(Fair)Field Trip Weekend

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:45, miserable because it was so early and I didn’t want to miss the bus. Walked the 15 minutes to the bus in the freezing morning cold to start our weekend trip around Italia. 

First stop: Perugia. After 2 hours on the bus spent napping, we arrive at our first destination. Luckily, the cold weather was only a morning thing (thank god because I had only brought my leather jacket). Perugia was nothing like I had pictured it. It's just one street, with side streets off of it.  This is also where the infamous Amanda Knox case took place so of course everyone was going crazy over it. There is nothing extraordinary to report, for any of the places really, because nothing crazy happened, just walking tours and bus rides. 

After Perugia, we went to our hotel where we were spending the night, but just had lunch which was an assortment of pastas. They were yummy but since we were all starving, they tasted super delicious. We ended up going up to get seconds of the pastas when the brought more out AND multiple rounds of dessert because we are fat and have no concept of the word "enough." 

Filled to the brim with food, entering yet another food coma, we left for Assisi. Assisi is insanely beautiful. It's this hilltop town where everything looks super old and it's just so picturesque, although the only things there are really churches and shops where they sell religious items such as statues of saints, crosses, and other things that were kind of bizarre. We spent a few hours there walking around, seeing churches, and enjoying the warm weather (thank god) with 20 minutes free at the end (which we used to go to a cafe and get coffee).

We left Assisi and headed back to the hotel, where I showered and immediately passed out. Dinner at 7:30 was quick and the waiters were practically pulling the food away from us before we could finish.

Anyway, that night at the hotel was fine. We all gathered in the lobby to get our wifi on and while we were down there our trip leader was line dancing and signing italian karaoke which was actually hilarious. I wish I had recorded it because we were all dying. Went to sleep early and slept right through the night. 

Next day: Siena and San Gimignano. Having been over the idea of the walking tour before it started, I wasn't particularly looking forward to going on two more. Siena was really fun though, we had a lot of free time there and it is a really nice city, kind of like a little Florence.  We went to this pizza shop in the main square and had a delicious lunch and then sat in the sun for a while in order to get warmer because it was so cold that my limbs were falling off. Not at all like the day before. While in il Campo (the main square), we were told about a hut selling fried rice balls. Naturally we sniffed it out and all got some– completely disregarding the fact that we had just eaten a huge lunch. I had 4 (the least you could buy). They were little and delicious and covered in sugar and I don’t regret eating them one bit. Anyway, we left Siena for our last stop of San Gimignano.

San Gimignano is what you think of when you think of a Tuscan town (and very similar the 3 I visited last weekend). It is very small, so beautiful, with old buildings and architecture and it was so pretty. The tour was short, and we spent half an hour walking around on our own (which is a lot of time there).  They have all of these shops with gorgeous goods, from leather to perfumes and soaps, to a whole range of different Pinocchio products (it’s a big thing in Tuscany), and this beautiful store selling ceramic kitchen items. I wanted to get something for my parents but couldn’t decide. 

We also got gelato since they boast the best in the world. Like I said, the weekend of nonstop eating.  

Thus ended the tour. We boarded the bus, passed out, and woke up in Florence.

Short week in Florence, went going to La Giostra for dinner last since it was Jaclyn’s birthday.  If there was any way to temporarily end my food coma, La Giostra would be it.  I actually dreamt about the food last night thats how good it was.  If it’s good enough for Brad and Jen, it’s good enough for me!

Istanbul on Thursday! And I’m meeting Fainerz there. Literally cannot wait to see her, and all the things she’s planned since she took on the responsibility of travel agent for the weekend. Should be interesting to say the least (especially the two of us in a random city with an unknown language) 

Food Coma

So I’ve been a little off my blogging grind which means today get 2 posts! (I can’t condense into 1). Here’s the detes of the end of the week which lead into my food coma induced weekend, which is still going on...

