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!

Chianti Country

The wonderfully cooked meal.

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

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

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

The latest sights around Firenze.
A night out with the girls.
Princess Julia.
The inside of the Duomo!
Sunset off our terrace.
Look close at the 4th pic on bottom...
Spot the amazing rainbow!

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

Venetian Beauty -- Loving the Flood

Venice -- The flooded city.
Murano -- Glass blowing island.

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!

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

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