Frühlingsfest.

Munich was definitely the best place I have visited. I'm not sure if it's because I was so excited to be there, since it's technically 'my home', or I just had that great of a time, but it was seriously so much fun. We got in Friday morning, went to a little restaurant for lunch - where I had awesome Jaegerschnizel and Beer. We went to the BMW Welt and museum and the Olympic Park, both of which were awesome! Two very cool Architectural pieces as well.

After a very long day, we headed over to the fairgrounds. Springfest is sort of like Octoberfest, except a lot smaller. It only uses a very small portion of the fairgrounds. It was still a blast, so I can only imagine what Octoberfest is like. I don't know how they do it, but Germans make the best beer in the world. I have tried a lot of different foods and alcohol over here and none of the beer tops theirs - or brats for that matter.

The next day we just walked the streets in Old Munich, going into cathedrals and such. The girls and I found some pretty epic outfits that we had to get for Springfest. Of course, for dinner time we went back to the fairgrounds, and I indulged in some more great food and beer.

It was really great to get out of Italy for a weekend. Every time I leave this country, I start to dislike it more and more. I think Italy is a great place for visiting, but honestly not to live. I think I've said it before, but it's just so backwards, not letting anything modern or new in. It's like they are stuck in Ancient Rome - or in Florence, stuck in Disney World. I definitely give them all the credit in the world for keeping all the cathedrals and such up and clean, but for goodness sakes classical buildings are not the best things in the world. It's time to branch out!

The next couple weeks I have a lot of school work to do. Next week, I have my Italian Art Final, my Sketching and Drawing portfolio is due, and also my Reading Cities sketchbook is due. The following week I have my final review for studio. Then, I'll be in London, Dublin, and Paris for a week - then home. This semester has gone wayyy too fast! For a little bit I was homesick, now I don't want to go home! If my friends and family could just come over here that would be awesome!

New Perspective.

Milan gave me a completely different perspective of Italy. Finally modern buildings and modern design! Something I've appreciated so much in every other country but could never find it here. I know where it's hiding now. This trip was with my school. They take us there at this time of the year because it's when Milan hosts it's annual Design/Furniture Expo--freaking awesome. Probably the coolest thing that I've been too, and the coolest thing that Kent has suggested to us - which isn't really that hard to beat, we've been to some really stupid things.

The Expo is in a sweet building, first off. Secondly, it is a mile and a half long! There were 26 different show rooms - most dedicated to a specific area: kitchen, bathroom, furniture, even technology for the kitchen. We were able to get to all of these and the satellite area, where young designers have a showcase where they can do whatever they please with. There was definitely a lot that we didn't get to - we only had one day of about 6 hours to wander around. Because of this expo, there were a lot of people there and a lot of other things going on in the city. Apparently there was a music festival, but I never found it unfortunately.

The Milan Cathedral is absolutely amazing. So decorative, tall, and Gothic! There isn't another "Gothic" cathedral in Italy, because they didn't like the style - only "Italian Gothic" which is pretty much just pointed arches on a Renaissance building. It was cool to finally see one - it's one of my favorite styles of Architecture, so interesting. I plan on seeing the Notre Dame in Paris and some other Gothic cathedrals when I go after the semester is over. Unfortunately, though, I did not get to climb the cathedral. It was suggested to me, and I really wanted to, but lovely Kent did not give us time when it was open to get up there. Instead, they gave us free time on some back alley road where we couldn't find anything to do - can you tell I've been frustrated with this class? Good thing it was our last trip.

Other than the Design Expo and the Cathedral, we really didn't see much. The fortress and some other churches that you can see anywhere else in this country - as you can tell it gets old to see all of them over and over again...

I'm so pumped about this weekend. Tomorrow [in only a few hours at 3:30 am], I am headed to Munich, Germany for Springfest! You have no idea how much I've wanted to get to Germany. I have had this trip planned since the first week we got here. It is so late in the semester because this is when Springfest - a mini Octoberfest - is held there. I'm quite excited to drink some good German beer and eat some Weiner Schnizel and of course a Brat or too! We are planning on seeing the Olympic Park, and possibly the BMW Museum and Hitler's Eagle's Nest. The only thing that can hold me back now is the stupid volcano. All of the airports have been closed until yesterday because of the ash in the air. However, the started to fly again and nothing - that I have heard of - has crashed, so we should be okay. I've been joking with some friends about us getting stranded there, but in reality I kind of hope I do - I would not mind at all if I got stuck in Germany! But, I just hope that our plane doesn't go down - please say a few prayers for us! Oh, and by the way - since when did it get to be April 22nd?! Where are these days going! Before you know it I'm going to be home wishing I was back here - but definitely happy to be home at the same time. I'll keep you updated when I get back - if I do ;)

Bittersweet.

Well I'm supposed to be in Aachen, Germany this weekend - a trip that I was looking forward to so much, but instead I decided to stay in Florence, get a couple more days with my family, and catch up on school work and sleep. Lately, I've been very stressed out and slightly homesick. It is without a doubt that I miss my own bed - where outside there are no loud people walking the streets, no loud street cleaners in the middle of the night, and no tourists! I miss the convenience of home, and I am really starting to miss everyone - friends and family. My family definitely came at the right time in the semester. Of course at this point in the semester, I really have to focus on school work too. Getting ready to start final production for our final reviews. Stressful.

However, don't get me wrong because I really do love Florence - Italy - Europe. I just want to be home for a week or two. I know that the next 6/7 weeks are going to fly by, so I don't want to wish myself home. Especially because I'm definitely looking forward to my upcoming trips: next weekend in Milan [for school] and the following weekend in Munich [for Springfest]. Also, I'm staying an extra week in Europe after classes end to travel - I'm planning on going to Dublin, London, and Paris during this week.

Not really much to report other than that. Haven't done too much since the epic spring break. Just quality time with the family. I ended up going back to Pisa and Venice with them, along with a winery in Chianti - nothing like Chianti from the town of Chianti. Well, I'll keep everyone up-to-date after Milan, until then I'll dream I'm home.

Three Cities, Three Continents, One Amazing Spring Break

Egypt was purely amazing. I absolutely loved every little bit of it. First, we went to Cairo where we saw the pyramids, of course, the sphinx, the Egyptian museum, and the old market. I am definitely so glad we went with a travel agent for this trip. After first arriving in Cairo I realized there was no way we would have been able to do it ourselves. The streets were absolutely crazy! No traffic laws really, everyone would drive whatever speed and wherever they wanted. There were lanes but no one really seemed to care or even notice they were there. Also, they had traffic lights but again no one seemed to care. I also saw a camel on the street - there's a first time for everything!

