Firenze

This morning we woke up early again to head out on the town.  On our way to our destination, we did some more perusing of the street markets and then headed out to the Accademia Galleria to see Michealango’s famous statue of David.  After standing in a pretty long line, we finally got in and it was magnificent, and much bigger than we expected.  We looked at the other pieces in the museum and then set out to find a place to eat.  We decided to cross the river and look for a less touristy area.  We didn’t find the restaurant we were searching for, but we did find a giant hill to climb and at the top there was an awesome view over the entire city of Florence.  It was really cool to see how far we had walked and all the places like the Duomo that we had visited.  We grabbed some lunch and then walked back to our hotel .  We ambled around for a bit and heard some music playing outside so we went to investigate and found ourselves in the midst of a communism/marxism rally.  Needless to say, we made our way our quickly and explored a local church instead.  On our way back to the hotel, we also picked up some gelato that turned out to be 10 euros, so that will go down as the most expensive ice cream I ever have—15 american dollars.  We made it back to the hotel and took a nice long nap to relax.  Around 7pm, I set off to take a walk around town and then I ran into Marie and Jessica on the way out.  They invited me to go with them to dinner at a spagetteria they found that was far from the hotel.  We walked there and I had delicious fettuccini and mushrooms, and then some tiramisu.  It was really nice, I had a very nice time.  We walked back and our room decided to have a showing of Pocahontas as we packed for Venice in the morning.

The Leaning Tower and Florence

Today was our first real day in Florence, and first thing we went to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We got up early and walked to the train station to buy tickets after eating a really nice breakfast at the hotel.  We found 12 euro tickets roundtrip and left at about 9:30am.  Pretty much slept the entire way to Pisa and when I woke up we were there.  We got off the train and got lost on our way to find the tower, but we did pick up some lovely gelato—I got a Lion flavoured cone.  We spotted the leaning tower from a distance and it was just what I expected.  We took our iconic photos holding up the tower and I almost face-planted trying to get out of the way of a photo(not a fun part of the trip).  It really was cool to see this in person.  We walked around their duomo and saw the baptistery and then we did some shopping at the tourist shops along the way.  We then grabbed some lunch at a café (I had a calzone) before heading back to the train station.  Our train left at 1:30pm and we got back to Florence at 2:30pm.  From here we set off to find the Duomo—very gorgeous—and waited in line to get inside.  The outside was magnificent compared to the inside, but it was still cool.  Next we found the Ponto Vecchio which is the iconic Florence bridge that holds lots of jewelry and leather shops.  Seeing as none of us have very much money to spend, we just walked through and a little further into the city to explore.  We randomly heard some music around a corner so we went to find out why there was a random band playing on the street.  We don’t read Italian, but we knew enough to realize that we had walked into a communist/fascist rally.  Obviously, we got out of there quick, and wandered into another free church that was nearby.  This church wasn’t as beautiful on the outside, but the inside was much more ornate.  Our day was wrapping up so we headed back to our hotel and stopped at a grocery store on the way back.  We picked up some food and rested after a long day of travel.  Amanda and I got in our swimming suits and made the lovely jet-bath in our room as a Jacuzzi.  Overall, it was a great day J

A very different Easter Sunday

Today was sort of low key because it was full of traveling and waiting around.  It was also sad because this was my first Easter Sunday that I missed church and also I didn’t get to spend the day with my family.  Anyway, the uneventfulness of the day  was kind of a good thing because I’m getting over another cold, but it was also a little disappointing.  We slept in this morning and packed up our things to wait for the coach.  We went to grab some food and then just chilled because the coach came about 45 minutes late.   We took the bus through the gorgeous Italian countryside to Florence.  Upon arrival we checked into the hotel (big improvement on our last hotel) and we found it pretty modern and spacious.  We have a shower and a big jet bathtub.  We decided to splurge and head downstairs to the restaurant for dinner.  Here I had my first Italian pasta.  It was ravioli that was potato filled with a meat sauce—very delicious!  We headed upstairs to plan our night and relax.

Do as the Romans do!

Today we had a hard time getting started, but we left on the Metro to go out to the Coleseum.  It was really neat to see this ancient place that held so much Roman history.  We then grabbed some food at a grocery store and walked back to the Coleseum to have our lunch.  I should really document all the cool places I’ve eaten lunch at.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon looking around the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.  We grabbed some gelato and went back to the hotel.  At the hotel, we took a nice siesta and then headed over to grab more food from a grocery store.  We enjoyed the food, watched Italian TV, and just chilled for the evening.

