Student Blog from Florence, Italy

Monday, May 10, 2010

Kristie Serrano is a Psychology and Communication Sciences major and Anthropology minor from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Kristie is also the recipient of the prestigious $8,000 Michele Iavagnilio Charitable Service Scholarship. She is blogging about her study abroad experience in Florence, Italy.

I finally took a weekend off because I had a group paper to work on. It didn't come together until I received my partners portion, so I felt like I kind of wasted a weekend. I was very excited that I didn't have to worry about papers for a little bit and then my Intercultural Communications teacher shattered that thought three hours later by assigning another one.

On Tuesday I decided to visit the little town of Lucca on my own since I had no class. It was quite adorable and I've added it to my list of places I would live. I went without much research or a plan. It was a bit lonely and somewhat confusing at first, but that didn't last long. Once I was in the city I was too distracted by the new environment and watching people (one of my favorite things to do). I basically chose a direction and started walking. A lot of people were biking, jogging, drawing in the grass, taking naps and creating a lively yet relaxed environment.

I picked a direction and just started roaming, soaking in the sun like a lizard. I came across a park filled with kids, playing soccer, chasing each other and soaring on the swings. It was great to see all of the hustle and bustle of the kids because I don't really see them often in Florence. There was so much energy on the field that I was really tempted to join the fun, but I kept exploring.

The wall is said to be two miles in circumference and I walked about half of it before I was distracted by this really elegant garden. It was walled in, so I went to find the entrance, which ended up being really ambiguous. It was called Palazio Pfanner and was owned by the old mayor of Lucca. It cost four euro for students to get in.

Before Mr. Pfanner he was mayor he was a very successful surgeon and was one of the top medics in World War II. They had a lot of his tools and such in the house that they turned into a museum of his life. As mayor he implemented a new sewage system that was very beneficial. The garden had a lot of statues of Greek gods as well as statues representing the seasons.

I noticed there were two spring statues depicted as women on separate end of the garden. There was also a very noticeable fountain in the middle with Poseidon and a baby that I couldn't find a plaque for. Apparently the garden has been featured in a couple of older movies. (I looked it up online) I met a little black kitty in the garden, but it was very shy.

As I was exiting, I decided to ask the lady at the ticket window if she could direct me to any notable places in Lucca. She whipped out a map, asked me if I'd ever been to Lucca (which I haven't) and marked all the places I should visit and why. I had a decent amount of time to make it to most places, so I thanked her and went on my way. Unfortunately, not all of the roads were named on the map, so I did get somewhat lost heading to the Basilica di San Frediano.

It was quite big and I really enjoyed the stain glass windows. I felt a little weird taking pictures in there because it was so silent. I didn't stay for long, but I'm glad I went in. Then I headed to a looking tower called Torre Guinigi. I definitely took a detour and ended up at these water wells way to the right end of Lucca. I found my way back and enjoyed the view of Lucca. This tour had trees on top, which is very unusual, but I enjoyed the shade. I only had about twenty minutes before they closed, but that was plenty of times to take pictures and relax for a bit.

Then I headed to the Cattedrale di San Martino and the Complesso Monumentale e Archeologico della Cattedrale which where right next to each other. The map was useless at this point, so I asked this cute old man for help. He didn't know English, but saw how flustered I was so he walked me to a point where he could give me valid directions. Luckily I've gone over directions in class, so I understood everything. He repeated them to me twice just in case and went on his way.

By the time I got there it was seven o'clock and the cathedral was closed. There was a classical music concert playing in it. I found this to be odd and really wanted to stay, but if I did I would have been stuck in Lucca because the trains stop running at 8:30. So I searched my way out of the city and headed home.

There is a lot that's happened since then, but I should probably turn this is and continue later. Right now it is finals week, which means I can't enjoy Florence much because I want to do well on my exams, but it's also my last week in Florence so I'm very conflicted. I know I did well on my social psychology exam I just took and I have two more to go today. I think I'll go exploring tomorrow as my last excursion before I head for Spain on Thursday.

After school is done I have two weeks of backpacking with my friend Araixa. We're going to Spain and Ireland before heading back home. I'm in disbelief that this semester has ended so quickly and I'm not ready to leave. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it, so I hope I will get to return someday. I threw a coin in the Trevi fountain, so I hope that gives me some security. I really must get back to studying now so I can do my best.

