Rome in Two Days!

*****I am still having trouble with loading pictures, I think it's my slow internet connection. I will keep trying though!*****

Be glad folks, these past two days have been piled with so much that I decided to force myself to update because otherwise I’m going to forget everything. We arrived in Rome Sunday and that night we had a welcome dinner. I finally got to see my Grandmother and cousin Wanda, who I haven’t seen in quite sometime. Dinner was a bit crazy with a five-course meal with plenty of wine to go around. Grandmother, after having a few, was in the corner screaming, “ARRIVERRRDERRCCIIII ROOOMMMEEE!” to the two men playing music while Wanda was wanting to include every wine glass that we drank in our pictures saying, “I want my kids to recognize me”. I think we established who we were that very night to our tour group.

The next morning, we woke up at 6 in the morning on Monday to make sure we got in line for breakfast, may I suggest a croissant, nutella and banana… you may thank me later. Next we set off at 7:45 to get to the Vatican, which I didn’t understand why we had to be there so early at first, but then I stood in line and slowly watched as the people piled in behind. The Vatican is the biggest tourist attraction in Rome and there are a lot of people that come to see where all the mystery behind Catholicism lies.

Although I loved visiting the Vatican and I gathered a lot of information, it is too crowded that makes it a little unpleasant as well. The room with The Last Judgment and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which depicts the Creation of the World and Fall of Man, was incredible to see up close and the stories behind them made them even more interesting. For instance, in The Last Judgment, in the bottom left corner is a man with donkey ears and a snake wrapped around him and biting his manhood. Our tour guide said that this figure represented Cardinal Carafa who did not like Michelangelo’s work because the figures were naked and that was considered a taboo. In fact, this was one of the first paintings that depicted the body completely nude, even from the backside. Well, Michelangelo was obviously offended by his comments and painted him in this humiliating manner after the fact. This cardinal of coarse complained to the Pope, but this particular Pope liked Michelangelo and said that there is nothing wrong with these bodies being naked because in the last judgment, we are all naked before God. And although I loved seeing this amazingly famous piece of work, it was so crowded in that room that it made the moment of soaking in this massive historical fresco to fade away into the hustle and bustle of the room.

After surviving the Vatican, we went to the Roman Forum, a huge area in Rome that is filled with Roman ruins. The great thing about Rome, to me, is just that. Not necessarily just the Roman Forum, but in general the ruins that Rome has preserved for the world to see. There is nothing like it, and it’s mind blowing to think that you are standing where the Romans stood thousands of years ago. The Colosseum, which we saw next, is exactly the same. I mean how is it possible to keep something so enourmous and historical so well maintained when you have millions of people that have flooded in over the years. It makes me wonder what will be preserved thousands of years from now that will make people look at it in awe, or if anything will even be conserved. It seems now that so many people rebuild more new and bigger buildings everyday, and that’s more important than keeping our old ones.

At this point, Grandmother and cousin Wanda were worn out, and let me tell you, they were troopers, and I’m happy they could experience this. As for Mom and I, we weren’t done with Rome. Later that afternoon, we went back to Rome and visited the main Roman highlights: Piazza di Spagna, Fountain of Tivoli, the Pantheon, and Piazza Novana. Since this is a lot, I’m going to talk about my favorite, the Pantheon. What’s interesting about the Pantheon is not just that it’s the best-preserved church in Rome, but the structure of the Dome. It has a hole in the middle of the dome that is wide open to the sky, and when it rains, the rain just falls into the church. There are 22 holes in the floor of the church that allows the rain to drain, and it has been like this 126 AD. The dome was also used as a way to tell time through sunlight reflecting on the walls of the dome. One last thing that makes the Pantheon dome so magnificent is it is a perfect circle, meaning that if you could turn the dome above you completely upside down and it would perfectly touch the floor, you would be standing inside a large bowl. I was fascinated and the fact that it has rained in the church for thousands of years and it’s so well conserved is pretty amazing.

