, Jill, Lorenzo, and Bailey met up with me by the Baptistery doors to go for Chinese. I took them to the Chinese place that Betsy, Allison, Ania and I went on Tuesday. It was just a great last night as it was on Tuesday, too. You cannot go wrong with great food. When we got back to Villa Bonelli, I found that Bob had slipped a little comparison sheet under my door. It compared to two Chinese restaurant I've been to in town.

Hong Kong was the one I went to last night and like better. Sorgente is the other Chinese restaurant. When you compare the two restaurants, Sorgente is cheaper, total cost of 10 euro from the fixed menu including service and cover charge. At Hong Kong, you have to pay separately for everything, wine, water, appetizers, and meal. The overall value of the meal would have to go to Sorgente, but the food, I thought was better at Hong Kong. Thank you Bob for the helpful comparison guide.

The group that went to Bologna was not back by the time the four of us arrived back at Villa Bonelli. I got ready for bed and stayed up later than I wanted to but I got to talk to cousin Erik and just getting a lot of stuff done.

As it is now Sunday when I'm writing this I'll publish this post and save all the greatness of today for later. Abbracci a tutti. Mi manchi molto. Ciao!

I'm no stranger to the rain

2009-03-05T20:37:00.002+01:00

Oh, well. Just when we thought it was over. It's rained the last two days now, practically nonstop. Kind of sucks when you're planning trips and other such things. But, no worries. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

I didn't blog yesterday for several reasons. One: well, I just didn't feel like it. Two: I called Joshua last night and talked for over an hour (more later on this subject). Three: Not much happened yesterday except the usual. It gets old, me just blogging about the same things, over and over again. But today is different; well, maybe.

First, my conversation with my big brother yesterday. I called Joshua around 9:20 pm my time which is 12:20 pm in Vegas. I woke him up. It was his day off of work and he said he normally sleeps in then but I woke him up. I felt kind of bad, but not really considering he needed to get up anyway. We talked for over an hour yesterday, just discussing how my trip's been going and what I've seen so far. I told him about going skydiving this past weekend and he told me that now there are two in our family who have done it. I didn't realize that Joshua had gone skydiving and told him so. He told me that he went when he was in Florida. It's cool having that shared experience with my older brother. He knows what I went through when I did it. I enjoyed sharing that with him.

We also discussed various cars including the Smart car. Apparently, Joshua has ridden in one before. My mom wants to get one but I don't think that would work in a Wisconsin winter. The car would get buried under the first snowstorm or end up in a ditch when driven on ice. Sorry mom, can't say you'll get your wish.

We ended up discussing where I'm going to visit after and what gifts I should get everyone. Joshua wanted a kilt from Scotland but I'm not headed that way. I've got more ideas now, though, for what to get everyone. Thanks for your input brother!

Now, today, I woke up to rain again. We headed into town early for our art trip. We went to the Davanzati Palace that is a 13th century home. Claudia got us an appointment to see the second floor. Those of us taking history had been to the Palace before but not to the second floor. I would have to say that the second floor was better than the first. With the same basic set-up as the first, there is more detail and decoration on the second floor. Each floor had like a family room, a showcase room, a bedroom, and a bathroom we could see. Ahhh, it was just amazing to see the frescoes on the walls, the various paintings and sculptures, and just the overall decorations from the 13th century. Added to the fact that this was the first free art trip we had made this a really great start to the day.

Nothing much else has happened today. I'm still looking into what to do, where to go and stay afterward. Ania and I are going to settle some things this weekend. Hopefully we can finalize our plans soon. We need to book flights and hotels and events pretty quickly before everything is full for tourist season. But, I'm not going to stress out super much. More about all this later.

I'm going to chill for the weekend. Get my laundry done, walk around town (if it's not raining), and just have a relaxing time away from everyone. I've decided to go with FlorenceForFun to the Almafi Coast and see Pompeii.

Oh, I don't know if I mentioned this, but probably not. I broke my glasses yesterday. I was on my laptop and had turned my head right when I heard a crack. I didn't know what happened but I took my glasses off, examined the lens and the nose pieces. Everything seemed to be find but then the side piece that goes on your ear, fell off. I took it into the optometrist today and he fixed it somehow (probably just glued it back together) so I can wear my glasses again. I'm going to have to get new ones though because the repair job is not going to cut it for long. It will last the rest of this trip because it has to but any more will be pushing it. So, mom, this is my early warning to you that I'm going to have to get new frames this summer.

Well, I'm going to shower and plays some cards or maybe watch a movie with the group tonight. Love and miss you all! Ciao!

A day to try new things

2009-03-04T12:38:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, don't ask me why, most of us woke up early. Those of us who have Italian Lit found out the answer during class. Turns out, Adam set Courtney's alarm clock for 6 am without telling her, as a joke. Not only did it wake up Courtney and Michelle, but because my room is right next to theirs, it woke up Betsy and I as well. Added to the alarm, the people in the rooms above us were up walking around, in heels, banging into things, rolling their suitcases, and making a ton of noise. So, instead of waiting for my alarm to go off and hoping to catch a few more winks, I got up too.

Literature went okay. We discussed the stories from The Decameron we were all supposed to read and then moved onto Machiavelli. We also discussed our extra credit that we turned in last week and went over what to expect on the final. Language class was same old, same old.

After classes, I spent most of the afternoon in my room on my laptop. I did a lot of research involving traveling afterward and talked with Ania a lot about it too. I'm looking into where I'm going to stay in Paris with Betsy and Eldon and then where Ania, Nikki, and I will stay in Prague. I'm looking into what we can do and where we can go as well. I found this great site for Prague that gives a ton of info on places to stay, visit, see, etc. Paris is giving me a little bit of trouble but I think I found a hotel that will work. Now, I just need permanent dates so I can book then. Ania's taking care of Poland for us, which I thank you gladly for doing. We also need to look into flights/trains from Paris to Prague and Prague to Poland. Then I need to find a way back to Florence and where/how long I'm going to stay in Florence before flying out again. A lot of hassle that's making me sick to think about but as soon as it's all set in stone I'll be better.

Around 4ish or so, Joey dragged Betsy and I away from our computers to teach us this card game called smear. I think it's easier to learn than sheephead but who am I to judge. I won't even try explaining the game here as I just learned it myself yesterday and have since played only too real games. It's fun though and we're thinking of starting a tournament now that like 12 people know how to play.

Last night, the four of us girls went into town for dinner. We found this other Chinese place wandering the city a couple weeks back and went there last night. At first we were a little leery because it was decorated very fancily and we didn't want to pay a whole lot for food. When we looked at the menu, though, we knew we had to eat there as the prices were very reasonable and cheap.

We each ordered an appetizers, dumplings for Betsy and spring rolls for the rest of us. Turns out that I actually love spring rolls. We then ordered our main course dish, I had pineapple chicken that was just delicious. There was even chopsticks for us to use which we had all been missing. With our drinks and cover charge, we each only paid 10 euro each. A great meal that was better than the other Chinese place.

We then found this 99 cent euro store and stopped in; Betsy and I needed to pick up laundry detergent. I found some really cool things there and picked up 8 euros worth of stuff. Cannot tell you what I bought as some are gifts but you won't be able to tell that I only paid 99 cent euro for them.

On the way to the bus stop we decided to pick up gelato. As we couldn't find a gelato place, we decided to stop in and get something from McDonald's. Betsy had a cappucino shake while Ania, Allyson and I had smarties McFlurrys. The smarties were actually candy coated chocolate, so it was like an M&M McFlurry would be back in the US.

Overall, it was a good day yesterday, except for the rain. We were really hoping that the rain was over but it's supposed to rain for the rest of the week. Great. Good thing I still have one umbrella that still works. Well, must do my homework for language. Ciao.

Skydiving

2009-03-03T12:47:00.007+01:00

Posted here are the videos taken during our skydiving experience. The first one is done by a friend of mine, the other done by me. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed actually doing it.

Just another Monday

2009-03-03T12:34:00.002+01:00

Monday, Monday, Monday. A rather crappy day since it was dreary and rainy and a little cold out. But, you cannot have all good days. Some bad days must be thrown in to appreciate the good ones.

Today we had Global Issues as usual. Only, when we walked into the classroom yesterday morning, on the board was the word QUIZ. I admit, I panicked because I had not read the newspaper articles or finished the books. Turns out, the four girls who didn't go to Interlaken this weekend planned that little scare for the rest of us. Bob was quite convincing in the fact we were going to have a quiz but I manned up and said I was not prepared because I had not read the articles. All just a big joke on the rest of us. Revenge will be quite sweet when the time comes.

We found out yesterday as well that we will not be eating at La Reggia anymore. Turns out that one day last week there was a cigarette butt found in one of the water bottles. At La Reggia we just get tap water to drink, which was fine until the incident occurred. Bob said we will not be eating there anymore since no recourse was taken. So, we will now be eating at Etrusca 5 nights a week. We told Bob that that was fine as long as we have more variety offered to us. So, we'll see how that all turns out.

Also found out yesterday that the maid at Villa Bonelli will no longer be working there. I guess she hasn't been doing that great a job. Apparently she was only on probation anyway so sometime this month we'll have a new maid. We're not supposed to know this, I don't think, but that's not new for any of us. We tend to know things even when we aren't told outright. Weird college voodoo, yup.

But, I called home yesterday, talked to my mother. I also chatted with my little sister. Finally got a response back from my oldest brother as to when I can call him so I'm going to do that probably tomorrow as he doesn't work.

Nothing really happened yesterday. Today I need to go into town to get laundry detergent though. I'll probably do that later and then pick up something for dinner too.

Sunday, March 1

2009-03-02T12:07:00.002+01:00

Sunday, instead of going to Mass, I know bad Catholic girl, I walked around Interlaken some more with Bailey and Jill. We walked all over the place in Interlaken, even out into the rural areas. We just walked and walked for a couple of hours before going to the place again to get the free spoon, for Bailey this time as she didn't have her bus pass on her the other time. We then went to this little Chocolate Chalet store and I bought some Swiss Chocolate that I'm going to bring home with me.

On the bus ride back to Florence, we watched three movies. Wedding Crashers, Knocked Up, and The Butterfly Effect. I slept through the end of Wedding Crashers and the beginning of Knocked Up but watched all of The Butterfly Effect. We stopped at a McDonalds for dinner around 7:30 and were back in Florence by 11:30. We had just missed the #7 bus when we arrived in Florence so had to wait for the next one at 12:30.

Overall, this trip was a great weekend away from a lot of things. A great vacation amidst my study aboard experience. I'll try and get my photos up quickly but don't hold your breath. I have a lot of catching up to do homework-wise and need to get to that first. Love and miss all of you even more after this weekend. Ciao!

Saturday, February 28

2009-03-02T11:49:00.002+01:00

Saturday morning we woke at 8:30 and opened the curtains to a clear blue sky behind the Alps. It was glorious to see first thing in the morning. Betsy dressed for another day of skiing and I dressed for touring Interlaken. Betsy and I went down to eat our jam and bread for breakfast and met up with Lorenzo. Bailey was to go dive again today as her video didn't work out. She was to be picked up at 12 so after chatting at the bar for a little bit we did a quick walk to this antique/junk store where some of the girls picked up some glasses and other knickknacks.

I went to see Bailey jump a second time. There were four jumpers in the afternoon and two more jumped from a plane. Bailey's video turned out this time so we were all happy. The four of us girls then walked around Interlaken. We went back to where Hooters was and started down the streets. We stopped at this restaurant, Des Alps, and had chocolate fondue with all sorts of sliced fruit: apples, pears, kiwi, strawberries, oranges, apricots, prunes, bananas, pineapples, and marshmallows for 15.50 Swiss Francs each. If was really yummy and hit the spot. Afterward, we walked some more, found a Sex Shop, bought some postcards, and received our free gift. When we arrived at the FunnyFarm Friday morning, Fabio, our tour guide, gave each of us a bus pass. With the pass, we got a free gift at this fancy, swanky jewelry store. The gift was a spoon decorated with Switzerland/Interlaken stuff. I was expecting some crappy gift but this was actually cool. We then headed back to the hostel.

We made it back in time to see the guys off on thier nightsledding excursion before heading up to the room for a rest. I'm now sitting in the lounge, people watching and writing. I'm going to call it an early night and wake up tomorrow to go to Mass. Betsy found a church for us to go to. I want to get back to the antique story and pick something up for grandma that I saw now that I have some Swiss Francs to spend. I've had fun in Switzerland seeing the beautiful landscapes, experiencing the atmosphere. I cannot wait to upload all the photos I have to show the awesomeness of the area. It's sooo cool and hard to describe but it was definitely what I needed.

Betsy, Eldon, and I played cards for a while before I headed back to the room to shower and go to bed. All the girls went to the boys room to hang out and party and play beer pong among other games. They didn't get back until late but I was out by then.

Skydiving in Interlaken!!!!

2009-03-02T11:07:00.002+01:00

When the alarm went off Friday morning I couldn't believe it. I was still exhausted but got up and dressed. We went downstairs for breakfast which turned out to be jam and bread with coffee, tea, or water. Definitely not what we thought or wanted for breakfast. We waited in line at the activities desk to be told to meet at 9 in the lobby for skydiving as we all had prepaid There was 3 van-fuls of people headed to the place for skydiving at SkyDive Interlaken. We filled our forms, passed over the credit card, and waited to suit up.

I was the first of our group to jump. I jumped with someone I didn't know because the tandem people wanted one person without video and one with. I wasn't getting a video so I went ahead. I suited up, got a harness put on and gloves, and waited for the ride up to the helicopter pad. We took a van up to the helicopter pad site, about a five minute ride. The four of us there started the video and then me and the other girl with our tandem people got into the helicopter. I was to jump first so my guy, Mike, sat on the floor of the helicopter and I sat on his lap. He then strapped me to him, tightened all the straps on my harness, and said enjoy the ride. We went over the whole routine for jumping again during the helicopter ride. The ride took 10 minutes to get to the jump site. The whole ride was gorgeous. We had great views of the Swiss Alps, various towns, lakes, landscapes, just great views. When we were given the one minute mark, I started to freak out. The only words out of my mouth were probably OMG and screams. Mike told me to hold my harness, he scooted to the edge of the helicopter and then we were airborne.

I tried screaming but with my mouth open and air rushing in no screams could come out. When the chute deployed I just felt a jolt then I couldn't stop screaming or saying how gorgeous everything was. I was able to steer a little bit, turning left and right and spinning before we glided down to land in the snow on our butts. After unattaching me, Mike told me I could get up but I said, "I don't think I can!" I had to roll over to get up. It was such a rush, jumping out of a helicopter. The best time of my lie. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Since I was the first of my group to go I got to tell them all about it, watch them all do it, and want to do it again. We got there at 9 am and didn't leave until 3 pm as are group was so spread out. Four didn't even go until after 1 pm. This has got to be the best time I've ever had. Hands down, no joke.

After coming back to the hostel, I showered. It felt soooo good to be clean and have a hot watered shower with good water pressure. I then sat in bed, started to write my blog, and play suduko but I couldn't keep my eyes open so I took a nap. Around five I woke up and we all got ready to go to eat dinner at Hooters. My first time at Hooters, Michell and Betsy too. We all ordered, had a good meal, and tried to figure out the bill. Not a lot of us had Swiss francs, the currency in Switzerland, so we all paid in Euro, but Hooters didn't accept euro coins. Somehow the bill was paid, so we left and walked back to FunnyFarm.

Skydiving was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I would do it agian in a heartbeat if it wasn't so expensive. I'm miffed about my photos but that is another story to tell. It's around 10 pm right now and I'm exhausted, so I'll call it a night. Today is a day I will not forget anytime soon. being here is so much fun and I cannot wait to explore Interlaken tomorrow.

Leaving for Interlaken

2009-03-02T10:52:00.002+01:00

We left Villa Bonelli around 5:15 pm on Thursday, February 26th to hop the #7 bus down to the station. All of us going to Interlaken except Lorenzo were packed on the bus with our stuffed backpacks for the weekend. Checks were done for passports and receipts for skydiving. Only one minor set-back occurred involving left behind tennis shoes which was remedied with a quick purchase. We met up with a few people at a time heading to Interlaken via FlorenceForFun. I noticed at least one other group going to the Swiss Alps meeting at the station as well. After all 27 of us going were accounted for we headed off to the very back of the station where the tour buses go. We hopped on an ALA bus headed toward Switzerland.

On the way there we watched Superbad, a movie I thought was super bad before stopping around 9:45 pm for a break at this AutoGrill. We were given 45 minutes to do our thing before heading off again. As we leave and head back out onto the road someone notices their friend missing. The tour guide had counted before we left but we still left behind this girl. We had to continue driving until we came to an exit, at least 10-20 minutes, before we could turn around. All this time myself and those of us from SMU were playing cards at the back of the bus. Turns out the girl got on the wrong bus and somehow must have contacted our tour guide. It all turned out good so no harm done.

For the next two hours or so we watched the movie Flags of our Fathers. It was a good movie, but the volume was a little too high. After the movie, around 1-ish or so, most of us fell asleep who weren't already. I though we'd be stopped at the border to show our passports as we were leaving the EU but we didn't even get off the bus. Our driver did though so he must have taken care of it. I then couldn't keep my eyes open for anything. I pretty mush passed out until we arrived in Interlaken at the FunnyFarm Hotel, around 3:30 am.

The five of us girls all got two connecting rooms on the seccond floor. After changing into pj's and preparing for bed, we set our alarms for 7 am and crashed at 4 am.

