A note

Just so you know, I was chosen as a blogger for the official Study Abroad Italy website. However, it was a test run and after the semester they decided that they did not like the idea and discontinued my blog. Only recently did I receive all the information from my blog. So I am just now posting it all and because I am still a bit angry about their slow response to my wanting the information, I am not putting up pictures. I just thought you may want to know why these are all just being put up.

And by the way, it has almost been an entire semester since I was in Firenze. I really do miss it a lot. I miss traveling. This summer I am going to Montevideo, Uruguay to study Spanish, etc. But I will remember Florence sempre!

The Finals

2006-12-13
Finals

I am almost finished with my finals! I have two more tomorrow and then I am done forever. Now that going home is only a few days away and I have been sitting around studying, time seems to pass slowly.

Yesterday after one of my classes I randomly went to the San Lorenzo chapel and then to the Uffizi for a second time. Luckily Zena and Lauren were hungry when I got home, so we went to Mesopotamia kebobs to get doners. Zena and I then shared a half-price container of gelato. I am going to miss the gelato!!! My new favorite is ciocolatte fondente. It is practically cold, rich dark chocolate.
I also got a package yesterday! Andrew sent me 2 cds and a few letters. I had been worried that it wouldn't come so I was extremely excited when I finally got it. The cds had some music that I have not heard from being out of the country for a semester. It made me realize how much I will need to catch up on after being away from America for only a month.

I will be going home early Sunday morning. Zena and I will have to catch a cab to the airport at about 4:45 in order to make my 8am flight. I will fly to London, then to Houston, and then home to Abilene. It is going to be a pain going through customs and having to cart two suitcases around the airport. I will be traveling all day and won't get home until 11pm. I just want that day to be over! At least the flight on British Airways will not be as ghetto as I am used to on Ryanair.

Tonight is Jessica's last night with us in Florence. After her final tomorrow she will be leaving on an overnight train on a one week backpacking tour of Europe with one of her friends from back home. I can't believe the semester is actually over. Only now is it hitting home with her leaving us so soon. I am going to miss her with her stories of Tennessee and sweet tea!!!

Between now and leaving on Sunday I do not have too much planned. Tonight at some point I will have to study with Paul for our two finals tomorrow. After my finals I am not sure what to do. I am saving 15 euros for the cab to the airport, so I have to survive on about 10 euros between now and my departure. There is an amazing chinese place right next to my apartment that I will probably live off of because it is pretty cheap. I am sure I will be walking around Florence until I drop up until I leave. That and trying to pack all my souvenirs and clothes into two suitcases. I will have to donate a lot of my clothes. I am sure my suitcases will be overweight...sorry mom and dad.

Weekend before Finals

2006-12-11
Weekend before Finals

I spent my last weekend abroad in Florence. I would like to say that it was spent studying for the finals I have this week, but I played more than anything else. On Friday we went to a Christmas Tree lighting at Piazza Republica and then went out to eat at a wonderful ristorante near our apartment. Saturday I shopped until I nearly dropped at San Lorenzo.
Sunday I went back to the Pitti Palace with Amber to see the Pinnochio exhibit (the story is from here in Tuscany) as well as the costume museum. I reccommend seeing all of the palace. I also started packing, and it was not too fun. One suitcase is filled solely with souvenirs. The other is packed with clothes and because my parents brought a lot of clothes when they came I have to leave a lot behind to charity.

Over the weekend the school had an art show showcasing all the paintings, photographs, etc by students over the semester. It was very impressive and students from the Apicius cooking school that is affiliated with our school catered the event. Both the art and food was wonderful. I was actually on display in the show! My roommate, Amber, had taken a picture of me in my ballet leotard and the picture was put on display for the show. I wish I had taken an art class now.

Once again, wireless did not work over the weekend. It was very frustrating. I wanted to print out handouts for a presentation I had to give yesterday in my make-up ethics class (we missed school on All Saints' Day,) but I could not email my work to print out. It didn't matter anyway...the printer wasn't working in the first place. My ethics class is terrible. The class is biased and he is very condescending toward students. We had to write papers over different topics for the class. Zena has a 4.0 from Baylor, a considerably difficult University, and all her work reflects her GPA. This man cannot grade our papers like a college professor. When he does not agree with our opinions, he grades us down subjectively. It is very frustrating, but the instance proves that despite being abroad, drama with classes and professors is as prominent here as it is back home.

Today I have my first final and I will have my last final on Thursday. I have a lot of studying ahead of me. I will fly home on Sunday morning at 8:00am. It is hard to believe that I am leaving in less than a week. I am sure that this will all seem like a dream when I return home. I do not know what I will do when I get home, but I will think more about that as my date of departure draws more near. As for now, I am heading back to my apartment to study for finals.

For Prospective Students

2006-12-04
For Prospective Students

Here is a list of things that a recent prospective student asked me. I though it may be useful to other students considering studing abroad in Florence with Study Abroad Italy:
**If you are looking at coming to Florence, be warned that the school is tailored to art students (photography, art, etc.) In normal classes that could be taken back home I have found grading to be subjective and both classes and professors frustrating.**

Why did you choose SAI? It was affiliated with my university, my friend Zena and I wanted to study abroad together, and it offered classes in Florence, Italy, while staying in apartments
What are the best things about the program? The worst? Best-studying in Florence and trips (some free) that we are encouraged to participate in; Worst-going into the program thinking there would be students from all over the world and only finding them from America.
What are the best things about the school? The worst? Best-Art and photography students learn from wonderful professors. Worst-not all of the teachers know what they are talking about and many have a language barrier and grade subjectively. The library is a joke and wireless does not always work at the school.
What classes are you taking? How are they? I am taking beginning Italian (my professor is wonderful,) contemporary anthropology of Italy (very informative and worthwhile while studying abroad,) public relations (Italy practically doesn't have pr so we just write newspaper articles online,) ethics (my professor is subjective, teaches us like high schoolers, talks down to all our opinions and grade subjectively,) and Italian Renaissance (interesing class to take in Florence, but the professor is not a good teacher and the class is awkward)
Are you/ how much Italian are you taking? I am taking a beginning Italian class that meets twice a week for about an hour each time
Do you like the Italian classes? Some students do not enjoy their Italian classes, but I adore my Italian teacher and he makes it interesting.
What is your apartment like? It is at the top of the apartment building. There is a buzzer if we forget our keys. I live with three other girls in a cozy apartment. We have gas stoves, a clothesline for a dryer, have to handwash and there is mold growing in our bathroom. You can hear everything going on in other apartments.
Would you say an apartment is the best option or staying with a family if that is possible? I enjoyed staying in an apartment for the added freedom, but if you really want to master a language I would stay with a family if you do not mind losing freedom of going out, etc
Are you staying just for a semester? Yes
Do you know anybody planning to stay for the spring too? I know of one person
What is Florence like, do you think you choose the right city? Florence is like a Renaissance Disneyland and unlike any other place I have visited. It is practically free of American, or any other, culture. After visiting Rome and Milan I am sure that I picked the right place. It still revolves around its Renaissance past, is very small and walkable and is not overwhelming like Rome. It feels like home.
Was the application process difficult? Not at all. SAI made the process pain-free
How was the proces for getting a visa, did SAI help? It was optional to have help with a student visa through SAI. It costed a lot, but I had to go thorough them since I had an internship in D.C. for the summer. They took care of everything, although they did not ship my materials back to me even though it was about $180 for them to process it. I would reccommend that you do it by yourself ahead of time if at all possible, because then it is free.
Is SAI helpful while studying abroad? I never went to them for anything, but I think they would have helped.
How do you think SAI compares to other study abroad companies in Florence? I only know of other programs that go through actual schools. I thought it was a beneficial program overall.
Is there any pictures of your apartment/the school, anything that would help me evaluate the program better? I have pictures throughout my blog.

Are there any other things I should know, that I would not know to ask? I would bring my laptop abroad along with plenty of movies while being away from home. Shipping is very expensive here, so pack clothes that you would not mind getting rid of for the trip back home because you will probably buy clothes here.
Is there anything you wish you someone had told you about SAI, the school, or studying abroad in general? I wish I had known more about the program. Florence does not have much of a nightlife, and the nightlife that does exist that Americans go to is only safe in numbers. Lots of girls especially have gotten into a lot of trouble. If a man wants to talk to you here, it is probaby not to have an intellectual conversation, especially when you can barely understand each other. There are a lot of things about the Italian culture I did not know about. Men that go out are usually Albanians and very sketchy. Men will call out to you no matter how good or bad you look. There is safety in numbers. The trains in Italy rip you off, especially when compared to every other county in Europe. People are not very friendly. Men are not dark and mysterious. The women are petty. The older people are darling. You have to be ready for everything and anything in Italy. For a majority of the students, after going out awhile students either keep on going out and getting into risky situations or stay in their mini-Americas with other students. I highly advocate traveling as much as possible. Florence is a good homebase and there are safe flights out of Pisa. Get a 10 day youth flexipass for the Eurail before you leave for the week vacation. Plan ahead when you travel. Use www.hostelworld.com to book hostels before you go. The North of Italy is very expensive compared to the South...plan vacations to Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, etc for cheap weekend trips. There are several other things I could mention, but I would suggest to read through my blog because I cannot recall them all!

Cinderella Ballet

2006-12-04
A beautiful ballet...and then no wireless

The Cinderella Ballet was performed by the Russian Ballet in Teatro Verdi. The Theater is only a five minute walk from my apartment and I never thought much of the outside. The inside is another story. The stage is almost as elaborate as the national theater in Paris where I saw the Paris National Ballet.
Once again, my first job was teaching ballet in high school so I was in raptures (I don’t know how else to say it) the entire time. The dancers were phenomenal. I was not sure what to expect of Cinderella. My favorite was the fairy godmother, who had beautiful arabesques. We had seats at the very top of the auditorium, but it did not bother us. I went with Zena, Ashley, Mckenzie and Amber. We had box seats and enjoyed every minute of it.

