Senor Senso Unico

We went to the San Lorenzo market and walked around before Italian class at 1:15. Jer and I bought our “tourist” shirts, I brought them all to class so they could meet Costanza. They were lucky that day because we didn’t do much in class, no one was there! We went to get gelato at a couple of places then I had to go home and start getting ready for my interview with MTV that was at 4. I was extremely nervous. I was reading over possible questions that was going to get asked and thinking of my answers as well as the questions that I wanted to ask. It ended up that all of the wardrobe internship positions were filled for the summer, but I’m going to try again for fall. We went back over to the small leather market and my dad bought the jacket he fell in love with the first day and Carly and I got our purses! We ate dinner at Gusto Pizza that night. We all split four different pizzas. Unfortunately there were some “not so fun” things that had to be taken care of before I could go to sleep. My dad and I had to walk all the way from the river to my apartment, about a 30 minute walk in the cold. We were gone for an hour and a half. Then we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep for our early morning and long day! I gave my gifts to Carly and Jer before we went to sleep. =)

Shortyy/Shottyy

I had class early again from 9:30 til 12:30, so they went to the Ponte Vecchio and looked at all of the little shops, then we met up for lunch at Noe’s as soon as I got out. We ate out in front of Lion’s Fountain. Then when I had class at 1:30 they climbed up to San Miniato. We went to OIBO for appertivo, had a couple drinks, then headed over to Open Bar on the Arno River, where we saw Kelly’s family! We had the best dinner that night. Jer and I split chicken and a pasta. Our waiter was hilarious, and I talked to him about some possible people to get in contact with in Miami for internships. I’m making connections all the way over here in Italy! After dinner we went to Lion’s, where we met up with Kelly and her family. We hung out there for a while, Jer made a BELMONT shot! Mickey let her pour and serve them. She was such a cute little bartender that night! =)

Busy day!

I had class early Tuesday, but slept in. Apparently everyone else did too because I got an email from my teacher saying no one really showed up that day. I accidentally missed Italian too because I hadn’t set my watch to the correct time yet. So when I was getting lunch at what I thought was 1:00, it was really 2:00. We ate at Natalino’s that day and they loved it! I had a couple things to do before class that day, so while I was at the Study Center, they went to Pisa. I’m really sad that I didn’t get to go with them, because I haven’t been yet and they came back with really cute pictures! I had another thing to do that night for school at Syracuse til 7:30, so as soon as I got out of that we met back up at Lion’s. We ate dinner at Gusto Pasta and then went to see Shutter Island at the Odeon.

Oooh! Ghibellina!

That morning, my WONDERFUL daddy took all of my dirty laundry to the laundry mat to wash it while we got ready for the day. I had no clothes because everything was dirty! When we were on our way to meet him there, we got lost. I have absolutely no sense of direction. I didn’t exactly know the address, so I found an old man and asked him where “Ghibellino” was. He had no idea what I was talking about. He started speaking STRAIGHT Italian, and so fast that I couldn’t even make out one word to try to figure out what he was saying. Luckily a woman was walking by and he asked her where it was. She paused for a second and said, “Ghibellina?” Then the old man said “Ooooh! Ghibellina! Si! Si!” So she walked us to the street and found the laundry mat. My dad was in the process of folding laundry, so we helped him finish and he went back to the hotel to take the clothes back. While he was doing that, me, Jer and Carly walked around trying to find a bank that would exchange her AmEx Traveler’s checks. We went to about six banks and no one would exchange them. We took a break to eat lunch at Noe’s with my dad. Then went to a currency exchange place to convert her checks into euro’s, and she basically got screwed out of 100 euro. We went to the small leather market, where my dad found a leather jacket he liked, Jer found a couple bracelets, and Carly and I found some purses we fell in love with! We made no purchases that day, but knew we were going to have to go back.


We went shopping for a little bit because I had to find something to wear out that night to celebrate my birthday in. I found a really cute peach top! We went home, napped, and got ready for the night. We headed over to Lion’s for a couple of drinks where we met up with Peyton, Kelly, Brandon, Stef, and Charlotte. We took a couple shots, and then it started to get so packed and so hot that they stopped letting people in. At that point it was time to leave. We all started walking over to Yab. My feet were hurting so bad, I resorted to walking barefoot in the “Oh-so-clean” streets of Florence. I couldn’t think about it, the thought made me want to vomit. We got there and went straight in through VIP. We were taken to our table and got our first bottle of Grey Goose. We had a few issues that night, not big enough to mention, but overall it was an AMAZING night. Everyone had a blast, and the music was awesome. I can’t believe my dad did all of this for me. It’s definitely one of my most memorable nights in Florence! We got home after 4 a.m. At this point, I started getting sick. I had been going out and drinking every night since Thursday.

ROMA - Part 2

ROMA! ROMA! ROMA! We woke up at a decent hour, I think 7:30 and got ready. We ate breakfast, and headed over to the train station hoping to find a train to Rome around the time we got there. We took the 9:30 train to Rome and got there around 11:15. Jerica had her travel book and everything planned out that she wanted to see. It was a lot to see and a lot of walking, but we got most of it in. First stop, Roman Forum. We didn’t go inside, we just looked at it and took pictures from the sidewalk. They were so impressed, but had wished that they knew what they were looking at, knew some sort of history. Then we went to the Coliseum. We were bombarded by tour guides. One guy was so persistent, he was annoying! We told him we didn’t want to hear what he had to say and he said, “Well I’m going to tell you anyways.” God, I wanted to punch him in the face. We had too much to do and see in one day to do a two hour tour. No thank you.