Tuesday was a free day; some people chose to travel to the optional excursion, Pompeii. However, we decided to have another day in Rome to see a few more things that we hadn’t seen. We started off by going to the Ponte Rotto, a bridge from the 2^nd century BC. It’s in the middle of the Tiger River, the main river running through Rome, and you can’t get to it because both sides are broken off. Although it’s filled with cracks and overgrown plants, it’s a miracle that this bridge is still even standing. I mean, Before Christ! We also visited the Santa Maria in Cosmedin, known for their mosaic flooring and La Bocca di Verita. La Bocca della Verita is a Aztec looking stone face with it’s mouth open. It is said that the mouth would snap shut if you were lying, a good way to tell if spouses were being true. So we got our pictures there, along with everyone else before entering the church.

After we took that in we ended up walking towards the Piazza Novana, where we were going to have dinner with Grandmother and Wanda, and on the way we stumbled upon the Jewish Ghetto. It’s basically another roman ruin that was believed to be a fish market due to findings of massive amounts of clam and oyster shells. But this ghetto is literally like walking through it almost as if it were thousands of years ago, it’s well preserved and you can just see the action that took place here. After that we kept winding around the road and found a set of steps going up towards the Piazza Campidoglio, still unknown what exactly this place was. But what was neat is just on the other end of it, you could see an entire view of the Roman Forum. My point about this day is even if you don’t know where your going or what to do, and I believe this goes for anywhere you go, if you just pick a point and go there, you never know what you’ll run into. We started off that day by wanting to see the bridge and ended up seeing a lot more than we had anticipated.

Also, being that it is now Wednesday, we drove from Rome to Florence. The interesting thing today is we went to Pisa on the way. Pisa has the famous leaning tower, ‘nuff said. And there is nothing else interesting there, and yes, you must do the corny leaning tower pictures. Get creative and just do it, it’s fun!

Mia Madre Sono Arrivata!

Well Wednesday finally rolled around, and my mommy came! I was so excited, class couldn’t have gone any slower! Wednesday, she was a trooper! We went to have her first Italian meal at a restaurant suggested by Sabrina called Gastone, a very cute restaurant off the beaten path that was decorated in simple white and blue, very cute. Mom had the Gnochetti and I had pasta with a pesto creamy sauce, of coarse we split a bottle of vino! I wanted to treat her to some Chianti Classico wine - the best wine here in Florence because they are made in Tuscany and known to be some of the best wine to purchase in the Florence area. After we were pleasantly full, I took her to get the best of the best Grom gelato and then we did a little shopping – probably my best and worst addiction. One of my favorite things I’ve bought thus far has been a purple, leather side-strap purse with a leather flower stitched on the front. We found this store, Nahual, near the restaurant we ate at, and the woman who owns it stitches her own work and truly has some unique items in there from purses to crocheted hats. I was really proud of this buy!

Mom's first meal

Thursday, I was proud of mom, she woke up early and got ready for the day! We went to the Boboli Gardens and then to the Palazzo Pitti – the palace where the Pitti family lived. The Boboli Gardens was their own “quaint” backyard. The Palazzo Pitti had many things, but we were only able to see what was called modern artwork that had been restored from the late 1800s to early 1900s. The rooms were fashioned in deep reds and light blues with heavy drapes hung on the windows. In my opinion, the most beautiful and unique characteristics about any building you walk into in Italy is the ceilings and frescoes that are carefully painted from so long ago. It’s always the first thing I look at when I walk in somewhere, whether there is a frescoe or not, the structures of the walls to the ceilings are something you’ll rarely see.

Before we left, we met a ninety-year-old man touring the Boboli Gardens! He was British and thought mom and me were the prettiest things on two legs that walked by. After he proceeded to pluck my hair that he loved and got up from his wheelchair and danced for us, he headed up the hill without his cane as it it was no effort. Very interesting man, I hope he has the time of his life. After a few hours of hiking and strolling around the museum, we were starving and found a place on the river called The Golden View. The food was delicious, but the view made it even better. We now have reservations here for my Grandmother and cousin Wanda for when we return to Florence on our tour.

Our Scottish friend came to visit!

Friday was not only the last day of school (thank goodness, let’s be honest school is still school whether in Italy or not) and my last day to be with Sabrina! We went to lunch in Fiesole where Mom could see the view of Florence. I was really glad Mom was able to meet Sabrina, I’m going to miss her. She has been a wonderful house mother and I’m really sad to be leaving her. I hope one day we can be reunited, OH WAIT! We are next week for dinner at her house when I swing back by Florence on the tour! But after that, I’m going to be even more sad because now it will be real. I will be officially leaving my semi-hometown for good. There are many memories that I’ve had with new and old friends that I will always cherish and I can now officially tell anyone I meet, “Yes, I have lived in three places in my lifetime (maybe even more at this point) Alabama, Virginia, and Italy. Oh you haven’t? That’s too bad

Last day of school with the walking group!