The pyramids were so cool to see in person. I have been wanting to see them for a really long time, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go. They were a lot wider than I expected, and also smaller in height. Still crazy! Our guide took us to a point where we could get a panorama of the pyramids [where the picture was taken] and from there we rode camels to the second pyramid - the Pyramid of Khafre. There we went inside to where the tomb was located. Pretty neat experience, a 3 x 3 - yes, feet - hallway, you pretty much had to crawl. The center was sooo hot! And very stale air - I couldn't breathe very well.

The Egyptian Museum was cool. Not a ton of stuff - everything was pretty repetitive. The mummy room and all of King Tut's treasures were cool though. The Old Market was definitely an experience. Everyone trying to get you to buy something.

Next was Sharm el Sheikh, soooooo relaxing! We did climb Mount Sinai - left our hotel at 11:00 pm to drive 3 hours into the desert to get to the base at St. Katherine's Monastery. From there we hiked the mountain - wasn't too high about 6,000 ft. There were so many people climbing it was crazy! I wish we could have taken our own time and went our own pace, but our guide kept stopping us to make sure we were all together. We summited at about 5 am just in time for sunrise. It was so beautiful! Totally worth staying up all night. After the sun rose we went back down, grabbed breakfast, and went inside St. Katherine's, where we got to see the infamous burning bush.

The next few days I just spent my time down by the beach. I went to Ras Mohammed - an Egyptian National Park - to go snorkeling, and also rented snorkeling gear at the hotel since there was a huge reef right off of our beach. The fish were so pretty and colorful. I saw about 5 large tuna fish, a barracuda, and a sting ray - along with a ton of other little fish.

Ending my trip in Egypt, I came back to Rome and met up with my family. We went to mass at the Vatican for Easter. It was kind of weird - they had the mass in the Piazza, which I definitely wasn't expecting. Of course, it rained the entire time mass was going on, which made it so cold and miserable. However, it was such an awesome experience! We were about ten rows back from the start of the stairs - which on top of the stairs was Pope Benedict XVI himself - pretty cool. To say the least, I think I was definitely holy that week, climbing the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments, seeing the first monastery, seeing the burning bush, and being in the Vatican listening to the Pope for Easter Mass.

Definitely a trip that I will never forget, and by far the best spring break ever! [Oh and by the way if you're still wondering why I have three cities, three continents, apparently the Sinai is in Asia, so I hit three continents in a week, pretty insane!]

This weekend I was supposed to be going to Aachen, Germany, but due to amount of studio work and being ridiculously stressed this week, I've decided I'm not going to go. It was a trip I was really looking forward to, but is probably not the best idea to go unfortunately. Thankfully by not going, I get to spend more time with my family though.

Cairo to Sharm el Sheikh

Just figured I would put my Itinerary for my Spring Break on here in case I don't have time to blog. I am so incredibly excited for this trip - I mean I'm getting to see the only wonder of the [ancient] world that is still existing! We went to a travel agent so we don't get screwed over by taxi drivers and such, so this is what they have planned for us.

Itinerary:

Day 1 Friday March 26

-Arrival to Cairo airport From Rome (ETA 16:15)
-Meet and assistance through arrival formalities, transfer to Pharoahs hotel in Cairo and overnight

Day 2 Saturday March 27

-Breakfast at hotel, Full day tour of the Egyptian museum of antiquities, housing the most magnificent treasures of the young king Tut Ankh Amon (with guide)
-Lunch during the day
-Visit to the three Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx (with guide)
-Back to hotel and overnight

Day 3 Sunday March 28

-Full day free at your leisure or the optional tours
-Overnight in Cairo

Day 4 Monday March 29

-Transfer to Cairo airport to board flight to Sharm El Sheikh (ETD: 12:00 noon ETA: 13:00)
-Arrival to Sharm airport and transfer to Continental Garden Reef Resort

Day 5 - 8 Tuesday March 30 - April 2

-At your disposal in Sharm to enjoy sunny weather and crystal clear water

*I'm planning on climbing Mt. Sinai and going snorkeling. And of course just relaxing on the beach!

Day 9 Saturday April 3

-Transfer to Sharm airport to board flight to Cairo (ETD: 13:30 ETA: 14:30)
-Assistance through departure formalities
-Arrival to Cairo airport to connect transfer flight to Rome

End of Trip

*Only to come back to Rome to meet up with my family to go to Easter Mass with the Pope at St. Peter's!


Using Pharaohs hotel in Cairo ( 3 stars ) on " bed and breakfast " basis & Continental Garden Reef resort in Sharm ( 5 stars ) on " all inclusive " basis.


Package rate include:

* Accommodation for 3 nights in Cairo in a 3 stars hotel on bed and breakfast basis.
* Accommodation for 5 nights in Sharm El Sheikh in a 5 stars hotel on "all inclusive " basis.
* 1 full day tour of Cairo with private A/C transportation, fees, English speaking Egyptologist and Lunch during the day.
* Transfers in Cairo and Sharm including assistance.
* Connection transfer upon departure including assistance. ( Sharm / Cairo / Rome )
* Entry visa to Egypt upon arrival.

Package rate does not include:

1. International and domestic flights.
2. Entering inside the mummies room and inside the Pyramids.
3. Meals at Cairo hotel rather than the daily breakfast.
4. Accommodation in Cairo after coming back from Sharm.
5. Horse, camel and calash riding.
6. Visits or excursions in Sharm.
7. Water and beach activities in Sharm.
8. Personal expenses such as telephone calls, laundry, tipping, drinks.... etc..

Can't wait to tell everyone how it goes!!

The Three V's

This weekend I spent my time in Verona, Vicenza, and Venezia. Two of which no one really knows about, even though they are pretty famous. Verona is a typical Italian town. The thing that separates it from the others is that it is supposedly the location of the famous story Romeo and Juliet. However, I did not find the balcony of Juliet.

Vicenza is not really known at all, but it has a lot of Palladian architecture like Teatro Olympico, Basilica Palladiana, and the more famous Villa Rotunda. The Teatro Olympico was pretty awesome. It is supposed to mimic an ancient Roman city. It's set up so that you think it goes on forever, and it really looks like it. While we were there we got a light show which was pretty neat.

Venezia, or better known as Venice, was so gorgeous! Probably the worst city to navigate though. Just about every road runs you into a dead end. This trip was one of our field trips with our class, so we had a guided tour on Saturday. Needless to say, we had to stop several times because people didn't see where we turned and they got lost. I almost did; however, I found my way back after several dead ends. While I was there, I also went to the island of Murano. Beautiful glass. I spent way too much money there, but I tried to justify it by realizing not much was for me. I wanted to go on a gondola ride, but they were 100 euro - no thanks.

I heard rumors that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, along with Johnny Depp, are in Venice to shoot a movie, but I didn't see any of them. More rumors - apparently Angelina and Brad were in Florence not too long ago, but I didn't know nor did I see them. I know to keep my eyes out though!

