Quinta e Sesta Settimana

Ciao all, 

Seeing as I have neglected my blog lately, this edition with cover the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, we had friends from UW who are studying abroad in Rome visiting us. It made for a busy week but it was well worth it to host them. We had so much fun showing them all of our favorites places to eat and shop while reliving some of the more touristy activities in Florence. Much of our time with them was spent eating at our favorite hole in the wall panini stand, Gusta Pizza, and Star Kebabs. One night, we all cooked together and made a huge Mexican dinner. I made my famous homemade guacamole and am missing it already. Our feast was followed by a fiesta of sorts at an exclusive Italian club that was opened to Americans for one night only this month. Having them here was a perfect change of pace from our normal routine but it also made me realize how much I miss my friends from home. I wish you were all here living with me! 

Wish you were here!

Love you and miss you all!

Another exciting part of last week was a class field trip to a vineyard with my wine marketing class. Just a short bus ride outside the city took us to the rural part of Florence. The vineyard we visited has been a family business since the 1800s. Although the vines have not started budding yet, we were able to see the aging and fermentation process. 




We tasted three different wines, tried their homemade olive oil, and ate traditional  homemade appetizers like bruschetta, Tuscan soup, and paninis. The couple who ran the vineyard was married in their backyard which was gorgeous. Now I am very excited for our wine tasting excursion in Tuscany on my birthday weekend!

Basilica of St. Anthony

Over the weekend, we had an excursion to Padua and Venice with our program. Because Venice accommodations are so expensive, we went to Padua on Saturday morning and spent the night in a hotel then left for Venice Sunday morning. Padua was a smaller city, rich in history. We visited an organic farm there and tasted some of their homemade dishes like fresh salami, ragu pasta, homemade cheese, different vegetables and desserts. Although I tried everything on my plate, some of the meat was difficult to eat after seeing the animals it was made from running outside on the farm moments before we sat down to eat.

Food Tasting in Padua

Venice on the other hand was without a doubt one of my favorite places I have been in my life. I think being near water again had a lot to do with it considering I am surrounded by buildings in Florence with almost zero vegetation and the only water close by being the Arno River, which is beautiful but nothing like the water at home.

Our bus dropped us off a landing dock that had several water taxi boats that almost looked like double decker buses which transported us to the main city. Before visiting I had no idea that Venice was actually made up of over a hundred tiny islands all connected by about 400 short bridges. There is one main channel, The Grand Canal, that weaves through all the tiny islands and the Rialto Bridge crosses the Grand Canal.

Considering that we only had one day there, we were on a mission to see and do exactly what we wanted instead of spend all our time on historical tours. We broke away from the group and took our own private gondola ride through the city. That was the best decision we ever made considering we had our own personal tour guide, Stefano, paddling us around, singing to us in Italian, and showing us what life in Venice was like for a local. I'm not a huge seafood lover, but we took Stefano's favorite restaurant recommendation and the other girls had fresh seafood they loved while I had truffle pasta :)

One of the most shocking things about Venice compared to any other city we have been in was the quietness. Without cars or mopeds the sounds of the city were so much calmer. It was refreshing to see people walking everywhere and have fresh water air to breath. The houses were absolutely adorable too. Painted all different bright colors, with doors that open right into the water, I was in love. Being so small, I felt like we were able to get a feel for most of the city in a day, although I know I will go back in my lifetime.

The glass work there was another incredible part of the city. The glass blowing island was about a 45 minute boat ride away so we didn't visit it but all the glass work was being sold in shops all over. I wanted to buy and take so many things home with me because the vases, picture frames, plates, and jewelry are so beautiful. Unfortunately I can't travel with most of it because it's too fragile.

Here's some of my pictures, I'll put the rest on Facebook because there are way too many! We were lucky to have beautiful weather for the day. It has been rainy everyday since then.