After the ballet it was back to reality. I have several papers to write and tests to start studying for. I was VERY VERY frustrated today when the school’s wireless internet was not working. We all have final papers to write, research to do, etc, and the internet it not working. I ended up storming out of the building after struggling with my computer for about an hour while I worked on papers. I will not miss the technology, or lack thereof, in Italy. Last night I went with Zena to La Chat, an internet café near our apartment, and the wireless did not work there either. Right now I am at a café where you usually have to buy a drink to use the internet. I am stills so frustrated that I refused to buy a drink. Our apartment is staring to mold like a forest in the bathroom and two of my roommates are not doing their dishes and I refuse to do them so it is not looking too pretty. With all of this on top of papers and tests I feel like I am about to explode. I will never take easy access technology and things in general available in America for granted ever again.

Lucerne, Switzerland

2006-12-04
The Swiss Alps

I went with my roommate and Baylor Dance Company friend, Amber, to Lucerne, Switzerland. The main objective of our journey was for Amber to see snow for the first time in her life. It was our last trip abroad while studying abroad in Florence!! Lucerne was gorgeous, cold and and Alps were as amazing as you could ever imagine.

However, there was absolutely no snow. We had initially planned on skiing, but Europe is too warm and not enough snow has fallen anywhere. We were both depressed about this fact and very disappointed, but we made the most of it and ended up coming home to Florence earlier than we had anticipated.
Amber and I used our Eurail flexi passes for the last time during our trips to Switzerland. We left Thursday night on an overnight train and got lucky with rooming with only females. One woman was Italian, one was Swiss and one we never figured out because she got on when we were half asleep. Next to our cuchetta (6 person bunkbed sleeping quarters) there were at least three Americans who kept on talking about some very sexual subjects. It is amazing how different people from the Northern states than from the Southern because we were freaking out while they talked.

We finally arrived in Lucerne after a brief change of trains from our overnight. We checked into our hostel that was right on the river that was covered in white swans. Lucerne has two quaint covered bridges that were built in the 15th century.
The bridges and lake filled with swans is beautiful.

We went to the top of Mount Rigi to see the Alps. We had to take a boat there and then the first cogswheel railroad in the world to the top of the mountain. It was breathtaking! Lucerne was covered in fog, but at the top of the mountain you could see the foggy clouds settled amongst the mountains.

When we reached the top of Rigi, we made peace with the fact that we would not see snow in the Swiss Alps. Our consolation was eating goulash soup and drinking apple cider while looking at the surrounding majesty of the Alps. We took an hour hike to the gondola on Rigi and arrived by bus and train back to Lucerne by 7.

The Swiss people are very friendly. If you plan on studying abroad in Italy you need to know that Italian people are not very nice. The women are petty and the men want sex. I hate to be blunt, but it is life here. I will admit that it is sometimes hard to return to Italy for this fact.

That night Amber and I went out to a few bars that the man at the front desk of our hostel recommended. The first two were old people hang outs, but the last one was called Roadhouse and was a lot of fun. I hate language barriers in Europe! Switzerland uses German.

The next day we had a wonderful breakfast at our hostel. We then went to see the dying lion of Lucerne. On the way I bought a Swiss army knife for my dad (they were everywhere) and a couple other things. The Swiss frank right now is the equivalent of the American dollar. It was a nice change from the Euro.

After seeing the dying lion of Lucerne we simply walked around until we ended up at the train station. The Swiss people had Christmas lights absolutely everywhere. We ended up leaving Lucerne at about 1 and I am glad we left so early. The train to Milan went through the Alps and the views were breathtaking. We ended up in Florence at about 7 and were able to rest that night so I could shop for souvenirs and see the Cinderella ballet the next day at Teatro Verdi.

London

2006-11-28
London

London was a mix of home and a good Jane Austen book. I went to London with my dad and little sister the summer of my junior year of high school. Then we had toured and seen the Phantom of the Opera on my birthday. I loved it so much then that I had been anticipating this trip for a long time. It was a trip that Zena and I made on our own so that I could visit Alana at the London in Notre Dame program and Omar (Zena’s friend also studying abroad in London.)

We took our final Ryanair flights! I am going to miss flights that are so ghetto (aka cheap) that everyone claps for joy when we land safely. We stayed at a hostel called the Generator. It was wonderful to be surrounded by English, especially with beautiful accents. The first time we walked on the street to our hostel Zena gasped at the gorgous accent a random guy had as he passed us. Even though we were half asleep, we knew it was going to be an awesome trip.

We were half asleep because we had to catch the last train to Pisa at 12:30 and leave on a flight at 6:30. We attempted to sleep at the sketch train station and dozed a little on the plane and hour bus to London from the airport. We were exhausted our first day in London. Omar, Zena’s friend, met us at King’s Cross station near our hostel. It is where Harry Potter caught his platform.

Omar had not done a lot of the touristy things in London. He went along with us to see the Tower of London and London Bridge, Big Ben and the parliament buildings, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace , London Eye and more. Everything was just as I remembered and it was perfectly misty as it usually is in London.
That night we saw Omar’s apartment in the ritzy Chelsey and compared experiences.

Studying abroad in London is much like studying in New York or somewhere else in America. The culture reminds me of the South with their courteous culture. It only has, of course, more of a history and easier access to Europe. It is a complete 180 experience from Florence. Alana had visited me some weeks before during one of her week breaks and she said she was very happy to come home to London. She would like to study for another semester in London, but apparently Notre Dame does not allow this.

Zena and I went by ourselves to (shop) see the British Museum (that Zena loved) and stand in line for a long time in Picadilly Circuis to get half-price tickets for the theatre. I was dying to see Wicked (the original Elphaba was there) or Guys and Dolls (Patrick Swayze was in it,) but we ended up getting tickets for Avenue Q. Alana came with us as well. It is a play with puppets a lot like in Seasame Street, but it is very controversial and with due reasoning. The puppets joke about being gay, racism and the puppets have sex at one point. It was hilarious, but interesting is a better word for it.

Alana showed us her darling apartment the next morning and then went with us to the Tate Modern
museum. We barely caught the bus back to the airport and left London in a whirlwind. It went by much too fast and I cannot believe it was my last trip by air.

I am going to suffocate when I do not travel every weekend when I return. I already miss it. I will miss experiencing a new culture every weekend. Stifling.

This next weekend I will be going with Amber to Switzerland. We both have 2 days left on our Eurail Flexipasses. Hopefully we will be able to come back in time to see the Cinderella ballet here in Florence. All I have to dwell on now is savoring this last trip, Florence and somehow getting through my essays and finals while doing it.

Thanksgiving in Italy

2006-11-28
Thanksgiving in Italy

Thanksgiving was sad apart from my family. Every year since I was a newborn my family has gone to Oklahoma City to have Thanksgiving with the extended family on my dad’s side and then gone on to Branson, Missouri for a couple days. This year my dad’s sister’s family joined them for the first time in a few years and I could not be there. I was depressed not to be there! My Thanksgiving turned out much better than I thought it would.
I thought I would just be sad on Thanksgiving, especially since I had to go to school on Thanksgiving. I think the school should have shown some mercy. However, it started to look a little better when Jessica and Amber decided to have a Thanksgiving feast!! We invited several people over, including one of Jessica’s cooking assistants from the cooking school affiliated with FUA.

Everyone brought something and by the time everyone had brought something we had more than a feast. We even had a turkey that we prepared. My favorite part of the cooking process was when we were plucking the turkey. Of course Zena hung back in disgust and asked us,

“Do all turkeys have feathers, or is that just an Italian turkey thing?”

We laughed for about ten minutes.

It was nice to be surrounded by Americans since we were all in the same boat during our national holiday.
We ate stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, cookies, etc and when we were full we talked about back home. It is comforting to be around people going through the same thing. We all have mixed emotions about going home.

I have counted my blessings since coming to Florence. I have so many people, things and opportunities that I am thankful for. Being away from so many of them has made me appreciate them all the more. Here is a brief list that shows only a few of them.

~Family who cares about me (enough to fund my adventures abroad, thank you mom and dad…you have made a lifelong difference and I expect nothing for at least 2 Christmases and birthdays)
~My dearest friends back home (It was Lauren’s birthday the day before Thanksgiving!)
~Good guy friends (we all say it, and we miss American boys)
~Babies (my sister Faith)
~Courtney, Rachel and the little terrors (Shaun and Kaden)
~My car (that literally everyone in my family is driving right now…ha ha!)
~Zena
~The United States of America
~Florence, Italy
~Electricity (our bathroom light does not work and the mold in our bathroom is getting annoying)
~Computers
~The music Andrew burned for me
~Chocolate (especially dark)
~Living near countless gorgeous old buildings and the Arno
~Italian food and wine
~Living in a country of rich religious heritage
~A God who has enough mercy to care about and put up with me

This list could go on for forever so I think I will stop myself now before I waste too much time on it. I would greatly enjoy procrastinating more from my three essays, but since I am going to Switzerland this weekend I cannot.