The wall of San Gimignano

And one last day, since I haven’t written a blog in a while, I have to talk about my day yesterday. Today was a very special day, My Mom and I took what we thought was a full wine tour throughout Chianti, but ended up being more of a tour of a few Tuscan cities with one wine tasting stop on the way. However, although there was less vino, there was a lot more fun!

First stop, San Gimignano, a small town in the hills with buildings dating back to the 11^th and 13^th century. It is known to have some of the oldest medieval buildings in Italy. We had about an hour here where we walked around the small town. The market was open and the first thing I see when I walk in is a GIANT pig with a piece of bread (instead of an apple) stuck in it’s mouth, while a man was hacking away at it’s hiney. A brutal, yet hilarious site to see.

After San Gimignano, we the went to Siena where we had lunch and a short tour of the city. This city was divided into family clans that are represented by animals and insects, a few examples being: caterpillar, porcupines, unicorns and elephants. If there is a family member marrying a member of another animal icon, the families sign a prenuptial agreement to determine which clan their child will be in. Our tour guide was part of the elephant members, Roll Tide! Also, there were five popes from Siena. So, basically Siena was really cool and I am really glad I got to see it.

Some of the animal symbols that represented each clans part of the town, this was a dragon. Oh and they did have elephant, so we got some small flags with the elephant clan symbol!

This McDonalds opened in Siena and ended up closing because nobody went. Che???

Man playing on the streets of Siena with a drum, flute and shakers (look at his legs).

Pretty darn good!

Mom and the wine barrel!

Our Bulgarian friends!

Our last stops were Pienza and Montepulciano. Pienza is where we had the wine tasting. The owner of the vineyard was a silly old man who only spoke Italian, but had a common way of flirting with the ladies. And I suggest if you ever do a wine tasting in Italy, or anywhere else in a foreign country, to send your bottles back. It’s a little pricey, but isn’t it worth to have it when you’re back at home, no longer in the beautiful Tuscan countryside?

Pretty view after the wine tasting

Isn't it amazing?

Say Cheeeese... ha ha ha!

Our last stop was Montepulciano at the tip-top of the hills where I saw two things. The first unforgettable image I was fortunate to see were the Tuscan hills that almost seem to roll on for miles and miles into the distance. Scenes from the Gladiator were filmed here. Also, remember the scene in New Moon (if you are a Twilight Saga fan like me) when Edward is stepping out into the crowd as he was about to reveal his true vampire identity to the world as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt to show his abnormally sparkling skin in the sunlight (in case you don’t know, vampires in Twilight have skin that sparkles in the sunlight)?! Yeah, I was there, where that scene was filmed in the center of the town Montepulciano. And by the way, there is no fountain; they built that for the dramatic effect of Bella running across it to save her vampire lover. Sorry, I’m a bit of a nerd. But, in short, this day was a really special day for us to experience because the Tuscan countryside is certainly like no countryside you would see in the southern hills of Alabama.

See that little door behind the stairs?

This one? New Moon shot!

Edward was right there!

No fountain.

Who Knew That Dreary Weather Existed in Florence?

This weekend was SUPPOSED to be a weekend to hang out with Sabrina and see the sights that are a off the beaten path. But, who knew that it does actually rain ‘Under the Tuscan’ sun… and rain… and rain… and there is literally nothing to do. Everything fun to do is downtown, or the center, and to get to the center you either have to walk, take a taxi or take a bus. You can’t drive your car through the center, so in weather conditions like this, it’s a bit of a pain. So, I convinced Sabrina to teach me the ways of her cooking methods. It originally was going to be a small lunch – steamed carrots sautéed with onions, olive oil, and garlic, and bruschetta (my favorite thing to eat now). And before I knew it, I was also making curry rice and coconut cake!I was having so much fun, that I forgot what a dreadful day it was outside! When it was all ready, we sat down at the table and Sabrina opened a bottle of wine as a celebration. I told her I liked to cook, but I’m not sure if she believed me, but hey my Mom can vouch for me! She knows I can cook (unless I just think I can).