Thursday the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS! Hannah and I didn’t want to waste the whole day inside so we went to Perche No? and got amazing gelato and proceeded to sit outside and eat it. We wanted to do a short museum so that we could walk around after which let us to the Gucci Museum.  Incase you couldn’t tell by the name, the Gucci museum is a museum dedicated solely to Gucci (aka EXACTLY where I belong).  I was completely in awe by the things they had, vintage and new. It was amazing and I was so sad they wouldn’t let us take pictures (and someone literally followed us around the museum to make sure we didn’t). Anyway then we went to the gift shop but everything was insanely overpriced because, well you know, its Gucci. 

After we walked around a bit more and then I headed back to my apartment for some food shopping and a nice nap.  The food shopping wasn’t really necessary because Alexa was making dinner for us that night but I had a snack (aka sandwich) at 5 because, like I said, this was the weekend of food. 

Dinner at Alexa’s was delicious.  She made tomato motzarell, salad, and yummy pasta with chicken.  We didn’t do a great job at communicating who was bringing the wine so we all ended up with our own bottle. But not to worry, we finished all of them.  I drank one of the bottles I got last weekend in Montepulciano and it was scrumptious. 

Then it was off to Bacco for more drinks since it was drink against the clock and beers were 1 euro after we got bored there we headed to Kikuya for a little and then Twice for like 30 seconds.  All the wine was catching up with me and I was getting pretty tired (and sober) so I headed home to of course fix myself a snack and go to sleep. 

pause: This is where my night takes a complete 180. I’m sitting in my kitchen eating and getting ready for bed when I was greeted by my belligerent roommates stumbling into the apartment unable to walk and laying on the floor of the kitchen saying “I don’t want to die.”  As I’m helping my 1 roommate try to feed them water, they’re spitting/spilling the water over the floor. oh right, and then proceeding to projectile vomit all over the kitchen, which just so happens to be right outside of my room. And then some girl who doesn't even live in my apartment tells me to go to sleep because ‘she’ll handle it.’  Excuse me, but not only is this not your apartment, but you didn’t have your night interrupted by 2 girls who obviously have no idea how to drink in any responsible way. You don't even live here nor do you need to wake up to the smell of vomit everywhere. This isn’t the first time this has happened, as in my roommates coming home wasted making a ruckus. I’ve had my drunken nights but never to this extent. Not to mention I wasn't with my roommates for any of it yet they still felt the need to pawn them off on me and expect me to take care of them, while giving me massive amounts of attitude. Which everyone knows, I don't do well with. Between the sight of vomit all over the floor and my roommates trying to get me involved I was so annoyed that I left, called Bre, and slept at Ghibellina.  

When I woke up Friday morning Bre, Morgan, and I went to the Ferragamo shoe museum which, knowing my shoe fetish, was irresistible. After, we met Alexa and walked over the Ponte Vecchio for, you guessed it, food.  Gusta Pizza was our destination and it was UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE. I don’t know how we didn’t find it sooner because I’ve been dreaming about it ever since.  After Gusta we got gelato and sat in the Pitti Plaza in the sun since it was beautiful out.  I got the most amazing gelato that I also haven’t been able to stop thinking about because I’m a fatass and really only think about food. 

When we walked back towards our apartment we stopped off at h&m where we all bought something because in addition to loving food, Morgan, Alexa, Bre and I love to shop.  Although at this point I was exhausted so I headed home for a shower and nap and then woke up to get ready for dinner.  Because lets get real, it’s all about the meals. What I do in the meantime is trivial.  

We wanted to try another new place so we went to Zaza with Betsy and her boyfriend who was visiting for the weekend. I got the ravioli in truffle sauce which was sooo good and also tasted Alexa’s spaghetti with meat sauce and Betsy’s gnocchi which were really good too.  We’ll be going back there at some point. 

We all went home after that to pack and get ready for our Fairfield trip the next day.  Which was really only an extension of the food coma induced days I’ve been living. 

Carnivale and Wine, What More Do You Need?

Its taken me a while to give you an update from this past weekend but here it goes...