A couple big tests this week, then off to Egypt!!

Catch-Up Time

Sorry for everyone who has been keeping up with my blog. I have been extremely busy lately trying to get my resume and portfolio done, studio mid-term, Italian tests, and I've been sick - the downfall of being in Europe, so many viruses that I haven't been in contact with. So I guess I have a lot to blog about since the last time was in February. . .

Classes-wise, I have done some pretty neat stuff. In Italian Art, we went to the Uffitzi Gallery, Santo Spirito, San Marco Museum, Bargello Museum, Santa Maria Novella, and, my favorite, we went up the dome of the Duomo! I'm a little behind on posting pictures too, sorry about that. I'll get them up in the next day or two. Studio has been a little crazy because we just had mid-term reviews yesterday. Italian class has been crappy, we've had a lot of tests, and I'm just a lost cause at learning Italian. Sketching and Drawing has been okay. I'm not going to lie, I'm getting really sick of drawing the same arches over and over again. However, I do feel like I'm getting better at it. Finally, Reading Cities. We went to Urbino on our last trip and it was just okay. Not the greatest city in Italy, but still neat. It had a lot of really pretty views, being on top of a hill and all. It was really cold and snowy when we were there, which hindered our view.

Luckily - for my this posts sake - I haven't gone on very many weekend trips, just taking it easy a little bit. This past weekend, though, I went to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Netherlands is a very cool country. I wasn't too impressed with Rotterdam, but Amsterdam had so much character! It was great to see all the architecture there. All of it was seriously straight from ArchDaily - for you non-architecture people, it's a website filled with the latest architecture. There was so much modern architecture, it was blowing me away! I also got to see the Van Gogh museum - didn't go inside since Starry Night isn't located there and it was 14 euro to get in - and the Anne Frank house. Oh, for everyone who is wondering, no I did not smoke pot even though it's legal. The Red Light District was pretty interesting - I'm not really sure how else to describe it. Monday, our last day, I started to get really sick, so I spent most of the day in bed unfortunately.

Yesterday, I had mid-term reviews for studio. They went pretty well. I have a lot to accomplish for the end of the semester though, but plenty of time to do it. This weekend I will be in Verona, Vicenza, and Venice for Reading Cities. Next week, I have an Italian Art mid-term exam and an Italian final, but then Friday I'm off to Egypt for spring break! I'm pretty pumped about Egypt. We are going to be spending three days in Cairo and five days in Sharm el Sheikh. We decided to go to a travel agent, so now we have a tour guide that will take us to the Giza pyramids and the Egyptian Museum. Also, in Sharm el Sheikh, we have a five star all-inclusive resort, so that will be luxurious. Mt. Sinai is not to far so we are planning on climbing that, along with snorkeling in the beautiful waters of the Red Sea.

Other upcoming events: my family will be here as soon as I get back from Egypt! I'll be going to Easter mass at St. Peters with them. Aachen and Cologne, Milan, and Munich are all weekend trips coming up in April. Then finally ending my semester with Paris, London, and Dublin in May. [As you can see very busy!]

I feel like I have so much more to catch up on, but still so many other things to do! Hopefully, after this weekend I'll have time to get on to blog and update some more!

A is for Adventure

Yesterday, I went to a place called Cinque Terre. It's consisted of 5 villages along the Mediterranean Coast. Beautiful. It was seriously so gorgeous. It's supposedly a 12km hike from the first town to the fifth town. However, due to mudslides, the pathway along the coast from the third to fourth and the fourth to the fifth were closed, but everything else was open. It really didn't affect us anyway though. A few friends had told us that the prettiest part was between the second and third towns and was capable in one day - we really didn't want to stay the night to save some money for other trips.

It actually only took us about 15 minutes to walk from the first one to the second one and, if we didn't stop at all, probably only 25 minutes to walk from the second to the third. In between the second and third we were able to get down to the coast. We packed lunches so we sat on the huge rocks and ate our lunches as we absorbed the beautifulness of the area. After arriving in Corniglia - the third town - we stole some lemons from the mass amounts of lemon trees. They were so delicious, if you like tartness and sourness of lemons that is. We wondered around for a bit and found a restaurant that we decided we were going to eat at later.

There was a road that went from Corniglia to the next town, so we were going to follow that, since the pathway was closed, but we found another pathway that we decided to take. It wasn't on the coast, but there were lots of toe paths off of it that we took to be adventurous. They really did take us to a lot of really pretty stuff that not many people would have been too daring to do. One of the paths we chose consisted of a rope to help you get down the very steep path. Once you got down that part, it was literally about a foot wide path that if you fell to the left, you were dead - plain and simple. No guard rail. Not even a person in sight. It was pretty crazy but awesome at the same time.

We found our way down to the coast by following that toe path. There were a few older guys down there with a couple dogs. Pretty nice, Italian, but they knew some English. We didn't really know where to go after we got down there because it took us back to the paths that were closed so we asked them for advice. They told us that we could go through this tunnel that was 1km long and it would take us like right by the train station to get back home. So, after hanging out by the coast for a little bit, we decided to go through this tunnel to get back to the restaurant for an early dinner. Let me tell you this is probably the craziest thing I've ever done in my life. I seriously thought that I was going to die. First of all, on the way down to the coast there were signs on rocks that said beach - in English - with an arrow that followed the path. So pretty much luring in dumb English speaking people. This tunnel was pitch black and all we had were our cell phones to light the way. Mind you, at the beginning there was a gate - that the guy closed as soon as we started to get deeper into the tunnel. I was freaking out and almost cried. I was just waiting for someone or something to pop out and grab us, but somehow we made it out alive.

The restaurant that we went back to was sooo delicious! I got spaghetti with clams and we all shared a couple bottles of white wine. The wine was literally made in the backyard of the restaurant, and it was so tasty! We sat outside because it was so nice and also because of the view - great view of Corniglia and the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately, it got cloudy and our plan to watch the sunset failed, but it was so beautiful all day that I can't complain about anything. One awesome trip that lead to one crazy adventure.

When in Rome

Rome was just plain awesome. Our hotel was located about 3 blocks from the Pantheon - which was the very first thing I went to see. It was really cool. Seeing the dome was really cool, I didn't expect it to be in such good condition it was awesome. Some other things I saw that day were Zaha Hadid's MAXXI Museum [Contemporary Arts Museum that doesn't open until April or May], 1960's Olympic Gym, Park of Music, Piazza Navona with the fountain of four rivers, and the Colosseum at night. The Colosseum was beautiful at night. Me and a few friends decided to wander around the Roman Forum while everyone else decided to go to a shady bar crawl to get drunk in Rome. We did go to an Irish Pub, which was filled with locals, to get a beer and watch the Rome soccer game - more my scene anyway. I am pretty sick of everyone who has to get drunk all the time. It's really not that great and the culture here is not that at all. It makes me sad and upset that they aren't enjoying Italy as they should be. There's too much to see to be getting drunk every weekend.

