Lean On Me

The last time I was at IKEA, I was probably 12 or 13. And thank god for that because I could literally buy the WHOLE entire store. It was our first stop today on our orientation trip to Pisa and I had to use every ounce of self control not to purchase everything in sight. Given the rooming situation that I’m in (which is still being sorted out) I wasn’t sure what I was going to need in the next few weeks but I had a pretty good idea. I only spent 20 euro...aren’t you proud ima?! 

So here’s what I got:

• fleece blanket – our apartment is always FREEZING and the landlord only turns the heat on for maaaybe 6 hours a day
• a bath mat– the one that was left in our room is actually disgusting and moldy so Jenn and I each bought 1 so that most of our bathroom floor is covered
• slippers– they were like 2 euro and I didn’t bring any with me. wearing my flip flops with socks was getting pretty annoying too
• pillow– the ones they gave us are nothing and I was using my neck pillow so I bought a new one that was still cheap
• hangers– ran out of them and once Jenn and I get our living situation set up I’ll be able to finish unpacking and hanging my clothes
• scented candles – I’m obsessed and don’t really care wether or not they’re allowed. and they were only 1 euro

All in all it was a pretty successful trip! We then made our way to Pisa which was about an hour away except I don’t really remember the bus ride because I passed out.  Pisa is probably one of the most overrated places to go but I’m glad they took us cause I’d be annoyed if I wasted my money going there. The whole area is very run down and there’s just a bunch of vendors selling fake bags and Pisa souvenirs...which Jaclyn, Ellyn, Cassie, and myself all bought. Jaclyn and I also had the epiphany that we are going to buy a shot glass from every place we travel. So college, but so necessary. After our successful purchases we were freezing and hungry so we found a nice restaurant to eat at called Antic Trattoria Antonietta. I had gnocchi with pesto sauce and it was unbelievable (although I was starving so I‘m pretty sure anything would’ve tasted great. 

(It really does lean!)

Weobviously took the obligatory Pisa pics, and I'm glad I went but it would be beyond unnecessary to go back. The church was really pretty too but I’m pretty sure the ones here in Florence are just as good, if not better (not like I would know thought because I STILL haven’t gone in any).

(So strong I can hold the leaning tower with just my finger! ... yeah, right)

Okay so rewind to Saturday. We had a free day to walk around and there was also an optional history tour.  Jenn and I slept until 1 and then hurried to get ready to make it to the tour. Complete waste of time. The tour guide would not stop babbling on and on and we didn’t even get to see that many sites. After about and hour and a half my feet were killing me so I decided to go back to my apartment and rest for a bit. I then went on a walk with Jaclyn, Ellyn, and Molly to the Piazza Michelangelo.  Its this gorgeous lookout point (and also quite a hike) that lets you see all of Florence. The view was absolutely breathtaking and once the weather gets warmer, watching the sunset with some wine would make a great after class treat!

(GREAT views. I can't wait to climb it again!)

Classes start tomorrow which means I’ll be able to get a better idea of how my schedule is going to work out, but also that this vacation is slowly ending and I’ll actually have to do something with my life. 

Hangin' Around this Town

Not much to report on the past few days. We’ve had welcome week stuff and then a lot of walking around and sightseeing, although I have yet to go inside the Duomo. I know, what am I thinking. 

The nightlife is TONS of fun. We’ve gone out every night and the bars and clubs are great. So far we’ve been to the Red Garter, Twice, YAB (Young and Beautiful, why anyone would name a club that is beyond me) and Astor (where they went on the Jersey Shore).  I’m excited to keep trying out different places and almost all of them have some kind of special certain nights of the week. There are SO many Americans here though! I keep running in to people I haven’t seen in ages. Our first night here I saw my friend Emily, who I did a summer program with the summer before my senior year and Thursday night I saw Brooke who I went to sleep away camp with for 6 years when I was younger but haven’t seen, or spoke to, her since...until now, that is. Talk about a small city! I don’t even see these people in the States but when I’m across the Atlantic Ocean I can’t stop fining people I know.

Hannah and Megan came to visit this weekend too! They’re studying in Rome and came with a few of their friends.  I ran into them Thursday night (I wasn’t planning on going out but last minute had a change of heart..shocked?) and it was SO great to see them.  Its been weird adjusting to the change in pace so seeing them made me feel a little more at ease. As of now I’ll be seeing them tonight and tomorrow, too.

