One Month Already?!

I can't believe that I've been here a month already! As I was walking around this morning I realized that I hardly ever use a map anymore. Unless I'm venture far out, I usually know where I am going or look it up before and find my way. I was starting to wonder if/when I would get homesick, but I realized today that I already passed that stage. I miss my friends and family, but facebook keeps me so updated I feel in the loop. I skype my friends pretty often and I have made more friends here. Aside from missing a few foods (salads, honey mustard, peanut butter), I am doing pretty well. After this weekend all of my big trips start and I will be so busy. No time to miss anyone, I only have a few more months! ;)

Since my last update I have explored a lot of Florence. For my chocolate's class we toured my professor's chocolate shop and learned how to make chocolate. Yesterday we watched Chocolat to show how chocolate positively affects people. Couldn't agree more! Italian class is still hard for me. At least I am attempting to order and speak in Italian more. But I would seriously rather be in Calculus than Beginner Italian... Food Culture and Society in Italy is great as usual. We are starting to learn about the different regions of Italy and what foods they specialize in. We made Zuppa from the Umbria region last week! Next week in Sustainable Tourism we are breaking into groups and interviewing tourists to see where they are from/ how they are traveling/ why they are here/ if they know of sustainable tourism/ etc. It should be interesting to talk to the tourist groups that I usually try to dodge when I'm walking to class.

Last weekend I had a very eventful weekend in Florence. It was mine and Sarah's "tourist weekend" of shopping, attending a Florence Festival, and being typical tourists. On Friday I went on a tour of Museo di Palazzo Vecchio with my sustainable tourism class. It was a small group tour led by a "time traveling" man from the 16th century who used to live there. I learned more about the history of Florence and how the palace transformed through the Medici family and is now currently the town hall. My personal favorite was the Hall of Geographic Maps of what they knew about the world at the time. The walls were covered with maps of the 5 continents that they knew of and what they knew about each of the lands.

Saturday, I attended Wine Town: Firenze. Great decision. I dragged Sarah out to explore with me. We started off our day Geocaching in Santa Croce. Geocaching is basically the world's largest treasure hunt. You look up online to see where things are hidden in the city and use a GPS to find the coordinates  Funny thing is that my phone is in airplane mode and can only track the coordinates when it connects with WIFI, which I can only get at home, school, and from some cafes. We spent an hour trying to find one near Santa Croce but could only get within 20 feet of it and never found it. I have a travel bug that I inherited from Missouri that needs to be hidden in a geocache, so we will go again. We are determined!

Instead we went to get some wine and gelato on a waffle for Sarah. For 15 Euro I got a wine glass and 5 points to try different wines. Started off with a Chianti Classico, my new favorite. This was spread out all over the city and each place had different live music. Headed next to some sparkling wine, and then across the river to a new side of town. Had some more wine, and then we were ready for Gusta's pizza. It didn't open until 7 so we decided to get lost in order to learn that side of town. We came across our new favorite statue:

Then finally we got our Gusta's pizza. I saw they had Spinach and Ricotta pizza on their special's board and knew I had to get that (partially because Shelley recommended it, and because I love Spinach). I also fulfilled the travelbug's (from Geocaching) mission that Gabbe gave me. This pizza was unbelievably good.

To end the night we wanted Gelato and had heard of a 1 euro place across the river. Found it: La Carraia Gelateria. Amazing. You get 2 flavors for 1 euro. I noticed thay had cookie gelato with my favorite Italian cookies and remember Shelley mentioned something about cookie gelato. I later realized this was the place she had told me about. Funny how that worked out!

Sunday I returned to Wine Town. One day just wasn't enough, plus I had more points because I had to reload my card. :)  I dragged my roommate Megan with me this time and we got to see more places of Florence and get stuck in pouring down rain. Weather.com failed me! Oh well, we ran to the grocery store and got ingredients to make homemade pizza. Since I am a professional pizza maker this was no challenge, except that our oven took an hour to bake it and my stomach full of wine was not happy! We will know better for next time.

The last eventful night of mine was when Annie and I decided to go celebrity stalking. It was Gucci's 90th anniversary and they are opening a museum in Florence. They had their big gala on Monday night and celebrities such as "Madonna and Jennifer Lopez" were supposed to be there. We spend a good amount of the night up front and center by the "black carpet" watching the fabulously dressed people try to walk in heels on cobblestone on a carpet. Quite entertaining. We also made friends with the "had-a-little-to-much-Champagne-on-his-break" security guard who kept feeding us lies about what was going on in there. He clearly had no idea. But he was entertaining to talk to. In case you are wondering we did get to see some celebrities including: Camille Belle, Poppy Delevigne, many Vogue editors, and Gucci models. I'll take what I can get.

This weekend: Mokaflor Espresso tour and Venice!

