14. That is the number of mosquito bites I have. 5. That is the amount located on my face. Not fun to say the least. With this beautiful heat and sunshine, comes the mosquitos.
Saturday was spent at the Bargello Museum, San Lorenzo Market, and long walks outside.
I went to dinner with a huge group of people, had eggplant, pasta and wine. After we all went out to Cafe Bigalo and Rex. Chloe and I had said at the beginning of the night that we would stay out allll night. And we did. We ran around the city from bar to bar and had a great time. Because of the time change (yes, unfortunately it does change here) we didn't get home until about 5. It was a ball.
We woke up and went to the American diner, I had eggs benedict and a peach ice tea. Went home, showered, did laundry, skyped and did homework, then went to bed early, exhausted.
Monday I had class cancelled so Laura and I went with Michaela and her friends to a park nearby and laid out in the sunshine.
Last night we went to a bar called the Old Stove and did trivia night. I was on an all girls team vs 4 other teams, mostly made of guys. It was fun because everyone playing were GIF students and we all knew each other. Our first two rounds didnt go that well, but when we got to the History round, Kira and I dominated and got almost every question right. We ended up in a tie for second place. Thankfully the guys that won are of the more generous, so they spent their 50 euro bar tab winnings by buying everyone who played a drink. It was a ball.
Today I only had Italian class. We were supposed to go to a piazza down the street, but Russo's neck was bugging her. She brought us freshly baked Foccacia bread and the seven of us chowed down on it. Wednesdays are always funny because all seven of us always go out on Tuesday nights, so class is always a fun time the next day. We ended up not opening our books once. She said "ask me questions" and we did. We asked about what Easter was like in Florence and from there the conversation somehow got into life stories. Russo told us about how she has lived in Florence her entire life. About living here during WWII and what she saw. About politics, wars in general, and life lessons. We finally figured out her age because we asked how old she was during the war. 15 in 1945, so she was born in 1930. She is just as old as we had guessed. She was giggling at herself that we won the fight and tricked her into giving us dates. It was a wonderful day. We started out all speaking in Italian, but at some point it switched to English which was nice because we got a lot more out of what she was saying.
Russo is a great lady. A lot of people dont like her, Im truly not sure why. She is great. I cant believe she is still coming to school every day and teaching all day long at her age. She amazes me. After today's talk I think we all left class with more respect, love and reverence to her.
I came home to the smell of cauliflower and pasta. Excited for lunch.
Ciao.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Vespas and Vino
Friday morning Christina, Laura, Sean, Keagan, Tucker, Kiki, Chloe and I woke up and met a man from a Chianti wine tour company in San Marco. He drove us out to Chianti and on the way we picked up his son Joseph. Joseph is three, so was obviously a big hit for those of us girls. We absolutely loved him and he loved the attention.
When we got to Chianti we got our helmets on and were given our vespas. I got a yellow one (yes!) and they had us drive around the little property to practice before we went out on the roads. We all had it down pretty well and headed out. There weren't many cars out at all, so that really wasnt a concern. I picked up driving it pretty quickly and really enjoyed riding it. We stopped at a tiny town with 4 homes, 1 restaurant and 1 church in it for a little snack. Chloe and I went into the church, as we always do, had our chats with God and lit candles for friends back at home.
We got back on the road and drove to a huge fort/castle. We walked around inside, took lots of pictures, and then we were led into a little winery. There, one of the guides talked to us about the wines and we tasted about 3 different kinds. Sean bought a bottle, and Chloe and I were tempted but decided against it.
We got back on our vespas for the last leg of the journey back to the place we picked the vespas up. Then they put us back in the van, and took us over to a restaurant near a lake. They fed us tons of food and tons of wine. Bottomless wine for that matter. We all drank quite a bit, to say the least. The food was delicious and so was the wine. We ate and drank and then walked around by the lake. The guides packed us back into the van and drove us back home to our pensione. We all fell right to sleep and woke up for dinner at about 9. We went to dinner, and came home, exhausted.
I got on skype and saw my mama, aunt Lisa, and cousin Caroline. I was so happy to get to see them and we had a great chat.
I fell right to sleep, so content.
When we got to Chianti we got our helmets on and were given our vespas. I got a yellow one (yes!) and they had us drive around the little property to practice before we went out on the roads. We all had it down pretty well and headed out. There weren't many cars out at all, so that really wasnt a concern. I picked up driving it pretty quickly and really enjoyed riding it. We stopped at a tiny town with 4 homes, 1 restaurant and 1 church in it for a little snack. Chloe and I went into the church, as we always do, had our chats with God and lit candles for friends back at home.
We got back on the road and drove to a huge fort/castle. We walked around inside, took lots of pictures, and then we were led into a little winery. There, one of the guides talked to us about the wines and we tasted about 3 different kinds. Sean bought a bottle, and Chloe and I were tempted but decided against it.
We got back on our vespas for the last leg of the journey back to the place we picked the vespas up. Then they put us back in the van, and took us over to a restaurant near a lake. They fed us tons of food and tons of wine. Bottomless wine for that matter. We all drank quite a bit, to say the least. The food was delicious and so was the wine. We ate and drank and then walked around by the lake. The guides packed us back into the van and drove us back home to our pensione. We all fell right to sleep and woke up for dinner at about 9. We went to dinner, and came home, exhausted.
I got on skype and saw my mama, aunt Lisa, and cousin Caroline. I was so happy to get to see them and we had a great chat.
I fell right to sleep, so content.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Happy New Year...
Thursday was New Years day for Florence. None of us really understood why, and no one explained it to us, but we loved the day. After lunch about ten of us headed over to the New Years market. Its a market that only comes on new years day. There was a ton of food, candy, chocolate, meat, clothes, jewelry, everything. The sun was shining, we were all in t-shirts and sun glasses. Chloe and Tucker got Coronas and I made a necklace. There were charms and chains, I chose a silver elephant and a long silver chain. The man and I put it together and my grand total was 2 euro. I love the necklace. At some of the places there were whole pigs that had been roasted sitting on the counter. You could literally walk up, have a sliver of pig cut off and handed to you right there. I was obviously disturbed but plenty of people there loved it.
After meandering, Chloe, Tucker, Kiki and I climbed the Duomo. It was a rough climb, lots of steps, but worse for me, extremely claustrophobic, tinnnyyy staircases. It was well worth it once at the top though. The view of the city is absolutely perfect. The Duomo is the center of everything. We took plenty of pictures, hung out for a while, and headed home.
I went to Cirque Du Soleil that night with a bunch of friends. On the way we stopped at a Sandwhich shop that Federica (student Life staff) had suggested. It had HUGE, delicious paninis for only 4 euro. It was a local place, no one spoke english and it was full of Italians. Our favorite. We chowed down and everyone was stuffed. Then crossed the street to the Mandella Forum where Cirque was held. Saltimbanco was the name. It was amazing, blew me away. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time. The trapeze artists were doing the most unreal tricks. All of the acts were amazing, and they included some clown like, really funny acts, too. There was a little girl sitting next to me making me laugh because she was enjoying it so much. I was inspired to go home and work out and find a crazy talent so that by next year Jackie and I can join Cirque, wouldnt that be fun?
Came home late and exhausted, hopped in to bed and got a good nights sleep.
After meandering, Chloe, Tucker, Kiki and I climbed the Duomo. It was a rough climb, lots of steps, but worse for me, extremely claustrophobic, tinnnyyy staircases. It was well worth it once at the top though. The view of the city is absolutely perfect. The Duomo is the center of everything. We took plenty of pictures, hung out for a while, and headed home.
I went to Cirque Du Soleil that night with a bunch of friends. On the way we stopped at a Sandwhich shop that Federica (student Life staff) had suggested. It had HUGE, delicious paninis for only 4 euro. It was a local place, no one spoke english and it was full of Italians. Our favorite. We chowed down and everyone was stuffed. Then crossed the street to the Mandella Forum where Cirque was held. Saltimbanco was the name. It was amazing, blew me away. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time. The trapeze artists were doing the most unreal tricks. All of the acts were amazing, and they included some clown like, really funny acts, too. There was a little girl sitting next to me making me laugh because she was enjoying it so much. I was inspired to go home and work out and find a crazy talent so that by next year Jackie and I can join Cirque, wouldnt that be fun?
Came home late and exhausted, hopped in to bed and got a good nights sleep.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Spring is here!!
This week has been amazingly gorgeous.
Matt Butterfeild and his mom were here this week. That was a dream. It was so good to see Matt. We took them out on Tuesday night to Joshua Tree bar and had a great time. Matt and I are old friends from home so it was nice getting to sit and talk with him for so long. It was also great to see his mom. She is so sweet and so mom-like, so she acted as a mommy to us this week.
On Wednesday, Chloe and I left after lunch and decided to walk around the city. We stopped at Grom, our favorite Gelato place, and headed to the Triangle Bridge. The triangle bridge is one bridge down from the Ponte Vecchio and we call it the Triangle bridge because there are these big triangle shaped ledges coming off of it that we sit on. We sat there for hours, talking and soaking up the sunshine in our t-shirts and flip flops. We havent been able to wear t-shirts and flip flops yet, so it was a very exciting day!
Hello Spring!