Jenn and I went out to lunch today at Antico Noe. It’s this little hole in the wall panini shop that was sooo good! The guy working was singing to the radio in Italian and it was hilarious. From there we went to the supermarket, Billa.  It was so confusing and weird to see everything in Italian. At home I’m used to my mom going food shopping for me and getting everything so it was difficult for me to figure out what I really needed, not to mention I couldn’t read the labels of any of the products. Needless to say, I didn’t leave with that much. Bananas, cereal (Special K since I didn’t know what any of the other ones were), water, bread, and some tea. A pretty weak diet if you ask me but I guess I’ll have to either take a chance or wait until I learn enough Italian to read the labels. 

Welcome week is almost over; we have a free day tomorrow and then a trip to Pisa on Sunday. I’ll report back then!

Ciao, for now!

It's Only the Beginning

Greetings from Firenze! The past few days have been preeettty overwhelming, to say the least. But I’ll do my best to report. 

The flight here was not bad, and mad props to the travel agency for getting me aisle seating on both flights!  I met a few girls who are doing the same program as me and we were seated close so it was nice to make some friends off the bat. The 7 hour flight to Frankfurt was long but thankfully the seat next to me was empty so I was able to stretch out a bit. I couldn’t fall asleep so by the time we got to Frankfurt I was a bit of a zombie.  We then had a 2 hour layover there which turned into 3 because the plane was delayed. The flight was short but I was exhausted at this point and only wanted to sleep, which wasn’t an option if I wanted to quickly get rid of my jet lag. 

Once we got to the hotel we checked into our rooms and then had some orientation lectures and paperwork to fill out. Orientation in general sucks, orientation when you’re jet lagged sucks even more. I was so tried and not in the mood to socialize but felt I should to be conversing with everyone. I passed out right after dinner at 9 but woke up in the middle of the night and had trouble falling back asleep. Needless to say, I was a little cranky.

Tuesday was a bit better and I was feeling much more energized. I was also super excited to get to my apartment and see where I would be living.  I also went and got my Italian cell phone! And let me tell you, it is old school. It’s one of those Nokias from when we were in like 6th grade.  It even has snake on it!  But it gets the job done and is pretty inexpensive so I’m fine with it.  I also have my iPhone but it only works when I have wireless to I’ve been leaving it in my apartment since I don’t get wireless anywhere else.

The apartment: It sucks. I hate to be such a Debbie Downer, but it does.  It’s a little farther from where everyone else lives but the main problem is that it’s SO small.  Mine and Jennifer’s (my roommate) room is a single with 2 beds, 1 small closet, and a mini table.  We couldn’t even fit our bags in the room with us.  Our common area isn’t that spacious either because the apartment is so narrow. It’s a very uncomfortable living situation and we’re trying to figure out a way to make it better but we’ll see.  It’s kinda put a damper on everything and added stress, which is NOT appreciated now.

But anyway, Tuesday night we went out and had a great time! We went to this bar called the Red Garter and then a club down the street called Twice.  Our apartment is a few blocks away so it wasn’t that bad and everyone was there. However waking up this morning for FUA (Florence University of the Arts) orientation was not as fun.

FUA orientation was probably just a boring as other ones we had but it only lasted about an hour.  I’m excited for my classes to start but am still trying to switch a few things around. 

Once I got home I passed out for 2 hours and then woke up and went to get lunch with my friends Jaclyn and Morgan.  We went to Pino’s and had AMAZING paninis. It was the first thing I ate all day and was absolutely delicious.  After that we just wandered around a little, originally trying to find the Duomo, but giving up after a while and just seeing where the road took us.  The city is so cute and everything is super small.  The streets are very narrow and we were walking in a line behind each other because we couldn’t all fit on the sidewalk. Thankfully we didn’t get too lost because with my sense of direction, we’d still be wandering the streets, probably somewhere near Rome.

So now I’m in my tiny cramped room writing to you all hooooping that this rooming thing will get sorted out soon so I can stop living out of my suitcases that are occupying the whole kitchen.  Tomorrow we’re going food shopping since the only thing in our apartment is wine... so college

Picture will be coming soon, ciao! 

Catch Ya on the Flip Side

I’m still getting in the swing of this blog thing. But jess was right, its getting easier the more I play with it. 

Yesterday and today were pretty standard: running errands, picking up last minute things, and of course, packing. Jess came over to say bye before she left for Florida yesterday and brought my coffee from the Cheese Store. Gosh it was so good, I forgot how much I’m going to miss their coffee. 