We walked to the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon from there, but on our way we stopped at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (also known as the “Wedding Cake”) and took some pictures. We ate lunch at a little café on a street near the Trevi. Pizza and calzones. We saw an undercover cop looking for guys selling fake designer bags. The Trevi Fountain was packed with people, but we found a little spot on the side to sit at and take pictures. I had already been there, so I gave the three of them coins to throw in the fountain and took pictures of them. Jer wanted to get gelato, so we got some for our walk to the Pantheon.
When we got to the Pantheon, Jer was stopped by a guard working there and wouldn’t let her in because she had the gelato cone. We all went inside while she looked for a trash can. She’s missing for like five minutes and when she comes strolling in she told us that she couldn’t find a trash can and had to shove the whole cone in her mouth. Funniest thing I had heard the whole trip so far. We walked around inside, looked at the tombs, and the whole time my dad was just so impressed by the architecture. I taught them “Hands Up!” in the Pantheon, too. =)




On our way to St. Peter’s Basilica, we found a sports bar COVERED in Steelers memorabilia. We couldn’t believe it! We’re in Italy, in Rome, and we found Steeles gear. The bar was closed, but the owner let us take pictures of it inside and we got pictures of our reflections in the door, because the door had Steelers stickers all over it.
By this time, Carly and Jer’s feet were hurting. They were complaining of swollen feet. Carly’s hurt so bad she was walking shoe-less on the way to St. Peter’s! I got a picture of it, to document it! Haha. We made it to the church and everyone’s breath was taken away. They couldn’t believe how immaculate this church was! I told them the story behind it and the symbolism of the gold and silver keys. Most of the inside was blocked off though because of Easter. There was mass going on. We stood inside for a while, just taking it all in. I had already seen it, but I was so moved, just like I was the first time.


I was hoping to show them the Vatican so they could see the Sistine Chapel. I didn’t know where to enter though. I found two Vatican guards and asked them where the entrance was and they said “Here, but it’s private property.” I was so confused! I was inside it already with the school, and I told them that. I was like, “How do I go see the Sistine Chapel?” They probably thought I was the stupidest American ever. One of the guards had to get out his map and show me the overview of the Vatican property and I found where it said, “Sistine Chapel” and next to it was the “Vatican Museum.” I was like, “How do I get there?” They said, “You can’t. It’s closed.” It closed at 4:00 and it was 4:30. I was so upset. That was the one thing we didn’t get to see that day.
Last stop, Spanish Steps. I hadn’t been to them yet. We took a taxi and thought we were going to die on our way there. The taxi driver was CRAZY! He almost hit a woman with a stroller. When we got there I was in shock. I had never seen so many people, and they were all just sitting on the steps. We sat in the sun for a while, listened to a guy, who was trying to sound like Enrique, play guitar, talked to some locals, then walked back to the train station. We got lost on the way and had to ask a couple people how to get there, but made it in time, after a REALLY long walk.


By the time we got home it was about 9:30. I had to still go to my apartment and get clothes for the week. So Jer and Carly went back to the hotel and went to sleep, while me and my dad went to Capponi. When we got back to the hotel we went straight to sleep. We were exhausted after such a long day!

Surprises, Surprises!

Family comes today!!!!! I was expecting to get a phone call or a text letting me know that they got in okay so that I could get to the hotel before they did and be waiting on them and I never heard from them. Their flight was supposed to get in at 10:30 and I hadn’t heard from them yet. So I continued to sleep until I got a call from a random phone number and it was my dad at the hotel. He was NOT happy. I was rushing around trying to get ready and look decent. I still had my makeup on from the night before. I grabbed a taxi and booked it to the hotel. I walked in and saw my dad and sister walking around the corner. I was shaking. I couldn’t believe they were here!!! I thought I was still dreaming. I had been waiting for this day ever since they booked their flights here. I’ve been so homesick and all I’ve wanted was my daddy and sissy to be with me, and they finally were!

Well, I had found out that there was a “mystery” fourth guest coming with them because I had to book our hotel room for four people. I’m not kidding, I thought it was going to be Elgin and I was expecting to walk around the corner and see him sitting on the couch, but instead it was my cousin, Carly! I literally was in shock, it didn’t register fast enough that she was actually sitting there. Now, I really was in shock. I gave her a hug and started crying! That’s who I hoped it would be from the very beginning, but after talking to her, my dad and sister, and seeing comments on Facebook I seriously thought it was Elgin. Come to find out, every time any one of them would talk to me about it they would call each other and start laughing. They really got me!!


Our room wasn’t ready yet, so I took them to Santa Croce, right around the corner from our hotel, and we had lunch outside. We walked around a little bit then they all napped. We went to Moyo for appertivo, where we exchanged cards and gifts. Yes, there were tears and yes, I had to read the card all the way through. I just couldn’t believe my family was finally here. I’ve been ready to go home for so long now, and them being here gave me just enough motivation to get myself through the next two weeks, then I’ll be with them again! After all the cards I had one more surprise. My dad and sister got me my purple nano. =) I lost my pink one a couple weeks ago at the Immigration offices, and I NEVER go anywhere without it, and it would suck to be without an iPod on my trip back to the states. I LOVE IT! On the back is inscribed “SLM” and underneath that “Don’t Be Scared.”


