My last few days as an Italian language student have FLOWN by. Today is my last day in the city for a while. Last night we had an "end of the term" celebration. There were about 15 of us that went out to dinner. Then a smaller group of us went to sing Karaoke. The bar was surprisingly empty and we were really the only group singing- as a thank you the bar bought us all a round. Then an even smaller group of us went to a discoteche. I know. What a night. I have to be honest. I didnt even make it to my last day of school. It was way too difficult to get up (after only a couple of hours of sleep) to go learn about the Future tense.... turns out there were only a few people that actually made it to class this morning anyway.
I had some excitement a couple of days ago, too. I had my wallet stolen on Monday. Well, I assume it was stolen. Its hard to say if I just totally lost it or if it was lifted out of my bag. But thanks to my fabulous parents all has been resolved well enough for me to continue on.
Today is sunny and warm with a few white puffy clouds. Not a bad way to spend my last few hours as a Fiorentina.
Off to Roma tomorrow morning. I cannot wait!

rain rain go away

The weather in Florence has been miserable for the past couple of days. They call it "crazy march." That it has been. We have had rain nearly every day this week. Not the pleasant make everything pretty kind of rain, but the soaking, drenching, make my feet wet and wrinkly kind of rain. Blegh.
There is a temporary stop in the misery as I type. The sun is out and I can feel my toes rejoicing at the idea of dry streets. But despite the rain I have been ticking off the last remaining things that I plan to see in the city. I do not know how one person can see every museum, church, site in this place without being totally and completely overwhelmed. I know very very little about Art history so some of it is lost on me, but some, like the museum of San Marco, really moved me. Do not miss it if you are ever in Florence.
I head to Rome on Sat. with my roommate for 4 days. I can hardly believe that I am entering into my last week of school in Florence. Time has really flown. Then After Rome time is my own and plans are unmade. Should be exciting.
I am sure this week will be filled with bitter-sweet moments. I love these people, this city, but mostly my new friends. love love love. (yes, love times 3- I use it too, Jules) But part of me is ready to move on and see some new things.

I am totally missing watching College Ball during march madness.
GO UCLA!
off to enjoy the last minutes of sun before it rains again.

How do I even begin to recount all of the things that have been happening here in the beautiful city of Florence? I can hardly believe that it has been 11 days since I've last posted. It feels like yesterday yet a year ago at the same time. The passage of time is a strange thing. Luckily I have one week left here.

I have seen more museums and churches than I can even recall the details of everyone. I have seen concerts, last night I went to see Verdi's Messe Reqium. Literally it was the best and most moving concert I have ever seen. I'm pretty sure that over half of the audience cried.

I've made friends that will last a lifetime. We eat together, walk the city, climb the towers, admire the beauty and enjoy gelato as much as we can. I can't figure out how to get my pictures off of the camera and on to the screen without causing too much hassle. But I look forward to sharing my photos when I return.
Until next time... things are wonderful and I'm glad I don't have to go home yet. :)

Weekend 1

Saturday was the Festa della donna (Women's festival). That meant that all state museums were free to women, women were being handed flowers left and right, etc. Mark that day on your calenders because I plan on celebrating from here on out.
I went to Siena yesterday with a few other girls. We hopped on a train around 11am. We did not know that there was a big soccer match between Siena and Firenze (ancient rivalry continued). We sat across the train from a very roudy group of young people that sang, yelled and cheered the length of the 1 1/2 hour train ride. We could only understand a little of what they were saying but none of it was appropriate. As we wondered around the beautiful city we could hear the screams of the crowd everywhere we went. We were able to watch a few minutes of the game from a hight point on the other side of the fence from the stadium. These fans were amazingly into it, makes me want to watch one here in town. Turned out Firenze lost.
Siena's duomo was an unbelievable experience. I have never seen anything like it. It was very very beautiful. Although I love Firenze, Siena was a wonderful change to the hustle and bustle here, it was peacefully quiet and very "old italian" feeling. That could have been from a combo of a cold, rainy day and it being a match day. Hard to know...
We got to the train station 5 minutes too late to catch the train we thought we wanted. So we had to wait nearly 2 hours before the next train. While there, we bought a couple of cheap bottles of wine (thankfully I always have an opener ready) and asked for some plastic cups. Not 15 seconds after we opened the first bottle, another traveler (American) came up and asked if he could join us. He was also headed to Firenze and we enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine with him while we waited. While on the train we also shared some wine with some Sicilians that were on their way to Firenze, also. Wine really brings people together. :)

Life here is good and busy. Every day a new activity... today I bought a leather purse and later visita al Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

Ciao!

My Italian is slow in coming, but am enjoying it greatly. The weather has changed dramatically and it feels more like winter. Cool, windy and rainy. I forgot the cord to my camera so I can't post pictures today but the skies are grey.

Today I walked around the city with 2 new friends (an Irish girl and a Dutch guy) and we saw a lot of true florence. Meaning, we went way past the touristy spots and met up with the true florentines. We got lost (the best way to explore, right) and had a great time.

I went to the Palazzo Vecchio yesterday afternoon. What a beautiful palace. Hard to imagine living in a palace, especially one built like this one. So much history in one city, amazing.

We are meeting up in a couple of hours to eat, go to a bar and then maybe dancing... should be a great evening!

Day 2 1/2

Ahhh Firenze. Its a wonder there are not more deaths on these streets. I have only been here a few days and have seen so many pedestrians, cyclists and vespa riders come very close to getting smashed by the oncoming traffic. One that is awesome is that the smaller the car you have the cooler you are.
Strange things I have encountered so far:
1) American music plays everywhere. I'm currently in an internet cafe that has Beyonce singing (a song from Dreamgirls)
2) the key board I am using has keys I have never seen and the symbols are all in different places
3) I thought that Disneyland had a lot of tourists-- can't top Firenze...
4) There are more Americans roaming around than I expected.
5) the egg yolks are more yellow than i have ever seen... weird, i know.
6) who ever said that it was cheap to log on to the internet here was cheap is very very wrong
7) all trattorias around the center are geared to tourists
8) if you ever plan on moving to Florence, don't do it on a sunday. everything you need that is not outrageously priced is closed.
I love it here. I am living with 2 other girls and the owner of the house and his girlfriend. One girl is from Portugal and is studying Vocal Music in Berlin and the other is a travel agent from Vera Cruz, Mexico. Ana Maria and Erica, respectively. Language school has surprisingly fewer Americans than I expected. A lot of Europeans and a few from Brazil- probably 30 students in the entire school. There are 10 in my absolute beginners class. Wonderful people, i think that I know the least amount of Italian than the entire class, no problem.

It rained today- I am looking forward to seeing the Duomo after the rain. Molto Molto Bella!

Ciao!