The second day was pretty epic. Things seen: Ara Pacis Museum done by Richard Meier, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Roman Forum. I sadly wasn't impressed by Richard Meier's building, but everything else was really cool. A few friends decided to race up the Spanish steps; I got a video - it's pretty funny. After that we got lunch - by the way, I had an awesome lunch: a salad loaded with carrots, corn, zucchini, tomato, and tuna - and headed over to the Trevi Fountain. It was gorgeous in Rome pretty much the entire weekend. It rained in the morning and then always turned out to be a beautiful day. By the time we got to the fountain it was sunny and so warm. We just sat on the bench right next to the fountain and absorbed the sun and relaxed listening to the water run. Next, we had an archeologist take us on a tour of the Roman Forum. He was pretty cool, somehow he learned all thirty of our names by the end of the three hour session - pretty ridiculous. He definitely knew what he was talking about too, and kept us interested. Later, once it got dark, a group of us went back to the Trevi Fountain and Roman Forum, both were still awesome at night.

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum, and the Colosseum took up the entire next day. St. Peter's was actually smaller than I expected. However, still extraordinary. It was just amazing to be there as a Catholic - something that I've always wanted to do. I went down into the catacombs and saw Pope John Paul's tomb, which was very crowded for obvious reasons. The Vatican Museum was huge, and packed since the Sistine Chapel is located there. It was weird though in the Sistine Chapel. Everyone was packed in like sardines and there were only two security men telling everyone to not take pictures and videos and be quiet. I did sneak a few pictures [oops]. I also saw Raphael's famous The School of Athens painting - awesome. It still gets me every time I see something that I've read and studied about for the past 2 1/2 years. From there we trekked all the way to the Colosseum before our pass expired - at 4:00. Let me just say that that walk, from the Vatican Museum to the Colosseum, is a long one. Finally getting there, though, was bitter sweet - only bitter because my feet were killing me. I was so excited to be in a building that has been there since before we can even think to remember. Dinner was tasty, we went back to the Irish Pub because we had looked at their menu from before, delicious burger and potatoes - something I haven't had in I don't even know how long! I think this night was the best one I've had since I've been here. I got some gelato and sat next to the fountain by the Pantheon. A couple was playing the guitar and singing, everyone was having fun and enjoying the people they were with, the night air was decently warm, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Not to mention there are those cute little Italian restaurants all around the Piazza and the apartment buildings/hotels had little baskets of flowers outside of each window. I only sat there for a couple hours, but probably could have sat there forever. It was definitely the picture I had in my head of Italy, and I think it finally started to hit me that I'm really here.

The fourth and last day we had a Baroque tour. Our tour guide seriously looked like a bum off the street. He kept lighting up cigarettes and it was bugging the crap out of me. To say the least, I unfortunately couldn't pay attention to him because of it. After that, we went to the Isola Tiberina - an island in the middle of the Tiber River. Got a sandwich from a snack bar/cafe, went all the way down to the river, sat in the sun, and enjoyed our food and the weather. I can't get over how nice it was the entire time we were there, it was t-shirt weather in the middle of February. From there, we wandered around until meeting up with the rest of the group at the hotel to make it back to the train station. Unfortunately we had to ride the bus to the train station, and even more unfortunately I have a similar story to that of my Grandma's while on board. She warned me about this, but I figured being in a large group it wouldn't matter to me. Wrong. To say this in the least amount of words as possible, the bus was crammed - like no place to move, not even an inch - and there were creepy men - or at least one - on board. Me and another friend were violated. I kept elbowing him his stomach as hard as I could to get him away from me since I couldn't move, and when I finally got around to get away from him he went to another girl in our group. Disgusting, and if I would have been there another minute I probably would have punched him in the face.

Other than that I had an amazing time in Rome. Such a great time and saw so many incredible things. Can't wait to go back for Easter!!

What I Came Here For

I find it ironic that I never talk about classes or school and that's the reason I'm here. My first field trip is tomorrow. We are going to be in Rome from Thursday through Sunday, getting to see some modern architecture and some old/ancient architecture: Roman Forum, St. Peters as a few examples. I'm pretty excited, especially because every night after 5 we have free time so I can go see everything else that they aren't taking us to.

My Italian Art class is awesome! Today we went to Santa Maria Novella and the Duomo for our lectures. Next week we are going to the Duomo museum and the Uffizi Gallery, and some upcoming classes are up the Duomo dome and San Lorenzo. It's probably the best way to learn about art and architecture when your right in front of it, and when your teacher knows so much!

Conversational Italian class...well not great. I do really good on tests because I can read it, but I am awful at speaking it.

Sketching and Drawing is really cool too. So far we have gone to sketch the Duomo, Piazza Signoria, Pitti Palace, and the Hospital of Innocents. I'm glad I took this class because I already feel like I'm getting better at sketching, which I thought was a lost cause.

Studio is very cool as well. We just finished our site model and did precedents so now we are starting to analyze our site. My professor is very cool and thinks that trips are the most important thing for an architect, which is nice for when we are gone an entire weekend and don't get a lot of studio work done.

Urban design is my last class and it is also pretty neat. It's just a lecture series of all the studio professors. They show us their work and teach us about planning cities. It's cool when you are getting to see some work of architecture firms that you actually hear about like Metrogramma [Alberto Francini is the professor that works for them], Morphosis and RoTo [Paola Giaconia worked for them and is a professor], Andrea Ponsi [pretty awesome and insane architect], and my studio professor Filippo Caprioglio [actually not too famous but has his own architecture firm and is very intelligent].

I definitely have some great classes that I'm learning a ton from, even though I am only in class for three days of the week. And I'm definitely getting taught by some very intelligent people.

Vienna and Bratislava

Vienna was beautiful. I feel kinda bad saying this, but I'm so glad I got out of Italy for a weekend. I almost felt at home in Vienna. Maybe it's my German heritage, but I didn't feel like I stuck out like a sore thumb like I do in Italy. All the people there were so nice too. It was pretty much freezing the entire time we were there, and snowing. I really enjoyed it, though, since we haven't really had winter here in Florence, just rain and 40 degree weather.

We got into Vienna Wednesday afternoon and pretty much just wandered the city for the whole day. I saw the Succession building, Opera House, St. Stephansdom, MODERN BUILDINGS, and other Gothic Cathedrals around town. I was so happy to see some buildings that were built less than 50 years ago, and not classical, classical, classical. It was a nice change in scenery. We also went to a pub and got a beer called EKU 28. Really good, and really strong. I was seriously slightly drunk after only having one bottle. We also went to see a tower at night that lights up and changes colors.

[Sorry for my friends, this was after we had the beer..]

