the first 3 weeks...sorry its long

January 24, 2010

Today we landed in Rome and the program has officially begun. We got to the hotel around 3:30 pm and had a walking tour at 4:30. We went to a lot of different places pretty close to the hotel. We went to city hall, the original place built for the Pope, the Trevi fountain, the largest monument in Rome, and a few other places. After, we had group dinner at a local restaurant where they serve traditional Italian meals and the food is so good. After dinner, me and a few friends went to try and find the bar area/nightlife and asked our friends who are abroad here and met up with a bunch of people from Wisconsin or some that I knew from high school. We had a great time out but it was a very American scene. Overall, it was a lot of fun for a first day and it was really nice to see Roman sights and experience some of what the people abroad here do.

January 25, 2010

Today was a great day! First, everyone had some Italian language class taught by the older Italian couple that is leading our group around Rome. The male, Georgio, taught ours today and somehow me and my roommates all got assigned the 8:30 class. So we had that for an hour and we were able to pick up a few things in Italian which I already love. After, Kara and I went to breakfast and then we went back to take a nap until our next activity. At that point, we had a walking tour of ancient Rome. It was raining outside and was really cold so that made it more difficult but the sights were amazing. We went to the Forum, Coliseum, many of the Arches, the old courthouse, and a few other ruin sights. These places were really amazing and nothing like what you see in pictures. They are truly huge and to think how long ago they were built is incredible. Besides seeing all the amazing sights, during the tour I was able to meet a bunch of new people and get to know more that I had met a little better. Turns out I was with a great group and so even with the rain and the amount of walking there were so many positives. One really cool part about the sights was at one of the Arches there was a part of the scriptures and designs that had a Menorah and was partially telling a story from Jerusalem. Of course I loved that part and had to take a picture. The best part was there was a whole group of what obviously were the Jews who perked up during the story and all gathered to try and get a picture of it. After the walking tour, a few friends and I decided that we wanted to go to a café and sit and get something to drink to warm us up. We found a café and ordered what we thought was hot chocolate. Turns out that they literally melt chocolate and serve that. It was beyond rich and thick that we had to go up and order steamed milk to add which didn’t event help that much. By the end most of us were nauseous and knew never to order that again. But we all sat at the café and just got to know each other a little better and after went on an adventure to try and find a supermarket to buy cheap bottles of wine. Took us asking 5 different people to find the supermarket and then spent like 15 minutes in the store trying to figure out the best one. We finally made it back to the hotel and had about 45 minutes until dinner at the same restaurant. After talking with people at dinner, we all came to the conclusion that going out was a bad idea because we have to be up at 6 am for our journey to Pompeii. So after all of our wandering to try and get wine, we didn’t even touch it yet. But at least now we know where to go and we have it for later. So overall, today was a ton of fun and just really excited for tomorrow and everything else we have left to see before Florence.

January 26, 2010

Today we went to Pompeii. We woke up at the crack of dawn and were out of the hotel by 7 am. It took us 3 hours just to get there so everybody slept on the bus ride. We got there and just immediately went to the excavation site. Spent about 2-3 hours looking at the different sights of the ruins and what’s left of the city. We saw Mount Vesuvius and it’s not as big as expected in comparison to all the different mountains I’ve seen but it was cool knowing it was a volcano. Seeing the ruins were pretty cool but I have to say the coolest thing there was seeing an old brothel and it had different sex positions painted on the walls outside of the rooms that literally had only a bed. It was pretty funny to see. After that before we left to drive all the way back to Rome, they decided to take us to Sorrento and the Amulfi coast to see the views and experience it. Little did we realize that by doing this, our 3 hour bus ride turned into a 6 hour ride and we didn’t get back to the hotel until 9:30 pm. 3 friends and I then went out to dinner at around 10:30-11 at a local restaurant which turned out to be so good! After that, we went out to the same bar area that we went to a few nights ago and tonight was a much better night. We met some other people on our program while we were walking there and they came out with us and we had a great time. We didn’t get back to the hotel until 4 am and then Kara and I ended up talking and spending time on our computers until about 5:30 in the morning! So today was interesting but not my favorite to say the least.