Special shout out to my loyal followers, whoever you are (especially Chelsea St. John, so glad I can entertain you at work)!

My Studies in Florence!

Since the main reason I am in Florence is for my classes I thought I should dedicate a post about my classes, which are fabulous!

My first class is Wine Service and Beverage Management. What a wonderful way to start my week. My first class I walked in and the first thing my professor did was go to the cellar and get some wine. He is a middle-aged Italian man who spent a few years in Australia, so his English is pretty good. Sometimes he even talks so fast that I can't understand him. The one thing I can't get over is his crazy curly hair that bounces like springs on his head. The class mostly focuses on serving wine, but each class we try 2-3 wines. So far we have focused on how to properly open and serve a bottle of wine table side and the role of a Sommelier at restaurants. We have tried a lot of red wines from Tuscany. So far my favorite was the Chianti Classico we tried.

Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Beginning Italian. Thankfully Laura is in this class with me or I would never make it. Our professor is very nice and patient with us, but I pronounce everything wrong. I keep trying but everything is mixed up. The "a" is ah. The "e" is pronounced A. "I" is E. Even if I get it right on paper, I can't say it right. I tend to butcher everything with English or French pronunciation. It's nice to have the French background so that I understand how to learn a language and because some words are similar. I guess I speak some kind of FrenchItalianEnglish mess. However, I'm glad that I'm in Italian because it's helping me around Florence. I always greet Italians with a Bonjourno or Ciao, but beyond that I'm pretty clueless. I can now successfully order gelato or go to the market alone and get by with the little Italian I know. I can tell that Italians appreciate when I try, no matter how bad I am.

Food, Culture, and Society in Italy is my next class. I really, really like this class. My professor is a crazy young Canadian woman who moved to Italy when she was 11 with her family. She is very passionate about Italy, cooking, and wine. Her stories are always very entertaining and she is quick to give us tips on where to go in Italy. Our first class we learned how to make spinach and ricotta crepes with an alfredo-like sauce. They were absolutely fantastic and I have remade the crepes with nutella and fruit at home. The next class we made Coccole and Cecina Al Rosmarino. Coccole was a dough that we made and then fried and covered with sugar, similar to funnel cake. Cecina Al Rosmarino was a bread covered in olive oil and rosemary that we baked into a crouton like snack. Today was my favorite day. We went on a walking tour of Florence with our professor and she showed us some of her favorite places. First up was wine tasting at a local wine shop, La Divina Enoteca, that only sells wine from small farms in Tuscany. The sommelier was so cute trying to teach us everything he could about wine in less than 30 minutes. Next up we headed to a very popular gelato shop, Grom, that serves the freshest gelato. I found out that the shops that have all the great colored and heaping mounds of gelato are not the best because when the gelato is exposed to air for so long is starts to go bad. This place had all of the gelato covered and it is made fresh daily. It was extra creamy and good, but they're all good to me! Lastly, we headed to Panini Tartufati for tiny truffle sandwiches. They were fantastic. I am beginning to like mushrooms, but I have never tried truffles and they were so good. The difference between the two is that truffles are grown underground and can only be found using pigs or dogs to find them. This also makes them more expensive. It was quite a day exploring Florence!

Wednesdays I have Everything Chocolate: From Therapy to Pleasure. I can't think of a better class. Unfortunately I missed the first class because I switched into this class last minute. Last week I walked into class to find that we were doing a chocolate and wine pairing class. Perfect.

My professor makes his own chocolate and has a shop in Florence. He is a typical crazy passionate Italian man and reminds me of Duff. Duff Goldman is a pastry chef on the Food Network and is on Ace of Cakes. In class we tried three wines, five chocolate truffles, and chips of white, milk, and dark chocolate. Wine #1was Brunello Di Montalcino 2005. It was my favorite and very full of flavor. It went really well with the bitter dark chocolate and the cinnamon truffle. Wine #2 was a 2007 Bran Caia Il Blu mixed Cabarnett and Merlot. It was sweeter and very smooth. This paired well with the coffee and mandarin truffle, as well as with the creamy dark chocolate truffle. Wine #3 was Moscato Passito. Moscato is usually one of my favorite wines because it is so sweet, and this one did not disappoint. However, since it was already so sweet I didn't particularly enjoy this with any of the chocolates. Most of the class seemed to enjoy this with the violet and lemon truffle and with the milk chocolate chips. This class will most likely be my favorite since I have a huge sweet tooth. Tomorrow our class is going on a walking tour with "Duff", which I'm sure will be amazing!

Lastly, I have Sustainable Tourism. I had high expectations for this class since I am very interested in tourism and have started learning more about sustainability. My first tourism class at Missouri State was in the recreation department and we focused so much on where to go, what to do, and personal experience. It was so interesting and made me even more excited to take this class. So far most of the class has been on the history of tourism and definitions, but it's starting to pick up. We just got assigned a project about creating a plan for a sustainable visit to Florence and what tourists should do. Most of the research for this involves personally exploring Florence, so I am all for that!