Matt Butterfeild and his mom were here this week. That was a dream. It was so good to see Matt. We took them out on Tuesday night to Joshua Tree bar and had a great time. Matt and I are old friends from home so it was nice getting to sit and talk with him for so long. It was also great to see his mom. She is so sweet and so mom-like, so she acted as a mommy to us this week.
On Wednesday, Chloe and I left after lunch and decided to walk around the city. We stopped at Grom, our favorite Gelato place, and headed to the Triangle Bridge. The triangle bridge is one bridge down from the Ponte Vecchio and we call it the Triangle bridge because there are these big triangle shaped ledges coming off of it that we sit on. We sat there for hours, talking and soaking up the sunshine in our t-shirts and flip flops. We havent been able to wear t-shirts and flip flops yet, so it was a very exciting day!
Hello Spring!
Aran Islands
We got up on Friday morning and took a bus to a ferry which took us to the Aran Islands.
We went to the little supermarket and got sandwiches and fruit and waters. We then rented bikes and headed out on our own bike tour all over the island. We stopped to have a picnic and eat our food on the water by a bunch of seals, it was beautiful of course. While we were eating I heard music, and got up to investigate. Behind us a little ways there were two Asian girls playing songs on their flutes. It was absolutely beautiful and after their song the three of us clapped for them, and they continued playing. We hopped back on the bikes and continued. Stopped for pictures, stopped for Katie to pet horses, etc.
We went to the cliffs and laid down on the edge of them, climbed around on the ruins and frolicked in the open grass. It was warm, the sun was shining, and the island was beautiful. We talked a lot about how we thought the 800 people on the island lived. The houses were so scattered. How many schools were there? How many restaurants, bars, etc? We had many discussions over what each of us thought the lifestyle of the Aran Island people was like. We ended up finding and elementary school and going in to it. We also went into a church, and then to the Aran Sweater Market. Katie and I remembered that dad had a sweater that looked just like these. I bbmed him to see if we were right, and in fact, we were. I ended up getting a sweater, and katie and wade got beanies.
We left the island at 5 an made it back to our hostel a little after 7. We got some Wok food (we love those places), got ready and were out to the first bar by 930. The man at the front desk was so excited when we asked him for bar suggestions. He jumped up and said he loved the young bar scene there and had plenty of suggestions. He gave us the names of about 5 places and we headed out.
First we went to a place called the Kinds Head, it was fun, but didnt have live music. We each had our beers and had a long life chat, and decided to move on. Next was the Queys. It was a huge bar with a great live band. We had a few beers there. Katie and I were a bit upset with the band because they didnt know "Galway Girl" but they did know Creedence Clearwater songs, haha nonetheless they were very talented. After the Queys we went to another bar that I cant remember the name of. We liked that one because, although it wasnt live music, their DJ was playing great old favorites of ours. We had fun dancing around. After that we went to a place called the Spanish Arch. This was my favorite. The band was AMAZING, and the lead singer was so talented. They played great songs that we all knew, so we stood there and watched, danced a bit, and had another guinness. There were tons of people in that bar, a huge group of men in kilts, and we danced around with them a bit too.
We headed home around 2 am, fully satisfied with our ability to make it to so many bars in one night, which is what was suggested to us that we do.
We left to go back to Dublin first thing the next morning. We walked around the city and did some last minute shopping/errands before heading to the airport hotel we were staying at. We watched titanic, had dinner, and fell asleep early.
Wade left around 5 am so neither of us saw him leave. Katie and I went to the continental breakfast. Ate SO much food in the hopes that we would stay full for the entire day, and left for the airport. We said our goodbyes and flew home.
Unfortunately, I had a 4 hour layover in Gatwick which was extended when my plane got delayed. I made it home around 130 in the morning, did my Italian homework, and went to bed.
Spring break was a great success!
We went to the little supermarket and got sandwiches and fruit and waters. We then rented bikes and headed out on our own bike tour all over the island. We stopped to have a picnic and eat our food on the water by a bunch of seals, it was beautiful of course. While we were eating I heard music, and got up to investigate. Behind us a little ways there were two Asian girls playing songs on their flutes. It was absolutely beautiful and after their song the three of us clapped for them, and they continued playing. We hopped back on the bikes and continued. Stopped for pictures, stopped for Katie to pet horses, etc.
We went to the cliffs and laid down on the edge of them, climbed around on the ruins and frolicked in the open grass. It was warm, the sun was shining, and the island was beautiful. We talked a lot about how we thought the 800 people on the island lived. The houses were so scattered. How many schools were there? How many restaurants, bars, etc? We had many discussions over what each of us thought the lifestyle of the Aran Island people was like. We ended up finding and elementary school and going in to it. We also went into a church, and then to the Aran Sweater Market. Katie and I remembered that dad had a sweater that looked just like these. I bbmed him to see if we were right, and in fact, we were. I ended up getting a sweater, and katie and wade got beanies.
We left the island at 5 an made it back to our hostel a little after 7. We got some Wok food (we love those places), got ready and were out to the first bar by 930. The man at the front desk was so excited when we asked him for bar suggestions. He jumped up and said he loved the young bar scene there and had plenty of suggestions. He gave us the names of about 5 places and we headed out.
First we went to a place called the Kinds Head, it was fun, but didnt have live music. We each had our beers and had a long life chat, and decided to move on. Next was the Queys. It was a huge bar with a great live band. We had a few beers there. Katie and I were a bit upset with the band because they didnt know "Galway Girl" but they did know Creedence Clearwater songs, haha nonetheless they were very talented. After the Queys we went to another bar that I cant remember the name of. We liked that one because, although it wasnt live music, their DJ was playing great old favorites of ours. We had fun dancing around. After that we went to a place called the Spanish Arch. This was my favorite. The band was AMAZING, and the lead singer was so talented. They played great songs that we all knew, so we stood there and watched, danced a bit, and had another guinness. There were tons of people in that bar, a huge group of men in kilts, and we danced around with them a bit too.
We headed home around 2 am, fully satisfied with our ability to make it to so many bars in one night, which is what was suggested to us that we do.
We left to go back to Dublin first thing the next morning. We walked around the city and did some last minute shopping/errands before heading to the airport hotel we were staying at. We watched titanic, had dinner, and fell asleep early.
Wade left around 5 am so neither of us saw him leave. Katie and I went to the continental breakfast. Ate SO much food in the hopes that we would stay full for the entire day, and left for the airport. We said our goodbyes and flew home.
Unfortunately, I had a 4 hour layover in Gatwick which was extended when my plane got delayed. I made it home around 130 in the morning, did my Italian homework, and went to bed.
Spring break was a great success!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Welcome to Dublin
Alright, here is what I have decided. Giving a detailed day-by-day description isnt going to happen because I just dont have the time or energy. I wrote out a journal for myself during the week, so Ill just give bullet points. <3
Monday.
- Arrived in Dublin, got into our beautiful hotel, met Wade, went site seeing = St. Patrick's Cathedral, St Stephens Green, Trinity College, Dublin Castle, ST ANN'S CHURCH - I was so excited to pass another one of my names, multiple pictures were taken. Its now my new goal to find a St. Therese church, then Ill have completed all my names, how cool.
- Had dinner at a diner, had burgers and fries and milkshakes, delish! Havent had anything like that in ages. (I had a veggie burger)
- Wade was exhausted so we took him home and Katie and I went to a bar with live Irish music and Irish dancers. It was great fun, entertaining, good guinness
Tuesday.
- Wild Wicklow Tour. A bus tour from 9-5 through the countryside outside of Dublin and into Wicklow. It was a blast. The bus driver was a funny guy. I sat up front in the jump seat right near the driver so we became good friends. We talked about how I had been to Ireland before and he announced to the entire bus that we had a dancer along with us and maybe everyone could work on convincing me to do a little dance for them. Of course this didnt happen, but we got a good laugh out of it. John was 66 but he might have had a bit of a crush on me...haha
Had lunch in a little town, potato and leak soup - loved it.
Went back to the Arlington that night for more live music and dancing and fun but went home early to prepare for St. Patty's.
Wednesday.
HAPPY ST. PATRICKS!
We got up early, had breakfast and mimosas and headed out. We went to the parade route (we thought early enough) and tried to get good spots. We climbed up on a statue for a better look. We stayed there till the Parade started and a while into the Parade before we got hungry and headed to get some lunch and go to a pub. We ended up hopping around from pub to pub, meeting people, dancing, drinking guinness and smithwicks, and having a merry good time.
We had dinner, took some power naps, and headed back out that night. Everyone was covered in green, celebrating, and having a great time. We ran into lots of friends.. Katie's friends from London, my friends from Florence, etc. BUt we also made a lot of friends. Great conversations, exploring, more dancing, etc.
We went home late, probably around 2 a.m and fell fast asleep. :)
Thursday.
- Woke up to find the room a complete mess. It was quite funny how messy it was so we took pictures of it. We went down and had breakfast, packed up, and got on a bus to Galway.
- Bus was 4 hours long, a bit painful because we might have been a bit hungover. But we made it.
- Got to Galway, found our hostel, and spent the rest of the day walking/exploring around the city. We saw the Spanish Arch, St. Nicholas Cathedral (went to church there) and walked along the river. We went to a small family run place for dinner and went home early to hang out and rest up.
The rest will come soon, promise. For now its lunch time. Its a beautiful sunny day out and I cant wait to spend the rest of the day outside after lunch! Im in flip flops and a t-shirt, FINALLY!
xoxo
Monday.
