Conquering Rome

This past weekend our entire program ventured off to Roma! We took an hour and a half fast train on Friday morning and arrived at our hotel, which was located right between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. The hotel was oddly split in half by an outdoor terrace, but the side that I was on was filled with only us JMU students, which was very nice for the entire weekend.
On Friday our first tour guide took us the Vatican Museums, where we had to wait on a longgg 2 hour line filled with tourists. Rome was so filled with people, tourists filled every location that we entered. Vatican City is an entirely separate city from Rome, quite interesting history actually but I won't bore you with that stuff. Once we finally got into the Vatican Museums we walked through rooms and rooms of art work, sculptures, etc. The journey was very tiring especially since we were on the move from the early morning. If you go to Rome be sure to wear something with sleeves when you go to the Vatican because they won't let you in with only a tank top on, not that I know from experience but just a tip I heard before going. At the end of the Vatican Museums is the Sistine Chapel which was jam packed with people but it was cool to see the artwork of Michelangelo that we had been studying in our Renaissance Art History class.  After the Vatican Museums we went to St. Peter's Basilica which is right next door, which is a huge, breathtaking church. St. Peter's Square was also a gorgeous scenery, probably one of my favorites of the day after art OVERLOAD.

St. Peter's Square

Saturday morning we were greeted by our second tour guide, the son of the older man from the first day. Lorenzo, who hilariously entertained us for the entire day of "conquering rome." First we walked over to the Roman Forum, all the ruins of Rome which was incredible to see. There is so much history of Julius Caesar and the creation of Rome is such contained area. Our tour guide got a little bit into the history for all of our interests, but to see that these remains and that the Romans had a perfect drainage system to prevent flooding way back then was quite impressive.

Roman Forum

After the Roman Forum we went on to conquer the Colosseum and the Pantheon. First we enjoyed the amazing view from outside of the Colosseum before entering, and had time to take our classic touristy pictures, but no one stands out in Rome since there are just so many tourists. Our school group was able to bypass the long line to enter the Colosseum (score) and then we climbed to enjoy the view from the inside. The history that fills that building is endless and the fact that it is still standing is hard to even wrap your mind around. Next we went to the Pantheon which is a church that was much more interesting to me than the others. Rather than being pretty inside, it is filled with interesting architecture which displayed the Romans knowledge that the Earth was round, and their belief that Rome was the center of the world. Never thought I would be interested in architecture!

On our own time after the tour ended on Saturday we went to the markets and to see the amazing site of the Trevi Fountain. Yes, we all wanted to make our wishes, which we did, but I did not expect it to be as incredible as it was. I was expecting a small, dinky fountain, but it was huge!! Although it was jam packed with people there as well we managed to make our wishes and capture pictures of it too! :)

 We went out on Saturday night to have dinner in Campo di Fiori, a really cute Piazza with bars and restaurants and such. Then in the same area we went to a bar, The Drunken Ship, which was a fun place with alot of Americans, I recommend it if you head to Rome! Lastly on Sunday we were on our own with no tour, which was really nice for the final day. There just so happened to be a marathon in Rome that day so all of the streets in the center of Rome were blocked off, but it didn't cause any trouble until we had to walk 45 minutes to catch our train back to Florence. Me and some others went to see the Spanish Steps, but on our way we stopped at Zara to do some shopping. Why not, when in rome, right?! We then got a nice lunch at a Trattoria in Rome and then headed on our way back to the train station to return back to Florence.

Spanish Steps

This weekend, aka in 10 minutes I am leaving to go to the Almalfi Coast with 9 other girls on my program. We are going through Euroadventures and we will be staying in Sorrento!! I am so excited to enjoy the beach and the gorgeous weather. 

PS. It was 70 degrees today and has been in the 60's all week, there isn't even a need for a jacket during the day anymore!!! :) Sorry for those of you with snow at home!!

Just some standard day trips to wine estates and The Leaning Tower

This weekend we stayed decided to stay in good ol' Florence which was nice and relaxing since every weekend for the last month here we will be going somewhere else. Although this week I have been missing home like crazy, I can't believe there is only a month left here.