An apple martini later, we made our way to KOME – a sushi restaurant. It was packed, but the owner got us a bottle of wine and let us sit downstairs in their lounge. It was gorgeous, modern, and we were able to sit down and relax for a minute. We took some pictures, Jer had her first glass of Italian wine. The sushi was delicious, but expensive. I was very adventurous with my choices that night. I let Carly pick the sushi and I just ate it. Lol I loved every single roll!

After dinner, I had to take them to Lion’s Fountain. My dad’s heard so much about it and I wanted him to see why we always go there. I walked in and Peyton’s family was there. We hung out with them for a little bit and I got to introduce my dad to Mickey. We stayed there pretty late! SMF though.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Me and Charlotte woke up and went to The Diner for our fix of hangover food. On our way Tyler sent me a text wishing me a happy birthday, but I couldn’t answer because I had no money on my phone. I was mid-sentence as we were walking up to the entrance and Charlotte tapped me. I looked up and Tyler was with a couple of his friends eating outside. Luckily I had gotten ready before we left, so I wasn’t looking like a hot mess. That day we relaxed around the house. Tyler called me and wanted to take me out to dinner that night. He picked me up at 9:30 and we went to Acqua al Due. Dinner was fun and delicious! I was just going to go home afterwards, but he wanted me to come out with him. We went to Central Park because he had to work the door for a couple of hours. I met some of his friends, then we went to Twice. VIP and more champagne. =) The people in VIP that were next to us smelled awful!! We were dyingggg. We left there and went to an after hours club. It was so sick!! The walls were covered in fabric, each room was decorated differently, some with artistic decorations that you couldn’t go into, and the main room had chandeliers and low tables with couches. Even the bathroom was decorated artistically. There was one stall and then next to it was a mannequin behind a piece of glass. It was kind of creepy. They were playing old school music like “Ghostbusters” and “Eye of the Tiger.” I don’t think I went to bed that night until well after 4 a.m. Oh, new obsession: “Stereo Love” by Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina.

Birthday Bash!!

Bolling, Charlotte, and Stef surprised me with a little house party to celebrate my 22nd birthday. Bolling secretly made me an event page on Facebook and invited everyone over to Capponi. No one’s ever done that for me before! I had class until 4:45 and they went to run errands and go home. When I got home, I walked in to a newly clean apartment, because the cleaning ladies came that day, and colorful streamers hanging from the bookshelf in the hallway. My thought was “OMG, I can’t believe they did this for me.” They yelled to me to not come into the kitchen. I made a playlist for that night on my iTunes, touched up my makeup, straightened my hair and picked out an outfit to wear that night. Personally, I wanted to be in my sweatpants and a t-shirt, but I was told to look nice because there was a possibility that we were going to go out afterwards.



The kitchen was decorated with balloons and “Happy Birthday Sam” spelled out on paper on the walls. Stef made her delicious guacamole and Bolling cut up fresh fruit. Joe came over early with ice and the blender. We made margaritas and Sarah and Rebecca juiced limes for the drinks, by hand! We set up the large table in the hallway by the front door for beer pong and flip cup. Everything was set up perfectly! It was 8:00 p.m. and no one was here yet. So I sipped my fresh margarita while Bolling, Joe, Stef and Charlotte started a game of beer pong. I sat out because I suck! Lol Once everyone showed up around 8:45 we played flip cup. It was so much fun with such a big group.

We went into our room to start a game of Kings, that really didn’t go that far because the lights went out. I had no idea what was going on, then I saw a flicker of orange light coming through the doors into the bedroom. They got me a birthday cake and presents! They all sang Happy Birthday and once the lights came on I was crying. Happy tears, of course! I felt so appreciated, no one had ever done anything like this for me before. This night meant so much to me.

I started going through my BIG birthday bag and first was a oversized Hello Kitty chocolate egg. First thing I did was open it up and take a bite! Haha Then, there was a package with a birthday hat, mask and two horns with balloons on the end of them. I handed one to Bolling and we blew up the noise makers. Her balloon busted! They also got me three bars of dark chocolate (they are fully aware of my obsession), some Haribo gummy bears, a picture of the four of us from one of the first weeks we were here, and San Gimignano white wine.



It was getting late and there’s a noise curfew here, so Charlotte started rounding up people to leave to go out. I really didn’t have any intention to go, but fortunately she convinced me because we had the best night ever! I threw my hair up in a ponytail and put a skirt on and headed out the door to go to Lion’s. We all walked in together, but didn’t leave together. All that was left was the four of us from Capponi, plus Joe. But Joe and Bolling left so it was just me, Charlotte and Stefani. Charlotte bought me a drink and we took some FSU shots for free. There were so many people outside Lion’s and people in pirates costumes walking around everywhere.

One pirate came up to us, his name’s Tyler, and started talking to us about going to Twice. He also said Mutu (one of the famous Fiorentina soccer players) was going to be there, and Charlotte didn’t believe him. I told him it was my birthday and he took us into VIP at Twice. I had been to Twice before and it was awful. This time, they were playing awesome music, we were in VIP, Tyler got champagne brought to the table, and Charlotte got to meet Mutu! =) It was one of the best nights I’ve had so far in Florence!

The Rat Pack - Fat Tuesday

Tuesdays are my longest days. I have school from 9:30-4:45. Right after English, me, Stef, and Joe went over to San Lorenzo to search the market for masks and a tie for Joe. On our walk over, it started raining and of course we didn't have our umbrellas so we were getting poured on the entire time, but we didn't care we were on a mission. After searching tent after tent, we finally find masks. Stef got one that's red, black and gold with music notes on it and I found one that's pink and silver and has silver petals all formed together on one side of the mask. It was really pretty, but after how the night played out I really wish I didn't waste 12 euro on it.