I'm very grateful for all the wonderful experiences Florence has provided and I will truly miss this wonderful city as well as all of the friends I've made along the way.  

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Kristie Serrano is a Psychology and Communication Sciences major and Anthropology minor from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Kristie is also the recipient of the prestigious $8,000 Michele Iavagnilio Charitable Service Scholarship. She is blogging about her study abroad experience in Florence, Italy.

This past weekend I was able to enjoy the nature of Firenze. I love nature and feel serenity and oneness that can't be simulated anywhere else. Lorenzo de' Medici had a hiking excursion for us and I've to got say, I've been very satisfied with all the extra curricular activities they have planned. They all have a cultural component and are very interesting.

I loved the mask-painting day, I would have loved to learn how belly dance if I didn't have class when it was scheduled and all the clubs, like yoga, sports clubs, and Tasting Tuscany where very good options and I wish I could have picked more than one. I picked jogging club and I've loved every second of it. We run up these steep hills with a group from Florence that are too much fun. The leader of the group is 62 years old and very personable.  He wears his little short shorts and runs with the best of them.

Every practice they keep increasing the miles by 2 or 3 and they all train for marathons. I haven't run more than three miles since high school, yet I can easily run 5 miles with the amount of encouragement they give me.  Next week will be 8 miles I think. I'm dreading it a bit, but next year I plan on training for a marathon, so this is good practice.

On Monday, I went to the cinema to see Alice in Wonderland. I completely forgot that it was playing until my roommate called me. It was very exciting news and it made my already great day even better. The only crazy thing that happened was that in the middle of the movie, something went wrong, so we had to wait a little bit for it to start playing again!

This week I also made a very impulsive decision to book a trip to Interlaken this coming up weekend, despite the fact that I have exams next week. I'm sure everything will work out fine and I'm having a blast so far. It seems to be the land of extreme sports. There is skydiving, cliff jumping, skiing, snow boarding, night sledding and who knows what else. I'm going alone since my other two roommates are going to Madrid to meet up with some friends. I've met a lot of cool people so far and I'm really looking forward to the crazy things I'll be doing.

Thursday night, after trying to get much needed studying in, I went to the train station to find the Florence For Fun tour group. We were traveling by bus and it took us eight hours to get to Funny Farm, which was the name of the hotel we stayed at. Right when I walked in I saw my first Saint Bernard. I didn't realize how massive they were. Her name was Splif and everyone who saw her couldn't help but love her. I really liked the lounge area too, a great place to study and they had some wooden tables that had a chess board carved them it with a bowl of chess pieces available on the window ledge.

We had a very unflattering complimentary breakfast that included bread, jam and butter, with your choice of coffee, milk or tea. You could also order lunch there, and if it included mayonnaise, they give it to you in a tube. Fun fact: Switzerland's national dish is Rösti, which means hash browns! I had the pleasure of eating some while I was there. I also explored the city, which was amazingly clean and very adorable. The weather stayed clear all weekend, so you could see the mountains perfectly. The weather was cold enough to keep our water cold, so we left them outside in the patio and used it as a refrigerator.

I jumped out of a plane on Friday. I think everyone should experience skydiving at least once. It's nothing you've ever felt before. I was free, at peace, and surrounded by beauty. I was alive. I did a very good job at relaxing and not psyching myself out before my jump. I almost gave into a little bit of nervousness when they pulled up the plastic covering to jump, but it was so beautiful, I was distracted and completely forgot to feel scared. Another reason I felt very safe was because my guide has jumped out of planes over 8,000 times. No worries, right?

I spent the day at the skydiving place because we were an odd number so I volunteered to go last. We were there at 9am, but I didn't get to jump until 3pm because they required that two people to go up in the helicopter so that they don't lose money. For single jumpers they had a plane was an hour drive away, but the drive was very scenic and beautiful. I didn't mind waiting at all especially after I jumped. Another perk is that I was able to see everyone else's reactions after they jumped, which only made me more excited.  It was well worth it to me.

When I first saw the plane, it looked like a toy! It was so small, didn't have any seats inside, and wasn't even tall enough for anyone to stand. It was quite adorable and luckily turbulence doesn't really bother me. It wasn't bad turbulence but it was more noticeable than the huge planes I'm use to flying in. I'm really glad I bought the video too and I can't wait to show my family.