Sabrina taking pictures!

She did not think I could cook!

Not much, but it was delicious! The way she cooks is so interesting because she literally measures everything out by spoons or drinking cups. Like a cake, normally we'd freak out without measuring cups and spoons and she just says ohh well maybe 2 or 2 scoops more flour!

Later in the evening, I had a big date with La Traviata! Our professors offered tickets to the opera for those that were in town for the weekend. And, boy, was it an event to remember! It was the worst opera I’ve ever seen, not that I’ve seen that many, but I can safely say it was really bad. I really wish I could explain it all, but I’m going to have to sum it up as best as I can.For one it was in a small auditorium with probably 100 or so seats and about 30 people filled them, which sometimes can be kind of cool, like an off-Broadway play. But the singers’ voices were so loud they rang in my ear, literally, it’s a wonder I could nap (oh yeah, I dozed off a few times, and I wasn’t the only one). Props were falling apart, for instance, the plastic handle fell off of one of the plastic wine glasses. And all the while Gabriella could not stop laughing and crying, while muttering under her breath “Mamma mia, this is terrible!” and was influencing the whole group to not be able to keep our mouths shut. She kept saying during the multiple intermissions, “No, it’s really okay if you want to leave,” looking for an excuse to get the heck out of there. Needless to say, we finally dipped out. Oh and we went downstairs to go to the bathroom and all the people in the opera were staring at us… I wonder if they heard us?

I LOVE THE CARS! If I lived in Europe, I think I would go for one of these or any of the cars that are like a vespa combined with a car!

Oh, also Kelly and I have discovered the best chocolate ever! It’s called Kinder Cioccolato and I promise I’ve never tasted better store bought chocolate. It’s milk chocolate with white chocolate on the inside, I don’t know what makes it so good but I bought two packs with sixteen bars. And Kelly and I were so excited we purchased a wonder ball as well that came with Shrek characters. Jealous?

Two Men and a Fight

This is a little random and probably not interesting, but Kelly and I just witnessed our first recognizable Italian fight. Most of the time, I can never tell whether or not an Italian is mad because they always sound so angry and stern when they speak. However, not only was it clear the two were yelling at one another, I also caught the word "pazzo" which means crazy and then there was some pushing and shoving... I think it is a confirmed Italian fight. Pretty cool eh?

Finally - Museums

First off, and I have to say this to admit my shame, I ate Mc Donald’s Monday. Yes, I, Hillary Stroud, who hates fast food (unless it’s Chick-fil-a), ate a Mc Donald’s cheeseburger and fries and I’m not going to even mention how much I paid for the three ketchups that I was initially craving from the beginning. Although I love Italian food, and I know that I can’t get pizza, panini’s or pasta like this anywhere else, I need some dang American food sometimes. That day, I also bought Skippy’s Crunchy Peanut Butter, jelly, and bread at the supermarket to eat for lunch from now on. I’m not gonna lie, I had one today, and I think it was the best PBJ I’ve ever tasted in my entire life – nay, the best sandwich I’ve had in my entire life. Take that back , that’s not true, but it really made me feel like a good ole’ American! Did I mention somebody said, “Roll Tide” to us today? Right on the streets of Florence, a Tide fan! I mean my heart lifted and a bright smile grew on my face. Sometimes… you just need feel like an American!

Now that I’ve gone on my American rant, and don’t judge me, but this past Monday was the first day I had finally gone to a museum. I know I’ve been here for two weeks and you’re probably wondering what the heck I’ve done so far and it feels like a lot but now I’m not so sure!

Monday, a group of us went to the Galleria dell’Accademia where you can find the real Michelangelo’s statue of David. It is surprisingly remarkable when you see the enormous intensity of the statue. It's over-sized hands with it’s strength visible through the veins almost makes you feel like this thing could come to life and crush you. I can literally see what looks like body weight planted on the foot of the statue. It’s incredibly overwhelming to take in for the few seconds it takes to see the statue.