On Thursday our wine teacher, Diletta Frescobaldi, took us to two of her family's wine estates about an hour away from Florence. She is the 32nd generation of her family, and her family has been producing wine for 700 years. She knows her stuff about wine. The two estates that she took us to were Pomino and Nippozano.
Pomino is at a high altitude, it is very mountainous and has mild days and cold winters. The climate is ideal for making white and red wine, so at this estate we saw the storage for the fermentation and the aging of the wines produced at that estate.

At the second estate, Nipozzano, they only produce red wine since it is at a lower altitude where it is warmer so it is not ideal for making white wine. At this estate we saw similar barrels where the wine ferments and is aged, but then we also got to see a cool tradition that the Frescobaldi family carries out. For each member of the Frescobaldi family that is born, they have their own wine produced, 100 bottles for a woman and 300 bottles for a man. These bottles are stored at the estate and are only opened for special occasions like a birthday, graduation, wedding, etc. 

Diletta and her bottles 

Caroline, Me & Stacey at Nippozano

The trip to the estate ended with our entire group entering the Castle where we had a lovely spread of 3 types of wine, one white from Pomino and 2 red from Nippozano, and some bread and cheese. Before we left we were able to get some souvenirs ;) 

Our spread!

On Friday Caroline, Stacey, Taylor and I all decided to take a day trip to Pisa to see the leaning tower. We heard from others on our trip that there isn't much else to see or do in Pisa so we figured we would spend a few hours there and then come back to Florence. We left Florence at 11:30 and arrived in Pisa an hour later. When we got off the train we looked at the map to get to the tower and some trickster scratched it out...so cleaver, but luckily we were forewarned. Everyone was ready for lunch so we decided to stop at a little Trattoria along the way so we didn't fall into any tourist traps. If you ever come to Italy, eat in Trattorias. They have the best prices and really good food. Ristorantes are the most expensive so try to avoid, unless it says pizzeria as well or you can check the menu first. So we had a delicious meal and killed about 2 hours in that place. Then we continued onto find the Piazza with the Tower and the Duomo. We got a little set off track because Caroline thought she saw the Duomo but it was just another church so then we walked out of the city walls and finally made our way to the Tower. Little side note: Italian cities used to all be surrounded by walls, in Florence the walls have been knocked down but in Pisa they were all still standing which was awesome to see. 

The Piazza has the Tower, the Duomo, the Baptistry and then a bunch of tourist stands with souvenirs and that's about it. So we took our touristy pictures, cause we had to... that's a given and then returned back to Florence. 

Last night we had aperitivo at Kitsch, which so many grad students have been telling us about, and it definitely lived up to what they said. They had a large spread and the food was delicious but it was super crowded. If you're coming abroad to Florence definitely make sure you go!

This week it's supposed to rain the entire week until Friday :( but this upcoming weekend our program is going to Rome! I'm so excited for this trip and for all the ones that are coming up. The trips are going to make this last month fly and then back home for the summer! Here's what's coming up....

March 18-20: Rome with JMU

March 25-27: Almalfi Coast

April 1-3: Venice with JMU

April 9: Cinque Terre

April 16: Rome with Parents then NY

PS. Last night there was daylight savings in America as I'm sure you all know but what's weird is that in Italy they don't move the clocks back for another two weeks, so for two weeks there is only a 5 hour time difference... crazy right?!

doing as the locals do

Although today's classes were quite boring... today had some excitement worth posting about. Our amazing host mom's daughter has a salon here in Florence and was willing to cut my hair. So today was my appointment and Stacey came with me to get her nails done and for some support. When I asked if her daughter spoke English, my host mom said that her daughter could "understand" English, but I decided to bring a picture and to ask Chiara to help me out with some translations for hair terms. My salon was a nice, busy place, away from the center of Florence.. and I was definitely willing to give it a shot. I'm very happy with the way that it came out an the price was good and not a rip off. She thinned my hair for the first time ever and I have decided that I need to find the one hair stylist at home who I trust to do my hair any way that she pleases. Successful haircut in Italy...check!

Oh Fiorentina

For the past week nothing too exciting has been going on, except that we saw The King's Speech at the Odeon, loved it! But I did realize that I failed to mention in my blog that I have started to enjoy my classes throughout the semester. The work is easy and the topics have gotten interesting. My italian is definitely improving while I'm here and able to use it, and I have definitely developed an appreciation for both art and wine, two of the fabulous topics that I get to study. I'll be begging for these classes in grad school...