Heading off to Switzerland!!!

2009-02-26T15:48:00.002+01:00

Okay, so I slept in a little this morning since class doesn't start until later. We had the museum part of class first. We went to Museo del Bargello where Donatello's David is. We spent about an hour and a half there before heading back to Villa Bonelli. A few of us stopped off at the Supermarket to pick up a few essentials for our trip to Interlaken. We then had class for Art from 2:30-3:30.

I'm blogging now to tell everyone that I won't blog again until Monday, most likely. I wish everyone a good weekend and happy traveling. Pray that the group of us going skydiving that we survive and make it home alive. Arrivederchi!!!

2009-02-25T21:53:00.003+01:00

Here is posted my videos taken at Carnevale in Viareggio from Mardi Gras. I hope you enjoy them as they were fun to make and even funner to be there in person. I had such a blast at Carnevale. The Italians sure know how to throw a parade and create awesome floats. Watch and see for yourself!!!

Wednesday, I feel better just for spite

2009-02-25T21:01:00.002+01:00

Ash Wednesday. The first day of Lent. I woke up today reminding myself: "ok, no snaking, no meat, light breakfast (not that its not anyway), and what am I doing for Lent?" Well, breakfast was light, just a yogurt and croissant without jam or nutella. I didn't snack, except for an apple for lunch, and had no meat today. Yah for me!!!

I went to history class this morning. We got our tests back and I did okay. Luciana said she doesn't grade based on points, more on what we know. The questions for the test were hard ones, especially since some had two possible answers. So, she's going to tell us our grade next week. We were given a short reading assignment for homework and then read more about the Medici for the rest of class.

Between classes I tried to work out the kinks and soreness in my back but failed miserably. I also posted pictures on facebook and my videos I made from Carnevale. Then we had language again.

I don't feel like I'm really learning in language. I'm frustrated over the lack of progress we've made. I know I shouldn't expect sooo much from it but I want to have a better handle of the language. It sucks not being able to understand what the teachers are saying to us, that they have to translate. I also don't want to get jipped by anyone when it come purchases.

Anyway, after language class we had a little over an hour before the big Ash Wednesday event in town. We walked down to this little chapel that is rarely used. This was where the procession started. We then walked, en mass, to the cathedral in town asking the various saints to 'pray for us.' Now, the entire mass was in Italian but I know some parts and know when we're asking for the saints to pray for us.

After processing into the church, Mass started. We then went up to receive our ashes at the appropriate time. Back home, in both my hometown and at school, on Ash Wednesday the priest makes a cross on your forehead with the ashes. Today, we bowed our heads and the priest sprinkled the ashes on the crown of our head. It was different but you go with the flow. Mass then proceeded onward as normal.

I have never seen so many clergyman all together at once before. When we were in the little chapel, over half of it was filled with priests, brothers, maybe even a few monks. There were also quite a number of nuns as well. And when we were in the cathedral, the use of incense was the most I've seen as well. Thank heavens that the cathedral had very high ceilings otherwise there would have been more coughing going on as the use of incense was very high.

After Mass, instead of walking back up to Villa Bonelli and then on to La Reggia, a few of us went into JJ's to wait the half-hour until dinner. We had a drink, played darts, and gossiped before walking up the hill to La Reggia.

As it was Ash Wednesday, it was a meat-less dinner. We had great pasta with tomato and pesto sauce for the first course. The second course consisted of really hot roasted potatoes and omelets; dessert was tiramisu. The main topic of conversation was our trips this weekend. The majority of the group is headed off to Switzerland this weekend for skydiving and snow-fun. Two are going to Barcelona while the other two are going to Venice. We're all going to have soooo much fun though.

I'm not taking my laptop with me this weekend so don't expect anymore blogs after this until I get back. I'll keep track, manually, of my going-ons so you won't miss a thing. Expect a lot of entries early next week. I'll try and get my Carnevale pictures up before I leave but don't hold your breath.

Tuesday, I get a little sideways

2009-02-25T09:01:00.002+01:00

Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. The last day to binge and indulge before the season of Lent which starts today. My Mardi Gras, or Martedi Grasso in Italian, was one of the best I've had.

I spent the morning going to class. In lit we watched sections of a movie that was an adaptation of The Decameron , a set of 100 short stories written by Boccaccio, the next author on our list. So, the first hour of class was spent watching these little mini-movies. The second half of class was actually talking about the writer and his life. Our assignment was to read another of his stories and be prepared to discuss in class.

After lit we had language. This past weekend held a major event in Italy. Kind of like our American Idol, the San Remo musical festival showcases singers and their composers. For class we listened to the winner of this year's festival as well as the runner up. We also played some word recognition games with the songs they were singing. The three songs we listened to were each very different in style but very catching. I liked them a lot.

After classes, I went to the post office and mailed out my scholarship application. It cost me 1,50 euro to send it. I took the letter in, greeted the man behind the counter and just gave him the letter. He seemed to shake his head at me, as if saying "Ah, tourists!" before weighing and stamping the letter. I left feeling better knowing that my part was finished.

Eldon, Allyson, Ania, Betsy, and I all went to see the Carnevale parade at Viareggio yesterday. So after class was finished, we went back up to Villa Bonelli, grabbed what we needed, and headed for the #7 bus. Once at the station we purchased our tickets to Viareggio and hoped on a train to Lucca. We had to switch trains at Lucca as the train we were on only went as far as Lucca, but that was alright. When we finally got to Viareggio is was probably aroun 4:30-ish.

We started down the first street we came to, stopped inside this little shop to check out the costumes. Allyson and I both bought masks there. Hers was a white mask with silver accents, and pearl in the middle of the forehead with three white feathers coming off on top. Mine was a gold and purple mask the swept up the side of my head on one side of the mask. Each of us really liked our masks and put them on soon after leaving the store. We then walked to where all the action was taking place.

After purchasing our tickets to get into the fairgrounds, we found a great spot to watch the parade. I have a ton of pictures of the floats and various people in their costumes that I will upload later today. The parade lasted until 7-ish. Then it finally struck us that Viareggio is on the coast, so we had to go find the Mediterranean Sea. Betsy, Ania, and Eldon shucked their shoes and ran into the sea. It was fun to sea them, in the dark, just dancing on the shoreline where the waves broke. I got a ton of sand in my own shoes even without taking the off.

At this time, Eldon and I headed back to Firenze as we both didn't want to be out too late. The last train heading to Firenze left at 10, we were on the 8:45 train and were back in Villa Bonelli by 11. Allyson, Ania, and Betsy had wanted to eat in Viareggio so they stayed behind and came back on the 10 pm train.

Overall it was a great Mardi Gras, one I won't forget. I had a ton of fun and will post those pictures very soon. Ciao.

Except for Monday, which was never good anyway

2009-02-23T20:46:00.003+01:00

I cannot believe how the time has flown since arriving here in Florence. Since arriving on the 10^th of January, I’ve been in Italy for 45 days! My trip to Europe is almost half over. I’ve got 49 more days before I fly back to the states. It’s weird when I think about the fact that I’m over in Italy, taking classes, enjoying the scenery, culture, and cuisine, while the rest of my world is back in the states doing similar things with less newness upon waking everyday.

I was reading the Cardinal Newspaper after Global Issues today and just got to thinking how totaly removed from everything back home I am. All the events I would normally attend, all the things I would normally do, all the people I would regularily see, I'm missing. I miss seeing my friends in my major. I miss talking trash with them, I miss campus. But, I'm having a blast here in Italy and wouldn't trade it for the world.

Today, like a typical Monday here, started a little differently. I woke up early to start my laundry at 8am. Then ate breakfast with Dr. Fox and Dr. Rodeheffer before heading off to class at 10 for Global Issues. I did two loads of laundry today and had each dried so I now have clean clothes to wear to Interlaken this weekend when I go skydiving. AHHHHHHH!!!!! I cannot believe I'm going skydiving!!!!!!!

The rest of the day was typical Monday. Waiting for the maid to finish cleaning the rooms. Working on homework that we didn't want to do over the weekend or last week. Starting homework that we got in Bob's class. Just chilling on the internet.

I walked down to the Coop after it reopened after siesta and bought chocolate, pringles, and coke. I needed to break my large bills so I could send my letter back home. I didn't put it in the mail today as I didn't want to wait in line to mail it. I'll put it in the mail tomorrow after class, before we leave for Viareggio for Carnevale. I still need to buy a mask for Carnevale as it's one of my goals for this trip. I also need to buy some typical touristy post cards to send back home.

Dinner tonight at Etrusca was interesting. When we first arrived, there was this group of Americans that were very loud and obnoxious and from how they were acting I understand why Europeans have a bad stereotype of Americans. After they left, we found out they were from Vanderbilt, although they acted very immature and young. But, enough about horrible American tourists, let's talk about dinner. We had spaghetti pomodore, amazing; a beef stew type dish, heavenly; and gelato for dessert. Basically it was another very good meal in Italy.

When we got back to Villa Bonelli, Bob met with each of us to discuss our midterm. I did great, only missing the mark on one question and not very far. He wants each of us to correct our error(s) and then give back the exam. Tomorrow will be a great day! I cannot wait for skydiving!!! Ciao!!

40 days in Italy

2009-02-22T14:14:00.003+01:00

February 20 marked the 40th day since I've started counting my steps here on my vacation. Having left January 9th and arrived in Italy January 10th, February 20th is not exactly the 40th day IN Italy, it's actually the 42nd. Well, let me explain everything. I started counting steps, calories, and miles walked each day on January 11th. At the end of each day, I keep track of these numbers in a notebook and on an excel spreadsheet. Now, I, somehow, missed January 18th, but every other day since I've been here I have numbers for.

I've since made a table of average steps walked per day, calories burned per day, and miles walked per day. I also have in the table the total number of all these items. It's quite impressive to see how much walking I do over here in Italy. Some days have greater numbers because I may have walked down to Florence or because we had a day trip. Other days have very tiny numbers because maybe it was raining or I just didn't do anything that day.

In the table below, you see the total and total average to date of the calories, steps, and miles. All these numbers came from my pedometer. I would like to thank the Health Advocates for their Walk it Out program which I participated in first semester. That is where I got the pedometer. Anyway, just wanted to post this for those who were wondering and care.

Calories

total to date: 10026.5
Total ave/day: 250.7

Steps
total to date: 305283
Total ave/day: 7632.1

Miles
total to date: 145.409
Total ave/day: 3.635

A beautiful Saturday

2009-02-22T10:07:00.002+01:00

Lately, the weather has been sooooo gorgeous, you cannot help but want to get out and walk around. Saturday was like that. It was Adam's last day here in Florence, so Allyson and I took the #7 bus down to Firenze to meet up with Adam at his hotel. We had decided on going to the History of Science Museum and spending the afternoon there. Only, there was a little bit of a problem with that.

The Museum, due to renovations being done, only had the main floor and the basement opened for viewing. Because of the renovations, the ticket price was reduced. But, not only was the whole museum not opened, the rest was only opened until 1 pm as it was a Saturday. The three of us got to the museum at like 12:15. We decided to go through anyway and see what we could see.

The History of Science Museum is filled with the coolest things. There was a ton of medieval and Renaissance era astronomy and science apparatuses. Telescopes, watches, compasses, protractor-type things, microscopes...the list goes on. It was just awesome to be in the presence of the tools that helped get us where we are today in the sciences. Without those creations/inventions/discoveries who knows if we would still think that the sun revolved around the earth. I'm very glad we went there and also equally glad to get a little taste of science on this trip. I've been missing my labs and scientific need-to-know facts. What can I say, I'm a science major who misses her area.

Well, after exiting the museum before they locked it down for the day, the three of us wandered along the streets of Firenze. Having expected to spend a lot more time at the museum than we actually did, we were left with an entire afternoon to fill. Allyson and I showed Adam through the streets, pointing out the courthouse, the church where Matilda is buried, Dante's church and house which is now a museum, and many others. We finally are getting hungry and look for a little sit-down place to eat. The place we chose was excellent. Each of us had a perfect-sized portion plate with a drink for under 10 euro. I was just what we needed to keep us going through the rest of the day.

After our late lunch, we wandered around downtown Firenze. We went to the San Lorenzo Meat Market. I showed both Allyson and Adam, as neither of them had been there, around the first floor where they have all the cut-up meat. Allyson and I even bought Ania some pasta that she's been looking for. After the market we decided to walk up to the Piazza Michelangelo because I have never been there.

That walk took us to and across the river Arno. We then had to walk up this hill with a lot of steps. On the walk up to see David, we saw a man taking a crap a little ways of the path in this kind of shaded area. I could not believe that someone would just walk off the path and drop his pants like that. It was disgusting, needless to say. When we got up to the piazza, we finally saw David up close. The three of us went and sat on a bench and just looked out at the wonderful views for a while. On the bench next to us, which we tried not to look at after the first glance, was a guy straddling the bench with his girlfriend straddling him, trying to make babies.

After leaving the piazza and walking back down, we walked back to the Duomo to wait for Ania to join us. Ania and I were going to attend Mass at the Duomo at 5. While waiting on the steps of the Duomo for Ania to arrive, Allyson, Adam, and I did some people watching. There was the ever present tourist groups and all sorts of strange characters. We even saw a guy dressed up like a Jedi or another such character from Star Wars walking around the piazza. Finally, Ania showed up and the two of us went to Mass while Adam and Allyson went back to his hotel to wait for us.

After Mass, Ania and I walked over to Adam's hotel to pick up Adam and Allyson. We then walked around Firenze trying to find this restaurant that the guy at the hotel recommended. Unfortunately the restaurant didn't open until 7:30 so we walked over to the Duomo to wait for Betsy to join us. Now the four of us sat and people watched until Betsy showed up. Right before she did, though, this group of Italian guys came up to us and started a conversation. The one guy wanted to know if we could be friends so he could improve his English. Since most of us thought the guy was just trying to play us, it was convenient that we could say he had no way of contacting us. Right after he and his friends left, Betsy joined us and we went out to eat.

After dinner, we headed back up to Fiesole where we then all went to JJ's to celebrate Adam's last day with us. Overall, Saturday was a pretty great day but this morning I'm feeling all that walking I did. Today I'm just going to relax, get some homework done, and maybe do some laundry.

A beautiful last day trip

2009-02-20T22:48:00.002+01:00

Today we went to visit San Gimignano. I was a gorgeous day to visit the medieval town in Italy. Clear skies, warmth, sunny weather; a perfect day for sight-seeing and touring. We left Fiesole by coach bus and 8:30 this morning and were in San Gimignano by 10.

Bob took us on one of his quick tours through the city. We entered through the Porta San Giovanni which is one of the original five gates into the walled city. Bob pointed out little shops along the way to our first stop, little interesting places to visit and browse the merchandise. Our first stop was at the Piazza della Cisterna. It has a water well in the middle of the piazza that dates back to the 13th century. From there we came to the Piazza del Duomo.

Here Bob went and purchased tickets for us into the church Santa Maria Assunta. This church was simply beautiful on the inside. The walls of the church are filled with frescoes depicting the Old and New Testaments. The best part of the church is the depiction of hell and heaven on two of the arches in the church. The arch depicting hell is very graphic in its depiction of the seven deadly sins. There is one part of the fresco that has a woman being raped by a demon; another part shows the gluttonous being force-fed food. Back when people couldn't read and depended on the frescoes to tell them the stories, the depiction of hell in Santa Maria Assunta would be a great deterrent.

Upon leaving the church, Bob took us up to this old 13th century castle. We climbed one of the remaining towers and that's where I got some of the best landscape pictures. When I upload my album you'll be able to see what I'm talking about. With the clear day we had you can see for miles from this tower.

Then Bob took us to one of the other churches in town, Chiesa di San Agostino. Inside the 13th century church are frescoes down by Benozzo Gozzoli depicting the life of St. Augustine. There is also a little chapel inside the church, San Bartolo, with three statues depicting the virtues faith, hope, and charity. Here is where Bob's tour ended and the group split.

I first went with Nikki into this linen store and almost bought something for my Grandma but I couldn't decide. I then walked up the street, looking into shops, peering at post-cards. I bought this really pretty necklace at this one shop that sold a bunch of really great jewelry. Then, walking alone along the main street I saw Bob coming from the opposite way. He told me that Betsy, Ania, and Allyson had headed toward the co-op near where we were dropped off to pick up some lunch. I headed that way to meet up with them.

We picked up some bread, brie, boar sausage, Pringles, a bottle of Vernaccia wine, pesto, and peach juice. We took our food back up to the fort and had ourselves a little picnic. We had such a great time, the four of us, sitting in the sun, enjoying the food and having a great time. Afterward, we laid down in the grass and took a little nap. Others from our group joined us after a while and took a nap too.

Around 3ish, the four of went took off and walked around town again. We stopped and got gelato and went to the bathroom at this little shop, bought some postcards at this touristy shop and headed back toward the bus. Before lunch, Betsy, Allyson, and Ania tried some wines and bought a few bottles. They took me there after I met up with them and I bought a bottle of Chianti and Vernaccia to take back home with me. We boarded the bus at 3:45 and headed back toward Fiesole.

Most of us slept on the bus ride back. We headed up toward Villa Bonelli after departing the bus and waited for dinner.

Dinner tonight was not the greatest. We had a gnocchi dish for the first course with was okay but not great. For the second course, we had roasted potatoes, omelets, and cooked prosciutto. It wasn't very appetizing for me. Luckily we had tiramisu for dessert. Dr. Mary Fox joined us for a little bit after we ate and we chatted with her for a while.

