I am not a Tourist!

On Saturday I had another roommate arrive Lauren, and I just took her and Chelsea to the fresh market and then the Supermarket. When we got home I planned on walking around the Arno but it started to down pour!!! So I stayed in! And finally my friends that are studying abroad in Paris got a hold of me, so I walked to their hostel and we just sat on the terrace and caught up a little bit. But Sunday morning we planned to get up early! We meet at the front steps of the Duomo, and we were off to the Uffizi Museum,which is known for its Renaissance Art. Some rich family wanted to up show the Medici family and went broke building it and the Medici family moved in. We spent about 2 hours here,and this is something I never would have done as a kid. Once we finally got out of there we went to the Del Bargello Museum which houses Donatello's bronze David. After that little visit we went down the road to Michelangelo's house, we didn't want to pay to go in because nothing inside is original anymore but we did realize that my apartment is right around the corner! Then we went to the Salvatore Ferragamo shoe museum! Which was amazing! After that we ventured on to the Santa Maria Novella Chapel, not really sure why this chapel is important but it is, but we only walked around the outside garden. Then we headed over to the Opera Medicea Laurenziana Chapel which is where some of the Medici family is buried. And we went into this Chapel and I had to put on some blue cloth thing since I was wearing athletic shorts. There was some gorgeous paintings on the ceilings, and we walked into the basement area were the coffins are, kinda creepy. Oh I forgot that after the Uffizi museum we walked on the Ponte Vecchio bridge, which is known for retailers selling jewelry. I don't think I ve seen so much sparkle in my life! It was all beautiful and expensive! Then we rested for a little bit and meet up at 7:30 to get the best homemade gelato in town, and we watched the sunset on the bridge which was absolutely gorgeous! After that I needed some food and we ended up at this Mexican restaurant, which I was a little nervous about. All I wanted were nachos, and I did get them but their tortilla chips taste like really spicy cool ranch Doritos. Then I went home early because I had to start classes the next day!

Orientation!!!

So I had Orientation Friday morning at 8;45am!! Which was somewhat informational but a lot of it I was already aware of but I got my schedule and I am way excited to start classes on Monday!!! We found out that we got a free dinner Friday night and I love free food. So I went home and arrived another roomie Chelsea, and of course we chatted a bit and what not. Then it was nap time before dinner. We all meet at the same spot and I swear we walked like 30 minutes away from where we were and all I wanted to do was eat. We finally got there and I downed some bread and water. The first plate was pesto (which I really love now) and some weird cheese lasagna thing, and for not knowing what was in it I ate a lot of it. Then the second plate was some chicken with tomato all over it and peas both overcooked so I didn't have much of that plus I was so stuffed from the first plate. I don't know how these Italians eat so much! And then Triamisu, which was way better then the first stuff. After that we kinda walked around a bit and that's about it for now. I am hoping to go to the Duomo tomorrow, if it ever stops raining. It's been raining pretty much everyday since I've been here and it's supposed to do that for the next 2 weeks!! Which is annoying because I'll almost be gone by then. I am wishing I had more time to spend here.

My new apartment!!!

Alrighty I haven't been able to update for awhile because when I moved into my new apartment and I couldn't get internet but now we got that all fixed! So Thursday morning I had to check out of my hostel, YAY! I liked it there but I was ready to have more space. For those of you that know me well I don't travel light! So I thought I would be smart and take half of my luggage with me and leave the other half at my hostel and walk back to get the rest later. Because I figured my apartment would be relativity close to the apartment. So after about a mile walkish I got to school and got all checked in and got directions to my apartment and realized that my apartment was actually further away then expected! So I had to leave the luggage I brought with me and walk back to the hostel and call a taxi, which doesn't sound bad except taxi's in Italy are ridiculously expensive! So I got back to the Hostel and called a taxi and after about 10 minutes of explaining what I needed to do he finally understood me. So off we go to the school and the school is on a street that you can't drive on, so he stopped on a street near by expect he told me to go to the left and I did and my school wasn't there. So I went back to the taxi and asked him to give me directions again, then he decided to get on some radio thingy and get different directions. But I just wanted different walking directions because I didn't understand where we where. So he takes me to the other side of town and tells me this is where I need to be, and I told him no and of course the asshole starts yelling at me in Italian because he's purposely screwing me over. And I was about to have a mental break down and ball but I kept it together. So then he takes me back and keeps yelling at me to go to the left and I said no and he kept yelling at me so I just said yes and walked off and went to the right and behold my school. So I get my luggage and by the time he gets me to my apartment I had to pay 33 Euro for a taxi, which is about $45 to $50!!!! I was just so happy to get to my apartment and then getting my luggage inside was a struggle because only half the door opens and it is the side of a regular door. THANK GOSH WERE ON THE 1ST FLOOR! So I got my luggage up this really dark stairwell and I have a skeleton key so I spent about another 10 minutes trying to figure out how to open my door! And of course I didn't know there was a light switch so I am doing this in the dark, lol! But I finally got it open and I was shocked about how cute my apartment is!! I was expecting it to be smaller and older. But it's really cute and we have a good sized kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a microwave!!!! I was so excited to finally be here!!! So I unpacked and laid down for a bit and my first new roomy came in Lexi and we chatted a bit. Then we went to the Supermarket to get grocery's, and we were completely unprepared!! I guess I forgot everything would be in Italian! So I got what I think looks like things I would eat at home and I think what is stain remover for my clothes but who knows. And Thursday night I went on my first pub crawl and probably my last, and I actually drank Sangria which I hate! But once again I meet a lot of interesting people and some cool places to hang out.

