Ciao! I'm having a lot of trouble posting pics but here is one and you can link to the other 3 I posted.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saint Miniato a Monte and first day of classes!
Ciao!
Well, I haven't written in a while so a lot has happened! On saturday after our trip, our RA showed up. She's very nice, and only a couple years older than us. Plus, she has been here for over a year so she knows all the good places to go! We went out to a great dinner saturday night. I had this incredible appetizer, it was Pecorino baked with prosciutto on top and truffle oil. SOOO GOOD! And then I had tortellini with prosciutto and tomato creme sauce. Definitely one of the more memorable meals so far. After that we went to the bar our RA works at, called Naima. It was really nice, and great to be away from all the tourists. It's a very relaxed environment and the drinks aren't too expensive. We went to some other bars but they were overwhelming.. lots of tourists and creepy Italian guys. But it was still fun to try out some new places.
Sunday we took the walk up to Saint Miniato a Monte (a church). What a walk!! It was so hot and tiring, but definitely worth it when we got to the top. We had the same teacher/tour guide, so it was great and we learned a lot! I realized that my neck does have some drawbacks because it started hurting pretty bad after staring at all the ceiling frescoes. It was worth it though! Our teacher explains every little detail about the paintings. I never knew how much meaning they had. It is literally like every detail in every painting has significance.
After our tour, my friend Carlyn and I just walked to Piazza Michaelangelo and enjoyed the INCREDIBLE view. We got some gelato, cioccolata arancia, AMAZING! Then we went down the mountain a completely different way and ended up finding this rose garden. I'm always trying to explore so I really get to know the city. Since Miniato is across the river, we explored a bit, and found some good looking restaraunts and bars. We are going to try to explore more on the opposite side because we've heard really good things about it.
Saturday night we went to a pizza place and then went to Naima again to watch the game. It was fun although the game was pretty uneventful.. On our walk home we happened to come across the empty market with the boar statue so we made a random guy take pictures, haha! This morning we had class at the crack of dawn. It was soo hard to get up at 8. My first class was Italian life and culture. I barely made it through because it was soooo boring! It's more of a history lesson, which is not exactly what I signed up for. The teacher was droning on for what seemed like forever. My second class was Italian II which was great. I'm really excited about that class!! Anyway, I ended up dropping my Italian culture class and instead I'm taking a writing class which is like a traveling features class. It teaches you to write about places you travel and what not. We have to write two huge papers, but we don't have any exams. I'm really excited, I think it is going to be great! Anyway, we just went to the grocery store and tonight we're cooking dinner! Pasta mm :) Plus I got some arugula for salad and a bottle of Chianti! I'm really getting the grocery shopping thing down, so I'm not feeling like as much of a stupid American. There is a ballet tonight in one of the squares and tomorrow night an orchestra is playing Beethoven's 8th. I'm definitely going tomorrow night, but I'm not sure about tonight. I'm pooped from class all day! I will definitely update to let everyone know how it was though! Tomorrow I don't have class until 1, so me and Carlyn plan on going to Mercato Centrale in the morning. I'm SOOO excited!!
Anyway, I'm going to attempt to upload my pictures in uno momento. YAY!! Love you all and miss you!
Well, I haven't written in a while so a lot has happened! On saturday after our trip, our RA showed up. She's very nice, and only a couple years older than us. Plus, she has been here for over a year so she knows all the good places to go! We went out to a great dinner saturday night. I had this incredible appetizer, it was Pecorino baked with prosciutto on top and truffle oil. SOOO GOOD! And then I had tortellini with prosciutto and tomato creme sauce. Definitely one of the more memorable meals so far. After that we went to the bar our RA works at, called Naima. It was really nice, and great to be away from all the tourists. It's a very relaxed environment and the drinks aren't too expensive. We went to some other bars but they were overwhelming.. lots of tourists and creepy Italian guys. But it was still fun to try out some new places.