Saturday I woke up at 6:30 to catch the bus to Carnivale in Venice. Breana, Morgan, Alexa, Betsy and myself were all zombies and slept almost the whole way.  Once we got to Venice we had to take a water taxi to the main island, San Marco.  We got there and went straight to a glass blowing demonstration.  The guy made a vase in literally 3 minutes. AND it was gorgeous!  After we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. However, walking around Venice was very tricky since there were so many people.  I now know why the island is sinking! We all got masks/face paint and then went shopping around.  But the murano glass was so expensive! It was a really fun day overall and I’m glad I was able to experience Carnivale but don’t know if I necessarily need to go back, especially since it takes a while to actually get there.

there really aren't words to describe the view, or how long it took us to get here

Sunday was absolutely AMAZING!  We went on a wine tasting tour of Tuscany and were pretty much either tipsy, drunk, or sleeping the whole time. We started out in Montalpuciano which is an adorable little Italian town (and where twilight was filmed for those of you who are obsessed). The wine tasting we had there was great and I ended up buy 3 bottles! (promo price and a great gift for my parents when they come to visit).  After taking numerous pictures of the gorgeous scenery we were off to a cheese farm for lunch. It was de-lic-ious. And after stuffing our faces we tried 5 different types of peccorino cheese that they produce there, each with a different amount of aging. I liked the younger ones but still ate all of them, of course.  This adorable little woman then showed us how the cheese was made and where is stored to age. 

got wine?

To see more pictures check out my album on facebook!

Next we were off to Pienza, which boasts the best views of Tuscany.  And let me tell you, they can boast all they want because it was absolutely breathtaking, especially since were got there when the sun was starting to set. 

Gorgeous views in Pienza.

After Pienza we were off to our last stop, Montalcino. We went to a winery that was voted having the best wine in the world last year. The owner, Mario, was the cutest little man I have ever seen.  We all wanted to put him in our bags and bring him home. The wine was so yummy and I, once again, couldn’t resist and bought another 2 bottles.  In other words, my parents will have plenty to drink when they come to visit. 

us with Mario, the owner and cutest old man ever!

                                                                                                             

                                                                                              By the time we were done everyone was exhausted and drunk so the bus ride home very quiet and relaxing. We arrived home and it felt like we had been away for the whole weekend. Needless to say I slept very well that night.

Firenze is My Boyfriend

The rest of this week has been relaxed and the weather is finally starting to get nicer! I’m hoping it stays like this and isn’t just teasing. The rest of this post is pretty lengthy. Don’t feel like you need to read all of it, remember this is my journal too and I don’t wanna forget anything...

My delicious chocolate covered waffle

The chocolate came in all different shapes! Too cute to eat.

At the top of the Duomo. Words cannot describe the gorgeous view.

Thursday: Was perfect. Final. It’s safe to say I’m now obsessed with Florence.

Hannah and I made a goal to go to at least 1 museum a week while were here and yesterday was when we’d begin. We have a museum pass that gets us in most places for free, so why not use it to enjoy all the art and history Florence has to offer. Before the museum, though, we had to make a stop at the chocolate festival.

                                                                                     For those of you who know me, you also know my obsession with chocolate. It runs in the family (thanks dad). Everything looked so good. The people are so talented and crafted chocolate into almost anything you could imagine! Hannah and I both went with a chocolate covered waffle which was absolutely amazing. And dangerous. All I have to say is thank god the chocolate festival isn’t here all year round.

Once we finished devouring our fabulous chocolate we went to the Uffizi which with the use of our museum card allowed us to cut the long ass line.  The museum is absolutely gorgeous and filled with history. However it’s probably best known for housing the famous ‘Birth of Venus,’ painted by Botticelli.  There were numerous paintings throughout the museum and thanks to the fact that Hannah is taking art history, I basically got my own private tour– minus the boring and pointless facts/details those automated things tell you.