- Arrived in Dublin, got into our beautiful hotel, met Wade, went site seeing = St. Patrick's Cathedral, St Stephens Green, Trinity College, Dublin Castle, ST ANN'S CHURCH - I was so excited to pass another one of my names, multiple pictures were taken. Its now my new goal to find a St. Therese church, then Ill have completed all my names, how cool.
- Had dinner at a diner, had burgers and fries and milkshakes, delish! Havent had anything like that in ages. (I had a veggie burger)
- Wade was exhausted so we took him home and Katie and I went to a bar with live Irish music and Irish dancers. It was great fun, entertaining, good guinness
Tuesday.
- Wild Wicklow Tour. A bus tour from 9-5 through the countryside outside of Dublin and into Wicklow. It was a blast. The bus driver was a funny guy. I sat up front in the jump seat right near the driver so we became good friends. We talked about how I had been to Ireland before and he announced to the entire bus that we had a dancer along with us and maybe everyone could work on convincing me to do a little dance for them. Of course this didnt happen, but we got a good laugh out of it. John was 66 but he might have had a bit of a crush on me...haha
Had lunch in a little town, potato and leak soup - loved it.
Went back to the Arlington that night for more live music and dancing and fun but went home early to prepare for St. Patty's.
Wednesday.
HAPPY ST. PATRICKS!
We got up early, had breakfast and mimosas and headed out. We went to the parade route (we thought early enough) and tried to get good spots. We climbed up on a statue for a better look. We stayed there till the Parade started and a while into the Parade before we got hungry and headed to get some lunch and go to a pub. We ended up hopping around from pub to pub, meeting people, dancing, drinking guinness and smithwicks, and having a merry good time.
We had dinner, took some power naps, and headed back out that night. Everyone was covered in green, celebrating, and having a great time. We ran into lots of friends.. Katie's friends from London, my friends from Florence, etc. BUt we also made a lot of friends. Great conversations, exploring, more dancing, etc.
We went home late, probably around 2 a.m and fell fast asleep. :)
Thursday.
- Woke up to find the room a complete mess. It was quite funny how messy it was so we took pictures of it. We went down and had breakfast, packed up, and got on a bus to Galway.
- Bus was 4 hours long, a bit painful because we might have been a bit hungover. But we made it.
- Got to Galway, found our hostel, and spent the rest of the day walking/exploring around the city. We saw the Spanish Arch, St. Nicholas Cathedral (went to church there) and walked along the river. We went to a small family run place for dinner and went home early to hang out and rest up.
The rest will come soon, promise. For now its lunch time. Its a beautiful sunny day out and I cant wait to spend the rest of the day outside after lunch! Im in flip flops and a t-shirt, FINALLY!
xoxo
BarTHelona
They lisp here. On their Cs.
Last night we napped all the way until 10:30 at night. Thank goodness, because it was needed. The girls and I all got ready. Hung out with everyone at the apartment with everyone. By everyone, I mean a lot of people. Tera is one of five roommates. So there were those five girls, plus Katie, Kenzie and I, and two other visitors of other roommates. It was a full house. A great group of people. We left the apartment at about 12:30 to go to the first bar. This place was great, a tiny little place, but famous because they have over 1,000 different kinds of shots. The girls and I chose one with POPROCKS a kind of candy we loved eating when we were little. Such a fun place.
Katie and I at one point were talking to a few Spaniards...I was speaking in Italian, she was throwing in what she knew in French, and the guys were speaking Spanish. Somehow it worked out, and we had conversations about where we were from, what we were doing in Europe, etc. The three languages are just similar enough that we could all get by, it was great! Now, dont for any reason think that I can speak Italian. I am not that great at it. My issue is confidence when Im trying to speak, and the speed at which people speak. Thats why it worked with these guys, we were all speaking slowly to understand the others.
Im going to apologize to my grandmothers now before I make this statement...but I am much better at speaking Italian when I have had a beer or two. My confidence level goes up!
After the shot bar we left for a club called Elephant. There was lots of places to dance, lounges, a cool round bar in the middle. We were there till five in the morning dancing and meeting new people. It was a great time.
We took a cab home and slept in till about 11 the next morning.
When we got up we went to a place called Milk for brunch. They have a menu called the "Recovery Menu". They had great smoothies, dishes with eggs, pancakes, etc. McKenzie and I both got a smoothie and shared the blueberry pancakes.
Kenzie had a flight that afternoon, so we returned with her to the apartment to get her bags and take her to the bus stop to go to the airport. Then Katie, Tera, and I went to Park Guiell. By far my favorite place in Barcelona. It was a beautiful park, covered in palm trees, amazing mosaics, families, kids playing soccer and places to get sangria. It was SO warm out. All three of us were holding our coats and jackets and were down to our last layer. Lucky for Katie and Tera, they had tank tops on under everything, I was still in my long sleeve. It was warm enough for shorts, flip flops, and a t-shirt. The most warmth Ive felt all semester, it was glorious. We spent a good amount of time there but decided we should get to the beach while it was so beautiful out.
We stopped on the way to the beach to get foccacia pizza with eggplant. We took our pizzas and sat on the beach eating and people watching. We stopped for gelato on the way home. It was okay, unfortunately I have a new level of pickyness after being spoiled with such amazing gelato here in Italy.
We rested and hung out back at home. Tera had to do Spanish homework so Katie and I took this time to look through Katies Ireland book to find out where to go and what to see when we headed to Ireland.
For dinner we went to an "All you can eat for 10 euros" place. We definitely made that ten euro go far. We each had two plates. And more plates came...we ate sooo much, haha it was hysterical to see how much we actually ate. Katie and I were so happy they had chips and catchup. We had been craving them all weekend and finally got them.
SIDE NOTE - in Europe, Chips = French Fries
and Crisps = potato chips
ADDITIONAL SIDE NOTE - I loved how Barcelona had toilet seats on their public toilets, that was great.... Italy does NOT, it is unfortunate.
We went home, jumped in Tera's big bed, turned on a movie, and fell asleep within a few seconds.
Katie and I got in a cab the next morning at 8 before anyone got up and headed to the airport for Ireland!
Adios BarTHelona, thanks for the warmth and friends.
Last night we napped all the way until 10:30 at night. Thank goodness, because it was needed. The girls and I all got ready. Hung out with everyone at the apartment with everyone. By everyone, I mean a lot of people. Tera is one of five roommates. So there were those five girls, plus Katie, Kenzie and I, and two other visitors of other roommates. It was a full house. A great group of people. We left the apartment at about 12:30 to go to the first bar. This place was great, a tiny little place, but famous because they have over 1,000 different kinds of shots. The girls and I chose one with POPROCKS a kind of candy we loved eating when we were little. Such a fun place.
Katie and I at one point were talking to a few Spaniards...I was speaking in Italian, she was throwing in what she knew in French, and the guys were speaking Spanish. Somehow it worked out, and we had conversations about where we were from, what we were doing in Europe, etc. The three languages are just similar enough that we could all get by, it was great! Now, dont for any reason think that I can speak Italian. I am not that great at it. My issue is confidence when Im trying to speak, and the speed at which people speak. Thats why it worked with these guys, we were all speaking slowly to understand the others.
Im going to apologize to my grandmothers now before I make this statement...but I am much better at speaking Italian when I have had a beer or two. My confidence level goes up!
After the shot bar we left for a club called Elephant. There was lots of places to dance, lounges, a cool round bar in the middle. We were there till five in the morning dancing and meeting new people. It was a great time.
We took a cab home and slept in till about 11 the next morning.
When we got up we went to a place called Milk for brunch. They have a menu called the "Recovery Menu". They had great smoothies, dishes with eggs, pancakes, etc. McKenzie and I both got a smoothie and shared the blueberry pancakes.
Kenzie had a flight that afternoon, so we returned with her to the apartment to get her bags and take her to the bus stop to go to the airport. Then Katie, Tera, and I went to Park Guiell. By far my favorite place in Barcelona. It was a beautiful park, covered in palm trees, amazing mosaics, families, kids playing soccer and places to get sangria. It was SO warm out. All three of us were holding our coats and jackets and were down to our last layer. Lucky for Katie and Tera, they had tank tops on under everything, I was still in my long sleeve. It was warm enough for shorts, flip flops, and a t-shirt. The most warmth Ive felt all semester, it was glorious. We spent a good amount of time there but decided we should get to the beach while it was so beautiful out.
We stopped on the way to the beach to get foccacia pizza with eggplant. We took our pizzas and sat on the beach eating and people watching. We stopped for gelato on the way home. It was okay, unfortunately I have a new level of pickyness after being spoiled with such amazing gelato here in Italy.
We rested and hung out back at home. Tera had to do Spanish homework so Katie and I took this time to look through Katies Ireland book to find out where to go and what to see when we headed to Ireland.
For dinner we went to an "All you can eat for 10 euros" place. We definitely made that ten euro go far. We each had two plates. And more plates came...we ate sooo much, haha it was hysterical to see how much we actually ate. Katie and I were so happy they had chips and catchup. We had been craving them all weekend and finally got them.
SIDE NOTE - in Europe, Chips = French Fries
and Crisps = potato chips
ADDITIONAL SIDE NOTE - I loved how Barcelona had toilet seats on their public toilets, that was great.... Italy does NOT, it is unfortunate.