Saturday I studied most of the day and then went night sledding! They provided a cheese fondue dinner with French fries beforehand and then we had to rent pants and snow boots before we took a train up the mountain. I ended up forgetting my gloves, so Toby let me use his. The first run was miserable because I had no idea how to steer, I kept knocking people down like bowling pins and old ladies kept running into me. Eight year old kids were passing me left and right, I kept flying off the sled, I didn't have Toby's gloves yet, so my hands were in a lot of pain and Frailen had to stay back with me and push me to get me going. The second run on the other hand was way too much fun!

I finally got the hang of it and had a buddy that was just as bad as I was, so we could stick together. We missed the third train to go back up the mountain, so we dubbed ourselves "the worst sledders" and had some hot wine. It was a very interesting experience because the wine tasted like warm cider with a hint of ginger. I decided to try the fast lane on the next run and absolutely loved it. I was a lot better because it kept a constant slope, so I could control it more. I wasn't feeling well all day, so after that I decided to stop and not exhaust myself anymore. I bonded with some of the other girls that didn't have the energy to go either and then we headed home.

On Sunday I was trying to find a pharmacy but I guess people don't get sick on Sundays because nothing was open. Then I went to go look for some ginger ale, because that always makes me feel better, but for some reason supermarkets don't sell ginger ale in Europe. The only place I can find it is in restaurants but they are tiny bottles and aren't worth the money. So I settled for water and sprite to take on the bus ride back to Florence. It was really nice seeing my roommates again and being home because it felt like I was gone a lot longer than a weekend. On Monday, the dreaded exams begin. Wish me luck!

Friday, March 5, 2010

London
It was quite a journey to get to London on Thursday. We took a train from Florence to Bologna and then we had to catch the plane in Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet. With plenty of time to spare we took a decently cheap taxi ride over to the airport. To our delight we were at the wrong airport and not only that, we were 50 kilometers away from where we were suppose to be. Luckily the plane was delayed so there weren't any major disappointment except for how much we had to pay for the second taxi.

The hostel we stayed at was very basic and served its purpose. It was a small room with two bunk beds and a fridge. We luckily had our own bathroom that was "cleaned three times a day!" We also had free towel rentals (yes, that is an oxymoron) and a complimentary breakfast at the pub next door that consisted of cornflakes and toast with jelly. It hit the spot every morning.

Waking up in London on Friday morning was much more exciting than Thursday night since we were a lot more alive and it finally felt real. We had quite an agenda that Chelsea put together since it was her Birthday weekend! We are all quite thankful that she was born, so we had a lot of surprises for her that day. The only problem is that she had to help us get around since she was the only one that knew how to work the map. (It was her second time in London) Our first stop was the Tower of London.

The weather was not the happiest, clouds were gray and it was drizzling, but it didn't take away the beauty of the place. We were able to see the crowned jewels, crazy armor, and a variety of different weapons. I looked through a knight's helmet (you can barely see anything) and watched part of Queen Elizabeth's coronation on video.  We also had an amazing tour from a Yeoman Warder also referred to as a Beef Eater who loved to use puns and tell corny jokes (My type of guy). He also loved to pull down Rachael's hat over her eyes.

The history was fascinating and every room in the tower was at some point used as a prison. Also all of the Beef Eaters and their families actually live in the tower.  One of my favorite parts of tour was entering the sacred church. As a gift to the Beef Eaters, they allow their children and grandchildren to be baptized there as well as get married there. It's such an honor.

According to our guide, the step going into the church was haunted because people often trip over it, so he stayed at the door to catch any ladies who did. He said something along the lines of: "Being the gentleman I am, I will willingly catch any part of your anatomy that decides to fall on me. As for the men, I will be quite occupied, so you're on your own."  He's pretty much my favorite person. He expressed a lot of love for his wife "Pat with the Hat" who works in the building where the crowned jewels are held and he kept mentioning that after this tour he was going on holiday. 

After the tour, we ate some fish and chips and were supposedly heading to the British Museum. This is when, we the roommates, took Chelsea hostage. The rest of the evening was left to unveil the many surprises we had planned for her. I had been anticipating this moment for weeks, as my segment of the evening was about to begin. We all dressed up in really nice dresses and painful heels and headed to the theater on a bus (that unfortunately wasn't double decked… one day).