When In Rome :)

What a good Friday indeed.  We set out pretty early in the morning after a free breakfast at our hotel.  Our first stop was the Vatican City (a separate country inside Rome).  We took the metro (with only a slight confusion) out to the area in west Rome.  Our first stop was St. Peter’s Basilica.  This building was beautiful!  We fought the lines to get in for free and despite my uneasiness of the crowds, we enjoyed a nice visit.  We were hungry so we stopped at a pizzeria for our first taste of Italian pizza.  We weren’t exactly sure what we were going to end up with (menu was in Italian) but

we ordered anchovie and prosciutto (ham).  Interesting to say the least!  We also picked up some more gelato before heading to the Vatican Museum and the infamous Sistine Chapel.  Soooo beautiful!  This was a masterpiece by Michelangelo and it houses his works such as ‘Creation’ and “Last Judgement”.  Afterwards, we went for round two on gelato before heading to the Coleseum to meet up with friends.  After we met up we stood in line to get to see the Pope at The Stations of the Cross.  We were front row to see it and I saw the Pope!!! We stood there from like 6pm-11pm.  Our feet hurt!!!  But it was soo worth it.  We tried to catch the bus back but it never came so instead of spending $ on a taxi we were going to walk back.  Luckily we found a nocturnal bus and we arrived back faster than our friends.  We were exhausted and definitely had no problems falling asleep.

Traveling to ITALY!

After leaving on the coach and riding into London at 1am we shuffled into the airport and waited around for our 7am flight.  When we got on the plane I found out I was assigned to sit next to Dr. Taylor—my awesome british studies professor—so that was interesting/awkward.  We arrived and it seemed like it took FOREVER for everyone’s bags to come out, then we had to wait for the bus for a long time as well.  We embarked on coaches for the hotel and I started to get really excited about Rome when we drove past the Coliseum!  We got to the hotel and Amanda, Christina, and I showered to freshen up and then continued our never-ending day.  We left with Megan from the hotel in search of food and finally found a nice little café where we had paninis!  Mine was mozzarella and tomato and it was delicious!  I have a feeling all of this Italian food is going to continually remind me about my ongoing job at Fazoli’s Italian Restaurant.  I finally get to see some of our food in its true element!  We tried to go to the Trevi fountain but our Italian map reading skills are shaky so we ended up at a monument called the Porta Pia.  (Still not sure what this is?  Click on the description—I had to look it up too!)  We now headed in the right direction to see the very famous Trevi Fountain.  It is absolutely beautiful!  We picked up some gelato and ate it on the side of the fountain J  You are supposed to throw one coin in using your right hand over your right shoulder to ensure that you will return some day.  And if you throw in two you will meet your true love.  I threw in some coins and then I finally got to throw in the coins that Brecca, Bria, Katrina, and Gena sent with me for them (which included, a silver dollar, a shiny penny, 10 cent euro, and a 2$ bill respectively!)  Now I feel assured that some day all of my friends will visit as well!  It was beautiful!  Next we headed to the equally popular Spanish steps.  So pretty and there were people everywhere!  We walked back and pretty much are ready for bed even though it is only 9pm---it has been a LONG two days that have blended into one!

Final Goodbye to Harlaxton

Last British Studies Final.  Last Day at Harlaxton.  Last goodbyes before heading to Italy.  Today was a day equal to an emotional rollercoaster.  It truly was bittersweet.  We all rushed through our exams and probably didn’t try hard enough on explicating ‘British National Identity.’  We had our final lunch in the refectory with friends and then spent the remainder of the afternoon packing and saying goodbye to groups of friends who were leaving for home/independent trips.  I took one last walk down the lane by myself and enjoyed more English spring.  I trekked out to the Harlaxton church (not exactly sure what kind of church, I just followed the steeple) and I got to enjoy the pristine solitude of a beautiful spring day.  My last walk up the manner was sad as well, it truly was hard to say goodbye.  Even now, I feel like after Italy I will be going back up to school like usual.  So surreal how fast the time flew.  The Italy trip students got to stick around the manner until Thursday at 2am so we ate our final meal together (fish and chips-I thought that was rather fitting) and then took a walk into the woods behind the manor to see the bunker that the troops who stayed at the manor in WWII used to practice.  I got some more lovely stinging nettle on my legs and feet so that was fun and I also scratched up my leg on a branch (I didn’t anticipate that it would be so far back in the woods!).  Pretty much just wasted the rest of the evening away before heading out early for Heathrow Airport.  I will never forget my last few glimpses of Harlaxton Manor as the coach made its way down the drive way and down the A607.  This place changed my life, and I was sad to see it go.