Highlights :)

Hey. Hey. Hey!!!!! Three weeks have passed since my last blog post and so much has happened! I shall give a quick run down of my favorite moments :)
1. Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii! For our last (boo hoo) API excursion we took the million hour, brutal, twisty bus ride to Sorrento, Italy. However, nearly barfing my brains out (bus sick)  has never been so worth it. It was beautiful! The roads we took were on huge cliffs overlooking the beaches  and the beautiful ocean. Not to mention we would be staying in a 5 star hotel with...wait for it...AIR CONDITIONING!!! After 100 degree Florence, weather in apts. with no A/C and weak breezes from our fans, we were all very excited, very very very excited. We also got treated to a pizza tasting, upon arrival our arrival in Sorrento--it's their specialty!  MMMMMMMM!!! 

2. Positano!  We took everyone's advice and went to Positano-- a quaint, gorgeous little town about 30 min away from our hotel.   All the houses were collaborated together on the cliffs in a mixture of creamy pastels. The beaches were lovely, and we had a wonderful dinner overlooking the city. Unfortunately, our time was cut short as we were all eager to enter our frigid rooms and use a blanket for the first time in over a month.(It's been the hottest summer Florence has had in years).
3. Capri: Up and at em'! After a delicious hotel breakfast us API'ers headed off to another jaw dropping destination...the Amalfi Coast (Capri)--You must adventure there yourselves!!!  We lounged on the beach, swam, took a boat tour, and went on a chair lift that brought you to one of the highest points of the city...the chairlift really showed me the Island and all its glory.  The chairlift ride was one of my favorite  things I've done yet--a surreal moments with my         i-pod plugged in and  feeling sooo happy overlooking God's different ideas of nature.
4.Pompeii. After saying goodbye to our lovely hotel, we ended our weekend trip took to the historical land of Pompeii. Here we had a guided tour of the city, we saw Mt. Vesuvius and  its many victims :(.   So  very impressive and humbling to realise how smart and innovative people were hundreds of years ago when technology didn't exist.  It's also where most of our cameos are created. I found an awesome ring (which obviously made my day even further :)  It was bittersweet getting off the bus in Florence, knowing that it was our last excursion with API for the summer. :) :( (my emotions for most of my last adventures here).
4. Hiking to Fiesole--wonderful two and half hour hike to a gorgeous city near Florence). We rewarded ourselves by eating at the best Indian restaurant in all of Europe! (It was sooooo amazing)!
5.Gelato making! A few of us signed up for an event to watch the process of how they put together our favorite treat in Florence. Afterwards they gave us a complimentary 3 scoop gelato goody. SOOOO GOOOD! 
6. Dance Festival: I went to two ballets that Florence was hosting. One of them was Swan Lake (it wasn't quite as good as the performance in the Black Swan) but it was  sooo cool to see it live. The dancers were unreal!
7. Ireland: Some of my favorite pals and I headed off to Cork and Dublin for the weekend and what a fantastic weekend it was.  It started out rocky, with a flight delay which led to us missing our bus to Dublin--but we decided to make the most of it and it turned out to be so much fun! We went bowling!!! We drank coffee and talked. We enjoyed a beer at what would be the bar/hostel we stayed at in Cork. It was a blast and when 1am came, we were all so sleepy that our 3 hour bus ride flew by. After we arrived and struggled to find our hostel, we finally checked in at 4am to sleep for a few hours. Wanting to make the most of our short day in Dublin, we woke up really early, changed an.d headed out to tour what would be one of our favorite cities. We went to the trinity college, and into the trinity library which was insane! Filled with books and history. We took a tour of the Guinness factory which was really awesome and extremely interesting and then drank a complimentary Guinness beer at the top of the factory which overlooked Dublin. After eating the most amazing brat of my life, we made our way back to the bus. Exhausted from traveling we slept the entire way back to Cork. 
  After getting cozy in our hostel and reading for a bit, we headed out to get a burger and fries and a cute hole in the wall food cafe. It was so good we ate there twice. I really have missed me a juicy cheeseburger.  I've been really healthy on this trip....not. When we got back to our hostel we listened to the live music, and met some super funny, and really cool Irish folk.  They took us out and we laughed and tried to translate each other's accents the entire night. It was so much fun. The next day we took a bus to Blarney, where we toured the Blarney castle, kissed the Blarney stone, went on several Blarney, and beautiful hikes, laughed so hard we could't breathe, drank hot chocolate, looked like Streganoni (if you've read the book) in the rain, made wishes, frolicked in fields, ate tomato soup, talked to the cows, went home, took naps, ate and then read and went to sleep. I really have made some true kindred spirits here (sightseeing,frolicking, napping and  reading.... my favorites).