My Future Home :)

  

Me and Stefano

This weekend I'm traveling to Milan and the following week is Spring Break already! Midterms are next week, marking the half way point of my trip. It's crazy how fast time has gone already. I thought I should update you all on a few more big cultural difference I have noticed:

 - Second hand smoke makes up a majority of the air I breath outside, everyone smokes here and rolls their own cigarettes
- Public restrooms are nearly nonexistent, posing a problem from small bladdered people like me
- Most Italian couples love PDA
- Gypsies beg for money everywhere, everyday
- Sidewalks are narrow, and buildings are short
- Restaurants and most shops close for a few hours in the afternoon as a break
- Sparkling water is just as common as natural water
- Tap water at restaurants is not free and often not offered at all

That's all for now, I will post again soon! Hopefully not with such a big break this time. Wish me luck on my midterms!

Arrivederci!

Quarta Settimana

Ciao!

My apologizes for taking so long to write this post. It seems that I have reached the point in the semester where classes are requiring more of my free time during the week considering I have been traveling on the weekends. But yes, I am home safe from Paris and it was a wonderful trip, despite the bone chilling weather there. 

I am proud to say that I became a master operator of the metro system last weekend. After a little experience with them in New York, I had no trouble figuring out the similar system in Paris. I barely know enough Italian to get around Florence, so the thought of traveling in Paris with no French besides "Bonjour" and "Merci" was intimidating. Surprisingly, not knowing the language makes you more independent because you are forced to figure things out on your own without much help from locals. We learned how to read the maps and didn't have any trouble at all from there. The beauty of the metro is even if you get off at the wrong stop, there will be another train minutes away to get you back on track.

We arrived at our hostel late Thursday night and crashed early, determined to get an early start in the morning. After thoroughly checking the bed for bed bugs, I decided it was safe to lay on top of the sheet. I'm not exactly sure what I expected a hostel to be like, but in reality it is just like staying in a cheap hotel. The staff was friendly, we got free breakfast, and the rooms felt safe just small, a little dirty, and tacky. After long days of exploring the city, we had no complainants coming home to it. We made the right decision by paying a little bit extra to have private rooms rather than a dorm situation with strangers.

The first morning we ventured to Versailles because it was the furthest away from our hostel. You will start to see in the pictures that I am wearing the same outfit everyday but I promise I changed my clothes! It was too cold to not wear my big puffy jacket everyday we were there haha



Versailles was beautiful. Walking up to the royal palace, the amount of gold decor is shocking not considering how much space it covers. It looks like it stretches on for thousands of miles. The gardens were my favorite part, I can only imagine what they are like in the spring. Most of the fountains were not running because the little ponds were frozen over. We saw the Hall of Mirrors, the King's Grand Apartments, and Marie Antoinette's room with her original bed and sheets.

Afterwards, we headed to the Champs Elyesse, the major shopping street in Paris. I was hoping to see some celebrities there considering it was the start of fashion week, but I guess they were all in hiding somewhere :( On the street is a famous bakery known for their macaroons, Laduree. There was a line out the door and it took us forever to get our macaroons because all the French people knew the system and were cutting us. I finally got my two little cookies and they were to die for, which explains why it is about 35 euro for a dozen. At the end of the street is the Arc de Triomphe, a famous monument.

To reward ourselves after a long day of touristy adventures, all of us girls went out to the local bars. We seemed to be the only people in just about every place we went haha but we made each place our own party. My roommates and I traveled with 4 other friends studying abroad in Florence: Caitlin, Ally, Jaden, and Sydney, and our friend from Barcelona, Erin, met us there. Traveling with that many girls was challenging at times but comforting for our first adventure on our own. 

The next morning, we visited the Louve. It is said that you could spend a week there and still not see everything inside. We went with the mission of finding the Mono Lisa but ended up stopping to see everything along the way. The Mono Lisa was surprisingly smaller than I had imagined, about the same size as a normal picture frame you would hang on a wall at home. After being there all I want to do is rewatch the Da Vinci code haha. On the way home we came across the a museum, and stopped in to see the paintings of Van Gogh and Monet. It's times like that that you realize it's impossible to see everything because you truly don't know how much there is to see until you stubble across gems like that. 