Ania, Eldon, Bob, and I joined Dr. Fox for dinner at Etrusca after we left La Reggia. She ordered dinner for herself while the rest of us ordered gelato, Bob ordered ananas (pineapple). We shared a bottle of wine, many great stories, and great company. With the exception of Ania, we had limoncello for our after dinner drink. I had a blast talking with Dr. Fox about all sorts of different topics. It really was a great night preceded by a great day.

I'm going to go to the History of Science Museum tomorrow with Allyson and Adam as it's his last day in Italy. So, I'm exhausted now and probably a little bit tipsy from all the good alcohol I've had today so I'm going to bed. Buonanotte!

A day of agony

2009-02-19T20:10:00.002+01:00

Achooo! I'm still sick. I woke up this morning actually feeling the worst I've been all week. My throat was sore, my nose was all stuffed up, and I was just plain sick. The night before I had Jill french braid my hair into pigtails. This morning I took them out and then put my hair up in a half-pony. I sat next to Eldon at breakfast this morning and as my back was to the door, a few people had to do double-takes because they didn't know it was me sitting next to Eldon. It's nice to know that by just changing you hairstyle you can shake things up a bit.

We had our Art & Architecture class this morning at 11. Claudia gave us back our midterms and explained the grades to us. I got an A/B and I was happy with that. But some people were not happy with their grade and complained. After class was over, some people stayed after and talked with Claudia about it. When we met up at 3:30 for the second half of our class at the San Lorenzo Church, Claudia told us that she re-examined our tests and re-evaluated our grades. Basically, my A/B will now be an A-.

I was happy with my grade and did not complain. What happened in the classroom was something I really hate. People started confronting Claudia in class, in front of everyone. That's not how these types of situations should be handled. I felt very uncomfortable with all the tension in the room. I can't stand confrontations like those because you're forcing the teacher to take a stand to control the room and no one comes out the winner. I was surprised that we could continue with the rest of the class as easily as we did. Those situations are ones I would rather be as far away from as I possibly can. But, what's done is done and in the past.

Touring San Lorenzo Church was great. San Lorenzo Church is a church made by Brunelleschi for the Medici family. There is so much Medici history in the church, and three Medici's buried there. Donatello did most of the artwork and sculpture inside the church as he was a close friend to Cosimo the Elder who patronized Donatello. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the 1st Renaissance church in Florence but everything was beautiful. We even were able to visit the newly opened museum attached to the church. Overall, it was a great experience and I learned a lot about the Renaissance style.

We had dinner early tonight because some of the guys were going to a late night soccer game. Dinner was again fantastic. We had a great pasta course, chicken and salad for the second course, and tiramisu for dessert.

I'm now back in my room, preparing for an early night as we're leaving for San Gimigano tomorrow at 8:30. As I'm also still trying to get over my cold. I'm going to bundle up and go to be early. I'll take a ton of pictures tomorrow to add to my blog for everyone to see. Amore e perdere di tutti voi.

The Medici

2009-02-18T21:51:00.002+01:00

Today I had history class down town. We met at the Piazza della Signoria and went into the Medici Palace. For some reason it was free to tour the palace today. Luciana said something about it being because the last Medici declared in her will that the people should be able to see the paintings/sculptures that the Medici's collected. So we went into the Medici Palace.

We first had to go through security and then check our backpacks. Then we found out that the tour Luciana scheduled for us was mixed-up. We were supposed to have an English guide but because of a computer glitch there wasn't one scheduled. So we decided to take the Italian guide instead. But, before our tour was scheduled, we looked around most of the public areas of the palace.

There is a lot of really great art and history inside the palace. I was amazed at all I saw there today. When it was time to go on the tour we went back to the entrance of the palace and caught up with our guide. She took us through private passages, up narrow, twisting stairs, and into secret rooms. Even though the tour was in Italian, the guide was kind enough to speak quick summaries to us in English. I was actually able to understand some of the Italian that she spoke. She also took us above the ceiling of the Salone dei Cinquecento (‘Room of the 500’)this large meeting room and we saw how the ceiling was able to self-support itself without the use of columns.

The best part about the whole tour was when we were able to go into this secret room. Adjacent to the Salone is Francesco de’Medici’s tiny, precious, windowless studiolo (‘study’), also designed by Vasari. It is filled with secret cupboards containing glass, precious stones and coins, and the walls hold a collection of paintings and frescoes about the natural sciences, a testimony to fine Florentine Mannerist decoration (http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=2041). That was the little blurb I could find on the room, but seeing it in person was amazing. It had three secret doors, a secret window, and secret cupboards behind paintings. All the paintings/frescoes in the room had a purpose and reason for where they were and what they meant. Four paintings depict the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) while four other paintings depict cold, hot, humid, and dry. But the placement of each painting was what made it all come together. The for elements were surrounded by the four other things to make everything interconnected. I can't seem to describe it and I haven't found anything online to help me but it was the most fascinating thing that I saw today. I had such a blast.

After the private tour, finished viewing the rest of the Medici Palace. Class lasted three hours but the extra time was definitely worth it. After class, I split up from the group and walked to the Supermarket along the #7 bus route. I picked up some chocolate and then hoped the #7 bus up to Fiesole. Language class was pushed back to 4pm for some reason so I had 2 hours of down time. I just rested as my cold was not any better. I had been sneezing and sniffling all morning and it seemed to have gotten worse throughout the day.

Language class was fun. We learned some more verbs and how to conjugate them in the third person. We also played a game with the two teams we have. I'm on Team B and so far we are ahead of Team A 4-3. After class I went back to the room and lied down for a while.

Dinner was at La Reggia tonight. Adam's family was back from their trip to Rome so they joined us as well as the other Adam who came to Florence during SMU's February break. We had a great pasta dish, turkey and rosemary potatoes for the second course, and then the creme caramel for dessert. I barely ate half my dessert as it's not the greatest dessert.

Upon returning to Villa Bonelli I took a shower hoping I'd feel better afterward. I didn't, I'm actually feeling more stuffed up. I'm gonna take another allergy pill before I go to bed. Hopefully it helps. Anyway, after my shower, Jill french-braided my hair in pigtails so tomorrow my hair will be kinky. We'll see how it turns out. I'm now going to end this entry in my blog and call it a night.

Amore e perdere tutti voi! Ciao!

SNOW!!!!!!!

2009-02-17T21:39:00.002+01:00

Rise and shine!!! This morning I had my early class, Italian Literature. The group of us are sitting in the lounge waiting to go to class when we look out the window and see that it's raining. Only, it looked like really heavy rain. But when we all left Villa Bonelli to walk to the classroom we realized that it was snow. It was snowing in Fiesole! A bunch of us made the comment that we flew over 4000 to escape from snow and here it was in Italy. Not only was it snowing, albeit lightly, it was very cold as well.

Lit went well. We got our midterms back and I got an A/B on it. We started reading Petrarch's sonnets as well. I like his style of poetry. It's very vivid images and even could be considered romantic, even though that era was 500 years in the future. I woke up even sicker than yesterday, so I was sneezing and very out of it in class today. After literature we had language. We started working on indefinite articles. At the end of class she gave us back our midterms for language. I got an A on that one, WooooHoooo!!!!! So far so good when it comes to the midterms.

After classes, I was feeling even more like crap so I decided to not go anywhere today as it was now raining out. I just wrapped up in my blankets and surfed the net for the rest of the afternoon. I also ate like six oranges and finished my orange juice. I got as much Vitamin C as my body could hold so hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

We went down to JJ's for dinner. I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a coke. The burger had onions and BBQ sauce on it but other than that it was really good. I than ordered a "Blue SMU" as we call it; I think it has Malibu in it, but its color is blue hence the name. After that drink I walked back up to Villa Bonelli, took a shower, and am now blogging about my day. The most exciting thing that happened was the snow we got this morning.

Oh, yeah. I also filled out a couple of scholarship applications online and continued to fill out the Kwik Trip scholarship application I received. I have to meet for history class tomorrow at the Piazza della Signoria at 10 am. Afterward, I'm going to pay my deposit for skydiving and maybe do a little shopping. We don't have language class until 4 pm tomorrow for some reason so I have time to roam the city for a while. I think a bunch of us are meeting in the city after my history class for lunch somewhere but the plans are not concrete.

Well, I'm once again sneezing and feeling congested and all stuffed up. I just want to sleep and wake up healthy. Pray for me! Amore e perdere tutti voi. Ciao!

Oh for the love of (achooo!)

2009-02-16T21:17:00.002+01:00

Oh, Monday morning, the beginning of the week. I woke up this morning feeling like crap. My throat was sore, my nose was stuffed up, and my head just ached. Throughout the day the feeling of intense pressure in my head got worse. Now, as I type this, my head feels three sizes too big, my nose hurts from sneezing, and my eyes are burning. But enough about my symptoms, let's talk about my day.

Today, we had our midterm for Global Issues. Bob's test was not as difficult as I thought it could be. Thank goodness that I quickly skimmed one of our books we read for his class, though, otherwise I would have not known about three or four names that were on the test. It was only six questions on the books we read and the newspaper articles. No sweat.

After taking the test, I left and went back to Villa Bonelli and lied in bed all day because I was steadily feeling worse. I tried to take a nap, but I don't take naps. They make me cranky so I just rested in bed. I read some more, did a little Internet surfing, filled out a scholarship application, and rested. I dozed off right before dinner for a little bit but not too much.

Dinner was at Etrusca tonight. We had spaghetti with tomato sauce, pizza, and gelato for dessert. I was sneezing throughout dinner so when I came back to the room, I took some allergy pill. I'm going to call it an early night and go to bed very soon. Hopefully when I wake up in the morning I'll feel better. I need to go into Firenze tomorrow to take care of some business dealing with my trip to Interlaken and skydiving. We also are on our own for dinner so I'll probably catch an early dinner while I'm down there with the girls.

Amore e perdere tutti voi. Ciao.

Ah, surprises

2009-02-15T22:06:00.003+01:00

Sunday dawned a bright, glorious day. Few clouds but a chilly temperature due to the wind. This morning I spent catching up on my homework for Global Issues tomorrow. We have our midterm for it tomorrow and I needed to finish the assignment before starting to study for it. After finishing the reading I watched a few back episodes of Grey's Anatomy online. Oh, I was crying like a baby during most of it as some parts were very emotional.

Around 1ish, Allyson comes and asks if Betsy and I wanted to join her and Ania in meeting Adam in Florence. Adam came here as a surprise for Michelle and we went to meet him in Florence, show him around a bit, and then bring him back up to Fiesole. So, the four of us head for Firenze and get off at the Duomo. We find Adam's hotel and then took him on a mini-tour of some of the sites in Firenze. After splitting up, Allyson, Adam, and I walk to the stazione to get bus passes. While we're paying for the passes (Adam needed one and I just ran out of my old pass), the #7 bus pulls out of the stazione. On that bus was the rest of the group that went to Venice this past weekend. Allyson and I couldn't believe that the surprise we were planning was ruined because of timing. The whole group found out Adam was here before we wanted them to. After catching the next #7 bus up to Fiesole, we walk into Villa Bonelli and were told that Michelle knew.

I listened to a bunch of stories about Venice and before we knew it it was time for dinner. We ate at Etrusca and had a great dinner of pasta and grilled chicken breast. Most of us had the gelato for dessert.

I now have to continue studying for this exam as Bob hasn't told us anything about it. I need to know the names of various people from the two books we're reading and the newspaper articles.

Venice...Bologna...Pisa...Wait! Where did I go?

2009-02-14T19:56:00.003+01:00

It's February 14th. Happy Valentines Day or as some call it: Singles Awareness Day. We woke this morning to find a red rose for each of us taped to our door. We think they're from Bob but he won't say. Either way, it nice to get flowers today.

Today, Ania, Allyson, Betsy and I were planning on going to Bologna, having a great dinner, maybe spending the night, and returning Sunday morning to Firenze. Well, plans change. When we got to the stazione to buy our train tickets, the only ones available were Eurostar 1st class tickets. 96 Euro, one way, for the four of us. Needless to say, we did not go to Bologna today. Instead, we looked up taking a train to Pisa. Four tickets to Pisa only cost 22.40 Euro. We went to Pisa.

The train ride took about an hour and then we were in Pisa. We located the information place for tourists, got a map, and headed out. We first walked to this cute little church. And when I say little, I mean little. The church is tiny, smaller than any other church I've ever seen. I was soo cute and sat right next to the River Arno which also flows through Firenze. Next, we walked to the piazza where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is. We took a ton of pictures, went inside the Duomo there, then continued on. Inside the Duomo, though, was a tour group of Congressmen with full-on security detail. It was kind of cool to see.

After leaving the piazza, we walked around, got some gelato, then found somewhere to eat a very late lunch/early dinner. I ordered lasagna for the first time here in Italy and it was sooooo good. I ate it sooo quickly it was that good; cheesy and delicious. Mmmmmmmmm!

After we finished eating it was closing in of 5 pm. We decided to head back to Firenze and headed for the station. Now that we know how to purchase tickets and validate them we each did it individually. But, we still messed up concerning where to find our train. Instead of looking at the departure board, we looked at the arrival board. We get to the track that we thought would take us back to Firenze and find out that train is going somewhere else. We book it back to the station, realize our mistake and finally get on the right train. An hour later we're back in Firenze, hopping a bus up to Fiesole.

All of us a really tired still after everything that happened this week. I'm going to bed early and sleeping in late tomorrow. The four of us will probably watch a movie tonight after Ania and Allyson get back from a quick dinner. I'm uploading new photos today so definitely take a look. Ciao.

And a time for every purpose under heaven

2009-02-13T22:54:00.002+01:00

Oh glorious Friday where we go nowhere, do nothing, and eat a wonderful meal.

Last night, all of us went to JJ's to unwind after a week of stress and exams. The best part about last night was Joey received his second shirt and I had my first beer. The worst part would have to be the margarita that I was given. The beer was Strongbow with blackberry syrup. It's a very light beer with none of the beer flavor. I enjoyed it greatly especially when compared to the margarita. Way to much tequila and nothing else. The margarita tasted like pure tequila. Needless to say I was pretty tipsy afterward. I called home after coming back to Villa Bonelli and promptly went to sleep.

Friday, the rest of the group headed off to Venice this morning around 8 am. I woke up with a slight headache that went away after drinking a glass of water. My group planned on heading to Pisa but Ania was not feeling well so we decided to stay in Fiesole for the day. I'm glad because I got all my laundry done and now won't have to worry about it for another two weeks or so. I just had a great relaxing day with no worries in my mind.

For dinner, there were only five of us. We went to La Reggia and got to order off the menu!!! It was the best meal I've had so far. We each had a first and second course with a vegetable. Then there was the bottle of white wine with the pasta, red wine with the second course of the best beefsteak I've had so far, ciocolate gelato dessert, and an after dinner drink of lemoncello. It was the best meal and having such a small number of people made conversation superb. We spent three hours at dinner, the most so far this entire trip.

I'm now in my room writing about today. I'm sure I forgot to mention some things but I'm very tired and will be going to bed soon. The four of us will be going to Bologna tomorrow for Valentine's Day and hopefully spending the night there. I really enjoy Ania and Allyson as they remind me of my sister. Rooming with Betsy is great too as I seem to have extremes when it comes to roommates. But, I'm exhausted from relaxing and doing laundry and laughing so hard and drinking really good wine.

I probably won't blog tomorrow as I'll be in Bologna without access to my laptop. I'll blog about it all on Sunday when we get back. Ciao.

Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday

2009-02-12T21:37:00.002+01:00

Okay, first of all I appologize for not blogging since Monday. We had midterms this week and I spent most of my free time trying to study for them. Tuesday, I had a Literature final that was not bad at all. There were questions on it that Chiara told us about and we reviewed for an hour before taking the test. After the Literature test we had our Language class. We went over what was going to be on the final for Language on Wednesday.

I spent Tuesday night studying for the History final. I reread the book we read in class and took more notes on the chapters I take the test Wednesday and I'm blown away by what is not on the test. I didn't study dates thinking the test would be on events and people and the what of the event. The test was multiple choice and focused mostly on dates. It was quite horrid but I think I managed to do a fair job on the test.

The Language final was not anything to sweat over either. I had a few issues with the articles but I totally aced the extra credit so I'm not worry at all about it. Wednesday night was spent entirely on studying for the Art final on Thursday. Allyson and I worked together on creating a powerpoint with the pictures of artwork we needed to study for the test. We were given like five artists and various works under each artist. It was a total of like fourteen works we needed to be able to identify. We needed to know the artist, date of work, technique, subject and composition, historical and cultural background, and style for each piece of art. It was completely horrid to study for but as soon as we completed the powerpoint it was easier to do.

This morning we went to the Uffizi museum. I wish we were able to spend more time there then we did but due to multiple circumstances, mainly the test in the afternoon, I had to hurry through the exhibits. There was soooo much art to see. I saw a ton of paintings that I simply loved. We couldn't take pictures, obviously, but I so wanted to take back with me some part of what I enjoyed. I loved being there but hated the rushed feeling and the being in a group. I would go back there just to explore it on my own.

After Uffizi, we came back to Villa Bonelli. I rested a little be then studied for the test. The test was not horrible. I was expecting one of the three we were given and hopeful for another. The third was out of left field but I'm glad we made the powerpoint to study from because it helped a lot. Now, I only hope that what I wrote is what she wanted for the test.

We ate at La Reggia tonight and had another fabulous meal. Bailey, Jill, and I ordered up a bottle of wine and had an even better meal. We had great pasta, roast beef and roasted potatoes, then tiramisu for dessert.

