Wow, it has been forever. I thought it might be a good time to revive my blog. I've been student teaching since September now and have already completed my middle school placement! It was an amazing experience and I miss my 8th graders terribly.
I'm not at Lincoln High School here in Manitowoc. It has been very enlightening and interested thus far. I couldn't have a better mentor to learn from. My supervising teacher is not only brilliant, but she helps me reflect on myself and is always there to listen when I feel a class went bad. Which a lot of them have!
I thought it would be interesting to start writing again to document my new teaching life. I graduate this Saturday and my birthday is this Sunday, so I have a lot coming up in the next few days. I said that after this weekend, I'm going to feel so old. Too much growing up going on here!
I will be keeping these much shorter, but hey.. why not write my thoughts down here!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Dublin and Paris: Expensive But Beautiful
So, I figured that since it has been forever I should probably update on my week traveling with Cari to Ireland and France. It's really hard to start typing this since we had so much fun and it's hard to recount all those funny little quirky times, but I'll give a brief overview.
Cari arrived two Fridays ago and I decided to meet her in Pisa (where she flew in) because then we'd be able to see the leaning tower of Pisa together. Met her at the airport and saw the HUGE bag she decided to bring so that I could pack up some of my stuff. The only probably is... it had no wheels. We had a really hard time carrying the bag around and we took a busride to see the tower. After we got our infamous "holding up the tower" pics, we got a few souveniors and then had to walk a ways back to the central train station. Let me tell you, bag with no wheels, not a good idea. It was so hard to carry it, we had to lug it probably over a mile with the sun beating on us. We survived, of course, but were exhausted by the time the train got into Florence. It was a little later in the day so we walked around a bit and then went out to eat with the roommates.
On Saturday, our flight didn't leave until later in the day so we bummed around all day, met Libbi's mother who was there for the week (oh yeah, it was our second spring break so everyone was traveling around Europe). Our flight to Dublin went pretty good except for the annoying people on the plane. We took a bus into the city center and found our hostel pretty easily. At first, none of the roommates (we were in a 8 female dorm) said anything to us, so we just decided to go get some SUBWAY and hit up a few bars. Well, oh my gosh, not only was subway expensive (which I still ate graciously) but so were the drinks. We ordered what had to end up being the smallest bloody mary's in the world for 7 EURO.. I was like, oh my gosh, so we decided to share a pint of guiness as well because obviously that was cheaper. The guiness was gross, of course, but at least we didn't buy another drink from there. There was also this guy singing live music though which was cool. Next, we went to this pub that was just down the street from our hostel. I wanted to go home, but Cari, after much begging and pleading, convinced me to stay out. We got vodka and sprites.. once again, smallest ever and it was like a half shot in there, we were pissed. Buuuuut, I'm a sucker for live music and they had a two guys, one with a guitar and the other with an accordian playing live Irish music. Needless to say, by the end of the night we were singing along.
The next day brought a new perspective. First, we were planning to go on the free 3-hour walking tour of Dublin (which I did in Scotland too, by the same company). It ended up being a really great time and very informational. We saw all the cathedrals and main streets. This, of course, was Easter day too, which happens to not be a very big holiday in Dublin, but we still had fun anyway. On the way home, at like 3p, we decided to get this beer cider and California wine from the local grocery store. So we were drinking it in our hostel dorm room and our roommates walked in and they ended up being so cool. They were teachers (my age) in France and were from California and Canada. So, we decided it would be neat if we all went out together that night in Dublin's artsy district called Temple Bar. Cari and I went out to eat quick before that and I had a delicious chicken caesar wrap with fries and Cari had the traditional Irish pot-pie. It was really good and by the time we got back, the girls were ready to head out. Immediately we were all meshing, which was sweet, and we just went downtown and got some drinks and listened to live music. At first Cari and I had Guiness, which sucked, as usual, but then we ordered what the other girls were drinking which were called snakebites. It's like beer, black current, and I'm not sure what else, but we pretty much drank those the rest of the night because they were cheap and good. We then went to a dance club and had some fun there as well. When we got to our hostel dorm room, the 2 girls that were not with us had locked us out which led to a very funny hallway encounter. Eventually we got in and passed out.
On Monday, our plans were pretty much just shopping and the guiness factory. The night before, we asked the trio of girls if they wanted to do it with us, and they thought it would be fun. We planned to meet at 1pm because they wanted to get breakfest and Cari and I wanted to shop. We went to this keep place called Pennys (like an Old Navy) and it was like the cheapest clothes ever. I bought like 5 swimsuits (one bottoms were only 2 Euro), some shirts, and a scarf. When we were in the check out line, we realized we had like 10 minutes to get to the Guiness factory and it was like 25 minutes away walking. So we have these brown paper bags full of clothes running through the streets of Dublin, for sure looked like we stole something. We finally find the place at 1:25 and turn the corner and there they are right in front of us walking up. Haha, they were late, too. So we went in and it was amazing. The factory is like a really nice and retro museum. It is like 10 floors and at the top they have this Gravity bar with windows all around where you get to claim your free guiness. After the self-guided tour, we went to the top and had our guiness. It was a little hard because we had drank so much the night before, but it was once again, a good time. After that, it was rainy and eveyone had to use the bathroom. Well, we were on the outskirts of town and had to walk back in. After finding a place to use the rest room, we saw a cathedral, and then stopped at Penny's..... again. Haha, I picked up another 10 things and then we got subway on the way home. Cari and I decided to chill for a little bit once we got back to the hostel and two new girls moved into our room, they were young british girls checking out Trinity College and they were hilarious. Our friends had to switch rooms that morning so they were no longer in there. We packed up our bags (I had like no room to spare since buying so much stuff at Penny's) and then hung out a bit. The girls ended up coming to our room and asked if we wanted to watch some TV and hang out for a bit, since we had to leave at like 4am for Paris. We watched some 90210 in English and then called it a night. We, sadly, said goodbye to our newly made friends and then went to bed (for a mere 4 hours).
We woke up in no time and called a taxi to head to the airport. We got there and although my bag got checked, it went smoothly. The flight to Paris was alright, but apparently there are no airports in Paris. Our airport was actually 1hr bus ride outside of Paris and it only took us to the outskirts of Paris. So when we got dropped off, we had no clue where to go, but just started walking, eventually we randomly came upon the arc de triumph, which is a big monument in Paris which was pretty cool. Once we were there, we saw the effiel tower in the distance, which LOOKed like it was only a few blocks away. We walked there, not a few blocks, but got some great pictures on the way. The Effiel tower was amazing and after we saw it (we knew we'd be back the next few days) we tried to find a metro to our place. After hours of walking (with my backpack and up since 4am) we found the metro and took it for like 20 minutes till we got to our hostel. It was in the GHET-TO.. for real. I was scared. Cari and I went out to try and find a grocery store, there was nothing open (it was like 6pm) and there were A LOT of men on the street saying stuff to us. We finally found this one place with Orange Juice and then went back to the hostel. Since we were up so long we just decided to sleep since we knew we weren't going out.
Okay, I'm going to try and sum up the rest in bullet points because this is not only getting long for you, but for me.
- We woke up and took the metro downtown.
- When we got there, we got a sandwich at a local vendor, not the greatest, but food.
- After eating it in the park under the Effiel tower, we decided to climb it.
- At this point, both Cari and my cameras decided to die. We would like turn it on and snap a picture quickly and then turn it off, we figured we had a good 15 pictures left before it died completely.
- The line wasn't bad and you can actually climb it from all four legs (even though one was closed). Let me tell you, I was freeeeeaking out climbing it. It's just round and round metal stairs until you get to the first platform (there are three). I was relived, but I knew we had to go to the second floor because it was included in our 3.50 ticket. The last floor is an elevator for 9 euro. I climbed the second part, which was worse, and we chilled on the second tier for a while. We decided not to climb to the top because 1) it was expensive 2) i was afraid and 3) we were high enough to get good, 3-second pictures. Going down was just as bad as going up, but at least I was decreasing in height.
- After climbing the amazing tower, we decied to find a grocery store.
- Found one, got some food and drinks and then went back to the lawn in front of the Effiel for a picknic. Our goal was to wait there ALL DAY for a picture of the Effiel at night. We sat there forever, listened to music, and drank some gross rum.. it rained on and off quickly a few times, but otherwise we were fine.
- Finally, after waiting all day, the sun set and the tower lights went on. There were awesome. Every hour for the first 10 minutes the tower "sparkles" lights go crazy on and off and it's super pretty. We stayed at the Effiel tower from like 11am to 11pm that night.
- I was a little afraid to take the metro home that late, but it was actually safer.
- There was a decent amount of people, but all the creepers had gone to bed or something.
The next day, our last, we woke up and I felt a little sick. I sucked it up, but I really didn't feel like doing much. I just wanted to be home (florence). We walked around for longer than I thought we would (went to the Louve, just saw it and it was this beautifully big and long building and the cathedral of Notre Dame) and eventually headed to the bus station to catch the next one to the airport. After waiting an hour, we caught a bus, but still spent around 3-4 hours in the airport but we were playing intense cards so it went fast. The flight ended up going out 4o minutes late. Let me just say, Ryanair (the cheap airfare here) is a mess. Big ol' rat race. No assigned seats and a lot of angry greedy people. Finally we boarded, their motto is Ryanair, always on time. It was a scary flight to say the least, I think they were trying to make up time. We were higher than I think I've ever been, the turbulance was the worst, and I think I lost my heart on the landing. We were going so fast into the landing, the trees were flying by and I was freaking out, I literally thought I was going to die. We hit hard and when the plane FINALLY came to a stop, I was like, I never want to fly again. (How am I going to get home?!?! hahaha) We caught the next train to Florence and just went to bed when we got home.
The next few days were just spent bumming around Florence and in Friend's Pub. The trip was great and I'm so glad I got to see such amazing places. Cari and I got along really well and we met some really great people. I fell in love with the metro but I despise planes even more now. We held up the leaning tower, drank guiness in dublin, and climbed the Effiel tower. Basically a really amazing spring break. So glad Cari came and we finally got to travel Europe like we have been talking about since high school.
Now, I'm left here, 2 weeks away from home and so much to do. I have 2 long papers, 1 Italian presentation, and 4 exams. I personally think it's crazy, but I have the weekend to get a lot done. The roommates and I have been spending every second we can get taking in everything from Florence we will miss. Today, our Italian teacher asked us to write down things we will miss from Florence using the 5 senses (in Italian). Julia started crying after Hilary said she will miss waking up to her "family" in the morning.. it was a train of tears as we all tried not to cry. Our teacher was so touched. It shows how much we really will miss it, but I mean, I can't wait to get home. Florence has been good to me, but there really is no place like home. Right now, I'm battling the misquitos every night. I think we all wake up with 4-6 new bites all over our body. I wake up 4 times every night to them buzzing in my ear. I haven't slept much because of it, but it's making me want to go home even more. So annoying! I hope they just leave me alone so I can sleep the rest of the time here! Ha, okay that's my rant for the day. But I guess I should shut up since it snowed the other day for you guys. Hahaha.. sucks to be you, oh wait, I'll be there in a week and a half. AHhhh.. so excited!
Alright, well I apologize for the long story, but at least you can scroll through it. My mom had to sit and listen to it for like 2 hours and she couldn't tell me to shut up, hahaha.. so you're lucky if you are reading this because you can skip any boring parts, and if you didn't, that's your own fault! :) Have a great weekend coming up, be happy you won't be writing 2 long papers and studying. See you all so very soon and I hope you will see the influence Florence had on me first hand. I will probably write either this weekend or next week. Can't believe I'm coming home soon! Take care all!
Much love!
Pace,
Marissa
Cari arrived two Fridays ago and I decided to meet her in Pisa (where she flew in) because then we'd be able to see the leaning tower of Pisa together. Met her at the airport and saw the HUGE bag she decided to bring so that I could pack up some of my stuff. The only probably is... it had no wheels. We had a really hard time carrying the bag around and we took a busride to see the tower. After we got our infamous "holding up the tower" pics, we got a few souveniors and then had to walk a ways back to the central train station. Let me tell you, bag with no wheels, not a good idea. It was so hard to carry it, we had to lug it probably over a mile with the sun beating on us. We survived, of course, but were exhausted by the time the train got into Florence. It was a little later in the day so we walked around a bit and then went out to eat with the roommates.
On Saturday, our flight didn't leave until later in the day so we bummed around all day, met Libbi's mother who was there for the week (oh yeah, it was our second spring break so everyone was traveling around Europe). Our flight to Dublin went pretty good except for the annoying people on the plane. We took a bus into the city center and found our hostel pretty easily. At first, none of the roommates (we were in a 8 female dorm) said anything to us, so we just decided to go get some SUBWAY and hit up a few bars. Well, oh my gosh, not only was subway expensive (which I still ate graciously) but so were the drinks. We ordered what had to end up being the smallest bloody mary's in the world for 7 EURO.. I was like, oh my gosh, so we decided to share a pint of guiness as well because obviously that was cheaper. The guiness was gross, of course, but at least we didn't buy another drink from there. There was also this guy singing live music though which was cool. Next, we went to this pub that was just down the street from our hostel. I wanted to go home, but Cari, after much begging and pleading, convinced me to stay out. We got vodka and sprites.. once again, smallest ever and it was like a half shot in there, we were pissed. Buuuuut, I'm a sucker for live music and they had a two guys, one with a guitar and the other with an accordian playing live Irish music. Needless to say, by the end of the night we were singing along.
The next day brought a new perspective. First, we were planning to go on the free 3-hour walking tour of Dublin (which I did in Scotland too, by the same company). It ended up being a really great time and very informational. We saw all the cathedrals and main streets. This, of course, was Easter day too, which happens to not be a very big holiday in Dublin, but we still had fun anyway. On the way home, at like 3p, we decided to get this beer cider and California wine from the local grocery store. So we were drinking it in our hostel dorm room and our roommates walked in and they ended up being so cool. They were teachers (my age) in France and were from California and Canada. So, we decided it would be neat if we all went out together that night in Dublin's artsy district called Temple Bar. Cari and I went out to eat quick before that and I had a delicious chicken caesar wrap with fries and Cari had the traditional Irish pot-pie. It was really good and by the time we got back, the girls were ready to head out. Immediately we were all meshing, which was sweet, and we just went downtown and got some drinks and listened to live music. At first Cari and I had Guiness, which sucked, as usual, but then we ordered what the other girls were drinking which were called snakebites. It's like beer, black current, and I'm not sure what else, but we pretty much drank those the rest of the night because they were cheap and good. We then went to a dance club and had some fun there as well. When we got to our hostel dorm room, the 2 girls that were not with us had locked us out which led to a very funny hallway encounter. Eventually we got in and passed out.
On Monday, our plans were pretty much just shopping and the guiness factory. The night before, we asked the trio of girls if they wanted to do it with us, and they thought it would be fun. We planned to meet at 1pm because they wanted to get breakfest and Cari and I wanted to shop. We went to this keep place called Pennys (like an Old Navy) and it was like the cheapest clothes ever. I bought like 5 swimsuits (one bottoms were only 2 Euro), some shirts, and a scarf. When we were in the check out line, we realized we had like 10 minutes to get to the Guiness factory and it was like 25 minutes away walking. So we have these brown paper bags full of clothes running through the streets of Dublin, for sure looked like we stole something. We finally find the place at 1:25 and turn the corner and there they are right in front of us walking up. Haha, they were late, too. So we went in and it was amazing. The factory is like a really nice and retro museum. It is like 10 floors and at the top they have this Gravity bar with windows all around where you get to claim your free guiness. After the self-guided tour, we went to the top and had our guiness. It was a little hard because we had drank so much the night before, but it was once again, a good time. After that, it was rainy and eveyone had to use the bathroom. Well, we were on the outskirts of town and had to walk back in. After finding a place to use the rest room, we saw a cathedral, and then stopped at Penny's..... again. Haha, I picked up another 10 things and then we got subway on the way home. Cari and I decided to chill for a little bit once we got back to the hostel and two new girls moved into our room, they were young british girls checking out Trinity College and they were hilarious. Our friends had to switch rooms that morning so they were no longer in there. We packed up our bags (I had like no room to spare since buying so much stuff at Penny's) and then hung out a bit. The girls ended up coming to our room and asked if we wanted to watch some TV and hang out for a bit, since we had to leave at like 4am for Paris. We watched some 90210 in English and then called it a night. We, sadly, said goodbye to our newly made friends and then went to bed (for a mere 4 hours).