We went home, jumped in Tera's big bed, turned on a movie, and fell asleep within a few seconds.
Katie and I got in a cab the next morning at 8 before anyone got up and headed to the airport for Ireland!
Adios BarTHelona, thanks for the warmth and friends.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
hooray for spring break
FINALLY, I am on spring break. I have reached Barcelona safe and sound and am currently laying in bed with Katie, Tera, and McKenzie Ziezer.
We had quite a day. This morning I left the pensione at 10 to make sure I got to the airport with plenty of time, just in case we had another disaster. Thankfully my plane was on time and coming so I sat around, had a muffin, and waited for hours. The Florence airport is tiny. I cant believe how small it is. Ive never flown out of there before. It was super easy to navigate. Since I got there so early I got to check in early. I got a window seat in the 4th row. Perfect. Great view, boarded and de-boarded quickly. It was a breeze.
When I arrived I had no problems getting my bag and finding a cab. Tera gave me the wrong address, said it was 364 when its really 264, so I had to walk a bit after being dropped off. Thank goodness for blackberrys. Katie and I were able to BBM one another until I met up with them.
When I walked into Tera's apartment three of her roommates were wearing the same "Balmers" sweatshirt I was wearing. They have the same habit of wearing it constantly without taking it off. Its just too comfortable.
The girls and I went out to explore. We walked to get them some churros and I got some lunch. We walked through what Tera described as the Spanish Arch Du Triumph. We went through little allyways, into shops, and over to the beach. we saw the sailboats and eventually found the sand. We all took our shoes and socks off and played around in the sand. The weather was beautiful. Clear skies, sun shining, and fairly warm. There was a bit of a breeze but it was still perfect. I miss the ocean so it was fun to finally be reunited. We began walking back and went through outdoor markets, food markets, etc. They were selling fresh fruit, veggies, fish, meat, chocolate, candy, flowers, animals, you name it. We couldn't believe that they had pigeons caged for sale. There was a station of animals with pigeons, turkeys, roosters, hens, rabbits, mice, turtles, etc. It was hilarious.
We found a restaurant called Wok to Walk. We had asian stir fry. I had egg noodles with veggies and terryaki sauce. Delish. On our walk back Tera took us by an old gothic cathedral. Outside there was live music and older people dancing around. We stopped to watch and enjoy. There were at least 50 elderly people doing a traditional spanish dance.
Were back at home now, resting and getting ready for the evening. Apparently here in Barcelona they don't go out until 1 in the morning. This is new for Katie and I because its not how we go out in London and Florence. Cant wait for a night out on the town with the girls.
I couldn't be happier to be here with my best friends in the world. Looking forward to a fun night and a day full of more exploring tomorrow.
Adios.
P.S.Hello my lovely Verderame family!!! I love and miss you all so much and hope that everything in the states is wonderful!!! I can't wait to see you this summer!
Love,
Katie
and tera wanted me to add her name on this as well :)
We had quite a day. This morning I left the pensione at 10 to make sure I got to the airport with plenty of time, just in case we had another disaster. Thankfully my plane was on time and coming so I sat around, had a muffin, and waited for hours. The Florence airport is tiny. I cant believe how small it is. Ive never flown out of there before. It was super easy to navigate. Since I got there so early I got to check in early. I got a window seat in the 4th row. Perfect. Great view, boarded and de-boarded quickly. It was a breeze.
When I arrived I had no problems getting my bag and finding a cab. Tera gave me the wrong address, said it was 364 when its really 264, so I had to walk a bit after being dropped off. Thank goodness for blackberrys. Katie and I were able to BBM one another until I met up with them.
When I walked into Tera's apartment three of her roommates were wearing the same "Balmers" sweatshirt I was wearing. They have the same habit of wearing it constantly without taking it off. Its just too comfortable.
The girls and I went out to explore. We walked to get them some churros and I got some lunch. We walked through what Tera described as the Spanish Arch Du Triumph. We went through little allyways, into shops, and over to the beach. we saw the sailboats and eventually found the sand. We all took our shoes and socks off and played around in the sand. The weather was beautiful. Clear skies, sun shining, and fairly warm. There was a bit of a breeze but it was still perfect. I miss the ocean so it was fun to finally be reunited. We began walking back and went through outdoor markets, food markets, etc. They were selling fresh fruit, veggies, fish, meat, chocolate, candy, flowers, animals, you name it. We couldn't believe that they had pigeons caged for sale. There was a station of animals with pigeons, turkeys, roosters, hens, rabbits, mice, turtles, etc. It was hilarious.
We found a restaurant called Wok to Walk. We had asian stir fry. I had egg noodles with veggies and terryaki sauce. Delish. On our walk back Tera took us by an old gothic cathedral. Outside there was live music and older people dancing around. We stopped to watch and enjoy. There were at least 50 elderly people doing a traditional spanish dance.
Were back at home now, resting and getting ready for the evening. Apparently here in Barcelona they don't go out until 1 in the morning. This is new for Katie and I because its not how we go out in London and Florence. Cant wait for a night out on the town with the girls.
I couldn't be happier to be here with my best friends in the world. Looking forward to a fun night and a day full of more exploring tomorrow.
Adios.
P.S.Hello my lovely Verderame family!!! I love and miss you all so much and hope that everything in the states is wonderful!!! I can't wait to see you this summer!
Love,
Katie
and tera wanted me to add her name on this as well :)
Friday, March 12, 2010
fail.
Florence transportation went on strike today. I was aware that the busses went on strike this morning before I left. However, the trains and planes decided to join in on the strike as well, and by the time I payed my 25 euro cab to get to the airport, ALL flights had been cancelled. The people at the airport thought I was crazy. The place was empty. No people, no flights, nothing. I tried getting on a later flight, but the price difference was silly. Meridiana put me on the same flight tomorrow to Barcelona. Its fine, Im just bummed because everyone else is arriving there right now, and Im not. I was seriously bummed, and even more upset because I had to then get a cab all the way back. Spent so much money on cabs this morning and got absolutely no where. It stunk. The cab driver on the way home gave me a discount though because I basically cried the whole way back. I always cry. Its fine.
I got home and the girls who were still here cheered me up. Mary and Laura were making me laugh and the three of us laid in bed and hung out for a bit. Laura and I decided to stop being blobs so we got up and went to Anna's bagels for lunch, then over to the Academia to see David.
David was amazing. He is at the end of a long hallway, and right when you see him from the end of the hallway he takes your breath away. I loved it. Kuss (laura) and I spent so much time at the statue. There are places to sit so we simply sat and marveled at it. The rest of the museum actually isnt good at all, so we didnt do much else. There was an exhibit off to the side of old musical instruments which was really great, so we went in there for a while, but otherwise, besides David and the Four Prisoners, there wasnt much excitement to the Academia museum.
Were back home now, napping, figuring out flights and cabs for tomorrow, and hanging out.
We will probably stay in tonight because the last few of us have to get out tomorrow and we want to make sure that goes smoothly.
Ive been trying to put myself in a better mood all day since what happened this morning. Im mad at myself for being in a bad mood at all. Im trying to remember that I am here, in Florence. How blessed am I to be stuck in Florence? Even more, to be stuck here and able to go see the David?
Im done being a baby. Thankful i still have a flight to Barcelona and thankful Ill be with my best friends in the world tomorrow.
Ciao
I got home and the girls who were still here cheered me up. Mary and Laura were making me laugh and the three of us laid in bed and hung out for a bit. Laura and I decided to stop being blobs so we got up and went to Anna's bagels for lunch, then over to the Academia to see David.
David was amazing. He is at the end of a long hallway, and right when you see him from the end of the hallway he takes your breath away. I loved it. Kuss (laura) and I spent so much time at the statue. There are places to sit so we simply sat and marveled at it. The rest of the museum actually isnt good at all, so we didnt do much else. There was an exhibit off to the side of old musical instruments which was really great, so we went in there for a while, but otherwise, besides David and the Four Prisoners, there wasnt much excitement to the Academia museum.
Were back home now, napping, figuring out flights and cabs for tomorrow, and hanging out.
We will probably stay in tonight because the last few of us have to get out tomorrow and we want to make sure that goes smoothly.
Ive been trying to put myself in a better mood all day since what happened this morning. Im mad at myself for being in a bad mood at all. Im trying to remember that I am here, in Florence. How blessed am I to be stuck in Florence? Even more, to be stuck here and able to go see the David?
Im done being a baby. Thankful i still have a flight to Barcelona and thankful Ill be with my best friends in the world tomorrow.
Ciao
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
snow
Last week we had beautiful sunshine and clear skies.
Tuesday morning I woke up to snow. I went out to eat breakfast and Giovanni came over to me and started speaking to me in italian. I of course didnt understand most of it, so he grabbed my hand and brought me over to the window. His face was all lit up and excited about the snow, he thought it was beautiful. It made me have a better mood about it, but I looked at him and said FA FREDDO! "Its cold!" He laughed and we sat back down to our cereal. Later in the day I needed a run. So I went in the snow anyway. It wasn't bad to be honest. Running in the rain is always fun, so I decided to try it out. It was a blast.
We began our final, large size frescos last night in art...wish me luck.