After dinner we drank some more wine/drinks, played a little cards, and the others went to JJ's for even more partying. Most of the group is going to Venice this weekend. Me and my group are staying closer to home. We didn't want to hit Venice on such a crazy weekend, Carnivale and Valentine's Day all rolled up into one big weekend. My group is going to hit Pisa tomorrow and then have a great dinner with Bob tomorrow night. Saturday we're going to Bologna and staying the night there. I think we'll have just as much or more fun than the other group.

I'm now exhausted from too much hardcore studying and very good wine. I'm off to bed after I call the parents. Love and miss you all. Ciao.

2009-02-12T15:46:00.002+01:00

Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

I cannot believe I'm actually going to do it!!!!

2009-02-09T18:17:00.004+01:00

So today, being Monday, normally is a slow day for everyone. But this week is a little different. We have midterms in most of the class, all of mine except Global Issues, so things were a little different today. First of all, it's not raining (yeah blue skies and great, warm weather). Secondly, when we all walked down to class, Global Issues, Bob announces that the afternoon classes are canceled (yeah no classes so we can enjoy great, warm weather). Thirdly, when we all came back up the hill to Villa Bonelli, the rooms were not being cleaned. So we all dropped our stuff off and focused on that which was most important, midterms.

A bunch of us girls went down to Florence around noon though to check out this place that has preplanned trips for around Italy and outside Italy. We go to the office thinking we'd just get some more info and think about it. We leave the office having booked out spots on the trip to Interlaken February 26th. OMG!!!!!!! 180 euro and a note to put our names (Jill, Bailey, and I) down for skydiving later, I'm completely out of my mind. I'm going to Interlaken in a couple of weeks and going skydiving!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!! Randomly throughout the rest of the day I just have to say it out loud again: "I'm going skydiving!" "I'm going to Interlaken!" I cannot believe it. Although, it has not cleared my bank or even shown up as a purchase yet.

So, here are the details for the trip. €180 – 3 days and 3 nights Includes: accommodation, breakfast and round trip transport. I've copied and pasted from the website the info on the Interlaken weekend. Interlaken, labeled the adventure sports capital of northern Europe, couldn't be a more magical place. This gorgeous village is nestled in between the Lakes Thun and Brienz and framed by the snow-capped trio of peaks of the Swiss Alps, the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau. Offering Skiing, Snowboarding, Skydiving, Night Sledding, Paragliding and more, there are endless activities to keep the adrenalin pumping.

For those of you who like to keep you feet a little firmer on the ground, explore the region by taking a day trip to the Swiss Capital - Bern, discovering Interlaken by quad bike or horse back, take a ride on the Jungfrau to the highest railway station in Europe, indulge in spa beauty treatments or shopping along the elegant streets of Interlaken.

Easily the most popular destination in Switzerland for students and young travelers of all nationalities, the hostels have created a fun atmosphere including on-site bars, restaurants and clubs where you can enjoy a night out with a DJ or live band only steps away from your room and a good nights sleep.

Whilst there are plenty of options to experience the local Swiss cuisine (hmm cheese fondue!!), there are also an array of international restaurants including Thai, Indian, Mexican and more, that will give you a well-deserved break from pizza and pasta!

All of your activities can be pre-booked or booked at the hostel. Even if your friends don't want to do the same things you will meet new people knowing that you will be all meeting back up in The Lounge in the Funny Farm at the end of the day.
The FunnyFarm Hotel/Hostel has the following facilities -

• The Lounge – Lobby Bar open from 8am till late,
• Pool Tables, Open Fireplace, INTERNET access,
• Club Caverne – club under the hostel open from 10:30pm to 1:30am with DJs, Live Music and concerts. In 2008 Club Caverne special guests included Ziggy Marley, Naughty by Nature, Red Lotus, Note va gustar and Lord Bishop.
• Adventure activities booking desk,
• Spacious gardens with swimming pool and outdoor bar, beach volleyball, Guinness Tent (summer only) with evening bonfire and a whole lot more!
(http://www.florenceforfun.org/index.php?lng=1&id=1979).

Wow! So, after we left the office all of us split up. Ania and I walked around downtown a bit before walking to the stazione to catch the #7 bus. When we got to the stazione, there was this group of kids, probably around 16ish, waiting with suitcases and backpacks. I just knew that they would be getting on the #7 bus and was proved right when the bus pulled up and they all cheered. Ania and I booked it to the bus in order to get seats as the group of kids was quite large. We sat in the back and these two guys from the group sat down next to us. Ania and I believe that they were probably Norwegian, from their accent and ice blue eyes. Oh, their eyes were just gorgeous to look at, although, well never mind. They got off a little after San Domenico. The bus was soooo packed with them and everyone else on it that we were squished next to these kids, but such is life and we move on.

We met Bob at the bus stop in Fiesole. He said that he was going into town. We told them about the trip to Interlaken and then walked back up to Villa Bonelli. Not 10 minutes after entering my room, Adam knocks on the door and asks if I could go over the stuff we need to know for our Literature midterm tomorrow. I said sure and he went to grab his stuff. We start discussing what Chiara said would be on the test when Allyson, who is also in the class, walks in and starts to participate. Not long after Andy joins the group. We go over all the stuff and discuss what we remember from the reading and what we remember Chiara saying before calling it good. I'm glad we did that because I feel better about the test now and I can start focusing on the other tests.

I then rested the rest of the afternoon, doing a little light reading and checking out my websites, before heading off to dinner at Etrusca. Bob didn't eat with us at dinner tonight so we got kind of loud. We had the spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, and pepper flakes for the first course and the chicken breast and fries for the second course. I opted out of a dessert as they were out of gelato and only had two panna cottas. So I just left the restaurant early to come back to Villa Bonelli early to study some more.

I think this last weekend has been the most that I've seen of us yet studying and getting homework done. Everyone is cracking down and studying for the midterms this week. But we are all trying to figure out our weekends as well. I think we're all going to Venice this upcoming weekend. We'll be in Venice for Valentine's day which would be sooooo romantic if I had a boyfriend to share the experience with. As it is we'll have five guys and ten girls to share the experience, if we all go.

Now, I have major studying to do so wish me luck! Ciao.

It's midterms!!!!!

2009-02-08T20:43:00.003+01:00

Well Sunday. A day for doing absolutely nothing. You wake up, get dressed, and spend the day lounging around and being lazy. I spent Sunday mostly on my computer. I caught up on my NCIS episodes that I'm missing and tried to catch up on Grey's Anatomy but that was not to be. I also studied for midterms that are this week. Basically sat on my behind all day as it was raining off and on. I should have gone out for a walk with Ania but I called home instead. Afterward, when I wanted to go for a walk it was raining again. The guys and Betsy went to a soccer game which they said was great fun.

Dinner at Etrusca was great. We had pasta with meat sauce that was soooooo good that I ate everything on my plate. We had pizza for the second course which also was very good. For dessert, they were out of gelato again so I had panna cotta. Tonight's panna cotta was the best I've had so far. It was so creamy and the chocolate sauce on top was so good that I wanted to lick the plate when I was done. Everything was so good. Now, I'm going to study some more for midterms and go to bed as everyone is also studying for midterms. We're all trying to figure out where we're going to go this weekend as there is no planned trip. I'll keep you posted. Ciao.

A rainy start for a great Saturday

2009-02-08T10:04:00.001+01:00

Saturday morning I got a 7:30 am wake-up 'call' when one of the guys knocked on our door. A bunch of the group was planning on going to Pisa yesterday but when they woke in the morning it was raining. The guy who knocked on the door was just politely telling us that Bob said the weather called from rain all day so they were not going to go to Pisa after all. We thanked him for telling us and I promptly rolled over a fell back asleep.

I woke up again at 9 when my alarm went off. I got up, got dressed, and went to eat breakfast. I had been planing on going for a walk into the city today and woke up Ania and Allyson because they wanted to come with. But, as we still didn't know whether is was going to rain all day or not we decided to wait until the afternoon. So I grabbed my laptop and a bunch of homework and took it out into the lounge so the maid was able to clean our room.

I finished my reading for Global Issues and the homework for language. I then watched a few YouTube videos that Ania suggested and spent a good hour crying over them. Finally, it was about 2 o'clock when I had enough. I wanted to go to the Duomo for Mass, so I rounded up the troops and told them. Here's how it worked out.

Allyson, being a little sick, and Ania would meet Betsy and I in front of the Duomo at 5:45pm and then we would all go out to dinner. Betsy and I walked down from Fiesole deep into Firenze. We walked down following the route the #7 bus takes. We stopped at the Supermarket bus stop and then hitched a ride the rest of the way to the Duomo. I went to Mass while Betsy walked across the river to a cafe she wanted to try out. At 5:45, when Mass was over, I met the three of them in front of the Duomo. We walked around a bit until we came to the restaurant a little ways down from Za-Za. We decided to eat here because prices were good.

Each of us ordered something different. Allyson order fungi pizza, Betsy the gnocchi, Ania ordered linguine with calamari, and I ordered penne agli scampi (pasta with shrimp). Everything tasted delicious. When I got my plate, the shrimp were the kind you needed to de-shell, de-leg, de-everything to get to the meat. Ania had to show me how because I never had shrimp that had eyes before. I had a little accident while trying to get the meat from out of the shell. Using a knife and fork, I accidentally moved to quickly or something because, one second all the shells/legs are on the plate, the next some are on the floor. I felt soooo embarrassed. But, dinner was good and the four of us had a great time.

We finally made it back to Villa Bonelli after doing a little side-street shopping and waiting for what seemed like forever at the stazione for the #7 bus. It was after 9 by the time we got back. Right when we got back to Fiesole it started to sprinkle and when we made it into Villa Bonelli it started to rain. Some people wanted to go to JJs but I didn't want to go out in the rain. Plus, by the time they left Villa Bonelli, it was closing in on midnight anyway. I know, I'm an early bird who likes to go to bed before midnight. I need my 8 hours of sleep otherwise I get cranky. But, I read a little before going to bed, after showering, and saying good night to those still in Villa Bonelli.

Burnt Sienna...really, you mean...oh, now I get it

2009-02-06T23:00:00.003+01:00

Siena, Italy. That was the city of choice today; actually, there was no choice, Bob had this trip planned out already. Today dawned actually pleasant for once in Fiesole, but, too bad for us, we took a bus at 8 am and headed for Siena. The ride out of Fiesole and Firenze was so stop and go that my motion sickness almost did me in. I tried napping when we finally hit smoother traffic but even that didn't help. By the time the hour to hour-and-a-half bus ride was over I was ready to call it a day.

When we finally got to Siena and were able to disembark from the Coach bus we rode in, we waited for our tour guide and I was able to recover. Like six coach buses pulled into the parking lot we were waiting in in the half hour we waited for our tour guide. That didn't bode well for the tourist places we would be visiting today.

Chiara was our guide in Siena. She was a sight to behold. Purple coat, shoes, pants, purse, and umbrella. All purple. We were unable to lose her in a crowd.

Our first stop for the day was the Basilica of San Domenico, also known as Basilica Cateriniana. This is the church were St. Catherine and the Dominican nuns worshiped and prayed. Inside the basilica, there is a portrait of St. Catherine, painted during her life. The portrait now hangs where St. Catherine used to pray everyday. Also inside the basilica, there is an altar housing St. Catherine's head and another altar housing her right thumb with various other artifacts. We were unable to dally long in the basilica due tot he large number of tourists groups, but I went back before the end of the day and looked around some more. I also went into the gift shop and purchased a few items that may or may not become gifts so I will not tell you what it was that I bought. We were unable to take pictures inside the basilica.

After departing the Basilica of San Domenico, we headed down a street that crossed the street that leads towards Florence. There is a Y-shaped street in Siena where one arm leads towards Florence and the other towards Rome. Anyway, when we made it to the street that leads towards Florence, the Palazzo Salimbeni was in front of us. This palazzo is where three former family homes now house one of the first banks. The buildings are really gorgeous Renaissance style homes.

Walking down the street we came to a sculpture of a she-wolf suckling the infants Romulus and Remus. According to legend, Siena was founded by Senius, son of Remus, who was in turn the brother of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. Statues and other artwork depicting a she-wolf suckling the young twins Romulus and Remus can be seen all over the city of Siena (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siena). I took a picture of the statue that will be posted later.

We continued on our walk, past the Piazza del Campo (which I will discuss later) and onto the Cathedral of Siena. The Cathedral is just gorgeous inside. I took a ton of pictures, which is great because I couldn't even begin to do the Duomo of Siena justice. Right before we got to the Cathedral, it started to rain. Most of us were hoping the rain would quit by the time we exited the Cathedral, but it didn't.

When we left the Cathedral we walked back to the Piazza del Campo. This is the site of the twice-yearly famous horse-race, the Palio, held around the edges of the piazza. It is also featured in the newest Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. I have a few pictures of the Piazza, but basically it is the principle public space in Siena, situated between the three hills that Siena is built on.

We ended the tour in the piazza and headed for lunch. All of us decided to eat at this really nice restaurant int he piazza and each of us enjoyed that meal greatly. After eating most of us went our separate ways. I walked back to the Basilica of San Domenico to look around some more by way of the road to Florence. We really only had about an hour after eating lunch to tour. Also, it was raining off and on so it wasn't the greatest day to see anything.

The bus ride back was not fun because it was again the stop-and-go movement that didn't help my upset stomach. We made it back to Fiesole around 4:30 pm.

We had dinner at La Reggia again at 7pm. Dinner was interesting. Thankfully, it didn't rain once we were back in Fiesole so the walk up the hill was as okay as it can be. The first course consisted of twirly pasta with meat. The second course was roasted potatoes and sliced turkey. Dessert was a huge flop/failure. They served us the creme caramel thing and panna cotta, neither of which any of us enjoy at La Reggia.

Upon returning to Villa Bonelli, some of us started to play cards again. Eight of us got involved in two separate games of Hearts while enjoying the fine wines from around the area. A group of people are thinking about going to Pisa tomorrow but I'm sick of being wet and not seeing anything so I'm staying in Florence. Ania, Allyson, and I are going to walk into Florence and just basically get lost for the day. We want to go to the San Lorenzo market to where they have the meat market. I would just love to see a part of Florence that I haven't seen before. Maybe we'll walk across the Arno River and explore that side of the city. But, if I'm going to be walking all day tomorrow I'm going to need some sleep. Buona notte!

P.S. Burnt Sienna is a pigment color used in painting. It is also the color of many of the walls in Siena. The name is derived from the Renaissance city, Siena, and is short for terra di Siena, "earth of Siena" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sienna).

And the heavens opened up

2009-02-05T21:22:00.003+01:00

Got to love Thursdays. I mean, we have our class that starts at 11 and then we get to tour a church or museum in the afternoon. It cannot get any better than that.

Thursday started off great with me having a wonderful night's rest and sleeping in until (gasp) 8:30. I got dressed, had a quiet breakfast, and came back to the room where I stayed until 10 working on my laptop. At 10, I grabbed my backpack and vacated the room so the maids could clean. I then sat in the lounge and read the assigned chapter from Gomorrah . While I was reading said chapter, title Women, I heard a noise. It sounded like really strong wind. I look up out the window and what do I see? That's right, rain. It was raining so hard outside for like 20 minutes before the sky cleared up. When we walked to class at 11 we had clear skies, not a hint of rain.

We were touring the Brancacci chapel this afternoon. We had an appointment at 3:45 and we couldn't be late. All of us went down early and ended up at the chapel a good half hour early. We were shown a movie of the chapel first that highlighted all the main points before we were allowed to see the chapel. We were only allowed 15 minutes in the chapel but that was all that we really needed. The church was almost destroyed in a fire in the 1700s but the chapel was restored to its greatness. There are frescoes of Masaccio and Masolini that are really elegant and great. My favorite is the fresco of Adam and Eve being expelled from Eden. It is either the first or one of the first to show such intense and vivid emotions on the face.

Anyway, after we left the chapel, a few of us walked back to the Duomo and around town for a little bit. While walking through the San Lorenzo market, the sky opened and it really started to rain. We got a little wet but the rain was off and on for about an hour. We hopped the bus back up to Fiesole at around 6 pm and made it back by 6:35. The four of us girls decided to just head up to La Reggia instead of heading back to Villa Bonelli. But, as we leave the bus, it is raining extremely hard again. I couldn't believe it. By the time we got to La Reggia, my pants we soaked through in the front as were my socks due to the mesh in my shoes. I was completely wet and cold.

Dinner was okay when you take into account most of us being wet. We had spaghetti with pesto (really yummmy) for the first course, omelets and salad (omelets not so yummy) for the second, and tiramisu for dessert. When we left La Reggia it was, thankfully, not raining and we made is back to Villa Bonelli without becoming soaked again. I immediately took a shower as I was soooo cold and am now in my pajamas and my fuzzy socks all nice and warm.

Tomorrow we go to Siena. I hope it doesn't rain while we're there but my Yahoo! weather says rain. I'm going to have to get a better umbrella as the two I brought with me are slightly defective and the one I bought over here broke. Oh well, that's what I get for buying the cheap stuff. Fino a quando la prossima volta.

Ironically it happened twice

2009-02-04T21:03:00.002+01:00

Wednesday, I woke up to a beautiful clear sky. I had a great breakfast of croissant, yogurt, and orange juice. I wrote Tuesday's blog this morning before while Betsy was out for a run. Then I went to History class at 10 where we discussed more on Florence's history. We have an exam next week in History, as well as language and literature. About ten minutes before class is over with I noticed it was darkening outside. Sure enough, when we leave the classroom and head back to Villa Bonelli, it starts to rain. Just as we get to the terrace of Villa Bonelli, it really starts to rain. Another day of rain.