Under the Tuscan Sun

These past few days have been very fun. Last Thursday I decided  I wanted to make some brownies. I didn't want to buy all of the ingredients, so I figured I could just buy a cake mix and turn it into brownies. Of course the cake mix instructions were all in Italian anyways. I poured myself some wine and googled how to make brownies from cake mix and found a number of options. So I took the cake mix and just added one egg, 1/4 cup of oil, and 1/4 cup of water... just like at home brownie mix. It was about the right consistency, but tasted very bitter. So what do I do? Add a crushed candy bar, not realizing that it was 'extra dark chocolate'. This was not looking so great, so I just added a huge glob of Nutella (because that fixes everything here) and some milk. Half a bottle of wine latter, it turned out pretty good. It was a great send off for a pub crawl with some roommates and neighbors. We went to some popular clubs in Florence and ended up back at my apartment to finish the cake. Classic.

Friday afternoon we headed out of the school sponsored all inclusive Tuscany adventure. We took a bus to our Hotel, Cala di Forno, in Talamone. From there we were taken on another bus ride up to the historical area of Talamone. The view from here was amazing and we walked around the little old town.

We headed back to our hotel for dinner in the restaurant below. We were welcomed with a bottle of wine and bread to munch on. The first course was an assortment of bruschetta and other finger appetizers, followed by pea soup, shrimp gnocchi, lemon fish, and finally tiramisu. I tried everything and of course my favorite was the tiramisu. I was very impressed by the 5 course meal and have no idea how Italians can eat like this and stay so skinny!

Day 2 We headed out to an archaeological park in Populonia and Baratti for the beach. The archaeological park had tombs from mid-7th century B.C. that families previously buried their loved ones and prized possessions. We got to enter the biggest tomb on the left of the photo.

The other tombs were from around the same time period but were very different styles depending on the time and family. Some of them were so tiny you couldn't walk into them. Our lunches (Tomb Snacks!) for the day were bread, bread, and more bread, and FRUIT! Finally, something other than carbs. It had the consistency of an apple, but the very middle was like a peach. We are uncertain and decided to call it a papple until we are told otherwise. The beach was great. Did some swimming, relaxing, went for a walk, and got sunburnt. Typical day at the beach for me. I swear I put on sunscreen, but my legs don't usually burn so I skipped that. Except that my left side faced the sun most of the day, so the entire left side of my leg is bright red and some of my back. Finding aloe in Italy is like a treasure hunt since Italians don't really burn. Advil and wet cloths are doing to trick though. And of course the gelato we got after the beach helped.

Our dinner plans were scheduled at a 'nearby' town up in the hills. Our bus driver was fantastic at getting up these hills and making these turns. Of course we got lost and our travel time doubled. We finally got to the restaurant on the top of the hill for dinner. This dinner took twice as long as last nights and was not very impressive. I'm pretty sure the restaurant hated us and didn't really want us there. I tired the seafood risotto, buttery fish, and tiramisu. It was ok, but I'm not sure why we decided to go so far away through the narrow streets in our very large bus.

Sunday was my favorite. Sarah, Kylie, and I got up and went to breakfast early to ensure we got warm croissant with nutella and mixed fruit granola. Delicious way to start the day. Then we headed off to the Country Villas Fattoria Le Guardiole  for an Equestrian show and organic lunch. We once again got lost and couldn't find the farm. I'm starting to just expect Italians to always be 15- 30 minutes late and expect to get lost 50% of the time I travel. We started off with a tour of their hotel, restaurant, and wine cellars. Ahh-mazing place. It was so pretty and there was even a little chapel for people to get married there. Their wine cellars doubled as meeting spaces for functions. The total HRA nerd in me got really excited about how great of an idea that was and what functions could be held there. The view of the Tuscan countryside was breathtaking. I could have stayed there all day and just relaxed outside.

Next up was the Equestrian show. We walked down the road to find about 40 long horn cattle and 6 horses. I guess we didn't know what to expect out of this besides a horse show. It turns out we here to see the Maremma Butteri show about the old cowboys of Tuscany whose main job was to control, count, and move cattle. They put on a show of how to sort out the calves and how they would brand them. Not quite the horse show we were expecting, but it was nice to see some animals. 

Next up was an amazing organic lunch. Right away we were served a giant bottle of wine from their farm and warm fresh bread. The best bread I've had to far and it was served with their fresh olive oil. The wine was also great. I'm really starting to prefer red wine over white wine since that's mostly what we taste in class. Our first course was a ricotta quiche with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette that was delicious. Everyone at the table cleared their plate.

