Officially my FAVORITE Place in the World…Venice

(The Beautiful Venice)

This weekend it was off to Venice, I have been so excited for this weekend trip because Venice just seems so perfect! I was so right! This is my new favorite place in the world, I haven’t been a ton of places but I’m not sure if anywhere could top Venice! Hands down the most beautiful place I have ever been. The town is so calm and quiet because there were no cars or bikes anywhere! Everyone travels by boat through the canals and is just so peaceful, it was a huge difference from the hustle and bustle of Florence. We left on Friday on a 4:30 am train! So crazy but it was the only train left…so we were a tad sleepy when we arrived, but we were just in time for breakfast in Venice. The whole trip was surreal, I had to keep reminding myself I was in Venice!

(An exhibit at La Biennale, Yes that is Play dough)

After having breakfast we headed to the Biennale, which is the largest exhibition for contemporary art in the world, which also happened to be 5 miles away from our hotel! So after our long hike we finally made it, the art exhibition was very interesting to say the least, but it was a very cool experience. We stayed at the Biennale for about 3 hours and waited out the rain, then headed to have pizza and calzones at this little place by our hotel. We were all ready to pass out due to our early train so we went back to the hotel for some R&R! Our hotel was so perfect! So cute, quaint, beautiful and family owned! The little man that owned the B&B was so sweet and took great care of us! I would suggest this place to everyone! As we were leaving I told the guy we loved Venice and the B&B and that I would be back someday, and he said it was because Venice was beautiful and just like Disney World! J

(Our Cute Little B&B, Ca Dogaressa)

On Saturday we woke up a little early to meet our tour guide for our walking tour of Venice. The breakfast at our B&B was great and so filling which isn’t common around here! Our tour guide was great and we were able to see everything that we imagined, then we took a gondola ride around the city! The gondola ride was so fun but a little scary, it was a different way to see the city! All of the gondola guys have conversations while driving the little boats, our gondola sang to us for about 20 seconds and that was it! haha So far this has been my favorite part of the whole trip and I wish we were able to spend more time there! It is defiantly the most beautiful place in the world!

(Our Gondola Guy)

We got back into Florence on Saturday night late, so today we went the Uffitzi and the Orsanmichele, to get a few more museums in before we leave this weekend. Now I am taking a break from my final papers and catching up with my pictures and blog. This week in the last 4 days of school and then off to Paris for 4 days then Home! This week will be full of cramming in things we forgot to do, packing, studying, writing papers and making more memories. I can’t believe this experience has flown by so fast, but I’m ready to be home with my family and air conditioning! Tomorrow after class we are off for a boat ride along the river to see Florence in a new way! See everyone soon!

Sincerely,

Moving to Venice

Long Time, No Blog!

(Old Picture but of My Lovely Mimi, Poppy and Me)

So long time, no blog! Sorry for that it has been a very hectic 9 days! The past week was filled with rain, sadness, homesick feelings, crazy homework and it has been wonderful all at the same time. It has been a difficult past week here in Florence for me, the homesick feelings really set in on Tuesday after finding out that my wonderful Poppy passed away. I can’t explain how difficult it has been to be so far away from my family during this tough time. I am so blessed to be here with some of my best friends who have been here for me and praying for my families healing. Even though I am upset about being so far from home during this hard time, I know that I am supposed to be having this amazing life experience, my Poppy would be disappointed with me to not enjoy the rest of my trip, this thought has really kept me going the past week.

(Outside the Jersey Shore Pizza Shop)

School was busy this week, but I’m more than half way done! 1 paper, 2 oral presentations, 2 midterms and 1 journal later I know have a small break until finals and final papers next week. This trip has flown by and I cannot believe I only have 14 days left on my trip. This past Thursday and Friday I ran into some of the Jersey Shore cast! On the way home from school Liz and I ran into JWow, Roger and Snookie! On Friday we were walking to a museum when all of the sudden Ronnie was right behind us! So I am officially being followed by the Jersey Shore Cast! By the way I was on camera 3 times so look for me on the show! Hahaha

(At the Trevi Fountain, before my wish)

After the hectic week that I had with school, I was ready for our weekend in ROME! The school that I’m at offers weekend excursions and we chose to go to Rome, and oh boy did we choose right! On Saturday we woke up at 4:30am to catch the bus to Rome, we got to there at around 10:30. We didn’t really know how packed our day was going to be. First we started off at the Coliseum then to the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and then St. Marks Basilica, after that we went to dinner on our own and then off to the Free Lady Gaga Concert in ROMA! We really got to go to Rome the perfect weekend, just in time for Lady Gaga! We got to stay in a very nice 4 start hotel, with AIR CONDITIONING! YES! On Sunday we woke up at 6:30 a little bit more reasonable, and we had a free breakfast at the hotel, best part we got to have EGGS this is so rare, I can’t tell you how much all of us were drooling. We then headed off for our walking tour of Rome were we got to see the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Trajan’s Column and the Roman Catacombs. It was an amazing trip, Rome is one of my favorite places for sure!