I have to also mention, as I was pointed out by Barton, when/if you go to the Galleria dell’Accademia, make sure you take in what’s just right before the statue of David in the hallway leading to it. The Accademia has on display a few sculptures called the unfinished slaves where it shows how Michelangelo carved his figures. It’s interesting, because you can see their struggle to break free from the rocks that he chiseled them into. I would have taken the time to look at these sculptors whether I knew about them or not, but I’m not sure if I would have appreciated it as much as I do now if Barton hadn't told me about them.

Today was another exciting museum day (and thankfully it’s been raining), a group of us went to the Uffitzi, one of the most famous art museums in Florence that holds famous works by artists such as da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangel and many many more. One of my favorite piece of artworks that I was excited to see was “The Birth of Venus”, which I’m sure if you don’t recognize the name you’ve seen the painting somewhere before. It really is a beautiful piece of art that I took the time to fully take in. Maybe it’s the innocent simple colors that are used or the softness of the figures, but this painting just seems so graceful, simple, and pretty to me.

The other piece that I really liked was by Leonardo da Vinci, who always interests me. “The Adoration of the Magi” is displayed that is a painting that Leonardo never finished, which I think is engaging because you can see the different strokes and shades of the figures that were never completed. I’ve seen some of Leonardo’s work that was briefly on display in Birmingham, Alabama that shows just some sketches that he had done of figures and gadgets. He was not only an artist, but a brilliant man, as I’m sure you know. Well, you may think it’s silly, but I always think it’s sort of mind boggling.

I also FINALLY ate at the legendary Grom – supposedly the best place to get gelato in Florence. From what I heard, there’s a line down the corner of the street to get inside to order. However, we somehow, went at a good time and didn’t have to wait at all. It definitely lived up to it’s reputation, I ordered the Café and Crème di Grom (which is I think vanilla ice cream with biscotti bites and chocolate chip bits) in a waffle cone. I wish I got a bigger waffle cone to fit more ice cream, it was the best gelato/ice cream I’ve ever had! And I fully intend to go back tomorrow.

The Surreal World of Positano

This past weekend, I went to Positano and Capri from Friday to Sunday. It’s one of those places that you see in magazines and say, “Well... there’s a place I could only see in my dreams.” And I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about where my honeymoon would be, but Positano is it. And I even have my hotel in my mind:

But, “let’s start from the very beginning.. a very good place to start,” (Sorry, random Sound of Music lyrics). There’s a confusing and way too long of a story of how we got to stay where we ended up staying in Positano, but it was too frustrating due to a mixture of waiting too late (Thursday to be exact) and having a rather large group travelling together. Long story short, we did not sleep on the streets of Positano (although would it really be that bad if your in possibly the most beautiful place in the world?

http://www.ilsanpietro.it/main_eng.html

It almost blends in with the cliffs... it's gorgeous!

Other than that, the only other frustration was travelling to Positano. Now, I am going to tell you the details because if you ever go, you might want to know about the difficulty of getting to this paradise, but keep in mind – it is completely worth it. I’m not going to sugar coat anything, but do not get discouraged my friends. First, take a train to Naples (Firenze to Naples was three hours) – easy enough. Second, take a “train” (but I like to think of it as a subway) to Sorrento. Do not buy a 6 euro Naples city bus ticket and expect to get to Sorrento. No, no, no… Sorrento is a miserable, sticky hour-long subway ride to the last point of transportation to your final destination, Positano. When you get to Sorrento, buy yet another bus ticket to Positano. The only problem here – the bus comes every hour to hour and a half. And it is one long, windy road to Positano, but what did I say? Completely worth it. Because once your on that bus, it’s nothing but clear blue waters and a city towering over the cliffs ahead of you!

View from the bus

*By the way, I need to add that bus tickets are sold at tobacchi stores in Italy. I found that out the hard way the first day I was here.

So when we FINALLY arrived in Positano – correction, seven of us stayed at a hotel just a 15-minute bus ride away called Le Fiore. It ended up being a great place to stay, the hotel was 39 euros a night (which is as much as a hostel), it was family owned (so the environment was friendly and warm), and it wasn’t too shabby if I do say so myself. Did I mention free breakfast?To eat for dinner, we went to a restaurant down the street and I had the world’s best seafood pasta. After a glass or two of wine and a few giggles later, we passed out after a long a rough day.

Mmmm - there was what looked like a prawn, clams, scallops and the most tender

calamari all with a light tomato sauce!