On the way, a creepy guy decided to start talking to us. He wanted to know where we were going and was trying to invite himself to come along. Then he asked us a "personal question." He wanted to know if we were all taken, and we gladly lied and told him we were all in long, committed relationships. He was quite disappointed that he didn't have a chance with any of us.

So Chelsea's first surprise was a ticket to Avenue Q that I bought her and we had really good seats! The show was very well made and there wasn't a moment we weren't rolling in our seats laughing. I highly recommend it to anyone that doesn't get offended easily. Some of my favorite songs were "It Sucks to Be Me",  "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist", and "The Internet Is for Porn." The next segment of the night was Rachael's, where we ate at the Woseley, a very fancy restaurant filled with deep-pocketed people.

She was very overwhelmed at this point and she started to tear up. The funny thing is that before we left for London, I told her she wasn't allowed to cry and she looked at me like I was crazy. I win! We went to the restaurant two hours earlier than our expected reservation time, but ended up getting the best table in the restaurant. It was front and center for everyone to see. We calmly ordered our appetizers and dishes that we couldn't pronounce and tried to implement all the manners we knew. Luckily Rachael was pretty much an expert in the matter, so we looked to her for guidance. We played it off very well and the meal was fantastic. I really want to figure out the difference between British mustard and French mustard though.

The next morning we slept in until 8 instead of waking up at 7:30. Those 30 minutes were magical. Breakfast was the usual except that I added sugar to my tea this time. The server guy was very excited that I spoke Spanish so he would ask me about my day, compliment how pretty my eyes are and joke around with us. At one point he tried to convince Rachael that he needed to break an egg on Chelsea's head because it was her birthday! Luckily for Chels that plan didn't work out, though I would have thoroughly enjoyed seeing it.

We headed over to see Big Ben, the outside of Westminster, the London Eye, and Parliament and saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. The changing of the guard was not what I expected but it was quite entertaining. The band played "I'm Singing In the Rain" and the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song, the James Bond theme song and "Final Countdown". Then after more fish and chips, we headed to the National Gallery.

It was a lot to take in and had so many rooms. By this time we were completely exhausted, so I let the Art majors choose which rooms we would visit before we headed out. It was absolutely beautiful and in one intersection they had paintings of the four elements, which I thought was a neat presentation of the paintings. After that, we went to Kings Cross to find platform 9 and 3/4!

We are all huge Harry Potter fans, so it was an absolute must. It was pretty hard to find. We roamed around for a while, and right when I was going to ask someone where to find it, there was an actual sign asking us "Are you looking for platform 9 ¾?" and then showed us a map of where to go. Success!

Fifty pictures later, we were all pretty hungry and Chelsea really wanted to go to the Black Friars pub. It was a very neat place with words of wisdom bordering the top, such as "Finery is foolery". I ate the most delicious turkey potpie and drank some ginger beer while the other ladies enjoyed pear cider with their choice of potpie.

We were also going to get a treacle tart, like in Harry Potter but they weren't serving food at that point, so we missed out. We talked for three hours until the place closed. It was really comfortable and a very good way to end the day. Random side note: since we spend a lot of time in the underground getting around, I need to make a special mention to the wonderful guitarists that eco in the tunnels. Also, I love how all of the cross roads in London tell you which direction to look!

On our last day in London we headed over to Westminster Abbey, but it was only open for mass, and since we were not in proper church attire, we didn't go in. After some contemplation we decided to go over to the British Museum since we didn't go on Friday. It was beyond incredible. We went to Egypt (I saw mummies!), Greece, Italy, and saw the Rosetta stone. The place was HUGE, so if I ever visit London again, I plan on exploring more countries there. Three hours wasn't enough.

It was a long and exhausting trip back. I'm almost positive that this weekend we used every form of transportation possible: Train, plane, bus, taxi, walking, the tube, the underground train and the above ground train. We didn't get home until three in the morning and stayed up a little longer doing some homework and such. We were all exhausted the next day, but we all had an incredible time, so no complaints at all.

"For a while we must part
But remember me sweetheart
Till the lights of London shine again"

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Kristie Serrano is a Psychology and Communication Sciences major and Anthropology minor from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Kristie is also the recipient of the prestigious $8,000 Michele Iavagnilio Charitable Service Scholarship. She is blogging about her study abroad experience in Florence, Italy.

My Social Psychology professor started off the week with a pleasant surprise. I have a cultural interview report due by next class which requires me to interview an Italian person, compare both American and Italian culture, and explain the psychological processes that create the similarities and differences. For some reason the hardest part of the assignment was finding an Italian person.