8. Boboli Gardens! One of the most beautiful sights in Florence located among the Pitti Palace, which is also filled with tons of wonderful museums to gander through. Again, such a happy human. We laid on huge marble-like beds, relaxed and enjoyed our morning. 
9. Climbing the Duomo: After waking up in a complete panic from a nightmare that I had forgotten to climb the Duomo, I woke up early (to avoid the line) and hiked the hundreds of steps to the top. I was greeted with one of the most beautiful views of the city, and just spent awhile catching my breath and enjoying what lie before me.  Did I mention how in love with Florence I am....
10. Picnic in Fiesole: After buying some wine, fruit and sandies my friends and I went to the top of Fiesole with our blankets in stow and had a evening picnic while watching the sunset over Fiesole and a distant Florence. It was a wonderful way to end our last Sunday night together. 
12. Drinking Champagne while looking at the Ponte Vecchio: My roommates and I cheersed to our last week together and sat on a pillar that stuck out from the second bridge and admired the Ponte Vecchio for one of our last times, struggling to believe that we had been here for 10 weeks already, and weren't even close to getting used to how beautiful it was. 
13. Secret Bakery: In Florence, they have two bakeries that start at around 2am, only they are very hidden and it's actually illegal for them to sell to people on the street. However, if you're very quiet and very patient and you're willing to stay up until two, they reward you with the best chocolate croissant your taste buds will ever meet. I know, i'm so BA for buying croissants illegally. But, for real, my mouth is watering right now. 
14. Italian Mafia: This session, I have been learning about the Cosa Nostra, it's made me suspicious about everyone, but wow, I have learned so many insane, interesting things. I have retained it all too, which is possibly the most amazing part about it. My friend and I would actually get excited about studying, writing papers and presenting for our class. I was excited about it all the time, even if I secretly  was worried everyone in Italy is somehow involved in the Italian Mafia which it's possible that they are....it's definitely apart of their culture...maybe. ooops, i'm putting in my opinion too much.
15. Being with my new friends: I don't think it was until the last week of our time here that we realized how good have friends we became with everyone. In just two months, i had met so many kindred spirits, so many hilarious, kind, weird, and interesting people. Some that I know will be friends with much longer than what our time was together here. I remember being so nervous that I wasn't going to meet anyone who I connected with when I left on May 19th, and here I am, ten weeks later having met some of the coolest people ever. Saying goodbye was way more heartbreaking than I though it would be, after hundreds of hugs and re-hugs, we finally parted ways, I wanted to cry, I still do. I'm so blessed. I have loved, loved, loved, loved everyone here.
For the next few weeks, I will be traveling, Germany, Interlaken, Switzerland, Norway (to see my good friends Jon, Andreas, and Nada!!! I'm going to the most amazing music festival there as well) and finally to London where I'm meeting another great friend of mine, George!!!!  I have a very exciting journey ahead of me, but I will for sure leave a tiny piece of me with Florence and all the people I've met here and the experiences i've had.
------What I've learned from this experience is that it is so important to take a break from your busy, constant demanding schedule and even from your favorite people, your every day life and take more than a moment to yourself and enjoy it, don't feel guilty about it...(I struggled with this for awhile) but talk to God, love God, love everything, appreciate the little tiny things, the ability to be independent and meet and make friends with new people and appreciate differences.  I don't remember the last time I've been so happy, and now I know why..... and everyone has different ways of knowing! I'm really not a cheesy person, but i'm feeling nostalgic as it's one of my last weeks in Europe, and I've had to say goodbye to so many people. However, this trip has also made me appreciate Ashby and Moorhead so much more, I misss my friends and family so much and my heart aches for you all quite a bit. I miss the safety, knowing everyone, homemade french toast, fresh water, my pooches and Starbucks. But, it won't be long before i'm back to reality, so until then.... I shall enjoy spending every penny of my loan... sorry DAD, and continue to discover Europe. 

