When in Rome...I fell.

Okay, I'll be honest. I'm under no illusions that you are all sitting and eagerly awaiting my next post and going into withdrawals with each passing day...but I figured I'd apologize for not posting for the last two and a half weeks anyway because I am a really nice person and all. Well, I'm sorry I have been MIA, but I have not a had a weekend or second free. Whoever said school abroad was a joke, was seriously mistaken because all of a sudden, every single teacher found it completely necessary to assign us 8 page research papers and destroy our last few weeks in this amazing city by forcing unnecessary assignments on top of those papers upon us as well. Needless to say, many of us studying here in Florence are getting to that point where home is looking pretty tempting right about now (especially since we're missing out on the fattest, most delicious American holiday tomorrow. </3). However, I have had a wonderful time the past few weeks. The following weekend after Marc left, my friend Nicole from back home in Ellington who is studying abroad in London came to Florence! I got to have another fun-filled few days of rediscovering the beauty of Firenze and making sure she got to enjoy the culture to its fullest...which obviously included lots of gelato, pasta, and pizza.

 

Nicole & I at dinner in Florence during her visit. :)

Then, last weekend, I had the privilege to see another friend from London (but this one is from Marist), Kailee. :) We made spur of the moment plans to meet in Rome. And yeah, it was super romantic.We met at the Trevi Fountain at midnight, made a wish that we'd be together forever, then went to the top of the Eiffel Tower under the moonlight...oh. WRONG CITY. Italy. France. Creepy men. It's all the same, right? But that didn't really happen. Because we like men...among other reasons.

 Well, we spent our first day battling the least convenient public transportation system known to man after meeting at the train station (a lot less romantic than my imaginary story). It took us about an hour and a half to take a metro then trek to our hotel, which was really fancy, but sadly, not close at all to the city center (we got a deal for 38 Euro per night...when it's usually like 200. Score.). After dropping off our backpacks, we decided to continue our ongoing fight with public transportation and try to get to Vatican City. A bus ride, a wrong way metro ride, and the correct metro ride later, we made it. It was worth it, though. We were able to see St. Peter's Basilica, the balcony where the Pope addresses his people, and the humorously dressed guards in the early evening light. We went into the church, which was legitimately comparable to the Florence Cathedral on steroids and even witnessed some beautiful singing during a small mass in the very front of the apse (thank you, art history). After that, we headed off to the Trevi Fountain (for real this time) to make our wishes. It was stunning at night. The light was shining perfectly on the water, and it was just like you see in the movies (When in Rome & Lizzie McGuire, anyone?). Kailee and I made wishes with some 2 cent Euro coins (big spenders, obviously), took some cute pictures, then wandered off to get gelato. We then conquered public transportation once again. It took about 2 hours to find our way back to the hotel, but we did it. We then tried to use the jacuzzi and sauna (which were supposed to close at 11), but the sign failed to say that, of course, the hot tub turned off at 10:30 while everything else stayed open. Oh, Rome. You got us again.

In the morning, we enjoyed an included buffet breakfast before checking out then headed off with our backpacks strapped properly onto our backs, tourist-style, and then checked off the final items on our sight-seeing list. First, we went to the Spanish Steps. The many steps leading up to the simple, white, Spanish-style basilica surrounded by palm trees were much more beautiful than I'd anticipated. Once we climbed them, we got some amazing pictures of the city from above then sat in on a mass for about 15 minutes in the basilica, which I will always remember. After this, we hopped back on the metro and visited the Piazza da Repubblica where there was an incredible fountain, ate sundaes at a fancy McDonald's just for the hell of it, went inside a really cool Early Christian basilica randomly located in the square, and then we headed to everyone's number 1 sight to check off their Rome bucket-list...the Colosseum! It was pretty amazing to see in person, but since we didn't go inside, it was a tad bit anticlimactic. We spent the time enjoying the sights around the area, walking through some ruins, and taking lots of cheesy tourist photos with my friend, Kalani, who just happened to be in Rome for the weekend as well. He was kind enough to stick around later to take the train back with me, so before we all parted ways, we went to a cute little restaurant for dinner outside.

                     Looking like a tourist in front of the Spanish Steps...and a palm tree shadow!