Last night after dinner, Amanda Ito, Caitlin Toohey, Brooks and I all went over to Kylie McAllister's appartment for her birthday. She is studying in Florence through the LDM (Lorenzo Di Medici) program. They have their own apartment, and cook for themselves, so they cooked a meal for about 10 of us. I was so excited that they thought to have us over too. Brooks and I have known Kylie since sophomore year in highschool, and Amanda and Caitlin have met her through other mutual friends. We went out to a bar afterwords that I have not yet been to, which is always nice. It was called Moyo. It was super swanky and had pricey drinks, but we had a blast there. I was by Kylies side all night. We got the same fruity, tropical drink because it had fruit in it. I wish I could remember the name of it, because it was delicious. We went to a few other bars with the big group, but the four of us were tired and left to go home a bit early then the rest of the birthday crew.
Tonight dance is cancelled, so I am bummed, but theyre having another class tomorrow to make up for it.
Ciao ciao
Tuesday morning I woke up to snow. I went out to eat breakfast and Giovanni came over to me and started speaking to me in italian. I of course didnt understand most of it, so he grabbed my hand and brought me over to the window. His face was all lit up and excited about the snow, he thought it was beautiful. It made me have a better mood about it, but I looked at him and said FA FREDDO! "Its cold!" He laughed and we sat back down to our cereal. Later in the day I needed a run. So I went in the snow anyway. It wasn't bad to be honest. Running in the rain is always fun, so I decided to try it out. It was a blast.
We began our final, large size frescos last night in art...wish me luck.
Last night after dinner, Amanda Ito, Caitlin Toohey, Brooks and I all went over to Kylie McAllister's appartment for her birthday. She is studying in Florence through the LDM (Lorenzo Di Medici) program. They have their own apartment, and cook for themselves, so they cooked a meal for about 10 of us. I was so excited that they thought to have us over too. Brooks and I have known Kylie since sophomore year in highschool, and Amanda and Caitlin have met her through other mutual friends. We went out to a bar afterwords that I have not yet been to, which is always nice. It was called Moyo. It was super swanky and had pricey drinks, but we had a blast there. I was by Kylies side all night. We got the same fruity, tropical drink because it had fruit in it. I wish I could remember the name of it, because it was delicious. We went to a few other bars with the big group, but the four of us were tired and left to go home a bit early then the rest of the birthday crew.
Tonight dance is cancelled, so I am bummed, but theyre having another class tomorrow to make up for it.
Ciao ciao
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
PRAHA!
Kiki, Chloe, Sean and I left for Rome on thursday after lunch. We met up with Chloe's friend Reid with no problems, went to dinner, met his sweet and very accomodating roommates and went out. We went to a place that I believe was called Campo. Its a big square with a bunch of bars in it. We hung out, chatted, got to know Reid and his friends and went to some of the bars. We met some great kids and had a great time, but I think the four of us were thankful that we study in a smaller city. Ironically, Reid, Chloe's friend from home who we stayed with, goes to John Cabot University in Rome, which is where Ted studied a few years ago.
Sean has never been to Rome, so we decided to show him the Trevi fountain at the end of the night. We saw it both during the day and at night when the girls and I went, and decided its best at night. We hung out there for a little bit then went home to get plenty of sleep before going to Prague.
We left around noon and after busses, planes, metros, and trams, arrived at our hostel around 5. We dont know why, but when we checked in the man at the front desk told us we were getting an upgrade from a 10 person dorm to a 4 person private. We were obviously extremely excited. We met up with all our other friends who had arrived in Prague via a 12 hour bus ride and had dinner and beers at happy hour. Our hostel was a dream. It was the cleanest, nicest, most accommodating. There was a full bar and restaurant in it, and it was the cheapest hostel we have stayed in so far. Even better, the name of it was catchy, the Czech Inn. After all the BBMs I was getting from dad, the girls and I decided that he would love the name of the hostel.
We got ready for the night and headed out to a popular bar called U SUDU. I got to see Katie Jirauch there, which was a dream, and the girls and I sat with her and her roomies for a bit and chatted. Katie and her roomie were tired so they turned in early, but the rest of us stayed to hang out. It was a really cool place. There were multiple little rooms with different bars/tables and chairs and it was kind of cave-looking. We met some great people from Prague around our age and had fun chatting with them. We left there around midnight and headed over to a discotec. I had a blast here. Chloe and I checked our coats and headed right to the dance floor. We kind of got separated from the group, but there was a large stage, so we hopped on that and within no time the rest of our group found us and joined the dance party on stage. it was all 80s music. I couldnt have been happier. Some kids left early, but the majority of us stayed until 4 am. Chloe and I literally never left the stage, it was the best. We had a blast. When Chloe and I left at 4 we had some language issues with the cab driver, but thankfully made it home safely.
On Saturday we got up, left the sleeping boys behind and got to site seeing. We went to Old Town Square first. It was freezing, and snowing, so we got some Starbucks to go and headed out. We saw the Astronomical clock, and saw the changing of the hours. A man came out on top of the tower with a horn and blew it. We really had no idea what was going on or what any of it meant. I turned to a nice looking lady and said "do you know whats going on". She and the man with her laughed and explained that it was simply the hour turning, but people always stopped to watch because the clock is so large and so interesting. They were such sweet people, and they pointed us in the direction of the Charles Bridge. We went to the Charles Bridge. Not much to do there but walk over it and take pictures of the Danub river, which we joked about because "We were at the Danub last week in Budapest!"
Next we wanted to go to Lennon Wall. This proved to be quite a journey. Its not out in the open in a popular public area. Its down little streets in a more residential, quiet place. On the way to find it we ran into the sweet couple from the clock tower again. They spotted us playing in the snow and shouted to us. We got excited to see them and ran over for directions to the Wall. They showed us and suggested we get some hot wine to warm up. We thanked them for their help again and left for the wall. For the rest of the weekend we referred to them as Mom and Mike, because we never learned the lady's name.
We finally found the wall. It was awesome. We spent more time there than any other site in Prague. I loved it. I took so many pictures. It was fun just walking along the wall and finding the tiniest things that people had written.
We went to lunch and decided that the rest of the site seeing out doors could wait till sunday because the weather was just so miserable. We went to the beer factory, where you are given your own tap and pour your own beers. The girls and I talked about high school and home and embarrassing stories and had a blast. We went back to the hostel, napped, showered, ate dinner, and got ready for the evening.
While getting ready the safe drawer under my bed fell and hit my face. Right on the nose. It hurt to say the least. I tried brushing it off and getting ready, but it began turning red and getting really swollen. Kira ran to get me ice and I sat in the corner pouting with ice on my face for the next thirty minutes. Haha, it was painful and unfortunate, but lucky for me, I have the greatest friends ever. Chloe straightened my hair while Kiki did my makeup. I just sat there with ice on my nose doing no work. They helped me get ready and the three of us plus Alexandra and Kira left for a girls night out (with a fat nose). We went to a place called Chapou Rougue where I once again ran into Katie. We danced and played and met up with some of the guys in our program. It was a fun bar. Bars/Discotecs in Europe are SO different. There are multiple levels, multiple rooms, and multiple bars. I dont think I have been to anything like what I have been to here back in the states. We stayed there till pretty late, and then headed to a club. It was a long walk there, and by the time we got there Kira was ready to go home. It was about 3 am so I decided I would join her.
On Sunday everyone left except for the four of us. We went up to the castle and saw St. Vitus Church. I was so excited to say the least. Vitus is my confirmation name. Everyone in the program knows this, and all week last week I was being told "Annie! Your Saint's church is in Prague!" It was beautiful. Very different than what we were used to seeing because it is extremely gothic. It was huge and we spent a good amount of time there. Chloe and I chatted with God (and St. Vitus), as usual, and then we headed to lunch. We went to a bagel place that is famous in Prague and I got to have Lox. I havent had lox in so long so it was a dream.
We headed back to the hostel, grabbed our things and headed home. Everything went smoothly until our plane landed a bit later than planned, causing us to miss the last train out of Rome. Thankfully, Reid was still up at midnight and more than wiling to accommodate the four of us for another night. We made our way to his apartment and took about a 4 hour nap before getting up and catching the 6 am train.
We were back in Florence by 8 and all slept until lunch time. It took a while to get back, and we might have been moody at times, but we were all thankful to be back and be safe at home.
Sean has never been to Rome, so we decided to show him the Trevi fountain at the end of the night. We saw it both during the day and at night when the girls and I went, and decided its best at night. We hung out there for a little bit then went home to get plenty of sleep before going to Prague.
We left around noon and after busses, planes, metros, and trams, arrived at our hostel around 5. We dont know why, but when we checked in the man at the front desk told us we were getting an upgrade from a 10 person dorm to a 4 person private. We were obviously extremely excited. We met up with all our other friends who had arrived in Prague via a 12 hour bus ride and had dinner and beers at happy hour. Our hostel was a dream. It was the cleanest, nicest, most accommodating. There was a full bar and restaurant in it, and it was the cheapest hostel we have stayed in so far. Even better, the name of it was catchy, the Czech Inn. After all the BBMs I was getting from dad, the girls and I decided that he would love the name of the hostel.