What I am dreading back home

2006-11-21

Things I am dreading when I return:

Harder classes at Baylor
Being overtly rude when I pass friends because I honestly don’t see them
Talking to males in general, whether close friends or strangers, as humans and not sexually deprived monsters
Not being with Zena almost literally every second of the day
Pressure to be in a committed relationship (Baylor.)
Finding everything, including friendships, completely different when I return
Seeing how much my siblings have grown up
Attempting to dress like an American and not an Italian
Going back to a fast-paced and empty way of American life
Not traveling every weekend (I will go insane)
Being that kid that doesn’t have a clue about current news and culture
Actually making my scrapbook (it will take forever)
Doing research to find a summer internship, job, etc
Not being the random foreigner
Trying not to spout off random Italian words (si, ciao, bueno sera, etc)
Being broke from all the money I have spent in Europe
Not knowing anyone in the new pledge class for my sorority
Attempting to explain any part of my experiences abroad to the countless people that will ask

Things I will miss in Firenze

2006-11-21
Things I will miss in Florence
Things I will miss in Florence:

Living and going to school next to Santa Croce where Michelangelo is buried
Being surrounded by Renaissance buildings
Living in the most important Renaissance city in the world
Walking by the breathtaking Duomo whenever I feel like it
Going to the Uffizi, Duomo, Pitti Palace or Accademia whenever I feel like it
The wine
Ghetto cell phones (circa 1980)
Italian Google
Traveling to a different country every weekend
Soup (dehydrated soup is really good)
Hot baguettes from Standa (grocery store)
European chocolate
Gelato (tiramisu is my favorite)
Listening to performers in Piazza Republica
Walking along the Arno and across the Ponte Vecchio at night (beautiful)
Zena, Ashley and McKenzie
Walking literally everywhere
**Eurail
Awkward hostel and train, umm, situations
Easier classes (they actually realize that you have a life)
Espresso shots
Feeling like you are 21 and an actual adult
Ciocolatte forte (practically melted chocolate)
Feeling tall
Being surrounded by churches (or at least beautiful Catholic ones)
Piazza Signoria where there are several statues
Being cut off from your life (it is a nice break)
My tiny, bare apartment
Classrooms with Renaissance frescoes and angel sculptures on the ceiling
Italian energy and zest between each other and towards life
Tabbachis
The Italian teacher jumping on the table while you sing along to some random old song
Free time
San Lorenzo Market
Balsamic vinegar on everything (literally)
Random sandwich and pizza places
Fresh produce
Our favorite window shop on Albizi

Things I have missed from home

2006-11-21
Things I have missed from home
Last Friday began the final month of our time left in Florence. It is all downhill from here. Now as my travels wind up (London this weekend and then skiing or Sicily,) I thought it may be useful for me to compile some of my “random muses” about Florence while studying abroad here. One semester is hardly enough time to really experience any place.

Things I have missed from home:

Friends and family (being there for them)
Missing out on college for a semester
Driving wherever and whenever you want to go
Mexican food (salsa)
Iced tea
Fat free and low fat foods (milk especially)
My favorite restaurants (salads from Texas Roadhouse and On the Border)
Dairy Queen blizzards with my best friends
**notice the food even though I am in Italy
Working out whether in the gym or outside (Italians scoff when you run outside and gyms are expensive)
American men (Italy may be a female ego boost, but catcalls get old fast)
Being able to call whoever you want whenever you want
Extracurricular activities
Southern hospitality (Italians are extremely petty)
Wearing T-shirts and jeans (my fashion sense is skewed now)
Understanding everything being said to me
Clean, closed showers where I don’t need shower shoes
Stoves that do not require gas or lighters
Dryers for clothes
Dishwasher
High voltage outlets (you can charge things for days, but they will still go dead quickly)
Thanksgiving in general
Television in English (instead of psycho-crazy Italian MTV)
Wireless internet in the apartment
Carpet floors
Cheap books in English
Fast food
Free water at restaurants
Cheap prices (Italy is expensive)
Nutrition information (I am a girl)
Knowing about new movies and music (completely out of it)
Houses and apartments where you can’t hear through the walls
Being able to smile at strangers as you passed on the street (especially men cause although they are already calling out to you, then they will assume you are making sexual advances and follow you)
Indoor heating that does not require a pilot light

Barcelona

2006-11-20
Barcelona

My first choice to study abroad was Madrid, Spain. I have a good grasp on Spanish since I took it in middle and high school and then for a year at Baylor. I only came to Italy because I wanted to study abroad with Zena and she didn’t want to stay with a host family like the Spain program entails. I think it all worked out for the best. Although going to Barcelona made me rethink this decision and adore Spain. But then again, Florence is very distinct and it was worth it studying abroad with Zena!
Last week Dannee and Stephanie, two of my ZTA sorority sisters from Baylor, stayed in Florence for three nights while taking day trips to Rome, etc. Baylor has a Maastrict, Netherlands, program that has the students study for two intensive months and then travel for a month with a Eurail before flying home. They have been almost everywhere in western Europe. They loved Spain, but thought Barcelona was strange. I was not expecting much.

We took the ghetto Ryanair flight out of Pisa. You never know if you will land or not. Our hostel was on one of the main streets near all the shopping. We crashed from all the traveling that first night. The next day proved Barcelona without a doubt the most relaxing destination to which we traveled. We pretty much laid on the beach (it was hot!) The regional food is paella, a mixture of rice, seafood and a teriyaki-like sauce. We had paella in a restaurant on the way back from the beach along with sangria, the regional drink. The sangria was amazing and even Ashley, who usually despises anything alcohol, liked it.

The next day we went to the the Sagrada Familia. It is a chapel by Gaudi that has been under construction since 1883 and will not be completed until 2020. It is a very modern chapel, but we all really enjoyed it. It has 12 strange spires for the 12 disciples. Inside there is scaffolding everywhere since they are still constructing the part dedicated to Jesus and the Virgin Mary. It was an interesting church and the modern work done all over the chapel is represented all over Barcelona.

There really isn’t much to report about Barcelona, but it was wonderful. You can’t beat the beach mixed with sangria and shopping. We went to the Hard Rock, ate almost an entire ice cream cake in our hostel room and cracked up when Zena went crazy from the sugar rush. Barcelona had excellent store vendors. The souvenir shops felt like Mexico because you bartered for prices. The men would come whisper in your ear that only you had a special price for the item you were looking at. The only difference is that the men did not catcall like in Italy.

Walking back home from the train station in Florence was magical. It had been raining and although it was 2am we took in everything around us. It is a beautiful city. Even though it would have been great to put my Spanish into practice in Spain and the culture is very distinct, I think I would have regretted going to Spain when I visited Florence. Out of all the places I have visited only Florence has kept almost all of its heritage from Renaissance days. The buildings are the same and there are hardly any chains like in other European cities. I am glad it is its own world.

Paris and Disneyland Suite 490

2006-11-13
Paris and Disneyland Suite 490

I absolutely love Paris. I have always heard that the French hate the Americans, but this is not at all what we found. Everything somehow worked out for us while we were traveling to Paris. Our luck was so good while we were in Paris that we were upgraded to a suite at our Disneyland Resort
(which we booked on hostelworld.com where we always book.) We went to the Eiffel Tower, a ballet at the Paris National Opera House and went to Disneyland Paris. It was magical…until we had to come home.
I went to half of my Thursday class and then met Ashley and Mack outside their apartment on Via Verdi to walk to the train station. We tried to buy tickets on the computers, but all the seats were full. We started to panic and ran to the window for trains that are leaving within the next 15 minutes and somehow talked our way into getting on a Eurostar (hi-speed aka expensive) train to Venice/Mestre (aka hell.) We ended up being able to sit down and not only went to Mestre, but to Treviso where the airport is located. We took a cab to the airport and were the last ones to check in.

Airlines in Europe made a new rule about carrying liquids (I had to throw away my hair gel and shampoo) so security took forever and they had to push back the mob to let us through and onto the plane. They took away the stairs to the plane after we boarded and we sat in the last remaining seats. Sheer luck.

Our airport in Paris was actually not in Paris at all (that is why Ryanair can be so cheap.) It was an hour bus ride west of Paris. We did not get into Paris until very late so we went to the Perfect Hostel (its name) and crashed.

The next morning we had breakfast (we have learned to appreciate free breakfasts when they are included at hostels) and decided to take a hop on and off bus tour of Paris because it is so large. We went to the Notre Dame, visited a three story Louis Vuitton where we had to wait in line to shop along the fashionable Champs Elysees and took pictures of the Arch de Triumph at the end. There is an Egyptian monument where the guillotine that murdered Marie Antoinette and Louis IX during the Revolution once stood. We also visited the Paris national opera house and discovered that there currently a ballet being performed. We decided to check if there were tickets for the matinee the next day thinking they would be sold out, but there were! And the tickets were only 10 euros! It was then that I realized how much I liked Paris.

The tour also went by the Moulin Rouge
The Moulin Rouge is actually very small and the only thing that makes you think of the movie is the windmill. We went to the Louvre after seeing everything along our tour to see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Victory. The Mona Lisa is actually a very small painting randomly placed in the museum. The museum goes on forever! We were completely lost in it, but it was amazing to look at everything.

By the end of the Louvre we were exhausted so we walked through the park to the Champs Elysees to eat at Planet Hollywood. It was probably a very fashionable restaurant back in the day, but there was hardly anyone there and the food was blah when we went. I never thought a restaurant on the most fashionable street in Paris could be so sketch!
At least we had our first crepe...it was amazing.

The next day we got up early and took the metro to Versailles on the outskirts of the city. It was gorgeous. The palace was closed, but it was enough for us to walk around in the gardens where Marie Antoinette once walked.

Paris is divided into five zones and we had passes for only three of the zones so we had to hop over a couple turnstiles when we went to Versailles, but the views in the gardens were worth it.

We had to return to Paris for our 2:30 matinee ballet at the opera. It was amazing. We had box seats to see the ballet. I have danced for many years and my first job was teaching ballet, so I was seriously in heaven the entire time. The dances were extremely modern, but beautiful.
One was about creation, in one a girl was trying to escape into the light (complete with falling sand) and the other really didn’t have a point. They were all beautiful and the opera house was amazing. I was only sad that it had to end.