January 27, 2010

Today was such a great day! First, Kara and I accidentally slept through our alarms and didn’t make it to our 8:30 am Italian class. But it’s not shocking seeing that we were up all night. But after that we slept until 12 and got up to meet the group to go to Vatican City. First, we ran down the street to grab a quick bite to eat at a cute little restaurant/coffee shop. We ran back to the hotel so we wouldn’t be late and hoped on the bus. The Vatican was unbelievable! We had a tour guide the whole day which made it so much better because he was able to let us into some insight about the different aspects and take us to all of the important places. It actually is a HUGE area and there is so much to see and if you wanted to stop and look at everything it would take days. So we went in opposite chronological order and went from the most recent stuff to the oldest. We started in a building where they would collect old sculptures and different art works. We then went through the whole building that had all of these amazing art works on the ceiling and all on the walls and the floors. It was so beautiful and amazing and you would think that it itself is what people go to see. After that whole building we finally had made it to the Sistine Chapel. That was honestly one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. It was so much bigger then I had thought. It was crazy to think that one person spent all day every day for 4 years facing up and painting that was incredible. In the chapel you aren’t allowed to take any pictures or talk at all for that matter. Me and my friend Becca walked around the chapel together and took our time looking at all of the different aspects and remembered some of the secret/hidden messages that our tour guide had told us about. It was really great and one of the first times I have ever appreciated art. That night a bunch of us bought wine and drank it together after dinner and basically turned out to have so many people just hanging out in mine and Kara’s room before we left for the club for our last night in Rome. We went to this huge club that was so overwhelming and packed with people and mostly my program and all the Americans who were studying in Rome. It was kind of fun but too much for us so some of us left and we were going to call it a night when we ran into a few friends that we met a few nights before and Kara and I decided to continue our night with them. So at 2:30 am we decided to go to another bar with the girls. We had a lot of fun there and since it was our last night we decided to continue and go to yet another bar. We didn’t end up getting back to the hotel until around 5:30 where we found the hotel doors to be locked. We knocked and a guy finally came to let us in. Overall, it turned out to be a really fun night and a great day.

January 28, 2010

So today is the day we left for Firenze. We had to be up early to get started on the drive and so we were out of the hotel by 9:30. After the many hours we had finally made it but the buses were too big for the streets so we took individual small buses split by apartments and with our luggage took us to where we were living. My apartment is BEAUTIFUL and HUGE!! We have a 3 story loft type thing. We are on the top floor and you walk in and there is a huge living room with a futon and then a living room. The kitchen, bathroom and one bedroom are on the right. Then there is a spiral stair case to the left of the door that leads up to another bathroom and another bedroom. This bedroom leads out to our balcony that has a cut table and chairs on it. Then the stairs continue up to the third bedroom that has an amazing view over a lot of the city, one window even looking at the top of the dome of the Duomo. Every room is so spacious and huge and it’s just such a nice apartment. Kara and I are roommates and we have the bedroom on the bottom floor. It is the biggest and it’s really convenient to be next to everything. Oh, and one of the bathrooms has a shower with a seat and jets to put on your back, with a foot rest. It’s slightly ridiculous in here. Upon first getting here you would think we would all immediately want to settle in and unpack but instead we all sat around attempting to do a 1000 piece puzzle of a Van Gogh painting. Eventually we got moving and went to dinner 5 of the roommates at a restaurant around the corner. It was really good and everything is just so cute. The area we live in and everything around here is just so great. After dinner, 2 of the roommates and I went to meet up with Sarah and some of her friends. We were told to meet her at the Duomo and none of us had seen it yet so upon seeing it I had to ask two Italian men if that was the Duomo. I have never felt dumber. But we finally found Sarah and it was so exciting to realize that for the first time in 3 years we would be in the same city for more then what feels like a day. I loved her friends and she was able to meet mine so it was quite a fun night. She showed us some of her favorite nightlife places and we had a ton of fun and it was a great first night in Florence.

January 29, 2010

So today we had orientation for our school. We got there and had to listen to over 10 different speakers telling us what they did and we were constantly being reminded and told about safety issues and different things to watch out for. It was slightly frightening. But after the orientation, my roommates and I went to the central market to start grocery shopping. Now I have never had to go real grocery shopping before so going there was honestly one of the most overwhelming and stressful events of my entire life. We walked around for so long and I had no idea what to do. After we finally figured stuff out and bought random ingredients, we dropped off the stuff and went to a supermarket for other things. Again, it was beyond stressful. But we finally got out of there and just on time to go to our second part of orientation just for our program. After we sat there for 2 hours we came back to the apartment to try and get our internet started. Of course it doesn’t and we had to call our advisor who came to come and try to set it up for us because we were incapable of doing it. Finally we got it working after about 2 and a half hours of waiting. We cooked our first dinner tonight and Sarah came over with a friend of hers. We made Bruschetta, Caprese, and pesto pasta, all of which turned out amazing. After we just hung out here and then got gelato and then came back here to book our first trip to Venice! At this point we are all sitting with our computers and using as much internet as possible. Was a pretty good day, a lot of stress and maybe starting to realize I actually live here, but not really.