We woke up in no time and called a taxi to head to the airport. We got there and although my bag got checked, it went smoothly. The flight to Paris was alright, but apparently there are no airports in Paris. Our airport was actually 1hr bus ride outside of Paris and it only took us to the outskirts of Paris. So when we got dropped off, we had no clue where to go, but just started walking, eventually we randomly came upon the arc de triumph, which is a big monument in Paris which was pretty cool. Once we were there, we saw the effiel tower in the distance, which LOOKed like it was only a few blocks away. We walked there, not a few blocks, but got some great pictures on the way. The Effiel tower was amazing and after we saw it (we knew we'd be back the next few days) we tried to find a metro to our place. After hours of walking (with my backpack and up since 4am) we found the metro and took it for like 20 minutes till we got to our hostel. It was in the GHET-TO.. for real. I was scared. Cari and I went out to try and find a grocery store, there was nothing open (it was like 6pm) and there were A LOT of men on the street saying stuff to us. We finally found this one place with Orange Juice and then went back to the hostel. Since we were up so long we just decided to sleep since we knew we weren't going out.
Okay, I'm going to try and sum up the rest in bullet points because this is not only getting long for you, but for me.
- We woke up and took the metro downtown.
- When we got there, we got a sandwich at a local vendor, not the greatest, but food.
- After eating it in the park under the Effiel tower, we decided to climb it.
- At this point, both Cari and my cameras decided to die. We would like turn it on and snap a picture quickly and then turn it off, we figured we had a good 15 pictures left before it died completely.
- The line wasn't bad and you can actually climb it from all four legs (even though one was closed). Let me tell you, I was freeeeeaking out climbing it. It's just round and round metal stairs until you get to the first platform (there are three). I was relived, but I knew we had to go to the second floor because it was included in our 3.50 ticket. The last floor is an elevator for 9 euro. I climbed the second part, which was worse, and we chilled on the second tier for a while. We decided not to climb to the top because 1) it was expensive 2) i was afraid and 3) we were high enough to get good, 3-second pictures. Going down was just as bad as going up, but at least I was decreasing in height.
- After climbing the amazing tower, we decied to find a grocery store.
- Found one, got some food and drinks and then went back to the lawn in front of the Effiel for a picknic. Our goal was to wait there ALL DAY for a picture of the Effiel at night. We sat there forever, listened to music, and drank some gross rum.. it rained on and off quickly a few times, but otherwise we were fine.
- Finally, after waiting all day, the sun set and the tower lights went on. There were awesome. Every hour for the first 10 minutes the tower "sparkles" lights go crazy on and off and it's super pretty. We stayed at the Effiel tower from like 11am to 11pm that night.
- I was a little afraid to take the metro home that late, but it was actually safer.
- There was a decent amount of people, but all the creepers had gone to bed or something.
The next day, our last, we woke up and I felt a little sick. I sucked it up, but I really didn't feel like doing much. I just wanted to be home (florence). We walked around for longer than I thought we would (went to the Louve, just saw it and it was this beautifully big and long building and the cathedral of Notre Dame) and eventually headed to the bus station to catch the next one to the airport. After waiting an hour, we caught a bus, but still spent around 3-4 hours in the airport but we were playing intense cards so it went fast. The flight ended up going out 4o minutes late. Let me just say, Ryanair (the cheap airfare here) is a mess. Big ol' rat race. No assigned seats and a lot of angry greedy people. Finally we boarded, their motto is Ryanair, always on time. It was a scary flight to say the least, I think they were trying to make up time. We were higher than I think I've ever been, the turbulance was the worst, and I think I lost my heart on the landing. We were going so fast into the landing, the trees were flying by and I was freaking out, I literally thought I was going to die. We hit hard and when the plane FINALLY came to a stop, I was like, I never want to fly again. (How am I going to get home?!?! hahaha) We caught the next train to Florence and just went to bed when we got home.
The next few days were just spent bumming around Florence and in Friend's Pub. The trip was great and I'm so glad I got to see such amazing places. Cari and I got along really well and we met some really great people. I fell in love with the metro but I despise planes even more now. We held up the leaning tower, drank guiness in dublin, and climbed the Effiel tower. Basically a really amazing spring break. So glad Cari came and we finally got to travel Europe like we have been talking about since high school.
Now, I'm left here, 2 weeks away from home and so much to do. I have 2 long papers, 1 Italian presentation, and 4 exams. I personally think it's crazy, but I have the weekend to get a lot done. The roommates and I have been spending every second we can get taking in everything from Florence we will miss. Today, our Italian teacher asked us to write down things we will miss from Florence using the 5 senses (in Italian). Julia started crying after Hilary said she will miss waking up to her "family" in the morning.. it was a train of tears as we all tried not to cry. Our teacher was so touched. It shows how much we really will miss it, but I mean, I can't wait to get home. Florence has been good to me, but there really is no place like home. Right now, I'm battling the misquitos every night. I think we all wake up with 4-6 new bites all over our body. I wake up 4 times every night to them buzzing in my ear. I haven't slept much because of it, but it's making me want to go home even more. So annoying! I hope they just leave me alone so I can sleep the rest of the time here! Ha, okay that's my rant for the day. But I guess I should shut up since it snowed the other day for you guys. Hahaha.. sucks to be you, oh wait, I'll be there in a week and a half. AHhhh.. so excited!
Alright, well I apologize for the long story, but at least you can scroll through it. My mom had to sit and listen to it for like 2 hours and she couldn't tell me to shut up, hahaha.. so you're lucky if you are reading this because you can skip any boring parts, and if you didn't, that's your own fault! :) Have a great weekend coming up, be happy you won't be writing 2 long papers and studying. See you all so very soon and I hope you will see the influence Florence had on me first hand. I will probably write either this weekend or next week. Can't believe I'm coming home soon! Take care all!
Much love!
Pace,
Marissa
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sweet Suprise
After getting the terrible news of what's going on just Northeast of Rome, I got a sweet suprise. Although I'm still a little sad about the earthquake that occurred this morning, especially since, who knows, it could of been me, thank God it didn't happen in Florence, but I feel sad for the people in Rome. Anyway, I was walking into school, past the reception desk where our mail is kept. One of my friends was before me so she was checking it. I saw and package there and natrually didn't think it was for me so kept walking. All of sudden, my friend was like it's for you. I was like shut up, no it's not and she was like yeah, for real. Annnnd, it was! :) It was from my sister Ashley. Such a pleasant suprise. It was the first package I've received since I've been here (you all should be ashamed!).. hahaha.. There was a really nice card inside and a bunch of candy and popcorn. Such a nice little care package that I wasn't expecting at all. It was very thoughtful and considerate of her and I've very grateful! So I just wanted to post about how cool she is that she would send me something and also that you all keep the people in Rome and their family in your prayers, because it very well could have been us. Who knew there were two main fault lines running throughout Italy, they don't tell you that in the guidebooks. Well, everyone is safe here and we didn't feel any affects. Take care back home. That only makes me want to see everyone ten times more!
Love,
Marissa
Love,
Marissa
Roberto Cavalli, No Big Deal.
This weekend. was. amazing. On Saturday night, I met Fabio at Friends pub and then we walked to a nice restaurant. I got this really good pasta and then we shared bisteca fiorentina (steak). It was such a good meal, yum, I could eat it everyday. After that, we went to La Dolce Vita. Since the dinner took so long, we missed the fashion show. But, we just hung out and had a drink. It was another beautiful spring night, so it was nice to be out and about. So, then he was like, I want to take you to this nice club, called the Cavalli club. I was like okay.
Yeah, we are walking up and there are like bouncers outside and Im like this looks really nice. We walk in and its this like ritzy upscale New York type of bar. Im like, what the heck! Ahh. So glad I decided to wear the high heels Dad bought me here (which I love, but still kill my feet). We get drinks and then sit down on this leather love seat and just hang out. Meanwhile the club is playing the most upbeat type jazz music (it was seriously right out of a movie). We were sitting right in front of the dance floor and behind us there was this projection screen that was showing Roberto Cavalli's runway shows. At the end of the show, he'd come out for a bow. So, that's really the only reason I knew what he looked like. After sitting for a bit, I noticed this guy really dressed up, like in a tux. All of sudden the DJ comes on and says something in Italian, bam there comes out 2 professional dancers, like Dancing with the Stars, and they dance to 3 songs. RIGHT in front of us. I guess the girl dancer is a really famous Italian ballroom dancer. She had the most gorgeous dress on, hah, probably Roberto Cavalli's! After they danced, the DJ was like, everyone get up and dance. Pretty cool. So people are dancing and all of the sudden one of the waiters came up to us and said that the table we were at is reserved now. Fabio asks him, if he buys some Champange, can we stay here, they were like yes. Fabio only lives a block away and he had to go home and get more money so I was just chilling there, trying to look shiek, or however you spell it. Like 10 seconds after Fabio left, I look over to my left and BAM, there is fricken ROBERTO CAVALLI.. hahhaha I was like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, trying not to freak out. Within minutes, Fabio was back and I was like, oh my gosh, look who's over there. He was like, ask him for a picture. I was like no! I'm too scared, and he just kept telling me to ask him. Meanwhile, I'm sure Roberto could hear this, because he is literally like 3 feet away from me. Finally, I just go ask him and he said of course. After that, I just went back by my table and that's when the waiter brought out the champagne. It had a sparkler attached to it, so everyone was looking, and then it came with a plate full of fresh cut up fruit, I later found out from Fabio that it was.... cover your ears.... 300 Euros. Oh my lord. Whatever, it was such a great night, so then we just danced the rest of the night and I went home.
Sunday I woke up at noon. Not feeling too hungover and just layed on my terrace all day. Got some much needed sun and then got some homework done, which was amazing too. Then, at 8, I went out to dinner with Fabio again, at that really nice restaurant that I went to with Dad, Cindy, and Grandma. It was only a few blocks away. Santo Spirto (if you remember Dad). I had some good pasta and then we shared fish for the second plate. It was actually really good. Then I just came home because I have, oh-so-much homework to get done this week.
Cari comes on Friday which I'm super excited about. I have like 3 papers to write (not due this week) and we just found out about another essay we have to do before we leave. I personally think they gave us way too many papers, but that's just my opinion. :) Oh yeah, and apparently there was an earthquake in Rome this morning. Jesse wrote on my wall making sure it didn't affect me, which was nice. And no, we didn't feel anything here in Florence. Still a little scary though because it killed like 40 people. Well, the weather has been beautiful and I think it will be until I leave.. ahh I mean for the rest of the month, I no longer let myself talk about leaving, home, or summer.. I want this month to go slow, but I want it to speed by. Ahh, the joy of life! :)
Take care everyone, miss you so much!
Love,
Marissa
Yeah, we are walking up and there are like bouncers outside and Im like this looks really nice. We walk in and its this like ritzy upscale New York type of bar. Im like, what the heck! Ahh. So glad I decided to wear the high heels Dad bought me here (which I love, but still kill my feet). We get drinks and then sit down on this leather love seat and just hang out. Meanwhile the club is playing the most upbeat type jazz music (it was seriously right out of a movie). We were sitting right in front of the dance floor and behind us there was this projection screen that was showing Roberto Cavalli's runway shows. At the end of the show, he'd come out for a bow. So, that's really the only reason I knew what he looked like. After sitting for a bit, I noticed this guy really dressed up, like in a tux. All of sudden the DJ comes on and says something in Italian, bam there comes out 2 professional dancers, like Dancing with the Stars, and they dance to 3 songs. RIGHT in front of us. I guess the girl dancer is a really famous Italian ballroom dancer. She had the most gorgeous dress on, hah, probably Roberto Cavalli's! After they danced, the DJ was like, everyone get up and dance. Pretty cool. So people are dancing and all of the sudden one of the waiters came up to us and said that the table we were at is reserved now. Fabio asks him, if he buys some Champange, can we stay here, they were like yes. Fabio only lives a block away and he had to go home and get more money so I was just chilling there, trying to look shiek, or however you spell it. Like 10 seconds after Fabio left, I look over to my left and BAM, there is fricken ROBERTO CAVALLI.. hahhaha I was like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, trying not to freak out. Within minutes, Fabio was back and I was like, oh my gosh, look who's over there. He was like, ask him for a picture. I was like no! I'm too scared, and he just kept telling me to ask him. Meanwhile, I'm sure Roberto could hear this, because he is literally like 3 feet away from me. Finally, I just go ask him and he said of course. After that, I just went back by my table and that's when the waiter brought out the champagne. It had a sparkler attached to it, so everyone was looking, and then it came with a plate full of fresh cut up fruit, I later found out from Fabio that it was.... cover your ears.... 300 Euros. Oh my lord. Whatever, it was such a great night, so then we just danced the rest of the night and I went home.
Sunday I woke up at noon. Not feeling too hungover and just layed on my terrace all day. Got some much needed sun and then got some homework done, which was amazing too. Then, at 8, I went out to dinner with Fabio again, at that really nice restaurant that I went to with Dad, Cindy, and Grandma. It was only a few blocks away. Santo Spirto (if you remember Dad). I had some good pasta and then we shared fish for the second plate. It was actually really good. Then I just came home because I have, oh-so-much homework to get done this week.
Cari comes on Friday which I'm super excited about. I have like 3 papers to write (not due this week) and we just found out about another essay we have to do before we leave. I personally think they gave us way too many papers, but that's just my opinion. :) Oh yeah, and apparently there was an earthquake in Rome this morning. Jesse wrote on my wall making sure it didn't affect me, which was nice. And no, we didn't feel anything here in Florence. Still a little scary though because it killed like 40 people. Well, the weather has been beautiful and I think it will be until I leave.. ahh I mean for the rest of the month, I no longer let myself talk about leaving, home, or summer.. I want this month to go slow, but I want it to speed by. Ahh, the joy of life! :)
Take care everyone, miss you so much!
Love,
Marissa
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Bittersweet Feelings
At the beginning of last week, all I wanted was to be home. Knowing that it was April made it really hard because I only have a month left, but I still have a month left. By the end of this week, I was regretting feelings of wanting to go home. I'm now in a constant battle with myself about how I feel, hahaha. I miss home so much, but now I realize that I'm going to miss here so much and I may never be back. So I'll tell you a little about my week and you'll see why I'm constantly flip-flopping my feelings.
The week started off slow, just going to class, trying to get some little things done. During the day on Wednesday, we were doing a walking tour of San Lorenzo and afterward, Paolo took us to his favorite Gelato place and paid for it. It was so sweet of him. He's like the nicest and funniest professor ever. On Wednesday night, Libbi, Julie, Tom, and I went out to Dante's to eat. It was a really good time and there is a lot of bonding going on in the house right now because we all have the same mixed feelings. Thursday, Hilary, Kristina, and I had Toga Taco Thursday on the Terrace (it rained so Table) during a Thunderstorm. They were the most amazing tacos and we had a lot of fun dressing up in Togas. Then, yesterday it was the most gorgeous day, we layed out on the terrace all day. I was a little burnt, but by today it is already a tan. The best part of the day was that I had a date!
This guy has been trying to talk to me since last week everytime I'm in Friend's Pub. I wasn't really giving him the time of day and just kept brushing him off. Finally, on Thursday I was skyping Tia and he came up to me. I finally decided to talk to him and he was really sweet. He bought me a glass of wine and we chatted for a bit. By the way, Tia was on skype and heard the whole conversation, which I still think is hilarious! He wanted me to go to another bar with him, but I didn't think that would be wise decision since I didn't know him. So I told him I would meet him at Friend's pub on Friday at 8 and we exchanged numbers. Well, so after a great day of laying out in the sun, I got ready for my date and met up with him. It was the most beautiful night out and the sun doesn't set until like 9 here now. So I met him at Friend's and we had a drink and then he wanted to take me to La Dolce Vita, the bar he was talking about the other night. He said that at 9 we were going to his friend's house for a dinner party and I met his friend's before we left Friend's Pub. So went we to Dolce Vita and had a glass of wine outside on these couches. It was so awesome just talking to him while the sun was setting. He is such a sweet guy. His name is...... Fabio, insert joke now. I know, haha. He's only 26 which is a step down for me! Yay! I saw his place, it's a really cute single flat, and it's only a few blocks from my place. At nine, we went over to his friend's house, which is also very close to mine. When we got there, there was just the guy's girlfriend cooking. She is bilingual so I was speaking both a little Italian and a lot of English to her. She was very nice. Fabio knew I liked white wine and they didn't have any so he insisted on going out and getting some for me. Very sweet. So we were all just sitting around talking (there were 3 girls including me, and 4 guys). Most of them were older, like 30's but it was really fun. She brought out the supper which was amazing and then we just ate and chatted it up. She told me all about Paris and where I need to go. After dinner, we went to a small bar just down the road from me and then after that I went home.
Tonight, Fabio is taking me out to dinner and then we are going back to La Dolce Vita, because there is this fashion show there tonight. I think it's so cool that we are doing different things. Filippo never took me out to dinner or did anything fun. Fabio is just a really sweet guy and I have a lot of fun with him. I'm sure this will be nothing, since I have a month left, but I mine as well live it up and have fun for the rest of the time. Don't worry, I'll be safe, but he's relatively harmless since I know where he lives and I've met his friends. The only problem is that I'm super busy during the week and on Friday Cari comes!