The next day, we pretty much did the same thing over again. We went to the Town Hall and park - located directly in front of the Town Hall. The park was so awesome! They put ice skating rinks in and had music and food all over the place. It really just put me in a Christmas-y mood. Everyone was enjoying themselves and the food. I also got to see some of my favorite architects work, which was awesome to see in person. Later that night we had an Austrian-style dinner.. weiner schnitzel, potato salad, and beer. It was freaking delicious. I actually had a lot of good food while on the trip, a lot that didn't cost a whole lot and tasted amazing.

Our last day in Vienna we went to one of the Palaces outside of the city. It was so pretty, but I wish I could have seen it in the Spring or Summer with the gardens in full bloom. We also headed back to the city center and hung out until it was time for us to go to Bratislava.

Bratislava was much more than I expected. I knew I was going to see a church and some older, along with newer, buildings, but the atmosphere was great. Everyone was so friendly, and pretty - honestly I wasn't expecting that at all. We saw all the main attractions, and had some traditional Slovakian dishes, such as roasted pork and dumplings.

It was really a great weekend, even better than I expected it to be. A lot of the culture was German, obviously, and it makes me want to go to Germany so much more now. I can't wait!

Lessons. Learned.

Naples is a pretty neat city. It reminded me a lot of San Fransisco though, especially when walking along the coast. It's very impoverished, and quite large for an Italian city. To be honest, I was kind of disappointed. The coast line was pretty and the pizza was really good, but I think I would be okay with not going back. Pompeii, on the other hand, was awesome! I don't really know how to describe it since it consists of ruins after ruins, but it is definitely a place to go see. I mean the city was preserved from 79 A.D. to the 17th century by volcanic ash, pretty crazy. We got to see the basilica, houses, crosswalks, where restaurants would have been, bakeries, DOGS - there are stray dogs everywhere, and you can adopt them - and the pottery, people, and dogs that were able to be preserved with plaster.

I know I've already asked this question, but seriously what if the Roman Empire hadn't fallen? They had a running water system in, some say, 500 B.C. which didn't really happen again until, at the earliest, the 16th century. What happened for 1000 + years? I keep asking myself that question every time I see something else the Roman's accomplished.

I learned a lot of lessons on my journey to Napoli... Lessons that I hope I never have to learn again.

Lesson 1 - Do not, I repeat, do not get on a gray and red train if in Italy. These are the fast trains that cost a fortune. Yes, very nice, and you get there extra quick, but EXPENSIVE! After buying a train ticket to Naples, we saw on the screen train leaving to Naples. We got on not realizing we had to go to Rome, and then get a connecting train to Naples. Sometimes, not always, a person comes around and checks your ticket to make sure you're on the right train, or to see if you actually bought a ticket. We were on an express train that costs 72 euro one-way. Not the regular train that costs 52 euro round-trip.

Lesson 2 - Try to persuade the guy checking tickets into letting you get off at the next stop. Me and three other friends were checked before the 6 others were. We paid our 50 extra euro since we got on the wrong train then went to the others and told them what had happened so they knew it was coming. They argued their way out of not paying and got off at Rome - the only stop other than Naples that was taken - and proceeded to get on the right train to Naples at no extra cost.

Lesson 3 - The food on the express train is not free. They do have a buffet and drinks on the train, but they are not free. However, we did not get the food, we were thinking about it. Good think we actually asked on this one and didn't just go help ourselves.

Lesson 4 - Actually do research before you go to a foreign city. I was just along for the ride because I didn't really know much about Naples, and I just really wanted to go to Pompeii and Vesuvius. Bad idea, I feel like I didn't see anything because we didn't really know where to go or what to see.

Lesson 5 - CHECK THE FORECAST! [This one can be broken down to a few parts] If it is going to be raining the entire weekend, do not go to Naples. We walked in the pouring rain, with no umbrella, for oh a good 40 minutes. We were soaked, and even though we used the dryer at the hostel, my clothes were still a little damp in the morning. I didn't really come prepared for soaking wet clothes either, so I was wet pretty much the entire trip. Also, we couldn't climb Mount Vesuvius because of bad weather. I was pissed - one of the only reasons coming to Naples.

Lesson 6 - Before you leave stations, check the times of your connecting trains. Not one of us checked the last train back to Florence from Rome, thinking it's a big city and there are plenty of trains at least stopping through Florence. We got into Rome at about 7:30. The last train to Florence left at 6:45. We had to spend another 22 euro to get to Pisa and then take a bus from there to Florence [arriving back into Florence at about 3 A.M.]. Our other option would have been walk around [or get a hostel] Rome until 6 A.M. to then spend more money on a ticket from Rome to Florence. We decided to go home the earliest we could.

Lesson 7 - 25 and up, run. Romes train station is huge! After deciding that we were going to get on the train to Pisa, we had to buy our tickets and get to the train. It was at terminal 28. We had to speedwalk/run to get there to make sure we got on in time because 25-29 are out in the middle of nowhere.

Lesson 8 - This one isn't too bad and is the last one, thankfully. Don't put your feet on the seats across from you. The train from Rome to Pisa was 4 hours long, and there was like no one on the train. We each decided to stretch out and use another seat to put our feet up. The guy that came around checking tickets yelled at us like three times for having our feet up there. Oops.

I think it's safe to say this weekend wasn't one of the best weekends I've had since I've been here. It was still fun and I did see some pretty cool things. Just wish it went a little better than that.

Scatter-brained week

This week was pretty crazy. A small project was due on Tuesday for studio. It went well considering I didn't start final production until Monday since I went to San Gimignano and the outlet mall over the weekend. I did finish though, and did get some sleep. Today, our professor went over our projects with us which went good, too. I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester and the next project. We get to design a library for an existing university, along with some other programs, like a cafe and such.

Also, this week we found out we had to go to the police station to obtain our stay permit. Finding out Tuesday, my day to go was yesterday - Wednesday. There was a group of about 30 or so that had to go at once. Our appointment was at 7:45 A.M. They did not start finger printing our group until 10:45 A.M. I was last. To say the least, I missed the class that I absolutely love and wasted five hours of my life. The place was crazy full of people trying to stay here, whether they were students or just people trying to live here. Oh, and the best part - I get to go back in a month and do it all over again just to receive my card, HOORAY!