I spent the next two hours, before language class, doing some reading. In language class we went over more info on the definite articles and how they're used. After class, I followed Ania and Allyson to the pastry shop we usually go to to get pizza, but it was closed today. We head back up the hill and stop in this other pastry shop. Ania got this, apparently, divine pastry and bought me an equally nummy donut. But, as we leave the pastry shop it starts raining again!!!!! I had said before class, as we were walking that the sky was clearing up a little bit, even though the cloud cover over Firenze was very heavy, but that it would probably rain again right after class. Low and behold it did!!! I cannot believe it.

I spent the rest of the afternoon before supper doing some more reading and taking a mini nap before Betsy came back from going into town and buying soccer tickets with the guys. The game's next Sunday in the afternoon. I have no inkling to see a game because I don't really know the rules so I wouldn't know what was going on.

We ate dinner at La Reggia tonight were dinner was, as always, great. Pasta for the first course, the roast beef and potatoes for the second course, and gelato for dessert. It was great and made even greater that it wasn't raining either before or after dinner. In fact, the sky was cloudless when we left Villa Bonelli to walk to La Reggia. We were able to see many stars and the moon.

Tomorrow, I have art class at 11 so I'm going to sleep in a little bit. I'm going to bed early and waking up late. Ciao!

Noah, where's the ark

2009-02-04T08:30:00.003+01:00

Tuesday dawned an okay day after a crazy night for most of us here. A lot of people went out to J.J.'s for Joey's birthday and had a great time. It was when they came back that it affected me. All I remember hearing was this load crash. Not the type of crash you hear if glass falls and shatters but definitely like the crash you hear when something big falls. I thought to myself that I hope no one fell down or broke anything. I find out the next morning that Joey ran into one of the tables in the girls' hallway and that was what the loud noise was. Crazy.

I had my early class, 9 am for Italian Literature. Our teacher, Chiara, told us we would be having our midterm exam next week, yucky, but I guess they have to grade us somehow and tests are it. We read three more cantos from Dante before talking briefly about the exam. Two hours from the start of class, we started our Italian Language class, also taught by Chiara. Again, exam next week, only this time on Wednesday the second day of language classes. In language we went over masculine and feminine articles.

After class we all came back to Villa Bonelli. First, Ania, Allyson, and I went to this little pastry shop that sells pizza by the slice. Each of us picked up a little lunch and brought it back to Allyson's new room. Allyson's all by herself now and Ania and I joined her in her room for a couple hours after class.

Of course, it was around the time right after we get back to Villa Bonelli that it starts to rain again. My Yahoo! weather said light rain; this was no light rain but instead another downpour of rain. It wouldn't be soooo bad to have a rain a lot if we were given some variety. I mean, throw in a thunderstorm or two to mix things up a bit and make life a little interesting, please! Allora. Due to the rain, I was unable to go for my walk yesterday but hopefully will today as it is once again not raining so far this morning. Instead, I stayed in my room and sat on my laptop until we decided to go out for dinner.

As it was Tuesday, we were on our own for dinner. I didn't want to eat with the whole group and neither did a few others. Ania, Allyson, Betsy, and I decided to try the pizza place the guys went to last week, but when we were on the bus we missed our stop and thus decided to go all the way into town and eat at Za-Za again. When we get to Za-Za, we have to wait to see if they have room for us. The entire upstairs floor looks empty to me but I don't comment. Finally we're told that we can go eat and the waitress leads us down to the basement to this table in the corner. It's now going on 8 pm.

The basement is filled with Americans, that's the only language I hear being spoken. I felt kind of caged and hidden as if they didn't want anyone important to know that they serve Americans. But, after we finally decided what to order and our waiter took our order, we started to relax and have fun. We had ordered a 1/2 liter of the house white wine and finished it before we even got our food. It seemed, to me, to take a very long time to bring us our food, but when they did it was all together, not a plate here or there. Each of us ordered something different: Ania had pasta and clams; Allyson had a spicy, stuff pasta; Besty ordered seafood skewers, and I had fettuccine with pesto. We also order another 1/2 liter of the house wine, this time red.

We had a great time at the restaurant. We were able to relax, away from the group, and able to laugh over nothing. Just four girls have fun in a foreign city. We then finally asked for the check. Thank goodness for Betsy to have read the receipt because there were two charges that weren't ours. We told our waiter and he fixed it so no harm done but it was an extra 14 euro that was added to our bill. We left Za-Za saying next time we'll try elsewhere as we've been there twice now.

We started walking back to the bus stop then. We each wanted to get gelato for dessert so looked for a good place to buy some. On the way to the street with all the shops, we passed by these guys sitting on the sidewalk. As we passed, one of them said something along the lines of "I'll buy wine for love" or some other such nonsense while another neighed at us. All of us broke out laughing because it was just too hilarious to think that we were being neighed at.

We finally came to a gelato place and each order two scoops in the smallest dish. Turned out to be 6 euro each, a bit expensive, but it was good gelato. When we finally hopped on the bus it was closing in on 10 pm. There was like no one on the bus. A few people here and there but practically just the four of us. We continued in our way of laughing and talking while the rest of the bus was silent. We get back to Fiesole and decided not to join the others as we four are all exhausted and ready for bed.

Such was my day for Tuesday. Let's hope that Wednesday is a little better.

Mille e mille di questi giorni! (Thousand and thousand of these days.) Ciao!

I really hate rainy Mondays

2009-02-02T21:58:00.002+01:00

So, I wake up this morning in tip-top shape, ready for a new week, with lots of energy to keep me going. The first thing I notice is that it's a little chilly in the bathroom with the window open and that it's raining. Yah!!!! Rain!!!!! (Said in a sarcastic, monotone of voice.) Raining Mondays really suck. Walking to Global Issues, as taught by Bob, it wasn't raining or sprinkling so I didn't have to use my umbrella.

We don't really do much in Global Issues. Bob gives us the assignments for next week, we talk about the newspaper articles we were supposed to have read throughout the week, and then he asks if we have any questions on any of the reading. That's about it. I'm not used to this kind of course where everything is on the student. Bob told us to make sure we read up on Assisi, Lucca, and Siena (where we're going on Friday) because they will also be on the midterm exam in two weeks. My only question is what about the cities will be on the exam? What am I supposed to know? I'll have to ask Bob later as he wasn't at dinner tonight (but that's for later.)

After Global Issues it wasn't really raining either. We all went back to Villa Bonelli, waited for the maids to finish cleaning and went our separate ways. I pretty much sat in my room all day because soon after it started pouring out, really pouring. I wrote about Lucca and set up a table for my pedometer info which I'll post later. I fooled around in excel, learning how to do equations and sums in the program. I also called my papa and talked with him for a while. I was going to call my brother tonight but I'm not feeling so hot so I'll do it tomorrow.

Most of us were looking forward to dinner tonight. Today is Joey's birthday and tomorrow is Jill's birthday. Bob had set up a special surprise for them at dinner. We get to Etrusca to find out that Bob will not be dining with us tonight. I'm looking at Ania wondering how the little surprise will work out if Bob's not there. The owner of Villa Bonelli came and ate with us tonight and helped us figure a few things out.

First of all, we were served garlic pasta tonight, sooooo gooooood. Then our server, whose name escapes me, gave out a bottle of wine to the opposite end of the table. Four people got glasses of read wine and one person got a glass of white. It was really weird and random considering none of us ordered any. Laura (I think that's the name of the owner of Villa Bonelli) asked our waiter and she told us it was complimentary from the owner of Etrusca in honor of the birthdays. After dinner and dessert, champagne flutes were brought out for everyone and three bottles were open for a toast to the birthday people. We sang happy birthday, toasted all around, and drank down the three bottles. A fourth bottle was given to Joey and Jill to share for they were the birthday people.

It was a really amazing dinner and we all had an amazing time. Everyone's going out to J.J.'s tonight to celebrate but I'm not going to go because after I came back from dinner I was not feeling so well. Even after taking a shower I still don't feel so good. I've decided to call my brother instead, now if he only answers the phone. Amore a tutti voi, arrivederci.

Super Bowl Sunday

2009-02-02T11:08:00.002+01:00

When I woke up Sunday, it was to a cold and rainy day. I was at breakfast before almost everyone. Most of us went out to J.J.'s the night before. I left at midnight but others were out until later. So, being one of the first people awake, I had a wide variety of croissants and yogurt to choose from. The most important fact, though, was that I was able to sign up for laundry slots before anyone else.

I had not done laundry in two weeks and needed to wash my jeans. I signed up for 4 hours hoping it would be enough. The washer here has a very small capacity. I fit my three jeans, a sweatshirt, a pair of sweatpants, and two t-shirts in and the washer was packed. I was able to do only two load of laundry, plus some hand washing. I also tried the dryer out. The first load I put into the dryer, socks and underwear and my pajamas, dried completely after about 2 hours. The second load that had my jeans in only steamed my clothes. I had to hang my jeans up afterward on the heated towel rack to dry.

I had started doing laundry at around 9:45-10 o'clock. I stopped washing at 1 and drying at 3. After hand washing five shirts (my hands we soooo cold afterward) I hung these items up first on the heated towel rack. It took all morning and afternoon for some of these to dry and they still were a little damp. I hung up the wettest before dinner and when I came back they were finally dry. Thank goodness because I didn't have any clean jeans to wear.

So, while I was taking care of laundry, in between I was catching up on my reading assignments. I read the newspaper articles we are required to read, I read the assigned reading from my art and literature classes (Canto V in Dante's Inferno.) But I pretty much lounged in bed on the computer for most of the day.

Dinner at Etrusca was one to remember. We had been looking forward to Sunday dinner ever since Bob told us that we would be having burgers, Italian style. We had spaghetti with red sauce for the first course and then burgers and fries for the second. The burgers were spicier than they are in American but still soooooooo very gooooooood. Mmmmmmm. It was a great meal and most of us cleaned our plates fully. I've noticed before on past Sunday's that it seems everyone eats more on Sundays than on other days. I think it's because we have to fend for ourselves on Saturdays but that's just my opinion.

Funny word, opinion. Newspapers have opinion columns, discussions in class are based on facts and opinions, and people constantly ask for your opinion on this or that. Dictionary.com states that an opinion is:
1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.
3. the formal expression of a professional judgment: to ask for a second medical opinion.
4. Law. the formal statement by a judge or court of the reasoning and the principles of law used in reaching a decision of a case.
5. a judgment or estimate of a person or thing with respect to character, merit, etc.: to forfeit someone's good opinion.
6. a favorable estimate; esteem: I haven't much of an opinion of him.

So there are many different ways to take the word opinion or use it. My blog here is my personal journal and opinion on whats happening here in Italy for the benefit of my family and friends back home. But I digress.

A bunch of the group went into town to watch the Super Bowl. I jokingly told them as they left that my money was on the Steelers. Turns out I was right. I didn't go with them and after hearing their stories about it I'm glad I didn't. The place they went to to watch the game was a small, hot room with a big screen TV. They said that there were limited commercials and the commentary was in Italian. I went to bed early instead of staying up to watch the game.

Now, to talk more about visiting Lucca on Saturday. Bob took us to three of the numerous churches in the walled city. Duomo di San Martino, Church of San Michele, and the Basilica di San Frediano were the three that we toured. I have many pictures of each of these in my slideshows. The album is labeled Assisi but the Lucca pictures are also posted there. We saw the tomb of St. Zita, the patron saint of maids and servants in the Basilica di San Frediano. We saw some very gorgeous artwork in each church and I felt very much in the presence of God.

In the Duomo di San Martino, there is this cedar-wood crucifix with the image of Christ that, according to the legend, was carved by his contemporary Nicodemus, and miraculously was conveyed to Lucca in 782. The story is that the ship carrying the cross came ashore and the cart driven by two oxen wandered into Lucca and that's where the cross remains. Now, I took artistic privilege with that last sentence. That's my very condensed version and could possibly be wrong in places.

I had a great time in Lucca. We were blessed with a warm sunny day which made the experience better. This Friday we're going to Siena and I hope the weather is just as great. I now have to get some homework done. More blogging tonight. Ciao!

Just a little walk through Lucca

2009-01-31T19:01:00.002+01:00

Today began very early again at 7 am. Another quick breakfast and a ride on the #7 bus to the Stazione where we caught the train to Lucca. The ride in the train was only a little over an hour. We were in Lucca by 10:30 am. Bob took us on the quick tour on Lucca to the three major churches in the area. Lucca is a walled city, which is about 2.5 miles long. After the quick Bob tour, Eldon and I walked the entire 2.5 miles around the city, taking many pictures and just enjoying the scenery.

Afterward, we found the little pizza place that Bob pointed out on the tour. We shared a half of sausage pizza. It was really good after the long hot walk we had. After finishing the pizza, we walked back to the wall and sat on a bench on top. After a while, a few of the others from our group joined us on the wall and we sat around talking and having fun. We hopped back onto the train at 3:32pm and headed back toward Firenze.

The ride back to Firenze was quicker than the ride to Lucca. We made it back by five and were able to hope the #7 bus to Fiesole. A few of us got off at the stop to the Supermarket where we did a little grocery shopping. WE then made in back onto the bus and into Fiesole before our 70 minute ticket ran out. Now I'm blogging after calling the family. Tonight we're all taking it easy. A few girls went out to a basketball game while the rest of us are at Villa Bonelli playing cards a watching stupid movies. Tomorrow will be a day to sleep in and relax after the last two intense days.

A marvelous day in Assisi!

2009-01-30T21:58:00.002+01:00

Today began at 6:45 am when Betsy's alarm went off. We needed to be on the bus by 7:30 am to head out of Fiesole on our way to Assisi. After a quick breakfast, we headed down toward the bus stop where our coach bus was waiting for us. It was about half-way down the hill that I realized I left my purse in my room and thus was without money for the day. Oh, well. This turned out to be a good thing for me.

It took two-and-a-half hours for the driver to take us to Assisi. I slept through most of the drive due to lack of sleep the night before and the motion sickness I get when taking coach buses on long trips. When we arrived in Assisi we met up with our guide, Giuseppe. He took us on a audio-guided tour through the Basilica of St. Francis. Giuseppe's tour was a delightful mix of humor and history. I already knew a fair amount about St. Francis but he was able to tell me a little bit more.

The basilica is a gorgeous church that's three levels. The upper basilica, the lower basilica, and the level where St. Francis' tomb is. We were able to see all three levels and gaze at the frescoes and artwork. No pictures were allowed so to preserve the frescoes but it was a glorious sight that will stay in my mind for a long time. I was able to take a lot of pictures outside the basilica which I will upload tomorrow.

After touring the basilica we walked through town toward the Basilica of St. Clare. We met back up with Bob here as he had left us before entering the other basilica. Here we said goodbye to Giuseppe and went to seek out lunch. Ania, Allyson, and I immediately separated from the group going right instead of left. We walked around for a long time, got a little lost, couldn't find the restaurant we wanted to find, and ended up eating pizza at this little pizzeria. Along the way we looked in a few shops and bought a few pastries on our walk. Wait until you see the pictures because there are no words to describe the views.

The three of us met back up with Bob and Jill around 3, a half hour before the bus would leave Assisi. Bob treated us to hot chocolate for me and Allyson while Ania and Jill got fresh squeezed blood orange juice. Ohhhhhh, each tasted heavenly as I got to taste the orange juice (sooooo much better than Tropicana).

On the ride back to Fiesole, I tried to do the assigned reading but kept falling asleep instead. I did read a good portion of the assignment but not as much as I could have. Buses tend to make me sleepy for some reason. We had an hour before dinner at La Reggia when the bus stopped in Fiesole. I walked back to Villa Bonelli, dropped my stuff off, logged online to check my email, turned around and walked up to La Reggia.

Dinner tonight was interesting. The first course was another amazing pasta that tasted sooooo good. The second course, though, is where it got interesting. We had french fries and rabbit. Yeah, that's right, rabbit. I didn't know what it was at first and tried it because I'll try anything once. To me it tasted like porkchops but what we were served was shaped kind of like drumsticks but not quite. Anyway, when Bob told us it was rabbit that we were eating you heard this simultaneous indrawn breath before forks were set down on the table. It really wasn't all that bad but just the thought of eating the Easter bunny or a little furry animal kind of ruined my appetite. Dessert though was the great tiramisu. MMMmmmmmmmm.

We're going to Lucca tomorrow, barring bad weather or train strikes. It will be another early morning and long day so I'll say Ciao for another day.

Santa Maria Novella

2009-01-29T21:01:00.002+01:00

Thursday is art day. I went to bed earlier than normal last night and woke up an hour later than normal this morning. I felt great after having all that sleep. After enjoying breakfast and catching up on some of my reading homework, 11 o'clock came around and all of us we sitting in our Art and Architecture class. Claudia told us today we would be visiting the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella.

In class we discussed more of Giotto's work and compared him to the other artists of his era. We also learned about how to look at a painting and be able to draw the scheme of the painting. We then looked at pictures of various other artists we would be seeing at the church. Class today only lasted about an hour-and-a-half which made us all happy as two hours is a little much for us.

We were to meet Claudia at the front of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella at 3 pm. Allyson, Betsy, Ania, and I wanted to go down early to do a little shopping and look at some shoes. We had gone back to Villa Bonelli after class but pretty much took a little bathroom break and headed out again.

