My Amalfi Coast weekend adventure!

Where to begin... How about we start with the 7 hour bus trip from

Florence to Sorrento. I don't know about you, but that was a lot of

bus time for me! We didn't get to go to bed at the Hotel Cavour

(hostel) until 2:30 AM and had to be up on a few hours later to begin

our adventure to Capri.

The fabulous Amalfi Coast 

Capri... One of those beautiful seaside towns that you've always heard about but might never actually see. It was so wonderful and I feel so lucky that I got to experience it with great friends. After a lot of walking, we finally made it down to the beach, passing white-walled almost Grecian looking shops and homes along the way. We had a great lunch overlooking the Mediterranean... A vegetable calzone & a sunny day at the beach, could life be any better? I think not. We also went on a ferry trip around the island and along the way we saw Moussolini's summer home, the homes of Sophia Loren and Julia Roberts, the "kissing arch", an incredible piece of rock in the form of the Virgin Mary, and the famous Blue Grotto. Then we went to lay out on the beach, but it wasn't like any regular California beach. This is beach didn't have sand, it has a shore full of stones to lay on. While it wasn't too comfortable, I still managed to fall asleep and woke up just in time for a free Limoncello tasting.. the Amalfi coast is famous for its lemons. After a not so sunny summer in California, it was so nice to enjoy the sun and a great time with friends.

The Kissing Arch

Beautiful Mediterranean water!

It's Mary!

The next day we went to Positano, another city I knew nothing about. After making the 20 minute trek from the bus, down countless flights of steps, we arrived at the beach and I knew it was going to be a relaxing day. I spent about 4 hours laying out, but left the beach for a while to get some gelato and explore. Cally, and I made our way through the streets full of nice jewelry shops and art galleries.

Ancient Amphitheater

And then, we went to Pompei and climbed to the top of Mt. Vesuvius!! I studied Latin all 4 years in high school and learned a lot about the history of Pompei, so this experience was very very exciting for me. We were taken on a tour and saw so many aspects of this ancient city - amphitheaters, bath houses, brothels, temples, and even snack bars (there were 85 in Pompei). We even saw the bodies of people who died in the massive eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. It was sad and unbelievable sight. 

The main "forum" of Pompei

The body of a man buried alive in the ash of Mt. Vesuvius 

One of many brothels in Pompei

Then, it was time to climb.. We were all asking ourselves and each other "What is
possessing us to climb to the top of an active volcano? What are we thinking?", but after getting over of unnecessary fears, we started to hike. It was an exhausting walk up the mountain, but it was so worth it. 

Vesuvius!

Almost to the top!

Thetas "kiting" the volcano

View from the mountain

On the way down, I slipped a few times but was very proud of myself for not falling down the side of the mountain, but.. I couldn't be proud of myself for long...... 

Thank you, bus driver, thank, thank you, bus driver (camp reference)

After making it alllll the way back to bus, I tripped on the road, scraping my knee. Thank goodness for our bus driver and his handy-dandy first-aid kit! After taking care of my wound, it was time to settle in for the long trip to Florence. I couldn't wait to be back in the city I am now calling home!

Venice and Pisa and Lucca, oh my!

Last weekend, I went on a fun-filled adventure through Italy. It was a weekend full of learning experiences, great memories, and great food. I wasn't expecting to be overly-thrilled with Venice but I ended up loving it! That morning was a little crazy... I missed my connecting train because the first one was late and then I had to figure out Venice's "water bus" system... Not an easy task. But Venice was beautiful! Surrounded by water and full of nice shops, nice hotels, and flowers planted on every window-sill, it was a great place to spend the afternoon.  It was insanely crowded and there were gypsies everywhere, but nothing could take away from how exciting it was to stand in St. Mark's Square. 

Me in St. Mark's Square

UPS GONDOLA!!!! You don't see one of those every day!

At Stazione Santa Maria Novella waiting for the train

Later that weekend, my roommates & our friend, Brock, went to Pisa despite the rumors that there is nothing to do there. Unfortunately.. those rumors are pretty accurate. We struggled to find a good place to
eat lunch, but we achieved our main goal of finding the Leaning Tower of Pisa! Like any other tourists, we spent a good 15 minutes finding the perfect spot to take pictures "leaning against the tower". 




















After that, we set out for Lucca... A town we knew nothing about, except for the fact that we HAD TO go there... 

The City Walls

Everyone who told us that Lucca is amazing was right. It doesn't have
anything extremely well-known or exciting, but it is nonetheless a
great city. It is surrounded by ancient city walls and has some
beautiful churches and piazzas. The thing I liked most was that it was
a great city but didn't have the hectic hustle and bustle of Rome or
Florence. We enjoyed our walk through the markets, watched a wedding
procession, and ate some delicious pastries called "frates".. think of
a doughnut.. But think of the BEST doughnut you've ever had! (You can
even get it with Nutella if you want).

Enjoying our "frates"

just your typical water fountain statue

Me in St. Mark's Square

We had a great day exploring, but we were so tired when we finally go
home. We went straight to bed.. Dreading the fact that we would have so much
homework to do when we woke up Sunday morning.

Home, sweet Home

I'm finally settled in Florence!!! I can't believe I'm actually living and studying here... it's the perfect place to spend a semester.

My mom, grandma, and I spent a few days in Florence together so that I could get to know the city a little better. After delicious hotel breakfasts (just so you know, EVERY hotel in Italy seems to have great breakfast), we set off on some adventures which were much easier now that we didn't have the rental car.

We went to mass at the Duomo on Sunday... it was in Italian, but it was a great way for me to get back to practicing the language. The next day we set out to explore the city and stop by some of the interesting piazzas and museums we found in our travel book.

We went into Italy's main department store (a cross between Nordstrom & Bloomingdales) & just looked around to see what Italians like to buy. We went to the Ferragamo shoe museum, which was having an exhibit on Greta Garbo, so that was fun to see. We saw the "fake David" and THEN it was started pouring rain. Not wanting to pay for taxi, we talked about 15 minutes back to the hotel. We were freezing cold and not happy, but then we started to see the humor in the situation after my grandma asked a local store owner for a plastic bag to cover her hair. I decided to use a map to shield my purse from the downpour. Later that night when it was no longer raining, we met up with Cally & her mom for  dinner at a restaurant near the Duomo.

We also went to the Galleria dell'accademia and saw the real David... it's so impressive to actually see in person! We also went to the Uffizi gallery and saw my all-time favorite paintings, the Birth of Venus & Primavera by Botticelli. Although, I had to share my time in front of the paintings with about 30 other people, it was still incredible to see.

Later that day, I moved into my apartment!!! It's only about 10 minutes from school & way bigger than any of us expected. The only problems we're having are a large metal panel than falls down in the kitchen & a stove that doesn't seem to work.. hopefully we'll fix these issues very soon because now we have food and no place to cook it!

Our new apartment...

a sitting area right when you walk in

Our kitchen 

Mine & Cally's bedroom

Mine & Cally's Show-let/To-wer  

 (aka the tiniest bathroom on the planet)

                                                                           

Our BEAUTIFUL living room ceiling!

Our backyard!!!!!

Our living room

Kierra & I 

We've had orientation for the last 3 days, but still time to have fun and explore - Cally took us to the oldest gelato shop in Florence... it was actually open during WWII to keep a sense on normalcy in the city. The two of us also tried a Greek restaurant last night... we needed a little break from all the pasta.

Cally, Colleen, & Kierra