So, Cari comes this Friday and my second spring break starts. I'm going to pick her up in Pisa and we are going hold up the Leaning Tower. Then on Saturday we fly to Dublin. We spend 3 days there and then jet set to Paris for two days. We return to Florence on Thursday and will spend the rest of her time exploring this great city. She leaves on Monday. I'm so excited, but after that, I only have 2 weeks till I come home! I have a few papers I need to get done during this week so it's probably not going to be that exciting. I'm very sad to be leaving two of my professors, Paolo and Angela. We all love them and I think we are going to ask them out to dinner in the next couple weeks. So when that happens, I'll be sure to write about it.
Other than that, not much going on.. hahaha! I'm so excited to see everyone. It's coming very fast, as I knew it would. The weather has been getting beautiful here so I hope to bring home the weather, among a lot of other things! :) Take care and see you soon!
Love,
Marissa
The week started off slow, just going to class, trying to get some little things done. During the day on Wednesday, we were doing a walking tour of San Lorenzo and afterward, Paolo took us to his favorite Gelato place and paid for it. It was so sweet of him. He's like the nicest and funniest professor ever. On Wednesday night, Libbi, Julie, Tom, and I went out to Dante's to eat. It was a really good time and there is a lot of bonding going on in the house right now because we all have the same mixed feelings. Thursday, Hilary, Kristina, and I had Toga Taco Thursday on the Terrace (it rained so Table) during a Thunderstorm. They were the most amazing tacos and we had a lot of fun dressing up in Togas. Then, yesterday it was the most gorgeous day, we layed out on the terrace all day. I was a little burnt, but by today it is already a tan. The best part of the day was that I had a date!
This guy has been trying to talk to me since last week everytime I'm in Friend's Pub. I wasn't really giving him the time of day and just kept brushing him off. Finally, on Thursday I was skyping Tia and he came up to me. I finally decided to talk to him and he was really sweet. He bought me a glass of wine and we chatted for a bit. By the way, Tia was on skype and heard the whole conversation, which I still think is hilarious! He wanted me to go to another bar with him, but I didn't think that would be wise decision since I didn't know him. So I told him I would meet him at Friend's pub on Friday at 8 and we exchanged numbers. Well, so after a great day of laying out in the sun, I got ready for my date and met up with him. It was the most beautiful night out and the sun doesn't set until like 9 here now. So I met him at Friend's and we had a drink and then he wanted to take me to La Dolce Vita, the bar he was talking about the other night. He said that at 9 we were going to his friend's house for a dinner party and I met his friend's before we left Friend's Pub. So went we to Dolce Vita and had a glass of wine outside on these couches. It was so awesome just talking to him while the sun was setting. He is such a sweet guy. His name is...... Fabio, insert joke now. I know, haha. He's only 26 which is a step down for me! Yay! I saw his place, it's a really cute single flat, and it's only a few blocks from my place. At nine, we went over to his friend's house, which is also very close to mine. When we got there, there was just the guy's girlfriend cooking. She is bilingual so I was speaking both a little Italian and a lot of English to her. She was very nice. Fabio knew I liked white wine and they didn't have any so he insisted on going out and getting some for me. Very sweet. So we were all just sitting around talking (there were 3 girls including me, and 4 guys). Most of them were older, like 30's but it was really fun. She brought out the supper which was amazing and then we just ate and chatted it up. She told me all about Paris and where I need to go. After dinner, we went to a small bar just down the road from me and then after that I went home.
Tonight, Fabio is taking me out to dinner and then we are going back to La Dolce Vita, because there is this fashion show there tonight. I think it's so cool that we are doing different things. Filippo never took me out to dinner or did anything fun. Fabio is just a really sweet guy and I have a lot of fun with him. I'm sure this will be nothing, since I have a month left, but I mine as well live it up and have fun for the rest of the time. Don't worry, I'll be safe, but he's relatively harmless since I know where he lives and I've met his friends. The only problem is that I'm super busy during the week and on Friday Cari comes!
So, Cari comes this Friday and my second spring break starts. I'm going to pick her up in Pisa and we are going hold up the Leaning Tower. Then on Saturday we fly to Dublin. We spend 3 days there and then jet set to Paris for two days. We return to Florence on Thursday and will spend the rest of her time exploring this great city. She leaves on Monday. I'm so excited, but after that, I only have 2 weeks till I come home! I have a few papers I need to get done during this week so it's probably not going to be that exciting. I'm very sad to be leaving two of my professors, Paolo and Angela. We all love them and I think we are going to ask them out to dinner in the next couple weeks. So when that happens, I'll be sure to write about it.
Other than that, not much going on.. hahaha! I'm so excited to see everyone. It's coming very fast, as I knew it would. The weather has been getting beautiful here so I hope to bring home the weather, among a lot of other things! :) Take care and see you soon!
Love,
Marissa
Monday, March 30, 2009
Publishing
Oh yeah, I should also let you all know something that is going on back home. So, a year ago I interviewed this Professor for Casey's NMU about being an author and my teacher wanted me to submit it to the literary journal at UWGB called The Sheepshead Review. Well, my interview is going to be published in the Spring issue. Pretty sweet enough I didn't do anything but ask questions, but it will be cool to put that on my resume and to have my name published. Casey is talking me into submitting a short prose I wrote to some literary journals, but I have to revise it quite a bit before that happens and basically I don't have time. But, I thought I would share that with all of you, because I'm pretty excited about it.
Pace,
Marissa
Pace,
Marissa
Update: A Week of Rest
So just a quick update. Katie got home alright, it was daylight savings day for us on Sunday and she was running through the airport like Home Alone but she made it. Now, I'm just settiling back into the school week. It will be so nice to have time to get work done, now I just need to find the motivation. I'm still working on uploading pictures, but everything I'm on the internet I'm either writing a bunch of emails or talking to people and uploading takes too long and slows the internet. But, I have some great pictures you all need to see. I'll let you know. Take care back home. I'll keep you posted if anything exciting happens.
Ciao,
Marissa
Ciao,
Marissa
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Week of Schmatie Schmucha!
A week ago, Saturday, Katie arrived. I was very excited waiting to pick her up at the train station. When we saw each other we ran towards each other like in the movies, it was kind of funny! We had that long walk from the train station to my place, where she kept all of her luggage. We checked her into her hostel and then went out to eat with Tina, Tom, Hilary, and her sisters at the nice restaurant we went to for Tina’s bday. After the great meal (Tom ordered steak, but didn’t feel well so I got to eat most of it!), I showed Katie, none other, than Friend’s Pub. We had a glass of wine with Hilary and her sisters, but left shortly because we were both wiped out, I’m sure her more than me!
Sunday, super early, we decided to catch a train to Venice, we wanted to get it out of the way, per se, because we wanted to maybe go somewhere else at the end of the week. It was a warmer day than I had with my parents. We pretty much just walked around for a bit, went shopping, stopped at Devil’s Forest Pub (for the best Bloody Mary’s ever!), and got some Gelato, of course! You know we got Chinese there, too. At the end of the day, however, because I’ve been to Venice so many times, I though I was pro and didn’t need to look at my map. Hah, Katie kept saying I should, but I really thought we were on track even though it was a main street I’ve never been on before. Well, before you know it, we are walking towards the sea with no one around us. Hah, finally we turned back and only a few blocks before did we miss the turn so it wasn’t so bad. We survived it with humor.
The class week started off pretty well. I had an early morning Italian class and then I met Katie and she came along to my other class, with Paolo, where we were touring the Boboli Gardens. What a trip. It was a beautiful day and everyone was feeling it. Hilary had her sisters along too, so we were all a little chatty, but I don’t think Paolo minded too much because he’s a goofball, too. At the end of the tour, Paolo shook Katie’s hand and said nice to meet you. She said, “I learned a lot, but I probably don’t know as much as these guys.” Paolo goes, “Well, they learned it all in class, but they don’t remember anything anyways” and laughed. What a jokester. After class, the Bargello Museum (Donatello exhibit) wasn’t open so we grabbed lunch at that great Fettuccine Alfredo place. Yum! I showed Katie the Duomo and we went in Santa Croce church after that. It was then about time for my next class, which happened to be another tour. So Katie was able to come along. This was to the Salvatore Feragamo shoe museum. Katie right away knew she’d like it, but I’m not too fond of shoes. Well, turns out this Feragamo guy was super famous and made shoes for people like Aubrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. There were wooden castes of their feet, pictures of them, receipts from them, and even famous shoes of him that they wore. It was highly impressive. After that we went to diner at Friend’s pub and got some yummy burgers and checked our emails.
The nice days couldn’t last and one Tuesday it was crummy out. I had two classes and I made lunch (soup) for Katie in between them. After my second class, Katie did some studying and I read a bunch of gossip magazines. It was a nice relaxing day, but it sucked that we couldn’t go out and explore. That night, I took Katie to Dante’s which is a really great restaurant a couple blocks away from home. We ordered pizza, French fries, and fettuccine Alfredo with a glass of wine. The girl brought out a liter instead. As we were finishing up, the owner, who I’ve seen before, brought us out a free liter of wine (like we need it). So, as a nice gesture, we ordered some Tiramisu. He then said when we were done drinking that, he’d bring over a nice bottle of wine and drink it with us. At this point, we were a little tipsy so we said sure. All of my roommates have gone there and received free wine, but he seemed to be really nice to us. The end of the night came and we were there for like 5 hours. He ended up giving us our meal free and telling us to come back tomorrow to eat with him. We said yes, but that was probably the 2 liters & a bottle talking. That’s all I really have to say about Tuesday! :)
Wednesday comes around, and Katie and I are feeling like crap. We finally leave the apartment around noon. Surprisingly, probably because it was a nice day, we get our sea legs back quickly. We head to the Bargello where I showed her all of Donatello’s (my lover) great works. He is by far the best artist/sculpture ever. Michelangelo is nothing compared to him. The only thing that could maybe top the Bargello is a waffle. We got one and Katie loved it. We then headed to San Lorenzo market where Katie proceeded to buy 20some scarves. I ended up buying a few more things, but I decided I’m done shopping for the rest of the time here. We spent like 2-3 hours shopping in the market. After, we were really undecided whether we should go to Dante’s. I figured that since I plan on going there a couple other times before I leave, I better go in order to not insult the owner (since he works everyday). He was so happy to see us and immediately sat us down, which was reassuring that we made the right decision. He told us to order anything and wanted us to get fish, but instead we shared a steak and shrimp. We had a nice meal, but definitely were not interested in drinking a lot plus we were tired from the day. We waited until the time was right and then told him we had to go. He was so nice and told us to come back every night, but we told him Katie would be leaving and I would be out of town for the weekend. I might go for lunch sometime this week, but I’m pretty busy so we’ll see.
On Thursday, while I was in class, touring the San Lorenzo church, Katie was wondering around the Academia, seeing Michelangelo’s David. We met up after class and found this restaurant called ZaZa’s that one of my friends who had been to Firenze recommended. It was decent outside so we go to eat lunch in the open. We shared ravioli and the three Tuscan soup sampler. It was a pretty good meal and I’m glad I finally got around the going there. After sitting for a bit at the apartment, I took Katie up to the Pizza del’ Michelangelo; one of the best views of Florence. We took a lot of funny pictures up there and Katie fell. That’s all I have to say! Haha! She can fill you in on that one! Our plan was to go up there, then walk down to Tijuana’s for some Mexican supper. Huge bummer. Turns out, there was a fire there on Saturday and it wasn’t going to reopen till the next night. We had to settle for Chinese instead. Wasn’t as good as Venice, but still filled us up. We went to Friend’s pub after, go figure, because Katie wanted to get some shirts. Katie then said goodbye to Florence because we’d be traveling the next two days.
On Friday, we left really early for Cinque Terre. It’s a mountainous coastline area North of Florence. It has five main villages and we stayed in Monterosso which is the most touristy and with the beaches. We got there at 11am and it was absolutely gorgeous, like out of a magazine, but then it started raining right when we got off the train. We took a taxi to our hotel which only ended up being like 7 minutes away, but Katie had all of her luggage with her. We checked into the hotel and immediately changed into our suits. It stopped raining for the most part, but it was pretty cold and windy. It didn’t matter though; our goal all along was to swim in the Mediterranean. The waves were huge, even on the shore. We went down to this beach, no one else on it, and stripped into our bathing suits. Of course, right then, tourists came up to the boardwalk and were watching us. On the count of three we ran into the crashing waves. Katie only went up to her stomach, but I, of course, had to dunk or I wouldn’t be able to say I was in. It was so cold, but I was just like “AHHH” and did it. Hah, too funny. The tourists were giving us looks like “these girls are crazy.” The worse part, however, was that the sand wasn’t sand, it was like sharp mini rock-pebbles. Our feet were killing us. After drying off, we changed and ate a packed lunch on the boardwalk. We were a little chilly so we went back to the hotel and changed into our jeans and coats. Then, we decided to try the much talked about Cinque Terre hike. This is through the mountains, through small paths, up many rocks stairs, all just for the love of hiking. Apparently it takes over 5 hours to walk from the last town (Monterosso) to the first town (Riomaggiore). I think it’s probably more than that though because we hiked for 2-3 hours and didn’t even make it to the next town. We ended up traversing 3 mountains. It was pretty cool and the scenery was amazing even though at times my fear of heights kicked in. We finally turned around and had to walk the whole way back. When we got to the hotel, I showered and then we hung out for a bit. At 7pm, we tried to find somewhere to eat. Tried is the key word. The first place we went into, and actually sat down, there was nothing on the menu under 10 Euro so embarrassingly enough we got up and left. The next three places were expensive too. Finally we decided to go this American bar that served hamburgers even though I really wanted pasta. When the bartender came up to us, we asked what the happy hour specials were (that were advertised in the menu) and he said they were only for summer. I was a little mad, but we still looked over the menu, after picking out salads, I went up to order, he goes, “we don’t start serving for another hour.” I threw the menu down and walked out. At this point I was so mad that I wasn’t even hungry anymore. Finally we stopped in this family owned restaurant with decent prices, which was actually the one closest to our hotel that we walked past. Ugh. We ate and then went home to bed. What a day.
Yesterday, we woke up, check out, and caught the train from Monterosso to Milan. It was three hours long and when we arrived in Milan it was pouring. We found our hotel, maybe ten blocks from the train station. We decided we’d just have a chill last night in, maybe find a grocery store and eat and watch the television. Well, Milan was a bust. We walked around for like an hour and didn’t see more than two stores open (on a Saturday!). Finally, frustrated, we stopped in a Gelato place. It was good and I asked one of the owners where a supermercato was. He pointed just down the street. Turns out, it was a few blocks and then around the corner was our hotel. We finally caught a break. Chilled all night, watched Casper the movie and Made (MTV) in Italian. Katie studied a bit and eventually we went to sleep. She woke up at 6am to get ready to leave. I said goodbye to her, tear… and then went back to sleep. I woke up at 8:30 to catch my train that was at 9:30. I got to the train station at around 9:00 and for some reason the only trains that were posted were for 10:00 and beyond. I was so confused and then I realized the 10:00 ones were boarding now. I finally found the local time and sure enough I had already missed my train. Turns out, as I suspect but still don’t know, they had their daylight savings thingy today. Lucky for me, I just went to the ticket office and they gave me the next train that left at 10:30. The problem is, I hope Katie made it to her flight in time! I’m still confused about the whole thing.
It was quite a fun week. It was really great being able to spend so much time with one of my really good friends. Katie and I got to do a lot and I’m so glad that we went to Cinque Terre and that I went to Milan because I know never to go back there now! :) Haha! This has only made me miss home so much more. I don’t know if the culture shock is finally hitting me (they say it takes around 3 months) but I know I miss so many things from home now. I’m definitely going to enjoy the time I have left, and my next spring break which I’m traveling to Paris and Ireland with Cari, but I really can’t wait to be back home. It’s going to be a fantastic summer!
Sorry I have been so out of touch this week. I hope everyone has been enjoying the warm-up at home and the weekend went great for you guys. We are back to being 7 hours apart, just so everyone knows! :) Take care and talk to you all soon!
Lots of Love!
Marisssa
Sunday, super early, we decided to catch a train to Venice, we wanted to get it out of the way, per se, because we wanted to maybe go somewhere else at the end of the week. It was a warmer day than I had with my parents. We pretty much just walked around for a bit, went shopping, stopped at Devil’s Forest Pub (for the best Bloody Mary’s ever!), and got some Gelato, of course! You know we got Chinese there, too. At the end of the day, however, because I’ve been to Venice so many times, I though I was pro and didn’t need to look at my map. Hah, Katie kept saying I should, but I really thought we were on track even though it was a main street I’ve never been on before. Well, before you know it, we are walking towards the sea with no one around us. Hah, finally we turned back and only a few blocks before did we miss the turn so it wasn’t so bad. We survived it with humor.