Today we woke up to a beautiful morning, a high of 66 degrees after a few days of rain, perfect for the Fiorentina soccer game vs. Catania (Sicily). The tickets for the game were only 10 euros which got us seats in Curva Fiesole, which is the curved part of the the stadium with all the wild, dedicated, Florence fans. The fans were wild, decked out in purple, with huge flags waving to show their support. I felt like I was in Yankee Stadium's bleacher seats, surrounded by the crazy bleacher creatures! Fiorentina won 3-0 and it seemed like the fastest professional game I had ever been to. I definitely recommend going for anyone who is studying abroad here, you feel like a local, but make sure you wear/buy some purple gear!

....I'm baaaack! Part 2: Barcelona, Spain

When we arrived at the Barcelona airport we took the Aerobus for 5 euros to get to Plaza Espanya where we took the Metro right next to where our hostel was located. We walked up to the street and arrived at the number where our hostel was supposed to be, but we arrived to just a simple door with no sign of a hostel. I panicked for about 5 minutes and then a couple arrived confirming that they were staying at BCN Loft as well and that we had to call the guy who ran the apartments. They let us up to their apartment, gave us access to their Wifi and allowed us to get in touch with Victor, the guy who ran the place. He took us down to our apartment, which we thought was just for us but there were actually three other rooms of two. That was the first disappointment and then when we let us into our room it was quite dirty, and just unpleasant. The bathroom was tiny, the shower as well and I definitely do not recommend this place. Spend the extra money to stay in a hostel! (I wish I had a picture to share the emotions with you buttt I forgot to take any.)

On our first night we decided to walk over to La Rambla which was about 5 minutes from our apartment and is a popular touristy area with lots of shops, vendors, people dressed up crazy, food, etc. We walked up and down the entire street checking out all the deals that each restaurant was offering since it is a huge area for tourists. We finally decided on a restaurant that didn't have pictures outside of their tapas (a tip that was recommended to me) and had a deal with an appetizer, entree and dessert. For our appetizers I had a tapas plate and Matt had pasta, and then we both got paella as our entree. Paella is a typical spanish rice dish that is much heavier than I remember from when I traveled to Spain in high school. We stopped at a chill bar, Queen Vic, and met some students who were studying abroad but the food wasn't settling too well with our stomachs... another strike for Barcelona.

Seafood Paella... only a quarter was eaten 

Matt's goal for the whole trip was to rent a scooter so we went to check that out when we woke up on day 2. The guy forewarned us that if the police stop you that you need to pay a 300 euro fine so we didn't get one. We got a metro pass for the day and walked along the water, and through Barceloneta, which is an area right near the water. This area was gorgeous, it was filled with sailboats and was just a nice place to chill and hang out.

We then took the metro up to Parc Guell, which is a park designed by Gaudi who is the main architect in Barcelona. The park was a large hike up a steep hill but it was beautiful in it's design and allowed us to see a great view of the city.

Parc Guell

Parc Guell

View from up top

We went back to our apartment and took a nap since we were exhausted from walking everywhere throughout the day. When we woke up we took the metro back to the Barceloneta area to try to get some seafood for dinner, but nothing seemed like a good deal so we headed back to La Rambla. Well by that time it was approaching midnight and everything was closing so we wound up getting McDonald's for dinner. I couldn't believe I was eating that in Spain, especially since I haven't had it in about 3 years. That also didn't settle well with our stomachs so we basicallly striked out round two.

On the morning of the third day we went to a different scooter shop that we found a flyer from on another scooter that was parked on La Rambla. The offer was a full day for 26 euros, and the guy also gave us the forewarning about the fee that the cops could make you pay if you get stopped. A Spanish couple was in the shop and they basically told us that it was worth the risk and that if you follow the driving rules and drive the speed limit that nothing should happen. So we got our very own scooter and it was ASBOLUTELY awesome! It was the coolest experience ever and it allowed us to see so many areas of the city since many sites are up on hills and further away from the center.