We got ready for the night and headed out to a popular bar called U SUDU. I got to see Katie Jirauch there, which was a dream, and the girls and I sat with her and her roomies for a bit and chatted. Katie and her roomie were tired so they turned in early, but the rest of us stayed to hang out. It was a really cool place. There were multiple little rooms with different bars/tables and chairs and it was kind of cave-looking. We met some great people from Prague around our age and had fun chatting with them. We left there around midnight and headed over to a discotec. I had a blast here. Chloe and I checked our coats and headed right to the dance floor. We kind of got separated from the group, but there was a large stage, so we hopped on that and within no time the rest of our group found us and joined the dance party on stage. it was all 80s music. I couldnt have been happier. Some kids left early, but the majority of us stayed until 4 am. Chloe and I literally never left the stage, it was the best. We had a blast. When Chloe and I left at 4 we had some language issues with the cab driver, but thankfully made it home safely.
On Saturday we got up, left the sleeping boys behind and got to site seeing. We went to Old Town Square first. It was freezing, and snowing, so we got some Starbucks to go and headed out. We saw the Astronomical clock, and saw the changing of the hours. A man came out on top of the tower with a horn and blew it. We really had no idea what was going on or what any of it meant. I turned to a nice looking lady and said "do you know whats going on". She and the man with her laughed and explained that it was simply the hour turning, but people always stopped to watch because the clock is so large and so interesting. They were such sweet people, and they pointed us in the direction of the Charles Bridge. We went to the Charles Bridge. Not much to do there but walk over it and take pictures of the Danub river, which we joked about because "We were at the Danub last week in Budapest!"
Next we wanted to go to Lennon Wall. This proved to be quite a journey. Its not out in the open in a popular public area. Its down little streets in a more residential, quiet place. On the way to find it we ran into the sweet couple from the clock tower again. They spotted us playing in the snow and shouted to us. We got excited to see them and ran over for directions to the Wall. They showed us and suggested we get some hot wine to warm up. We thanked them for their help again and left for the wall. For the rest of the weekend we referred to them as Mom and Mike, because we never learned the lady's name.
We finally found the wall. It was awesome. We spent more time there than any other site in Prague. I loved it. I took so many pictures. It was fun just walking along the wall and finding the tiniest things that people had written.
We went to lunch and decided that the rest of the site seeing out doors could wait till sunday because the weather was just so miserable. We went to the beer factory, where you are given your own tap and pour your own beers. The girls and I talked about high school and home and embarrassing stories and had a blast. We went back to the hostel, napped, showered, ate dinner, and got ready for the evening.
While getting ready the safe drawer under my bed fell and hit my face. Right on the nose. It hurt to say the least. I tried brushing it off and getting ready, but it began turning red and getting really swollen. Kira ran to get me ice and I sat in the corner pouting with ice on my face for the next thirty minutes. Haha, it was painful and unfortunate, but lucky for me, I have the greatest friends ever. Chloe straightened my hair while Kiki did my makeup. I just sat there with ice on my nose doing no work. They helped me get ready and the three of us plus Alexandra and Kira left for a girls night out (with a fat nose). We went to a place called Chapou Rougue where I once again ran into Katie. We danced and played and met up with some of the guys in our program. It was a fun bar. Bars/Discotecs in Europe are SO different. There are multiple levels, multiple rooms, and multiple bars. I dont think I have been to anything like what I have been to here back in the states. We stayed there till pretty late, and then headed to a club. It was a long walk there, and by the time we got there Kira was ready to go home. It was about 3 am so I decided I would join her.
On Sunday everyone left except for the four of us. We went up to the castle and saw St. Vitus Church. I was so excited to say the least. Vitus is my confirmation name. Everyone in the program knows this, and all week last week I was being told "Annie! Your Saint's church is in Prague!" It was beautiful. Very different than what we were used to seeing because it is extremely gothic. It was huge and we spent a good amount of time there. Chloe and I chatted with God (and St. Vitus), as usual, and then we headed to lunch. We went to a bagel place that is famous in Prague and I got to have Lox. I havent had lox in so long so it was a dream.
We headed back to the hostel, grabbed our things and headed home. Everything went smoothly until our plane landed a bit later than planned, causing us to miss the last train out of Rome. Thankfully, Reid was still up at midnight and more than wiling to accommodate the four of us for another night. We made our way to his apartment and took about a 4 hour nap before getting up and catching the 6 am train.
We were back in Florence by 8 and all slept until lunch time. It took a while to get back, and we might have been moody at times, but we were all thankful to be back and be safe at home.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
dance
I went to dance class last night, finally. After 5 weeks of not going, I cant even describe how happy I was to be there. Two of the weeks I walked there but it was cancelled, one week I felt too sick to go, and the other two, neither of the other girls I go with wanted to go. Its a really long walk, and at night, so I like going with someone. Yesterday I needed to go so badly though. I was dying to dance. So I got over it and walked there alone and took class. It was amazing. The teacher was phenomenal. She reminded me of Sheryl Cooper, which was a dream. She was so talented, and sweet, and welcoming to me. She spoke no english except for a few random words. Thankfully there was a girl in the class who spoke english, so when I needed it, she would translate for me.
It was a modern/contemporary class. We learned a combo and worked on dynamics. I loved the choreography and picked it up quickly. I dont think many of them have seen people from the west coast of the states dance before, so they were all excited about the way I moved. Its amazing how different of movement qualities people can have from the west to east coast of the states, and then over into Europe. The teacher pulled me to the front of the class and even had me do the combo alone. I was obviously overjoyed. Ive been so worried that I will loose my abilities while here since I dont get to dance nearly as often, it was nice to know that (for the most part) I still have it.
I plan on going to class every wednesday for the rest of the semester. Walking there and back alone really wasnt bad at all. The entire walk is through public streets, all well lit, and I never felt nervous at all. So that was a relief.
Today professor Russo came into class and said "woops, I forgot about class yesterday" and giggled. We all laughed and were glad she wasnt angry.
I just went to market after class to pick up something sparkly for Prague this weekend. We all decided to go big with funky outfits while there because Prague is well known for their discotecs.
Today after lunch Kiki, Chloe, Sean and I are getting on a train to Rome. We are staying the night there with one of Chloe's friends from back home. Im excited to get to spend another night in Rome. We leave for Prague tomorrow afternoon.
Both Katie Jirauch AND Lucas Miller will be in Prague this weekend. It wasnt planned. We all just did our own things and somehow realized that we would all be there at the same time. What a blessing. I cant wait to see my friends. I think that it will help alot to have them with me this weekend. Im bummed Im not going to be home for Toni's wedding and reception. I feel like everyone is back home for it now and Im bummed Im not there as well. Itll be nice to have them there to know that not EVERYONE is back at home :) haha
We will have a blast, of course. Its Prague, how could we not. How blessed am I to not be able to go to my 'sister's' wedding, not because of anything bad but rather because I am lucky enough to vacation to Prague...
Sono innamorata di Europa.... I am in love with Europe.
ciao
It was a modern/contemporary class. We learned a combo and worked on dynamics. I loved the choreography and picked it up quickly. I dont think many of them have seen people from the west coast of the states dance before, so they were all excited about the way I moved. Its amazing how different of movement qualities people can have from the west to east coast of the states, and then over into Europe. The teacher pulled me to the front of the class and even had me do the combo alone. I was obviously overjoyed. Ive been so worried that I will loose my abilities while here since I dont get to dance nearly as often, it was nice to know that (for the most part) I still have it.
I plan on going to class every wednesday for the rest of the semester. Walking there and back alone really wasnt bad at all. The entire walk is through public streets, all well lit, and I never felt nervous at all. So that was a relief.
Today professor Russo came into class and said "woops, I forgot about class yesterday" and giggled. We all laughed and were glad she wasnt angry.
I just went to market after class to pick up something sparkly for Prague this weekend. We all decided to go big with funky outfits while there because Prague is well known for their discotecs.
Today after lunch Kiki, Chloe, Sean and I are getting on a train to Rome. We are staying the night there with one of Chloe's friends from back home. Im excited to get to spend another night in Rome. We leave for Prague tomorrow afternoon.
Both Katie Jirauch AND Lucas Miller will be in Prague this weekend. It wasnt planned. We all just did our own things and somehow realized that we would all be there at the same time. What a blessing. I cant wait to see my friends. I think that it will help alot to have them with me this weekend. Im bummed Im not going to be home for Toni's wedding and reception. I feel like everyone is back home for it now and Im bummed Im not there as well. Itll be nice to have them there to know that not EVERYONE is back at home :) haha
We will have a blast, of course. Its Prague, how could we not. How blessed am I to not be able to go to my 'sister's' wedding, not because of anything bad but rather because I am lucky enough to vacation to Prague...
Sono innamorata di Europa.... I am in love with Europe.
ciao
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Last night was Garretts 21st birthday. And it was Tuesday, so it really worked out nicely since we all go out on Tuesday nights anyway. After dinner we all got ready to go out. Everyone decided to get dressed up, not sure why, we went to bars we usually go to, but it was fun getting all dolled up.
We went to Kikoya, a bar we always go to in Santa Croce. I ran into Kylie McAllister, a girl I know from highschool back in Phoenix. It was so fun to see her. We had a great night, way too much fun.