<3

A beautiful life!

    Hi!!!! I've been rather dormant on the blog front lately. It's hard when you're caught up in exciting adventures like hikes in Switzerland, cliff jumping in Greece and lively soccer action in Italy....(I know, my life sucks). However, I don't want to forget the details of the greatest experience of my life (at least this far). It seems like it was just five minutes ago that I was asking my sister the day I left for Italy, if I go to the baggage claim first (before I had even checked my bags..seriously don't judge me, ok, do...) But now, six flights (and more to come..yay), countless train, bus and taxi rides later, I feel like a confident traveler...ready to embrace the next cultural, unplanned, excitement each new place throws at me. With that being said, here's a little run-down of the past few weeks of my European life...hehehehe I still feel really cool saying i'm in Europe.
Switzerland: With swim suits, cameras, walking shoes, passports, and train tickets in stow a bunch of us girls headed to Lugano, Switzerland for a breathtaking vacation (within a vacation). After several hours of traveling we reached our adorable hostel which was surrounded with green trees, pretty pathways, flowers etc. and overlooked the Swiss mountains of the "small " (it's hard to say small when you come from a town of 472 people...) city Lugano...oh and it had a pool :) I don't know how many times we declared "this is the life" as we popped in and out of the pool and sat with our books, suntan lotion and umbrellas looking out on Switzerland.
    That night, after exchanging our euros for franks, we headed out to find a cool place to eat, nearly passed out when I saw the price on the first menu we looked at. 21 frank--(= to the american dollar) for a dish of pasta, yikes.  We continued to walk, assuming that must have been one of the fancier restaurants...nope, even Mcdonalds had 15 frank burgers!!! EEEEK!!! Finally, we found a quaint little Mexican restaurant where we sipped tiny margaritas (we were all expecting the big ones we see in America, beings that we paid over 20 frank for a pitcher) and then ate our cheapish burritos...which were actually fantastic! This little experience set the tone for our spending, it's no wonder all of the citizens were so tiny, you can't afford to eat there.  After dinner, we walked and found a cute bar and ordered expensive german beers and chatted with the owner who eventually took pity on us and our dwindling wallets and brought us out little pizza crusts to nibble on as we talked, laughed and cheersed each other. Eventually, we continued our walk by the shoreline, to find a stage of live music where we danced and met  the locals, who were all very nice.
   The band even came and talked to us when they were done, however, the conversation was so awkward that at one point I asked if they had rode the Ferris wheel yet. Cool times.  But, while we were down there we got in on a huge game of life size (is that right?) chess, which reminded me of the one they play in Harry Potter.  My team won!!! It was so cool, we even had a crowd watching us!
    The next day, we got up bright and early to go explore. We hiked up huge hills, saw where all the rich retirees lived and before we knew it, we found ourselves in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. I usually start hyperventilating at these moments, but then we looked over... the lake surrounding Lugano was shimmering with  fog and reflecting the huge mountains above it. I decided there is much more important things to hyperventilate about like the picture I was seeing right at that moment.  After awhile, the gals figured out where we were going and we enjoyed the rest of  the trip relaxing, walking, trying to get by on our small amount of franks and getting to know Lugano. It was one of those trips that when you see it fading in the background, all you can do is sigh contently.

GREECE: oh golly gee, I don't even know how to describe my experience here.  Words, pictures..nothing can do justice to the fantastic, out of this world time I had in Greece. But,I'll give it a whirl!
   The week before we left, we were all pumping ourselves up, playing greek tunes, watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Mama Mia, if it weren't for the out of control heat and lack of a/c we would have been jumping on the bed, I actually would have been jumping across all of the beds.  Greece has been on my list since I was just a wee girl, and finally I was going to it! Hot diggity dog, I still am excited about it and it's already happened.