We practically RAN home, it was already 6:15 at this point and we had to be at the school Carnivale party/dinner at 8. We still had to take our 20 minute walk home and fully get ready, showers and everything. No one was ready on time. We didn't leave our house until after 8 and we still had our 20 minute walk back towards the school. The attire was "cocktail/costumes" Well, we didn't really have either. Me and Charlotte have the same black dress and I also have it in grey. So I let Bolling borrow my black one, Charlotte wore her black dress, I wore the grey one and Stef wore a black dress she brought with her. Then Bolling creatively made us mouse ears out of lined paper, permanent marker, pink marker and headbands. As we were walking out the door, they came up with the brilliant idea to call us the "nutria" - they're the big rats that live along the Arno River. Our entire apartment walked over together, for once, and when we got to the ballroom everyone was all dressed up in their masks and costumes. Sue (our program director) was dressed up with her husband as the Blues Brothers. They looked so cute!

The ballroom that we ate in was absolutely beautiful. There were giant mirrors that lined each wall, elaboratly carved doors, a HUGE gold and crystal chandelier in the very center of the room. Then at the far wall from where you walked in the door was a long table covered in appetizers. Across from that, on the other wall, were bottles and bottles of open wine (rosso e bianco) just waiting for us to pour them! ;) There bar height tables scattered all over the room and on the sides of the walls were padded benches to sit. There were three different "meals" - served like a buffet. First were veggies. Raw veggies with oil, mushroooms on bread, bruschetta, artichokes oil and parmesean. Next - pastas and rice. Penne pasta, some sort of dumpling with ricotta cheese in the center (Kelly called this the "little sack of heaven"), and pumpkin risotto (went back for seconds!). Then dessert - I forget the name of it, but its really famous here to eat during Carnivale. Its a flat cake with tons and tons of powdered sugar on top and they served it with a dollop of homemade whipped cream on the side. SOOO good.

After we ate there was a costume contest. Most creative, most artistic, and crowd appeal. The four of us were up first - The Rat Pack (nutria). We introduced ourselves, what we were dressed up as, and made our "rat" faces for pictures. There were about 6 groups of people that participated. The four of us weren't even planning on entering, but Sue kind of forced us out onto the floor! Haha!

The night started winding down, but we weren't ready to go home yet. Me, Stef, Bolling, Charlotte, Brandon, and Ryan went over to Lion's Fountain. Then Sara, Joe, and Julian met us a little later. We luckily grabbed the ONLY table in there before the place started getting jammed packed with people. They had turned off the music and there was a guy in the corner just singing on a mic to music on his computer. Not a fan, but whatever we were still having fun. I met an Italian boy named Enrico. Super nice! His friends butt was in Bolling's face when she was sitting down and they didn't really notice until they started taking off their jackets. I leaned over and said "molto caldo!" Omg, get a couple beers in me and I'll just start speaking straight up italiano. It was so much fun. He spoke english, which was good. He said "you help me with english, and I help you with italiano." He thought my italian was so good. I was literally throwing every word, phrase, sentence I've learned in these six weeks so far. He was telling me how a lot of the Americans that come here don't speak Italian, they don't even try. So he was very impressed!

We were all getting tired, so I told him "ho stanca" and said "ciao!" We walked over to Eby's for the traditional Nutella crepe (I didn't get one - I was waiting for birthday cake that was at home) and walked back to the flat.

My entire room slept in today! Me and Bolling had class this morning at 9:30 and Stef had it at 11:00. We all didn't wake up until 11. Not okay. Today's the first day of Lent and almost everyone is giving up something. I have given this a lot of thought and I've decided I'm going to give up BREAD. Yes, I know, I'm in Italy and all they eat is pasta pasta pasta! But, I just can't do it anymore. This is going to give me a reason to really watch what I eat. Today was day 1 and I've done okay so far...its going to be extremely difficult, but this will also be a chance for me to work on my self control, because I have had NONE since I've been here. Wish me luck!

Twi-hards Beware...

New Moon was not filmed in Volterra. Friday we took a trip to Volterra and San Gimignano. It was about an hour bus ride north, past Siena. I listened to my Twilight Soundtrack the ENTIRE time. I was so excited to be going to where New Moon was filmed (so I thought..) It turned out that the city of Volterra was going to charge way too much for them to film there so they ended up going to Montepulciano - so when my dad and sister come I'm going to take them there to see the Piazza where Bella saves Edward from going out into the sun. Omg, I can't wait. The bus ride was absolutely breathtaking. The hills and trees were covered in snow. It was the curviest busride ever, and we were going straight up the entire time. We pulled up to the little town and it was COVERED in ice and snow. First thing we did was get a caffe latte and then we were off on our little tour. We went to a couple museums (they had Twilight books EVERYWHERE) and then had to get back on the bus to go to our group lunch. It was really windy, and really cold. We didn't really see too much of Volterra that day.

Lunch was probably the BEST meal I have had in Italy since I've been here. We had lasagna for our first course and it was soooooo good I didn't want it to end. I ate it so slowly! lol It wasn't made with red sauce, it was like a creamy brown sauce and had meat in it. And it wasn't made with the traditional ricotta cheese. I don't know what it was, but whatever the combination it was so delicious. Then we had some mixture of artichoke, chicken, and mushrooms in a brown gravy sauce (not too good) with seasoned potatoes and peas (DELISH), then for dessert ice cream with blackberries on top. After lunch was over, we went to San Gimignano - it took about 45 minutes to get there. No more snow, but extremely windy and cold. We were able to go off on our own and explore the city ourselves this time. We always have so much fun when they give us the chance to do this. We had the option of going to a torture museum (I wanted to go, but no one else did) so we opted to look at the scenery instead. Not too shabby of an idea. We got some really cute pictures. San Gimignano is famous for the white wine they make - it's very similar to Reisling. We went to a little bar and had a bottle, and a couple people got some hot chocolate.