On our scooter journey first we traveled around and then we went to Sagrada Familia which is a church designed by Gaudi, that was spectacular. We then went to the FC Barcelona Stadium, where the soccer team plays, and then over to the National Museum of Art that had a stunning view of the entire city of Barcelona. On our way back down from the hill we passed the Olympic Stadium and then traveled along the gorgeous beach. The scooter allowed us to successfully see everything that we wanted to see so this made Barcelona a lot more successful for us.

La Sagrada Famiglia 

At the National Museum of Art 

View from the Museum

Beach side :)

For our final night in Barcelona we got our final dinner, which was crappy pasta, so we completely gave up on the food! But I got to enjoy a nice big glass of Sangria so it kind of evened out... We then walked over to La Rambla just to hang out and look at all the crazy people who dress up in costumes and enjoy some ice cream. We wound up running into a market which was fiiiilled with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish. We had a relaxing night since we had to wake up bright and early to fly into Milan. Overall Barcelona was disappointing in my eyes compared to the other trips I took to Spain (Leon & Sevilla) since it was much more touristy and because of the crappy place that we were staying. The people weren't all that friendly and the food wasn't good either, but we tried to make the best of it even though we enjoyed Amsterdam much better. 

His new girlfriend on La Rambla 

Fruit and nuts at the market

When we got to the Milan airport we took a 30 minute bus ride to the Milan train station (lots of little trips like I said before). We got our tickets to head back to Florence and then we walked around outside to find a little place to eat, which we successfully found a delicious pizzeria. We were instantly greeted by super friendly Italians who welcomed us and treated us so kindly which was an amazing feeling to return to Italy. I felt so at home that everyone was so nice and that I could once again speak the language, Italy is truly the best place ever. For our first night back in Florence we just relaxed and then went out to dinner at Dante's for some free wine and met up with Jessica to have some drinks in her apartment. Croton reunion! On Matt's last day we explored the rest of Florence, I showed him the infamous Duomo and then we just drank some coffee in Piazza Signoria like true italians do. All of my roommates returned back from their Spring Break and our host mom made us all a true meal which was a nice little bonding session. :) Spring Break come quickly to an end and Matt headed back to New York but it was absolutely the best week of the semester so far. Seeing new cities was a great opportunity but I definitely realized that Italy is amazing and I won't be going out of the country for the rest of the semester, only traveling around Italia.

Now it's back to the grind of our actual classes... until the next update, ciao bellas!

....I'm baaaack! Part 1: The crazy city of Amsterdam

Home sweet home in Firenze!! 

I'm back in action in Italy after a crazy fun filled adventure of Spring Break. I'm breaking up our week of travel into two different posts, one for each city, so that you all don't have a novel to read! Matt's arrival in Florence was smooth and simple, with no complications. I took a bus to the airport to pick him up and anxiously wait for his arrival. Since he stayed awake to fight off jet lag, I was able to show him most of Florence on the first day of our break. I took him throughout most of the piazzas, past our school, out to his first italian meal- pizza, and to finish the day off with gelato...naturally.

along the river arno :)

Saturday morning we woke up at 5am to head to the Florence train station to catch our Intercity train to Rome. We were flying Easyjet out of Rome to get to our first stop on our journey, Amsterdam. After arriving at the Rome train station we then had to take another shuttle train over to the Rome airport. These little unexpected travels definitely added up throughout the entire week! We were cutting it close to our flight time, but we made it through security and got to our gate to see that there was a long line of people waiting to board on our flight. So after all of the rush we wound up not needed to worry after all.

Once we arrived in the beautiful Amsterdam airport we asked around on how to get to the area of our hotel. We were informed to take the train to Central Station and then take the tram to Vondelpark. We made it to Central Station and then we were too tired to try to figure out which tram to take so we hopped in a taxi and took the easy way out to reach our hotel. The hotel was a little further out from the center of the city but the area was beautiful and the hotel room and service was amazing. For any of you that are going to Amsterdam, Hotel Central Park, I highly recommend it and it wasn't too pricey! One of the first things that amazed me about Amsterdam was the fact that almost everyone rides around on bicycles. It is their most common means of transportation and the streets are always filled with people riding around on them.. so cool.