   Saturday morning, with our pre-packed suitcases, we hit the train station yet again and took off to Bologna, Italy where our cheap Ryanair flight would take off to Thessaloniki, Greece.  Exhausted from not being able to sleep before the night before, I konked out immediately on the plane which made it fantastic to be woken up to the city of Thessaloniki in what seemed like a matter of minutes. After taking in the greek signs and the new culture we were stepping into, we headed off to what would be one of the coolest hostel stays yet!
    Upon our hostel arrival, we were greeted with peach tea, comfy chairs and great conversation with the owners and their friends as well as fellow hosteliers. After we claimed our bunks and settled in the owners invited us to a grill out, that they were throwing! woo hoo, a greek grill out!!!  Here we met tons of fun people who took us out and showed us the town, some of the girls even got a vespa ride (don't worry mom, I was not among them.) It was cool to see the ins and out of Thesalonikki from a local perspective. They also introduced us to these amazing donut type things, which was obviously my main highlight for the night.
   The following day we threw on our suits and headed for the beach, we were all excited to plop in the ocean and get our tans on! It was a relaxing, sandy day...a little break from all the traveling, but not for long! At 4am we were up and at em' ready to hop on our 5 hour train ride to Athens. Yawning and a tad out of it, we bid our farewells to Thessaloniki and hopped abroad our train. The five hours were filled head nodding, draining ipod batteries, and a lot of uncomfortable shifting! So, it was rather surprising how energetic we were when we reached our hotel in 105 degree Athens. After, throwing our bags in our rooms, we took off in search of the Acropolis, oh and a  gyro, which we found for 1.80(euro)...score! (Greece was a lot cheaper than anywhere else we have been).
  Sweating like pigs and drinking like um...i don't know, we finally reached our destination! It was so amazing to see what you've only seen on t.v., textbooks, and magazines. I gawked at the Parthenon, and took about a hundred pictures, still not believing that I was standing in front of one of the most famous ancient architectural monuments in the world. The trek up to it, was worth every marble, slippery stair. We also saw the temple of Zeus! After a long day of exploring we treated ourselves to a greek dinner and ordered tons of tzatziki, which we are all now addicted to. (Tzatziki was involved in nearly every one of our outings in Greece.) After dinner, we headed back to our hotel for an early night, because once again we were going to be up at 5am for a ferry ride to SANTORINI!!!

It's way better in real life, so you should really check it out!

  After getting walked in on going to the bathroom on the ferry ride (the second time, I've been walked in on..cool, I guess I don't know how to use locks) I was ready for the five hour transport to be over with! But, wow was Santorini worth the wait! It was the place you see when you imagine what Greece looks like.  Blue top churches, cave like homes, donkeys, little white streets and igloo type buildings. I was in sisterhood heaven. When our mini bus reached our super awesome and perfectly located hostel in the gorgeous town of Oia we were all insanely giddy. (Adjective central, I know). After taking a look around at our freakishly amazing hostel, we headed off to the secret beach (one of my friends had been there before, so she showed us the ropes).  The "secret" beach was where all the girls jump off that rock in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ...we obviously had to recreate their jump! It was so much fun!!! Afterwards we fell asleep on rocks...that's how they do it in Greece.  Oh and did i mention how beautiful it was??? Check out my pictures if you want to see! Getting to the secret beach wasn't easy (walking down steep stairs and climbing/tumbling over huge rocks) but getting back was even harder, I now understand why they have donkeys to bring you up the huge, sweat filled hike. However, felt bad for the donkeys so we took the longest, sweatiest, love handle burner back to our hostel to shower and change into something nice for our first sunset in Santorini...and what a sunset it was.  It's no wonder a Santorini sunset is in one of top 100 things one must see before they die!
  Our hostel had happy hour during the sunset, so we sat on the balcony drank a glass of wine and felt like champions. Afterwards, we headed to eat a delicious meal at one of the many cool, local restaurants! It had a great view of all the "city" lights reflecting off the Aegean sea of Santorini.
  The next day we headed to the black beach, where we were sure at this point our feet were morphing into Frodo's... seriously everything was so sharp! However, despite the "ouch, ouch, ouch" every time we walked without our shoes, it was the perfect temperature and we had most of the beach to ourselves which was so cool.  We swam, sat on rocks, sang little mermaid songs and relaxed.  A little hike away was a cute little place to eat and I had one of the best apple salads of my life. yum.  As the day passed, I realized that my legs were slowly turning into red peppers, so a few of us  headed back to explore the town a bit! Here we found the coolest bookstore ever, no literally it's in the top 20 best bookstores in the world! And I was there! I even bought a little book that they published. The idea behind the book is to read it and then send it to someone else (preferably someone you like or love) they even give you a little envelope to send it in. It was pretty hard to say no to the beautiful  book man selling it to us, but the story was really cute. So Gram, you'll probably be reading it soon.   
  Afterwards, we headed back to our hostel to watch the sunset and once again it was unbelievable! I could never get used to something like that. Gosh, I want to go back already! That night we went out and had some fantastic seafood and amazing chocolate waffles and cheersed to the greatest trip ever.  Reluctantly after our bellies were full, we headed back to our beds, dreading our goodbye to Santorini in the morning.  
The next day our van was waiting at nine thirty, sensing our depression about leaving Greece he cheered us up with some really good greek jams and groovy greek dance moves.  Soon, we were all laughing and  dancing with him! It was a good farewell. And then with a wave goodbye and 3 plane rides, one taxi and one train ride later we were back in Florence. Each time I get back from a trip I realize how much Florence feels like home. I feel so lucky and blessed! 
    Ok, if you read all of this I'm super super flattered, actually if you even read any of this I'm flattered. However, I'm not done! I want to share some of my Florence highlights!  