We got back to Florence around 6:30 and went straight home. We made dinner at home that night and me and Carlotta did some P90X yoga. It had been a while since I've done it and I was really surprised how well Charlotte did! We only did the vinyasas and stopped at the balancing part. Finished the day all zenned out. Good night.

Venice - Carnivale

Saturday Feb. 6 - I woke up at 6 a.m. to shower and get ready. I was running around like a maniac because I thought I gave myself enough time to get ready, and I didn't. It was 7 and I still had to pack for Rome, do my hair, pick out something to wear for that day, fix my water bottle for the bus ride, and leave by 8. We made it to the train station in time. We checked in and loaded onto the bus. It was me, Charlotte, Bolling, Stef, Kelly and Ross. Peyton didn't come because she wasn't feeling well. =( It was about a 3 hour bus ride so we got to Venice around 12:30. We started drinking our homemade mixed drinks about 30 minutes outside of Venice. Mine was disgusting but bearable (peach tea and vodka). There was a HUGE line for the boat that takes people over to San Marco. A man came over to the 6 of us just as we walked up and asked if we wanted to ride in his water taxi for 50 euro. So we did! It was such a tiny boat. We sat inside and looked through the foggy windows on both sides and looked at the gorgeous views of Venice. We couldn't believe we were finally there.

Carnivale is like Italy's Halloween/Mardi Gras. There were so many people dressed up in costumes and their faces covered with elaborately decorated masks. I took a lot of pictures, but the color is really bad because the sun was setting. There was a children's area, set up much like a circus. There was a skit going on with carnival music playing on an elevated stage and there were girls making cotton candy all around. Me and Kelly shared some, it's not colored like it is in the states. It was just plain white, and so delicious! We walked around a bit, the roads and alleys are extremely tiny. We were walking around window shopping and trying to find somewhere to eat. We walked into a pizza place and it smelled like straight up B.O. I was literally gagging. There was NO WAY I was eating in there, I had lost my appetite just as I entered the door. We left, obviously, and found another little pizza place to eat at. It was really good! Me and Charlotte split a Margherita pizza and we all drank Pinot Grigio. The service was AWFUL. Our waitress was fighting with the owner of the restaurant right in front of our table. We were being rushed the entire time, and then we were basically thrown the bill and told to get the F out.

On our way back to the piazza, me and Kelly stopped into a store FILLED with blown glass. We were on a mission to find glass rings and wine stoppers. My fingers are way too small for these pre-made rings, so I didn't get one. Kelly basically bought out that store! When we were in there, the old men that worked there were joking around with us. One of them was asking me if I knew what was really in my water bottle because he said that he saw a man outside the store peeing in one. My peach tea and vodka looked exactly like urine! Then they proceeded to bring out a HUGE glass penis filled with gold flakes. They told us that it was "true Italian size" It was VERY inappropriate, but really really funny.

I found an awesome wine stopper in the piazza, not for me...it's a present =) Everyone was really drunk by this point - except me and Bolling. NOT okay. I had to throw out my bottle of tea and vodka, it was disgusting and was so sweet I had a headache. I stopped at a bar and bought a 3 euro bottle of bianco wine and started sipping on that a bit (it was disgusting too). We split up for dinner. I met up with a friend I met when we all went to Interlaken and we ate at a cute little restaurant right on the river. I had my first glass of prosecco then.

We kind of just walked around the rest of the night. We didn't have any luck finding the crazy parties, but at the end of the night we found a hole in the wall bar that was really chill. We found it because we literally were walking in circles. Word to the wise: don't follow any of the street signs in Venice, the arrows point to each other. Me, Kelly, Bolling, and Ross took a B-52 shot before we all left. It's basically 4 kinds of alcohol all layered on top of each other then the bartender lights it on fire and you suck it really fast through a straw. It was crazy! I was so scared I was going to suck up the fire and burn my throat! We had to go back to the buses around 1 a.m. We parted ways and I was off to ROMA that night!

"Where are you from?"

"America." "Do you ride busses for free in America?" "Uhhh..yes."

Friday we finally made it to IKEA, after a bus ride from hell. We've been told since we've gotten here that there's a free bus that will take you to Ikea. We thought we got on it. Apparently not. We were running around the train station going back and forth from each side trying to find the bus. We randomly walk outside of the station, down on the street and catch a random bus where people were coming off with Ikea bags. The bus stops and people get on. A man comes up to the four of us (because we're Americans) and pulls out a badge and asks us for tickets. I guess these guys hop on buses randomly and check if people have tickets. Of course, when we don't have them, this would happen to us. We were so confused, we were handing him ID's, student ID's, everything. We told him that our teachers said that it was a free bus and he responded "Well, where's your teacher?" He was such an asshole. He fined us 45 euro each, and when we said that we didn't' have it, we ended up having to still pay 94 euro (when tickets are originally 2 euro). So the start to our awesome Ikea day was NOT good.