Then it was on to the Duomo...FINALLY. My friends and I have all been joking around that we were gonna be those girls who go to Florence and never climb the Duomo. Since it was absolutely gorgeous out (the first time I’ve been able to break out my leather jacket!) we decided it would be a good idea to do it. And let me tell you, it was absolutely breathtaking. The views are unreal and even though the walk up it very cramped and tiring, it’s so worth it!

When we were done and climbed back down, Hannah and I were feeling adventurous. We could take on anything at this point. I had heard of a store and wanted to go find it so we figured that would be a good thing to get done as it was only about 4:30ish and the sun was still high and shining.

We made our way to Brandy Melville, but what we didn’t know is that it’s a long haul. When we finally saw the store I was so relieved. And that relief turned into excitement and adrenaline when I realized all the great stuff they had! I had so much trouble deciding what I did and didn’t need, but when it came down to the end, every piece I bought I absolutely loved (I have a lot of love to spread so work with me here). Needless to say I walked out of there a very happy customer (although I don’t know how happy my wallet was...still not sorry).

25 minutes later we were home and I was absolutely exhausted but decided to go out to dinner with Morgan, Alexa, and Breana. After dinner we went to Bacco and Kikuya but I didn’t stay for long because I was literally falling asleep at the table. Not to mention Hannah and I were going to continue to take on the world the next day so there was much needed rest in demand.

Friday: Hannah woke me up at 11:15 and I literally wanted to die. Why is it that I’m here in Florence, the most amazing place ever, and all I want to do is sleep?! I forced myself out of bed, put on one of my new shirts :D (gives me motivation to get a move on when I look fabulous) and me Shelby (my other roommate) and I were off. 

First stop of the day was the Bargello Museum. If I wasn’t following Hannah I would have gone right past it. They don’t mark things very well here. I wasn’t ‘wowed’ by it, but was fascinated by how old many of the items were. They had stuff from the year 141C and jewelry dating back to 415C. It was insane!

Then it was time for some much needed gelato so we went to Gelato Di Neri which had been recommended to me by my big.  Big, if you’re reading this, WHY DID YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS PLACE? I say that because it was phenomenal. I wish I didn’t remember where it was so that I wouldn’t be tempted to go back all the time!

Apres gelato I wanted to shop! We headed to the San Lorenzo leather market since I had never been there and I bought 3 scarves that I love. I was looking for a wallet when all of a sudden we found Massimo Leather! Didn’t buy anything. But not to worry, I’ll be back!

So now it’s about 2:30 and we’re running out of steam. Made our way back to our apartment where we found our landlord installing a new stove (our old one had been leaking gas). Went food shopping, made lunch, did some work. Another amazing day with beautiful weather. I can get used to this.

It goes without saying, after these perfect couple days I’ve come to realize how much I love Florence.
Its official. In the words of my ingenious big, Firenze is my boyfriend.

Lock it Up in Interlaken

The rest of my week was thankfully low key and consisted of Jenn and I being locked in our apartment in an attempt to get better (yes, we were both sick). They also finally turned up our heat since Italy is in a state of record low temperatures. Hasn’t been this cold here since 1985, pretty much prehistoric times according to my ethics teacher.

Speaking of which, record lows in Itlaia. Not cool. Especially when 90% of my winter wardrobe is at home on Long Island in the 60 degree weather.

Anyway, back to the main point of this post...INTERLAKEN! After all the stress and havoc I dealt with earlier in the week the least I could do is give you all the low down since I know you’re probably at the edge of your seats waiting for updates...

I ended up going with everyone through Florence for Fun. We got to the train station (the meeting spot) early to get good seats on the bus but the bus wasn’t even there yet. The 8 hour drive wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be either. We got to Interlaken at like 3am and went right to bed. At 8 we had to be in the lobby to sign up for activities. Most of the girls I went with were going canyon jumping but that scared the crap out me so I decided to march to the beat of my own drum and go skydiving. I have no idea how skydiving is less scary than bungee jumping into a canyon, but to me it was. 