The four of us stopped off at this little pastry place that sells pizza by the slice and pastries. We all got a little bit of something for lunch and decided to walk down to San Domenico while we ate our food and then catch the bus the rest of the way. Everywhere you look is a gorgeous view and when hanging out with these three girls I always have a good time. We were singing and dancing along the street, trying not to get hit by passing cars or scooters, and just having a grand old time. While we waited at the bus stop pasted San Domenico we sang a whole bunch of different songs. "Goodbye Earl" was a particular favorite of the afternoon for us as well as many snippets from various oldies songs. I had a great time.

We road the bus all the way to the Stazione where we then walked across the street to this shoe store, Peluso. We looked around but weren't really interested or there the shoes we liked were not in our size. We then just wandered around as we had a good half-hour, forty-five minutes before we had to be in front of Santa Maria Novella. Betsy had to go to the bathroom so we found this little eatery so she could go. I bought Ania and I a Coke Zero while Allyson had a delightful pastry that she shared a little with us. We then headed to Santa Maria Novella and met up with Claudia.

It was 2.50 euro to get into the church and we weren't allowed to take pictures. There are amazing frescoes and paintings in the church. We paid close attention to Giotto's crucifix as well as Maccacio's Trinity painting. We were supposed to look at Brunelleschi's crucifix but that particular chapel inside Santa Maria Novella was under repairs so we were unable to do so. On the bright side, there were postcards for purchase off to the side. I purchased 5 postcards and two prayer cards. One postcard was of Brunelleschi's crucifix so I was able to see it at least.

After our on-site class, a few of us walked along the route of the #7 bus. I bought a few things that I'm going to give as gifts so there will be no description, sorry. We then hopped the bus back as we were having dinner early tonight, 6:30 instead of 7, because La Reggia was having a big shindig and wanted us out of there before the others arrived.

Dinner was delicious as usual. The pasta we had tonight was cheesy with meat in it. It reminded my of macaroni and cheese but tastes sooooo much better. Our second course was chicken and roasted potatoes. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!! Dessert was chocolate and strawberry gelato which was just what I wanted. The mix of the chocolate and strawberry flavors is very tasty.

I'm calling it a night as we have to leave early tomorrow to go to Assisi. The weather says sun with a high of 14 degrees Celsius which is around 58F. Ciao, amici miei.

Clueless

2009-01-28T20:36:00.004+01:00

Today I only had one class, history. We were to meet down at the Duomo as Lucianna was going to take us around town a little bit. She gave us a map of Firenze and showed us where the original Roman wall was surrounding the Duomo. Lucianna took us around the Duomo area, showing us Dante's home and church. We also visited this small church for poor people that, to this day, still uses whatever contributions they get to help the poor. She pointed out the old tower houses in the city and showed us how many of the original stone homes are now incorporated in some of the newer structures. At the end of the class we visited this palace from the 13th century. We were only able to tour the ground and first floor as the rest was being restored but it was interesting to see. There was a dining room, sewing room, and bedroom we were able to see. It was really cool to check everything out.

The five of us in the class, minus one, then walked back toward the Duomo to catch the bus back up. I had worn my new boots, bad idea, and my feet were killing me. We got onto the bus and Bob joined us at one of the San Domenico stops. Back at the hotel, we noticed mostly everyone had gone into the city as there were no more classes left for today.

The rest of the afternoon I worked a little bit on homework but basically read this novel I downloaded onto my computer. I tried taking a little nap but didn't really feel like taking one even though I could have used it.

The big topic of conversation today was surrounding the incident from the night before. All of us here wanted to know what was going to happen but we were destined to be disappointed because Bob couldn't tell us much. The girl is completely clueless of the situation she caused. She doesn't understand that she was at fault and now has completely freaked all of us out. At dinner tonight, I sat by her so that Allyson didn't have to deal with her. Her questions and comments showed that she believes that it was just stress that caused her to break down. It's a topic that just makes all of us upset and I cannot even...never mind, it makes me too agitated to think about it.

We had the spicy pasta again tonight for our first course, roast beef and salad for the second, and the awesome tiramisu for dessert. All was delicious, as expected, and I enjoyed the tiramisu as La Reggia's is less coffee tasting then Etrusca's.

I'm going to get some more of my homework done tonight, hopefully finish the assigned reading for one of the books I have to read. I'm going to call it an early night as I was unable to fall asleep last night. It didn't help that one of the girls came back singing Madonna at 2 am. Whatever, I'm used to getting by on little sleep. Love and miss all of you. Ciao.

These boots are made for walking

2009-01-27T19:15:00.004+01:00

First of all, sorry about not posting anything yesterday. It was a very crappy day all around and I was upset through most of it. I wake up yesterday to a gorgeous partly sunny morning. I had Global Issues with Bob at 10 where we talked about global news, an idiot priest who believes the Holocaust never happened, and mob family wars. It was a fun and interesting hour of class; the only downside was the tremendous amount of reading we received for homework.

Upon returning to Villa Bonelli, a bunch of us played P & A for about an hour before people dispersed back to their rooms. I had planned on going shopping in the afternoon after Ania was done with her class at 3. So, while waiting for her class to get done, I logged online and surfed the web. At one time, when I looked up and happened to glance out the window, I saw my downfall. It was pouring outside, again. My plans were again thwarted by the weather which I cannot control.

Dinner was once again an interesting affair. There is this one girl in our group who doesn't seem satisfied unless she's the center of attention. She always brings up comments or topics of conversation that should not be done at a dinner table. It's embarrassing and uncivilized and gosh I don't know what else to call it. It drives me nuts sometimes but, it's only one person and I'm not going to let it ruin my experience.

Nothing much else happened after dinner. I showered and went to bed.

This morning I woke up to another glorious day. I just hoped that it didn't rain this afternoon. I had my early class today, Italian Literature. We discussed Dante and his Divine Comedy. I've already read the Inferno but that's where we're starting. Hopefully I can get out of hell in this class and to somewhere a little nicer. It seems like in all of my Honors courses that we never leave hell. Of course, it's easier to write of hell than anywhere else but even purgatory would be a nice little vacation.

We then had our Italian Language course. As Chiara has a meeting during our class time tomorrow, we had double the class today. For those of you who are counting, that means I had two hours of literature and then two hours of language. In a row. Four hours of non-stop, except for a few minutes break, classes. I don't even have that kind of schedule at SMU during a normal semester. Alora. We delved into the masculine and feminine parts of the Italian language as well as went over some foods. I already did my homework for next week as it was pretty easy.

I got done with all my classes today at 1 pm. It was still sunny outside so I decided that I would go with the guys into Florence when the last class of the day, Theology (which I don't take), was done. I actually tagged along with Betsy because she was going to purchase soccer tickets with some of the guys. We rode the bus down to the Duomo and then walked to the ticket place. The guy would not sell them to us because it was the first home game in a while and Florence was playing a bitter rival. He wouldn't sell the tickets to us because it is expected to be a very violent game, and I'm not talking about the players but the fans. The guys were disappointed but Betsy and I quickly moved on to better things, like shopping.

We walked around for a while going to different shoe stores because I was still looking for that pair of boots that I wanted. I saw a pair the other day, black leather with a chunky heel, that I loved at first glance but the price nearly killed me. I will admit that I'm very thrifty. I don't like to spend a lot. These boots were 349 euro. Had I not found the best pair of boots today, I might have been tempted to go to that store and get the 349 euro pair. But today, after rigorous shopping and looking around numerous stores, I found the pair of boots I wanted.

After Betsy and I had eaten dinner at McDonalds (we had to try it over here at least once. Not the greatest food compared to anything) we walked underneath the street by the Stazione and I found the boots in one of the stores there. They are gorgeous brown leather with a thicker heel and not too high. I fell instantly in love with them and bought them, for only 19 euro which with today's exchange rate is only $25. I did very good today. I'm going back to this other shoe store tomorrow and getting these really cute purple spike heeled short boots. They're only 20 euro, down from the 40 I last saw them at and I cannot say no to them at this lower price.

Betsy and I, after purchasing my boots, hopped the bus back up to Fiesole. By the third stop we were packed into the bus like sardines. Apparently there is no limit to the number of people on a bus. I was being pushed into the poles by this guy behind me, hanging on to my purchase for dear life. Once we got out of Firenze it got better but OMG I couldn't believe the amount of people we had on the bus.

When we got back to Villa Bonelli, I had to show of my boots to all the girls. They were all happy for me because I've been soooo wanting to get a pair. A few of us went out into the lounge area to play some cards and found out that the guys had not returned yet. When they did, we all got involved in a game of P & A. There was drinking involved in this game and it got a little overheated.

I had a little wine, not enough for me to be drunk when you calculate in my body mass and that I just had eaten dinner. But this one girl, who we all just found out should not be drinking alcohol, had like 2 glasses of cheap Italian champagne, Prosecco, and is maybe 110 soaking wet. As we were playing the game and she was acting more and more drunk, things got a little out of hand. She just snapped and lost control and started screaming and crying. I don't know how to describe it but it was not good. Things are now up in the air concerning what's going to happen and as soon as I know something I'll see. But, I got out of the situation and left her alone.

I am now going to bed as it is late and I have class tomorrow morning. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day. Ciao.

Chocolat

2009-01-25T20:55:00.002+01:00

Oh, for the love of chocolate, I would do practically anything for some. Today being Sunday, I was able to sleep in as there is no maid service. Betsy left really early this morning to go skiing up north so there was no reason to get up. I woke around 9-9:30, got dressed and lied around my room for most of the morning. I read, did a little homework, and then Googled Grey's Anatomy episodes. I caught up on my missed episodes of Grey's Anatomy until around 2 when Ania came and dragged me out of my room.

Ania, Allyson, and I walked down to the bus stop with the intention of taking the bus into town. When we got to the bus stop, it just left after dropping the passengers off. Normally, the bus waits 10 minutes at the stop before moving on. So instead, the three of us walked halfway down to Florence and then caught the bus to Florence where we stopped off at the Supermarket to do a little shopping.

The three of us got a slice of pizza from the bakery and then hopped the bus down to the Duomo. We walked back to Santa Croce to the chocolate fair to get some more chocolate. It was a zoo at the fair. We had to push our way to the counter in order to purchase some chocolate. Each of us bought a little block of chocolate as well as some smaller different types of chocolate. It was around sunset now so we walked back to the Duomo to catch the bus back to Fiesole.

We ate dinner at Etrusca tonight and had the same spicy pasta that we had the first night we ate there. Our second course was the fabulous pizza again and I had gelato for dessert. My gelato was a mix of hazelnut and what I decided was banana flavored. I was a little annoyed at dinner but that's nothing new. I'm now waiting to call home and actually have someone on the other end of the phone.

I've been googling chocolate now. It was amazing to see all these different stands with all these different chocolates. Apparently, this only happens like once a year for three days so we got very lucky. It's good to be having real, good chocolate again, as it's my caffeine link since only Coke is sold over here.

Rain, rain, rain.

2009-01-24T22:37:00.002+01:00

I wake up to my alarm at 7 am, waiting for and hoping against a knock on my door. When that knock does not come for about 10 minutes I promptly fall back asleep thanking the good Lord. We would have gone to Lucca today as we did not go yesterday, but the weather was too crappy. I woke up to heavy fog and pouring rain. So instead of traveling I did homework. Quite a lot of fun, mind you.

I also went to Mass today at the Duomo again. It was pouring rain when Betsy and I walked to the bus stop. It was pouring rain when we went to get her a bus ticket, she's going skiing on Sunday and had to buy her ticket to get there. We then proceeded to walk in the pouring rain to the Duomo from from the station to get to mass. After Mass, which was cold since I was wet, we walking in (yup that's right) the pouring rain to the Chinese restaurant for dinner. Lucky for us, it was open at 6 so we didn't have to walk in the pouring rain anymore.

There were five of us and we each ordered from the 10 euro menu a different item. We all enjoyed what we ate and most of the food was gone from our plates when we finished. After dinner we each tried another shot of grappa. The stuff smells like rubbing alcohol and tastes even worse. The taste stays in your mouth after you down it and only time erases it. Afterward, when walking to the bus stop, it wasn't raining, YAH!!!!!! Besty and a few others got gelato from the place near the bus stop and we hopped on only after a 10 minute wait.

We came back to the hotel, changed into clean, dry clothes, and proceeded with our night. I called home and talked to dad for a while. Mom was at school so I'll call again tomorrow after my dinner. I then played cards with some of the other students here until 10 when everyone dispersed. Overall, not a very excited day. I was pretty bored with my homework but it needed to be done. Hopefully, if tomorrow is a better day than today and not raining, I'll do a little shopping as I really haven't done any yet. I will also sleep in as much as I can. I love and miss you all!!! Ciao!!!

Rain, Strikes, and Spinach

2009-01-24T10:34:00.003+01:00

So, yesterday, Friday, we were supposed to go on our first day trip to the nearby town of Lucca. Unfortunately for everyone in Florence, the machinists for the trains went on strike from 9-5. We were unable to catch our train or even an earlier train to Lucca. So, instead of touring a beautiful walled city, we walked around Florence again. Bob took a few of us, after we separated at the train station, around to a few more out-of-the-way places in Florence before buying the five of us hot chocolate. It was really, really good hot chocolate. Thick and creamy with really good heavy, whipped cream on top. Ohh, soooo good.

Anyway. Bob also showed us where there are English books. The bookstore had a very good selection of English titles. I'll have to return there when I'm done with the books I brought with me. We separated with Bob at the bookstore and continued walking along the #7 bus route. We decided that we wanted to walk a little bit more instead of just hopping on the bus back to Fiesole. We stopped in a few stores, picked up a few small items, and continue on our way. We hopped onto the bus at its 3rd or so stop and came back to Fiesole. Even though we had separated from Bob quite a while back, he was on the same bus as we were. Not really surprising considering that there is only 2 maybe 3 #7 buses.

After returning to Villa Bonelli, I decided to take a nap. I basically lounged all day until dinner. Dinner was an interesting affair at La Reggia. For our first course consisted of spaghetti and pesto; second course was omelets and cooked spinach; for dessert we had panna cotta. The spaghetti was very good. The omelets were okay, I'm not a very big fan of breakfast foods for any other meal. I also don't enjoy cooked spinach, but I did try some of it. To me, it tasted a little off. The panna cotta also tasted very different from the one I had at Etrusca. It also looked as if it was taken out of a can and put on our plates. So dinner last night was not the greatest.

To top it all off, when we walked to dinner it was pouring rain out. I had my umbrella but my pants and jacket still got drenched. On the way back it was slippery walking down the very large hill. And then when we got back to Villa Bonelli, Betsy was sick from dinner. So, hopefully, we never have the particular combination again as it didn't sit well with a lot of us.

After dinner, Allyson put in the movie "P.S. I Love You." I watched the movie as I played two games of chess with Eldon. I beat him in both games. I think it was probably due to the fact that I have no real strategy when I play and he does so my lack of strategy confused him. Anyway, it doesn't really matter as we were playing for fun. Afterwards, both Eldon and I joined in on the card game going on. The game was Presidents and Assholes. I couldn't even begin to describe the rules as I'm still learning the game, but I had fun playing. We played until 10:30 when the guys decided to go out to the bar. I retired back to my room, showered, and went to bed.

Bob told us that if the weather was nicer on Saturday we'll go to Lucca. He said he'd knock on our doors at 7 if we were to go but this morning we got no knock. When I woke up the weather was just as bad as last night. Heavy fog and rain. So, Bob said we would head to Lucca some other Saturday since we would all be miserable if we went today.

Chiesa di Santa Croce

2009-01-22T22:06:00.002+01:00

So today was the day devoted to Art and Architecture. We had class this morning at 11. But before that, I had breakfast, twice, and then sat and read until class. I know, not very lively but not every moment can be youtube quality. So class time comes and we learn about more things: Franciscan and Dominican orders, the different types of art: Mechanical and Liberal, the difference between churches in Egyptian cross form and Greek cross form, various styles of paintings and then more about the different periods of art. Whew, that's a lot of information to take in in only an hour and a half. This is a 3 credit course that is supposed to be an hour in the classroom and an hour at the site. We spend an hour and a half in the classroom and 2+ hours at the site. I think we should petition that this class be upped to 4 credits, but, alas, I doubt it would happen.

We then had a about a hour down time before we had to make our way into Florence, past the Duomo, and to the Chiesa di Santa Croce, or the Church of the Holy Cross. OMG!!! This basilica is so gorgeous. It is considered the Pantheon of Florence, is the largest Franciscan church in Italy, and was built in the Gothic style, Egyptian Cross form. Now, the difference between the Egyptian cross and Greek cross form is that the Egyptian cross has a long part and a short cross part, sort of like the letter 't.' The Greek cross more closely resembles the '+' sign. Anyway, the inside of the basilica is beyond belief. I cannot even begin to describe it as it is so overwhelming. We saw some frescoes of St. Francis painted by Giotto as well as an altar piece of St. Francis built by Bonaventura. Names I have to know for class and you can look up if you want, otherwise ignore them. I'll post the pictures of took of the Basilica as soon as I'm able to.

The Chiesa di Santa Croce is also the place where Dante has a tomb, although he is not really buried there. But, both Michelangelo and Galileo are buried in Santa Croce and have beautiful tombs in the main part of the church. I also took pictures of these so just be patient and you will see.

We then moved on to the Museum attached to the Basilica. We first went by a chapel that Brunelleschi built for the Pazzi family. The chapel has a dome that represents the twelve apostles with a window at the very apex representing God. We also passed the Cloister of the monks who originally lived there. Then we went into the museum. OHHHHH, was it breathtaking to see all these works of art; great and beautiful works of art all in one place. I took a ton of pictures so you can get some understanding of what I saw today. I was in awe the entire time, seriously.

