Backkk again!

Hello World,

So it's tuesday at 9:38pm. Which to everyone not in Europe means about 12pm amurican time. We went to Venice this weekend, left Friday morning and came back on Sunday evening.

Now Venice.. there's a city to rant about. So we got on a bus at 7:55am in the morning and headed straight to Venice. We were all obviously very awake and very put together and nobody slept on the bus. It was a scintallating four hour bus ride in which we got to look at the Italian country side. very very pretty. Success Italy.

We arrived at our CAMP ground... no I am not kidding, we stayed at a camp ground near Venice. It looked liked this:

Now normally I wouldn't think you would go camping near Venice, but hey, they were nice little mobile campers near one of the most beautiful islands ever. Totally made sense. It even came complete with a beer garten and happy hour. Not what I would have pictured but oh well.

That afternoon we headed by ferry to the island of Venice. I found out that Venice is actually 117 islands all connected by bridges, the moment you step off one and go to another is when you are entering a new island! So, we went island hoping one could say. The boat ride was not too shabby a nice 30 minutes on the water, with wind in our faces and our excitement about Venice growing. The view nearing Venice was absolutely outstanding. All of the buildings are very historic, and you can begin to see some of the cannals very far away.

This was the first view I saw of Venice. I was incredibly excited not going to lie. So when we got to Venice we got a tour of the city by a guide. I felt very much like a tourist wearing the headset and having to listen to her voice, but it was incredible to get to hear all about the culture of the city. The other picture is of some friends of mine and I in the main square of Venice. This was taken when we first arrived, before the tour and everything was new and fantastic!

Next we got a few hours to walk around the city by ourselves. A group of us got together and walked around got some food, and just browsed the city. It's a very toursity city, but there are a lot of little hidden streets with cool stores that you can browse and people watching is a must. I got really into all of the types of buildings of Venice and so managed to take a ton of pictures. I really liked the style of windows and the different colors that appeared archaic on some of them. 

Anyways, we also got to see a ton of gondolas strolling down the canals. Lucky for us, we even GOT to go on a gondola ride. Ironically it started to rain the moment we got on the gondola, which was pure luck. However, it was still an incredible experience to be able to stroll down the canals in VENICE on a gondola with some awesome people. We got to see everything from a different perspective and go under the bridges instead of over them. 30 minutes later, wet, but incredibly happy we emerged from the gondolas and went back onto land.

This is a picture I took of the grand canal, with two gondolas just sitting in their dock. An image that to me signifies Venice. The other picture shows the bridges that connect every island to the next. There is no actual land it was all man-created!

So after that we had dinner at a nice little place in Venice. Me and my friend Maddie shared a date table and a bottle of red wine. It was awesome food, I had pesto and spaghetti. Italian meals are longer and more enjoyable than those in the states. I get to spend more time talking with friends, enjoying the food, yet dont feel rushed or pressured.

My friend Maddie and I at dinner. We had a pretty nice romantic dinner, complete with a bottle of wine. :)

After that we headed back the campground to enjoy a night at the bar. We hung out with some friends from Gonzaga and later that night tried to go back to the cabins. They weren't kidding when they said it was going to RAIN. Oh it did. It downpoured. The walk, or rather really really fast run back to our "cabins" got us all drenched. We were completely soaked and our 'cabins' were also drenched. It was absolutely insane. Luckily, the next day our cabins were still wet and smelled like wet dog. But it's near Venice, water is a big thing!

Our gondola and our escape from the flood in the cabin... kidding. But really our gondola ride! "Cesar's Crew" rather.

The next day we headed for the Island of Murano. This island is FAMOUS for it's glass blowing artwork. We spent the day touring around the city and literally going into every glass shop we could find. We had a nice meal one of the local restaurants then spent the rest of the day looking at glass. The artwork of glass is incredible and one of the ladies even explained to us how they make them. There was a man blowing the glass in the back of the gallery that we got to see, it was very fast but absolutely incredible. After spending most of the day, we had an incredible meal which required that we buy drinks as well in a restraunt back in Venice. We all ate pizza because we were starving, big enough for about 3 people yet we managed them. We then headed back to camp and went to bed. Early, of course.