1. Historical soccer game, known as Calcio Fiorentino which really isn't soccer as it is just a free for all brawl consisting of tackling, head locks, punching, kicking and body slams...even the players seemed to forget a ball and a goal are involved. Also, it was the first time I've seen the Florentines getting crazy....-no shirts, beers galore chanting and yelling...It was one of the most interesting things I've done here and the looks on our shocked faces when the game began were priceless. 
2. Self Fashion show: For my fashion and desirability class, our professor took us to a really cool building in Florence that promotes self fashion designers, the ones we met designed outfits out of yarn, handmade sequin dresses and painted old unwanted boots into high fashion ones. We drank sangria and had a little apertivo as we watched a body painting and learned about the designers.  Super fun to talk with all the locals and be apart of something I never would have known about if it weren't for my class. (I'm on to my next session however, so i'll be learning about the Italian Mafia!!!) 

3. Being apart of the real soccer action as Italia played(unfortunately very poorly) for the Europe cup.  For the first time, I felt like the Italians liked me as I walked the streets in my Italia shirt to our meeting ground API had set up for us to watch the game. I was getting high fives, thumbs ups and praised. It was so much fun to be apart of the buzz and I was actually getting excited about the game (we had front row seats at an outside big screen, we also were served pasta and desert as we watched!) I forgot how much fun it can be when you watch a sports event especially when the fans are so lively and excited.  Even though we lost, it was still pretty incredible to be living in the country that just played for the Europe cup! 

This past weekend, we took a day excursion to Sienna which was so much fun, we also had a wine tasting and ate some fabulous treats! Now, I'm back to school and still learning my way around Florence.

Always have my Minnesota/ND peeps in my head! xoxoxo! Sorry about how long this was!

Italian Charm....