One of the many canals of Amsterdam

Bikes eeeeverywhere!

To figure out where to go for our first night in Amsterdam we asked the guy who worked at our hotel and he told us to go to Leidseplein. This area was one of our favorites, there were a lot of people, bars, pubs, shopping, coffee shops, and tons of restaurants. When I say tons I mean this place had streets filled with every type of cuisine you could possibly want: Italian, Greek, Mexican, American, Chinese anything one right after the other!! I don't think that Dutch food is quite popular with all of the tourists...

Leidesplein

The Bulldog- Coffee shop

On the second day we were going to try to rent a scooter so we took the tram to Dam Plaza to get some info on renting one. The guy who worked there was so nice and didn't try to rip us off but rather told us that it wasn't really necessary for the small city of Amsterdam. He gave us suggestions of areas to explore, he told us to not waste our money on the Anne Frank or Van Gogh museum, but rather to explore the true areas that the city has to offer. He gave the best advice I have heard... the best things the city has to offer are always free. We took his advice and went to the famous Dutch Pancake Bakery where the "pancakes" were just one giant pancake and you could get sweet ones like at home or savory ones, with bacon or cheese. I went with banana and Matt went with bacon, both turned out being delicious.

True Dutch meal: Pancake Bakery

For our third day in Amsterdam Matt decided to live like the locals and rent a bike for the two of us, for him to drive and for me to sit on the luggage rack on the back. It was the best idea because we got to see everything and we got to travel around just like the locals and not seem like tourists. We drove all around through Dam Plaza (big shopping area), through Rembrantsplein, and then we decided to head to the Heineken Experience to take the tour of the brewery. The tour was awesome showing you the history, the change in the labels, the Heineken horses, how it's made, the ingredients, a ride that turns you into a beer, a chance to make your own personal bottle, and then a final bar with 2 free included beers. Definitely worth the 14 euros for this "museum" :)

Beside one of the machines that they use to cook the beer

Churnin the water and barley

That night we biked around, headed back to Leidesplein for dinner, and then ventured up near Central Station. We eventually ran into the Red Light District, which completely blew me away to see ugly prostitutes hanging out in the windows. Definitely a crazy, wild, city that I am totally glad we got to visit.  On our last day in Amsterdam we had until 3pm before we had to head over to the airport so we searched for an American version of breakfast, and we eventually found a place that had omelettes. We hung out close to Central Station since that was where we had to catch the train back to the airport, in a really cool coffee shop, Homegrown Fantasy, until it was time to go. The city was extremely unique in it's relaxed attitude, it's architecture, and it's way of life. Amsterdam was one of my favorite cities for suuuure!

Red Light District

3 tests and an essay complete = SPRING BREAK!!!

As I anxiously await Matt's arrival at the Florence airport, I figured I would update before we head off for the amazing journey of Spring Break!!

This past week was "midterms week." Back at JMU Midterms Week is basically hell, everyone is in the library, always studying, blah blah. In Florence... everything is basically just laid back. The tests are not nearly as difficult, and the teachers practically tell you what the test is going to entail. Even if you think you did bad on a test, they will count another assignment to weigh the grade out, so I have no concerns about midterm grades.

For wine class we went to Benvenuto Chianti Classico, which is a day long festival with around 150 wine producers, all producing Chianti Classico wine, which must use a certain blend of Sangiovese grapes and their vineyards must be located in the region between Florence and Siena. It was a great out of the classroom opportunity to be able to interact with the producers, ask them questions, and discover about their vineyards, and try their different wines.

Symbol of Chianti Classico made of corks

After completing all of our tests and essays yesterday, it was officially SPRING BREAK! My roommates all left this morning for the start of their journey to Sicily, so I am anxiously waiting all by myself! Matt and I are staying in Florence tonight and then leaving on a 6:30 train tomorrow for Rome, where we will fly out to head to our first stop, Amsterdam! We will be staying in Amsterdam until Tuesday and then heading to the city of Barcelona until Friday, when we will fly into Milan and then return back to Florence. I am so so so extremely excited, I can't even put it into words! These two cities are going to be amazing, there will be plenty of pictures and blogging as soon as I return! 

PS. I booked my weekend trip to the Almalfi Coast for March 24th!!