To top things off we were served organic turkey and potatoes for main course and assorted fruit pastries for dessert. This trip was a lot of fun and it was great to see the Tuscan countryside. We had a lot of laughs and ridiculous bus stories. The bus ride back took 2 extra hours because of added rest stops and traffic. We got to see about 20 cars drive up and then reverse down an exit ramp because of the traffic. That for sure wouldn't fly in America. The bus driver decided to blast a cd on the last hour of the bus ride that included Sittin on the Dock of the Bay, I Will Survive, random Italian songs, and finally Lady Gaga. Italians are crazy, and I love it. Cheers to a great weekend!

Cinque Terre

This was the view when I got off the train at Cinque Terre. Seeing the very blue water and mountains was very refreshing since I usually only see cobblestone streets and buildings. Don't get me wrong, Florence is beautiful but I love to see the beauty of nature. Cinque Terre translates to "The Five Lands" and is made up of 5 villages along the western coast of Italy. Tourists typically hike from village to village and then relax at the beach in the 5th city. I went with 3 of my roommates Megan, Kassi, and Kait. Due to some train delays and trail closures we were only able to do the first walk, explore the 3rd city, and then head to the beach. No worries, I plan to go back and hike with Paige in November.

The first walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola is know as "The Lovers Walk" and is filled locks everywhere from couples who place a lock along the trail and throw the key in the sea so their hearts are locked together forever. Many people also carve their initials into the rocks. The walk was very peaceful and I enjoyed the sea and vineyards along the way.

We stopped at the 3rd city, Cornigila, for lunch. After walking up the very large hill we chose Ristorante Cecio for lunch, a recommendation from the Rick Steves travel guide. This town was very small and only had 5 restaurants to choose from. This area of Italy is known for their pesto, so Kassi and I got Pesto for lunch and it was delicious. Above is my view from our table at lunch. Being so high up on the hill we got a nice breeze and a beautiful view for lunch.

After lunch it was getting late so we took the train to the last town for the beach. Since it was a Saturday the beach was so crowded we just decided to walk along the shore with our feet in the water. The water felt amazing and I enjoyed people watching at the beach. There was a water slide set up for the children to play on, young men playing volleyball, and many sunbathers taking in the sun. I have become addicted to panoramic view on my camera because I think it really captures the scenery. Below is my roommate, Kait, taking in the view.

 Of course we had to end the day with some gelato. I chose to mix strawberry and lemon. Best decision ever. It was extremely refreshing, especially on a hot day. I'm not sure why I haven't mixed flavors before, but I will be doing it again. In my many times experimenting with gelato I have tried mint chocolate, chocolate, hazelnut chocolate, hazelnut, cafe, and vanilla. Strawberry lemon was the best decision yet.

 Cinque Terre was a great day trip. We had a great time figuring out the train station, navigating through the villages, and enjoying the view. With each trip I get more excited for my future adventures.

Last night I booked my fall break adventure. Laura, Sarah, and I have been debating about what we wanted to do. We had plans for a Best of the West Tour, Greece and Istanbul tour, and finally came across a tour of Moracco. Snow or Sand is a great little tour company that focuses on small adventure travel groups. On the itinerary for my fall break is an overnight Sahara Camel Excursion, beach days in Essaouira, a nature walk in the Atlas Mountains, Hammam Bath Treatment, and much more. I must say that I had no idea I wanted to go to Moracco when I came here, but after hearing this group speak, my heart is set on it. I'm working on planning my other trips now and I have my heart set on Switzerland for some mountains and chocolate. Yumm. Next up this weekend is a trip through Tuscany with my program, Study Abroad Italy.

Don't worry Mom and Dad, I am attending my classes and loving them. More on them next time!! Ciao!

Arezzo!

I went on my first day trip on Sunday to Arezzo with Laura and Sarah, the two other students from Missouri State. Arezzo is the capital of Tuscany and a short hour train ride from  Florence. This city is about 1/3 the size of Florence and a lot less touristy. This also meant that very few people spoke English, which was a little bit of a challenge. We were very excited for the Saracen Joust tournament that takes place twice a year. We got there around 9am and followed our map to Piazza Grande where the jousting takes place. After having a latte and chocolate croissant we began to wander the city. We were interrupted by a short parade of about 40 men playing trumpets wandering the streets. This was the first of many parades that day.

Continuing to wander the city we headed to the antique fair that is held of the first Sunday of every month. We followed the map, up and down the hills. This fair was huge! Picture the largest flea market you have been to and multiply it by 4. We enjoyed looking at all of the old jewelry and strange gadgets.