Today I only had one class. Wednesdays are my favorite day because I only have one. I dragged myself out of bed and went. I sat on the couch outside the room with Yannick, as we always do. The other 5 kids in the class eventually made their way to the classroom, and the bell rang. No sign of Professor Russo...we peeked into her office, she was sitting with her back to us on the computer just working away. We figured that she was just finishing something up, so we let her be. She is extremely old, and should be retired, I still have no idea why she isnt. Anyway we sat outside the classroom for about 15 minutes. All of a sudden she came out of her office, looked at us, then walked down the hallway to the other end. We figured she was ready for class so we all went and took our seats and waited. She never came. She went right back to her computer in her office. Those of us in the class were dying. Did she forget we have class? Was she not in the mood to teach? We weren't about to go and get her, because if we could have a free day with no class we were gunna take it. We ended up waiting for 30 minutes, then decided to leave. As we were leavin she came out of the office, said ciao to all of us, then continued walking and went downstairs. We are so confused and skipped home in joy that we got to go home early and didnt have to go through a class.
I guess we will find out tomorrow what in the world she was thinking.
Im about to leave for dance class, its been a few weeks since I have danced so I am so excited!
Ciao
We went to Kikoya, a bar we always go to in Santa Croce. I ran into Kylie McAllister, a girl I know from highschool back in Phoenix. It was so fun to see her. We had a great night, way too much fun.
Today I only had one class. Wednesdays are my favorite day because I only have one. I dragged myself out of bed and went. I sat on the couch outside the room with Yannick, as we always do. The other 5 kids in the class eventually made their way to the classroom, and the bell rang. No sign of Professor Russo...we peeked into her office, she was sitting with her back to us on the computer just working away. We figured that she was just finishing something up, so we let her be. She is extremely old, and should be retired, I still have no idea why she isnt. Anyway we sat outside the classroom for about 15 minutes. All of a sudden she came out of her office, looked at us, then walked down the hallway to the other end. We figured she was ready for class so we all went and took our seats and waited. She never came. She went right back to her computer in her office. Those of us in the class were dying. Did she forget we have class? Was she not in the mood to teach? We weren't about to go and get her, because if we could have a free day with no class we were gunna take it. We ended up waiting for 30 minutes, then decided to leave. As we were leavin she came out of the office, said ciao to all of us, then continued walking and went downstairs. We are so confused and skipped home in joy that we got to go home early and didnt have to go through a class.
I guess we will find out tomorrow what in the world she was thinking.
Im about to leave for dance class, its been a few weeks since I have danced so I am so excited!
Ciao
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Budapest, Hungary
Friday morning we headed over to a bike shop. It was a bit cold, and only barely drizzling at the time. We got to the shop, picked out our bikes and headed on the tour. It was beautiful of course, and our tour guide had great information. It however began to pour rain, and the temperature dropped a good 5 degrees. I actually still enjoyed it quite a bit, because when will I ever get to ride bikes around Budapest ever again? But some kids on the tour were upset and bothered and annoyed. We were freezing, yes, but we made it through. We went to lunch after where we warmed up with hot soup and beers.
After lunch we decided that the best event for a cold and rainy day would be the bath houses. We ran home, grabbed our swimsuits, and met at the most famous and popular Hungarian Bath house. It was glorious. It was like one gigantic pool, but it was the temperature of a hot tub. The baths are built on top of natural hot springs, so the water is full of minerals and sulfer. The sulfer smelled a bit, but we got used to it. The minerals however made our skin feel so soft. We swam around, played in the whirl pool, and had a great time in there for a few hours. It was nice being in the hot water while the air around us was so cold.
After a good three hours we decided it was time to go. We went home, showered off the bath water, and went to dinner. I had gnocchi with olives and artichokes. It was sensational, obviously. The gnocchi however was quite different from italian gnocchi. They were bigger, more potatoey, and even had a different flavor. I loved it though. Annie (the other annie) and I split a bottle of Merlot that was absolutely delicious. Everyone ordered a different kind of wine so that we could try each others.
After dinner we headed to a bar that was playing the olympics just to relax and hang out. In Budapest, it is uncommon to go out before midnight or 1 oclock. We enjoyed watching hockey games and an American-type bar experience. We had a liquor that has a strawberry taste to it (i cant remember the name) that is extremely famous in Budapest because that is where it originates from. Ralph bought all of us the drinks, what a doll, and then he, Tucker and I spent the rest of the time in the bar discussing communism because the next morning we planned to go to the Terror House.
We got a call from the rest of our friends who were ready to meet up, so we went to a club/discotec called Morrisons2. We could tell it was popular when we got there and there was a line to get in. The discotec is 4 stories. The top story was a coat check, game room, and lounge area. The main floor had tables to sit at and the bar and an area to dance. Below that, underground, were two stories dedicated to dancing. Each story had multiple rooms, and each room had a different genre of music to dance to. Disco music, 80s pop music, 90s rap music, music from 2000s, etc. Needless to say I fell in love and it was hard to pull me away from the dance floor. I spent the majority of my time in the 80s room with the girls. It was a blast. We danced the night away! We didnt get home until pretty late, but all made it back safe and soundly.
Saturday morning was a slow start mostly just because we were all so exhausted. Thankfully Chloe and I didnt wake anyone up when we came home at such an obscene hour in the morning, and the rest of our roomies liked hearing about our stories from the night before.
We got up by 11 and were out the door and headed to the Terror museum. We met up with friends who were staying in the other hostel at the Opera house. The Terror House is a museum dedicated to the Communist movement. It was three stories full of historical information and accounts of people who survived what happened in Budapest from 1930-1960. I really was unaware of what had happened there. The museum was set in a house that was used during that time as a house of torture. The bottom floor of the museum was a dungeon. It was used to house prisoners, torture, and kill them. We walked through the rooms they lived in, saw the tools used to torture them, and the gallows they used to kill them. It was really difficult to make it through the last part, so we all went a bit faster.
Thankfully when we got outside the sun was shining so it helped to pick up our moods. We decided to go to the Tropicarium. Unfortunately, it was farther and much more difficult to reach than we had thought so we never made it there. It wasnt for nothing though, we saw so much of the city in our attempt to make it there. I left the group around 4 to go and meet up with others to go to a Jesuit Mass. Unfortunately no one else was inclined to go. Father Brian had left early because he was saying mass, so I had no one to walk with. I was extremely bummed, but there was a church nearby so I went in there. Unfortunately there was no mass, but I enjoyed spending some quiet time sitting there and praying (chatting with God as we say). It was relaxing and something I feel as though I really needed.
I decided to go exploring. I found a street near the hostel full of Hungarian shops, markets and live music. I was so excited to say the least and had a ball roaming around by myself. Which is surprising because I usually hate being alone. I got postcards, a bracelet for my little sis (in Delta Gamma) and a traditional Hungarian vest. I am so excited about the vest. It is black with colorful embroidered flowers on it.
Eventually I made my way back to the hostel where the whole group went on a riverboat cruise down the Danub River for about an hour or so. it was beautiful to say the least. The parliament, palaces and Liberty hill were all lit up and shining over the water. We got Thai food on the river after the cruise. It was delicious. The lady serving us was an old woman who was so kind and made some amazing Thai food. I got Phad Thai, as always, and it was amazing. All four of us really enjoyed our meals.
We met up with the rest of the crew after dinner (who had decided to eat at McDonalds) and went to the bars for a little while.
Brian Russel and I came home early and when we got home Father Brian was awake. We ended up staying up till about 3 in the morning talking with Father Brian about life. We got into some really great conversation about the Church, Cannon law, our lives and our beliefs. It was amazing. i learned a lot not only about the Church and Cannon law, but about Father Brian and my friend Brian Russel.
The next morning a group of us headed over to Liberty Hill to climb it. It is on the opposite side of the river, the Buda side, and the top of the hill is the highest point in Buda and gives an amazing view of all of Pest. We climbed the hill, stopping along the way to take pictures. At the top we stayed for a long time. Talking, hanging out, enjoying the view, and loving the life we are living.
After we went to a traditional Hungarian lunch, where I once again got the onion soup - I love it there - and then returned to the Hostel to collect our belongings and head home.
We didnt arrive back to our Pensione in Firenze until about 3 am, but it was well worth the amazing weekend we got to have. Our teachers on Monday were informed of our late arrival, and therefore were a bit more kind and lenient on late arrivals and sleepy faces.
The sun is shining today and their is plenty of blue sky. I am about to head out on a run!
Love love love
After lunch we decided that the best event for a cold and rainy day would be the bath houses. We ran home, grabbed our swimsuits, and met at the most famous and popular Hungarian Bath house. It was glorious. It was like one gigantic pool, but it was the temperature of a hot tub. The baths are built on top of natural hot springs, so the water is full of minerals and sulfer. The sulfer smelled a bit, but we got used to it. The minerals however made our skin feel so soft. We swam around, played in the whirl pool, and had a great time in there for a few hours. It was nice being in the hot water while the air around us was so cold.
After a good three hours we decided it was time to go. We went home, showered off the bath water, and went to dinner. I had gnocchi with olives and artichokes. It was sensational, obviously. The gnocchi however was quite different from italian gnocchi. They were bigger, more potatoey, and even had a different flavor. I loved it though. Annie (the other annie) and I split a bottle of Merlot that was absolutely delicious. Everyone ordered a different kind of wine so that we could try each others.
After dinner we headed to a bar that was playing the olympics just to relax and hang out. In Budapest, it is uncommon to go out before midnight or 1 oclock. We enjoyed watching hockey games and an American-type bar experience. We had a liquor that has a strawberry taste to it (i cant remember the name) that is extremely famous in Budapest because that is where it originates from. Ralph bought all of us the drinks, what a doll, and then he, Tucker and I spent the rest of the time in the bar discussing communism because the next morning we planned to go to the Terror House.