And that's not the biggest lemon you'll see

I have been given permission to tell this story, just try to picture this. My friend Kelly and Barton (one of the sweetest guys out there, we all think of him as a little brother) decided instead of going to Capri, that they wanted to stay in Positano and rent vespa’s for the day – Hey, when in Italy! So, those who decided to stay behind and visit the Blue Grotto in Capri – Alanna, Kristen, Courtney and me – were sitting around the breakfast table enjoying our chocolate croissants and cappuccino when Barton walks in, “No, no, not happening.” Turns out, both had to ride the vespa a few circles around a graveled “parking lot” that was so tiny that’s it’s really no wonder this didn’t work out. Barton started the vespa, drove two feet and just kind of toppled over (from what I hear). Kelly on the other hand was able to make it around one circle, tried to stop the vespa with the break handle bar, skids on a turn and runs into a car. The man renting the vespa – which I also hear are more like motorcycles – said to Kelly, “Vespa no problem, you problem!” And ripped up their credit card and license information and send them on their sad way home. Poor Kelly now has a huge scrape on her leg with black and blue bruises, however she can still proudly say, “I’ve ridden a vespa!”

So, the Blue Grotto’s is amazing. It’s somewhat of a tourist trap, but for a good reason- it’s mysteriously enchanting. If you don’t know what the Blue Grotto is, it’s a opening just above the ocean that leads to a cave where the water is said to look like it’s glowing. To get there, you take a boat from Capri to the Blue Grotto. Then you have to wait in line with a bunch of other boats with a bunch of other tourists. And all the while your trying to figure out what the boat drivers are yelling to one another. Our guy (who looks like a more gorgeous Pierce Brosnan) sounded as if he was arguing with all the other Italians about who’s first and this and that while they’re waving their hands around like they’re praying (I swear just think of Italian men from Sopranos or The Godfather), but then the next minute they would all be laughing and saying “OOO, mio fratello!” (Oh, my brother)? Finally, our boat’s turn came, and what do we do? We hop on another very small wooden boat with a man paddling it around. We fit all four girls on there, one in the front, and three in the back. It was already hard enough to sit with that many girls stuffed in a corner of a boat, but before we go in, we have to lay all the way down because the hole to get into the cave is so small and the waves are thrusting against the rocks violently, that the only “safe” way to get in is to duck down. After one quick minute, we got in safely looked up and I saw the small opening of the cave to the outside world illumintating the now bright icey-blue waters. Although there are many other tourists surrounding your boat, all the chauffers are singing opera musicals and whistling into the dark to hear a brilliant captivating echo throughout the cave. It was a beautiful well worth five minutes, as our day came quickly to an end.

James Bond anyone?

Capri!

Although we left Sunday, we did have a few hours to spend lounging on the beach and doing a little shopping. But, in all honesty I felt like a little kid again because I couldn’t wait to jump in the Mediterranean Ocean on the Positano Beaches! I have never felt so free and relaxed before. I could literally float effortlessly in the waters and swim out to as far as I wanted, all the while I had a view of the quaint Positano town hanging on to the cliffs towering above me. I don’t know if it could have gotten better. And as it was time to leave on the hectic ride home – since we have to leave so early in order to get back within 6-7 hours, my thoughts were still in shock that I was lucky enough to be able to do something as surreal as this. Not that many people get this opportunity in their lives. But if you do, you will not regret it, I can promise you that.

It is sad there do seem to be a number of dogs roaming around, but they are the sweetest dogs just looking for a little company! They'll play with you a little and stick around like they love ya and then someone else walks along and they found a new playmate! I really wanted to take him home though =(

My Favorite Things In a Nutshell

I've been in Firenze, Italy for a little over (scratch that about two weeks) and I can safely say this is my first chance to not only have the time to start writing my blog, but also to have a do-nothing day. So to get started, I'm just going to begin with the top ten stories of the week.

