I know I've been slacking on updating the blog, but life has been so entirely busy here! I'm running to class soon, so I can't write much, but I thought I would at least show you what has been going on through pictures! So, here you are:
Florence
Florence was ABSOLUTELY beautiful. It's so interesting because it was my first trip while here in Italy outside of Rome. The only other European city I obviously had to compare it to though was Rome, which is beautiful and great, but without the Italian culture and language, it could be any large city. When we stepped foot into Florence it felt like you were inside a children's book. It was so cool, plus everyone in the city was extremely nice, so it made for a nice and relaxing weekend.
[The front face of the Duomo, the large church that Florence is famous for]
[My friends and I decided to rent an apartment while we were in Florence to cut back on costs, so instead of going out to eat, we went shopping in this market to get breakfast/dinner for the rest of the trip]
[This is the view from the bridge called Ponte Vecchio downtown Florence]
[Ponte Vecchio from the side street]
[One of my absolute favorite parts of Italy is the gelato. It tastes just as good as it looks!]
[Even the street signs are funny!]
[See caption above]
[Sunday morning we made eggs, homefries, and toast. It was a long overdue American breakfast]
[We hiked to the top of the Tower of the Duomo on Sunday which was absolutely beautiful]
[View from the top of the Tower]
[One of the main piazzas in Florence. So, so, cool]
[Want your pizza delivered? No problem.]
Barcelona
The weekend following, we went to Barcelona which was just as cool, but extremely different. I was expecting the food to be close to the Mexican I get at home, but was nothing near it. ALL of the food had a seafood component, which was interesting, but I wasn't really a fan of. While we were there though, we saw the Sagrada Familia which is a church that has been under construction for over a hundred years and is still going! It's crazy cool! We had more on tap to do, but I got food poisoning from KFC (Don't make fun of me), so after Saturday I was out of commission for the rest of the weekend. We still had a blast though!!
[We rented an apartment again. Only drag--it was on the seventh floor--with no elevator. It was 99 steps in case you were wondering.]
[Apparently Barcelona doesn't do doughnuts? They had them in the store, but apparently it's called Dunkin' Coffee? Either way, it was a nice dose of America]
[Doors of the Sagrada Familia. It says "Give us this day our daily bread" in so many languages. English is in the middle of the picture.]
[One of the really cool things we did was go to an Ice Bar, which is just what the title depicts, a bar made completely out of ice. You pay 15 Euro as a cover and get a a coat, gloves, and a drink. Even the cups were made out of ice!]
[The church we went in earlier that day (the Sagrada Familia) carved completely out of ice!]
[The backdrop of the bar.]
[I've had summit fever since we landed in Europe, so my vote on Sunday was to hike to the top of Barcelona to the Park Guell. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL/these pictures don't do it justice]
[Me at the top. I obviously still have food poisoning, so don't criticize the face.]
[Ignore the actual video, I just wanted to get the recording. When landing on RyanAir, they play this congratulating you on landing. It's the little things haha]
Snow
So last weekend, the plan was to go on a trip with school to Tuscany. The end of the week was super hectic because we had an Italian Final and then were planning to leave on Saturday morning.
Well...the snow leveled Rome. Even though it only accumulated a few inches of snow, Rome had no idea how to handle it. Anyways, we woke up on Saturday to a text from our program director telling us that the bus couldn't get out of the parking lot. It hasn't snowed this much in Rome since 1985, so it was extremely rare that it happened. Of course, I would be here on the year it would snow more than a dusting!
[Snow still falling!]
[A lot of the Italians didn't know how to drive in the snow, so they would pull over to the side of the road and leave their car there and just take the metro home. It was crazy!]
[Me with Rafaella, my Italian Teacher for 101]
On tap for this week:
Because the Italian Classes are intensive, I am done with 101 and moving onto 102. I have a new teacher and am not allowed to speak English at all in the class, so it is really hard, but it will be worth it!
Our Italian school planned a trip for us to Venice for Carnivale! So for this, we will be leaving on Saturday morning, taking a fast train, spending the day in Venice, and taking a sleeper train back. I'm super excited to see Venice because I've heard how unique it is, but I'm not looking forward to the cold temperatures!
Our Tuscany trip was rescheduled for this weekend, so we are leaving on Sunday and will be gone through Tuesday. I'm really excited to go on a trip with school though because it takes a lot to plan a trip! It will be nice to go and just have it planned out for me! (And my wallet will appreciate the already-paid-for meals haha!)
Highs:
Italian: While I am by no means anywhere near fluent, it is nice to have more of a foundation in the language. Also, as I said above, we took the final for 101 last Friday which means I'm completely done with one of my five classes for the semester!
Classes: I know that I am a super nerd for continuing to reference this, but it really sincerely is one of my favorite aspects of Rome. One of my favorite characteristics of people is when they have passion, which all of my professors have for their individual subjects. While some of them are extremely hard, I look forward to going to class everyday, and going home to do the homework. It's a really weird feeling, but I like it!
Spring Break: It is still a few weeks away, but we have been planning what our spring break is going to look like. I'm lucky enough that my girlfriend is coming to visit for the first few days of break, so I will be in Rome with her until Monday. Then I am planning to go to Switzerland for a few days to hike/maybe ski/see mountains, and then meet up with my friends in Prague on Wednesday for the remainder of the break. It's going to be an action-packed week, but I'm so excited!
Lows:
The Weather: Blah. I HATE the cold. One of the reasons I came here was for the climate. The beginning of January was 60 and Sunny, so I was extremely happy. The last week though, has been in the 30s with SNOW! Unheard of! Oh well though, it will soon pass and we will move on to warm weather!
Diet Coke: For anyone who knows me well, knows my obsession with Diet Coke. They have Coca-Cola Light here, which is marketed the same, but tastes COMPLETELY different. I'm craving it madly and will definitely be my first purchase upon return to the US.