I also finally found out where I’m living and who I’m living with. I thought it would be a great experience to do random housing and not sign up to live with anyone.  After I submitted the forms I questioned whether or not I was pushing my luck with the whole study-abroad-be-spontaneous thing. When I got the housing e-mail I saw that I’m actually living with one of my best friends from freshman year, Hannah. We get along really well so I’m happy that we were put together and not with someone from school that I don’t get along with or have nothing in common with.  I tried to look up my other roommates on facebook (surprised?) but couldn’t find some of them. Hopefully they’ll have better luck finding me!

This morning my mom and I faced the hard reality that it was time to tackle the task of officially packing all my stuff into the 2 suitcases and carryon that I’m allowed to bring with me. We were both shocked to find that the problem wasn’t fitting everything in the suitcases but rather making sure they both weighed under 50 pounds. It took us a few attempts to transfer everything into different suitcases and figuring out what was so heavy. And after me explaining to my mom multiple times that there is no way I’m not going to not bring anything I packed, we were able to get my suitcases to 48 pounds and 49 pounds. Cutting it a little close but I’m still pretending I’m okay with the fact that it’s all thats allowed. Normally when I go to school I bring 2 huge camp duffles, both completely filled with things I need. Needless to say, I’m a little out of my element. And I haven’t even left yet!

(My next four months all packed in 2 suitcases, a carryon, and my 'pocketbook')

After we tackled packing everything, my mom and I decided to reward ourselves with getting our nails done.  I'll probably be doing my nails myself when I'm in Florence (not that I mind) so I made it a point to enjoy this mani/pedi extra. Okay Mallory, really, sound a little more stuck up. This needs to stop.  Goodbye land of $7 manis and $15 pedis (and $20 if you get both!). I will surely miss you. 

Well, thats pretty much it– my last post in America. I can’t believe I leave tomorrow (weather permitting, of course)!  It WOULD snow the day before I leave. But hopefully my flight won’t be delayed, or worse cancelled. I’ve been waiting for this day to come for over a year and it’s finally here!

I will seriously miss everyone so much! Please don’t hesitate to email me, facebook me, skype me or however else you want to stay in contact. I’m super nervous, but I know that this is going to be the most incredible experience.

Peace out, America, you’ll be hearing from me soon!

Testing 1, 2, 3

This first post of mine is being written from my abroad-filled room in Atlantic Beach (well actually it’s my brothers room - which has turned into my abroad prep room, and pretty much a second closet, but I digress...).  For those of you who know me well, you’re probably rolling your eyes wondering why on earth I need to be using another outlet of social media to express myself. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with this one as much as I do with Facebook and twitter (and make it as witty). I have never written a blog before, have read a few, and considered making one for a while, but dropped the idea after I realized I’d have no idea what I was doing.  While I am very well versed with social networking, I figured traveling would be the perfect opportunity to give blogging a shot.  

Clearly, I still have absolutely no idea how this whole thing works...so I make no promises that this will be interesting, although something tells me that my 4 months abroad will bring plenty of chaos and unpredictability. And knowing myself as well as I do, I’m sure there’ll be enough awkward and embarrassing moments to amuse those who are reading.  Not that I expect to have a ton of followers. Mainly my parents. And grandma. Hi Gram, love you. 

Again, back to the main question. Why on earth do I need a blog when everyone knows I’ll be updating facebook and twitter on the reg? I figure that while I’m living la dolce vita in Florence, I should probably lay off the facebook and enjoy being in ‘one of the betchiest places on the planet,’ and twitter only allows 140 characters. 

When have I EVER been able to condense my thoughts to 140 characters? 

Never, thats when.

So I'm thinking I'll use this to update everyone on my experiences in Europe, and also as my online travel diary.  Killing two birds with one stone.  I'll do my best to keep in touch! 

With a matter of days until I leave, I have pretty much my whole desk covered with different to-do lists and post-it notes for my trip, most of which have few lines crossed out.  Needless to say, I’ve been a little off my packing grind.  AND as the world’s heaviest packer (and slight diva) the past two weeks have been filled with the stress of deciding what I should and shouldn’t pack.  2 suitcases to hold 4 months worth of stuff is NOT a lot.  These are the dilemmas I am battling daily, I know, tough life I live.  With Sunday quickly approaching, its crunch time!