The class week started off pretty well. I had an early morning Italian class and then I met Katie and she came along to my other class, with Paolo, where we were touring the Boboli Gardens. What a trip. It was a beautiful day and everyone was feeling it. Hilary had her sisters along too, so we were all a little chatty, but I don’t think Paolo minded too much because he’s a goofball, too. At the end of the tour, Paolo shook Katie’s hand and said nice to meet you. She said, “I learned a lot, but I probably don’t know as much as these guys.” Paolo goes, “Well, they learned it all in class, but they don’t remember anything anyways” and laughed. What a jokester. After class, the Bargello Museum (Donatello exhibit) wasn’t open so we grabbed lunch at that great Fettuccine Alfredo place. Yum! I showed Katie the Duomo and we went in Santa Croce church after that. It was then about time for my next class, which happened to be another tour. So Katie was able to come along. This was to the Salvatore Feragamo shoe museum. Katie right away knew she’d like it, but I’m not too fond of shoes. Well, turns out this Feragamo guy was super famous and made shoes for people like Aubrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. There were wooden castes of their feet, pictures of them, receipts from them, and even famous shoes of him that they wore. It was highly impressive. After that we went to diner at Friend’s pub and got some yummy burgers and checked our emails.
The nice days couldn’t last and one Tuesday it was crummy out. I had two classes and I made lunch (soup) for Katie in between them. After my second class, Katie did some studying and I read a bunch of gossip magazines. It was a nice relaxing day, but it sucked that we couldn’t go out and explore. That night, I took Katie to Dante’s which is a really great restaurant a couple blocks away from home. We ordered pizza, French fries, and fettuccine Alfredo with a glass of wine. The girl brought out a liter instead. As we were finishing up, the owner, who I’ve seen before, brought us out a free liter of wine (like we need it). So, as a nice gesture, we ordered some Tiramisu. He then said when we were done drinking that, he’d bring over a nice bottle of wine and drink it with us. At this point, we were a little tipsy so we said sure. All of my roommates have gone there and received free wine, but he seemed to be really nice to us. The end of the night came and we were there for like 5 hours. He ended up giving us our meal free and telling us to come back tomorrow to eat with him. We said yes, but that was probably the 2 liters & a bottle talking. That’s all I really have to say about Tuesday! :)
Wednesday comes around, and Katie and I are feeling like crap. We finally leave the apartment around noon. Surprisingly, probably because it was a nice day, we get our sea legs back quickly. We head to the Bargello where I showed her all of Donatello’s (my lover) great works. He is by far the best artist/sculpture ever. Michelangelo is nothing compared to him. The only thing that could maybe top the Bargello is a waffle. We got one and Katie loved it. We then headed to San Lorenzo market where Katie proceeded to buy 20some scarves. I ended up buying a few more things, but I decided I’m done shopping for the rest of the time here. We spent like 2-3 hours shopping in the market. After, we were really undecided whether we should go to Dante’s. I figured that since I plan on going there a couple other times before I leave, I better go in order to not insult the owner (since he works everyday). He was so happy to see us and immediately sat us down, which was reassuring that we made the right decision. He told us to order anything and wanted us to get fish, but instead we shared a steak and shrimp. We had a nice meal, but definitely were not interested in drinking a lot plus we were tired from the day. We waited until the time was right and then told him we had to go. He was so nice and told us to come back every night, but we told him Katie would be leaving and I would be out of town for the weekend. I might go for lunch sometime this week, but I’m pretty busy so we’ll see.
On Thursday, while I was in class, touring the San Lorenzo church, Katie was wondering around the Academia, seeing Michelangelo’s David. We met up after class and found this restaurant called ZaZa’s that one of my friends who had been to Firenze recommended. It was decent outside so we go to eat lunch in the open. We shared ravioli and the three Tuscan soup sampler. It was a pretty good meal and I’m glad I finally got around the going there. After sitting for a bit at the apartment, I took Katie up to the Pizza del’ Michelangelo; one of the best views of Florence. We took a lot of funny pictures up there and Katie fell. That’s all I have to say! Haha! She can fill you in on that one! Our plan was to go up there, then walk down to Tijuana’s for some Mexican supper. Huge bummer. Turns out, there was a fire there on Saturday and it wasn’t going to reopen till the next night. We had to settle for Chinese instead. Wasn’t as good as Venice, but still filled us up. We went to Friend’s pub after, go figure, because Katie wanted to get some shirts. Katie then said goodbye to Florence because we’d be traveling the next two days.
On Friday, we left really early for Cinque Terre. It’s a mountainous coastline area North of Florence. It has five main villages and we stayed in Monterosso which is the most touristy and with the beaches. We got there at 11am and it was absolutely gorgeous, like out of a magazine, but then it started raining right when we got off the train. We took a taxi to our hotel which only ended up being like 7 minutes away, but Katie had all of her luggage with her. We checked into the hotel and immediately changed into our suits. It stopped raining for the most part, but it was pretty cold and windy. It didn’t matter though; our goal all along was to swim in the Mediterranean. The waves were huge, even on the shore. We went down to this beach, no one else on it, and stripped into our bathing suits. Of course, right then, tourists came up to the boardwalk and were watching us. On the count of three we ran into the crashing waves. Katie only went up to her stomach, but I, of course, had to dunk or I wouldn’t be able to say I was in. It was so cold, but I was just like “AHHH” and did it. Hah, too funny. The tourists were giving us looks like “these girls are crazy.” The worse part, however, was that the sand wasn’t sand, it was like sharp mini rock-pebbles. Our feet were killing us. After drying off, we changed and ate a packed lunch on the boardwalk. We were a little chilly so we went back to the hotel and changed into our jeans and coats. Then, we decided to try the much talked about Cinque Terre hike. This is through the mountains, through small paths, up many rocks stairs, all just for the love of hiking. Apparently it takes over 5 hours to walk from the last town (Monterosso) to the first town (Riomaggiore). I think it’s probably more than that though because we hiked for 2-3 hours and didn’t even make it to the next town. We ended up traversing 3 mountains. It was pretty cool and the scenery was amazing even though at times my fear of heights kicked in. We finally turned around and had to walk the whole way back. When we got to the hotel, I showered and then we hung out for a bit. At 7pm, we tried to find somewhere to eat. Tried is the key word. The first place we went into, and actually sat down, there was nothing on the menu under 10 Euro so embarrassingly enough we got up and left. The next three places were expensive too. Finally we decided to go this American bar that served hamburgers even though I really wanted pasta. When the bartender came up to us, we asked what the happy hour specials were (that were advertised in the menu) and he said they were only for summer. I was a little mad, but we still looked over the menu, after picking out salads, I went up to order, he goes, “we don’t start serving for another hour.” I threw the menu down and walked out. At this point I was so mad that I wasn’t even hungry anymore. Finally we stopped in this family owned restaurant with decent prices, which was actually the one closest to our hotel that we walked past. Ugh. We ate and then went home to bed. What a day.
Yesterday, we woke up, check out, and caught the train from Monterosso to Milan. It was three hours long and when we arrived in Milan it was pouring. We found our hotel, maybe ten blocks from the train station. We decided we’d just have a chill last night in, maybe find a grocery store and eat and watch the television. Well, Milan was a bust. We walked around for like an hour and didn’t see more than two stores open (on a Saturday!). Finally, frustrated, we stopped in a Gelato place. It was good and I asked one of the owners where a supermercato was. He pointed just down the street. Turns out, it was a few blocks and then around the corner was our hotel. We finally caught a break. Chilled all night, watched Casper the movie and Made (MTV) in Italian. Katie studied a bit and eventually we went to sleep. She woke up at 6am to get ready to leave. I said goodbye to her, tear… and then went back to sleep. I woke up at 8:30 to catch my train that was at 9:30. I got to the train station at around 9:00 and for some reason the only trains that were posted were for 10:00 and beyond. I was so confused and then I realized the 10:00 ones were boarding now. I finally found the local time and sure enough I had already missed my train. Turns out, as I suspect but still don’t know, they had their daylight savings thingy today. Lucky for me, I just went to the ticket office and they gave me the next train that left at 10:30. The problem is, I hope Katie made it to her flight in time! I’m still confused about the whole thing.
It was quite a fun week. It was really great being able to spend so much time with one of my really good friends. Katie and I got to do a lot and I’m so glad that we went to Cinque Terre and that I went to Milan because I know never to go back there now! :) Haha! This has only made me miss home so much more. I don’t know if the culture shock is finally hitting me (they say it takes around 3 months) but I know I miss so many things from home now. I’m definitely going to enjoy the time I have left, and my next spring break which I’m traveling to Paris and Ireland with Cari, but I really can’t wait to be back home. It’s going to be a fantastic summer!
Sorry I have been so out of touch this week. I hope everyone has been enjoying the warm-up at home and the weekend went great for you guys. We are back to being 7 hours apart, just so everyone knows! :) Take care and talk to you all soon!
Lots of Love!
Marisssa
Thursday, March 19, 2009
I'm Glad I'm Typing this Instead of Talking!
So, I thought I’d start this blog out by saying some school related news, and no, it’s not that I dropped out! I rocked both of my presentations this week, it felt so good to get them done and I think I did really well. I got two of my exams back. A and B. So the grades are strong right now, except I still have to get my paper grades back. Also, the exam I had this week I felt really confident about afterwards, but it was an essay exam so it’s up to the professor now. I thought the family would be proud to hear so news about school, that’s why I’m here after all right?! Hah.
Caitlin and her friend, Lauren, were here this week and it was a lot of fun. I was still a little burnt out from the week with the family so I actually didn’t really show them around at all. I was busy with school and they had each other to explore with. But, it was nice because we had St. Patrick’s day and then last night we went to a Cassidy concert.
On St. Patty’s day, Caitlin, Lauren, and all my roomies went to Tijuana Mexican Restaurant, an Irish pub, and then Friend’s Pub. It ended up being a really good time and a good bonding experience for us roomies. I think we all needed a little break from each other and spring break helped a lot. Now, we all have visitors too so we aren’t at each other’s throats so much. It’s been a very pleasant week. I think we all realize our time left is short. We all got a lot of free stuff that night and some people even had green beer.
Last night, Caitlin, Lauren, Hilary, and I went to the Cassidy concert. He’s a semi-popular rapper. It was cool because it was actually at a club I’ve never been at before. We had a really good spot and the club was definitely hopping. The only bad thing is that he didn’t come on stage until 1:30am. We didn’t get home until 3am, but it was a lot of fun and worth it. It was also nice hanging out more with Hilary (who is the girl I knew before the trip and I talked into coming with me).
I had already been nursing a sickness and then we had Patty’s day and the concert so needless to say this morning at 9am Italian class, I wasn’t feeling the greatest, but it ended up being a pretty fun class. My Italian is really coming along I think. I might not be able to put a lot of sentences together yet, but I’m understanding the concepts and that’s all that’s important. So right now, I have absolutely no voice. Normally, at home, this is very usual for me, almost every weekend, but this is the first time here that I’ve lost my voice. I hope I get it back soon!
The only other fun side notes to mention is food I guess. Haha.. today I had this amazing Chicken Fettacini Alfredo. Usually I just get pizza, but ever since Cindy yelled at me to try new things, I’ve taken it to heart. Lately, I’m also just craving pasta. It doesn’t even matter what you get, it always turns out to be good. Or maybe it’s just because I’m so open with trying new things and loving them. Also, tonight Tom, Libbi, and I had a really nice dinner. Libbi made a salad and Tom made spaghetti carbinara (had spaghetti, onions, eggs, bacon, crème). It was very good. I, of course, did the dishes and provided the wine. Hahaha..
Tomorrow, all I plan on doing is sleeping and doing a little cleaning because, of course, Miss Katie Prucha comes Saturday. I’m so super excited. I think I was able to rest up enough this week and I’m ready to show Katie a really good time. She wants to go to Venice and I’m thinking maybe we could go to Amsterdam next weekend before she leaves because Libbi and Julie are going and I really, really want to go, but that’s going to be up to her. Either way, we are going to have an absolute blast and I’m excited to get a good week of bonding in with her. I think we’ll be together every minute I’m not in class or sleeping.
Well, I better get to bed early tonight. I hope everything is going great back home. The weather here has been gorgeous and today we had the LOUDest thunderstorm I’ve ever heard, but it was sunny the whole time. It poured rain for like a half hour and then stopped. Very interesting weather. I hear there is still snow on the ground, but it’s warming up. Enjoy it! Take care!
Loving life in Firenze,
Marissa
Caitlin and her friend, Lauren, were here this week and it was a lot of fun. I was still a little burnt out from the week with the family so I actually didn’t really show them around at all. I was busy with school and they had each other to explore with. But, it was nice because we had St. Patrick’s day and then last night we went to a Cassidy concert.
On St. Patty’s day, Caitlin, Lauren, and all my roomies went to Tijuana Mexican Restaurant, an Irish pub, and then Friend’s Pub. It ended up being a really good time and a good bonding experience for us roomies. I think we all needed a little break from each other and spring break helped a lot. Now, we all have visitors too so we aren’t at each other’s throats so much. It’s been a very pleasant week. I think we all realize our time left is short. We all got a lot of free stuff that night and some people even had green beer.
Last night, Caitlin, Lauren, Hilary, and I went to the Cassidy concert. He’s a semi-popular rapper. It was cool because it was actually at a club I’ve never been at before. We had a really good spot and the club was definitely hopping. The only bad thing is that he didn’t come on stage until 1:30am. We didn’t get home until 3am, but it was a lot of fun and worth it. It was also nice hanging out more with Hilary (who is the girl I knew before the trip and I talked into coming with me).
I had already been nursing a sickness and then we had Patty’s day and the concert so needless to say this morning at 9am Italian class, I wasn’t feeling the greatest, but it ended up being a pretty fun class. My Italian is really coming along I think. I might not be able to put a lot of sentences together yet, but I’m understanding the concepts and that’s all that’s important. So right now, I have absolutely no voice. Normally, at home, this is very usual for me, almost every weekend, but this is the first time here that I’ve lost my voice. I hope I get it back soon!
The only other fun side notes to mention is food I guess. Haha.. today I had this amazing Chicken Fettacini Alfredo. Usually I just get pizza, but ever since Cindy yelled at me to try new things, I’ve taken it to heart. Lately, I’m also just craving pasta. It doesn’t even matter what you get, it always turns out to be good. Or maybe it’s just because I’m so open with trying new things and loving them. Also, tonight Tom, Libbi, and I had a really nice dinner. Libbi made a salad and Tom made spaghetti carbinara (had spaghetti, onions, eggs, bacon, crème). It was very good. I, of course, did the dishes and provided the wine. Hahaha..
Tomorrow, all I plan on doing is sleeping and doing a little cleaning because, of course, Miss Katie Prucha comes Saturday. I’m so super excited. I think I was able to rest up enough this week and I’m ready to show Katie a really good time. She wants to go to Venice and I’m thinking maybe we could go to Amsterdam next weekend before she leaves because Libbi and Julie are going and I really, really want to go, but that’s going to be up to her. Either way, we are going to have an absolute blast and I’m excited to get a good week of bonding in with her. I think we’ll be together every minute I’m not in class or sleeping.
Well, I better get to bed early tonight. I hope everything is going great back home. The weather here has been gorgeous and today we had the LOUDest thunderstorm I’ve ever heard, but it was sunny the whole time. It poured rain for like a half hour and then stopped. Very interesting weather. I hear there is still snow on the ground, but it’s warming up. Enjoy it! Take care!
Loving life in Firenze,
Marissa
Monday, March 16, 2009
The End of a Great Week..
Last week with the parents and grandma was amazing. I’m so lucky that they decided to visit. It was so great to see their faces and spend a whole week with them.
On Monday and Tuesday we went to Rome, which was fun because it was all of our first times. The first day, we pretty much just explored Vatican City. We went into the Vatican museum and saw the Sistine Chapel (I even snuck a picture). We walked around the museum for around 3 hours and then headed to St. Peter’s square. By the time we got there, my feet were absolutely killing me. I decided to wear boots and it was probably the worse decision ever. St. Peter’s square was nice and we had another beautiful day. After sitting for a while, we went into St. Peter’s Basilica. It was the absolute most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. It was so huge and there were these awesome sun rays beaming through it. After that, we got some pretty amazing gelato and a drink. We decided to just chill in the hotel room that night which was perfect because everyone was a little tired. I even got to teach Dad Sudoku.
