Florence makes me smile

Ciao!

Let’s see if I can pick up where I left off and not leave out anything too major.  I currently am just chilling in my room and resting after a long day, but that will come later.  I left off and I had almost finished my first week of class, I’ll fill you all in on the first long weekend and updates through today.

Thursday January 16^th:

This was the last day of class for the week and I finished up at 12:35 and headed back to Cordova for lunch.  After lunch, Megan, Julie and I walked up to San Miniato al Monte.  This is a Basillica on the hill across the river.  On our walk up, we found a little garden.  It was cute and would probably be prettier in the spring, but it was still quite quaint.  When we reached the Basillica, the view looked over Florence and it was so pretty.  Pictures don’t do anything justice.  When we went inside, there was someone practicing playing the organ, which added a neat ambiance. 

Friday, January 17^th (Happy Birthday Davis!!):

I went to the Academia and saw the David.  It was HUGE!!  I was not expecting the statue to be as large and as perfect as it was.  I went with Michele and Emily and afterwards we walked around and looked for boots and clothes and by the time we got back to Cordova, it was pouring rain and we were pretty wet.  We were getting kinda grumpy by the time dinner was rolling around which makes sense.  So Michele, Emily, Megan and I went to a place called Yellow Bar and we were instantly happy once we walked inside out of the rain.  The person who greeted us at the door showed us where they make all their own fresh pasta and then showed us to a table.  We all ordered something different and then were able to try all the different dishes.  I got a pasta dish that had wide thicker noodles with tomato sauce and zucchini and eggplant.  It was delicious!  We got a bottle of house wine and I drank a full glass.  I am improving on wine drinking slowly but surely.  We also got a little tiramisu to split at the end of dinner.  What my favorite part about this evening was laughing and talking with friends and eating and not being rushed.  We were probably at the restaurant for 2.5 hours.  The best part about Italian culture is the emphasis on good, fresh food and enjoying it with company and spending time enjoying life.  We all laughed so much that evening and it is something that I will always remember.  Friends, food, laughing and fun.

Saturday, January 18^th:

Today was a good day for eating.  Megan and I walked around Florence and found a sandwich place that people had been talking about.  When we walked in we were overwhelmed since there wasn’t a traditional menu.  Megan told the guy to make her something good and he made a delicious sandwich.  I went first so I just said yes to whatever the server offered to put on my sandwich.  It was good as well.  The sandwiches were bigger than our heads and the bread was warm and fresh and delicious.  We also stopped by the best gelato place ever – Gelateria dei Neri!! Emily, Megan and I had Gusta Pizza for dinner which is across the river and was delicious! I got a Margherita Pizza for 5 euros.  We hung out back at Cordova for the rest of the evening. 

Sunday, January 19^th:

Megan, Emily and I planned our spring break and bought flights! Woohoo!! So excited about that adventure upcoming.  Since all the engineers live in Cordova, we all did homework together and helped each other out.  I went to the student mass at school and then had pasta afterwards at school after mass.  Then I went to office hours for math at 8.  On to week two of school!

Monday – Thursday: School.  The highlights included on Wednesday night I played calcetto.  This is essentially soccer, but on a smaller field and the ball was slightly smaller and bounced less and the ground had zero traction.  It was a lot of fun to play with everyone at school and to be able to play since I have missed playing soccer.  I ran in the mornings before classes. 

Thursday, January 23rd: 
I slept through my alarm, and both roommates waking up and taking a shower (I must have needed sleep!!) and missed out on having time to run so I did a core workout after school.  I signed up for the Tuscan dinner through school.  We went to a traditional Tuscan restaurant and had dinner.  I sat next to Megan and Professor McKenzie (my math professor).  We had traditional Tuscan dishes.  It was fun to sit next to McKenzie since he is such an excited person about life.  It turns out we both love Gelateria dei Neri so afterwards Megan, McKenzie and I got gelato :)  Didn't think that would ever happen!! Walking through the streets of Florence with my math professor.  He showed us some spots he likes to go to as well.  So fun :)

Friday, January 24^th:

Pisa!! Megan and I went to Pisa today.  We took the train from Florence and arrived in Pisa.  We took the classic Pisa tourist pictures and then had lunch at a pizza place and then walked back over to the Cathedral and walked through it.  We walked around and found a museum which had an Andy Warhol exhibit, but you had to pay for that so we went to the free exhibit on the 2^nd floor.  We continued to walk around and found a piazza and then some stores.  I found a cute shirt on sale for 7 euros and Megan got a shirt too!  We walked back to the train station and met up with another group that went to Pisa today as well.  We all fell asleep on the train ride back since we were so tired from the day.  Those of us that did not travel this weekend went to dinner at a Greek place down the street and I got a chicken pita which had chicken, tomato, tzatziki sauce, and French fires (a surprisingly good addition).  Then we walked back and got chocolate bombolini’s (doughnuts).  Apparently after lunch they are warm and even better!  It was a surprisingly cheap dinner, under 6 euros for the pita and bombolini! 

What else is planned for this weekend? A hike in Prato tomorrow, a museum visit and some homework thrown in there.  Also, Megan and I decided to go to Barcelona next weekend.  So excited!!

I absolutely love everything about being abroad, independence, new experiences, new friends and just a grand old time J 

Love,

Allie

P.S.  The wifi here is awful (I like to joke that when the wifi dies - which is often, it is hiding in the Duomo) and it takes way too much time to upload a photo on to here, so selected pictures are on Facebook.