Right outside the church, in the piazza, there was set up a chocolate fair. Dozens of tents filled with chocolaty goodness and samples for those attending the fair. We all went through a few times, trying little bites here and there. Oh, was it good to have really good chocolate. I've been craving it lately so it was very nice to have some.

We ate at La Reggia again tonight. Etrusca is Sunday and Monday. La Reggia is Wednesday through Friday. Anyway, our first course of pasta was on the spicy side, but still very good. The second course was this great salad and veal. Yup, that's right. I was served veal for dinner. I tried it but to me it tasted like bland beef. I really had no flavor that I could taste. For dessert we had chocolate and strawberry gelato. Very good. Mmmmmmmm.

All in all, today was another great day in Italy. I cannot wait for tomorrow as we will be traveling to nearby Lucca. Bob is going to give us one of his famous tours and then we get the day to explore. I'm looking forward to it. Ciao.

Walk This Way

2009-01-21T21:49:00.002+01:00

Ohhh, Wednesday is the day to explore. Today, I had my history class. I hadn't slept very well the night before because I stayed up late watching a movie but couldn't fall asleep right away. So, in class today, Lucianna, our history teacher, lectured at us the entire two hours. She told us that she doesn't normally like to do that but next week we're going to go into town and visiting some sites. But because she lectured to us for the entire time, I was falling asleep in class.

We also had our second language class later that afternoon. We worked on numbers and verbs. Most of us know our numbers pretty well, so that part of class was a breeze. Working on the verbs and verb conjugation was a little more difficult for some people but I understood the rules better than most. So class went well but a little rowdy with the guys. They seemed a little keyed up today so who knows what tomorrow will bring.

So, after class today, Betsy, Ania, Allyson, and I went for a walk to a different part of Fiesole. We walked away from the hotel and past an elementary school. We entered this park and immediately it seemed like we were in a different world. Florence itself is a different world but this park was another one. Allyson said it reminded her of the movie "Secret Garden" and I have to agree with her on that point. It was sooo beautiful, quiet, and foresty. Trees everywhere, great views, rocky, dirt trodden paths all over.

We walked up to this plateau where Da Vinci was supposed to have tested out his wings. It has a little stone plaque thing, in Italian, explaining. We walked all over this park, up hills and rocks and unmarked paths. We even found this grove area that had two horses grazing. For a while the four of us petted the horses and fed them plants. Then we continued on our hike through the forest, seeing views that are to die for. It was too bad that today was foggy and cloudy because on a clear day you could see for miles from these spots.

It was starting to get late, around 4:30, when I noticed that the fog was settling in the forest. We finally left the park and walked up another hill to continue on to Fiesole. By this time, the sun was setting and the views were amazing. I took a ton of pictures with the sunset in the background. When we finally made it back to the hotel my pedometer read 4.126 miles. It seemed like we were walking a lot more but that's probably due to all the hills we climbed. Anyway, Betsy and I had enough time to shower and cleanup before our 6:30 meeting in the lounge.

Bob just wanted to let us know that we were going to Lucca on Friday for our first day trip. He had the tickets for us so if we missed the train we were on our own. He handed out a few maps and guides for us and told us to do a little research on our own. Then we headed for La Reggia where we had another delicious meal.

For dinner, we had pasta with a meat sauce for the first course, slice roast beef and french fries for the second course, and tiramisu for dessert. Ohhhhhh, the pasta was filling after all that walking we did (even walking up the hill to La Reggia is a workout). The beef was amazing and the french fries weren't salty but they had some sort of olive oil drizzled on them which made them sooo much tastier. I love the tiramisu at La Reggia. I'm not a big coffee person and at La Reggia, the tiramisu doesn't' have as strong a coffee flavor as Etrusca does.

After we got back to Villa Bonelli after dinner, Betsy, Ania, Allyson, and I played a very lively game of shot chess. Allyson and I kicked Betsy and Ania's butts, winning by a very large margin. It was fun to play with limoncello but after a while we invited others in to finish the shots as we all didn't want another one. I'm now writing this blog and after I post it I'm going to call my mother. So I'll say Buonasera for another night and write again tomorrow. Ciao.

Bring on the Rain

2009-01-20T19:48:00.002+01:00

Okay, so the title of this blog really has nothing to do with my day. I was searching for song titles with the word rain in it because when I came back from dinner tonight it was raining. Betsy, Ania, Allyson, and I all went into town around 3ish to walk around and go to the Chinese place that I went with Bob to to eat dinner tonight. Only, there was a big problem. Now, it usually takes the Number 7 bus about an hour to get from Fiesole to the Duomo, give or take 10 minutes depending on how busy it is. So when we got into town we walked around trying to find the Chinese restaurant. I could not remember exactly how to get there because we were going the back way from what I remember. So we got a little lost, but then Betsy pulled out her map and we found our way to the restaurant. When we got there, around 4:30ish, it was closed. I swear Bob told us that it was open all day, but it was closed. So we walked around a little more, entered a few shops, looked around, bought some truffles and met up with the another group of us that came downtown for dinner. When we walked back to the restaurant, it was still closed. So the four of us just walked over to ZaZa, another restaurant around the corner.

ZaZa is a dine in restaurant that is known to be patronized by many celebrities. When we entered the restaurant, we saw pictures of Ben Affleck and Bill Cosby along with many others hanging on the wall. We were seated at this nice table that had a cushioned bench on one side, chairs on the other. The meal we had was divine. Each of us ordered something different and each dish was great. We only ordered a first course and water/wine for the meal. When we were done eating, we took our waitress' advice and ordered this heavenly dessert made of some sort of cheese, eggs and sugar. It was mixed into a cream and served with sliced strawberries. It was so good that each of us were moaning and groaning. All totaled, the meal cost us 14.25 euro each, not a bad price for very good food.

It was on our way back to Fiesole that it was raining. This brought on the idea to search for songs with 'rain' in them. When we were waiting at the bus stop, a police car was stopped in front of us at the light. I swear that the policeman in the car was just staring at the four of us the entire time his car was waiting there. It was kind of creepy to look over and find this guy staring. It also seems like it takes 20 minutes to get onto the bus from any stop besides the one at Fiesole. No matter what time we get to the stops in town, it feels like forever until the bus comes back.

Nothing really interesting happened this morning. I had Italian Lit and Italian Language classes today. In both, I learned a little more on each subject. Tomorrow I have history and Italian Language again. It will be interesting to see what we'll do tomorrow for history, if we'll go out to see a site or not.

I was able to call my little sister yesterday. I called her from skype and she said the same thing that mom said: that it was like I was right there calling. It's nice to be able to call my family and not have to worry about phones or phone cards. Anyway, I didn't sleep well last night so I'm probably going to go to bed early tonight. Arrivederci!

Just Another Day In Paradise

2009-01-19T21:36:00.002+01:00

So, it's Monday again. I awoke to rain and clouds and an overall dreary day. We had Global Issues again today. Bob teaches that class. We talked a little about current events, the chapters of the books we read, and the articles we read for class. We only had class for an hour then we were done.

When we got back to Villa Bonelli, I wanted to do my laundry but someone had signed up already so I had to wait. We also had to wait to go back into our rooms as the maids were cleaning them. It took an hour and a half to do one load of laundry. As the dryer basically microwaves the clothes, I hung my clothes on the towel rack and on the radiator.

I worked on the homework that we got today in Global Issues and helped others with theirs for our classes tomorrow. We have Italian Lit and Italian Language classes tomorrow. A few of us are thinking of going into town in the afternoon for shopping and then to the Chinese place we ate at on Saturday with Bob for dinner as we don't get dinner on Tuesday.

We had spaghetti and gnocchi for dinner, then pizza. For dessert we had the choice of gelato, panna cotta, and tiramisu. I chose gelato and it was a mix of chocolate fudge and hazelnut. Then we came back to Villa Bonelli and now here I am. I'll write more tomorrow. Ciao.

A video from a bar.

2009-01-19T16:35:00.004+01:00

Okay, so this is the video I shot the other night at JJ Hill of Carla taking her first shot. The shot was of limoncello which tastes just like lemonade only with a kick at the end. Her reaction is priceless. All thanks to my ingenious thinking and video feature on my camera, we were able to capture this first time moment for posterity. And now for you viewing pleasure, editing by Betsy with the creative engineering of Ania and Allyson, is Carla's First Shot. Copy and paste the link below to go to the Youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD61He01kUU

Lazy days

2009-01-18T22:10:00.002+01:00

Ahh, Sunday. The day of rest. Since I went to Mass yesterday, I didn't go this morning. I woke up around 8:30 as I had a very good night's rest. I have a delightful Italian breakfast of yogurt and a croissant with jam. The juice machine was down again so I just had water. Basically, it was a breakfast that wouldn't keep me satisfied for long.

I thought that the maid service was going to come again today, so I grabbed my computer and the books that I needed to read for class and took them into the lounge. I got a good 2-3 hours of work in before we all realized that there is no maid service on Sundays. I then went back to the room to make my own bed before continuing my work. I took the time to clean up my desktop and uninstall things that I downloaded but am not using anymore. I then waited for an appropriate time before calling home.

It seemed like it took forever for it to reach 2 pm my time, 7 am back home. But wait I did and then logged into skype and made my phone call. Of course, the one time my parents are not up early on a Sunday was today. I woke them up with my phone call but it was good to call home and hear mom and dad. We talked for about 15 minutes before the connection started getting a little bad and then hung up.

Basically, I did absolutely nothing useful today. I didn't go anywhere until dinner, just stayed in my room. A blah day.

For dinner, we went to Etrusca again. The spaghetti with red sauce that we had was delicious. I don't think anyone had any left on their plate. We had grilled chicken again for the second course and it tasted better than the last time. We had the choice of gelato, tiramisu, or panna cotta for dessert. I chose the panna cotta and it was delicious. It's this milk, cream, sugar and gelatin dessert and kind of tastes like marshmallow fluff only better. Anyway, it was really good and I really enjoyed it.

When we walked back to Villa Bonelli it was raining. It's supposed to rain all week, off and on, so I might get wet when I go out walking. Oh well. C'est la vie. We start classes again tomorrow and so I'll say Buonanotte and go to bed.

A short walk through the city.

2009-01-17T21:59:00.002+01:00

Today, Bob took a few of us on another walk to Florence. Only Eldon, Betsy, Carla, and I joined him as everyone else was either sleeping or too tired from last night to join us. We walked down to Florence by a different route than the first time Bob took us. Walking with Bob is a workout and an education experience all wrapped up into one. Bob knows so much about so many different things that it is simply amazing.

We walked down to the Duomo by a winding, twisty, curving route through the city. We walked past the San Lorenzo market and had lunch at this great Chinese restaurant. For 10 euro, we had 2 spring rolls, the choice of white or Cantonese rice, the choice of chicken, pork, veal, or three other entrees, the choice of water, wine, or tea, and the choice of coffee or grappa for our after dinner drink. It was very good and the amount of food we got for the price was worthwhile. Betsy and I even took the leftovers back for a meal later.

We just walked around some more after lunch, through different streets, past statues, all the while being given comments by Bob. We took the Bob tour, where we literally did a fast walking tour. Bob took us from the Duomo across the river to the hotel the Brother Louis stays at when he's in Florence. We walked across the Ponte Vecchio where they have all the gold shops. And then we had cocktails at the hotel. Betsy and Eldon had cosmos while Bob and I had Grappa di Chardonnay. It's a very strong alcohol. That's right, I'm drinking in the afternoon. Apparently it's the thing to take a shot after a meal to jump-start the rest of your day. Bob was saying he sees people have a shot of grappa with their espresso in the morning.

We then walked back to the Duomo via Florence's Michigan Ave where all the Gucci, Prada, Tiffany's, Chanel, etc. stores are located. 1200 euro for a purse, 9000 euro for a dress. Price I certainly cannot afford. We separated from Bob and Carla at the Duomo. They went back to Villa Bonelli, while Eldon, Betsy and I stayed for the evening mass.

There is an English mass around the Duomo area at 5 pm on Saturdays, but we didn't know exactly where. When we asked the lady in the Duomo, we couldn't really understand what she was saying. So, Betsy asked the security guard she met yesterday and he said that Mass is in the Duomo. Betsy, Eldon, and I attended Mass at the Duomo!!!! I cannot believe it; in a real cathedral. Granted, it was freezing cold, the kneelers have no cushions, and we had to wait an hour after we left Bob before Mass, but it was all worth it.

Afterwards, we walked to the bus stop, freezing our tails off and waited to return to Villa Bonelli. When we got back to Villa Bonelli, Ania came to our room wanting to see this sweet video that I captured last night at the bar. Betsy did some creative editing and we were finally able to upload it facebook and are in the process of uploading it to youtube. I'll try and post it later but it midnight and I'm exhausted so I'm going to bed. I'll post another slideshow tomorrow with new pictures. Ciao.

Oh what a night

2009-01-17T19:26:00.003+01:00

After my little excursion into Florence yesterday we had dinner at La Reggia again. Last night, dinner was another great pasta dish for the first course and then turkey and peas for the second course. I sat next with Andy and Adam and Eldon last night. We talked about the guys trip to the soccer stadium, Duomo, and journey across the river. Adam recommended to me a bridge filled with jewelry that they saw. He thought that was something I would enjoy seeing. For dessert, we had a flan type thing that wasn't my cup of tea but was still interesting.

The picture is my attempt at using the night function on my camera; apparently you need a very steady hand. It is the view of Florence from the edge of the lookout nearby La Reggia.

After returning to the hotel, everyone decided that we all should go out. Some of the other girls wanted to go dancing but decided to do that tonight instead. So we went to this bar in town called JJ Hill. It's an Irish Pub type place. Everyone was ordering shots and drinks and we got ourselves 4 tables in the corner area to sit at. We all had a great time there. I did a shot of Limoncello, a lemonade tasting shot that went down very smooth. It was afterwards that you felt the kick of the shot. I also had a glass of the house wine that was very good. We spent a couple of hours at the bar and I left when they closed the basement floor at 1:30.

I was in bed trying to sleep when the rest of the group came back to Villa Bonelli. The whole group was so loud; laughing, giggling, screaming, and singing. I was surprised that Bob didn't come down and yell at them. This morning, Bob mentioned that the front desk had received noise complaints from the other guests staying at the hotel. They were very loud for at least 2 hours and that was not helping me fall asleep. Somehow or another I did sleep a little bit before my alarm went off this morning at 9 am.

In this picture, Allyson was trying to move the straw out of her way when the picture was snapped. There is Allyson, me, and then Ania at the bar.

I really did have a lot of fun last night just hanging out with everyone and talking to the others in our select little group. It's interesting to see the different majors and personalities collide like they have. We are all adapting to this new way. Last night was our toast to surviving our first week studying in Italy.

Romanic, not Romantic

2009-01-16T15:16:00.002+01:00

Okay, so I was unable to blog about what I did yesterday because my laptop decided to go wonky on me. I was trying to use the Picasa software to upload a photo album to display on my page but it was not letting me do it. Something about there not being a connection to the server. Whatever, I have it uploading now so in the meantime I'll catch you up on what happened yesterday.

Yesterday was Thursday. On Thursday I have my Art and Architecture class. It went from 11 am to around 12:30 pm. We started off with Greek sculpture and architecture, moved onto Roman sculpture and architecture, and then to Romanic, Gothic, and Renaissance sculpture and architecture. Now, it was not until about halfway through the class that I realized that it was Romanic, not Romantic. Claudia, our professoressa, finally made a mention of it when some said it the wrong way for an answer. When I looked back over my notes, I realized that I had been writing it both ways. Quite funny at the time, and still so today. It's Romanic because the design is Roman but different, it's expanded upon the Roman design to something new.

I learned all about the different temples of the Greeks and Romans, the development of the arches, and a little bit about how to tell the difference between the different periods. The Romans were the first to invent the arches and were a half of a circle. Gothic arches are pointed at the top. We also talked about the differences in the styles of sculptures and churches done in each period. Basically, we learned a lot of art history in one and a half hours.

But, class didn't stop there. We had a two hour break so that we could go eat lunch and relax before heading into Firenze to look at The Baptistery of San Giovanni, straight across from the Duomo, and another church nearby, the San Michele, that has many works by Donatello. I took a lot of pictures at both sites that will be in the slide show that I'll post very soon. Anyway, it was cold outside at the time we were touring and rainy, too, so I was getting very chilled myself. We spent about two hours downtown touring the sites before Claudia dismissed class.

Most of us went directly back to Villa Bonelli. Although, my group was side tracked by a chocolate store that I'll have to go back to. But, when we arrived at the bus stop to catch the the #7 back to Fiesole, there were soooo many people standing there that when the bus arrived, Eldon and I were not able to get on the bus. I tried to get on through the front door but it closed right before I got there and when I tried to get on through the middle door it again closed. So Eldon and I waited another 20 minutes or so for the next #7 bus.

For dinner, we again went up to La Reggia. I took a picture of the beautiful chandelier inside the restaurant. Bob was telling us that the interior decorations are all new and everything inside looks great. For the first course, we had rigatoni with a very delicious meat sauce. The second course was seasoned potatoes, just as delicious as the first night, and roasted chicken. Ohh, my. The food was very tasty and I probably ate too much but it was soooo good. For dessert, we had a lemon ice that had the similar texture of sorbet. Everything was just delicious; Bob even shared some of his bottle of Chianti with the other three of us at the table. A great dinner.