I have seen so many Riley's since I've been here. Both days going to class this week, I saw a black lab puppy...cutest thing ever! It reminded me of the day I first saw Riley. I don't think I've mentioned this yet but Italians - especially Florentines - treat their dogs like humans. They are almost always wearing clothes, some in leather - yes leather - coats, and they are allowed to go into every store. It's awesome because they are everywhere, but it makes me miss my dogs :(

Pretty much everyday of the week, me and a few friends make family style dinners. We've had very good meals too - baked ziti, humongous steaks, chicken parm, and different pastas with homemade sauces. Yesterday was my day to cook and I decided to go Mexican since you can't find it anywhere in Florence. I make my own salsa, and seasoned the ground beef and chicken with my own concoction. It was pretty hard to get a spicy flavor since they have like no hot peppers anywhere, and taco seasoning packets don't exist. But it turned out pretty well and everyone seemed to like it. The salsa, I have to say, was freaking good - so fresh since I bought all the veggies fresh from the market. It's going to be weird going back to the states and going to the grocery store. I'm really getting used to shopping daily for dinner and always getting really fresh foods - with no preservatives. It's like a luxury almost that I'm definitely going to miss.

Well tomorrow I'm headed to Naples and Pompeii. I'm so excited! We are planning on climbing Mount Vesuvius, which I'm really looking forward to. We are only staying Friday and Saturday so it will be a lot of running around, but hey it's a once in a lifetime experience!

Stop and Smell the Roses

San Gimignano is a very pretty city. It's kind of like Siena only smaller and a lot of towers! There used to be 72 but only 14 - I think - are still standing, five really pronounced ones. Me and a few friends just spent the day on the hillside staring out into the mountains and other distant cities. We found the best pizza place that I've been to thus far, and a couple got some really good wine, made in Tuscany of course. There were signs everywhere for a wine museum, but I swear it just took you in circles, we never found it unfortunately.

Tomorrow, I'm going to an ultra outlet mall that everyone keeps talking about. It's about a half hour bus ride out of Florence..called Barberino Outlet. I CAN'T WAIT! Puma, Prada, Adidas, Guess, Lacoste, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, and The End just to name a few stores there. I hear they have pretty good prices, and it's sales month so hopefully I find some good discounts! Trying not to spend too much money though, don't want to get myself in trouble, but I guess I don't have to eat next week ;). Other than that, Sunday and Monday I'll probably find myself in studio since we have a little project due on Tuesday.

I have done a lot of thinking since I've been here... So, I've only been here for 3 weeks and my view on America/Americans has already changed, and I have a feeling it is going to keep changing throughout the semester. I mean I guess I kind of already had some of these thoughts because my family and friends all pretty much think the same way too, but being outside of everything just makes you realize it a whole lot more.

Italians live for family, friends, and good food - all things that really anyone should live for, but doesn't really come across in the states. Almost everyone is so friendly, maybe not always to us foreigners, but I've been watching a lot of people here around Florence and in the other cities I've been to, and everyone is very nice. Laid back is another characteristic of Italians. Just about everything closes during lunchtime, all day Sundays, and for the majority of Mondays. They take their time and enjoy what's around them for a change. Americans are so..fast..in everything. Driving through the closest McDonald's or Wendy's for their lunch, always working past hours of close, working on weekends even. Don't get me wrong..we are far better off with technology and certain things, but can't we just take a chill pill once in a while? Remember that saying "stop and smell the roses"? No one does that anymore. Everyone has to have the latest invention or be the best of the best.

Also, when I was on the bus going from Siena back to Florence, there were a few women on the bus - all separate from each other - that just kept waving goodbye to their family/friend/loved one until we left, probably at least a good 10 minutes. Mind you this is maybe about an hour bus ride that goes back and forth everyday. I feel like, yeah, we get sad when we see family go, but normally when you only get to see that person(s) maybe once or twice a year. Not really when you only have an hour car ride to see them next. They just care about each other so much. Granted, I'm not trying to say that we are all just heartless people, I just don't think we really appreciate it as much as we should. And, not all people do this, like I said before my family and friends, I feel, have the same attitude towards life as me, since they have shaped me into who I am as a person.

I think I just feel bad for the rude people in our country. They really just don't see the world as you are supposed to. There are a lot of beautiful things in the world that no one - especially Americans - really stops to look at or notice. I feel like everyone needs the opportunity to get out and see the rest of the world. No one that I have encountered is bitter and rude, they just enjoy what is there. It's kind of sad to say already, but I already don't want to go back to the states.

Oh, another thing. I hate how they think about us. I went out a couple times my first week I was here, and the clubs cater to Americans because they know we are going to overindulge in alcohol and spend lots of money at the bar. A lot of places lower the cover charge and give you free shots and drinks. Also, apparently every American girl - in the eye of an Italian or other foreigner - is as most people say 'easy'. NOT TRUE! Why do we have to put this bad reputation on the U.S.?! They know we are like this, and we give in to it! I don't understand... people here have one or two glasses of wine or beer or whatever during dinner and that's it. No getting drunk out of your mind - they think that if you are drunk you are sick - they just enjoy the taste. I feel like maybe it has to do with the fact the legal drinking age is 21 and here you can pretty much have it your entire life, I haven't been carded once since I've been here. I don't know, I just don't understand how some people can't just enjoy a glass of wine and a relaxing evening....

Siena é una cittá meravigliosa.

Siena is probably the most gorgeous and authentic city I have ever been to. It is so picturesque with its windy roads and steep hills. Almost every road has one of those little romantic restaurants with two person tables, flowers in the middle, and an arbor with pretty vines over top. On some of the roads there are archways that make it very romantic as well. Oh, and all the apartments have those fenced in windows with flowers or some type of plant growing from the extended sill. Beautiful.

The Cathedrale di Santa Maria is ridiculous. First of all, the part that exists was only supposed to be the apse. The church was not completely built due to financial reasons. Some aspects that were built though, like one of the aisles and the front entrance, so you can see exactly what it was intended to be. It would have been tremendous. I did go inside for mass, obviously no pictures were allowed – unfortunately. The inside is marvelous, so pretty. So much detail was put into the church. Apparently the money that they couldn’t use for the rest of the church was used to make inside as elaborate as possible.

Well, other than my long day in Sienna, I haven’t been doing too much. Last week everyone was getting sick so now it’s my week. Today, I’m feeling very miserable, blowing my nose about every 5 seconds – which made classes not fun at all. Hopefully I get better, I’m trying to go to Turin for a day or two this weekend, but probably won’t if I feel like this.

Good news, however, I booked some flights.. one to Munich for Springfest - not until April 23rd - and one to Bratislava - Feb 10th - where we will be going to Vienna as well. Really excited to see what's outside of Italy!

Pisa and It's Leaning Tower

Pisa is awesome. First of all it was a gorgeous day in Italy today, especially in Pisa. Sunny and in the high 50's. The morning started out rough when we went to the self ticket booth and the machine ate a 5 euro bill :( - I guess it was good it was only a 5... but the train ride was a very cool experience, first time I've ever rode a train before, at least I think. Very pretty the entire way, lots of mountains, villages, and vineyards. When we got to Pisa, it was a trek to the cathedral, tower and baptistry, but it was nice because then I got to see the whole city. The ever-so pretty Arno River runs through Pisa as well, so there were some nice water shots.