January 30, 2010

Today we had a walking tour with school to go and see where we have classes and some important sights of Florence. After like the first 2 stops and our time at the train station we decided we didn’t want to be on the tour anymore so we left.

January 31, 2010

Today a few friends and I decided to walk to the Synagogue in town and see what it was like. By the time we got our act together and were ready to go it was about 2:00. We met by the Duomo and tried to walk there. It took us quite some time to figure it out but we finally did and we got there only to find out it was closed after 3. So we walked around the neighborhood and found a kosher restaurant, market, and the Chabad House. That was pretty exciting and then from there we decided to stop in another grocery store to try and figure out more things that we needed for the apartment. After we all went back to a friend’s apartment to attempt to plan trips but nothing got done, at least for me. Tonight we discovered a new bar called Florence Pub right down the street. Loved it and the owner, Adriano, told me I could have a job as a bartender. Probably the best moment of my life. It was Kristen’s birthday so we were able to get some free shots for everyone and he let me make them. Again, great night.

February 1, 2010

Classes started today. I had my first class at 3 and it was pairing food and wine. It was honestly one of the best things of my whole life! I LOVE that class. Then after I had another class from 6-8:30, so it’s a long day. Both classes were fine and I was really happy with what I signed up for. In my pairing food and wine class I discovered that we not only learn about the wines and pairings but it’s a partial cooking class too which is great! After school Kara, Jenna, and I went to dinner at a restaurant called Baccus. It was really good and pretty cheap and we will probably go every Monday since I get out of class so late.

February 2, 2010

Today was school again. I had Italian and then a long break and then my Fellini class. My Italian teacher seems pretty crazy and kind of out of it but I have Erica in that class which makes it better. Then I tried to do laundry. Our washing machine actually holds one article of clothing at a time so I couldn’t really do much. Once I decided what to put in (only socks and underwear) the machine decided to go crazy. My clothes were sitting in a huge pile of soapy water. I spent almost an hour googling how to work Italian washers so I could find out if it was right or not. Finally, one of my roommates came home and was able to help me and calm me down by saying it was fine the whole time. It was quite an experience. Then I had my Fellini class which seems a little more boring but still has some interesting aspects if I can get into it. I picked up dinner on my way home because I was too afraid to cook yet by myself so then went home and ate. After, we got ready to go out. Kara and I went to pregame at our friend Becca and Jana’s apartment. We tried to go to this bar that has a Beatles cover band every Tuesday but turns out we missed it. So we ended up at another bar called Red Garter which I loved. It had a bar, restaurant, and club like area so it had it all. We met a few friends there and it was a lot of fun there. After, on our way home, we found a secret bakery. For those who don’t know a secret bakery opens at around 1 or 2 in the morning where they prepare everything for the next day. There aren’t that many and the only way to find them is through word of mouth or smelling them out. Erica was the one to find it so I think she had known where it was but still. It was an amazing find and a great way to end the night.

February 3, 2010

Today I had class only from 3-5:30 and it was my Jewish Experience of Tuscany class so it was kind of cool but we didn’t really learn much. After we went out to dinner late for my roommate’s birthday at a restaurant called Il Gato. We stayed there for a while because later it turned into a bar with a really good deal. It was 3 drinks for 10 euro, so we waited for it to start.

