Birthdays!

I talked to my Dad today.. It's his birthday! ..I know I haven't been able to be there for it for the last few years, but I still felt so far away. There's a lot of snow in Ohio. I am a bit jealous. I guess the 55 degree weather is nice. It rains most of the time though. Today was my roommates 21st birthday too. We ate at "the best restaurant" in florence.. La Giostra. It was delicious! They sang to my roommate for her birthday with a chocolate cake... then mysteriously took it away.. then used it again for someone else in the restaurant. It was the most peculiar thing ever.. Then we saw a photo of a man with the same cake.. Seems they just use it for show.

driving through Italy

rainy days in florence

It always seems to rain in Florence, but that cannot stop us from exploring the city..

The piazza in the rain.

The Duomo once again.












The Arno River



One of my favorite places to spend time by in the city, except when it is flooded with tourists.















The Ponte Vecchio



Only bridge that survived WW2



Shops are made on the bridge-- most are Jewelery stores.




Kristine, Drew, me, and Devin

in florence one evening.

LUCCA.

Ciao! We had a day trip to Lucca, Italy... located about an Hour from Florence. The town is rather small, we saw the whole thing in around 5 hours.. You can walk everywhere-- from wall to wall. The walls I am speaking of, are all around the city of Lucca.. It is the last city in Italy that is completely surrounded by walls. Years ago, other cities were surrounded by these same type of walls. It is also called the city of 100 churches, not a literal nickname, but there were plenty of churches to see in Lucca. They were all unique and beautiful. The city itself was beautiful. It wasn't crowded with people, which was nice. Unfortunately going on a Sunday meant a lot of the stores were closed. Still we got to see the city, had a short guided tour, and ate in the cafe.

Presidential Inauguration

Jan 20. 2009.
While it was 12 o clock in New York and Ohio, and President Obama was being sworn in, it was 6 o clock in Florence, and we were all gathered on campus to watch the historical inauguration. It was sad that so many people I know got to go to DC for the event and I wish I could have actually been there, but we were lucky enough to get to see it. I guess being in Italy is a good enough reason to miss it.

The inauguration meant change and hope for the future of our country, and the welcoming of a new President. Good things are hopefully instore, in means of the economy, war, and the country in general..

Classes..

I'm taking intermediate intensive Italian, which meets 4 days a week.. And it seriously is very intensive. There is no English spoken in the classroom. It's also very difficult to keep up with the professor at times considering she was born in Italy- which is a change from my italian professors in the states. I really like the professor though and she makes it fun to learn. I just hope I will keep up with all of the work.

My history classes are very interesting as well. They are going to be a lot of work, but I expected that dealing with History courses last semester. The History of the Italian Renaissance professor is cool. He showed us slides from around Florence, as well, as Rome and Lucca and I felt like I was learning so much more about my environment. There were a lot of stories about the places within the city that I did not know about. I have probably said this, but with a city so old, it's unbelieveable how much you can learn.

In My Europe since 1945 class, I learned a lot as well. The professor is the director of the Florence program and he is knowledgable on the subject. I have never taken a European history class before, so I am excited. We already have a quiz on the geography of European and the capitals. We never had such geography classes in high school, so I actually have to sit down and learn the capitals and where the countries are placed on a map. But I expect good things from the class despite the heavy reading.

I am dropping my Drawing/Painting class for two reasons.. the expensive art supplies adding up to 200 euro and the fact that everyone in the class has an art background but me. Unfortunately this means I am having a hard time of finding a replacement class. I could do 14 credits and make it an easier semester, but the problem with that is, I need the 4 credits to graduate early in the Fall of 09. So I may be stuck in a politics class, but at least Kristine and Drew are in it. We'll see. I was really hoping for a fun elective class.

The city is still wonderful-- it keeps raining. Not all day though. The weather hasn't been too cold like I hear it has been in the States. Highs in the 50's. I am a big fan of that considering I HATE cold weather.

The weekend has a lot in store for us-- a lot of exploring of Florence. I want to experience Florence and Italy as much as possible, but also get to see other countries.

We are planning on going to Greece for Spring BReak. Hopefully it works out because that is one of the places I have always wanted to go.

I will keep you updated after the weekend!

ciao!

Finally settling in.. and finding our way around the city.

Ciao! The weekend has given us a chance for walking tours and red bus tours, as well as free gelato! My favorites are fragola e cannella! That means strawberry and cinnamon! I try to speak Italian when I order, but they do not seem to care.The bus tour gave us a chance to see most of the city and hear about the history. I am going to post photos, but unfortunately I cannot recall every detail of them... I am really excited to be here! The city is wonderful. I have never seen a more beautiful place. The people intrigue me as well.. I will tell more stories soon.. let me just show a bunch of pictures for now!

A domani!

(ABOVE) near the duomo..

View of the city from across the arno

Michelangelo's David statue..one of two.

florence houses

the Arno, their river

Kristine && I with our view of the city.

Old Friends from back NYU! Me, kristine, drew, nicole, and alicia.

Ponte Vecchio! E' marveloso!

I am intrigued by cities on rivers..

view from the bus tour.

Florence! They like the color yellow..

Construction?

piazza annuniciata with a view of the duomo

Kristine and I made our first dinner with the other girls in our flat. Pasta! With ricotta cheese and pesto. For only 1.50 euros.

Some of the isidoro girls in front of the Duomo

Free gelato!

Kristine and Devin, and teenager chips. Strange food experiences.

Piazza isidoro

walking back one night

in front of a door .. to a church

Kristine & Gabby

Kristine, Devin, me

Me & Drew in the Irish pub-- the place to find American Sports.

It rains a lot. (Piove.) When the sun shines, it is so hot out. (Ho caldo!) We're cooking more than eating out now that classes are about to begin because it is so much cheaper. Pasta is our specialty..

That's all for now, arrivaderci!