What I love about Italy...
- dolce far niente: the sweetness of doing nothing...the Italians dedicate a lot of their time to enjoying each others company especially on Sunday's and during lunch time.  They take more than 20 min or in my case 3 min to eat their food. In fact, they actually take hours to sip their wine and eat their 3-5 course meals and dedicate time to their partners, friends and family...a truly beautiful experience that we should all do! 
- Taking time: In everything they do Italians take their time, when they walk, when they eat, when they shop...this has been perfect for my dilly dally and slow pace walking/getting ready, however it also has taught me to appreciate my surroundings and the little details of day to day life... Yet, sometimes this beautiful habit is hard to adjust to, especially when you have a plate full of gnocchi or a towering cone of gelato at your disposal. With that aside, not always rushing to get to place to place and learning to enjoy relaxing even if it's looking at a pair of shoes has been quite beneficial. It stops you from taking the small pieces in your day for granted.
-The food: from fried egg plant to wine soaked risotto, pesto lasagna, pasta of every kind, chocolate croissants, caprese salads, kababs, fresh vegetables and fruit all the time...(still love my cereal though...)
-The social scene: the Italians idea of a good time is a glass of wine, a little music on the street, and good conversation...not raging, puking in the nearest garbage, running around in tiny garments raging drunk...(my professor said all of these have occurred outside her apt...it's what give us a bad name....) every Friday and Saturday night...in other words the Italians keep it classy...we are all learning to appreciate this form of party :) It's also the form of party where creepers are usually not present. 
-Music everywhere: I have seen so many talented street musicians...I love turning into all sorts of nooks and crannies and hearing a banjo, accordion, guitar, harmonica etc playing a little Italia tune.. - The Gelato: I am not sure even how to describe the mouth watering, creamy, sensational whipped scoops of greatness on a cone...wish I could bring it back as a souvenir to everyone! 
- The Coffee: espressos, cappucino's,  caffes....mmmm....good at all times of the day!
- The fashion: especially the boys...they all ride around on their bikes in their business suits and stylish shades (raising my eyebrows up and down)...they all dress so well...yet, there has been a few jersey shore type ones... can't win em' all.  The girls have rockin' boots and leather jackets! 
- The hair: the Italian women (most blessed with gorgeous locks) come with all different types of hair styles, and lengths...they make unmanageable, wild, unruly hair look fantastic simply by being confident in which ever form it takes when they leave their homes...my medieval mane and I really appreciate this :) 
- Walking everywhere: at times this can be frustrating, (my feet have produced quite the callouses...yum...(could really use a hair success pedicure)  but it's great exercise, and you feel very refreshed afterwards...it also allows you to take in Italy and all its splendor...(and makes you feel a lot better about the huge chocolate covered/filled croissant you ate 5 min ago...I mean a little bit better.)
- The pigeons: I know everyone thinks they are annoying but I think they are so cute plucking their baby heads back and forth, begging for a piece of love (bread) and they come in all colors. I like them.
- The dog friendliness: everyone has dogs...and even though they don't love when you google at them, I can't help it....dogs are such loveable creatures and they make everyone happy all over! I love that so many Italians have them...and treat them well :) 
- The views: from nearly everywhere, you have a cool view... why? because the streets are cool, the cafe's, restaurants, buildings, museums, landscapes are all original, old, and have such character. 
- The willingess to help:if you're lost whether they speak English or not, every Italian has done their best to explain and will even walk you to where you need to be... Today, my roommate lost her key and a bunch of Italians all got out of their cars  and helped her look...(she found it)!!! It's so nice...they also give you a lot of free food, a free glass of wine etc....some don't like you, but for the most part they are kindred folk. 
---I could go on and on..but again, I don't want to kill the blog with length...
--------I have been trying to fit into Italian culture with what I wear and how I walk (like I know where I'm going and that I don't care about anything)...sometimes I think I fit in (especially when the street vendors don't target me as a dumb American who would want a glow in the dark object) other times I am tripping/wiping out on a cobblestone bumps, or unconsciously stopping and oogling at the windows that display a wide range of chocolate croissants, cookies, donuts etc. 
Also...
This weekend I traveled to Padova, Venice and Verona which was included with our API excursion...while there, I went on 3 walking tours, gondoliered it up, absorbed myself with a ton of cool Italian places, shopped in Merone (Island off of Venice, where they do the glass blowing), went to Juliet's balcony and touched her boob (this is supposed to bring you good luck in your love life...don't be surprised if I come home with a husband), had a fun wine tasting and tour of the vineyard in the beautiful countryside, and enjoyed my time with my cool new friends :) I'm so very happy and content right now :) Today, I watched my first piece of media in 3 weeks! Pride and Prejudice...I just finished the book, naturally had to watch the movie...!  It's been kind of a relief to not be tempted with tv! Now, I'm off to go eat an Italian meal, made by my roommates!!


p.s.  split my pants open yesterday...gotta cut down on the carbs...
xoxoxoxooxoxoxo......Missing my fam and friends! 

Being an expat...