After the opera we went to our new hostel that was actually a Disneyland Resort. I booked it on Hostelworld and although we knew it was an actual Disney resort we did not expect too much.

Then upon checking in the man told us we had been upgraded to a Suite. There were only five suites in the entire Disney resort, and we were in Suite 490!!!

We went absolutely crazy when we walked into the room. There was a vanity, parents bedroom, two bathrooms, living room with couch and desk, and children’s room with bunk beds. The walls were covered in either zebra stripes, windows to the countryside or Hollywood memorabilia. It was amazing and we acted like idiots running around.

The next day at Disneyland only made it better.
We had an amazing continental breakfast (Ashley and I went crazy) before taking the shuttle to the park. All three of us have grown up on Disney and after sadly leaving our suite we were squealing with delight when we first saw Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. It was the second day that the park had been celebrating Christmas and there was a huge tree in the center of the park. We went on Peter Pan (my favorite,) the haunted mansion and Indiana Jones. All the rides were exactly the same except Space Quest. It is my favorite at Disneyworld in Florida, but this one was better. It was called Mission 2 and it was a combination of Space Quest and the Rockin’ Rollercoaster at Disneyworld. We went on it twice.

We could only ride it twice because we only had a few hours at the park before we had to go across Paris to our airport to come home. Here began the bad part. By the time we got to where the bus for the airport left we found out that we missed the bus. We had to take a taxi to the airport. No big deal, right? Wrong. The taxi costed 120 euro!!! I didn’t have enough cash to pay my part so I went to withdraw money. My account was empty. Great. On top of that the French security threw away my face wash because the bottle was over 100 mL. They tried to take my deodorant too, but I started to throw a fit and the guy backed off. I am NOT going to smell like a European.

We were (once again) the last ones on our plane. When we got to Mestre we discovered that there were no trains to Florence until 3 in the morning the next day. If there is anything concerning Mestre or Venice where I am concerned, I have a curse. This curse spread to poor Ashley and Mckenzie. Luckily we knew exactly where our hotel was when we stayed in Mestre (and not Venice,) so we walked there and got a hotel room for the night. Or at least the girls did. I didn’t have any money. I didn’t have money this morning when we had to buy train tickets back to Florence either. Just like my stay in Venice (aka Mestre) the last time, you just have to laugh.

Thank goodness and good riddance to Mestre and Venice forever. While we were in Paris we had a wonderful time and loved every second of our stay. The people were nice, the SUITE was amazing and the ballet was gorgeous. However, once again it is back to my reality in Italy. Today I told the Italian men to shutup when they catcalled on my way to school. In a few minutes I am going to run to Standa supermarket and grab some pasta, salad and bread to make dinner for a couple of my Baylor friends that are coming in to stay with me. If there is an Italian street-smart, I think I am starting to pick up on it and accept the way of life here. I think that is a good thing, but for now I am really going to miss Paris!

Trouble Back Home

2006-11-09
Trouble back home

I am finally feeling something a little like homesickness. I had left my phone in Vienna and I only got it in the mail a couple days ago here at school. I finally called my mom after not talking with anyone back home for awhile and I was crushed.

Not only are my younger siblings growing up without my knowledge (I have 3 younger sisters-one of which is out of the house- and brothers ages 2 and 4,) but there has been a death in the family. Our family dog, Buster, who has been with us since we lived in Missouri when I was 10, died. Apparently he had a painful death from kidney failure. My mother started crying on the phone telling me about it. I am still in shock! I had to put my own dodg, Lizzie, to sleep right before I went to Baylor freshman year. I guess it is just my luck (again.) I cant believe he is gone and I know it is ridiculous, but I wish I had been there with my family.

Not only has this happened within my family, but my parents are going to Las Vegas for one of my dads doctor conventions. While they are gone my second sister, Rachel, is going to Winter Formal. My parents rented a limo to take her to the dance. My other sister, Faith, made the basketball team and I talked to her last night for the second time this semester. I finally talked to my sister Courtney who is at Syracuse in New York on aim the other day and is having a fun but hard time. The boys are growing up way too fast. They will not even know me when I return. Needless to say, with everything going on I had a good cry last night. I hope Paris this weekend brings some therapy. It is hard not being around when everyone in your family is growing up!

Amalfi Coast and Pompeii

2006-11-06
Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast

This past weekend I went to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast with Amber, my roommate and friend from Baylor Dance Company back at school. Zena’s parents and sister came to visit for a few days while Mack and Ashley went to London, so Amber and I had the weekend to ourselves. The rest of the time I am here I will be traveling with Mack, Ashley and Zena so it was nice to have a change traveling with Amber. There could not have been a better choice than Pompeii and the coast for my last traveling weekend in Italy.
Amber and I went to the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence at 9am Friday morning to reserve seats on a train I had looked up online. It turned out that the train was full so we decided to catch a regional train to Naples and then find one to Pompeii. Not a wise decision. We ended up traveling on trains literally all day. We decided not to visit Naples (*DO NOT VISIT NAPLES BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT AND WILL BE STOLEN FROM*) since we have heard so many horror stories, but since I had read my guidebooks I was able to figure out how to use the rail system that goes along the coast and we were soon dropped off at the Pompeii Scavi (ruins.) It was about 5:30.

Southern Italy is much different than the North (Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, etc.) In the 1940s and 50s the Italians had an “Economic Miracle” where all the people started moving North to have better jobs and quality of life. (I learned all this in anthropology.) The people in the South are more traditional and visiting the South was like visiting a different country. They are very family-centered, much more friendly and very happy to see tourists that can aid their economy since their living conditions are starkly worse. Italians call the North-South divide the “Southern question” and there is a lot of animosity between the two regions. As for me, I would choose the humble South.

Upon arriving in Pompeii we walked through the freezing cold to our hostel (female dorm,) ate at a typical Southern restaurant surrounded by families and then decided to call a few people back home. There is absolutely nothing to do in Pompeii other than see the ruins. Our hostel was the only one open in the entire city.

The next morning we had “breakfast” at our hostel and then headed off to the ruins. We went in the coliseum entrance and simply walked around without any sort of guide. The city was fairly small and every here and there they had a house with intact frescos on display and sometimes a couple of the famous bodies in plastic cases. There are baths in Pompeii with very erotic frescoes. There are temples to Apollo and several other gods. At the edge of the city is the House of Mystery that you can only reach after going through the street of tombs. The forum held hundreds of pottery pieces and the famous Pompeii man thinking. Maybe it was because it was freezing or maybe it was because we did not have a guide, but either way we went through the ruins in about four hours and went to catch the train for Sorrento. It was haunting to visit so many houses and see the bodies, but you can only take so much before it gets old.

Amber and I really enjoyed Sorrento. It is very much a resort town and most people could speak English. It is said to be the home of the three Sirens. At our hostel, Le Sirene, we met three girls from Canada and one from Australia that are taking 8 months off to backpack after they graduated. This is more popular among them than it is for Americans. After checking into the hostel Amber and I went to La Favorita O’Parrucchiano, a restaurant off Corso Italia where stars go to dine. It was amazing and affordable. I had tiramisu in a restaurant for the first time and I was in heaven. We did not want to leave.

We finally did leave when the family of the owners started playing in the garden terrace around the restaurant, taking it as a signal. We had planned to go to Capri on a ferry upon reaching Sorrento, but since we would only have a few hours we decided to explore Sorrento. The people were friendly and we both bought several bottles of Lemoncello (the famous Italian alcohol that tastes like a lemon drop and originated in the South) for friends. The South is famous for this drink along with beautiful wood embosses and cameos. The view of the sea was gorgeous and we could hardly wait to travel on the famous winding road that connects all the coastal cities the next day.

We had “breakfast” again at our hostel the next day and caught the bus for Amalfi. The view was breathtaking and a little scary as we gazed over the cliff on the bus. Then a funny thing happened. Amber and I had not been sitting by each other since the bus was fairly empty and so we could both see over the sea to its best advantage. About halfway through our journey an older man started randomly telling me facts about the area and then proceeded to sit by me and talk my ear off the rest of our journey. He is the main tour guide of the Amalfi coast and told me stories about taking stars on his guides and the crazy things they would do. where Barbara Streisand has her villa and the most elite hotel where the stars stay along the coast. He also told me stories about taking girls out for coffee, having them stay at his house since he was single and the beauty of them all. It was interesting to hear about all his adventures, but I took a sigh of relief when the bus ride was over. He had decided to stay on the bus with me past his stop.

The man’s name was Angelo and everyone called him “Capitan.” Literally everyone knew him and called out to him when we got off the bus. Amber joined up with me and after finding that we were traveling together he invited us to coffee. Why not? I had the best cappucino I have had in Italy and split a regional pastry with Amber with a spicy cream in it. We met the mayor of Amalfi and after leaving the café Angelo opened a parcel of pastries to give us two more. All along the way people had been saying hello to Angelo and every male proceeded to examine me and give their “bella” approval to him. Even the mayor did this. It was an interesting little adventure and the entire time I was simply stunned.

We hung out at the gorgeous dock of Amalfi and then hopped on a bus to Salerno where the train was. We hung out there for awhile on the dock and boardwalk and boarded our train for Rome. It was the train ride from hell. We met a girl studying English in Italy, but that was the only positive thing of the 3 1⁄2 hour ride. There was only standing room and people were squished outside of the seat compartments of the EC train. If it were not for my mp3 player and music from my friend Andrew, I do not think I would have survived. We went to have our first real meal of the day in Rome and then took a regional train home to Florence and got home around midnight.