(At the Lady Gaga concert in Rome)

So far this week has been pretty calm just trying to rest up from all that walking around Rome. Today we discovered 2 awesome Pastry Shops with wonderful little treats! Tonight we are going to have a night out consisting of takeout pizza and a Florence Fashion show! This weekend I will be off to Venice and then back to Florence for my last week of School. I have to say I cannot wait to sleep in my big bed, have air conditioning, a dishwasher and Mexican Food! J

(The Pantheon, Oh Zugay would be proud)

Sincerely,

Missing Home

My Birthday in Italy!

(Cinque Terra’s Beautiful Blue Water)

Well this has been an eventful weekend! I did several things that I have never done before; 1. Gone to an Italian Ballet. 2. Sat in the second to last row of a theater. 3. Woken up at 5:30 am on my Birthday! 4.Thrown up on my Birthday!  5. Thrown up on a train (the toilet was a hole in the ground)! 6. Used the bathroom in a hole in the ground! So out of these things you would think that I didn’t have a very pleasant Birthday weekend but actually it turned out to be pretty awesome.

(The girls at the Ballet)

We started off Friday with a little more sightseeing and then going to see an Italian Ballet Swan Lake. The ballet was amazing it was such a wonderful experience to get to go see a real Italian ballet in Italy! The tickets were only $15 too(we didn’t even care that we were on the second to last row!). Friday night was so fun we got to get all dressed up and sit in air conditioning for 3 hours! YAY! I am so fortunate to be able to say that I saw Swan Lake in Italy! J

(Liz and I at Cinque Terra)

On Saturday, My Birthday, we went to Cinque Terra which is 5 small cities all smushed together on this little island, also known as the “Birth place of Pesto”. Well we took 3 trains and 2.5 hours to get there, all while unfortunately I was terribly nauseous.  I woke up this way and am still not sure what the problem was, maybe the lack of sleep, too much Italian food? Not sure but it was my birthday so of course I ignored it took some medicine and hopped on the train. Well I guess my stomach didn’t remember it was my birthday and about 30 minutes in on the 1^st train, my stomach just couldn’t take it any more…I know none of you want to hear the rest but the end result was that I felt way better and by the time we arrived in Cinque Terra I was back to normal! Cinque Terra was BEAUTIFUL! The water was so blue the sky was so clear and all the flowers were to die for! I spent the day laying out on the rocks with Liz and then had pesto lasagna for dinner! Perfect birthday Rest, Relaxation and Pesto! The only down side to this beautiful place is that there is one real toilet(that you have to pay to use!) otherwise be prepared for a hole in the ground! We had a little trouble getting back taking 4 trains and 5.5 hours to get back but we met a precious little old couple on the train that were singing to each other!

(Cinque Terra)

So the past 14 days of walking all day, everyday really caught up with me this weekend, my feet were hurting before but Holly Cow my toes look like little sausages! YUCK! Luckily today has just been a day of resting, relaxing, elevating my feet and oh yeah homework! L But I really can’t complain after having such a great birthday weekend, I can do a little homework now! One week of school and then off to Rome for the weekend!

Sincerely,

No longer a teenager

Bags, Belts and Braclets!

Ciao from Florence,



(Malissa, Me, Liz and Alyssa)

This was my first week of summer school ever! Luckily it only consisted of 3 days since today was an Italian holiday kind of like Italy’s fourth of July. I am taking Philosophy of Design, Art and Beauty and International Art Business. My classes are going good, my teachers are great and we take field trips almost every class so I’m really getting to see different parts of Florence. To go to my first class I walk 10 minutes through Florence and then go up 60 steps to my classroom, my second class is quiet a hike it’s a 15 or 20 minute walk and then up 90 steps, then down a long hallway to the classroom. It takes me a while to cool down from these hikes to class, good thing they are two and a half hours! This whole summer school thing is a new concept to me, its been about 10 years since I’ve had to sit with the same teacher all day everyday! I’m not sure I like it! ;) I guess I didn’t know how crazy fast we would have to go, I have 1 journal,  1  2,000 word paper, 2  1,000 word papers, 3 oral presentations, 2 mid-terms and 2 finals, all in 3 weeks!  I keep reminding myself that the reason I am here is to go to school not sightsee all day long. L

(Me carrying all my Homework)

Today we went to some of the museums here in Florence, the Uffizi and the Accadeamia. I was able to see a ton of the most famous pieces that I’ve learned about in school, Michealangelo’s David, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Venus of Urbino. All were very amazing to see in person but the statue of David was awesome and so much bigger in person than I had pictured. In between museums we did a little shopping and I got some great souvenirs for myself and others! Florence is known for leather so of course I got myself an early birthday present! It’s a beautiful navy and camel leather bag! I love it! J  I am also on the hunt for some new shoes! MY FEET HURT! But there is no better place to have your feet hurt than in Italy! J Tomorrow we are going to see Swan Lake the Ballet and Saturday we will be headed to Cinque Terra for the day so more to come soon!