Murano, and below the man blowing glass in the back of one of the galleries.

Sunday we went to Ferraro. It was a little random town known as "the city of cyclists" it was very pretty but we were only there for 2 hours. We went to the castle and enjoyed seeing as much of the city as possible. Afterwards we came back and got back into the swing of things. Now it's Tuesday and my two most difficult days of school from 8:30am till 6:30pm are over for the week. I am exhausted but food coma happy and am in my triple enjoying the pure feeling of being well fed and in Italy.

Picture of the weekend: 

pure venice bliss with the madster. This is on the ferry on the way to Venice, we were pretty happy about it. The rain parka of course came out the day after the flood, wish it had been soon. Until next time, ciao belle! Buona notte!

When in Florence....

Do NOT eat Gelatto every few minutes. As tempting as it is, don't do it. The last four days have been filled with so much gelatto that honestly I think I may have gained the freshmen 15 within the course of the weekend..not really, but it feels like it.

Speaking of food I have to mention the MOST amazing place on earth that we went to last night. So we were hungry, as per usual, in Hotel Colorado. We didn't know where to go eat so we deicded to ask their 'pensione daddy.' He's a native of the area, knows the local places pretty well such as what to avoid and what to see. He pointed us towards this little more locally known restraunt. Our waitress was RIDICULOUS, super super funny. She asked one of the girls who ordered her steak 'not purple'.. if she wanted it SEMI-dead, or to still be mooing. I found this hilarious for some reason. However, the food in general was phenominal. We sat there for 2 hours just soaking in all the flavors. I got fettucini with porchinio mushrooms which I found out were in season. You could watch the food being made in the back over the fire, and see the chefs hard at work after they made the pasta and were satueeing the mushrooms fresh from somewhere nearby in Italy. OUTSTANDING!! It felt like my first real Italian meal.. enjoying it with a bunch of friends, and spending too much time doing nothing important. Man, I like Italian culture.

Our pensione so far so good... it feels like everytime I come back there is a new person working here. It's so bizarre to have people clean your room all the time, not that it's a problem it's just kind of strange when you are used to doing everything yourself and then you come back and your bed is ALREADY made for you! That's alright though, now we can spend more time travelling and eating rather than focusing on our room...

Today was the first day of all of my classes oficially. It started at 830 am and went until 630pm at night. I have a break in the morning but it still feels like an atrosiously long day, which it is. Classes should be interesting, they are just long and tedious as of now. From going from a 5 month summer to 4 classes... it's time to pick up the pace!

I am headed tomorrow to the cafe across the street to have a Cappucino with the locals before heading to class. It helps Italian get better, and quite honestly it's a wake up call better than any alarm or shower will ever do for you. It's like a fog horn running through your body, they know how to make coffee here.

Well, ciao! I will write more later, headed to Venice this weekend and then we'll see what other European adventures are in store!

Day 3 in Firenzi...

So today... today was a good day. Last night we went to the club called 21.. we got lost heading down town to the Duomo. But the city is so beautiful at night that it wasn't an issue. It's crazy that when you get lost everything you see is so magnificent. It's full of art and life and culture, however this city is also full of Americans and tourists. It's a way more touristic city than I thoguht it would be.

So quick debrief of yesterday... the morning we went for coffee at the nextdoor Bar. It's going to be my favorite place I bet. We are trying to get involved in the culture and to try and learn the language better.. my  Italian is already getting better with every day. The women who work there are very sweet and very helpful with practicing Italian, so that is great news. We sat outside and sipped our cappucinos, feeling very European of course.