On Tuesday morning I was dreading putting my boots back on, but I layered up my socks and for the most part of the day I was fine. We pretty much walked and saw a huge chunk of Rome; not all though, because Rome is vast. We went to the Spanish steps, Fontana di Trevi (my favorite), the Pantheon, Campo de’ Fiori, Piazza Navona, and then finally the Ruins (Roman Forum), the Colosseum, and the Arch of Constantine. In between that we did a lot, a lot of shopping. It was such a fun little side trip, but it was nice to finally be back in Firenze that night.
Wednesday we spent bumming around Firenze. I get my days a little mixed up at this point, but Wednesday and Friday were spent shopping at San Lorenzo market, seeing Michelangelo’s David, eating waffles, trying gelato, and going to two good restaurants. On Wednesday, we went to this place that Dad found in a guide, it ended up being right down the street and a place we tried the other night but didn’t have a reservation. Turns out, we got lucky and there was a cancellation. It was a beautiful meal and conversation and the restaurant and the waiter were both very nice. On Friday, we went to Tijuana’s, the Mexican restaurant. Although the service sucked, the food was really good and I enjoyed my two pina colodas a little too much!
Thursday we spent exploring Venice. We had another beautiful day. We did a lot of walking, but we eventually found San Marco. We didn’t have too long of a time in Venice and we spent the majority of our time shopping (go figure) hahaha :).. buttttt, I did convince the family that we should revisit that Chinese place for dinner. It was as good as usual. We had an early train back because it was the last and after we walked home from the train station in Firenze, everyone was a little beat.
On Saturday, the last day (tear, tear), we just hung out and then for supper went to Friend’s pub for their famous burgers. It was a good last meal although I was getting a little sad. Luckily, when the family went to go pack and get some sleep, my friend Caitlin and her friend were just arriving at the train station. So, I picked them up and then I had to show them a good first night in Firenze, mainly because it was Caitlin’s birthday. Ended up going to be at 2am. Needless to say, I was extremely tired when my alarm went off two hours later (4am) to get up and walk over to the hotel to say goodbye. I’m really glad I did and of course would have had it no other way. I was very sad to see them leave and Grandma made me tear up a bit when she was hugging me goodbye, but I told her not to make me cry! Haha.. she didn’t listen very well.
So now, it’s two days later and I only miss home more. I’m so glad I got to show them around and it was great spending so much time with them because as I get older I get to spend less and less time with family. Now, I especially can’t wait until summer!
Caitlin and her friend are here now and I’ve been showing them around while still trying to get school work done. It’s been a little rough, especially since I caught Cindy’s little silent sickness, but I shake off sickness pretty well and it’s already going away. :) Caitlin leaves on Thursday and then Katie comes on Saturday. Can’t wait to see one of my besties. I also just can’t wait to spend every moment, besides sleep and school, with her. I think we will have just as good of a time as the family did.
Well, this happens to be another super long blog, but it’s really hard to sum up the events of a great week (and in the right order) so I apologize. I hope the States are treating you all very well. I hear the weather is finally starting to get warm, is that just a rumor?! Haha.. take care!
Peace&Love,
Marissa
On Monday and Tuesday we went to Rome, which was fun because it was all of our first times. The first day, we pretty much just explored Vatican City. We went into the Vatican museum and saw the Sistine Chapel (I even snuck a picture). We walked around the museum for around 3 hours and then headed to St. Peter’s square. By the time we got there, my feet were absolutely killing me. I decided to wear boots and it was probably the worse decision ever. St. Peter’s square was nice and we had another beautiful day. After sitting for a while, we went into St. Peter’s Basilica. It was the absolute most beautiful church I’ve ever seen. It was so huge and there were these awesome sun rays beaming through it. After that, we got some pretty amazing gelato and a drink. We decided to just chill in the hotel room that night which was perfect because everyone was a little tired. I even got to teach Dad Sudoku.
On Tuesday morning I was dreading putting my boots back on, but I layered up my socks and for the most part of the day I was fine. We pretty much walked and saw a huge chunk of Rome; not all though, because Rome is vast. We went to the Spanish steps, Fontana di Trevi (my favorite), the Pantheon, Campo de’ Fiori, Piazza Navona, and then finally the Ruins (Roman Forum), the Colosseum, and the Arch of Constantine. In between that we did a lot, a lot of shopping. It was such a fun little side trip, but it was nice to finally be back in Firenze that night.
Wednesday we spent bumming around Firenze. I get my days a little mixed up at this point, but Wednesday and Friday were spent shopping at San Lorenzo market, seeing Michelangelo’s David, eating waffles, trying gelato, and going to two good restaurants. On Wednesday, we went to this place that Dad found in a guide, it ended up being right down the street and a place we tried the other night but didn’t have a reservation. Turns out, we got lucky and there was a cancellation. It was a beautiful meal and conversation and the restaurant and the waiter were both very nice. On Friday, we went to Tijuana’s, the Mexican restaurant. Although the service sucked, the food was really good and I enjoyed my two pina colodas a little too much!
Thursday we spent exploring Venice. We had another beautiful day. We did a lot of walking, but we eventually found San Marco. We didn’t have too long of a time in Venice and we spent the majority of our time shopping (go figure) hahaha :).. buttttt, I did convince the family that we should revisit that Chinese place for dinner. It was as good as usual. We had an early train back because it was the last and after we walked home from the train station in Firenze, everyone was a little beat.
On Saturday, the last day (tear, tear), we just hung out and then for supper went to Friend’s pub for their famous burgers. It was a good last meal although I was getting a little sad. Luckily, when the family went to go pack and get some sleep, my friend Caitlin and her friend were just arriving at the train station. So, I picked them up and then I had to show them a good first night in Firenze, mainly because it was Caitlin’s birthday. Ended up going to be at 2am. Needless to say, I was extremely tired when my alarm went off two hours later (4am) to get up and walk over to the hotel to say goodbye. I’m really glad I did and of course would have had it no other way. I was very sad to see them leave and Grandma made me tear up a bit when she was hugging me goodbye, but I told her not to make me cry! Haha.. she didn’t listen very well.
So now, it’s two days later and I only miss home more. I’m so glad I got to show them around and it was great spending so much time with them because as I get older I get to spend less and less time with family. Now, I especially can’t wait until summer!
Caitlin and her friend are here now and I’ve been showing them around while still trying to get school work done. It’s been a little rough, especially since I caught Cindy’s little silent sickness, but I shake off sickness pretty well and it’s already going away. :) Caitlin leaves on Thursday and then Katie comes on Saturday. Can’t wait to see one of my besties. I also just can’t wait to spend every moment, besides sleep and school, with her. I think we will have just as good of a time as the family did.
Well, this happens to be another super long blog, but it’s really hard to sum up the events of a great week (and in the right order) so I apologize. I hope the States are treating you all very well. I hear the weather is finally starting to get warm, is that just a rumor?! Haha.. take care!
Peace&Love,
Marissa
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Today, Our Tour Starts At....
Lots happening so far.. I'll probably forget so many fun or funny moments, but I'll tell you, some of the pictures are priceless. The fam has been great and it's so nice spending quality time with the people I love, and in ITALY!! So cool. Their plane came in around an hour late on Friday, I told them they really know how to make a girl wait. I was waiting for them to come out and already having to hold back tears of happiness. Couples and families were being reunited all around me as I was sitting there waiting and trying to hold back tears.. so funny. So then I got nervous to see them because I knew I was going to cry. Sure enough, there comes Dad first and I just start balling, which is making me laugh out loud right now because I think I was such a baby! Cindy cried because I was crying which I also think is funny, Grandma maybe had a tear or two! ;) So after that, I whisked them away in their own private taxi (hah) and off we went. Got to the hotel, unpacked a bit, bought some alcohol (go figure), showed them my place with a drink and by then it was pretty much supper time so we found a great place down the road called Dante's to eat. I was pleasantly suprised because it was always a place I wanted to go in for lunch but it was actually a superb supper place. Cindy got clams, dad got squid, I got shrimp, and Grandma got this really good pasta. After supper it was definitely time for bed and I passed out just as much as they did I'm sure. Emotional day.
Yesterday, after they finally got up (got on the road at 11), we had a small church tour led by me, I think Grandma was impressed with my tour guide skills. After a few churches, we got lunch, then walked around for a little bit more, basically saw all the sites of the outsides and insides of churches. We even went in the Baptistry, I think that was neat to show them all the Byzantine paintings on the dome. On the way home we got Gelato, which I think and I hope they do, that it was of course amazing. After a day of walking around, we went back to my place for some drinks and ended up chilling on the terrace and watching the sun set. We decided then to stop by Friends pub for a drink and head to supper but of course, because I don't go out to eat often at nice places, I didn't know we needed reservations. After being denied, we finally found a place and we got really good food. Also, Dad hackled the waiter a bit. We had a bet whether the guy was married or not and he actually asked him. I was a little embarassed, but then I realized he might have thought DAD was hitting on HIM so then I laughed. Haha, it was a pretty funny dinner all around. Ask Grandma about the difference between first and one, apparently she thought it was sooooo funny she cried, whatever, Dad's jokes aren't that good, hahaha Just kidding! So since everyone who is here is soooo old, again joking, we all went to bed after that. It's so nice getting to sleep early and I think most of the time, I'm more worn out then them! Too much for me! :)
Today, we got going a little late which was not such a good idea since it's Sunday. A lot of things only stay open for the morning, but we still had a good 50 minutes to step in the Bargello Museum, which was not enough but good news, since it was women's day, all of us girls got in free. I was able to show them the Donatello exhibt which I think is great. We then went shop, shop, shopping. Grandma got shoes and a pusrse, Cindy and Dad both got scarves which look amazing, and I got new shoes and two scarves thanks to D&C. Also, I forgot to mention, Dad got a nice new black leather jacket on Saturday, it was a little bit of sketchy situation but that's a whole nother story. He looks pretty baddass right now, such a stud. After shopping, we stopped and finally got some pizza. We then decided to head home and watch the sun set again with some drinks. Even prettier tonight, purples, pinks, oranges... all amazing, with some pretty great scenery to go along. It was then time for the grand meal cooked by Marissa (D&C helped). We had noodles w/brocalli and beans, zucchini, onions, and garlic sautaated, garlic bread, and my special spagetti sauce, and fruit for desert. I think it was good and I really hope they enjoyed it as much as they said so. Oh yeah, and I forgot we got chocolate nutella waffles on the way home, which they loved. Mmm, I wish everyone could try their amazingness!!!!
So, Rome the next two days, which I'm sure will be amazing and then a day back in florence and venice the next day. Lots of plans and I can't wait to finally see Rome, no tour guide there, we'll all be finding out own way equally, should be interesting!! Hope everything is great at home, and work and school is going good for all of you. Summer will be here before you know it!! Take care!
Peace & Love,
Marissa -- the tour guide.
By the way, it was beautiful out all three days.
Yesterday, after they finally got up (got on the road at 11), we had a small church tour led by me, I think Grandma was impressed with my tour guide skills. After a few churches, we got lunch, then walked around for a little bit more, basically saw all the sites of the outsides and insides of churches. We even went in the Baptistry, I think that was neat to show them all the Byzantine paintings on the dome. On the way home we got Gelato, which I think and I hope they do, that it was of course amazing. After a day of walking around, we went back to my place for some drinks and ended up chilling on the terrace and watching the sun set. We decided then to stop by Friends pub for a drink and head to supper but of course, because I don't go out to eat often at nice places, I didn't know we needed reservations. After being denied, we finally found a place and we got really good food. Also, Dad hackled the waiter a bit. We had a bet whether the guy was married or not and he actually asked him. I was a little embarassed, but then I realized he might have thought DAD was hitting on HIM so then I laughed. Haha, it was a pretty funny dinner all around. Ask Grandma about the difference between first and one, apparently she thought it was sooooo funny she cried, whatever, Dad's jokes aren't that good, hahaha Just kidding! So since everyone who is here is soooo old, again joking, we all went to bed after that. It's so nice getting to sleep early and I think most of the time, I'm more worn out then them! Too much for me! :)
Today, we got going a little late which was not such a good idea since it's Sunday. A lot of things only stay open for the morning, but we still had a good 50 minutes to step in the Bargello Museum, which was not enough but good news, since it was women's day, all of us girls got in free. I was able to show them the Donatello exhibt which I think is great. We then went shop, shop, shopping. Grandma got shoes and a pusrse, Cindy and Dad both got scarves which look amazing, and I got new shoes and two scarves thanks to D&C. Also, I forgot to mention, Dad got a nice new black leather jacket on Saturday, it was a little bit of sketchy situation but that's a whole nother story. He looks pretty baddass right now, such a stud. After shopping, we stopped and finally got some pizza. We then decided to head home and watch the sun set again with some drinks. Even prettier tonight, purples, pinks, oranges... all amazing, with some pretty great scenery to go along. It was then time for the grand meal cooked by Marissa (D&C helped). We had noodles w/brocalli and beans, zucchini, onions, and garlic sautaated, garlic bread, and my special spagetti sauce, and fruit for desert. I think it was good and I really hope they enjoyed it as much as they said so. Oh yeah, and I forgot we got chocolate nutella waffles on the way home, which they loved. Mmm, I wish everyone could try their amazingness!!!!
So, Rome the next two days, which I'm sure will be amazing and then a day back in florence and venice the next day. Lots of plans and I can't wait to finally see Rome, no tour guide there, we'll all be finding out own way equally, should be interesting!! Hope everything is great at home, and work and school is going good for all of you. Summer will be here before you know it!! Take care!
Peace & Love,
Marissa -- the tour guide.
By the way, it was beautiful out all three days.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Week of Mia Familigia!
So excited, tomorrow Dad, Cindy, and Grandma come. They fly into the Firenze airport at 1:00p tomorrow and I'm going to meet them there. I will try to stay up super late writing some papers since I know I won't be able to sleep very well. On Monday, we are going to Rome and staying over night. On Thursday we are going to Venice just for the day. The other days we are just exploring Firenze. Can't wait to show them around and be their personal tour guide. Probably won't be blogging for a while since I plan on devoting all my time to them. Hope everything is going great back home. This week Monday marked the halfway mark. It was crazy because it was exciting that I still have 2 months and yet at the same time scary that it's still another 2 months. Hahaha, don't know if you all will understand that! Take care and have a great weekend and week in the frozen tundra.. hopefully it's finally warming up to a nice, livable, temperature!
PaceAmore,
Marissa
PaceAmore,
Marissa
Sunday, March 1, 2009
A Weekend in Firenze
So, since the fam is visiting next week (YAY!). I decided to try and save some money by staying in Firenze. It ended up being a really fun weekend. I tried so hard to make this weekend all about homework, but as usual, I didn't get very much done. The main reason, however, was because it was such a nice day on Saturday. But first, Friday.
Just one thing worth mentioning about Friday. At 7:00pm Libbi and I decided to go to this Mexican place called Tijuana. Luckily, we got there right when it opened up, because I guess the place gets so packed that they take reservations. Anyway, happy hour was 7-8 so of course we hit it up early. Right away I ordered a pina coloda. So amazing. Then, they brought out the quesadillas I ordered. I kid you not, this was the best food I have eaten in Firenze, even better than CHINESE! I plan on taking every visitor there, so I hope they all like Mexican food. After the quesadillas, I got a really spicy, but yummy bloody mary (of course) and a strawberry pina coloda. Libbi and I were also craving salsa so we got some chips and salsa and that was amazing, too. Needless to say, it was a good Friday. Haha! Doesn't take much!
Saturday, we woke up and Libbi, Hilary, Kristina, and I decided to go out on the town. We got to see a bunch of sights we haven't seen yet and we went in a few churches. A lot of the museums and churches are only open in the morning and we have class so we never get to go, so this was a perfect oppourtunity. The places we saw were so beautiful and now I have new places to show visitors. After that, Libbi and I went shopping for a bit because we wanted to find spring jackets. Libbi found one, I didn't, story of my life. I will keep looking until I find the perfect jacket. After that, we got pizza at our favorite little secret place and then, since it was so nice out, we decided to make some bloody mary's and do homework on the roof. It was so nice and warm in the sun that it felt like summer, speaking of which, I cannot wait for summer!
Today, we got up real early and Libbi and I went to Siena. It was an hour and a half bus ride away from Firenze. I really nice town, but of course, we get one sunny day and the next is shitty rain. We had to go to Siena for this project for a class so we pretty much went, took pictures, and that's about it. Nothing was fricken open. We couldn't get gelato and there were no pubs open, sad story. One good thing, however, there was a soccer game going on and the stadium was at the bottom of the hill so we could see some of the game. We could only see like half the field but it was Genova playing and they are one of the best teams in Italy. Pretty cool. We then had to wait an hour for the bus ride back and what was suppose to be an hour ride turned into two because we were on a highway (didn't know Italy had them) and it was stop-and-go traffic jam. A little annoying, but we were on the top layer of a double decker bus so it still had a cool aspect to it.