PISA PISA PISA

Ok well I really wanted to get over this Jet Lag problem so Saturday night I took a Unisome, I went to bed at 10pm and managed to sleep until 12am the next morning. Which was not the plan but at least I was able to catch up on my sleep. Sunday ended up being a relaxed day I wrote in my journal, went swimming and had an Italian meal at a cute little restaurant. Although it was another miss with the Ravioli butter and sage pasta! But I did have my first real Tiramisu, which was deliciouso! On Monday we went to Pisa, and I went on my first train ride!! Riding through the Tuscan hills was beautiful! We got to Pisa and walked the "Tourist" route to get to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and of course got side tracked by all the shopping. There were some gorgeous rustic buildings we walked by but I didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted because I forgot to check my batteries before we left. Once we got to the Leaning Tower of Pisa we saw everyone taking pictures as if they were holding up the building, and we thought we were original when we decided to do it!!! It's really surreal to think back to middle school when I was reading out of a text book about the Leaning Tower of Pisa and thinking how much I wanted to see it and I never thought I would. I feel like it's an accomplishment that one of my smaller wishes had come true! I also had my first vanilla crepe which was delicious but a little too sweet for morning breakfast; they fill them with Natella sauce which is a chocolate spread. This was my first full day of walking and I was exhausted by the time we got back and I wanted to do nothing but sleep. But we went to another cute little Italian restaurant where they did have Fettuccine Alfredo!!! Which I was told they didn't have hear, my first satisfied meal with some roasted potatoes!! YUMM! Then on Tuesday I wanted to find my school so I could pick up my cell phone. But my first task of the day was to eat, and unfortunately my account got frozen and since there’s a 7 hours time difference I starved until about 4 pm my time!!! But in the mean time I was trying to find Lorenzo de Medici and I got directions from the front desk and I walked all the way down there and realized these were the wrong directions. So I walked back to my hostel to look for better directions myself and realized I was only about 2 streets off. I walked back down and found the street expecting signs to say Lorenzo de Medici, and there wasn't so I circled the same area like 5 times before I decided I should ask someone. I went to this gelato shop called Lorenzo de Medici and the nice lady literally walked me next door, go figure!! But they were closed for lunch and it was actually not the building I was told to go to. So I went back to the door that I thought was Lorenzo and it has these big beautiful wooden carved doors and I was thinking there’s no way this is the school plus the doors wouldn't open. So I finally went back to the original place and the door was open and I finally received my packed so I know have my cell phone which is a huge relief! This only about a 2 hour process! And I found out that the school is actually closed until Thursday so I was in the right place just at the wrong time. But luckily the package center was open. After this I could finally eat and I needed a rest!! But tomorrow I get to move into my apartment which I am really happy about because I am ready to get out of this hostel! Ciao!

Jet legged!!!!

So I left Cedar Rapids at 4:00 on June 18th and arrived in Florence, Italy on June 19th around 3pm. I ran into some glitches on the way. First I was leaving the Frankfurt airport and I put a lock on my carry-on because it has my laptop in it...well when I was switching airlines I had to have everything scanned again which meant unlocking my carry-on but the wonderful lock I bought wouldn't open so here I am in the Frankfurt airport looking like an idiot that doesn't know how to use a lock and after about 20 minutes of trying to get it open they finally understood that I just wanted them to cut it, and this almost made me miss my next flight. When I got to Florence I wanted to save money so I took the city bus into town. And the directions for my hostel seemed close, which relatively it is. But not so much when you have 2 50 pound suitcases and a carry-on and a massively sized handbag. So here I am carrying all this on cobble roads and knocking down random things with my luggage. I don't even want to know what people were thinking. Finally this really sweet couple from New York helped me get the rest of my luggage to my hostel so I wouldn't have to embarrass myself anymore. But right before that I managed to break handles on 2 of my bags which could make things interesting on the way home. I was relived when I checked in and got into my room. I am in a really nice hostel sharing a room with 7 other girls. They've all been really nice. Two of the girls are from the states but their English teachers in Korea. So I have already meet some really interesting people. First thing I went to sleep since I was so exhausted from flying and carrying my luggage around. Then I woke up around 5am this morning...yippie! NOT! But a couple of my roommates and I went on Food market tour, and at this point I had a weak stomach from being jet lagged. We get into the market and the first part is seafood, fresh seafood including the smell, which was not enjoyable. I saw fresh octapouse and who knows what else, I just couldn't stand the smell. Then we toured the meat area, let's see I saw a pigs head, cow feet, brains and stomach, pretty much every part of the cow and pig. Then we had a little tasting which I felt completely horriable because I couldn't try any of it because of my weak stomach, and what I did try I almost regurggated. But the city is beautiful, it's a rich culture. And for the rest of the afternoon I 've just been trying to rest after the events of this morning. Tomorrow we're going to Pisa!!!