We FINALLY get to Ikea and the first thing we do is eat. We all got the meatballs with gravy and cranberry jelly and some fries. After getting fuel to go shop, we grabbed our bright yellow bags and roamed the store. I'm obsessed with Ikea! That was my second time going there and I really had to hold back on grabbing everything! Our original purpose for going was to get mattress pads, but all they sold were thin little "sheets" basically that weren't worth it. So we spent money on new pillows instead. I got one that's kind of like a Tempurpedic. And we got matching pillow cases (deep purple). We left with candles, pillows, matching pillow cases, and hangers. All in all, a successful trip.

Okay, now for the trip home. We stood in the rain for 15 minutes waiting for the bus to come pick us up from Ikea. It was about a 30 minute bus ride home. We didn't really know where to get off so Bolling just picked a spot. Unfortunately, when we got off we didn't know where we were at all. We were just walking in a direction we thought was right, until we found some street signs (which were nowhere to be found!) We stood underneath an awning to figure out exactly where we were located, all while this whole time is pouring down rain. We're speed walking with our paper Ikea bags trying to find the bus station. We were probably about 10-15 blocks away from where we needed to go. As soon as we got to the station we hopped right into a taxi and went home. We were SOAKED.

When we got home we changed into dry, warm clothes then went to the supermarket down the street. We picked up things for dinner and some vodka and mixers for our trip to Venice then went to bed early because we were leaving the next day at 9 in the morning.

Toot Sweets! Toot Sweets...

The candies you whistle, the whistles you eat. Toot Sweets! Toot Sweets! The eatable, tweetable treats! Just a little "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" for ya...

The past two days I've been living off of candy and pastries. It's so bad...I'm going for a long run tomorrow, I'm in desperate need of one. I've finally kicked the cold I had since last weekend I was in Rome, so I'm going to get back on my exercise regimen. For the journalism class I'm in, our assignment is to do an investigative essay and I chose to do "The Benefits of Yoga" and I'm going to research the three most popular types of yoga and one of my forms of gathering info is to try each one for about a week. I need to get started on that. I'll probably start tomorrow night.

I've been up since 6 a.m. We had to go to the immigration offices today to get our fingerprints taken. We met at 7:45 at a closed McDonald's (because they don't serve breakfast in Italy - which is awful because McDonald's breakfast is the best!) We waited in the office today for almost 5 hours! It was terrible. I completely missed my first class, Modern Italy. We ate lunch at La Loggia and then went to Italian. Everyone was so out of it because we had gotten up so early.

After Italian we came home and I had to change. It had been raining all day and my Joes Jeans got completely soaked and I was wearing my converse and they were wet. So I was wet, cold, and miserable. I got straight into sweats and me, Charlotte, and Bolling watched the first episode of LOST. Stef was sleeping because she didn't feel well. The episode was soooooo good! (I can't believe I saw it, and my dad and sister haven't even watched it yet.) Then I took about a 45 min nap and we had to leave at 6:10 to go to Mask Making with Costanza (our Italian teacher). I really wasn't in the mood to go, and Stef made me. She said if I didn't go I'd really regret it because I would be the only one without a mask. She would've been so right. I'm obsessed with the mask I made! I'm not finished with it, I have to finish it tomorrow. I did a lot of tedious work tonight, I have a couple more things to glue then I'll make sure and post a pic when I bring it home. Love love love! I made it so it would match my room at school. It's pink and gold. I'm going to bring it with me to Venice this weekend for Carnivale. (It's like the italian version of Mardi Gras). I'm going to Rome on Sunday then taking a train back to Florence on Monday morning. This weekend should be fun.

I have to put away laundry now, then me, Stef and Charlotte are going to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (I rented it on iTunes!) Ha domani!

LUSHHHHH

I FINALLY went to the supermercado today and bought myself some food! I was running on fumes this last week. I made the most delicious sandwich - wheat bread, salami, smoked turkey, swiss cheese, mayo and dijon mustard (the best I've ever had!)
Ran to the study center for a mask making class for Carnivale. Constanza gave us an intro today on the history of Carnivale. It was very interesting. We're making our masks on Wednesday.
Popped into La Loggia for a macchiato and my usual fruit tarte.
Went to Italian and played a memory game of the countries and learned how to say them all in italiano.
Me and Carlotta went to LUSH - the best store ever and visited our inglese friend that works there. She's so cute! I got the most delicious smelling lotion and lip balm everrrr. Vanilla, coco, chocolate, and kiwi lotion and white chocolate and vanilla lip balm called: gustami (kiss me). OBSESSED!
We're making a trip on a free bus to IKEA tonight to get mattress pads for our hard ass beds. I have bruises from sleeping on them. They're awful. Hopefully I'll be sleeping on a cloud tonight and not effing concrete. I'll let you know how I make out... Until next time, CIAO.

Update: We didn't make it to IKEA last night, unfortunately. Somehow our communication got mixed up and me and Charlotte ended up at our apartment and Stef and Bolling were at the train station. They missed the IKEA bus and we all met up and went to the supermarket to get things for dinner. Made a delicious salad and disgusting pizza, ate a few Toblerone dark chocolate pieces, skyped, and tried to go to bed at a decent hour. Unfortunately, the city of Florence decided to clean the streets at 1:00 a.m. so I couldn't fall asleep. So not only could I not sleep because of the noise, but I was still sleeping on my concrete bed. Not cool...

Roma! Roma! Roma!