All week I couldn't coordinate a time with anyone in Florence and I was leaving for Sorrento and the Capri Islands from Thursday to Saturday. When I traveled to Sorrento, I met fifty-two year old Gino Rocco and his wife Maria Rocco, who own the Chaplin Irish Pub. Gino and Maria have been married for twenty-three years and have two daughters in their early twenties.

They have traveled as a family to Australia, Thailand, Venezuela, Mexico, the Bahamas, Texas, Florida and England. The girls are expected to take over the business and hopefully get married soon to Catholic Italian men. That being said, Gino is aware that his daughters are not in the mindset of marriage and has accepted it. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know such a great and lively couple.

Getting to Sorrento was an adventure in itself. We had the option of taking two trains; one took five hours while the other took three. We decided to take the five our train because it was a lot cheaper. Unfortunately there are two train stations in Florence, and the one that was close to our apartment only had the fast train available. Since we only had ten minutes until the train left, we sucked it up and paid for the fast train.

It ended up being a nice experience because the train was a lot more comfortable than the slower train and it was a lot quieter. They even gave the option of buying snacks on a trolley. We got off in Naples, since there wasn't a direct train from Florence to Sorrento. Word of advice, don't stay in Naples very long. The train station is a very sketchy place, very poorly marked, and I was grateful to be traveling with people while I was there.

The train from Naples to Sorrento was about an hour and we had to stand for most of it. It didn't take very long to find our hostel, which ended up being a lot nicer than we expected. It looked like a hotel minus the huge beds and instead replaced by bunk beds. For our first hostel experience, I feel very spoiled.

That's when we met our friend Amanda. She is from Melbourne, Australia and has been traveling off and on by herself for eighteen months. We asked her to come have dinner and gelato with us and the bonding began. After spending forty-eight hours straight getting to know her, it feels really weird not having her around now that I'm back in Florence. Hopefully we'll keep in touch with her and I'm looking forward to all of the other people I'll meet in the many future hostels I'll be sleeping in.

Sorrento was deserted and most of the restaurants were closed. Gino explained that most people went on vacation for the winter. While we were exploring, I bought some lemon drops, since Sorrento is known for their lemons. They were the best lemon drops I've ever eaten and I'm struggling to maintain self-control so I don't finish the whole bag too quickly.

The next day we planned on taking a fairy to Capri, but the skies were very angry. It was drizzling on and off, so we changed our plans and decided to go to Pompeii. When we got to the train station, we found out that not only were the trains on strike, but also the buses and the fairies until one o'clock. We had no choice but to wait, read and take naps back at the hostel. We don't wake up until two, and get to Pompeii at three fifteen. The ruins of Pompeii close at 5 and they were going to stop selling tickets at 3:30, so we made it just in time to explore.

The weather was now perfect and walking through the ruins was mind-blowing. Everything was extremely well preserved by the ash, and the history of the place is very interesting. The civilization that lived there was far advanced for their time (Rachael read that the volcano erupted in 79 A.D. so they built, enjoyed and lived way before that.) When we walked around there where a lot of dogs just lounging around with collars on. Chelsea explained that the dogs were up for adoption and roam around Pompeii all day. We also saw the Pompeii Theater, the Pompeii coliseum and the Pompeii brothel.

We didn't have a lot of time and ended up staying about an hour after they closed. Pompeii made the whole trip worth it and was my favorite part. I hope to go back and explore it more at some point since I still have to go back and see Capri. When we finally left Pompeii, two of the dogs followed us through part of the city and waited until we got on the train before they left. They were too adorable and I would have taken them home in a heartbeat if I didn't already have three dogs back in Florida. We stayed one last night in Sorrento and said our goodbyes to Amanda early in the morning.

When I got back to the apartment I started working on my cultural interview report right away and then had a heart attack because I didn't have a printer. Everything was closed by then, so there was no use in worrying about it at that moment. We decided to go dancing at Twice to relieve stress and found a lot of people we knew already there. It was a lot of fun, but after a couple of hours we were very hungry. Our friend Brendan suggested we go to a secret bakery that he knew of. It was a really long walk but absolutely worth it. I ate a fresh little pizza and a croissant filled with custard for three euro! That is unheard of and I plan on going back the next time I'm up at two in the morning.