(I thought this was funny they are spray painted everywhere here)

Sincerely,

Needs a foot donor soon

First Weekend in Florence!

(View from across the river to the other side of Florence)

This weekend we all decided to explore Florence a little bit more and we really did! This city is gorgeous and I have yet to even see half of it. Yesterday we just ran errands and discovered more of Florence! We shopped a little, and I had the BEST Panini/sandwich ever and then we took a trip to the Billa (grocery store) so that we could start cooking dinner. It was a very interesting experience, of course everything was in Italian!  Between the four of us we did a pretty good job finding things and translating the itallian. Alyssa and Liz cooked Spaghetti Carbonara (pasta, eggs, and bacon) which was very very yummy! We had so much fun making dinner in the apartment and being able to navigate an Italian grocery store by ourselves!

(Our First Night of Cooking in our Apartment)

Today we slept late! Finally! We went to the Florence Gelato Festival, explored the other side of Florence and discovered a very talented artist who we all bought a piece of art work from! The Gelato Festival was awesome and a great way to try all the different flavors without wasting any money! I had coconut, green apple, melon, raspberry  and vanilla flavored gelato. Green apple was my favorite! Liz and I are still on the hunt for Nutella and Pineapple flavored gelato, good thing we have 4 more weeks! J On the way to the festival we found all the gates with locks locked to them from people that signed their names and wrote messages, so cute! We found a couple “Will you marry me?” ones!

(Such a cute lock we found!)

My favorite part of this whole trip so far was when we walked to the bridge that connects the two parts of Florence across the river! It was absolutely beautiful! This is where all the nice homes are with air conditioning! The heat is getting better though or maybe I am just getting a little more used to it.  So far I have learned this: gelato is way better than ice cream, how much I appreciate air conditioning, I wish I knew Italian, you can get tired of Italian food(I know I didn’t think this was possible for me either), everything is so beautiful here, and the word strawberry “Fragoloa”! Well school starts in the morning so it’s off to bed for me! J

(Across the Bridge)

Sincerely,

New Gelato Lover

Fast, Furious and HOT 3 days!

Ciao from Florence!

(View from our Apartment)

So the past 3 days have consisted of 6 cities, 3 plane, 4 trains , 3 buses, 2 taxis and finally we are in our home in Florence for the next 33 days! My journey to Europe started at home in Texas where I then was put on a different flight then Malissa, Alyssa and Liz(the Interior Design Girls I am studying abroad with)! This was a crazy start of the trip but it all turned out ok! On Tuesday I then flew from Texas to Chicago then to Paris then from Paris we rode a series of buses and trains to Beauvais where we took another plane to Pisa. And all of this with NO cell phone as you can imagine my Mom was freaking out a tad after not hearing from me for almost 2 days!

 Pisa was BEAUTIFUL, we stayed Wednesday night and toured Pisa and the Leaning Tower of Pisa on Thursday! The tower was more than I expected, in the pictures you just see the tower but it is in the center of the city which is surrounded by museums and cathedrals.

(Leaning Tower of Pisa)

Wednesday afternoon we left Pisa to head to Florence by train, we then checked into our surprisingly very nice apartment! After all of the online quizzes, brochures, emails, videos, pamphlets, information session and advice, NO one I mean NO one prepared me for the heat! Oh my goodness gracious it is HOT and NO WHERE IS AIR CONDITIONED! YUCK! I guess I can’t really complain too much I am in the most gorgeous place in the world, but a little warning would have been nice. J

(Mine & Liz's Room)

Today we had an orientation and got lost afterwards so we really experienced the true side of Florence. We went to the Market today to buy some fresh fruit and eat lunch, but I have to be honest all the raw meat really grossed me out! :/ eww! As everyone knows I am a huge fan of Italian food which has been awesome to have the real stuff, although I have noticed a lot of liver and brains on the menus, not really my kind of Italian food! Haha We also had free dinner tonight provided by LDM(my school), this was so nice after spending so much money on transportation the past few days!

Tomorrow we will be sightseeing in Florence so more to come soon!

P.S.: No Jersey Shore spotting yet! ;)



Sincerely,

Needs a Fan