We also came across a one-man-band that was playing Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff". He as impressive, but this seemed a little out of place to me. We heard more trumpets and went on a search to find the parade. This parade was a little bit bigger, but we could hardly see it. The town was starting to fill up with more people and we realized just how big the festival is. For lunch we headed to a little restaurant that was in Laura's Tuscany book. The menu was in Italian (of course) and the servers did not speak English. Desperatly trying to translate the menu with an English-Italian dictionary, I decided on insalate, a salad. I wasn't that hungry since I just had breaskfast and figured I can't go wrong with a salad! We got bread as soon as we ordered. I dipped in in the best olive oil I ever had and ate almost the whole basket. Delicious.

After lunch, we headed back to Piazza Grande to see if more people were gathering around for the jousting to start. Quickly realizing that everyone had a flag to support their team/family, we went on the search to find a flag. We each chose the flag we liked best and tied it around our necks to support our team. We met some Americans that were also studying in Tuscany and they informed us that it didn't start until 5pm, but the parade was at 3:30. Another parade? Then they explained that we would need tickets to get back in. We went and got our tickets and sat on a curb by the street to wait for the parade.

As we waited, we spoke to a nice couple from Rome that explained to us the history of the jousting and the 4 families. Apparently my team, Porta del Foro, has the least amount of wins in the history of the tournament. Guess I'm rooting for the underdog! This parade was much larger and it was nice to have front row seats. There was more music, flag twirlers, people dressed as royalty, and the jousters were presented.

 Porta del Foro!

When the parade was over we tried to reenter but were told that we had to go all the way around to the other side for standing room. We hiked up and down the hills, as it started to rain, and figured out where to enter. What we didn't realize was that the standing room was clearly split into the families that you were cheering for. This didn't work out so well since we each bought different flags. We happened to be standing in Laura's section, so she was representing well. Sarah and I got some stares from the crowds. These crowds were CRAZY. They all had chants and were booing the other teams. I guess sportsmanship isn't very present here. It was very exciting to see everyone so involved, like an American Superbowl.

The gates opened and the parade started... again. The exact parade we had just seen came into the center of the Piazza. Four parades later, a flag performance was given. This was very impressive, but we were getting anxious for the jousting! Finally the jousters were announced and it all began. Each family has two jousters. They sprint across the center on horseback and attempt to hit the board that is held by a dummy. They get points from 1-5 depending on where it is hit. The first guy went, hit the board, and we waited. Finally the announcer presented the score: a five. Our section went wild. People were chanting, yelling, hugging, and a guy even cried. This is intense! We were so exhausted after a long day that we only stayed for a few. I tried to search online and cannot find who won. I guess we will never know, but I'm going to assume it was my family!

Still can't believe I live here!

The past few days have been absolutely amazing. I'm over jet lag and sickness and really got to explore the city. I had my first "I actually live here" moment when I was standing on Ponte alle Grazie looking over the water at sunset.

Back a few days... on Thursday morning I had SAI orientation in the morning, roamed the streets of Florence, went to my first open market (which was amazing to get such fresh fruits), and then had a welcome dinner. The welcome dinner was at a palace, Plazzo Borghesc, that was extremely beautiful. It was just a tiny door on a street in the city, but when you enter and walk up the stairs the palace is unreal. Everything here is made with so much detail and beauty! I couldn't even imagine a place similar in the states that they would have an orientation. As my roommate, Megan, said "America would probably serve pizza and soda as their first meal." Not in Italy! We had a mulit-course Hor D'oeuvres. The food was a little expensive for my taste, but I truly enjoyed the dessert- tiramisu and champagne. The room this was held in had gorgeous chandillers and handsome young servers- more about them later. I later found out that this place hold all kinds of banquets, including weddings. Humm :) After the welcome dinner I went with Sarah, the other girl studying abroad from Missouri State, and her roommates to try and find a nice, relaxed bar to sit at. Her roommates are great and want to travel to places similar to me, so it looks like I found some travel buddies! I was also really excited because one of her roommates, Annie, is also going to Apicius. Almost everyone I meet is going to Florence University of the Arts, so it is nice to meet another Hospitality major!

The next day also started with student orientation and was followed by filling out my permit of stay and giving 75 Euro to the Italian Government, not so fun. But afterwards I decided to go on a mission to the school to get my internet hooked up. After getting lost, my new favorite thing to do, for a good hour I finally made it and discovered that the guy couldn't hook it up until Monday. This was depressing, so I wandered back to my apartment and passed a used book store/ bar with free internet. I was very excited, but I had to buy something to get internet. Not really in the mood for a drink at 3 in the afternoon and not wanting expresso when it is 90 degrees, I decided to look at the books. I looked through the tiny American section and found "A Tuscan Childhood". Perfect to go read as I sit in a piazza soaking up Florence's beauty someday. I was also really happy to get a book to read for pleasure since I didn't bring any. This shop was very cute and I am glad I found it. Getting lost here is actually a wonderful thing. I love discovering new places and you will always find your way back within the hour. One thing that shocks me here is the amount of gelato/bar places and cafe/bar places. They are everywhere! After soaking up the internet, I came back and went to get my first gelato with my roommates Kassi and Kait. I got "After 8", the mint chocolate chip.