Italia

1. Saturday, June 29^th, 2010 was one of my most important days here. It was the day I arrived in Firenze, Italy after one long day on multiple airplanes, which thankfully I like to fly. But as I step out of the tiny airport (WITH NO COOL PASSPORT STAMPED), I completely forget about the jet lag that was settling in and realize… I am in Firenze, Italia period And just one taxi drive and a surreal scenic city view later we arrive to Sabrina Volpi’s casa. I don’t know if it’s quite possible to have a better house mom. She’s a beautiful Italian woman who works in the tourism industry in Firenze. Her apartment looks like a cross between Anthropologie and IKEA with a dash (as Taylor in the group would say “just add some Mrs. Dash to it”) of eclectic random tid bits collected over the years. It’s unique, along with her personality, and she couldn’t be sweeter. Sabrina’s food is always prepared in a slightly more modern Italian way – 2-3 simple, yet delicious main dishes always served along with salad and bread all placed on the table. Oh, and a different dessert made every night tops your dinner off. (Did I mention she prepares a cup of coffee for me every night? A flick of a button away and my morning coffee is ready). Like I said, couldn’t be better.

First Italian Meal In Italia provided by Gabriella!

**Brownie points if you know this question, why do countries call so many cities and/or countries different names rather than their originals? For instance, a lot of countries (not just the U.S.) decides to call Firenze – Florence and for that matter Italia – Italy… me and my roommate Kelly have been debating the answer to this question for some time now.

Some of the Girls

2. To top off how fabulous Sabrina is as a house mom, she informed Kelly, my amazing roommate, and me about a special Chianti Classico wine tour with a small cost of 10 euros!Chianti Classico is known to have the world’s best-known wine with a curious logo being that of a black rooster. It just so happened during this week we arrived, Chianti Classico was having this special priced wine tour. So the girls that I have become close to – one obviously being Kelly – and Alana and Kristen decided to do a little authentic wine tasting. There was a bus at the train station – which by the way we just barely made – to take us there and the ride was a little over an hour on quite a windy road up the mountains to Chianti. And although it was a bit of a nauseating ride, it was a pleasant view to the little town. The vineyard we tasted wine at was called The Monte Bernardi – an area that has been acknowledged as a “Grand Cru of Chianti Classico” – AKA really good wine. And although I can’t specify all the details of how fabulous the wine smelled with a twirl of my glass and how it delicious it tasted afterwards… I can say that the man who owned the vineyard was good-looking and I am now on the prowl for an American/Italian/any freakin’ ethnicity that owns a vineyard. I don’t think it is possible to have a better life. But, this one was taken by a gorgeous and seemingly very intelligent woman who I can fully and proudly say, I envy her life.

The girls at Chianti

Carino eh?

Boboli Gardens

3. The Boboli Gardens is one of Firenze’s largest gardens to visit located in the Palazzo Pitti and although I walked around the garden for nearly two hours, apparently (as I was informed by my always trusted map bearer) we only saw about a fourth of the gardens. However, the Boboli Gardens was the first place that I saw the view of the city of Florence and I can honestly say, as corny as this might sound, it was breathtaking. And curiously enough, everything you see in Florence is like an image from postcard, it just can’t be real. The city is literally too surreal to comprehend.

Awkwardddd

4. Now I’m not one for the mushy love stuff, so I wasn’t actually jumping for the clouds when I heard we were going to the Casa di Giulietta, but I heard it’s a place you must go to so you can touch Giuliette’s right breast? Maybe I’m not in the “know circle”, but I was not aware this was a trendy must-do thing in Verona. Therefore, I willfully go along with my group of girls like any good ole’ tourist would do. First of all, let me just take you off track for a moment, the Italians drive like maniacs. I’m that girl you see in America that walks out in front of you because in my perspective I have the ride-away. However, when in Italia, the cars have the ride-away. So when walking in Italia, walk with caution and be quick on your toes. Second, the necessity of riding in a cab is sometimes inevitable. They too, drive like maniacs. Now, being in Italia I fully expect this to be the case. Did I think I would get in a cab and be holding onto Kelly for sweet beautiful life? No. The cab driver nearly got into a wreck with an Italian man, afterwards spoke what seemed like unpleasant foreign words to one another, quickly said “oh.. sorry” to his passengers (us) and kept driving to our destination as if nothing had happened. I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to get out of a car, and I mean that in all seriousness. Finally, to our destination, the Casa di Giulietta. Now, when I think of Giulietta’s house, I think of a beautiful quaint brick building filled with people who believe in ever-lasting love and all that jazz, but this casa was not quite what it seemed. The walls of the entrance was filled with letters to Giulietta written by people stuck to the wall with gum and the statue of Juliet was disturbingly being felt up for goodluck by everyone waiting in line to take a picture. Maybe that is to be expected, but I was not prepared for a tacky tourist trap that I couldn’t wait to get out of. However, I will say it was worth doing it for the sake of saying I’ve done it. So, after I grabbed Giulietta inappropriately and posted my trendy letter, “All you need is love,” attached with my mint gum, I skipped along my way to another ponte – bridge – and up to another castle, Castele San Pietro, and saw another fantastic view of the city. I swear, every walk you get the chance to take to see a view of any city in Italy is well worth the short breath.