So, here I am. 5 days away from seeing my family. Super excited, but hopefully I can get some school work done this week. 2 exams this week as well, it might be a little hard to concentrate! Can't wait for them to come and to post about how much fun we are going to have together! Hope everyone survived the last blizzard. Stay warm.
Love,
Marissa
Just one thing worth mentioning about Friday. At 7:00pm Libbi and I decided to go to this Mexican place called Tijuana. Luckily, we got there right when it opened up, because I guess the place gets so packed that they take reservations. Anyway, happy hour was 7-8 so of course we hit it up early. Right away I ordered a pina coloda. So amazing. Then, they brought out the quesadillas I ordered. I kid you not, this was the best food I have eaten in Firenze, even better than CHINESE! I plan on taking every visitor there, so I hope they all like Mexican food. After the quesadillas, I got a really spicy, but yummy bloody mary (of course) and a strawberry pina coloda. Libbi and I were also craving salsa so we got some chips and salsa and that was amazing, too. Needless to say, it was a good Friday. Haha! Doesn't take much!
Saturday, we woke up and Libbi, Hilary, Kristina, and I decided to go out on the town. We got to see a bunch of sights we haven't seen yet and we went in a few churches. A lot of the museums and churches are only open in the morning and we have class so we never get to go, so this was a perfect oppourtunity. The places we saw were so beautiful and now I have new places to show visitors. After that, Libbi and I went shopping for a bit because we wanted to find spring jackets. Libbi found one, I didn't, story of my life. I will keep looking until I find the perfect jacket. After that, we got pizza at our favorite little secret place and then, since it was so nice out, we decided to make some bloody mary's and do homework on the roof. It was so nice and warm in the sun that it felt like summer, speaking of which, I cannot wait for summer!
Today, we got up real early and Libbi and I went to Siena. It was an hour and a half bus ride away from Firenze. I really nice town, but of course, we get one sunny day and the next is shitty rain. We had to go to Siena for this project for a class so we pretty much went, took pictures, and that's about it. Nothing was fricken open. We couldn't get gelato and there were no pubs open, sad story. One good thing, however, there was a soccer game going on and the stadium was at the bottom of the hill so we could see some of the game. We could only see like half the field but it was Genova playing and they are one of the best teams in Italy. Pretty cool. We then had to wait an hour for the bus ride back and what was suppose to be an hour ride turned into two because we were on a highway (didn't know Italy had them) and it was stop-and-go traffic jam. A little annoying, but we were on the top layer of a double decker bus so it still had a cool aspect to it.
So, here I am. 5 days away from seeing my family. Super excited, but hopefully I can get some school work done this week. 2 exams this week as well, it might be a little hard to concentrate! Can't wait for them to come and to post about how much fun we are going to have together! Hope everyone survived the last blizzard. Stay warm.
Love,
Marissa
Monday, February 23, 2009
Edinburgh, Scotland
Pictures can only try to show what it's really like!
Street-performers, grassmarket, the
Elephant House, where JK Rowlings wrote
the first Harry Potter and underneath the
bongo player, the real hogwarts castle!
Me spitting on the heart!
Braveheart! Painter! Whiskey!
Pubcrawl and Pretty churches do
go together! I love Scotland!
Tina's Bday Pictures
The Fabolous Night that was Kristina's Bday!
Lots of fun with the roomies!
Check out the fake kissing pictures, Tom's a pimp!
Royal Scotland Beauty
This weekend we traveled to Scotland (Scotia). I really didn’t know much about Scotland or what it would even be like, but we booked the tickets anyway because we got the flight and hostel for really cheap. So, I was ready for an adventure whether it was a nice place or not.
We had to take a train to Pisa and then fly out from Pisa to Edinburgh, Scotland. I was a little nervous for the plane ride, but the Ryan Air plane ended up being pretty big; three seats on each side and a long plane. The plane ride was only 2 ½ hours and I slept for the majority of it. When we got into Edinburgh’s airport we were so excited to find our hostel, but we didn’t realize that first we had to go through this passport check. Well, you had to fill out this paperwork and there was only one pen that worked and a huge line. It took so long which was frustrating, but eventually we got through and then it was time to figure out how to get to our hostel. First, we took some money out of an ATM because Scotland runs off of the Pound. We found out it would be cheaper to take a taxi (since there was four of us) then a bus to our hostel.
We got this really funny and nice Scottish taxi driver but it turns out that our hostel was on the outskirts of town. The positive thing, however, is that it was a huge hostel. When we got there, it looked like a hotel/dormitory. The people were really nice, too. It was pretty late, like 9 o’clock so it wasn’t worth going into town and plus we were pretty tired from traveling. So, we ordered Chinese (hah!) delivery. The hostel had a really big bar area and a dining hall. We ate in the dining hall and then decided to head to bed. The room was four bunk beds and two sets of lockers. We didn’t end up having any roommates the whole weekend which was nice. It was good for us to get to bed early that night because breakfast was early the next morning and we knew we’d have a long day.
After breakfast, we took the shuttle (which was 1.20 pound) from the hostel to downtown. Once we got downtown, I immediately fell in love with Edinburgh. It has a big city feel, lots of traffic, but with gorgeous buildings (wider streets than Firenze), green grass, and lots of historic buildings including a Castle. The main street was called the Royal Mile because it leads right up to the castle and has grand churches and state buildings the entire way. My favorite building on the street just so happened to be SUBWAY! Haha, just kidding, but oh my gosh how I’ve missed Subway. Eating that turkey sub gave a little bit of that home feeling. At 11:00am there was this free 3-hour walking tour. This big group of tourists met outside of the Starbucks, and we ended up splitting into like 3 groups and they took us all around Scotland. Our tour guide was this 23 year old girl and she knew so much about the city. We were taken to spots all over the city such as a graveyard, a place overlooking the castle, and little knick knack places. Half-way through the tour, there was a break for lunch at a local Scottish Pub. I got a really great hamburger, but the beer that came with it was a little too strong, too early so I made Julia drink it. Although it was a little dizzily out, the tour was a great learning experience especially since it was free. At the end of the tour they were telling us about this pub crawl that they sponsor that started at 8p for only 10 pounds.
After we bought tickets for the pub crawl, we caught a taxi back to the hostel to freshen up, get some rest, and have supper. After supper, we got a shuttle into town and went to the first bar. From then on, it was in and out of a bunch of cool little pubs, bars, and nightclubs. There was good music in all of them and pretty much the whole time I was either drinking vodka and sprite or this beer cider (which was amazing) although I did have a shot of absence towards the end of the night. The last stop was this free entrance (because of our wristbands) into this nightclub. It was crazy loud with smoke and lasers. Totally European I think. Around 1am we took a taxi back to the hostel. I went to bed because I’m old and I knew if I went to the bar downstairs I would be super hungover the next morning.
I woke up feeling great and the other two girls woke up still drunk, hah, guess that happens when you stay out till 5am and wake up at 8am! Must be nice to be so young, haha! So, we packed up our bags, bought this 5 pound real breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc.) and then headed out on our last day in Edinburgh. It was a pretty sunny day out and while Tom and Libbi were exploring the castle, Julia and I walked around the city (the castle was 10 pounds and I wanted to buy a bunch of souvenirs). As we were walking we saw this street performer who was chaining himself up and had to get out of it in the like 2 minutes. He was super funny and entertaining and watching it took up an hour of our time. Also, up and down the street we walked by 1) a bag-piper 2) two young guys, one playing the guitar, the other the saxophone and 3) a really cute dreaded guy playing the bongos. Clearly, you can see how amazing Edinburgh was. I would go back in a heart beat so if anyone ever wants to travel there, you know who to call.
So, eventually after exploring the city and all the shops and sites it had to offer, we took a taxi to the airport and said goodbye to Edinburgh. By the way, Edinburgh’s airport was like brand-new and so ritzy inside. There was even a “Whiskies of the World” place where they gave out samples of scotch. So cool. The flight back to Pisa was awesome because it was the same size plane with half the people. I was able to lay down on three seats. It would have been awesome if it weren’t for the turbulence and me sleeping right above the engine. I got a little scared, but we landed fine and 15 minutes early. We were all feeling good. Here comes to best part of traveling, when things go wrong!
We were going to take a train from Pisa back to Firenze, we had tickets and were early, but no train. Guess what.. the fricken train workers went on strike the day before! HAH! It was 11:30pm. We decided to take ANOTHER taxi from the airport to the main train station. We got there and found out that luckily (or we were hoping so) there was a bus that was going to come and take everyone to Firenze (as like a compensation for the trains being on strike), but it was at 1:00am. Hah, so we stayed in the freezing cold train station, over-tired, and just hoping that this bus was going to come. The best part was all the crazy that were there. As soon as one crazy walked out of the station, another walked in. There were at least 4 people who were drunk and either talking to themselves or yelling obscenely. Well, finally the bus did show up and we were on our way. Thank God! The good thing is that we were all pretty flexible and made the best of it, it’s just a good thing we didn’t have to be somewhere at a certain time, so from now on I’m going to make sure we leave plenty of time for stuff like that to go wrong. Needless to say, all I did Sunday was sleep.
One other cool thing about Edinburgh that I need to mention; there’s this stone heart shape in the ground right outside this cathedral. Well, it turns out that it’s not a romantic thing, but a thing that locals spit on as they walk by for good luck. Our tour guide told us of this one foreigner who proposed to his girlfriend there, but the whole time he didn’t realize he was kneeling in spit. Hilarious, right!? So, every time we walked by it we would spit on it to appear like we were locals.
So, that’s my whole story of Edinburgh, Scotland. Hope it wasn’t too boring, but I really did enjoy it. I hope reading this makes all of you want to visit. Scotland is so rich with history (Nessie the lochness monster, anyone?!). I definitely recommend it to anyone! Now, it’s just back to the bump and grind of the school week. I’m trying so hard (and failing horribly) to get all my papers done before people start visiting (less than two weeks!!!!). I’m also going to try and upload all my pictures to this web album called Picasa, this way you can see all the pictures with captions and not just a small collage. Don’t know when I’ll actually get that done, but hopefully soon!
I heard there was a snow storm the other day. Be safe driving at home and stay warm. It’s finally warming up here so I hope the warm weather comes your way. Maybe my Dad, Cindy, and Grandma will bring it back with them! Take care!
Love,
Marissa
We had to take a train to Pisa and then fly out from Pisa to Edinburgh, Scotland. I was a little nervous for the plane ride, but the Ryan Air plane ended up being pretty big; three seats on each side and a long plane. The plane ride was only 2 ½ hours and I slept for the majority of it. When we got into Edinburgh’s airport we were so excited to find our hostel, but we didn’t realize that first we had to go through this passport check. Well, you had to fill out this paperwork and there was only one pen that worked and a huge line. It took so long which was frustrating, but eventually we got through and then it was time to figure out how to get to our hostel. First, we took some money out of an ATM because Scotland runs off of the Pound. We found out it would be cheaper to take a taxi (since there was four of us) then a bus to our hostel.
We got this really funny and nice Scottish taxi driver but it turns out that our hostel was on the outskirts of town. The positive thing, however, is that it was a huge hostel. When we got there, it looked like a hotel/dormitory. The people were really nice, too. It was pretty late, like 9 o’clock so it wasn’t worth going into town and plus we were pretty tired from traveling. So, we ordered Chinese (hah!) delivery. The hostel had a really big bar area and a dining hall. We ate in the dining hall and then decided to head to bed. The room was four bunk beds and two sets of lockers. We didn’t end up having any roommates the whole weekend which was nice. It was good for us to get to bed early that night because breakfast was early the next morning and we knew we’d have a long day.
After breakfast, we took the shuttle (which was 1.20 pound) from the hostel to downtown. Once we got downtown, I immediately fell in love with Edinburgh. It has a big city feel, lots of traffic, but with gorgeous buildings (wider streets than Firenze), green grass, and lots of historic buildings including a Castle. The main street was called the Royal Mile because it leads right up to the castle and has grand churches and state buildings the entire way. My favorite building on the street just so happened to be SUBWAY! Haha, just kidding, but oh my gosh how I’ve missed Subway. Eating that turkey sub gave a little bit of that home feeling. At 11:00am there was this free 3-hour walking tour. This big group of tourists met outside of the Starbucks, and we ended up splitting into like 3 groups and they took us all around Scotland. Our tour guide was this 23 year old girl and she knew so much about the city. We were taken to spots all over the city such as a graveyard, a place overlooking the castle, and little knick knack places. Half-way through the tour, there was a break for lunch at a local Scottish Pub. I got a really great hamburger, but the beer that came with it was a little too strong, too early so I made Julia drink it. Although it was a little dizzily out, the tour was a great learning experience especially since it was free. At the end of the tour they were telling us about this pub crawl that they sponsor that started at 8p for only 10 pounds.
After we bought tickets for the pub crawl, we caught a taxi back to the hostel to freshen up, get some rest, and have supper. After supper, we got a shuttle into town and went to the first bar. From then on, it was in and out of a bunch of cool little pubs, bars, and nightclubs. There was good music in all of them and pretty much the whole time I was either drinking vodka and sprite or this beer cider (which was amazing) although I did have a shot of absence towards the end of the night. The last stop was this free entrance (because of our wristbands) into this nightclub. It was crazy loud with smoke and lasers. Totally European I think. Around 1am we took a taxi back to the hostel. I went to bed because I’m old and I knew if I went to the bar downstairs I would be super hungover the next morning.
I woke up feeling great and the other two girls woke up still drunk, hah, guess that happens when you stay out till 5am and wake up at 8am! Must be nice to be so young, haha! So, we packed up our bags, bought this 5 pound real breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc.) and then headed out on our last day in Edinburgh. It was a pretty sunny day out and while Tom and Libbi were exploring the castle, Julia and I walked around the city (the castle was 10 pounds and I wanted to buy a bunch of souvenirs). As we were walking we saw this street performer who was chaining himself up and had to get out of it in the like 2 minutes. He was super funny and entertaining and watching it took up an hour of our time. Also, up and down the street we walked by 1) a bag-piper 2) two young guys, one playing the guitar, the other the saxophone and 3) a really cute dreaded guy playing the bongos. Clearly, you can see how amazing Edinburgh was. I would go back in a heart beat so if anyone ever wants to travel there, you know who to call.
So, eventually after exploring the city and all the shops and sites it had to offer, we took a taxi to the airport and said goodbye to Edinburgh. By the way, Edinburgh’s airport was like brand-new and so ritzy inside. There was even a “Whiskies of the World” place where they gave out samples of scotch. So cool. The flight back to Pisa was awesome because it was the same size plane with half the people. I was able to lay down on three seats. It would have been awesome if it weren’t for the turbulence and me sleeping right above the engine. I got a little scared, but we landed fine and 15 minutes early. We were all feeling good. Here comes to best part of traveling, when things go wrong!
We were going to take a train from Pisa back to Firenze, we had tickets and were early, but no train. Guess what.. the fricken train workers went on strike the day before! HAH! It was 11:30pm. We decided to take ANOTHER taxi from the airport to the main train station. We got there and found out that luckily (or we were hoping so) there was a bus that was going to come and take everyone to Firenze (as like a compensation for the trains being on strike), but it was at 1:00am. Hah, so we stayed in the freezing cold train station, over-tired, and just hoping that this bus was going to come. The best part was all the crazy that were there. As soon as one crazy walked out of the station, another walked in. There were at least 4 people who were drunk and either talking to themselves or yelling obscenely. Well, finally the bus did show up and we were on our way. Thank God! The good thing is that we were all pretty flexible and made the best of it, it’s just a good thing we didn’t have to be somewhere at a certain time, so from now on I’m going to make sure we leave plenty of time for stuff like that to go wrong. Needless to say, all I did Sunday was sleep.
One other cool thing about Edinburgh that I need to mention; there’s this stone heart shape in the ground right outside this cathedral. Well, it turns out that it’s not a romantic thing, but a thing that locals spit on as they walk by for good luck. Our tour guide told us of this one foreigner who proposed to his girlfriend there, but the whole time he didn’t realize he was kneeling in spit. Hilarious, right!? So, every time we walked by it we would spit on it to appear like we were locals.
So, that’s my whole story of Edinburgh, Scotland. Hope it wasn’t too boring, but I really did enjoy it. I hope reading this makes all of you want to visit. Scotland is so rich with history (Nessie the lochness monster, anyone?!). I definitely recommend it to anyone! Now, it’s just back to the bump and grind of the school week. I’m trying so hard (and failing horribly) to get all my papers done before people start visiting (less than two weeks!!!!). I’m also going to try and upload all my pictures to this web album called Picasa, this way you can see all the pictures with captions and not just a small collage. Don’t know when I’ll actually get that done, but hopefully soon!