Yum! There was another welcome reception that night that we went to at Florence University of the Arts. Beautiful school. I am lucky I have my Sustainable Tourism class here! Laura came back to my apartment and Megan and I showed her around. Then I got this fantastic idea to look at Megan's computer and display the characters on the internet password. INTERNET! Yay! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, all of my roommates have had internet since the first day. We had a glass of wine and then went out to our first pub crawl. A travel agency Florence For Fun created this pub crawl the first weekend to promote their agency. This was neat because there were students there from the schools all over Florence that we met. The first bar was free champagne, which was a nice was to start the night. Then we all headed over to the second bar where we ran into the servers from the welcome reception the night before. Megan and I stayed behind to chat with them when everyone else went on to the disco. It was great to talk to Italians our age and get to hear about the city. They just happened to go our for a drink after work and recognized us from the reception. Many servers here in Florence are hansome. They were very pleasant to talk to and exchange stories about the U.S. and Florence. When I told them I was from Missouri, in the Midwest they automatically assumed that I ride horses and raise cattle. Clearly stereotypes are real. They attempted to teach me some common Italian phrases and I failed miserably, but I tried. It turned out to be a great night and Megan and I are hoping they will show us around Florence.

Today was the day I fell in love with Florence! I started off the day going over to Sarah's and planning weekend trips. This is incredibly fun, but there is so much to do and so many decisions to make. The travel agencies have great trips but are a lot of Euros! We are planning some trips on our own - including a Harry Potter tour of London! We headed to the open air markets again, because they are so great! Look how amazing, and it's everyday until 1. Later, we headed to find Apicius, where my food classes are held. Along this 15 minute walk is very Italian places, not as touristy. We also came across an open market with jelwery, handbags, paintings, and all kinds of other gadgets. We were on a mission today, so we just browsed and will probably return next week. We took the senic route back by the Duomo through more open air markets with leather, leather, and more leather. Got more gelato, and headed back to keep trip planning. I start off my trips tomorrow with heading to Arrezo for the famous jousting festival with Laura and Sarah (the Missouri State crew). I ended up the night getting my first Italian pizza at Gusta's. I got a typical Italian Margherita pizza. Delicious! Look how good!

I'm going to try to end each post with a new cultural tibit I realized. First things first, I love Italians. They are so passionate about everything- very hospitable. They care for their country and are not wasteful with electricity (no air conditioning in most places and no dryers, just washers), trash, etc. Even at the grocery stores almost everyone brings their own reusable bags. Probably because they charge 10 cents a bag if you don't. Genius if you ask me, America should pick up on this. I also love how Italians speak. Even though I can't understand almost everything, I can tell a lot for the tone. They always speak with tone variation and big hand gestures. I know it's stereotypical, but it's a great thing to watch. Also, most Italians are very nice and funny. They like to joke around and laugh a lot. I have not met one rude Italian. I do know that they appreciate when I attempt to speak Italian. It's usually just a Ciao and Grazie. I will use most as I learn it, but that's about I have for now. Ciao!

A Roller Coster of Emotions

Well I made it to Florence and survived my first day. A long day… that started on August 29^th at about 10 AM – the last time I actually woke up from a night of sleep- until now, 3AM Florence time.

My last few days in St. Louis were spent packing, packing, healing from sickness, packing, and buying a new camera. The night before I left for Italy my dad and I headed out about 7:30 PM in the search for me to buy a new, upgraded camera. My dad is the type of guy that likes to spend 3 months and hours researching to buy a $400 camera. However, I like the deadline of having one hour until store closes to get the feel of the camera and make a decision. So against his better judgment, we go to Best Buy on the search for a nice camera for me to travel the world with. With 20 minutes to close I narrow it down to a Nikon and Cannon – both about $450- that have everything I want from 32x optical zoom to panoramic photos. On a whim I asked the Best Buy clerk if they had both in stock. It turns out they didn’t have either and no stores in the area would for a few days. I know my dad was thinking, “This is what you get for procrastinating”. He didn’t know how determined of a shopper I was. I whipped out my smart phone and started googleing each camera and where they could be bought. As he drove home I finally found that the only place they were was the Target by my house and “limited stock available”. Giving it a shot we drove to Target. They had both cameras on clearance for about $300. Oh course I choose the one that was the pretty red but had been returned with the wrong charger so they couldn’t sell it. Not to fear- this just so happens to be the same charger as my old camera AND I got 10% off for the inconvenience. Now that’s how I shop.