The leaning tower is pretty amazing. I went ahead and splurged on the 15 euro pass to go up the tower for a half hour and I don't regret it at all! It was the coolest thing ever, very trippy to walk up though. The stairs are about as wide as one maybe two people, and obviously since it's leaning, it feels like your walking down stairs when really your walking up. Or you fall to the side a little, which is what I did. Also, when you get up to the bell level, there are three stairs and a railing on the first step. Well when your on the third step, your above the railing so I'm pretty sure if you were to trip and fall you would just literally fall right off the tower. To say the least, I had to stay on the first stair and grab the freaking railing because I seriously thought I was going to fall. It was scary! There is one more floor, though, which is where all of it is worth it. Beautiful. Mountains on one side and Pisa on the other. A terrific view of the cathedral too. If any one has the chance to get to Pisa and the tower is actually open, CLIMB IT! It is way worth it!

I also was able to go inside the church, since it was free, which was exquisite. All the frescos were still on the walls and it was just jaw-dropping. I literally walked in and was awe-strucken - if thats even a word. I'll be putting pictures up on fb sometime soon, when I get the chance. I really can't even describe it. There were just so many things going on and so many little details everywhere that made it so pretty.

It's unbelievable how much was accomplished back then, and how much money was put into these extraordinary buildings. It makes me realize how advanced they were back then. Me and a friend were talking about the 'what-ifs' if Rome's empire hadn't fallen. I feel like we would really be the futuristic space ships and all that if they were still in power today. But I guess that's another story that no one will ever know, just something cool to consider and think about.

Overall, Pisa is definitely something to experience and can for sure be done in a day. There isn't much beyond the cathedral and it's tower. I never went inside the baptistry, which I hear is very beautiful itself. Didn't have the money since I got jipped at the train station and then had to pay 15 for the tower. I'm definitely not disappointed though. Awesome experience and awesome architecture!

And the classes begin...

Well, I've only been to two days of classes and there's already so much to talk about. Let's see, yesterday I started my morning out with Italian class. Nothing special or new - since we technically started that class last week. My Italian is getting better though. I went to a store the other day and only spoke Italian to the lady working, I was proud of myself :) . Next class was Sketching and Drawing. I'm very excited about this class because every Thursday we get to go on site and just sketch what is around us. I hope to improve my drawing skills while I'm here so this is the perfect way to do so.

Then last but of course not least, we had studio. I was a little nervous that the work load was going to be ridiculous like always, and I was going to find myself in studio all the time instead of traveling around. Instead, my professor seems very nice and accepting of the fact that traveling and seeing everything is really what we are here for. Of course we are going to learn A LOT, but seeing everything is half the learning. My professor is Italian, went to school at the University of Venice for undergrad, but then came to the U.S. for grad school to Syracuse. Pretty cool because he kind of knows what we are going through, studying in a different country. Just from the introduction, he seems like a very good prof and I think I will learn a ton from him.

Today was my favorite class, Italian Art. I was soo excited for this class before I came here and now I'm even more excited to go to every class. We went to two different piazza's today, where he gave us a lecture on the history of Florence. Very cool by the way, too much to type but pretty awesome to hear how the city became what it is today. Every class we will meet in the classroom and he will give us a brief lecture on what we are going to see, then we get to go to the place that we are talking about and literally see it. Some scheduled places are inside Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella, the Duomo - literally inside the dome, we get to climb it as he lectures about how it was built, and museums including Accademia, Uffizi, and Opera del Duomo - all museums containing very famous work.

Also, today after class, me and a few friends decided to try out our museum passes and went to the Uffizi museum. We were there for probably about 3 hours and barely saw half the museum. It is huge and has so many amazing things in it! Unfortunately, you can't take pictures there, so I didn't take any today. I'm going to try to work on my sneakiness to take a few at some point. Since we get in for free, and get to jump any line that there may be, we can go back as many times as we want :)

Tomorrow, I have the exact same schedule as yesterday, and we are all off on Fridays for any type of traveling we may want to do. As I said before, we are planning on going to Pisa and Sienna this weekend!

La Bella Citta

Today, in Florence, it was beautiful! I spent the day wondering around the city, making my way back up to Piazzale Michelangelo. I didn't take any pictures, just absorbing how pretty it was. I went at night a few days ago and I thought it was pretty then, but during the day you can see the mountains surrounding the city. I think I could definitely find myself going up there quite a few more times this semester.

The past few days have been rather boring, just waiting for classes to start and walking aimlessly around the city. I found a cheaper gelato place, which I'm so excited about! Only 2 euro for a small cone - which is all you need. I've also been finding the cheaper places to eat. Sandwiches big enough for two meals for only 2-3 euro.

A few of my friends and I are planning a couple trips this weekend. Friday to Pisa, Saturday to Medici's Villa - which is with the school - and Sunday to Sienna. It's supposed to be really pretty Friday and Saturday but Sunday it's supposed to rain, hopefully not enough to ruin our plans. I'm excited to get out of Florence for a bit and see other places in Italy that aren't so touristy.

Today, I did sign up for a couple things that the student advisor has planned for us. An opera next Thursday, a free Tuscan dinner this Friday, and a pizza and gelato cooking class in March some time. Hopefully I come back with some good pointers on cooking! I also picked up my museum card, good for admission to quite a few museums in Florence. We tried to go to a couple of them today, but we found out, like most things around the city, they are closed on Monday's. It's a weird concept that I'm going to have to get used to. Sunday and Monday are like their weekends. There's not really much else to report at this time, but I'll probably have a lot after this week since classes start.

Top things

Top things I have loved thus far:

1. Mercatos! - The markets have so much good food, from cheese and wine to fruits and vegetables. Everything is fresh, homemade, and tasty! The meat is in huge slabs so you know exactly what your getting. And of course the best part..it's fairly inexpensive! Today, I went and got vegetables for a salad, four tomatoes, a red and yellow pepper, and a huge head of lettuce for only 2.70 euro! [About $4]

2. Gelato - Delicious!! The gelaterias are everywhere and they smell soo good! Next time I go I'm going to have to get some with the waffles! Unfortunately, it's just so expensive so I can't get it all the time :(

3. Views - Everything is so beautiful and old. Ponte Vecchio is very pretty, you don't even feel like you are on a bridge until you get to the middle and see the river. It's also pretty romantic with the nice [expensive] jewelry, and the lock fence [you're supposed to come with the person you are going to marry and put a lock, with you and the persons name, on the fence and your said to be married happily ever after]. Really pretty much everything in the city is romantic, old, and cozy. Tonight, I'm going to Piazzo de Michaelangelo, which is supposed to be the prettiest place, overlooking the entire city. I'm excited to get some really nice pictures!