 (The view from our room (L) and the room that 8 of use shared (R))

SKYDIVING: hands down the most amazing thing I’ve ever done. We got to the place and had to wait since the helicopter could only let 2 people go at a time. After the first group of girls went there was a serious cloud cover so we had to wait about an hour for the sky to clear up. so anti climactic, but it was worth it. We drove to the helicopter and once it took off I realized what I was actually doing. I started freaking out and at one point almost cried. Once my friend Vera jumped out we inched toward the ledge of the helicopter.  I was looking out and could see the tops of the mountains below me!  Almost like slow motion, my gaze started going down and I felt myself tipping out of the helicopter. There was a rush and I could feel my stomach drop for about a second and then all I felt was the wind coming at me and my body free falling into the clouds.  I had to fight to keep my mouth closed, the wind was so strong. After probably a good 30 seconds (thats A LOT) the parachute deployed.  I can’t even begin to explain the feeling of relief that set in when I realized I was, in fact, not going to die. I was able to steer the parachute for a while and enjoy the breathtaking sights of the mountains, covered in snow. When we landed the first thing I shouted was ‘I’m alive!’ (you can hear me say it on my video). Writing this now I still can’t believe I did it. Worth every penny and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

[pre skydiving and rockin' the jumpsuit (R)]

 [screaming at the top of my lungs and terrified (R)]

 [steering the parachute over Interlaken. Pictures really don't do it justice though. You'll need to try it yourself! (L)]

 [happy to still be alive! (R)]

That night we went to a chocolate tasting, which was delicious, and then had cheese fondue for dinner back at the hostel. It was an early night since most of us were exhausted and running on about 4 hours of sleep.

The next day a few of us went on an optional day trip to Bern, the administrative capital of Switzerland.  It was an adorable little town, but soooo cold which made it hard to walk around. However we did make it to Albert Einstein’s apartment where he created most of his theories and formulas which was cool. 

 [Einstein's apartment!]

Saturday night we went to the club at Balmer’s (hostel across the street). It was tons of fun and we all dance like crazy. The place was PACKED and we were not expecting that at all.  After we went to this little pizza shop that looked gross but tasted ah-mazing. I probably could have eaten a whole pie myself.

Sunday we went to breakfast as Utopia. The woman who owns it is from New York and has bagels and veggie cream cheese.  Perfect for the morning after and made me feel like I was home. It was so good that we went back later to get food for the bus ride. The morning was dedicated to wandered around Interlaken and then getting on the bus at 3:30 for another 8 hour drive home.  

 [goodbye Switz. hopefully we'll meet again!]

I was sad to leave on Sunday.  This weekend awesome and great way to start the traveling that (hopefully) will occur most weekends.  It was also (hopefully) the most expensive which also makes me glad I did it early on so I could do everything I wanted.  I don’t even want to know how much my credit card bill is going to be. But like I said, worth every penny.

I love it here in Florence, but I love traveling more and being able to come back to this adorable city that I now call home.

That’s about it for now! I’ll try to post later in the week before the weekends festivities (Carnivale and a wine tasting in Tuscany)!

Super Bowl Sunday to the Madness of Monday

SO I know I said you wouldn’t hear from me until after Interlaken, but after the events that have happened since I last wrote (i.e. right after I posted/past 24 hours), I just couldn’t resist.

I ended up being able to go to the Red Garter with everyone thanks to Francesco, who let me know it would be okay if I came without a ticket (so much for staying in and getting better). Got there early, ate dinner, and then proceeded to find our seats. It was sponsored by Florence for Fun, who was giving away raffles throughout the game. Keep this in mind. It comes in handy later. 

We watched the game which was really comforting to be surrounded by other Americans. Kinda made me feel more at home and less across the Atlantic. We stayed until half time ended; don’t even get me started on the half time show.  After watching the past-her-prime Madonna, we were ready to go but stayed to listen to the winners of the raffles. The last trip they called out was a free trip to Interlaken. Considering I never win these type of things and had already booked my trip with my friends, I was barely listening. The guy announcing sticks his hand in the bucket with all the tickets and is flailing the tickets around until he chooses one to pick. And guess whose name it was. Yup. Yours truly! I was so shocked and embarrassed to hear my name announced but went down and picked up my prize. 