February 4, 2010

So today I only had one class, Italian, and Erica and I decided to make Thursdays really productive. So after class we ran a few errands like getting our books, some school supplies and things for our apartment. Then we met up with Sarah while running errands and we went home to make lunch. After lunch we went to go and see the David. People say that you don’t understand it until you see it. For many that’s true. Art still doesn’t do it for me but it was really cool to see. It is so much larger than anyone could have imagined! It also really is perfect like not one flaw. Sarah and Erica, both art majors of some form, were blown away and lucky for me I have them around to give me facts and help me try to appreciate it. After the David we walked Sarah back to her place so we could see the neighborhood she lives in. It’s like she’s in a different city. Her town speaks no English and is so much more of a suburb then where I am. She took us all around and to her favorite bakery which has much better food and prices then what’s by me. It was great and then she introduced us to Aperativo which is amazing. For around 5-8 euro, depending on the place, most coffee shops and like café places put out appetizer type foods and stuff and you get a cocktail and then entrance to the food. It’s so cute and so good. And then we got to see Sarah’s apartment and meet her Mama which was really nice. After we went back home and had dinner and then went out. We went to a club called Twice and all hated it. Turns out you have to be REALLY drunk for it to be fun so we left after about 20 minutes, 15 of which was spent in line for the bathroom. We tried to go to our local bar down from where we live but unfortunately, it was closed. We found the owner, though, who has become our good friend and we talked to him outside for like 45 minutes. So overall, the night ended well.

February 5, 2010

Today I went to Shabbat services at the synagogue. The inside is beautiful! And it was so nice being there. It’s an Orthodox Sephardic community so their service was very different but it was still really nice. After the service there was a dinner held with some members of the congregation and us, students. It was really nice to be there and they even held a song session afterwards for us. I, of course, got separated and was stuck next to the cantor who was shouting in my ear the whole time. The chairs were also so close together it was as if he was sitting on my lap. Of course this would happen to me and I could not stop laughing and I was in front of everyone. It was just great. Afterwards, we were walking back towards where we live and happened to walk into the chocolate festival that was here for the weekend. So we caught the very tail end of the first night and were able to get a few samples. It was all so good. I then finally made it home and decided to go out with some friends. We went to a club called 21. It was pretty fun but we all got separated and ended up outside calling each other trying to figure out how to get home. It was lovely google mapping each other around this city. Where are we?

February 6, 2010

Today we went to the market to try to put together a nice dinner to cook. So Kara, Erica, and I went to pick up fruits and vegetables and see what we could put together. So we ended up deciding we would do our typical pesto pasta with chicken and red peppers (we couldn’t decide on more vegetables that we all liked). So we made that and decided to do a fruit salad so we picked up a bunch of fruits including a whole pineapple. Sarah and her friend, Tracey, were coming over for dinner and Sarah had this recipe for a Tiramisu so we decided we were going to give that a try also. So we gathered all of the ingredients we needed for dinner and told Sarah to bring wine and some cheeses back from her day trip. Before dinner, Kara, Erica, and I went to meet this girl Anne, who is a friend of a friend who is also studying here. We met her at Santa Croche, which obviously led us back to the chocolate festival. Again, amazing. Kara and I bought a marshmallow and a small cup of dipping chocolate. Turns out we couldn’t eat the chocolate and saved the marshmallow so I was stuck carrying around this little cup of chocolate for the rest of the day. The 4 of us then went to an antique market. Everything there was so tiny and fragile so Kara and Erica told me it was a bad idea for me to go into the small shop so I waited outside for them. I found these really cool old mini bottles of alcohol. And since my Mom likes to collect them, I bought her two. After the antique market, Kara and I were cold and done walking in the rain so we went home. Then it was time for dinner and we cooked it all besides the tiramisu successfully and it was great. Then we went for the tiramisu. The production process wasn’t too bad and seemed like it all was going to be fine but we had to wait until tomorrow to see how it turns out. Then Kara, Sarah, Caroline, Jenna, Tracey, and I decided we were going to go out. We didn’t get a move on until really late so Jenna ended up not coming with us. We couldn’t decide what we wanted to do but in the end we all were like let’s just find a chill bar to sit and have a drink. We got lost on the way to the one we wanted to go to but ended up finding this really cool, all Italian, bar. Drinks were pretty cheap and it was nice not being in an American scene. We stayed there for a while but then left and went to bed.

February 7, 2010

Today we went to the Uffizi. Sarah, Kara, Tracey, Jenna, and I met up to get some lunch at the Oil Shop (really good sandwiches) and then go from there. On the way to the Uffizi, we of course bumped into the chocolate festival, again. Sarah obviously wanted to get some so we all went in. After, we made our way to the museum. I hated it! The museum was so boring and everything looked the same. Most of the paintings were of Jesus and I couldn’t connect with any of them. Jenna had downloaded a guided tour on her iPod and she shared it with me and even with that, we still hated it. So after we left and Kara, Jenna, and I went to go to the kosher market to get more turkey. Then we came home and made dinner. I made a salad and Kara and Jenna made soup. Since it was the Super bowl, Jenna and I went to meet some friends (Victoria, Ricki, Kelley, Sam, and Kristan) at the bar down the street. We stayed there for the whole game and didn’t get home until 4.