Ciao friends, fam, future self. Well, I have officially been traveling Italy for two weeks now.  It seems like it has been way longer, yet, not at the same time! (Make sense?)  Classes started last week, and I am taking an anthropology class for Fashion and Desirability.  It's pretty interesting and my teacher is awesome, but being in a classroom for 2.5 hours is yuck, especially when you are not in school mode. On the fun side, she took us to a few artists/artisans workshop and a local art exhibit tour, which only happens once a month.  We were offered free wine and food while we admired all the local artist's unique work.  It was a nice change from all the renaissance art I have been seeing. I also forgot to mention that I took a cooking class! This was so much fun, our chef, however, got really frustrated with me.  "MAMA MIA, JUICY (that's how he said my name) SO SLOW!!! NO, NO, NO! Here, you stir." Whoops, the food we made was delicious though...can't remember the names of the dishes unfortunately.

This past week included a lot of walking, and a lot of getting lost ( people are trying to help me with my directions by letting me lead them home, they give me two blocks to figure out if I'm wrong before they tell me that I am going in the opposite direction that we are supposed to be...can't be good at everything, I guess ;) jajajajheheehehohohoho. This weekend a few of us decided we wanted to explore a few of the smaller cities outside Florence, so we hopped on a train and visited San Gimignano and Arezzo! They were both so cute and beautiful!!! We explored torture museums (yikes!!!!!!), went to a free wine tasting, ate at really cool local restaurants, went to a really awesome antique fair, ate a lot of gelato, had a lot of philosophical, and smart convos on our train rides, heel clicked, skipped, laughed really hard, the snorting kind, and left feeling very lucky. I AM SO LUCKY!

 I love it here so much!!!! Yet, it has been a lot of getting used to.  For example, not running up and petting/cooing at every dog you see in the street (they do not like that at all),  not smiling at anyone, (when you walk you have to get your putanna face on), not looking at anyone in the eye (the police warned us that  men can see that as an invitation...) fearing for your life every time you cross the street, trying not to get offended when someone honks at you, paying to go to to the bathroom or not being allowed to use a bathroom, quick showers, feeling like a loser every time you open up your huge map and endless amounts of walking and no sitting (which I actually love) and the list goes on. 

The past two weeks have definitely  been a learning adventure! I feel guilty for how much fun I am having.  It's weird going from 30 + hour work weeks + school and homework to fun everyday...:)  Oh and I almost forgot, the fashion... surprisingly the boys here have better fashion than the girls.  However, the boots/shoes...o.m.g. Also, the old people...o.m.g. 

I have to go hang my super wrinkly clothes up now! Catch ya later alligators, after awhile crocodiles!
p.s. I'm going to an Italian Opera tomorrow!!!! So excited!

Italian adventures...

       Hey everyone, I now know why Anne sucked at blogging! It's so hard to find time and when there is time the last thing you want to do is stare at your computer when you have the most picturesque view of Italy right outside your window (I seriously have random outbursts of giggles and shrieks every now and then at how unreal and exciting it is to be here...)

   Wow, I can't believe I have already been roaming, gaping, touring and loving on Italy for a week.  So many things have happened; I don't even know where to begin.  After many hours of no-sleep, anxious/exciting traveling, I arrived in Rome and was greeted by my fellow API members and program managers.  They were so helpful and kind. It was a relief.  For the next three days, I was swamped with a blur of names, greetings, and a butt load of information accompanied by a few jet lag yawns. Friendships began to develop and I was excited to meet so many goofy, nice, funny, and kindred spirits that came from all over the states and some very close including; Wisconsin and Minnesota :) It's nice to have other people who over exaggerate their o's and a's.
   While in Rome, we got our tourist hats (actually worse, headsets and  huge walkie-talkie radios) on and looking extra geeky, took off to venture into the historical heart of Roma. I gazed and walked around in the Pantheon, made a wish in the Trevi fountain (hope it comes true), pretended to be a Gladiator in the Coliseum (don't worry, I listened to the tour guide too...) ate some delicious pizza in between, continued to truck in the rain to Castel Saint Angelo where we walked on floors that were made in the 15th century and admired the historical art in one of the first pope's library.  We also made our way to St. Peters church...which was beyond my high expectations. IT WAS GINORMOUS and gorgeous and although there was buzzing and flashes everywhere, very peaceful.  The Pope never came out though, he must have thought I was coming the next day.   