With all excited about my new camera and the fact that I was leaving for Florence in less than 24 hours, I didn’t fall asleep until about 3AM and woke up every hour thinking about what Florence was going to be like. After maybe 4 hours of sleep total I decided to get up and finish getting ready. I’m in foyer, ready to leave, and spend the next half an hour tying to figure out how to make my checked baggage weigh exactly 50 lbs and my carry on weigh supposedly 25 lbs (which was never actually weighed) and still have everything I need. Finally, I say goodbye to Simba and TJ and head out the door.

I get to the airport and see Laura, who had already checked her bag problem free and was waiting for me. I print my boarding passes and the computer will only print one from Detriot to Paris and two from Paris to Florence. Clearly needed to get from STL to Detroit this wasn’t going to work. Challenge #1. At the Delta desk the agent couldn’t get the boarding pass to print either and called to have it fixed. My luggage sat on the scale varying from 50-51 lbs depending on where you were standing. I assumed that wouldn’t be an issue- but just in case I made everyone stand still when it hit 50. The man was on the phone for about 15 minutes until he found a way to print me ticket. I knew this could be solved shortly and wouldn’t really be an issue, but when a piece of paper is standing between me and Italy, I was getting a little antsy waiting for the golden ticket.

Everything was a go! Now we just needed to get some Euros. Challenge #2. They were out of Euros- fine, we will get them in Detroit.  Laura and I headed to security, said a heartfelt goodbye to our parents- and we were off to Italy! We waited, talked about where we were thinking of traveling, waited, soaked up our last few hours of texting, and finally boarded our plane! This flight was short and not a problem. We finally got our Euros (at a ridiculous exchange rate) and had our last American meal- hamburger and a philly cheese steak sandwich. After waiting, meeting a young couple traveling Italy for their honeymoon, waiting, and 3 hours later we left for Italy. We flew Air France with mostly French passengers and I got many chances to ease drop and brush up on my French. I was very shocked with how much I remember from 4 years in high school (where I was quite possibly the worst French speaker in class). This flight was long. I watched Midnight in Paris (recommended by Paige Brown) with Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams which was a great, great movie. At the pasta dinner, drank the endless free wine… and champagne. The lights were dimmed and everyone around me went to sleep. I was determined to sleep so that my jet lag wouldn’t be so bad. Epic fail. I tried to sit in every position possible in the tiny chair and could not possibly fall asleep. After hours of trying I gave up and turned the TV back on. I played some games, watched some TV, and hoped the flight was almost over. Challenge #3 – my sore throat from a few days ago came back. Now it was impossible to sleep and I was on the search for water to drink and warm water and salt to gargle. I got water and attempting to nurse my throat to health. Many hours later we finally landed in Paris.

Paris is a mess of an airport. I had forgotten that America was the only place with the fancy terminals that you walk right off of into the airport. In Paris we landed in the middle of a concrete lot with nothing around us. We got off and saw some shuttles and bag dollies that took us to the airport. My first impression here was watching a man drive a bag dolly and cut a corner to sharp and derail the door of a shuttle. The glass shattered everywhere and that shuttle was down. Luckily our shuttle was the one ahead of that. We loaded the shuttle person to luggage full and headed on a very frightening drive to the main airport. This driver was a huge fan of his brakes and accelerator for no apparent reason. He was the only one on the roads but he felt the need to whip around corners and slam on his brakes quite often. When I noticed the Parisians were also finding this ridiculous I was a little relieved that this wasn’t normal European driving. At the Paris airport I find a cup of Tea which makes my sore throat a lot better. Due to the lack of seating we met two American couples around the age of 60 that were touring Europe. The two guys were brothers and they were following the path that their dad had taken in World War II. They were very nice and wished up well on our adventures. This next plane was tiny and filled up about halfway with Florence travel abroad students. Everyone I met on the plane was going to CES, another school in Florence I had never heard of. This plane flew so close to the ground and I was lucky enough to have a window seat to see up fly over France, the Swiss Alps, and Italy –very neat.