January 29 - Woke up at 5:45, showered, and we all had to meet at the Piazza della Repubblica to take the bus to Rome. It was a 3 hour bus ride and I slept most of the way. I woke up that morning feeling like I had a cold coming on (which sucks, because I just got over my other cold not even a week ago). As we were coming into the city my ipod was playing "Pocket Full of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield. Perfect song, it was like I had my own soundtrack =) We got to our hotel (Hotel Arenula), unpacked our stuff and we had about an hour to go get lunch then meet back up to go on a tour. I didn't eat, I drank a coke zero (I had almost a whole box of Ritz on the bus!) We went to the Roman forum, colosseum, and the pantheon. Pantheon was my favorite!


January 30 - Felt WORSE today. Woke up so achy, felt like I had a fever and this was the day I was most excited about. I ate an orange and a kiwi for breakfast and brought along with me a huge water bottle. We left at 9:30 a.m. and the first thing we went to see was the Vatican museum, then we walked through the grottoes, its where every pope that has died is buried. There were so many people praying and crying around the tomb where the most recent pope that died had been buried. It was so eerie. I didn't like the feeling I had after walking out of there.

Then we went to St. Peters Basilica. This was my absolute favorite of the entire trip. I walked in and just stopped in awe. After learning about the Gold and Bronze keys from Nero and learning about the story of St. Peter and Jesus and how this breathtaking church came to be, I was just awestruck. Everywhere I walked, there was another section to walk into . It just kept going, and going, and going. I saw pictures of it from the lecture, but never imagined the extravagance of it. The altar in the very center of the church was HUGE and made of all bronze. Right underneath it is where it's said that St. Peter's bones are buried. They're underneath the actual church. I walked by the Blessed Sacrament Chapel (a room dedicated to only prayer), the confessionals, St Peter's statue (his toes are completely gone from people touching them - people pray and ask that he be merciful and open the gates of heaven for them). I went to the altar, took a couple pictures then felt compelled to pray. After researching, I found that where me and Peyton chose to go pray was called "St. Joseph's Altar" - Here's a link that talks about it: http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Info/PrayerPlaces.htm This site talks about the Top Prayer Places in St Peter's and it shows a picture of the tomb of Pope John Paul II I was talking about earlier.

The day ended with a trip to the catacombs. It was only about a 25 minute tour, not very exciting though. I was ready to get on the bus and sleep my sickness away...As soon as I got home, I showered and went straight to sleep.

Today, I literally was in bed all day resting. Im trying to get better by Saturday for Carnivale in Venice and then Super Bowl on Sunday. Supermarket in the a.m. and school tomorrow. Then hopefully skyping with dad and Jer at some point.

BUONA NOTTE.

Quick Recap #2

January 20 - SICK. On my death bed. Went to a clinic and found out I had a sinus infection. Took antibiotics and got a little bit better before our trip to Interlaken, SVIZZERA! (THANK GOD) We left the next day at 11:30 p.m.- Jan 21 - with Bus2Alps. (8 hour bus ride) I stayed at my first hostel (Balmer's) - it had its own bar in the basement called "Metro" We went there every night. *This picture was the view from outside our hostel window.

January 22 - Arrived at Balmers around 7:30 a.m. then we went sledding at noon. OMG, it was so much fun! It was only Me, Stef, Bolling, Charlotte, Peyton, Kelly, and Joe. We did two runs and by the second run I got the hang of turning and stopping. Although, I caused a MAD pileup! I was going so fast down the mountain and came around a really sharp corner and I couldn't turn fast enough. I ended up falling off my sled and sliding like 3 feet! Then Joe ran into me, then Stef, then Bolling. This 4 person pileup, all caused by me. It was so funny though! I was wearing my white North Face, Burberry earmuffs, and Ray Bans and our guide, Ian, said I looked like I was about to go on a television interview! lol (Dad, are you even surprised?) We ate dinner at a little pizza/kebob place next to the hostel. Meal wasn't that great. Our fries tasted like they had Ramen noodle spices on them and I had a little chicken patty. Everyone else ordered a kebob that was drenched in thousand island dressing. My choice was the better of the two, in my opinion. Went to Metro (in the basement of our hostel-perfect location!). *This picture is the Fab 4 (roommies) right before getting onto the gondola to go up to the mountain to sled.

January 23 - While everyone was skiing, me, Kelly, Bolling, and Peyton stayed back and had some bonding time at the hostel. We walked around all afternoon to find somewhere to eat and everywhere we went was closed. Our last resort was an overpriced Mexican/Indian restaurant. We ordered some Indian bread, chips and salsa and guacamole, and some nasty, warm margaritas. 7 francs for a champagne glass filled with grossness. As Kelly would say "They raped us!" We made reservations at the Little Thai Restaurant next to Balmer's at 7. We get there on time and they tell us to come back 15 minutes later (this happened twice!) We finally get seated and have a delicious meal as a group. I had chicken fried rice (not really Thai, but whatever.) We had a little party in Room 15 after happy hour. Me and Kelly went down and bought 20 francs worth of shots (4 shot glasses) and snuck them up to our room, but every step we took vodka spilled. We kept saying "there goes one franc, two francs, three francs..." Kelly was making me laugh so hard, which then made more spill! Not good...We finally got to the room, took shots, played "pterodactyl" (where you try to say the word without showing your teeth and without laughing). The without laughing failed instantly. Kelly caught it all on tape! This was the night Clay came back and we got into a "poking war" -naturally I won. I don't lose. We made gator mating call noises and when we thought Clay had passed out all of the sudden we hear "Go Gata" come from the corner. We all BUSTED out laughing! Went to Metro.