Other than the train rides, the trip was wonderful. The sea was beautiful, Pompeii was interesting and I got to know Amber a little better. This week I have my room to myself since Zena will be staying with her mother. I am going to start working on my papers that I must write in each of my classes. We got our midterms back and I got A’s in all of them but one. One of my professors is a terrible teacher and asked us how he could do any better after we got our midterms back. The language barrier does not help. Other than that school is going well and I can hardly believe time is passing so quickly.

Fall Break Europ Tour 2

2006-10-30
Fall Break!
I did not relax on a beach like several of my friends studying abroad in Florence. I went on a 10-day tour of 8 countries (10 by default) and had the time of my life seeing places and experiencing things I will probably never see or experience again. I backpacked across Europe by train and although I was half-alive most of the time, I loved every minute of it!
Zena and I bought a couple cheap backpacking backpacks near the train station for 4 euros. We should have gotten some of better quality because they fell apart right after we started using them. Backpacking is painful. Right when we got to a new place we would check into the hostel to drop off our bag and if we only had a day we would check our bags into the train station. Some of the hostels were sketch, but we survived. It was so much fun riding the eurail around Europe and the last ten days I will remember for the rest of my life.

My travel partners were Zena, Mckenzie, Ashley, Kate from Boston and Katie from South Carolina. At first I was not sure how it would work out with 6 travelers as opposed to the usual 4, but I am now very thankful that Kate and Katie came along. There is safety in numbers and it is always more fun to add people when traveling.

My high school friend Sam Selby saved my life when he passed on a Europe book to me before I left for Italy. I took it everywhere with me. No one else seemed to care what we were seeing so I was the tour guide and planner for the duration of our excursion. If it had not been for the maps of the major cities in Europe and the background information of the main sights to see, we would have been lost. Thank the Lord for travel guides, even if they are awful to lug around.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. -Mark Twain in The Innocents Abroad

Cologne, Germany

We started our trip off flying to Frankfurt, Germany out of Pisa early Friday Morning on Ryanair. Our backpacks were so large that we had to check them in. Mine weighed a little over 10 kg! After arriving in Frankfurt we caught a bus to Cologne. The view all along the way was gorgeous and we were extremely excited about starting our break. By the time we got to Cologne and checked into our hostel it was supper-time. Ashley studied in Germany for 6 weeks during the summer so she helped us get around the city by the U-bahn and translate if it was needed.

We were exhausted from traveling so we scoped out a Hard Rock Cafe to kick off our trip. It was like having a taste of home and we stayed there for a long time enjoying the almost-American atmosphere. Afterwards we walked around Cologne to see the Cathedral, shopping street, Rhine river and everything else at night. The people were friendly and the city was gorgeous.

We woke up to have breakfast at our hostel and run around Cologne to see everything during the day. Katies little sister is dating a boy who was an exchange student in her hometown last year. His name is Johannes and he is now back home in Germany and came to meet us to show us around. We went inside the Cologne Cathedral first. It holds the relics of the Three Kings. It is the most glorious chapel in Germany. After the Chapel we visited the Lindt chocolate museum on the Rhine River. It was interesting and I was in heaven except for the fact they only gave out a couple samples. We grabbed our bags in the train station and said good-bye to Johannes after grabbing lunch (pretzel and strudel-it is Germany.) We then hopped on the train to Brussels, Belgium.

Brussels, Belgium


Brussels was my favorite place of everything we saw during our excursion. We did not arrive until nightfall and Katie and Kate were in another hostel so we split up and then met at the Grand Place
a little later. We constantly were taking the metro in Brussels, especially because the train station where we went for international trains was outside of the city. When we first got to Brussels we were very confused and I had to figure it out.


We were starving while we waited for them to check in so Zena and I splilt a Belgium waffle. It was amazing!!! I had never had anything so good! We hung out and watched some Native Americans put on a show (Europeans seem to like them) and looked at the Hotel de Ville and the guild houses of the Grand Place.


The atmosphere was always very cheerful and the locals strolled around speaking in French. There was an entire street of Kebab places behind the Hotel de Ville that we ate at. We tried Belgian beer and I had falafel for the first time. We walked around for awhile and even went to a random Irish Discoteque for the fun of it. At one point Zena laid down beside a few people looking at the stars and they ended up being Americans. It was so beautiful at night.

When we returned to our hostel we ran into a few people who go to FUA with us. We tried to meet up with them in Amsterdam, but it never worked out. Oh well. The next morning we met Kate and Katie at the train station to drop off our bags and headed off to see Brussels during the day. First we went back to the Grand Place. The Hotel de Ville is their town hall. It was completed in 1459 and is surrounded by other buildings that have been built over the years by different guilds (bakers, painters, etc.) Near the Hotel de Ville is a statue that you are supposed to touch in four places in a certain order to return to Brussels. Of course we all did it!


We grabbed Belgian waffles on our way to see the Manneken Pis. This bronze statue was completed in 1619 and according to legend a dukes son was caught peeing during a battle so the statue was made to symbolize military courage. Whatever. We went in the museum of the Hotel de Ville and there were over 400 costumes made for the statue.


We saw the Place du Grand Sablon after we had purchased Belgian chocolate near the Makkeken Pis.
Lots of chocolate. This area separates the two halves of Brussels...the upper and lower towns. It is called "sablon" (means sand in French) because the old route down to the city center once passed through sandy marshes. The gorgous Notre-Dame du Sablon church stands in the center.

We saw the Royal Palace, Department of Justice and the skyline of Brussels. In 1958 Andre Waterkeyn designed an atom of iron magnified 165 billion times for the Worlds Fair called the Atomium
(over to the right) and we could see it from the skyline. There is an amusement park around it now. We quickly saw the parliament quarter where the European Parliament is headquartered and reluctantly caught the metro to head back to the train station so we could get to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The Crest of Amsterdam. It is a coincidence that it is XXX
Our hostel was near the train station. It was also in the Red Light District where prostitution, sex shows and anything else you can imagine is located. This is the oldest part of the city. The hostel was sketch, but a fun experience. As we entered you could smell the pot and we were in a 15-bed room. It just made you laugh. We were starving so we grabbed some Chinese and then walked around in the Red Light District. It was depressing. There were women working in pink lit-up windows selling their bodies to men. We watched as men would gaze at them and discuss one and then go up to discuss prices. Callers kept on trying to get us to go watch sex shows. It was all very interesting to see and eye-opening as to what is in our world. There are coffeeshops everywhere that are really just to sell joints, etc.
In their law selling any drugs is illegal, but their thinking is that as long as it is not advertised and it is safely done, people can do whatever they want. Oh, and there is a church in the middle of the district. It was pouring rain and Katie had her butt slapped so we headed back to our fun-filled hostel drenched.

We checked out early, I ate a piece of cake for breakfast (I constantly ate chocolate from Belgium during the trip) and quickly met for a free tour of Amsterdam. The guide reminded Zena and I of Michael Martin, a friend back home. He was lively and showed us Chinatown, the Tower of Tears where women waved good-bye to their sailor-husbands, the Jewish Quarter where Renoir lived, the smallest house in Amsterdam where ironically tall Dutchman live and much more. We also saw Begijnhof where women since 1346 do not name the monastic oath but have lived as nuns. There is a legend in Amsterdam centered around a piece of bread that was consecrated as holy because it would not burn.
(Commemoration to the bread.) Then is was stolen by a theif and thrown into the water, but there is still a religious procession to where the bread once laid.

After our tour we ended up at the Anne Frank House. It was a very powerful experience and it was strange to think that it was where the young girl had actually lived and that her fate had been death in a concentration camp. It was marvelous seeing her actual diary. I was reluctant to leave Amsterdam because of the beautiful canals and architecture. There are two sides to Amsterdam...the touristy and the place where people live. The difference is startling and I wish we had had more time to explore the latter.

Copenhagen, Denmark

We were in Copenhagen the longest of any other places. We took an overnight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen without beds. People left so that Zena, Ashley, McKenzie and I finally had entire seats to stretch out and sleep so we slept a lot. Poor Katie and Kate hardly slept at all. When we got there everyone was tired so I went off by myself to explore Copenhagen. I saw the ornate Old Stock Exchange.I took pictures of the town hall, the Radhuset, which has the oldest world clock in the world. I then went through the Christiansborg Palace where the Danish Parliament still works and to the Rosenborg Slot where Christian IV built a summer residence in 1607. I went inside the palace and was pleasantly surpised. There was a room of pure gold, frescoes from floor to ceiling, a throne room, mirror room and a room with Danish porcelain from floor to ceiling. I also saw the crowned jewels of Denmark. The Castle had a moat, drawbridge and guards with a gorgeous garden behind it. It was nice getting out on my own.

I finally met Zena, McKenzie, Ashley and a girl from NYC named Jane. We walked around on the Storget, the longest podestrian walkway in the world made up of five roads. We then decided to go to Sweden for supper. After Katie and Kate were ready we went on the Oresund Link to Malmo, Sweden. Denmark and Sweden has always been feuding and this bridge between the two cities over the water in 2000 was a big step. It is the strngest cable stay bridge in the world. We took pictures in Malmo and walked around until we found a Burger King where we had dinner.
Our hostel was more expensive, but the view from the 11th floor was worth it. Copenhagen had the most bikes of any other place we went to. There would be many more bikes than cars at any given stop light. Copenhagen is famous for the Tivoli Gardens, a sort of amusement park.

Katie and I went to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum while everyone else walked around. The art museum was huge and had a showcase of impressionist masters paining women. I enjoyed the Danish artwork and statues as well as the Egyptian mummies. We met up after the museum and we all walked to the Little Mermaid on the outskirts of the city. We passed by the modern Opera House on the other side of the Danube before finding the Little Mermaid. Hans Christian Anderson was from Copenhagen and this statue was unveiled in 1913 and is still beautiful today.