I heard there was a snow storm the other day. Be safe driving at home and stay warm. It’s finally warming up here so I hope the warm weather comes your way. Maybe my Dad, Cindy, and Grandma will bring it back with them! Take care!
Love,
Marissa
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Weekend Breakdown
I love traveling on the weekends, but this weekend went spent at home and it ended up being a blast. Here, I will break down the events of such a splendid weekend:
Friday: Our amazing day of sleeping in. We pretty much did random stuff all day and then around 5:00p we all started to get ready for Kristina’s birthday bash. It was so cool because everyone dressed up hardcore. Tom had a tie on and all of the ladies were either in a dress or a skirt. We all looked so glamorous. We first went to the Art bar which is the place that has really amazing fruity drinks and happy hour for 5 Euro a drink (really cheap for the quality, they are normally 8.50). I had two long island iced teas because I wanted the most bang for the buck because my money is running a little low, haha. It was nice because we arrived early and eventually the place got packed. We were so loud with all of our talking and laughing. It was definitely nice group bonding time. After that we headed to this really nice restaurant for supper. They set us in this back room and once again we were the only ones in there. It was pretty because we were in our one little world and by the end of the meal we realized the place was packed once again. I had some pasta and some vino. When the nice and cute waiter brought out Kristina’s little dolce (desert) he was like, “Can I have a kiss.” So she went to give him one on the cheek right at the last second he moved his head. We all laughed so hard and Kristina blushed hardcore. So cute! We then decided to head to Friend’s pub just for one drink (it was only like 10:00p). This is when we proceeded to have piggy back races with heels on. Hah, I had Hilary on my back and Julie had Kristina on hers. It was such a workout because I basically ran all the way home with her on my back. We were going over one of the bridges and this couple we passed were just laughing away at us. So then we ordered a glass of wine at Friend’s Pub and sat in this cozy booth and just laughed it up and danced and whatnot. Kristina said she had a really good birthday and it such a fun time for me too. What a Friday the 13th, huh?
Saturday: Everyone was super tired, but we had to be up early to meet Vanessa (the director) and James (one of our professors) at the bus station. We later found out that we were going to Pranzano Chianti, which is hardcore vino country and where they make olive oil. It was beautiful Tuscan countryside. The bus ride was an hour long of winding roads and hills. Every single one of us felt like we were going to throw up when we got off. We didn’t really know what the day was all about, were we cooking, was it a school, were they cooking for us? Turns out, we are taken to this absolutely gorgeous family compound of houses and they cooked an entire 4 course Italian meal for us. The grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter all cooked and served us. We first had the most amazing stone-fire cooked bruschetta, second we had soupa de ceci (like a pea soup), next we had this amazing rice (it was my favorite). At this point, we were getting a little full and we knew we had two courses left. They then bring out this egg and tomato sauce casserole thing with salad. I knew dolce was next so I prepared my stomach. They then brought out my most favorite desert ever (now), pineapple tiramisu. It was so luscious with pineapple, 3-layers of sponge cake, and a vanilla crème. Absolutely amazing. It pains me even talking about it right now! Haha.. So then, naturally we didn’t do a damn thing at night because we were so fricken stuffed. Oh yeah, and on the way home from the bus station, we saw two old men get into a fist fight. Pretty funny spectacle because the one guy didn’t have a far reach so he kept getting hit in the face and trying to kick the other guy. A brief feud, but it was a funny story for us.
Sunday (today): Today was pretty much a sleepy day for me. But, there are a few interesting things that happened. We went down to the pub at around 4 o’clock and it was absolutely packed because there was a calico (soccer/futbal) game going on. We got in there right at half-time and Florentina was down 0-3 to Genova. As the half progressed, I realized that I had seen Genova take like 2 shots compared to Florentina’s 12 or so. Well, long story short, Florentina ended up coming back 2-3 and in the last minute of stoppage time they scored to tie the game. Then entire placed erupted, it was so loud. I mean, they are really, super passionate about their soccer. It felt like being in a bar during the super bowl only this soccer game is nothing special. So, after the game Julia and I decided we’d make a casserole for Tom and Libbi (who went to a different down today to go to Carnival). The rest of us didn’t go for either lack of money or too much homework. I think I actually really enjoy cooking now, but only if I have music. So Dad, when we cook next, we’ll just have to play some Pink Floyd. The casserole has shredded potato, broccoli, zucchini, and onions, mozzarella cheese, ground-cooked beef, shell noodles, American cheese, and marinara sauce w/olives and tomato. Mixed in all of that was basil, oregano, garlic, pepper, salt, and spicy pepper. Julia’s a little worried about how it’s going to turn out. I said that if it’s horrible, she’s going to have to take credit for it because it was her idea to throw all those ingredients in there together.
This week, we are busy as usual. I know it’s probably the same for all of you back home. I’d like to give a little shout out to Tia who FINALLY (haha just kidding) passed her boards and is now, officially, a registered nurse. Congrats. The weeks are flying by so quickly now, which is equally exciting and sad. This next weekend, Julia, Tom, Libbi, and I booked a trip to Scotland. It was kinda random and we did it because plane tickets are only 10 Euro. We are planning on researching the town, Edinburgh, this week and hopefully there will be something to do, haha! Oh well, it’s Scotland, you know for sure they’ll have a pub! Then, after that, only three weeks till I have some pretty amazing visitors! So excited! Hope all is well on the home front. Miss you all a lot.
Pace,
Marissa
Friday: Our amazing day of sleeping in. We pretty much did random stuff all day and then around 5:00p we all started to get ready for Kristina’s birthday bash. It was so cool because everyone dressed up hardcore. Tom had a tie on and all of the ladies were either in a dress or a skirt. We all looked so glamorous. We first went to the Art bar which is the place that has really amazing fruity drinks and happy hour for 5 Euro a drink (really cheap for the quality, they are normally 8.50). I had two long island iced teas because I wanted the most bang for the buck because my money is running a little low, haha. It was nice because we arrived early and eventually the place got packed. We were so loud with all of our talking and laughing. It was definitely nice group bonding time. After that we headed to this really nice restaurant for supper. They set us in this back room and once again we were the only ones in there. It was pretty because we were in our one little world and by the end of the meal we realized the place was packed once again. I had some pasta and some vino. When the nice and cute waiter brought out Kristina’s little dolce (desert) he was like, “Can I have a kiss.” So she went to give him one on the cheek right at the last second he moved his head. We all laughed so hard and Kristina blushed hardcore. So cute! We then decided to head to Friend’s pub just for one drink (it was only like 10:00p). This is when we proceeded to have piggy back races with heels on. Hah, I had Hilary on my back and Julie had Kristina on hers. It was such a workout because I basically ran all the way home with her on my back. We were going over one of the bridges and this couple we passed were just laughing away at us. So then we ordered a glass of wine at Friend’s Pub and sat in this cozy booth and just laughed it up and danced and whatnot. Kristina said she had a really good birthday and it such a fun time for me too. What a Friday the 13th, huh?
Saturday: Everyone was super tired, but we had to be up early to meet Vanessa (the director) and James (one of our professors) at the bus station. We later found out that we were going to Pranzano Chianti, which is hardcore vino country and where they make olive oil. It was beautiful Tuscan countryside. The bus ride was an hour long of winding roads and hills. Every single one of us felt like we were going to throw up when we got off. We didn’t really know what the day was all about, were we cooking, was it a school, were they cooking for us? Turns out, we are taken to this absolutely gorgeous family compound of houses and they cooked an entire 4 course Italian meal for us. The grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter all cooked and served us. We first had the most amazing stone-fire cooked bruschetta, second we had soupa de ceci (like a pea soup), next we had this amazing rice (it was my favorite). At this point, we were getting a little full and we knew we had two courses left. They then bring out this egg and tomato sauce casserole thing with salad. I knew dolce was next so I prepared my stomach. They then brought out my most favorite desert ever (now), pineapple tiramisu. It was so luscious with pineapple, 3-layers of sponge cake, and a vanilla crème. Absolutely amazing. It pains me even talking about it right now! Haha.. So then, naturally we didn’t do a damn thing at night because we were so fricken stuffed. Oh yeah, and on the way home from the bus station, we saw two old men get into a fist fight. Pretty funny spectacle because the one guy didn’t have a far reach so he kept getting hit in the face and trying to kick the other guy. A brief feud, but it was a funny story for us.
Sunday (today): Today was pretty much a sleepy day for me. But, there are a few interesting things that happened. We went down to the pub at around 4 o’clock and it was absolutely packed because there was a calico (soccer/futbal) game going on. We got in there right at half-time and Florentina was down 0-3 to Genova. As the half progressed, I realized that I had seen Genova take like 2 shots compared to Florentina’s 12 or so. Well, long story short, Florentina ended up coming back 2-3 and in the last minute of stoppage time they scored to tie the game. Then entire placed erupted, it was so loud. I mean, they are really, super passionate about their soccer. It felt like being in a bar during the super bowl only this soccer game is nothing special. So, after the game Julia and I decided we’d make a casserole for Tom and Libbi (who went to a different down today to go to Carnival). The rest of us didn’t go for either lack of money or too much homework. I think I actually really enjoy cooking now, but only if I have music. So Dad, when we cook next, we’ll just have to play some Pink Floyd. The casserole has shredded potato, broccoli, zucchini, and onions, mozzarella cheese, ground-cooked beef, shell noodles, American cheese, and marinara sauce w/olives and tomato. Mixed in all of that was basil, oregano, garlic, pepper, salt, and spicy pepper. Julia’s a little worried about how it’s going to turn out. I said that if it’s horrible, she’s going to have to take credit for it because it was her idea to throw all those ingredients in there together.
This week, we are busy as usual. I know it’s probably the same for all of you back home. I’d like to give a little shout out to Tia who FINALLY (haha just kidding) passed her boards and is now, officially, a registered nurse. Congrats. The weeks are flying by so quickly now, which is equally exciting and sad. This next weekend, Julia, Tom, Libbi, and I booked a trip to Scotland. It was kinda random and we did it because plane tickets are only 10 Euro. We are planning on researching the town, Edinburgh, this week and hopefully there will be something to do, haha! Oh well, it’s Scotland, you know for sure they’ll have a pub! Then, after that, only three weeks till I have some pretty amazing visitors! So excited! Hope all is well on the home front. Miss you all a lot.
Pace,
Marissa
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A day in the life...
Today, I started a rountine. I was able to bed early last night which was super amazing because I could actually stay awake during class. Yesterday, I literally fell asleep twice, but it was a busy day and I had no sleep going into it. But, today, I was on my A-game. Italian language class is getting so tough, but I'm trying hard and still enjoying it. We have class with Alba (the teacher) for two hours twice a week and then we have class with Susanna (all Italian discussion) 1 hour each week. The problem is we like Susanna ten times better and she's just a better teacher. But, I'll mangage. So then we had a 2 hour break, in which I sent out a bunch of emails that I was behind on. I had another 2 hour class and then immediately afterward, I went for my first run in the city of Firenze. I thought it would be awkward and the streets would be crowded, but it was really no problem. I went for like a 45 minute run then did a bit of yoga afterward. Then, about an hour and a half later (6pm) we went to ballet class. Needless to say, I'm pretty wiped out right now. But, I thought it would be cool to share what I think my new schedule will be as long as the weather cooperates. I plan on running tomorrow during the day and then it's Kristina's 20th Bday (my roommate). We are going to go out for dinner and drinks and then come back to our place and have a huge game night. Then, Saturday we are going to a cooking school and the cooks are going to make this gourmet meal for us. I'm pretty excited for the weekend. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I hope these pictures suit you well. I'm going to try and put pictures on Facebook soon so that the individual pictures can be seen. So my routine is set, all I have to do is stick with it! Take care all and I'll post when something exciting happens. I can't believe it's only three-four weeks till I see some of your beautiful faces!
Much Amore,
Marissa
Much Amore,
Marissa
Fun times in Venice with the girls!
The Green Flood Boots.
Bloody and Beer.
Guinness IS good for you! :)
Our beds.
The three people past out:
Bum, Libbi @ Chinese, Julie w/boots.
= FUN
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Venetian Flood and Maze
Venice is the cutest place I've ever been. It is so unique. There is honestly no place like it in the world. I'll try to keep my travel log as short as possible, but there were so many funny and amazing stories that we created over the weekend.
Friday: We hopped on a train and as soon as we arrived in Venice we bought a map, thank god! Immeditately, we realized none of the streets are straight and there are little canals and bridges everywhere. Suprisingly, we didn't have too hard of a time finiding our hostel. We were supposed to check in around 2:00p and believe it or not, it was two o'clock exactly. We were in a 5-person shared room (Libbi, Julia, and I went on the trip), but we didn't have any roommates the first night. The place was called Best Bed and Breakfast in Venice (sketchy name), but it ended up being really clean place and the landlady was super nice as well. We were ready to explore, but hunger overtook us. Believe it or not, the first place we ate at was a Chinese restaurant across the street from our hostel. It was sooooo good and the service was great. Right after we ate, it started to rain so we walked around a bit before ducking into a local Irish pub. I had a bloody mary and two beers and as we were walking out, the bartender told us that if we came back later, he'd give us free shots. My boots were soaked so my main goal was finding a place with reasonable boots to buy (before we left, I really wanted to get another pair, but I had no time to find some). So I ended up buying some socks and eventually I found the perfect pair of boots. I was feeling great, but then after a while I really had to go to the bathroom. We were a little lost and could not find a place to stop or that had a bathroom. Finally, we stopped at this 5-star restraunt and pleaded to use their bathroom. Luckily, they allowed us to.
Wow, Friday deserves two paragraphs. Onto part two of the night. As we were walking home, we heard live jazz music. Naturally, we followed our ears. It was this small jazz club and people were pouring out into the streets with wine glasses in hand, all while it was still raining out. We were just going to stay for a couple songs, but then they started playing some really good jams like sitting by the dock of the bay, stand by me, and a bunch of other up beat ones. Long story short, we ended up in the front row cheering on the band and singing. We have video and I'll try to get it up soon. There was a really great saxophone player. We left the jazz club after the band was finished and went home to freshen up a bit. We then went back to the Irish pub and as promised, we had free shot after free shot. The first one was a flaming sam buca. Such a cool drink. After that, the night got blurry... haha, well not really, but I know Mom hates me talking about my drinking, so use your imagination! :) The important thing is that somehow, we made it home through the maze of streets.
Saturday: We woke up a little late, noon, no big deal. We ate some pizza and then decided that we really wanted to head to Murano. It's a small island where all the glass blowing takes place. After a long walk to the side of the river bank, we took a short water taxi to the island. When we got there we went straight to a glass blowing demonstration and gallery. It was so amazing to watch them make a glass horse. Seems impossible, but they do it. I bought a few things and then we just walked around the small, quiet town for a while. It started to get cold and it looked as if a rain storm was heading in, so we decided to go back to Venice. When we got back, we were a little tired, but wanted to grab supper first before having a nap. So, as would be expected, we went to the Chinese place.... again! Haha.. I love how it was just a natural thing for us. Libbi, Julia, and I really just think a lot alike and have fun going with the flow. It was amazing again, and towards the end of our meal, this couple took a seat next to us. We were a little loud and they seemed annoyed, but we didn't care much. We went back up to our room and got ready for a nap, 20 minutes later, our two roommates for the night arrive... hah, same couple from the Chinese restaurant. So funny. They were really nice and from New Zealand. We talked a little bit, but they ended up going to be at 9. We were going to go out to another Jazz club, but decided we'd have an early morning so we should get to bed at a decent time.
Sunday: We woke up early and realized we would have a long day to kill time. It was 10a when we had to check out and our train left at 6:30p. We headed down for some coffee and as we were sitting there, this American couple came up to us and we were chatting. They were studying in Firenze too and just came to Venice for the weekend. What a coincidence. Anyway, they started talking about how they should go put their rain boots on. We were a little confused because it didn't rain Saturday (that we knew of) and it wasn't raining today. We realized a lot of people walking by were either in boots or with plastic bags over their feet. Turns out, it rained all night and as soon as we turned onto a main street, we realized the city was flooded. Such a col experience. Were we had walked yesterday, was now knee-deep water. So crazy. I have so many great pictures. This kind of hampered our day, however, because we couldn't see half of the sights. We ended up spending a few hours in a pizzeria and then found a dry sqaure to sit down in. There were pidgeons everywhere and we ended up sitting there for like 2 hours just feeding them. So random, but fun and the sun ended up coming out. After that, we just walked to the train station and sat on the steps outside and people watched. We waited a good 3 hours there, but eventually it was time for us to leave.