My initial thought process was ‘maybe they’ll let me use it toward something else since I’m already going to Interlaken with bus2alps.’ 

However, when my friends and I were walking (in search of a secret bakery) they kept saying that maybe Florence for Fun would just give me my money back. I replied asking why they would do that since we were going through bus2alps. Their confused faces made me realize something was not right.

Turns out they had booked Interlaken through Florence for Fun and I had booked it through bus2alps. Two TOTALLY different trips!

Panic started to settle in when I realized that I had signed up for the wrong trip. As we we’re walking the streets searching for the secret bakery, my mind was so preoccupied I hardly realized what’s going on. Alas! We find the bakery and for a few minutes I’m able to enjoy my delicious chocolate croissant that is freshly made. Seriously, these secret bakeries are AMAZING and are only open from 1-4am. i.e. perfect for when you’re drunk. And by perfect I mean tastes good, makes you fat. 

Anyway, I’m halfway done and remember the issue at hand causing me to lose a huge part of my appetite. When does anything ever take precedence over food? Pretty much never. International fatty right here. #always

I depart from my friends to go back to my apartment so that I can deal with what’s going on. Not so easy. I walk about a block by myself and see these Italian men in the street and a girl pretty much passed out on one of their motorcycles. I don’t even wanna know. Keep walking mal. WRONG. The 3 men start talking to me in italian and walk into the street in order to block me from walking any further. At this point I’m scared shitless and was really not in the mood to get mugged/robbed/gang-banged or whatever else these men had in mind. I literally do the only thing I can think of, which is run in the opposite direction back to Cassie, Ellyn, Molly and Jaclyn, hoping they haven’t made it too far. Once I reach them and explain my extremely traumatizing experience they take me home a different way. If any of you guys are reading this, thanks!

At this point I think its safe to say I’ve completely lost my appetite. I walk into my apartment, chuck what’s left of my chocolatey delicious croissant in the trash, and head straight to my computer. I e-mail bus2alps and my collegiate rep in the US. It’s 3am in italy and 9pm at home. The night of the Super Bowl– no one is gonna be able to help me. But I’m too high strung to go to sleep (even though I should since I’m sick and was falling asleep at Red Garter). I’m talking to my collegiate rep via facebook, who tells me she’ll contact me when she finds out what to do.  Now we’re creeping on 3:30, still not the least bit tired. 

Actually I’m exhausted but this stress is way too much to handle and could probably keep me going all night. 

After an attempt to pass out thanks to nyquil, and lots of tossing and turning, I wake up early to contact bus2alps and deal with my dilemma.  I seem to have forgotten that most places don’t open until noon here, which is perfect for me 99% of the time considering my never ending sleeping schedule. But today is the 1% when I wish Europe operated like they do in America: 9-5, or better yet 24/7! yeah, right. 

I refresh my e-mail numerous times but figure there’s no use in staring at my blank screen so I make my way to class since I had to pick up a book on the way.

Get to the store. Pick up my book. Easy. That is until I’m halfway to my class and realize I forgot the books for my second class at home. Mind you the class I’m on my way to is pretty much in Guam, as in a 20 minute walk from my apartment.  I book it to my apartment (pun intended), grab what I need and power walk to class so that I’m not late.

It’s cold. I’m sweating, sick, ruined my trip for the weekend, almost got mugged, etc. etc. etc. These past few hours have been overwhelming to say the least.

All I can think in my head as I speedily shuffle my feet is ‘Dear Florence, Living here should not be this stressful. You’re making this relationship very difficult. But don't worry, I won’t give up on you.’

I get to class, go to open the door and the handle completely breaks off. Go figure.