Munich, Germany

We had an overnight from Copenhagen across Germany to Munich. We hardly even saw Germany. Instead we saw the Schloss Nymphenburg, or the Disney Palace. This castle, built by a lunatic King Ludwig in 1664 in the Bavarian countryside is modeled after by Cinderellas Castle in the Magic Kingdom. t was a 2-hour train ride away from Munich, but it was totally worth it. It was in a beautiful location and the inside was even more beautiful. Apparently the King was obsessed with the operas of Richard Wagner and each room had a different romance. He was psycho though...he had a manmade cave on the second floor and a room with over 1000 swans hidden in the paintings. He died before it was complete, but his wood bed was the most intricate piece of furniture I have ever seen.


We did not get back from the castle until about 6:30 and so we had to tour Munich at night. The Neues Rathous (New town hall) had a rotating cuckoo clock-like portion that works at certain hours of the day.We then went to the oldest and largest beer hall in Munich, the home of Oktoberfest. There was a folk band playing and we were the only group of girls in the entire place. Of course we had to order 3 beers for the table

We walked back through the Marienplatz, the old corn and salt market, took pictures by the lions all over the square and after we all registered for class we went to bed like good girls. I think that is one of the favorite hostels I have stayed in so far...it is rated as one of the top ones in the world. Our hostel in Copenhagen was the largest hostel in the world.

Vienna, Austria

We were in Vienna even more briefly than Munich. The train ride took 4 hours (we went by Salzburg where the Sound of Music was filmed) and it was already getting dark by the time we got there.

We checked into our two different hostels and quickly walked to the Schonbrunn Palace of the Hofburgs. It was their summer palace from 1695 and is colored yellow on the outside.

Schonbrunn means "beautiful spring" and it was named that for the beautiful gardens that surround it. The castle was filled with beautiful portraits of queens and princesses and we were given audio guides as we went through the rooms.

The most celebrated patron is Empress Elisabeth who is called Sisi. She was considered one of the most beautiful women of her time (she was also very vain) and she was apparently very independent as she was never home. The rooms were magnificent and this palace is a must-see for anyone who travels to Vienna.

We then walked around Vienna as it turned dark. We took pictures by the beautiful cathedral. There were many people inside the chapel praying and lighting candles for their loved ones. I knew my grandfather who recently passed away had been there before so the reverent chapel really moved me. We then went to see The Devil Wears Prada-in English. We had assigned seats for the movie, but it was nice to take a breather from our (my) constant planning and our traveling. We went to bed very happy.

Budapest, Hungary

We got up very early to take a train to Budapest, but it ended up that this particular train left out of a different train station so we sat around the station for over an hour half-asleep. Budapest was interesting and we were only there for 6 hours. There are two parts to the city-Buda and Pest. Our train brought us to Pest. In Buda lies the Royal Palace and the great cathedral (Matyas Church.) We walked to the parliament building, which is the largest building in Hungary and were creeped out by the guards. The view across the river from Pest to Buda was beautiful. The Royal Palace and Church are up on a hill and the weather was perfect.

We were far from the train station so we decided to take the subway. Not a good idea. We bought a one-trip ticket and were stopped by the police (we are guessing) as we got on our second subway. Apparently you need a two-trip ticket or something, but how were we to know. Instead of a warning and politeness they were very rude and gave everyone 10 euro tickets. So much for Budapest. It was hard to argue when you know how dangerous of a country it is right now. McKenzie and I were not with the other four because we had sensed what was going on and run away. At least the girls will get some money back when we pay our 10 euros!

We literally ran onto our overnight into Venice. Zenas poor backpack completely broke and she ended up having to carry it like Santa Claus. I have no idea why hers ended in worse repair than mine since we have the same one. That overnight was awful. We had a 6-bed couchette, but it was small and ghetto. In addition, we passed through Croatia and Slovenia before entering Italy so we were woken up 3 different times to show them our passports. At least we now have two additional countries to add to our list bringing our grand total to 10 countries in 10 days. We have the stamps to prove it.

Half asleep we tried to figure out to get home to Florence. We took a train to Bologna and then transferred to get back to Florence. Kate separated from us to meet her boyfriend elsewhere in Italy. It was awful walking all the way home from the train station. I have 6 flights of stairs to get to my apartment on top of that. Zena and I started to watch a movie but we both gave up and took naps. The rest of the day we washed clothes, bought groceries for the week and cooked a healthy meal (for once.) I have not eaten as much chocolate in all my life as I ate this past week. I am glad to be back, feel too tired for school, but I am ready to have a routine. I had the best and most tiring week of my life this past 10 days, but I am glad it is over and I am back in Florence.

Now I have to plan a trip for Amber and I for the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompeii this next weekend...

Fall Break Europe Tour

2006-10-26
In Munich!

This past few days has been a blur and I only have a second while I am sitting in my hostel in Munich, but I have had so much fun while I have traveled like a madwoman
I have been to Frankfurt, Cologne, Germany...then Brussels, Belgium for amazing chocolate and to see the Mannekin Piss-a famous statue of a peeing boy, and to have belgium waffles, then to Amsterdam to a sketchy hostel in the red light district where women sell their bodies in windows at all hours near the Anne Frank house....to Copenhagen, Denmark where Hans Christian Anderson wrote the Little Mermaid and a statue is commemorated to her at the harbour. We have been on sketchy overnight trains and been freaked out but have had so much fun and experienced so much through it all.

Right now I am in Munich and must leave now before my time runs out. I saw the old beer hall and went to Cinderellas castle which was a 2 hour train ride away. It was gorgeous in the Bavarian Countryside. Then I came back to register. I will write more when I get back to Florence in a few days. I have Vienna and Budapest left now. This has been much too crazy!!

Midterms and Week Vacation

2006-10-19
Midterms and Week Vacation!

With midterms this week has been among the most stressful any of us have had here. (Although I barely studied and read two books over the past 3 days: The Secret Life of Bees and then Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger.) However, the midterms for the regular classes were a breeze. Most of the professors here do not speak perfect English by any stretch of the imagination and are grading our long essay tests. I wonder if they use a dictionary to look up some of our words.
The Italian midterm was simple and my other midterms (ethics, public relations and anthropology) only required studying for the overall concepts so I could form short answers. I have one more to go, History of the Italian Renaissance, and since it is true/false and multiple choice I hope to do okay. I am just ready to celebrate the midterms being over and leave tomorrow morning for my week vacation.

Tomorrow I am leaving with Zena, Mckenzie, Ashley, Katie and Kate for our trip over week break. I cannot believe we are leaving tomorrow morning! We will be flying out of Pisa tomorrow morning to go to Frankfurt, Germany. We will then take a train to Cologne, which is supposed to be breathtaking. We will stay there a night and then take a train to Brussels, Belgium. We will stay there a night and then head to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After spending the night there we will leave the next evening on an overnight train (hopefully, if we can book one) for Copenhagen, Denmark. After spending a night there we will take another overnight train to Munich, Germany (where Ashley studied abroad this summer.) Then we will head to Vienna, Austria for a night followed by Budapest, Hungary for a few hours before we take an overnight to head back home next Sunday morning exhausted.

We found out that it requires an additional supplement to travel by eurail in Poland, Croatia, Slovania and the Czech Republic. I was looking forward to Auschwitz and Prague, but I guess you cannot do everything. We all purchased flexipasses for 10 days of travel on trains within a 2-month timespan. Of course we will use the entire thing up on this 10-day tour of 6 countries, but that is fine with me.

I am glad this past week is almost over with all the studying. There were a few good points. We had a roommate dinner and made chicken spaghetti. American food is a big deal for us now. I received my first piece of mail from Hunter. I have been planning my schedule for Baylor next year and Mckenzie, Ashley and I will be registering in Munich during our crazy trip. This will be interesting.

As a sidenote, I have had stories published for the American Florentine newspaper online. You can read the newspaper here.

The Parents Visit

2006-10-12
The Parents Visit

My parents came in on Tusday and just left today (Thursday) a few hours ago. It was a little strange having them here, but it was a nice change and we all enjoyed my being able to show them around Florence.
I met them at the train station after class on Tuesday and I took them to their hotel by the train station. It ends up they had gotten in so late that their hotel room had been given away, so we had to lug their suitcases to a different hotel across the Piazza Independencia. My dad was not happy. By the time all that was through we were all starving and none of us had eaten since about 10. We went to a random restaurant near San Lorenzo with a fixed price menu and it ended up being really good.


That night we walked around a little and they gasped at my humble apartment and gas stove. My dad is as addicted to gelato (tiramisu especially) as I am so we got some of that too. My parents went to see my sister in New York a couple weeks ago and gave me news about her and then about all my siblings back home. It was a breath of fresh air hearing from back home and I realized how much I really missed them.

The next day after I went to class we all went to Pisa together. We saw the leaning tower and took pictures (not that impressive) and then went inside the main church. That was pretty much all there was to do in Pisa. The train ride is about an hour and a half one way so we got back in time to have dinner in Florence. We met my travel buddies outside my apartment and after walking around found a place near the Duomo with a fixed price menu (my dad insisted on that) and we had one of the best meals in Florence. It had three courses and the white wine was the best I have had yet. The place was huge and we sat on the second floor overlooking the street. Afterwards we got gelato and my parents were sweet and walked me all the way home...we would be up early in the morning.

The next day/yesterday we got up early and hit everything. We went to the Uffizi at 8:30, the Accademia at noon, ate a quick lunch and went to the Cupola of the Duomo. It was exhausting. I have never seen so much art in all my life. I have never seen so many altars and pictures of Jesus or the Virgin Mary in all my life. I will have to go back at some point to really take it all in. My mother is one of those people who takes forever just staring at each thing. Ohh my. After the Duomo we went to the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens on the other side of the Arno. The view was gorgeous and I loved the artwork in the Pitti Palace. It wasnt as overwhelming as the Uffizi even though the walls were covered in art. The frescos told stories and were all over the ceilings. One of my favorite places to visit so far. Afterwards we had a nice "last supper" and they walked me home for the last time.