   I also bought tickets to see the Sistine Chapel, mostly to see Michelangelo's interpretation of God creating Adam. This was not overrated, it was unreal. GO THERE, IF YOU GO TO ROME.  All the other art was amazing, but to be honest it starts looking the same after awhile. Whoops, sorry to all you art connoisseurs. 

At night, we enjoyed ourselves, with wine, bread, pasta and 5 course meals. I'm starting to envy all those ladies in the renaissance art... back when it was cool to be huge. However, every meal that I have eaten here has been worth every calorie.  MMMM.....like really, our food is gross compared to the carbs, cheese, fruit, and freshness of the Italian dishes.
   I'm doing my best to condense everything, I don't want to bore everyone with a huge blog post, but I am going to continue for my future self, so I don't forget anything.
 After an exhausting yet exhilarating few days in Rome, we took off in our bus towards our future home for the next few months.  Florence greeted us with its charming buildings, people, food etc. We made our way to our kitschy apt who I share with five other fun, sweet and wonderful girls.  Although we were so very tired, we all were too excited about our cool apt to sleep.  Eventually, we made our way to the Duomo (only a few blocks away...eeeeeeeekkk to orientation and a dinner on a roof-top terrace that overlooked Florence.  It was breathtaking, with mouth watering food and excellent conversation to accompany. The next few days were so busy filled with trips to the central market, leather markets, and FOOD markets...all I can say is holy cow. I mean really, holy cow.
   After settling in for a day, we took off on our first excursion with API to Cinque Terre.  By far my favorite experience here.  It was one of the most romantic, breathtaking, and cultural experiences of my life (it also had great pesto :).  It was filled with love, close knit families, and tiny streets with cute shops, cafe's and apartments. OMG. I can't even describe how amazing it was.  It also had a beach, where we all did as the Italians do and RELAXED for the first time all week.  We each got a massage on the beach... for five euro.  So nice.   

   We then walked the Via dell' Amore which in English means the way of love.  The path was filled with love letters, love locks and writings all over in crevices, on the stones, and in the trees.  It also had the most spectacular views.  It was so romantic...sigh.  I was in awe.  I will definitely be making my way back there.   Back in Florence, I have been enjoying getting to know the city, testing a few Italian phrases, getting to know everyone better and being a part of a new culture.  These past few days have been filled with walking, exploring, getting lost, exhaustion, excitement, eating, learning, experiencing and living outside my comfort zone.  But, boy have I fallen in love with Italy.  I do miss all my peeps back home and crave my Dad's steak every time I see lamb brains as an option on an Italian menu.  

   For now, I am going to get back to my espresso, book and bask in the Italian's favorite phrarse "dolce far niente" the sweetness of doing nothing.  xoxoxo

Dear Friends/Fam, here is my most sincere attempt at a travel blog.  I promise to do my best to update you on my European adventures, because I know that's all any of you can think about ;) Anywho, I'm awake, with butterflies. It's early and I just took my last 45 minute shower for three months...it was bittersweet. I'm in awe of how fast Summer came! I'm so excited to conquer an adventure all on my own! It's liberating! I feel like I do after I watch an action movie or Walker Texas Ranger (and Nine Lives of Chloe King...don't judge my poor choice in television).  I know my mom, gram, dad, sister, friends, and co-workers are worried about my dilly dally, go-with the flow, slightly scatter brained :/ characteristics while abroad, however, I feel very at peace with my soon (13 hour away) adventure.  I can thank God for that one.  I can't wait to dive in a new culture and embrace the art, food and of course fashion of one of the most exciting (in my opinion) cities of the world! EEEEK!  (Life is pretty good when you're young, adventurous and as a result, very poor college student). I'll be seeing you soon!

P.S. MOM AND DAD AND EVERYONE ELSE, DON'T BE NERVOUS. I KNOW IT TOOK ME A FEW TRIES TO LEARN WHICH EXIT TO TAKE TO FERGUS FALLS, BUT I WILL FIND MY WAY!  With that being said, I do appreciate everyone's prayers and positive energy :) I feel very grateful to have such an awesome family and group of friends :) (insert block of cheese).