4. Culture - Italians are very old-fashioned and I love it! There are not very many cars, everyone walks everywhere, or rides their scooter/motorcycle. The city was very carefully planned. I love how everything is so compacted together [I wish that we had cities like this in the states]. Also, everyone I've met so far have been pretty friendly. I just found out about where the actual residing Italians go for dinner and stuff like that so I'm excited to go check them out and see what they are really all about!

5. Language - It's very similar to Spanish. My four years of it in high school is helping me out. It's just a very pretty language, which is kind of weird to say, but it's fun to just listen to people. I don't know very much yet, but it should be pretty easy since I'm going to have to use it every day. I can't wait to know and understand it better!

6. The month of January - SALES!! Twice a year they have huge sales. The entire months of January and July are dedicated to them! Almost everything is 50% off. I went to H&M and bought a few nice pieces of clothing, dress pants and shirt, skirt, and a casual top. Also, today I went to an Italian store named Zara, sooo cute! Four floors of fabulous clothes. There I got a nice leather jacket for only 40 euro. Other than that I haven't really bought much, considering I'd rather travel than get clothes.

7. Vendors - There is a huge market running about 5 different streets that just have vendors on it selling scarves, purses and bags, coats, clothing, sunglasses, wallets, belts, just about everything in that sense. Everything is cheap but fake. The scarves are awesome though, only 5 euro and they are actually pretty nice. There is one market that runs about a mile long, but it only opens Tuesday mornings. Everything there, though, is very inexpensive, scarves for only 1 euro.

8. Fashion - As soon as I walked into the Florence airport, fashion hit me in the face. Billboards of people modeling clothing or bags or whatnot. The people are very flashy wearing the latest fashion, and there are clothing stores everywhere. Granted they are really expensive but fashion is pricey!

My First Few Days

I'm starting my blog a little late. This blog is about my study abroad in Florence, Italy for four and a half months. It is part of the cirriculum of the Architecture program at Kent State University that all third-years have the chance to live in Florence and study there. We left out of Detroit airport on January 7, 2010. It was a miserable day for travel, 19 degrees and snowing non-stop. Of course the weather delayed us getting out. It was very slow in the airport so checking in and getting through security wasn't bad at all. Me and a few others not traveling on the bus - going from Kent State to the Detroit airport - arrived quite a bit early since the weather was bad and we didn't want to miss the flight. We had dinner and were never rushed. However, I felt really bad about the people who did travel on the bus considering they did not get there until about an hour / hour and a half before the plane left! If anyone knows me, I would have been freaking out.

I arrived in Firenze, Italia on January 8, 2010. I was very excited, scared, and anxious all at the same time. The entire time flying I realized where I was going, but it never hit me. It still hasn't hit me yet. We flew over Ireland, England, and, of course, France - stopping in Paris. I did get to see the land for all of the countries since we were low enough, but I didn't see any particular landmarks. One really nice thing about Air France, we were served free alcohol. Arriving in Paris was an experience, I wanted to look out the window and see the Eiffel Tower or something, but all I saw out the window was farm land, maybe I was on the wrong side of the plane. It was freezing there - much like when we left from Detroit - which I really didn't expect. We left about an hour late out of Detroit, so we literally had to run around the Paris airport, run to the bus to get to the next terminal that our connecting flight was out of, run through security - yes, again - just to make our connection to get to Florence. We even had Air France workers directing us where to go, and the plane was still waiting on us. To say the least, I felt like a dumb American.

I didn't sleep much of the 7 hour 40 minute plane ride. It was so crowded and tight, there was no way I was getting comfortable. Instead, I spent my time watching Sweet Home Alabama on the personalized screen you get from the seat in front of you, playing sudoku, and listening to Italian lessons on my iPod. Although, I did pass out on the flight from Paris to Florence, probably because I had been up for almost a full 24 hours. The flight to Florence was fairly nice, lots of room to spread out. Landing in Florence, I did the same thing as I did in Paris, looked around for the Duomo this time, trying to find something remarkable about Florence. Yet again, I saw nothing. At the airport, members the Kent State, Florence were meeting us to give us money for a taxi and keys to our apartments. Unfortunately, the travel agent that we used put me down as arriving the next day, so they did not have the envelope for me. Luckily, a girl was living right above me in the same building so we went together - me thinking I was just going to stay at her place until my roommates arrived. Our landlord met us at the door to our place and gave me his keys for the apartment, so I was able to get in and see the place.

My apartment is located pretty much in the city center. San Lorenzo - a historic cathedral - just around the corner, and the Duomo - the most famous cathedral in Florence - just a block away. Also, finding out after the next couple of days, the San Lorenzo market and the Central market - the biggest markets of Florence - are also only a 2-5 minute walk. Other really nice features of the place, fairly big in size, huge jacuzzi tub/shower - which by the way is awesome in Italy, all the showers barely fit a person inside - and a view of the Duomo.

After looking around my apartment, I wanted to explore Florence a little. A few of us went over to see the Duomo from street view. It was everything I expected and more. The scale is just extraordinary! Much bigger than I thought it was going to be. It was pretty late by this point, so we grabbed some pizza at a pizzeria by the Duomo, which was really good but pretty expensive. After that, SLEEP! I was so tired from jet lag and not having enough sleep.

The next few days, over the weekend, I toured the city. Saw everything from Ponte Vecchio to museums to fabulous stores. Okay, interruption, everyone that is from Florence is so stylish it's ridiculous! All the stores that I've seen thus far have been outrageously expensive. I also went inside the Duomo, and then went back for mass the next morning. Mass was an awesome experience. Me and a friend, Lucas, were selected to take collection. To get the baskets, we went in this back room that contained these chests that were behind glass - had to have been relics. It was pretty cool to have gone back there. Everything else, well, was in Italian so I couldn't tell you much about it, yet.

I did go to a club on Saturday night, too. It was pretty American though, just a few more flashing lights. Played American music, and I noticed there were a lot of Americans - which you can so easily point out here. Nothing too crazy happened, but I want to get to an Italian club to see what they are like.

Orientation started on Monday. It has just been long and boring talking about things that we were already lectured about before we left. Of course all important stuff, but getting old. I also have been to the market the past couple days. I really wish we had something like that all the time in America, it is awesome! Fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese, bread, wine, everything! Bad thing though, is that it's only open for so long. Like a lot of places here, there is a long lunch break where they close in the middle of the day, so on most days the market is only open till about 12:30 before people start closing up.

Other than that I've just been walking around and trying to adjust myself to the 6 hour time difference. I'll try to keep this updated as the semester passes.

Disappointing moment thus far: EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE has English underneath. Even when we were in Paris. Yes, it is very nice to know what everything says, but I felt like it was there because of us Americans that don't know squat about any other language. Just about everyone spoke at least two languages, maybe three. Again, another dumb American feeling.