Today I got up early and went to my parents hotel (free food!) and we then went shopping at the open market at San Lorenzo. I got a really nice Medici leather bag, a belt and a scarf. My parents pretty much went crazy buying things, but it is cheaper there than in any store. I walked them to the train station and said goodbye as if in a dream. They were here so briefly that it now seems like their visit was just a dream. I really do miss them and I am glad they were able to come, even if it was just for 3 days. Now they are in Venice and will fly out of Rome in a couple days. Yes, I felt a little homesick as the train rolled away and tears welled up in my eyes for the next few minutes as I realized how blessed I was to be here and to have such loving people in my lives who can also let me go. As for now I think I will go to Standa and find something to make with my friends for dinner. My parents brought my laptop and some of my favorite movies...the best solution for homesickness is good food, friends, and American movies (not dubbed in Italian.)

Dublin

2006-10-09
Dublin is by far my favorite place that I have visited so far. All of my travel partners will readily agree. The trip to get there was long and hard, but only Dublin could have been worth it. It was hard coming back.

We had to leave on a 10am flight from Treviso Airport in Venice. Ryanair does not go to Dublin from Pisa. We had to take a cab to Campo Marte from Santa Croce at midnight to grab a 3 hour train to Venice (actually Mestre where we stayed when we visited Venice-ha.) We had no idea where the Treviso airport was. We looked up bus schedules to get there and discovered that it was really far away. However, the first bus did not leave until around 8 and we were there at 6. So I called the cab company number and a cab that could sit 5 at most came to pick us up. This trip Jes and Mel who go to school in Boston came with us, so we had 6 people. The cab driver told us to be quick about it and (of course) I jumped in the trunk to avoid the police seeing us. The airport was about 30 minutes away, I was in the trunk of a taxi and it was pitch black outside. It was just funny at this point and I was already half asleep since we had been on a train the last few hours so I just zoned out and stared at the full moon with my ipod on. It had better be worth it was all I could think.


We finally got on the plane at 10 and took a bus to our Hostel near downtown that is supposedly one of the 10 best hostels in the world. It really was fun and there were students from all over the world there. Everything in Dublin closes fairly early, so we walked around some, did way too much souvenir shopping and then went out to the pubs. We met a guy named Gunter who went out with us. We went to dinner at a place called Darwins and then went back to the pub where we had met him. He bought me a drink that the women have in Ireland that is Guiness with some sort of mint mixed in. After that we went to a couple different pubs (Gunter had me try Irish Cider too, and we all liked it) and finally ended up in the original Temple Bar. There were all sorts of people here. Zena and I stayed a little later than everyone else and we met a couple guys from Germany who spoke excellent English and some guys from Spain that I could use my Spanish with.

They Irish men are wonderful gentlemen and all of us agree that they are super-hot. The Italian men call out to you and are really skinny and greasy, so it was a breath of fresh air to have really hot guys not gawk at you and say excuse me as they passed. Of course it was nice being able to understand everyone too. The Irish women actually have figures and have some meat as opposed to Italian women and they were also very courteous and not petty at all like the Italian women are. The people were so friendly!


Much like the UK, Ireland had amazing fish and chips. We fell upon a place that was in my travel book that is the oldest fish and chips place in Ireland. It was sooooo amazing!!! We had heard that Ireland food was nasty, but they had all sorts of American chains to choose from. We went to Quiznos for our last dinner in Ireland and some of the girls grabbed Starbucks at one point. It was like going to the states for a couple days, but with bars as every other store.

Mel and Jess took a bus tour, but the rest of us walked around on foot. Dublin was very cold compared to Florence and we froze to death, but we loved walking outside anyway. Dublin is a very small and walkable city. We went to Dublin Castle, Saint Patricks Cathedral (people are buried in the walls,) Trinity College where the Book of Kells is held, the main drive at OConnell Street, the Jameson Brewery and of course Temple Bar. We also saw where authors and playwrights such as Oscar Wilde grew up near their central park. It took next to no time to see it all and it was all interesting and beautiful.


We finally had to head back for our 6am flight back to Venice. We were exhausted from not getting any sleep, but none of us regret losing the sleep to go to Dublin. It was a 12 hour trip to get back from Dublin to Florence. I am still exhausted although I went to sleep last night at 11. My parents have been in Rome this weekend and they are coming to Florence sometime this evening. I have no idea when and my dads phone is off, but I cannot wait to see them. I bought my family waay too many souvenirs in Dublin since we are Irish. Mckenzie, Ashley, Zena and I all bought Shamrock necklaces that we are wearing constantly now. I miss Dublin and I wholeheartedly reccommend going to anyone who goes abroad.

Florence Weekend

2006-10-03
Florence Weekend

I stayed in Florence for the entire weekend for the first time since I have been here and it was worth it! We actually met several locals and I used my Italian way too much.

My friend Stephanie is studying abroad this semester in Maastrict in the Netherlands. They travel a lot in their program and their courses are so intense that they are finished at the end of October and have all of November to travel! She came to visit us in Florence for the day and once again it was nice to see a familiar face. She is in the same sorority I am in back at Baylor and she came with another girl who is also in our sorority. Almost the entire time we were talking about things related to Baylor because Ashley, Mckenzie, Zena and I go to Baylor and their program is entirely Baylor people so of course they go there too. It was strange talking about things back in Texas and sort of sad to talk about everything we were missing out on in our sorority. While we were out we randomly saw a Renaissance Parade by the Uffizi where the Medicis ruled in the Piazza Signoria where the statues are. There are a lot of random Renaissance things like this in Florence. They live very much in the past. We took them to Groms (amazing gelato) on our way back to the train station and they were on a sleeper train to Maastrict.

One night this weekend several of us went out to Dolce Zuccero, a discoteque. One of our friends, Emily, goes to a college in Nashville where a majority of the students study music. She has an amazing voice and has been playing at several bars in Florence. We listened to her for awhile and after Zena and I returned with Paul and his roommates the pub crawl group had come in and they had started the music. We had a lot of fun and Zena and I ended up dancing until 3am. She met a random Albanian named Tinnie that she has called a couple times. Every time I go out with my friends I have to act as translator because my Italian is the best (only because it is so much like Spanish.) I had to translate last night for my friend Katie with a different set of guys. It is still nice to be meeting some locals and practicing Italian.

Sunday morning Ashley, Mackenzie and I did Corri la Vita. It is an Italian Race for the Cure. R4TC also happens to be the philanthropy of my sorority, so of course we had to do it. There were hundreds of people there, I was floored! The 5.6 k walk was gorgeous. It went across the Arno and ended going through the Boboli Gardens at the end. The Boboli Gardens were gorgeous!! It is behind the Pitti Palace where the Medicis used to live. The Gardens overlook all of Florence and are exactly what you would picture a European Royal Garden to look like...sculptures included.

I wondered why the Italians had a breast cancer awareness walk on Sunday morning since they are so church-centered. Answer: They had churches along the walk open for people to worship. The churches were gorgeous, but all I can say is only in Italy.

This week I had my first round of tests. I have the same teacher for two classes and he gave us tests in anthropology and public relations. I had one only this morning and all I can say is thank goodness they are over. They were not very hard, but the questions he asked were unrelated to any of the readings he assigned. Of course after we were finished with the test we had to stay and watch a movie in each class. We watch a lot of movies in our classes here in Florence.


My parents are coming here this weekend!! Not only that, but I am going to Dublin this weekend!! I am incredibly excited. This past weekend Ashley, Mack, Zena and I booked all of our hostels for our week vacation this month. We will be using Eurorail passes to visit seven countries in 10 days. We will be going to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Croatia. By default we will be going through about 10 in all! The only downer is that we will be in Poland touring Auschwitz when we need to register for Baylor classes. Horrible downer, I know! My friends back at Baylor are going on with life as normal. One of my guy friends is pledging a frat, Lauren is starting to look for a place for us to live Senior year (yay!!) and Charis is getting into trouble. I am about to start searching for a summer internship, my class schedule for next semester, and maybe a job when I get back to Waco to pay back some of the expenses while I have been here. But before I worry about that, I am going to Dolce Zuccero tonight to dance to some 80s music!

Alana Visits from London

2006-09-27
Alana Visits Florence from London

My best friend and kindred spirit from high school visited me here in Florence yesterday!! It was amazing!! Then I had another awful experience in one of my classes today while listening to the opinions of my peers.

Yesterday I had a 9 oclock and of course I got on facebook during my 15 minute break of the 3-hour class. I had a facebook message from Alana, my best friend from high school back in Abilene, Texas. I never get to see her during the school year because she goes to Notre Dame and neither of us have been very good at keeping in touch. Her message read that she was in Florence for the day and she gave me a cell number to call so I could meet up with her. I was sooo excited!! It was a pain having to sit through the rest of my class and my Italian class to be able to call and see her! The number she had given me did not work since it was a UK number, but I finally figured it out and I headed out to Ponte Veccio to meet up with her.


Alana had come with 3 of her traveling buddies. She is at a Notre Dame study abroad program in London where all the students stay in the same flats. There were 2 guys and a girl and they were all very nice. It was strange being able to show them around Florence, I really felt like an at-home local while I showed theme around. I took them to the San Lorenzo market where souvenirs are the cheapest and then we ate at a cheap sandwich/calzone place that they had been to before. Then we finally went to my apartment to hang out for awhile. They have been living a lot like us with gas stoves, clothes lines and hand-washing dishes. From their stories in London of course I was a little jealous because of course it is London, but I am incredibly glad to be in Florence at the same time.