Afterwards we walked around the city. I'm becoming very well aquainted with stores that sell pens and stationary.. I bought my first journal. I am not much of a journal person but i am slowly becoming it. I bought a handmade journal that a man made, his family has been in the business for years. He made the paper in front of us and they also bind their notebooks there. It was fantastic, he let us learn how to dye the paper and make different patterns. We have some pictures from it. So now, I have my 20 euro journal, but it's epic and beautiful. I also may have bought a quillish thing. Sounds nerdy, but it's really cool with ink.

We also got kabobs which were great. I'm already burning out on kebabs and everything. Also bread, I normally like bread but I am already getting desperate for veggies and everything. Hope we can fix this! but oh wait, today we did.

After that yesterday, we went to grab some food looking for a Kebab place our friends Lindy and Chris suggested but it was closed. We ended up getting gelatto and some panini's.. very typical for our days around here. Then we went to the club. I wasn't that impressed, it was a lot of strange people looking for tourists to dance with and hopefully take home. I was in my own world of dancing, which is typical.

Today we got up later, and walked around the city again. We found a market which sells vegetables about 15 minutes away and bought a ton of carrots, apples, bananas. It was one of my happier food moments honestly... I've been so deprived for such good fruit for 2 weeks. I am just spoiled in California, i know, but it's such amazing food. Tonight we just hung out played some music and went to a bar/cafe with some friends. I am loving the culture of eating and talking for hours, perfect imbetween homework and responsibility. It makes me feel that life is easier and more enjoyable..

Tomorrow hopefully we can explore more, I want to go up into the Duomo see across the river, go to the gardens and learn more about this place that I now call "home."

Ciao!

First day in Firenzi....

So we had opening tour for the last nine days... fastest days of my life.. we hit Berlin, Dresden, Prague and Vienna. I'm positive we didn't sleep more than 5 hours a day, drink less than anyone else, or see more than I could imagine. I will write a blog post about that only... because it needs to be written but right now I'll show you guys some shots and then finish later..

OPENING TOUR!: The Berlin Wall... a piece of it left.

A castle in Berlin...

Vienna...

More to come later. ;)

So! Today was the first official day in Florence. The day started out with some good old fashioned classes... which we were all SO eager to go to. We got into Florence at 1am this morning, after venturing from Vienna by airplane to Rome where we then got a bus and went all the way to Florence. Let's just say we were TIRED this morning....

HOWEVER!! It was sooo fantasticly exciting to be greeted by our pensione leader "pesione dada" in my words. His name is Giuseppe, and me as well as around 20 other students are living under his roof called "85 couvaire." I spelled it wrong, I'm pretty sure. It's a pensione, family run hotel kind of deal. I am in a triple with two other girls which is working out so far! I love this city already...

Today we had the best lunch imaginable, it was pasta, and chicken. We all thought that the pasta was the only thing we would be eating but then they said "no!" you still have another course coming. Let's just say, that my tummy wasn't down with stuffing more food into it, yet i did. Do as the Italians do, eat, mangia, mangia, mangia!

Tonight my roomie Sarah and our friend Julian wandered the streets of Florence. We got some gellato, which was the first official time and some pizza. We ate by ponte vecchio which is this amazing little spot by the river. I love cafes and all the pizzeria's. I feel right at home... eating, talking, laughing.. it's just nice to not be in a rush. We even have to ASK for the bill, bizarre!

Our night concluded after food by seeing some orchestra's play near the water, there was a large gathering of people. We also got to see a lot of the city by foot, mostly because we got lost trying to find the cellphone store. I got a ghetto old phone, that resemble sthe late 90's style and has a screen that I'm pretty sure is pixalated. But whatever.. it's a phone.

Italy is so different than the states, all the buildings are taller and there is less grass. It's also weird for me to be adapting to the language. I had my first italian conversation class today and all we did was learn how to order drinks but that is essential in this culture seeing as how much time people actually spend at the cafe's with their friends or family.. Well I'm off to bed it's 1:14am in Italy and to be honest, I am fricking exhausted.

Hope everyone is well in the US!! :)