Ss soon as Italian was over I ran out of the room to go book my free trip with Florence for Fun and see if bus2alps had replied to the 5 emails I panickly (not a word, i know. but now it is) wrote at 3am.

Good news is that if I book a different trip with them I only get a 25e cancellation fee. Bad news is I need to do it by Wednesday and we haven’t really figured out what other trips we want to use b2a (new shortcut for bus2alps) for. aka its crunch time. 

I guess all in all it’s a good thing I won the trip because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have realized I booked the wrong one until the day of!  

This kind of thing would happen to me. Nevertheless, in an attempt to end this post on the optimistic side...

A blessing in disguise? 

Not Much To Report On. But If You're Bored...

Lets see, where to leave off since we last met. Right Wednesday. Went to italian, still don’t know any. Walked home and ran into my suite mates who were going to find the book store. I figured, knowing my sense of direction, it would be a good idea to tag along. I can say without a doubt that this is the most I have ever spent on textbooks. in my life. But I’m over it.  

other notable moments: I HAD MY FIRST GELATO! As I previously mentioned it was freezing out but we walked past GROM, a gelato shop, and I had gotten recommendations to go there so I was like why not? So. good. Now I know why everyone worries about gaining weight. I can’t wait to have more!

(it was freezing cold out but I was still able to enjoy my first gelato!)

Went to yellow bar for dinner that night with Jen, Molly, and a bunch of Fairfield girls. Jen and I split 2 different pizzas. Ah-mazing. definitely considering taking my parents there. After went and pre-gamed at Jaclyn's apt and eventually made it to kakyuya. they are known for their dragoons which are beer with 18% alcohol. I'm normally not a beer lover and it was SO strong but great for the experience. Absolute must for those who enjoy beer. Ended the night early cause I had a 9am the next day. 

history of fashion design was interesting although the teacher spent 45 minutes of class showing us a powerpoint about herself. I could really care less although she does seem somewhat legit. There were only about 10 of us in the class and since in it was sala rosa and she turned off the lights, I was pretty sure she was TRYING to put us to sleep. But in all seriousness I think I’ll learn a lot and it should be a good time. 

I walked out of class to find it was STILL snowing so jaclyn and I decided walking around wasn’t gonna happen. Walked for about and hour and a half to get our culinary books and the obv stopped off at pinos after, but only for bread. I’ve officially found my token lunch that I can make myself!

Thursday night we went to dinner at Aqua al Due. It was absolutely amazing and I’m absolutely taking my parents there when they come to visit. We all shared the pasta sampler, balsamic steak, blueberry steak, and the desert sampler (all of which were recommended to us by multiple people). So good, I’m still dreaming about it. After we hit up the Lion’s Fountain, Bacco, and ended at Twice. Solid night and lots of fun. Slept until 1 the next day even though I told myself I’d get up at 11 and be productive. 

Friday was absolutely freezing and we found out our trip this weekend was cancelled. Kinda bummed because I was looking forward to seeing places in Tuscany that I normally wouldn’t go to. Hopefully the rest of our travels will be exciting and make up for it though!

Saturday I went shopping for a bit with Cassie and Ellyn and got a shirt and adorable shorts (not that I’ll get to wear them with the weather we have now). Got home and wasn’t feeling too hot so I stayed in for the night to rest up. Same deal on Sunday.  Kinda bummed I missed the super bowl but would rather get better than wait up until midnight for the game to even start! #studyabroadprobz 

We booked Interlaken for this coming weekend and I’m super pumped! You’ll hear back from me after we lock it up!

Freezing in Firenze

So I’m trying my best to make this a habit to prevent me from falling off the earth and never writing again. Maybe it’ll also make my posts shorter since I’ll be writing more often.

Who am I kidding? I always have plenty to say.

Anyway, rundown of the week thus far. It’s only Wednesday which means a. happy hump day! b. one more day (and by day I mean morning) of classes. 

Classes, right. The ‘study’ part of my study abroad experience has officially begun...