By that time, we were pretty museumed out. We made our way towards the Lock Bridge to do something a little more fun. I was amazed by the sight of it. It's surprising the bridge hasn't started to break from the weights of all the locks considered there are millions of them. I couldn't leave without contributing a lock myself and it was obvious who deserved one on that bridge the most. My parents. They have never been to Paris themselves so I took the opportunity to lock their love for them and throw away the key. This was probably my favorite part of the trip, I hope I can return to Paris someday and add my own lock to the collection.   

 I included all three of us kids on the lock too of course :)

Next stop was the Eiffel Tower. Although we had seen it from a distance many times during our travels around the city, we wanted to actually go to the summit and see the view of the entire city. Unfortunately for us, it was snowing and the temperature of dropping rapidly while we waited in line. At that point there was no going back, I wasn't okay with the idea of being in Paris and not seeing the top of the Eiffel tower. Apparently everyone else there felt the same way because we ended up in a huge line at the bottom and the middle of the tower. Waiting in the middle for the elevator to the top was the coldest I have been in my life, no joke. With no protection from the wind and snow whipping through the tower, I was near tears by the time we got through the line. As you can see, the view from the top was obstructed by the fog so the pictures don't do it justice. Looking back on it now, the whole experience was hilarious and worth the memory but at the time I wanted nothing more than to be home in front of a warm fireplace. 

By the time we made it home, walking on feet that barely worked because they were frozen solid, we were all exhausted. Instead of going out to the bars again, we found a restaurant close to home and ended up having one of the best meals I have had since being abroad. We had salads with real dressing, which is amazing because Florence only offers olive oil and balsamic, we also had french fries and famous french sandwiches called Croque Monsieur. It is a kind of gourmet grilled chesse, with ham in the middle and the cheese melted on top of the top piece of bread. I had mine with a fried egg on top and it was divine! I will definitely be recreating that at home. 

Our final morning, we checked out of the hostel and found a crepe stand we had been recommended to try by some friend at our university who used to live in Paris. I had a crepe filled with Nutella and bananas that was delicious! Crepe in hand and Nutella all over my gloves, we trekked to Notre Dame. 

 Not all the girls wanted to tour inside the church but after learning so much about it throughout school, I couldn't miss my opportunity. Once inside, I realized that an international mass was just starting because it was Sunday morning. I take churches for granted at home, but in a church like this it was impossible to need feel the presence of God.



Of all the churches I have seen in Europe, Notre Dame is my favorite. Even more so than the Sistine Chapel because it felt like a true place of worship rather than a museum.  I hope that the offering candle I lit is still burning today.











It is strange to think that I have been here for over a month now. If I think about the time I have left I panic because it seems like too long to be away from home but also because it doesn't seem like enough time to do and see everything I want to while I am here. My motto has become day by day. 

This weekend we are staying in Florence and taking the opportunity to rediscover everything here instead of traveling for the weekend, it's like a weekend trip to Florence. We are going to a soccer game, climbing to the top of the Duomo, and on the hunt for more secret bakeries. Just two nights ago we discovered one out of the five secret bakeries that are rumored to be in Florence. They open around 1 or 2 in the morning to bake all the goodies for the next morning. If you find one, you can knock on the window and buy warm croissants, donuts, cookies, and pizza from the bakers. My melting chocolate croissant was just what I needed before bed :)

I will post again soon, for now I'm going to attempt to do some homework before our weekend festivities begin. 

Arrivederci!

Terza Settimana

Ciao everyone!

I just returned from a weekend trip to Rome on Sunday evening and have been frantically trying to get caught up with school, laundry, and my health since then. Let me start by saying that Rome is absolutely AMAZING! I am already trying to figure out when my next opportunity to visit there will be. Although I was sick for our trip, I managed to see everything and love every minute of my time there. I am lucky enough to be in a program, API, that has well planned excursions. We traveled by bus from Florence to Rome and stayed in a hotel near the city center. Each morning, guided tours were arranged for us and then we were given the afternoons and evenings free to explore on our own. 

