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!!!
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
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