Bob is such an interesting man. He is a veritable fount of information about all different sorts of topics. Dinner conversation with him was never dull or boring. He told us about some interesting sites that we should go see and gave us directions to places we asked about. He comes off as a very straitlaced guy but once you get to know him he's funny and nice.

After dinner, I counted the number of steps it took to go from the restaurant back to the hotel. It came to 958 steps or close to a half a mile. To think that we walk a mile, there and back, just for dinner. But it doesn't feel like it at all. The atmosphere must make it more desirable than a normal mile of walking. It's a little crazy to think about but then not at all. I also tried to upload my album, but that didn't happen.

Today, Friday, a group of us walked halfway into town before taking the bus downtown. Betsy and Ania both bought a pair of boots that look so good on them. I'm waiting to find the perfect pair which I didn't see today, but maybe tomorrow. Our group split up for lunch as Eldon and I weren't hungry. We walked around the Duomo, down a few side streets before heading back toward Fiesole. We walked a good 4-5 miles around today, interspersed between taking the bus down to the Duomo and then back up to Fiesole. I was quite exhausted and came back at 3. And now I'm blogging about my day and have come to the present moment. So, arrivederci for now and hopefully my album will upload. Ciao.

A Rainy Morning in Fiesole

2009-01-14T21:23:00.002+01:00

This morning I woke to wind and rain outside Villa Bonelli. Last night, after some of the group got back from the bars, they got a little loud and rambunctious. All I really remember is some loud noises, a few slamming doors, and one girl hiccuping. And then when I awoke this morning to rain, I wasn't feeling the greatest. The dreary weather was not conducive to chipper moods.

Breakfast at Villa Bonelli consists mostly of yogurt, fruit, orange juice, and a croissant with Nutella, this chocolate spread that is just delicious. Today, I had cherry yogurt and slipped an orange to take back to the room for lunch. I don't really eat a large lunch mostly because dinner is always so big that it makes up for it.

Today, my first class was History of Florence. Our teacher is originally German but has lived in Florence now 26 years, if I remember correctly. It was interesting in class today because I could literally see her translate in her head from German to Italian to English. Her English is good, not great, but definitely better than my Italian is right now. We talked a little bit about the history of Florence, starting with the Etruscans and then decided to go visit some of the sites in Fiesole.

She wanted to take us to the Roman theatre but the cafe, where we needed to enter through, was closed today. So instead we walked around Fiesole. She took us by this Etruscan tomb that is just down the street from Villa Bonelli. It is the most amazing thing. There are no ropes blocking people from getting too close, it is just in this gated area just off the street. We walked into the area and around the tombs and then read the little sign that was posted that described the tombs. The walls are stone fitted together so neatly that it's really unimaginable that people like 2 thousand years old could accomplish the feat. There was the tomb and what was the house right next to each other, the tomb lower elevated than the home. But it just was overwhelming.

Next, she took us to this dining place, Casa del Popolo, with it's amazing view from the terrace. This place also offers free movies on Fridays and some of the titles were familiar, even in Italian: Memoirs of a Geisha and Dark Knight. We walked around for about a mile and a half before returning to Villa Bonelli.

At 2 pm we had our second language course with Chiara. Today's class was very fun because we were going through the consonants that are different sounding than English. The 'c' and 'g' have two different pronunciations depending on what comes after them. Then we split into two teams and played a pronunciation game against each other. My team, team B, won. There were words like spaghetti, chiave, gnocchi, asia, usa, and aria and we had to pronounce them in Italian. So usa would be pronounced "ooh-sah" and chiave would be pronounced "key-ah-vey." Anyway, it was a fun class and I am learning so much better here than I was back at SMU.

For dinner, we had to walk up this really steep hill, past the seminary and bishop's house, but before the Franciscan Monastery to La Reggia (again, my spelling is probably very off). We were all winded by the time we made it to the restaurant but the food definitely was worth it. Unlike Etrusca, were we all sat together at this very long table, tonight we sat in groups of 4 or 5. Ania, Allyson, Betsy, Michelle, and I shared a table, 4 bottles of water, and great dinner conversation. The meal consisted of spaghetti with a meat sauce, first course; slices of roast beef with seasoned potatoes, second course; and tiramisu for dessert. Oh, my, let me tell you that dinner was delizioso.

We talked about everything from childhood exploits to fun times at SMU. I don't know how we got onto the topic of Dane Cook or who started the conversation, but somehow we moved onto favorite Dane Cook moments. Creepy guy at work, dream house, superman t-shirt, "I was washing a dish" and many others were mentioned. Sorry if you don't understand this but it's a Dane Cook thing. We then moved onto other comedians we like or have seen as we progressed from the restaurant back to Villa Bonelli.

Overall, it's been a really good day and I cannot wait for tomorrow. I wonder where we'll be going and what we're going to see tomorrow. I definitely want to walk around Fiesole some more, which I'll probably do this weekend.

A day in the life of an American in Italy

2009-01-13T20:31:00.003+01:00

So today, being January 13, was an okay day in all. I had my Italian literature class at nine this morning which means I had to wake up before 7 am (gasp, I know. Such a hardship, lol). We basically just discussed the background of Renaissance Literature and definitions. We were given our photocopied books and assignments for next week and class was over with. You might not believe it, but all that took 2 hours to complete. Crazy, I know. Our professoressa, Chiara, is a very nice woman who majored in Italian Literature so it should be a very enlightening class.

Next, the whole group had our first Italian Language course with the same professoressa; we found out her name means clear, like clear sky/water. Anyway, she made us promise to only speak Italian in the classroom as it will help us learn faster and better. We were given our workbooks and started with three basic phrases that we would need to know for the course. Then we moved onto the alphabet where each one of us had to say a word in Italian. We were trying to go through the alphabet so we each tried to pick a word that started with a different letter. We remembered some words from our previous language course and learned some new ones today. Then we moved onto the workbook and did a few exercises. After our hour was up, we were given our assignment and let go.

The third class being taught today was the Theology course, which I did not enroll in. Betsy and I lounged in our room for the afternoon, catching up on emails, facebook, and homework. Even though we have each class only once a week, except for language which is twice a week, both of us still wanted to keep ahead of the homework and not fall behind.

Around one this afternoon, which is 6 am back home, Betsy and I decided to go for a walk. We wanted to beat the rain that looked like it was in the hills. We walked up instead of down the road and around until we came back to the piazza in Fiesole. Neither of us really knew where we'd end up so we just walked and chose directions to turn when it came to it. It definitely was a workout though because we were walking up steep hills and down steeper ones. Working those calf and glut muscles. Two of the pictures in this post are from our walk. The countryside is just gorgeous, even today when it was cloudy with the coming rain.

After our walk, all of us were trying to figure out where we were going to eat tonight. The restaurants that we eat at on the other days of the week are closed on Tuesday so we have to fend for ourselves tonight and all the rest of the Tuesdays. At first we wanted to go into Florence and eat but after it got closer to 7 we decided to just go to this soup and sandwich place in Fiesole.

A bunch of people were in the lounge are drinking wine before dinner and I went out to join them. Betsy brought the bottle of Chianti she bought at the co-op the other day, Ania brought her bottle of Chardonnay. The guys had already gone through like 3-5 bottles of their own when I went to join them. I hadn't eaten very much for breakfast or lunch so after only a glass of Betsy's Chianti and half a glass of Ania's Chardonnay, I was a little tipsy. That's when we decided to go to eat.

The restaurant that we ate at was very small and quaint. I appreciated that the waiter was kind enough to explain the menu to us in English. He was very helpful but some of the people at the table were a little obnoxious. I felt very uncomfortable after dinner because our table was becoming too loud and very rude at times. But for dinner I ordered pasta with meat sauce and shared a 1/2 quart of vino di la casa rossa with Ania. Afterward I came back to Villa Bonelli to relax.

The other two pictures in this post are from my room. The one to the right is the view outside the window. Betsy and I may have one of the smallest rooms but we definitely have one of the best views. Even with the crane in the way we can see out over the entire valley on a clear day. Today we could watch the clouds move over the valley and sometimes see the rain fall. The other picture, below, is of my corner of the room. Our beds are very close together and seem smaller than the twin beds at school. But I like the room and am comfortable in it.

First Day of Class

2009-01-12T20:56:00.002+01:00

So today, January 12, we had our first day of classes here in Italy: Global Issues and then Business and Politics. I didn't sign up for either the Business or the Politics class so I only had Global Issues which lasted a half-hour, basically it was a syllabus class. Our classroom is just down the street and just big enough to hold the 15 of us. Bob teaches the Global Issues course so it should be pretty interesting. Afterwards, I went back to the room to read the books we're assigned but instead fell asleep for a short nap.

When the Business and Politics courses finished we all took the Number 7 bus into Florence. We first went to this 99 cent store where we browsed through the items available. Betsy and I picked up close pins and laundry detergent. We have a washer and dryer available for use but the dryer, we're told, is a little iffy. So, outside my window is a sort of laundry line that Betsy and I will utilize for drying clothes as well as our heated towel racks in the bathroom.

After the 99 cent store we went next door into this little shop that had shoes and purses and scarves and jewelry. I looked at the shoes but didn't know my European shoe size. Some of the shoes were just gorgeous, I'll definitely have to go back. Ania helped me pick out the green plaid cashmere scarf that looks and feels amazing. Then Betsy, Eldon, and I split from the other group and headed toward the Supermarket. We stopped along the way at another cute little shop where I promptly bought this dragonfly hair clip. It looked super cute so I just had to buy it, impulse shopping.

At the Supermarket, I picked up a bottle of wine for under 2 Euro and six 2 liter bottles of water. We then walked to the nearest number 7 bus stop where we just missed the bus and then had to wait like 20 minutes before the next number 7 bus came. Thank you to all those who studied previous years in Florence, you were right about the number 7 bus being our friend.

We went again to Etruscan (spelling is probably off) for dinner. Tonight we had spaghetti with red sauce, which to me tasted better than last night's pasta, and then grilled chicken. Last night we spent two-and-a-half hours at the restaurant, tonight only one-and-a-half. I'm now going to bed for I have 2 classes in the morning and I am still not caught up on sleep. Ciao for now.

Florence, Italy

2009-01-12T11:56:00.003+01:00

When we arrived at the airport after our flight from Frankfurt, we had to wait for our check baggage to come. There were three baggage turnstiles in the airport, only three. Everyone's luggage was there, so no one lost their bags, but my checked suitcase was smashed in on one side. It was ripped open, the lining ripped, and the corner just destroyed. Luckily, nothing seems to be missing from my suitcase so I have everything that I brought with me. Whew!

We didn't know how we wanted to get from the airport to Villa Bonelli. The nine of us discussed taking the bus but then decided on just using taxis. Carla and I shared a taxi to Villa Bonelli. We were the first to leave from the airport but the last to arrive at Villa Bonelli because our driver got lost along the way. It was interesting to see the city as we drove through it. Driving in Florence is crazy. I can never imagine doing it myself because I don't understant the sutleties of the Italian transportation. Mopeds and scooters bobbed and weaved between cars while bicyclists peddled away, inches from moving traffic. Anyway, Carla and I finally made it to Villa Bonelli, paid the driver, unloaded the baggage and checked into our respective rooms.

I'm rooming with Betsy at Villa Bonelli. The rooms are definately not what I imagined they would be. They are small: two twin size beds just inches apart from eachother, a couch, an armoire, a little desk-type thing, and a bathroom with a shower. We have a TV and mini fridge as well. Compared to the other rooms being occupied by SMU students, our room seems like the smallest. Still, it's a great room with a gorgeous view.

After unpacking my clothes and taking a shower (trying to figure out how the shower worked was challenge. Our hot water pressure is not very good) Betsy and I took a nap. Afterward, she and I went out for a walk and ended up attending an Italian Mass at a nearby chapel. Not a word of English was spoken during the Mass. We responded where and when we could but otherwise didn't understand much of what was said. Amen, Alleluia, and Cristo were about the only things we understood. When saying the Our Father, I just quietly said it in English. Overall, a good day.

Sunday, Bob took most of us on a walking tour around Fiesole and Florence. He gave us little tidbits of information and pointed out difference places. He walked us into Florence and pointed us in the direction of the Duomo before returning to Villa Bonelli. The rest of us continued onward for about a block before getting lost and confused. We finally managed to find our way after splitting up into different groups. Walking around Florence, looking into shop windows (it's Sale season so lots of merchandise) and ending up at the Duomo. When we exited the street we were on and looked up it was this huge "Ahhh" moment. There needed to be dramatic music and birds flying as we exited for the full effect the huge Duomo had on us. All of us turned and looked up and just stared at the awesome cathedral. It was a spectacular sight.

Eldon and I continued onward. We made it to the bus/train station where we hopped on the #7 bus back to Fiesole. I walked a good five miles on Sunday (I know because I had my pedometer on. Thank you Health Advocates). After returning to Villa Bonelli, I took a nap before our group meeting at 6 where Bob handed out the class schedules and rules. We then went to Etruscans, a really great pizza place, where Bob had ordered spaghetti with glaric, olive oil, and pepper flakes, chees pizza, and gelato or tiramisu for our meal. The spaghetti was good, if a little spicy on the afterkick, but the pizza was heavenly. It didn't look like much when it was set before me but it sure tasted great. Now, the pizza is not like one you would get from Pizza Hut or Dominoes. It was the size of a large plate but had a thin crust and little sauce with cheese on top. Oh it was soooo good. I almost ate the whole thing but on top of the spaghetti, I couldn't finish it. I came back to the hotel after dinner instead of going out as I was not feeling too good. I think I may have a cold or something.

My first couple of days in Florence have been great so far and I cannot wait for what's next. Tomorrow we start classes, beginning with Global Issues, but even that cannot damper my spirts because I have one, maybe two classes a day with trips on Friday. An awesome set-up but it will probably spoil me for my senior year of nose to the grindstone work.

Day 1--Traveling to Florence

2009-01-10T21:03:00.000+01:00

The first day of my four months in Europe started out like any other day. The only difference was I wasn't sleeping in my own bed and I had to get to the airport. I met up with Eldon before going through security at MSP. We introduced our parents to eachother and my aunt that drove us to the airport. Checking the luggage and going through security wasn't anything horrible, I'd done it before so no new surprises there. Then the wait for our flight. It turns out that there were other SMU students at the airport taking an earlier flight to Chicago but that we would all be on the same flight out of Chicago to Frankfurt. I was glad that there was a whole group of us going together because it made the traveling easier, knowing that there were more of us than just the four I had originally thought there would be.

The flight from MSP to Chicago was delayed for about 20 minutes on the tarmac. I'll admit, I was a little worried about making the connecting flight. I also was freaking out about going through customs and where that would take place. My itinerary showed less than an hour layover in Chicago so I didn't want to have to deal with Customs there. Turns out, our flight got into Chicago just ten minutes before boarding started for our next flight. I had just enough time to go to the bathroom before they started boarding. That's where Eldon, Allyson, and I met up with the others from our group of 15 studying in Italy.

The flight to Frankfurt was long. We were given the option of like six or seven movies to watch on the flight. I first watched "Eagle Eye" with Shia Labeouf. It was a good action/adventure movie. A lot of twists and turns that kept me watching the movie the whole way through. There was also a "map" channel on the monitor that showed the details of the flight: distance traveled, estimated time of arrival, ground speed, air temp, and other things like that. There was also a world map feature that showed where the plane was during the flight. It was a little weird to wake up from one of the naps I took on the flight to see that the plane was over the Atlantic Ocean with no land in sight. Admittedly, me being paranoid, I thought "OMG, what if the plane crashes into the ocean?" But only for about a minute before I nodded off again.

The flight was around seven hours long, I think. Too long for me to be flying at once. We were serve a dinner meal with the choice of beef or pasta. The beef dish was actually good: beef, mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots. But something didn't agree with my stomach because just before flying over England, when we hit turbulence, I lost my dinner in one of the air sickness bags. I had been feeling very hot, sweaty, clammy, and my stomach was just rumbling. I was surprised that I got sick because I've never had any problems with flying before. Anyway, after that, I watched "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" on the monitor before taking another nap. It was dark the entire time we crossed the Atlantic so there was not much to see.

When we landed in Frankfurt, we had to go through Immigration. The guy behind the desk took my passport, looked at the picture, looked at the visa, looked at me, looked at the picture again before stamping it and letting me through. The lady next to me handed her passport to the other guy behind the desk and her passport was stamped right away. I don't know if that means that maybe I looked like trouble or what but it had me a little worried. We all got through customs and were waiting in the gate area for our last flight: Frankfurt to Florence. Eldon, Betsy, Carla, and I played card games until our flight was called. We played BS, War, and Hearts; each of us not really wanting to play but needing something to do.

They bused us from the gate to our plane where I sat next to a priest. It wasn't any interesting flight simply because I slept through most of it. When we boarded the flight it was around 1 am CST but 8 am local time. There's a seven hour time difference between here and home. Anyway, I'd also been in airports and on planes for 14 hours or so. I also didn't sleep well on the flight to Frankfurt so I just conked out on the flight to Florence. When we were landing though, I was able to sneak a peek out the window and view the gorgeous country side. It's beautiful here. Nice spring weather, everything is green, and best of all, no snow. I got an email, when I was finally able to log on, that there was a tag and tow on Friday, sucks to be you guys on campus.

But this is where I'll leave off my first post. I'll start my next post with landing in Florence, going through baggage claim, and getting to Villa Bonelli. Ciao for now!!