 Plane landed and our luggage also made it to Florence. We followed the signs to SAI and found a tiny 9 seat Taxi that was to take us to the SAI office. We loaded in there and he packed it up with as much luggage as he could fit. All but 3 bags- on of them my big suitcase. Assuring us that he would get them on the next round and the SAI agent was never leaving her spot on the sidewalk we headed to office. He was also a crazy taxi driver, but nothing I hadn’t seen in Chicago or New York. We got all checked in, got our cell phones, apartment keys, and were on our way. I went out to the luggage and my big suitcase still wasn’t there. Challenge # 4. The SAI staff that was outside directing us in assured me that the taxi man just dropped off the second round of luggage. Mine still wasn’t there. “Impozzible” she kept saying. She called the SAI staff back at the airport and she said there were no more bags waiting. So she called the Taxi’s- the next one had some bags. It pulled up- not my bags. Then the next taxi- not my bags. Everyone from my group had already left and were back at their apartments by now. “Impossible, there is no way the bag could have disappeared” she kept saying. Clearly it did. I had my bag, I left it with SAI, it’s gone. She took me to Cammile, our main SAI contact while in Italy, and she was great at assuring me another student took it back accident and it would show up. She got down all of my information, the bag description, asked me if I needed anything for tonight, told me she would send a mass email to all students asking I they took a bag by accident, and that SAI would help me out if it didn’t show- lots of free shopping. As great as free shopping sounded I starting trying to remember everything that was in my suitcase and the tears started coming. I know it’s just stuff but I hadn’t slept in a long time and hadn’t cried in months. I rarely ever cry but sometimes something little will trigger it and there is no stopping it. They say you’re supposed to cry every one and awhile to clear out the eyes anyway, right?

They were about to send me to my apartment when another taxi man calls and says a student grabbed the wrong suitcase and he was on the way back. He said it was big and dark blue. This had to be it. And it was!!! I was sooo very relived. I finally make it to Via Dei Pepi, my street, and arrive at the big green door. I unlock that and find the steps to my 4^th floor apartment with my two, very heavy, suitcases. I made it one floor before this strapping young Italian man comes down the stairs and said “Would you like some help?” “Sure! Thank you so much!” is what I said although I was really thinking, “Hell yes, I love you.” He asked if I was a sudent and where I was studying. By the time I made it to the 4^th floor and barley had time to thank him, he was gone. I later found out that he was our internet man that I had just missed hooking up everyone’s computer and phone to the free internet, so I guess I’ll be seeing him again soon. I take out my very large castle key (as I like to call it) and try to open the door, I fail. I always seem to have trouble opening doors and the very old, large Italian door is not an exception. After many attempts I give up and just knock. All of my roommates had already arrived and were anxiously awaiting my arrival so we could get groceries and go to dinner. I was a sweating mess and started telling them all about my lost luggage and flights like they were my friends back home that I’ve known forever. Then I realized this was my first impression and was slightly embarrassed. Oh well, they had no apparent problem listening and getting me excited for the rest of the day.

We traveled down the street a short ways and found the market and got a few staple groceries and household objects. Then we left on our adventure for dinner. One my roommates, Alyssa, has a sister that previously studied here and recommend Ristorante Acqua AL 2. We walked in circles trying to find this place and asking many Italians where this street was. After our unexpected tour of Florence we find the restaurant, that doesn’t open until 7:30, about 20 minutes from then. So we sat outside and chatted. This restaurant was talked up to have “the best balsamic filet, blueberry filet, and pasta sampler and was very fair priced. At 7:30 we entered and the place was very cute. I am going to be spoiled by the restaurants here in Italy. Our waitress was great and helped our out with the menu. I was really craving some pasta and spinach so I decided on the spinach and ricotta cannonli which was very good. The rest of the table ordered the pasta samplers, salad samplers, and balsamic steaks. The pasta samplers were definitely the way to go. They were the chef’s choice and they brought them out one at a time and served them family style. I will definitely be getting that when I go back. I tried a bite of the balsamic filet, which was amazing. That one bite was the perfect way to end my meal. The HRA girl in me was very impressed with the presentation, décor, the little monitor of the kitchen they had displayed, and the excellent service – especially in a culture where the servers don’t work for tips. The dinner was a perfect first meal in Florence and well worth the adventure getting there.

            We take the scenic route back to our apartment so we can see the Dumno up close and walk through the pizzia’s. We get back to our apartment and I realize I still haven’t opened our door. My roommate already had it open so they all went inside and I stayed out to try and open the door. I put the key in and turned (apparently the wrong way) but the door didn’t open. So I turned the other way, and back and forth and any other possible solution. Fail again. So I knocked and my roommate came over to open it from the inside. Fail. She turned and twisted and pulled. Fail. Everyone else came over to attempt and also failed. Challenge # ??. Were we really going to have to call SAI and tell them we were locked in and out of our apartment. What a flipping joke. Finally they got it open. Still didn’t solve my problem of not being able to open the door. So we turned the knob until we realized that you can double lock it from inside. So we got it back. I went outside, put in my key, turned it once to the left, and success. Finally.

I finished unpacking and was very exhausted and wanted to go to bed so that I was on Italy time. I sleep for 4 hours and an now wide awake. What a mess. And my sore throat is back. Later today I will venture out to the pharmacie and attempt to buy sore throat medicine. I’m sure this will happen trouble free- right?

I’m back on top of the rollercoaster. My apartment is great (more to come on that later), I’m excited for orientation, to rome the city, Florence is beautiful, I love the atmosphere, and it’s only day 1.