January 24 - I was so close to going Paragliding on Sunday morning with Peyton before we left, but I chickened out (remember my fear of heights?) Ate lunch at a pub we found downtown. Had a delicious BBQ chicken sandwich and water (too much alcohol for the weekend) Then got on the bus. Unfortunately, we were stuck on top of the double decker and I had a headache the whole ride home. We got back into Florence around 10:30. I wanted to take a taxi back to the flat so badly, we had so many bags and such a far walk. We ended up walking...I was NOT happy. I came home, showered, and went straight to sleep.

January 27 - Dinner at Vespucci! Vespucci is one of the three apartments that FSU has. It's right along the Arno River and its huge! Kelly and I went for a run, and then Stef, Bolling, Brandon, and Charlotte met us at the apartment and we all went to the supermarket to get stuff to make dinner. We also bought 6 Heini's each. We ended up making a HUGE salad - sweet butter lettuce, green olives, red pepper, tomatoes, chick peas, pecorino cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. SOOO yummy. We also had a little bit of bow tie pasta with red sauce. Brandon went home because he had bad brie and too many shots of peach tea. The entire night we played "Kings" with sex cards. So funny! Stef started out with the rule: If you cuss, you have to keep your hands up in an X position until the next person cusses. Well, we all curse like sailors. The night went from taking shots of beer to taking shots of red wine (bad idea.) The next day, I was supposed to run with Ryan, but slept in til 11. Took a taxi home (which cost me 15 euro), shower, and get to class by 1:30. I was rushing, but I made it - lookin' flyyy as always!

Here's Peyton with her hands up in "X" position...she cussed and kept them up probably 80% of the game lol

*Stole this from Stefani's blog (it's such a perfect explanation!)
Explanation of shots shots shots:
Shots. Like the drink. Began to be used as a unit of measurement. All beverages were taken in the form of a shot. Wether straight from the bottle (as te) or with the use of a shot glass (ie. shots of wine) It was also used to describe how far or close you are from something (ie. "I bet brandon is about 15 shots from home by now") or as a unit of measurement ("That looks to be about 17 shots worth") A shot is not a set distance or an amount, but simply a "going off" type of point.
The term "shots" came into full effect this night, and continued to grow and be funnier as the weekend came to be. -So now whenever you read this term, you'll understand the context and the meaning.

January 28 - Lecture with Nero about the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica before our trip the next day.

QUICK RECAP #1

It's been a month since I've been here. I flew from the United States on the 6th of January and got into Florence on the 7th around 8 p.m. after a LONG ass 32 hours of traveling. Me and Stef were stuck in the Frankfurt airport for 8 hours. It was awful. We had a beer to pass the the time, met a couple people traveling to Florence as well with different programs.

On the 8th we went to the school for orientation, at lunch at this place called Natalino's (which we are now obsessed with - we eat here almost every single day!) We went on a group tour of the city then went to a group dinner at the Natalino restaurant right across from their sandwich shop. Afterwards, I dragged everyone across the street to the pub, Lions Fountain. Bet the bartender I could fill up a drink card (20 spaces) in one week for a free pint. Needless to say, I finished it and got a free t-shirt. (But it was not easy, they stopped stamping my card, I had to basically fight the guy for my free pint...it wasn't even about the pint it was the principal of the matter...)

January 9th - We went on a tour to Fiesole a little town about 30 minutes away from Florence. It was absolutely beautiful! Saw some Etruscan/Roman ruins and went to a little church on the top of the hill that overlooked Florence. Unfortunately it was raining the entire time and it was FREEZING! Met Leo this night at Lions, and it was the first night we went to Red Garter.

January 10th - Sandwiches @ Natalino's with Stef, Charlotte, and Bolling. I will NEVER get spicy salami ever again. I had massive heartburn the whole way up to San Miniato. We met up with everyone at the Ponte alle Grazie bridge. I had to take a taxi back to our apartment because my heart and chest hurt SO bad! I drank 2 cup fulls of Pepto as soon as I got home and was back to normal. Pepto's my miracle drug. :)

January 11th - Went running for the first time around a little park I found by our flat. Had my first Italian cappuccino & Italian donut @ La Loggia. First Italian class of the semester. Got our Italian cell phones - they are effing ancient (Nokia's).

January 12th - MOST hungover I've ever felt since I've been here. Long night at Lions. I didn't even have motivation to get ready for the day. I wore my gray "neckbrace" sweater, hair in a pony, and my glasses (that should explain everything - I never wear my glasses in public!)

January 15th - Day trip to Siena. So cold. Went on a tour through a museum and went into their duomo. It was beautiful, the entire inside was striped. We were able to explore Siena alone after lunch. This was the day we have the pictures of me, Stef, Bolling, and Charlotte climbing on each other trying to get on a cliff wall. I'm deathly afraid of heights, the pictures are HILARIOUS (all on Facebook). When we got back to Siena we went to Eby's (a mexican restaurant by the school) and had sangria and crepes. We had a giggle-fest at dinner! Such a fun night.

January 16th - Bought tickets for the Firenze futbol game. Marlee's birthday - we all met in front of Lions but it was packed. Went to Red Garter, packed too. Twice, PACKED! It was miserable, and to top it all off we were wearing heels and had a far ass walk home. Me, Stef, and Char kept saying "Omg guys, we're SO close" being extremely sarcastic because we had, what seemed like, MILES to go. It was the walk from HELL.

January 17th - Firenze futbol game against Bologna. Afterwards we went to the American Diner - had a hamburger and fries! SO YUMMY. I know it's hard to believe but I effing miss the greasy American food. Its nice that we have this diner on days that I crave it. haha!

(TBC...)