Sunday we took the walk up to Saint Miniato a Monte (a church). What a walk!! It was so hot and tiring, but definitely worth it when we got to the top. We had the same teacher/tour guide, so it was great and we learned a lot! I realized that my neck does have some drawbacks because it started hurting pretty bad after staring at all the ceiling frescoes. It was worth it though! Our teacher explains every little detail about the paintings. I never knew how much meaning they had. It is literally like every detail in every painting has significance.
After our tour, my friend Carlyn and I just walked to Piazza Michaelangelo and enjoyed the INCREDIBLE view. We got some gelato, cioccolata arancia, AMAZING! Then we went down the mountain a completely different way and ended up finding this rose garden. I'm always trying to explore so I really get to know the city. Since Miniato is across the river, we explored a bit, and found some good looking restaraunts and bars. We are going to try to explore more on the opposite side because we've heard really good things about it.
Saturday night we went to a pizza place and then went to Naima again to watch the game. It was fun although the game was pretty uneventful.. On our walk home we happened to come across the empty market with the boar statue so we made a random guy take pictures, haha! This morning we had class at the crack of dawn. It was soo hard to get up at 8. My first class was Italian life and culture. I barely made it through because it was soooo boring! It's more of a history lesson, which is not exactly what I signed up for. The teacher was droning on for what seemed like forever. My second class was Italian II which was great. I'm really excited about that class!! Anyway, I ended up dropping my Italian culture class and instead I'm taking a writing class which is like a traveling features class. It teaches you to write about places you travel and what not. We have to write two huge papers, but we don't have any exams. I'm really excited, I think it is going to be great! Anyway, we just went to the grocery store and tonight we're cooking dinner! Pasta mm :) Plus I got some arugula for salad and a bottle of Chianti! I'm really getting the grocery shopping thing down, so I'm not feeling like as much of a stupid American. There is a ballet tonight in one of the squares and tomorrow night an orchestra is playing Beethoven's 8th. I'm definitely going tomorrow night, but I'm not sure about tonight. I'm pooped from class all day! I will definitely update to let everyone know how it was though! Tomorrow I don't have class until 1, so me and Carlyn plan on going to Mercato Centrale in the morning. I'm SOOO excited!!
Anyway, I'm going to attempt to upload my pictures in uno momento. YAY!! Love you all and miss you!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Orientation and Fiesole
Ciao! Luckily one of our roommates has been able to find ONE spot on the kitchen table where we can get internet (stolen from someone else), so I have a chance to update today! Things have been GREAT since I wrote last. Yesterday we went on a tour of Firenze and it was amazing. One of the teachers has been leading all of the tours and he literally knows everything about everything. He has so many interesting facts and can explain every piece of artwork on every building. I've learned a lot of interesting stuff, and I'm writing it all down and taking a ton of pictures!! Also, both my suitcases came which is a huge relief. Last night we had a group dinner with everyone in the program. It was nice but we went to one of those stupid Americanized Italian restaraunts and the food was lame. They served french fries, but I refused to eat them, lol! After that a lot of people were going out, but going to bars by the duomo that were completely overpriced and touristy, so I just came home! I couldn't fall asleep until 4 in the morning. JETLAG SUCKS!
Today we woke up earrrly and we had a trip to Fiesole!! We took a bus to the top of the mountain and then the same teacher gave us a tour of everything. The view was breathtaking! It was incredible being in a city that has been around for 3000 years. Everyone grabbed a little lunch and then we just headed back to the apartment. It's so hot and we were walking around so much, we're all so tired!
Hopefully, we'll be taking a trip to Mercato Centrale soon. Everyone is into cooking here, so I'm excited about that. I feel like I'm already picking up on some Italian even though I haven't started class yet. I carry my dictionary around everywhere, so I'm constantly looking words up. I try to speak in it whenever I can!!