We got a call from the rest of our friends who were ready to meet up, so we went to a club/discotec called Morrisons2. We could tell it was popular when we got there and there was a line to get in. The discotec is 4 stories. The top story was a coat check, game room, and lounge area. The main floor had tables to sit at and the bar and an area to dance. Below that, underground, were two stories dedicated to dancing. Each story had multiple rooms, and each room had a different genre of music to dance to. Disco music, 80s pop music, 90s rap music, music from 2000s, etc. Needless to say I fell in love and it was hard to pull me away from the dance floor. I spent the majority of my time in the 80s room with the girls. It was a blast. We danced the night away! We didnt get home until pretty late, but all made it back safe and soundly.
Saturday morning was a slow start mostly just because we were all so exhausted. Thankfully Chloe and I didnt wake anyone up when we came home at such an obscene hour in the morning, and the rest of our roomies liked hearing about our stories from the night before.
We got up by 11 and were out the door and headed to the Terror museum. We met up with friends who were staying in the other hostel at the Opera house. The Terror House is a museum dedicated to the Communist movement. It was three stories full of historical information and accounts of people who survived what happened in Budapest from 1930-1960. I really was unaware of what had happened there. The museum was set in a house that was used during that time as a house of torture. The bottom floor of the museum was a dungeon. It was used to house prisoners, torture, and kill them. We walked through the rooms they lived in, saw the tools used to torture them, and the gallows they used to kill them. It was really difficult to make it through the last part, so we all went a bit faster.
Thankfully when we got outside the sun was shining so it helped to pick up our moods. We decided to go to the Tropicarium. Unfortunately, it was farther and much more difficult to reach than we had thought so we never made it there. It wasnt for nothing though, we saw so much of the city in our attempt to make it there. I left the group around 4 to go and meet up with others to go to a Jesuit Mass. Unfortunately no one else was inclined to go. Father Brian had left early because he was saying mass, so I had no one to walk with. I was extremely bummed, but there was a church nearby so I went in there. Unfortunately there was no mass, but I enjoyed spending some quiet time sitting there and praying (chatting with God as we say). It was relaxing and something I feel as though I really needed.
I decided to go exploring. I found a street near the hostel full of Hungarian shops, markets and live music. I was so excited to say the least and had a ball roaming around by myself. Which is surprising because I usually hate being alone. I got postcards, a bracelet for my little sis (in Delta Gamma) and a traditional Hungarian vest. I am so excited about the vest. It is black with colorful embroidered flowers on it.
Eventually I made my way back to the hostel where the whole group went on a riverboat cruise down the Danub River for about an hour or so. it was beautiful to say the least. The parliament, palaces and Liberty hill were all lit up and shining over the water. We got Thai food on the river after the cruise. It was delicious. The lady serving us was an old woman who was so kind and made some amazing Thai food. I got Phad Thai, as always, and it was amazing. All four of us really enjoyed our meals.
We met up with the rest of the crew after dinner (who had decided to eat at McDonalds) and went to the bars for a little while.
Brian Russel and I came home early and when we got home Father Brian was awake. We ended up staying up till about 3 in the morning talking with Father Brian about life. We got into some really great conversation about the Church, Cannon law, our lives and our beliefs. It was amazing. i learned a lot not only about the Church and Cannon law, but about Father Brian and my friend Brian Russel.
The next morning a group of us headed over to Liberty Hill to climb it. It is on the opposite side of the river, the Buda side, and the top of the hill is the highest point in Buda and gives an amazing view of all of Pest. We climbed the hill, stopping along the way to take pictures. At the top we stayed for a long time. Talking, hanging out, enjoying the view, and loving the life we are living.
After we went to a traditional Hungarian lunch, where I once again got the onion soup - I love it there - and then returned to the Hostel to collect our belongings and head home.
We didnt arrive back to our Pensione in Firenze until about 3 am, but it was well worth the amazing weekend we got to have. Our teachers on Monday were informed of our late arrival, and therefore were a bit more kind and lenient on late arrivals and sleepy faces.
The sun is shining today and their is plenty of blue sky. I am about to head out on a run!
Love love love
Monday, March 1, 2010
midterms week
Last week was midterms. They went so well.
My music midterm was great, I knew everything I needed to and was able to write two full pages on Beethoven, I get my test back today!
Laura Kussman and I studied all night monday night for our philosophy test on tuesday. Needless to say we had a blast together, its hard not to with Laura. And although we had so much fun, we really studied well and learned a lot. Both of us left the test on Tuesday morning really excited about how well it went!
I finished my fresco, it looks good, so the teacher was happy. We picked new pictures for our next fresco, this time, a full sized tile. Its a huge task. We had to start painting the picture. Its been tough, but its coming along okay, we start the fresco work on it tomorrow, Im worried, but our teacher is so good about helping us every step of the way so hopefully Ill come back with something good.
Wednesday we went to the Fiorentina vs. AC Milan game. It was AWESOME! We got 14 euro tickets and went with a group of about 15. The game was a blast, the fans here are so intense and get so into the games. The AC milan fans had a separate section in which they had to be gated off just to make sure no hostility erupted.
After the game we went home and did some more homework. We however had had so much fun at the game that we still had so much energy. At midnight Laura came to me and asked if I wanted to go out. I couldnt say no! :)
Laura, Alexandra (Gibbs), Lauren and I went out for a girls night. We had a ball. We went to the bars we always go to, but the night was completely different because we were with such a small group and it was only us girls. We made new friends, I sang kareoke at the bar, and we got free french fries from the Kebob guy Danny on the way home.
Unfortunately I had my Italian midterm the next day, but it ended up going really well. I went through it easily without much struggle and got the test back today with an 87%. I was overjoyed.
We packed up after lunch on thursday, cleaned, hung out and listened to music. Laura didnt go to Budapest so she came and hung out with me in my room until I had to go.
We got on the busses at about 4 oclock and headed towards Rome. Chloe and I were DYING for sour spagetti (a candy equivalent to sour straws in the US) but the gas station was out of them :( we of course got way more upset than necessary about it.
We got into Budapest at around midnight, and got to our hostel at 1 am. Chloe and i were soooo happy because we got paired up for rooming assignments in a double. However, when we got there there were complications. They were one room short, and of course it was ours. Everyone had to be rearranged, and we ended up in an 11 person all girls room. We met new girls and Chloe and I got the loft upstairs which was nice. We each had our own twin but pushed them together and slept next to each other anyway. Kiki wasnt with us, so we were experiencing separation anxiety from her, haha. Everyone was joking with us about how the three of us were to ever survive not being together for a weekend.
Budapest stories to continue in my next blog, for now, I have a philosophy paper to write!
Ciao!
My music midterm was great, I knew everything I needed to and was able to write two full pages on Beethoven, I get my test back today!
Laura Kussman and I studied all night monday night for our philosophy test on tuesday. Needless to say we had a blast together, its hard not to with Laura. And although we had so much fun, we really studied well and learned a lot. Both of us left the test on Tuesday morning really excited about how well it went!
I finished my fresco, it looks good, so the teacher was happy. We picked new pictures for our next fresco, this time, a full sized tile. Its a huge task. We had to start painting the picture. Its been tough, but its coming along okay, we start the fresco work on it tomorrow, Im worried, but our teacher is so good about helping us every step of the way so hopefully Ill come back with something good.
Wednesday we went to the Fiorentina vs. AC Milan game. It was AWESOME! We got 14 euro tickets and went with a group of about 15. The game was a blast, the fans here are so intense and get so into the games. The AC milan fans had a separate section in which they had to be gated off just to make sure no hostility erupted.
After the game we went home and did some more homework. We however had had so much fun at the game that we still had so much energy. At midnight Laura came to me and asked if I wanted to go out. I couldnt say no! :)
Laura, Alexandra (Gibbs), Lauren and I went out for a girls night. We had a ball. We went to the bars we always go to, but the night was completely different because we were with such a small group and it was only us girls. We made new friends, I sang kareoke at the bar, and we got free french fries from the Kebob guy Danny on the way home.
Unfortunately I had my Italian midterm the next day, but it ended up going really well. I went through it easily without much struggle and got the test back today with an 87%. I was overjoyed.
We packed up after lunch on thursday, cleaned, hung out and listened to music. Laura didnt go to Budapest so she came and hung out with me in my room until I had to go.
We got on the busses at about 4 oclock and headed towards Rome. Chloe and I were DYING for sour spagetti (a candy equivalent to sour straws in the US) but the gas station was out of them :( we of course got way more upset than necessary about it.
We got into Budapest at around midnight, and got to our hostel at 1 am. Chloe and i were soooo happy because we got paired up for rooming assignments in a double. However, when we got there there were complications. They were one room short, and of course it was ours. Everyone had to be rearranged, and we ended up in an 11 person all girls room. We met new girls and Chloe and I got the loft upstairs which was nice. We each had our own twin but pushed them together and slept next to each other anyway. Kiki wasnt with us, so we were experiencing separation anxiety from her, haha. Everyone was joking with us about how the three of us were to ever survive not being together for a weekend.
Budapest stories to continue in my next blog, for now, I have a philosophy paper to write!
Ciao!
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