Monday I had Wine culture in Italy which I can tell will be a challenging but fun experience. The teacher had pages on pages of slides that were filled with information. I’m pretty sure I lost feeling in my hand 45 min in. However the second half of class is dedicated to wine tasting which is awesome. We learn how to properly taste wine and get to sample 3 glasses of wine each class. aka considering that the class is at noon and I don’t usually eat a lot before I go, I will probably get to my 3:00pm Italian class tipsy. And I’m okay with that. La dolce vita, no? Italian was pretty standard the teacher is adorable and very quiet but doesn’t speak great English and our workbooks are completely in Italiano. not cool. Monday night we started planning out possible trips we all wanted to take so that we could get an idea of where/when we will be traveling. so much more stressful than I thought. There’s just too many places I want to go and not enough time AT ALL.  Didn’t make it out but I’m okay with it because my nose has been running up the wazoo and the last thing I want is to start off the semester sick. 

Tuesday I only had one class at 3 so I met Jaclyn for lunch at Pino’s, pretty much our favorite sandwich place thus far. 

Pause, I think it’s safe to say Pino is gonna be my new best friend, and by ‘I think,’ I mean it’s happening.  Literally the nicest man, and he’s pretty funny too!  While I’ll try to make it to all the restaurants recommended in the 4 guides I was given from various friends (without going broke/spending all my money on food), the food at Pino’s is just so good! And as I always say, if it ‘aint broke, don’t fix it. Unless, that is, we’re talking about shoes, bags, and clothing; in which case you should always go all out. But I digress. We also got cold cuts from Pino since he speaks english and the men at Billa (supermarket) don’t. Made myself a sandwich for lunch today and it was delizioso (that delicious in Italian, in case you were wondering).

Anyway, european lit was extremely boring and the teacher requires us to buy 8 books, reading 1 per week. I was not expecting class to cost me 80euro but I guess that just comes with the experience (and educational aspect). Right? 

(The room, Sala Rosa, where I have 2 of my classes. SO different from Muhlenberg!)

Now before I go on, I MUST take a break, once again, to address this (I know you’re all dying to know what else I have to say, but work with me here). IT SNOWED! Yes, white, flurry, cold, wet, snow. Dear Florence, I did not leave NY/PA to come here and find snow!  While my brother is in Michigan in shorts, I’m bundled up in my Hunter boots, 2 sweaters, and winter coat!  All week its been pretty cold but Tuesday was brutal and Tuesday night there were flurries! I woke up this morning to find nothing outside though. However, Florentine people are NOT used to snow so the whole city shuts down and people go crazy. It's insane!

Today (Wednesday) I have 2 classes: ethics in a world context and italian. I went to my ethics class only to find that the teacher wasn’t there. Why, you may ask, considering its the first day of classes? THE SNOW! Apparently he lives right outside of Florence and couldn’t get into the city. I was so shocked. There wasn’t even any snow on the ground aka it didn’t stick but people’s whole day were still getting affected. I guess thats what happens when you’re not used to it. NOT that I’m complaining, I got out of class 2 hours and 15 min early :D

So now I’m in my freeeezing apartment writing this, waiting for it to be time for my italian class. Tomorrow I have class at 9 (earliest class, ugh). It’s history of fashion design so I’m hoping it’ll be a good class that will keep me awake. For those of you that know me well, I don’t usually function like a normal human before 10, the earliest. After, assuming I’m alive, I’ll probably hunt down the bookstores where I need to buy my textbooks for various classes (so much for syllabus week) and then spend the afternoon doing work because a. it’s too cold to walk around and b. we’re going away for the weekend.

Speaking of which, Saturday morning, at the wee hour of 7:45am we’re going on our last orientation trip which will last 2 days. We’ll be seeing Assisi, Perugia, Siena, and San Gimignano. I’m really excited because I probably wouldn’t make it to these cities if they weren’t taking us. 

Off to learn some more italiano, god knows I could use all the practice I can get. 

Happy February, everyone...Ciao!