Anyway, I think it's time for a Siesta. <3
Today we woke up earrrly and we had a trip to Fiesole!! We took a bus to the top of the mountain and then the same teacher gave us a tour of everything. The view was breathtaking! It was incredible being in a city that has been around for 3000 years. Everyone grabbed a little lunch and then we just headed back to the apartment. It's so hot and we were walking around so much, we're all so tired!
Hopefully, we'll be taking a trip to Mercato Centrale soon. Everyone is into cooking here, so I'm excited about that. I feel like I'm already picking up on some Italian even though I haven't started class yet. I carry my dictionary around everywhere, so I'm constantly looking words up. I try to speak in it whenever I can!!
Anyway, I think it's time for a Siesta. <3
Friday, June 27, 2008
First post!
Ciao!! I'm in a hurry to write, because it's my lunch break but I wanted to post to let everyone know how the first days are going! My flights were hell, seems like I had a problem at every airport, but I MADE IT! Without my luggage of course.. So, I got one of my suitcases today and hopefully the other one will come soon. I got to see the Eiffel Tower, the Alps, and even an Ikea from the plane!
I met a girl in Paris who is living in the same apartment as me and we were on the same flight to Florence. We took a taxi together and it hit me I was really here as we were driving through the streets, passing all of the landmarks (at break neck speeds all over the road of course!) We were some of the first to arrive so we just checked out our apartment and waited for other people to get there. The apartment is great. There is 14 of us although 2 people have not yet arrived. There's 3 boys and the rest girls. There's 4 rooms spread out, so I'm sharing with 2 people, and the rooms share a bathroom, with one extra. Then we have a kitchen and a little kitchenette, a living room, and then another room with a huge table and a couch and tv. It's really cool and beautiful! The ceilings are high and arched and I have a view of the Arno from my bedroom window!!
When everyone finally showed up we went out to dinner together. It was awesome!! We had a great meal and a few bottles of wine and then bought some more to drink at home. Everyone is getting along really well in the apartment and we're having a lot of fun together!
Today we woke up and headed to the study center for orientation. It's a long walk, about 25 minutes, but we walk past a whole bunch of museums, the Ponte Vecchio, and a whole bunch of great shopping, so I can't complain! We had orientation in the morning and got to meet all of the other students in the program. We ate lunch at the infamous Il gatto e la volpe (the cat and the fox) who all of the past students have told us about. I had a great pizza!
So, that's my trip so far. It's great and I'm so excited to spend the next 6 weeks here. I'll try to post some pics ASAP. Love you all and MISS YOU ALREADY!!!
I met a girl in Paris who is living in the same apartment as me and we were on the same flight to Florence. We took a taxi together and it hit me I was really here as we were driving through the streets, passing all of the landmarks (at break neck speeds all over the road of course!) We were some of the first to arrive so we just checked out our apartment and waited for other people to get there. The apartment is great. There is 14 of us although 2 people have not yet arrived. There's 3 boys and the rest girls. There's 4 rooms spread out, so I'm sharing with 2 people, and the rooms share a bathroom, with one extra. Then we have a kitchen and a little kitchenette, a living room, and then another room with a huge table and a couch and tv. It's really cool and beautiful! The ceilings are high and arched and I have a view of the Arno from my bedroom window!!
When everyone finally showed up we went out to dinner together. It was awesome!! We had a great meal and a few bottles of wine and then bought some more to drink at home. Everyone is getting along really well in the apartment and we're having a lot of fun together!
Today we woke up and headed to the study center for orientation. It's a long walk, about 25 minutes, but we walk past a whole bunch of museums, the Ponte Vecchio, and a whole bunch of great shopping, so I can't complain! We had orientation in the morning and got to meet all of the other students in the program. We ate lunch at the infamous Il gatto e la volpe (the cat and the fox) who all of the past students have told us about. I had a great pizza!
So, that's my trip so far. It's great and I'm so excited to spend the next 6 weeks here. I'll try to post some pics ASAP. Love you all and MISS YOU ALREADY!!!
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