We found a secret garden!!!

I do want to take this time to mention my new friend Kristen. She is for all it’s worth is a true believer in true love, and I admire her for that.

Homemade Pasta

5. I have not properly introduced my fabulous instructors, because this next story just shows how fabulous they truly are. Gabriella Merriman is a professor of the Italian language at the University of Alabama. To describe Gabriella, she dresses in a funky, cool style that not many can pull off, with an energy about her that always puts you in a good mood. Lidia Ciccone is a new professor of the Italian language at the University of Alabama. I haven’t gotten to know her as well, but she seems like she’d show me a good time! The two took us to a small town called Donta in Collina, a small town in the countryside. We were invited to cook at a professor’s house named Gabriella who teaches at the school we attend in Firenze – and note that there are many, many Gabriella’s in Italy, each and every one unique of coarse -Gabriella opened her home up to 20 Alabama students teaching us how to cook authentic Italian dishes. To name them all would make me hungry, but I can name my two favorites. The first was an appetizer she made for us to eat while we chopped and stirred, fried sage. When I say sage, I literally mean a full sage leaf plucked from her very own garden and fried in a pan. You may think it sounds strange, but it was delicious. The second dish I loved was the dessert. It was similar to a vanilla crème pudding with a texture of whipped crème, served with il cioccolato salame (it’s not actually chocolate and meat, it just resembles what looks like salami). I’m not sure if I’ve had a better dessert, and I can say I’ve had my fair share of i dolci in my days. In all, I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be my favorite day in Italia. Our group really seemed to bond with one another this day and was happy to just enjoy the simplicities of good food, good friendships and good people.

Half the Noodles My Size

7. Tuesday, June 8, Gabriella and Lidia took the group to a wine tasting in Chainti – and although I have been to Chianti before (poor me), it’s definitely worth another trip. This time we went to the Castello di Verrazzano, which I still to this day can not tell you what this place was all about. Our professor made him speak in Italian, which makes perfect sense - we are here to learn the Italian language. But it was very difficult to get the full effect of this the Castello di Verrazzano when I really had no idea what this man was saying about the wines produced there or the history of the castle. However, I can tell you the wine tasting at the end was more than delightful. I still, as usual, tried to understand the meaning of the wine and what it really smells like and what it really tastes like, but I failed once again. However, I did not fail at eating the enourmous amounts of prosciutto and salami that was offered. Gabriella at one point said, “I like Hillary because she never says no.” Which is true, when in Italia. One thing to keep in mind, if you are on a diet you might as well just forget about your weight watcher points and leave the scale at home because the food here is impossible to pass up. I literally have never been a fan of gelato, but in Italia I probably eat it every other day. Gelato is like the Starbucks of America, you can find one on every corner, try spending your entire day in constant sun and heat and pass up that gelato store on the next street. Trust me, just manga manga manga!

8. Yet another group adventure, provided by Gabriella and Lidia, was a walk to Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte, and boy was it a walk! This church is situated just above the Piazzale Michelangelo, and it is known to have one of the most beautiful views of Firenze. I know I keep using words like “beautiful” and “breathtaking” and all those flourished words, but this city, this country is nothing but. I can honestly say from all the hills I’ve climbed and stairs I’ve nearly suffocated on, I am still not to the point of coming close to thinking, “I’ve seen enough views of Florence,” because it never ceases to amaze you. If you ever visit, take full advantage of the alluring charm Italia has to offer, because you’ll never see something like this in America

That’s just a taste of what I have thankfully gotten from studying abroad to Italy thus far, and look forward to (keep your fingers crossed) keeping you updated! Next stop, Positano, Pompeii and Capri!

BEST CAPPUCINO EVER!