February 8, 2010

Today I had school again. Loved the cooking class! We made Pasta alla Norma which is pasta with a homemade tomato sauce and eggplants and then some meat thing that I don’t know the name of which was beef and prosciutto and sage wrapped together. I ended up sitting with two girls from Michigan who know all of my friends there and went to camp with my friends from school. After school, Kara, Jenna, and I went back to the Baccus restaurant (Monday tradition). The waiter remembers us and now knows our orders. Today we got a little crazy though and there was additional foods ordered and additional wine. I got a plate of Parmesan and it came with honey and it was an amazing combination. He somehow suckered us into getting dessert, which was great. After we left and got home and we were talking to a friend of a friend (Kim’s friend, Roxy) and wanted to meet her so had her come over. We had a great time.

February 9, 2010

After my first class today, Erica and I went to the one euro store to try and find some school supplies to get. We also told each other that one day we would bring 5 euros with us and we could pick out 5 toys to get. We were going to do it but they didn’t have any serious good stuff. So we ended up at the grocery store to pick up some other things. In there we found the best way to spend that 5 euro that we didn’t spend at the store…a HUGE sized kinder egg. We saw it and immediately knew it was a good idea. So we came home to open it and see what the toy inside was and it was a racecar track! She put it together and it has a loop and a jump. It might be the best purchase made thus far in Europe. We took the chocolate outside and we decided we were going to save it and melt it so we could dip some dried fruit and pretzels into it and freeze it. So we put it aside and played with the racecar. After we made lunch and then had school again. After class came home and had dinner and got ready to go out. Tuesday nights there is a Beatles cover band at a bar so we all wanted to go to that. We went to Roxy’s apartment to pregame a little and then headed straight there. We ended up spending most of the night there. Then we left to try and find another bar but got lost along the way. Ended up paying a bar to pee and then headed home. It was a successful night to say the least.

February 10, 2010

Today we went to dinner at the kosher restaurant by the synagogue. They have a special student deal on Wednesday nights so it was really good. The food was great and it was just really nice. These two guitar players came in and started playing for everyone. It was quite funny watching the owner of the restaurant tell them to quiet down because they got a little too excited at one part of the song. After dinner, Erica, Arielle, Jess, and I came home to do my Italian homework and melt the chocolate to dip stuff. It was quite an experience trying to put it together but it turned out to be amazing. That chocolate doesn’t freeze well but it still did the job and all of it was so good. Roxy came over and we watched Saw.

February 11, 2010

Cultural Thursday!! After class, Erica and I made lunch and then met up with some people to go to the da Vinci Museum. This museum is an interactive one where you get to “play” with the wooden machines that da Vinci created. It was so fun at first looking and playing with everything but we were only there for like 20 minutes because we had finished looking around. After the museum, Jess, Arielle, Erica, and I went to H&M. They were looking for warm clothes for Berlin, I just went to look. Found nothing but when we went to leave, it was snowing outside! By that point we were done for the day and went back to our apartment. After dinner, we decided to play drinking games as an apartment. Once we left, Jenna, Kara, and I went to meet people at Florence Pub but Jenna didn’t make it, not doing too well. We stayed there for a while and Roxy came to meet us. We were going to go to Red Garter but we didn’t feel like getting lost so we voted on going to McDonalds instead and then called it a night.

February 12, 2010

Today Roxy, Jenna, Kara, and I went to lunch at a great sandwich place called Antico Noe. We then went to get Gelato and then Jenna and I came back and Roxy and Kara went to the leather market. We lay in bed for actually 5 hours and managed to watch Eurotrip in that time as well. Furthering my desire to go to Bratislava and make my abroad experience just like the movie. It was amazing. We then decided that we were going to be productive after lying around all day and so Jenna and I looked up recipes and decided we were going to make lasagna. We ran to the store and picked everything up and just started working. It was all pretty successful and good minus a few setbacks like the pasta sticking together and me spilling half a bottle of sauce on my hand and counter. But after that was taken care of it turned out to be amazing! I felt quite accomplished and productive after that.