When I woke up today, I only had one goal and that was to find an open Internet cafe. To my delight, I walked five minutes and found one. Although it was pricy for printing one piece of paper, it's better than a failing grade! Everything is usually closed on Sundays, so I'm very grateful that I was able to print out my paper. After reflecting with my roommates on everything we did, I decided that the theme of this week has been overcoming obstacles and making the minor setbacks into great successes. I love how one moment can completely change the trajectory my life and I'm excited to experience the many adventures that next week will bring.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Kristie Serrano is a Psychology and Communication Sciences major and Anthropology minor from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Kristie is also the recipient of the prestigious $8,000 Michele Iavagnilio Charitable Service Scholarship. She is blogging about her study abroad experience in Florence, Italy.

Happy Valentine's Day! I woke up to a wonderful and unexpected surprise this morning. My sneaky roommate woke up early today and bought everyone cannolis! Granted, I completely forgot it was Valentine's Day but it was a delicious way to start the day none-the-less. We didn’t do much today except meander the congested city. It seemed like everyone in Florence was outside, filling every open store and crowding the piazzas openly showing affection. My favorite part was seeing a little boy dressed up as a tiny warrior, happy as can be holding his sword and shield.

Now that my professors have finished reading the syllabi in all my classes, the learning has begun. I really enjoy the small classroom feel. My professors make an effort to learn my name and each professor implements different and unique teaching style.

On Monday, I was able to go out and observe how people interact for my Social Psychology class and compare that to American culture. My Body Language and Communication class uses theater methods to further explore and understand exactly what our body movement is expressing. All of my classes are challenging and require a lot of reading, but the material is very interesting.  

This week has not been my luckiest in terms of getting into my apartment. On Tuesday my roommate and I decide to get a bagel at Mama’s Bakery. I didn’t bother getting dressed since it should be a five-minute excursion. I throw my coat over my pajamas and since I can’t find my shoes, I put on my bright green flip-flops. While we’re eating our delicately put together avocado and prosciutto bagels, my roommate realizes she forgot her keys and her phone.

This is bad news because I assumed she had hers so I didn’t bother grabbing my keys or phone either. It’s 12 in the afternoon, so our two options are either waiting for our other roommate Chelsea, who gets out of class at 2:30 or walk 20 minutes away to interrupt her class and take her keys. We decide to go find Chelsea.

While we’re walking there, I notice that everyone that walks by keeps looking at my feet and my roommate thoroughly enjoys it. When we found Chelsea’s class, she was conveniently painting by the door, so we call her over, she laughs at my flip-flops, and gives us the keys. We then decide to get groceries at the fresh market, since we have nothing for dinner. We notice the 11-pound nutella jar and decide to buy it. Overall, this ended up being a successful day.

The next day, I finally decide to get epically lost after walking my friend to her hostel. My friend had told me to go straight and I’ll eventually get to a street I recognize. Two hours later after going in circles and calling my roommates a million times, I finally find this road. It was a very frustrating process and to top it all off it was snowing outside.

I decide to just stay at the library since in an hour, I get to go to a mask painting shop with my roommates. The mask painting work area was incredible. It was down in a basement with dull lighting and decorated with already finished masks that exceed anyone’s imagination. The place just felt magical and you couldn’t help but be inspired to create.

I worked until the very end trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Luckily my roommates were very patient with me and all of our masks turned out beautiful. Unfortunately, I hadn’t eaten for six hours so I was ready to inhale a horse by the time we left, but that experience was a great end to an otherwise tiresome day.

On Saturday we woke up around 8am and decided to go to Sienna! It was the first time we had taken the train and it was really exciting. Sienna is about an hour away and somehow I managed to get comfortable enough to sleep there and back. Sienna is a quaint little city and I have no idea how, but we were able to get from the train station to the center of the city.

My roommate Chelsea had been there before and she pointed out that different parts of the city were different districts. We were in the porcupine district and there were porcupines above a lot of doors and used as decoration. There was snow on the ground, which made portions of the city very slippery. Especially when we were on anything marble, like outside of the baptistery and the dome.

We hadn’t really eaten anything, so we entered this place called Pizzaland. Best decision ever. The people who worked there were very friendly and the pizza was wonderful. They also had French fry pizza and Duff beer, which was very entertaining. We stopped in again when we were heading back home to try their nutella filled panzerottos.