During our first morning walking tour, we saw the Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, and a few different Piazzas with street markets. Below you can see how crowded the Spanish steps were in the morning. One of the biggest differences between Rome and Florence were the bigger crowds and faster paced lifestyle. Rome felt similar to Seattle in that regard, while Florence feels more like a suburbia type town.  

Next was the Trevi Fountain, an unforgettable sight. Of all the outdoor architecture I saw in Rome this was my favorite. Following the superstitions of the fountain, I threw a few coins with my right hand over my left shoulder with my back to the water. Legend states that doing so will allow you to return to Rome again one day. I made sure to throw several in for good measure. We returned to the fountain on our own the second night with a bottle of wine to share and less people. The fountain looked completely different in the evening with glowing water and the the statues appearing to be gold.

Next stop was the Pantheon. The best word to describe all the monuments in Rome is shocking. Seeing them made me realize how young the United States are and how little historical monuments we have. I have never been in the presence of so many ancient buildings that have withstood all the tests of time. The sheer size of them alone is shocking but even more so is the detailed artwork that accompanies each monument. Considering the patience, careful planning, and precision that was required to construct these doesn't seem like anything that would ever take place in America today. 

Amongst these monuments are countless street markets, restaurants, vendors, and people roaming the city. With the weather being a little bit warmer than Florence we were able to eat lunch at outdoor restaurants in different Piazzas and enjoy people watching. The street artists were some of the most fun to watch, as they captured snapshots of the city on paper right before our eyes. Nearly every Italian we came across spoke English well, making communication with the locals even more simple than in Florence. 

On our first evening, we signed up for Rome's Ultimate Party (a pub crawl). Upon arrival, we felt very out of place considering the group was an interesting variety to say the least haha. However, we made fast friends with the others and ended up having a great night. Having never been to Rome, this was a perfect solution for our group because we were toured through the city night life by local bartenders. If anyone watches the show Shameless on Showtime, you may recognize one the the bartenders below, she was the spitting image of Fiona! She had no idea who that was but she said Americans tell her that almost every night haha

On Saturday morning we visited The Vatican. After a short bus ride from our hotel, we were in a completely different country! This was my favorite day of the trip considering all the Catholic history I have learned during my years at SMM and Archbishop Murphy. As corny as it may seem, I had tears in my eyes the entire time we were in St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. I haven't included many pictures here because they truly don't do it justice. All I can say is the feeling of walking into a church as large as St. Peter's Basilica knowing I was in the home of the pope as well as the burial site of the popes before him was incredible. I blessed myself with the Holy Water, touched the foot of St. Peter, and stood before the Pieta. Never has my appreciation of the Catholic religion that I have grown up with my whole life been so great. 

I wish I had a picture of the Sistine Chapel to include but the guards were very intent on not letting 

any pictures be taken, but I strongly recommend everyone see that once in their lifetime. 

Our last tour on Sunday was the Colosseum. From both the outside and inside, it is monstrous. Hearing the many events that took place there and imaging the crowds of Romans watching was surreal. I have seen the Colosseum recreated in movies like the Gladiator but experiencing the feeling of being inside it  made me appreciate the history that occurred there so much more. 

On the Thursday night prior to departing Friday morning for our weekend trip, a group of girls in my program and I celebrated Valentine's Day together at a local Mexican restaurant. We decided this would be the best place to avoid witnessing the countless PDA Italian couples that would certainly be more romantic than ever on such a day, plus sangria and nachos were on the menu :) Even though I was missing my loved ones on Valentine's Day, there could not be a better place than Florence to appreciate the holiday.

Keeping with the theme of amor, we are headed to Paris this weekend. A group of about 10 girls and I  planned this trip on our own. Although we won't have the luxury of guided tours and four star hotels, we are looking forward to the adventure of traveling on our own in new place. I will report back next week to let you know how it goes!

Arrivederci!