In London I feel like I would have been more or less in a comfort zone. In Florence not only am I in Renaissance Disneyland, but Florence has a small-town feel and I am completely immersed in an entirely different culture that I literally sometimes cannot understand. The longer I am here the longer I appreicate it.

I am sorry for rambling! We had bread, cheese, tomatoes and vinegar and olive oil like any good Italians. Alana and her friends completely finished off two tubs of tiramisu and panna cotta (my personal favorite) from Standa. I am still amazed. Afterwards we walked around a little and visited Piazza Republica, Ponte Veccio and ventured across the Arno. Alana and I were talking the entire time so we hardly noticed where we went. It was nice to see her and I am excited about Zena and I going to London for Thanksgiving. I walked them back to their hotel near the train station and reluctantly parted with Alana. This weekend I have a Baylor friend who is in my sorority and studying in the Netherlands coming to visit. It is so nice to see familiar faces.

Today Zena and I woke up fairly late for our noon class. It is an ethics class that I usually get frustrated in because I took ethics over the summer and the things that some students say are simply ridiculous. To understand our frustration, you must first know that Zena is Muslim and has a very strong background. In fact, she will be going to Syria with her family after this program is over to visit family in Damascus. I respect Zena greatly for her religion and especially with all the recent hostility towards Islam, I think it is important that we personally learn about their religion and culture before we stereotype them. This is not so for many of the students in my ethics class today and I am still sad that our professor did nothing to counter their cruel accusations of Islam. We almost left for the second part of class. The things people said, that I will not attribute or repeat, were very close-minded and degrading of the Muslim culture. I felt awful for Zena having to sit there and listen to their comments. I hope that one thing I can change in the people around me is the stereotype of the Islam religion both in America and, now as I have heard today, in other countries. It is just as important as battling the stereotype of American women being easy here in Italy.

Anyway, tonight I am going across the Arno to sit in on a flamenco class. It may not work out because it is fairly expensive, but I am excited all the same. I have been fasting with Zena during the month of Ramadan so if I do dance I may have to break it early. It is hard!

Tuscan Movie Tour and Cinque Terre

2006-09-25
Tuscan Movie Tour and Cinque Terre
Compared to last weekend this weekend was a breath of fresh air. Thursday we relaxed, Friday we went on a movie tour to Cortona where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed and Saturday we hiked in Cinque Terre along the beautiful coast of Italy.

On Friday we met at the school at 9 to leave on a bus for Cortona. The town was about two hours away and was high in the mountains, which made for a beautiful view of the Tuscan Countryside. Each town in Italy has a patron saint, and Cortonas was Saint Margarita. It is interesting learning about the Saint of each city and the cathedral in each town is usually dedicated to them. Saint Margarita really was not Saint at all. She was living with a prominent man of the community and followed a dog one day to discover his dead body. From that day forward she decided to change her life and is now a Saint. I learned this from one of the two tour guides that SAI had chosen for us. The entire tour was free to FUA students and of course this was wonderful after last weekend in Venice. We had lunch at a darling trattoria where I had Spinach and cheese ravioli with Truffle sauce. I had never tried truffles so once again I was trying new things.


After lunch we all got some gelato (of course) and walked down to where the house where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed. The house is now abandoned and locked up. That did not stop us. The guides took us around a back way where we went through thorny bushes and into the backyard to see the back of the house. I really did not recognize a lot of the house and it was much smaller than I thought it would be, but it was still neat to see where they had filmed everything. After leaving Cortona we went to Arezzo where an Italian film about the Holocaust was filmed. It was a cute little town, but it did not have much to do other than see where the filming took place so we did not stay there very long. We headed back on the buses and ate Kebobs in Florence when we got back.

Saturday was a tough day. Zena, Mack, Ashley and I left super-early to catch the 7:50 train to Cinque Terre. We were exhausted and of course Ashley took some pictures of us while we slept. Cinque Terre is composed of five coastal towns near Genoa. There is a trail that follows the coast as you go to each one that is about 7 miles and constantly going either up or downhill. We went the whole way. Luck was on the side of my friends because I left my camera at the apartment. I am used to doing nature hikes and was constantly going ahead and then waiting for them to catch up. If only I had brought my camera I would have some good blackmail pictures today! It was a very hard trek and we only stopped once in the next to last town, Venarossa, to sit down and me to get gelato for breakfast. When we finally finished the last leg (and hardest) of the journey we ended up in Monterosso where the best beaches are. We were exhausted from all the walking and Zena and I had separated from Mack and Ashley and were starving so we sat down and had paninis at a place there on the beach. Of course after that we laid out on the beach, but the mountain was in the way. It was a very exhausting day and we were out of it while we took the train back. We have never had a train ride without a sketchy guy bothering us. This time a guy came in our car and would then walk outside and make creepy faces at Zena. Italians. I think it is because the girls freak out so much. I would totally mess with them too! When we got back we picked up burritos at a place near our apartments (it was cheap and amazing...we all decided we will be regulars there) and then watched a movie at my place on a laptop. It is nice to still have comforts like movies without subtitles to watch.

Yesterday we slept in until about noon we were so exhausted. Zena worked all day on Law School Applications and I went to scope out my parents hotel by the train station, a 15-20 minute walk from my apartment. I went to a piazza near their hotel and sat down and looked over Italian for about an hour. I put on my music and just people watched/studied and it was one of the best things I have done here yet. It is nice walking around alone too. As long as you walk with purpose like the Italian women do no one will bother you and men will actually move out of your way to let you pass. I will probably be so rude to males when I get back home because I am used to looking right past them so they do not follow me home.

After I got back Jessica, Ashley, Mack, Katie and I went to dinner at a Trattoria literally 2 minutes from my apartment. I have been wanting to go there for awhile and it had been recommended in several guidebooks. It was amazing! It was probably the best Italian meal I have had in Florence! I ordered pizza with spinach and hard boiled eggs, and it was wonderful. Jessica described it as a quiche pizza. We also ordered the house white wine for the table and a couple deserts to share. If you are a chocoholic you will love Italy and Europe in general. Everything is rich here. My mom called me in the middle of dinner. She has only called me 3 times, but she always manages to call when I am eating dinner with my friends. I was finally able to talk to my sister Rachel! Apparently my mom went to her open house recently and told a lot of my high school teachers about my blog. The reason I decided to study abroad in the first place was because of my Spanish teacher Mrs. Furr because she casually mentioned her experiences abroad to me once. I should have told her how much it impacted me and hopefully she will know soon. Now I am back in Florence for the week and even though it is rainy I am still glad to be back in home sweet home!


p.s. I already miss Thanksgiving. I will be in London for it, but it is not the same as food with the family in Branson, Missouri. That is the only thing I have been overly homesick for so far.

Happy Birthday Amber!

2006.09.21
Happy Birthday Amber!

This week flew by way too fast. Monday was my roommate Ambers 21st birthday! Zena and I bought her some champagne and a beer that we made her carry to meet a few other people for dinner on the other side of the Arno. My roommates Jessica and Amber had already been to the place Amber picked for dinner, and it was amazing!

This week flew by way too fast. Monday was my roommate Ambers 21st birthday! Zena and I bought her some champagne and a beer that we made her carry to meet a few other people for dinner on the other side of the Arno. My roommates Jessica and Amber had already been to the place Amber picked for dinner, and it was amazing! Most of us ordered pasta and received huge portions. There ended up being about 8 of us. A waiter there spoke good English and sang happy birthday to Amber while playing his guitar in Spanish (he was from Spain,) Italian and English. It was the best dinner I have had yet in Florence! Afterwards we went to a dessert bar called Hemmingways nearby. They have all sorts of dessert and you can even order a combo that comes with a chocolate sampler, champagne, etc. that they have paired. I was so full from the pasta that I didnt order anything, but I am planning on going back soon!

Tuesday night Zena and I went to Standa and bought food to make dinner. I grilled up some Italian sausage for the pasta and it tasted amazing. Earlier that day I had to write a news story that will be published online for my public relations class. My roommate Jessica is taking the Italian cooking class through the school and she made an amazing dessert she had made in class. It is basically fried sugar, but it is wonderful. I wish I had taken the class now! I will just learn from Jessica. P.S. Zena and I went running after dinner and all the locals were out as usual and laughed at us. Running is not fashionable here.

Last night Zena was starting to feel homesick so we decided to go do something fun at night since we had not gone out in awhile. We picked up Ashley and McKenzie and went by J.J. Cathedrals, which is by the Duomo, and met a couple other girls. It was about 11 and still kind of dead, so we met a couple of their other roommates at a club near the Duomo called the Astor Cafe. They had really good drinks and during the busy days there is a discoteque that is open in an adjoining room. We hung out there for awhile and then went home. It was a low key night out, but it was nice to hang out where the locals are.

Today I had my first Italian quiz. I have taken Spanish for a few years which helps a lot, but it was still a little difficult. Our teacher is wonderful and he speaks in Italian the entire time. We seem to go fast in the class, but it is totally worth it. I have been studying some Italian on my own much to the dismay of Zena and McKenzie who are in class with me. Now I have to do some research for our week off. Tonight Zena, McKenzie, Ashley and I are going to have a movie night and make pizza. I have been looking forward to it all week! This weekend we have a bus tour on Friday that is free through the school (it goes through Tuscany where Under the Tuscan Sun and another movie were filmed) and on Sunday we are going to Cinque Terre to hike and see the coast. I am really excited about a semi-relaxing and cheap weekend. I had better run to class, I have history of the Italian Renaissance in a few minutes. Ciao!