The best part was going into the museum and being able to climb up to the top to get a 360-degree view of the city. It was so beautiful and I wanted to sit there all day, but a storm was rolling in. We paid 10 euro to enter the Dome, the Baptistery, the crypt and the museum. The architecture and art in all of them were unbelievable and paired with the history made it that much more interesting. Finally exhausted, we stopped to get a cappuccino before we headed home.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

When I try to think back to the twelve days I have spent in Florence, my mind goes into a whirlwind of memories, bonding and disbelief that I’ve been so lucky. This is my first time traveling to Europe in general and my senses are happily on overload.

First of all, everything seems to be in a miniature size. My favorite shrunken objects are the teeny tiny cars. My least favorite shrunken objects are the narrow and confusing roads. I haven’t found a speed limit sign anywhere and there are way too many one-way streets. My roommate also pointed out that red lights are conditional for mopeds or motorcycles. They never stop! Surprisingly, I haven’t witnessed a vehicle accident yet.

Also, the squished looking buildings are very deceiving because everything looks small from the outside, but somehow is very spacious once you walk it. My apartment is a perfect example. I had to struggle up the narrow steps with my luggage, but once I managed to enter the door I was in shock at how big the apartment actually was. The Italians are wonderful at utilizing space. My kitchen has a washer in it and when I use my bathroom the sink is basically in my lap!

Before school started my roommates and I explored all over the city. We discovered the Fresh Market, which has absolutely everything we need to cook dinner, and as the name suggests, it is very fresh and healthy. I hate cooking, but I really lucked out that two of my roommates are very good chefs. If no one is in the mood to cook, then we roam around to find a Tratoria. And if we’re feeling extra lazy, we have Mama’s Bakery that has amazing bagels and pastries or the pizza place with 2 euro slices about 5 steps away.

My favorite food by far has been eating gelato in between classes or spreading nutella on everything possible as a snack. We finished a tub of nutella in two days, so next time we plan on getting a much larger jar. In the south part of the market we ended up finding the Wild Boar statue named Porcellino and rubbed his nose for good luck. I’m pretty positive it’s been working. I also really enjoyed exploring the Uffizi Museum and look forward to the many museums Florence has to offer. All of my roommates are majoring in the arts, so they explained a lot to me and showed me new ways to appreciate works of art.

Trying to get around Florence has been an adventure in itself and I think I’ve gotten lost enough to finally know enough main roads to reach my destination. Scuola Lorenzo de’ Medici is on the opposite side of the river than my apartment so everyday I get to walk over the beautiful bridge which is one of my favorite things to do. It is kind of a hassle that it takes me about twenty minutes to get to class, but the scenery definitely makes it worth it.

Unfortunately the first day of class my roommate set our alarm wrong, so the morning wasn’t as pleasant as it could have been. (I got a free cookie later that day, so it ended up being a great first day of class.)  All of my classes are small and very intense. The professors are very passionate about teaching and I really feel confident that I will learn a lot and experience a variety of different teaching styles. I’m really looking forward to all of them and already have a field trip planed to the Serial Killer and Death Penalty Museum for my Psychology of Crime class!

I haven’t really experience much of the Florence nightlife except for going to a discotheque called Space. It was mostly Americans that went and being a person who thoroughly enjoys dancing, I had a great time. It’s a great place to meet other study abroad students.

So it doesn’t feel right not to mention that I was blessed to meet three incredible people right away. I really couldn’t have asked for better people to live with. We are all on the same page when it comes to traveling, studying, living conditions and eating habits. There is a ridiculous amount of bonding that happens every day and every night and we all had an instant connection. I feel like I’ve known these girls a lot longer than twelve days and every day I’m grateful to have them to share everything with. The late night talks always take a lot longer than intended but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. They make my soul shine to its brightest beam.

I think today has been my favorite day of all. We were able to indulge ourselves at the Chocolate Festival in Piazza Santa Croce. Chocolate art is not only delicious but also very creative. On the eclectic side, there were chocolate tools, chocolate animals, chocolate kabobs and chocolate teeth (an actual mold of a jaw with teeth) as well as the normal chocolate truffles and hot chocolate.

It was basically happiness everywhere you looked. Then we headed to the viewing tower next to Il Duomo and took pictures of the most incredible and breathtaking view of Florence. We climbed 414 steps to get there, but no one was complaining once we got there. It was the perfect way to end an already wonderful day.