I realize we probably could have seen more sights, but really we love just the social aspect of places. Meeting random people and doing special things. I also am not that worried about not getting to walk the bell tower, because I know I will be back there one day. It was sure nice to come home though. The more we travel, the more we appreciate our home in Firenze. Now, it's back to the bump and grind of school, ballet, and homework, but it's all very fun and worth it. I know most of you back home are very busy as well, I just hope the stress isn't overcoming you too much! Take care and stay in touch. Skyping is always great!
Love,
Marissa
ps- I'll put pictures and maybe video up as soon as possible!
Friday: We hopped on a train and as soon as we arrived in Venice we bought a map, thank god! Immeditately, we realized none of the streets are straight and there are little canals and bridges everywhere. Suprisingly, we didn't have too hard of a time finiding our hostel. We were supposed to check in around 2:00p and believe it or not, it was two o'clock exactly. We were in a 5-person shared room (Libbi, Julia, and I went on the trip), but we didn't have any roommates the first night. The place was called Best Bed and Breakfast in Venice (sketchy name), but it ended up being really clean place and the landlady was super nice as well. We were ready to explore, but hunger overtook us. Believe it or not, the first place we ate at was a Chinese restaurant across the street from our hostel. It was sooooo good and the service was great. Right after we ate, it started to rain so we walked around a bit before ducking into a local Irish pub. I had a bloody mary and two beers and as we were walking out, the bartender told us that if we came back later, he'd give us free shots. My boots were soaked so my main goal was finding a place with reasonable boots to buy (before we left, I really wanted to get another pair, but I had no time to find some). So I ended up buying some socks and eventually I found the perfect pair of boots. I was feeling great, but then after a while I really had to go to the bathroom. We were a little lost and could not find a place to stop or that had a bathroom. Finally, we stopped at this 5-star restraunt and pleaded to use their bathroom. Luckily, they allowed us to.
Wow, Friday deserves two paragraphs. Onto part two of the night. As we were walking home, we heard live jazz music. Naturally, we followed our ears. It was this small jazz club and people were pouring out into the streets with wine glasses in hand, all while it was still raining out. We were just going to stay for a couple songs, but then they started playing some really good jams like sitting by the dock of the bay, stand by me, and a bunch of other up beat ones. Long story short, we ended up in the front row cheering on the band and singing. We have video and I'll try to get it up soon. There was a really great saxophone player. We left the jazz club after the band was finished and went home to freshen up a bit. We then went back to the Irish pub and as promised, we had free shot after free shot. The first one was a flaming sam buca. Such a cool drink. After that, the night got blurry... haha, well not really, but I know Mom hates me talking about my drinking, so use your imagination! :) The important thing is that somehow, we made it home through the maze of streets.
Saturday: We woke up a little late, noon, no big deal. We ate some pizza and then decided that we really wanted to head to Murano. It's a small island where all the glass blowing takes place. After a long walk to the side of the river bank, we took a short water taxi to the island. When we got there we went straight to a glass blowing demonstration and gallery. It was so amazing to watch them make a glass horse. Seems impossible, but they do it. I bought a few things and then we just walked around the small, quiet town for a while. It started to get cold and it looked as if a rain storm was heading in, so we decided to go back to Venice. When we got back, we were a little tired, but wanted to grab supper first before having a nap. So, as would be expected, we went to the Chinese place.... again! Haha.. I love how it was just a natural thing for us. Libbi, Julia, and I really just think a lot alike and have fun going with the flow. It was amazing again, and towards the end of our meal, this couple took a seat next to us. We were a little loud and they seemed annoyed, but we didn't care much. We went back up to our room and got ready for a nap, 20 minutes later, our two roommates for the night arrive... hah, same couple from the Chinese restaurant. So funny. They were really nice and from New Zealand. We talked a little bit, but they ended up going to be at 9. We were going to go out to another Jazz club, but decided we'd have an early morning so we should get to bed at a decent time.
Sunday: We woke up early and realized we would have a long day to kill time. It was 10a when we had to check out and our train left at 6:30p. We headed down for some coffee and as we were sitting there, this American couple came up to us and we were chatting. They were studying in Firenze too and just came to Venice for the weekend. What a coincidence. Anyway, they started talking about how they should go put their rain boots on. We were a little confused because it didn't rain Saturday (that we knew of) and it wasn't raining today. We realized a lot of people walking by were either in boots or with plastic bags over their feet. Turns out, it rained all night and as soon as we turned onto a main street, we realized the city was flooded. Such a col experience. Were we had walked yesterday, was now knee-deep water. So crazy. I have so many great pictures. This kind of hampered our day, however, because we couldn't see half of the sights. We ended up spending a few hours in a pizzeria and then found a dry sqaure to sit down in. There were pidgeons everywhere and we ended up sitting there for like 2 hours just feeding them. So random, but fun and the sun ended up coming out. After that, we just walked to the train station and sat on the steps outside and people watched. We waited a good 3 hours there, but eventually it was time for us to leave.
I realize we probably could have seen more sights, but really we love just the social aspect of places. Meeting random people and doing special things. I also am not that worried about not getting to walk the bell tower, because I know I will be back there one day. It was sure nice to come home though. The more we travel, the more we appreciate our home in Firenze. Now, it's back to the bump and grind of school, ballet, and homework, but it's all very fun and worth it. I know most of you back home are very busy as well, I just hope the stress isn't overcoming you too much! Take care and stay in touch. Skyping is always great!
Love,
Marissa
ps- I'll put pictures and maybe video up as soon as possible!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Settling into the Florentine Lifestyle..
Wow, it's been a while but I have been so busy. So class is kicking my butt a bit. Italian language class is getting harder and harder, but it's so fun trying to learn and use it. We started ballet/yoga/stretching class on tuesday and just had it a few hours ago as well. It's so amazing that it's on the first floor of our apartment. The lady is so nice, but I'm struggling so bad. Ballet is so hard and I'm definitely the furthest behind compared to Libbi and Julie. It's a lot of fun, a stress reliever, and a nice workout. I'll keep you posted on this as it progresses. We went to a new (for us) club last night called Yab. It had really good music and the dance floor was huge. We didn't really like the people in it though and right when you come in you are given a card, which gets punched when you check your coat (3 Euro) and for drinks. Then, before you leave you have to cash in the card and pay and they give you a reciept and that's the only way you can leave the club. It was kinda annoying and we were a little pissed when we left so we decided to go to friend's pub for a nightcap. That cheered us up a bit. Skyped Jesse today, it was nice to see him. I acutally love skype, such a great way to stay in contact and see the people I miss. So, that pretty much wraps up the week. Nothing too special. Tomorrow we leave for Venice until Sunday. I can't wait to post on all the trouble we get in over there. Jesse said it was going to warm up to 50 in WI.. lucky you guys.. it's still cold and rainy here! Very annoying. Hope all is well and everyone has a great weekend.
Buonanotte,
Marissa
Buonanotte,
Marissa
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Two Things I Forgot to Mention!
Of course, I forgot two very imporant things/comments. One, I cannot believe it's February and a month has gone by this fast. That's scary. By the way, Happy Birthday to my Pruchy! Miss you girl! Secondly, are you all watching the superbowl? Who did you want to win? I think I'd cheer for the Cardinals just because they are Red and the Steelers colors are ugly. Hahaha.. anyway, the games on at 1am here. Some of the girls want to go out, but I doubt it will happen because we have class in the morning. Well, someone should let me know the outcome and whether you're happy about it or not!
Sleep is my Frienemy!
Hm. Where to start? It's been a while only because I haven't being doing that much. The last couple days it's been eat, sleep, eat, nap, sleep. Hah! Horrible I know, but it's just nice after class all week to relax. I hope we keep ourselves more busy this week, but the weather forecast is rain every day. I'm so glad I'm not in WI weather, but being here during their spring is really sucking right now.
Just in case you guys think I'm doing nothing, during the week we have two classes each day. For one class we had a walking tour and it was so neat because our professor took us to a bunch of little places and also explained a few building we walk by every day but don't realize they are anything special. We also got to go inside the Duomo, which is the cathedral of Florence. It was so amazing because the inside of the dome was painted Filippo Brunelleschi, and as we walked underneath it, I just got so overwhelmed (in a good way). I had tears because it's just such a huge piece of history and I'm able to see it. So cool. Then, we have Italian class Mon. and Wed. with one teacher where we learn grammar and all that good stuff and Friday we have a speaking hour with another teacher. It's super hard and I constantly am forgetting things or screwing up the pronouciation, but for some reason I'm not too embarassed about it. We get homework nightly that I do by myself and check with the roomies. I know that they understand the language better so I don't do my homework with them cause I probably wouldn't learn but just take their answers. So far, I'm loving learning the Italian language.
A little side note. It's so great having roomies who love to play cards. We play cards almost every night and on our table, we have like 6 decks of cards. Tonight, Thomas cooked up a corn/rice/tomato/potato casserole. It was really good. Most days our group has such a great dynamic. Of course, being with each other 24/7 leads us to some arguments but they are usually handled swiftly. Also, Libbi and I completed the rubik's cube the other day. We went on the internet to LEARN how to do it. Not just where you put the code in and do it. Tonight we are going to do it again. We are probably going to keep doing it until we know how to do it without the internet.
We have the next couple weekends planned which is fabolous. Next weekend, Libbi, Julia, and I are going to Venice. Hilary, Tom, and Kristina are going to go to Rome. Then, we are going to swap stories and ideas so we can visit the opposite. I'm pretty excited for it, we already booked our hostel. Then, the next weekend is Kristina's birthday and we have that all planned out. The weekend after, we want to either go skiing in Switzerland or Paris. It's so sweet that we have these amazing options. I've also been trying to plan Dad, Cindy, and Grandma's trip which has been exciting becasue I can't wait to show them places around town and on the outskirts.
Last night we drank a little bit at the apartment and then went to our favorite dance club called Twice. It was a really good time and we ended up seeing our our British friends out too. The night life is so exotic and different here. We got to the club probably at 11:30p and there was a comfortable amount of people in it, but by 1am the club was full and there were people lined up outside. I'm so glad we like going out early otherwise we probably wouldn't get into the club! It's also unique because they play both American Hip-hop and some Italian dance beats. It's a nice mix.
Okay, well I tried filling you up with as much needless information as possible, but I've run out now. I'm sure as soon as I post this I'll remember something of actual importance, but hey what can I say, I'm tired. Haha, I've only slept 12 hours today. I need at least 14 to function properly, haha just kidding! Hopefully some fun and exciting stuff happens this weekend so I can write more. Take care and I'll blog soon.
Pace,
Marissa
Just in case you guys think I'm doing nothing, during the week we have two classes each day. For one class we had a walking tour and it was so neat because our professor took us to a bunch of little places and also explained a few building we walk by every day but don't realize they are anything special. We also got to go inside the Duomo, which is the cathedral of Florence. It was so amazing because the inside of the dome was painted Filippo Brunelleschi, and as we walked underneath it, I just got so overwhelmed (in a good way). I had tears because it's just such a huge piece of history and I'm able to see it. So cool. Then, we have Italian class Mon. and Wed. with one teacher where we learn grammar and all that good stuff and Friday we have a speaking hour with another teacher. It's super hard and I constantly am forgetting things or screwing up the pronouciation, but for some reason I'm not too embarassed about it. We get homework nightly that I do by myself and check with the roomies. I know that they understand the language better so I don't do my homework with them cause I probably wouldn't learn but just take their answers. So far, I'm loving learning the Italian language.
A little side note. It's so great having roomies who love to play cards. We play cards almost every night and on our table, we have like 6 decks of cards. Tonight, Thomas cooked up a corn/rice/tomato/potato casserole. It was really good. Most days our group has such a great dynamic. Of course, being with each other 24/7 leads us to some arguments but they are usually handled swiftly. Also, Libbi and I completed the rubik's cube the other day. We went on the internet to LEARN how to do it. Not just where you put the code in and do it. Tonight we are going to do it again. We are probably going to keep doing it until we know how to do it without the internet.
We have the next couple weekends planned which is fabolous. Next weekend, Libbi, Julia, and I are going to Venice. Hilary, Tom, and Kristina are going to go to Rome. Then, we are going to swap stories and ideas so we can visit the opposite. I'm pretty excited for it, we already booked our hostel. Then, the next weekend is Kristina's birthday and we have that all planned out. The weekend after, we want to either go skiing in Switzerland or Paris. It's so sweet that we have these amazing options. I've also been trying to plan Dad, Cindy, and Grandma's trip which has been exciting becasue I can't wait to show them places around town and on the outskirts.
Last night we drank a little bit at the apartment and then went to our favorite dance club called Twice. It was a really good time and we ended up seeing our our British friends out too. The night life is so exotic and different here. We got to the club probably at 11:30p and there was a comfortable amount of people in it, but by 1am the club was full and there were people lined up outside. I'm so glad we like going out early otherwise we probably wouldn't get into the club! It's also unique because they play both American Hip-hop and some Italian dance beats. It's a nice mix.
Okay, well I tried filling you up with as much needless information as possible, but I've run out now. I'm sure as soon as I post this I'll remember something of actual importance, but hey what can I say, I'm tired. Haha, I've only slept 12 hours today. I need at least 14 to function properly, haha just kidding! Hopefully some fun and exciting stuff happens this weekend so I can write more. Take care and I'll blog soon.
Pace,
Marissa
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Goodbye Mother Mary, Hello Classes!
First bit of news: Mary has left the building. On Sunday I noticed her shampoo bottles weren't in the bathroom anymore and after a while we all put it together that we thought she left. Sure enough, when I was out shopping (ugh, again!) Tara went in her room and it was cleared out. She called us and we were jumping up and down in the streets of Florence, hahaha it was super funny! So now, Hilary and I are back to sharing a room of two and Tara and Kristina moved into Mary's room. It's all so perfect now and has relived a lot of tension in the flat!
So, it has been a while since I've written, but classes finally started Monday. They actually don't see that hard and since it's just the 7 of us with each professor I think the class will generate great discussion. I'm really looking forward to it. Most of the classes have various field trips to museums and churches. Lots of fun, little homework. Just how I like it.
Today was our first full Italian class and I have to say I'm really excited to learn. I love our teacher, she is so nice and outgoing. She said one of her pet peeves is when students shake their legs (nervous leg syndrome) and I said uh-oh. She then proceeded to walk up to me, grab my cheeks, say "don't worry" and kiss my forehead. How hilarious! Everyone was laughing and I was super embarrassed. It's so funny because Italians really don't know what a comfort zone or PDA are. We constantly see couples making out as we walk around town.
The only other reason I've been so busy is because I met a guy. He's really nice. His name is Filippo and I've seen him a few times now. I'm just really excited to have met a nice Italian who I can speak/exchange language with and have to show me around. We'll see how it goes! :)
Hmm, other than that, there really isn't much going on. Libbi and I walked what seemed like 5 miles today to the big grocery store, I honestly only want to make that walk like two more times ever in my life. Horrible. Hah! I hope everything is going great back home and the weather has warmed up a bit for you. Just think, if it wasn't so cold in the winter, you'd have a hard time appreciating the warm summer weather! Hey, it was worth a shot! Well, take care and I'll write soon!
Love,
Marissa
So, it has been a while since I've written, but classes finally started Monday. They actually don't see that hard and since it's just the 7 of us with each professor I think the class will generate great discussion. I'm really looking forward to it. Most of the classes have various field trips to museums and churches. Lots of fun, little homework. Just how I like it.
Today was our first full Italian class and I have to say I'm really excited to learn. I love our teacher, she is so nice and outgoing. She said one of her pet peeves is when students shake their legs (nervous leg syndrome) and I said uh-oh. She then proceeded to walk up to me, grab my cheeks, say "don't worry" and kiss my forehead. How hilarious! Everyone was laughing and I was super embarrassed. It's so funny because Italians really don't know what a comfort zone or PDA are. We constantly see couples making out as we walk around town.
The only other reason I've been so busy is because I met a guy. He's really nice. His name is Filippo and I've seen him a few times now. I'm just really excited to have met a nice Italian who I can speak/exchange language with and have to show me around. We'll see how it goes! :)
Hmm, other than that, there really isn't much going on. Libbi and I walked what seemed like 5 miles today to the big grocery store, I honestly only want to make that walk like two more times ever in my life. Horrible. Hah! I hope everything is going great back home and the weather has warmed up a bit for you. Just think, if it wasn't so cold in the winter, you'd have a hard time appreciating the warm summer weather! Hey, it was worth a shot! Well, take care and I'll write soon!
Love,
Marissa
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Naples: Italy's New York
The great city of Naples.
Definitely going back here!
Sculptures/Castles/Group Pictures
Machiavelli/Randoms
The pictures on the left are of when we visited Machiavelli's house.
Bottom right -- Illegal pictures of Michaelangelo's David
Top group picture -- Charli, Julia, Me, Libbi, and Seena
Top right -- Chinese food!
Random -- Kitty socks, psycho killer museum
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