 Fountain in the Piazza

 

Cheesey tourist Colosseum photos. :)

And this is where the title comes from. I had quite the spill. Apparently, on the sidewalk where our table was located, there was a slight slant that no one decided to tell me about. I bent over to grab something out of my backpack on the sidewalk next to my chair, and all of a sudden, things were in slow motion. It was one of those moments where you know it's happening, and you just can't stop it. Suddenly, my chair started leaning...I started leaning with it...and then we both clattered to the busy sidewalk in front of pedestrians and fellow dinner-eaters. I looked around to see how many people had seen it (everybody), picked up my chair, and sat down awkwardly. Then about 10 seconds later, I couldn't help but burst into laughter. Apparently, Kalani and Kailee saw it happening, could have stopped it, but wanted to see the magic that was 'The Fall.' Such good friends. It was hilarious, though. I'll give them that. I almost peed my pants after replaying the scene for the fifth time. So after my pride was thoroughly bruised, we said goodbye to Kailee before she headed back to London, and we caught our train back to Firenze.

I can't say I loved Rome, but I have to say, I loved that weekend. I'm so grateful to have been able to see Kailee and to have seen so many familiar faces in general over the last few weeks. It's making me miss home but truly appreciate my time here as well.  I can't believe I only have 3 and a half weeks left of this amazing experience. I cannot wait to go home and reunite with my loved ones and enjoy the holidays, but it's difficult to fathom that this is all almost over. I'll be focusing on school the next few weeks, but I won't go one minute without being so thankful to have had this time in Europe. Keep an eye out for my next post chronicling the home stretch of my study abroad experience. Ciao!

That's Amore

Ciao! I know it's been a little over a week since my last post, but after Northern Loop, I barely caught a break between exciting adventures. This is because a day and a half after I returned from my jaunt around Northern Europe, I was visited by some lovely people-- my amazing boyfriend, Marc, and our friends, Kristy, Joel, and Brandon. Actually, they were supposed to arrive just hours after my return last Sunday, but of course, knowing our luck, a random snowstorm just decided to waltz on into the Northeast (I mean, really? Random Hurricane Irene right before I left AND this?) and cancel and delay their flight/cause them to miss their connection/send them to Rome instead of Florence/get on the slow train instead of the fast one by accident/not get here until Monday night while I was in the middle of cooking class. I hadn't found out they were delayed until I got back from a 15 hour bus ride overnight from Paris. I was naive and thought they'd be in Florence in just a couple hours until I signed onto Facebook and got the bad news about their first delay/cancellation. For about half a day, we were actually all unsure if they'd even make it at all. I have to say, I would have been absolutely heartbroken and devastated. I was yearning so badly to see a familiar face, and I couldn't imagine handling that big of a letdown after so much excited anticipation. However, despite all the craziness I mentioned before, they made it here a day and a half late. I was beyond thrilled that they made it, even though we had to jam their vacation into an even shorter amount of time.

 Marc (photo credit to Kristy)

Apparently, this was taken when he didn't know if they'd make it or not. <3

 Brandon, Marc, and Kristy during the storm before leaving a day late (photo credit to Kristy)

They were scheduled to arrive at around 6:45pm on Monday, which of course, was right in the middle of my first cooking class after fall break so I had to go to receive my grades and avoid unnecessary absences (since LDM's attendance policy is borderline Nazi-status). The entire time, all I could think of was seeing Marc for the first time in two months and breathing a sigh of relief when we finally embraced after the torture of not knowing what was going to happen. I ended up getting out a few minutes early, so in my eagerness, I rushed to their hotel, which just happened to be near my class, even though Marc was supposed to be waiting outside my class. Apparently, we'd left at the same time, missed each other somewhere in the middle, and called each other from opposite places. So we rushed to finally find each other and had to awkwardly reunite in the middle of a busy street, but that sigh of relief was certainly there. There's nothing like seeing someone you love after 2 months of barely being in contact or seeing each other's faces, even on the computer screen.

We then proceeded to see Kristy, Joel, and Brandon at the hotel, who were all crashing after their stressful transportation woes. It was amazing to see some friends, and I was honored that they all went through that to get to Florence and me. :)  We then went out to dinner at a local trattoria  near my apartment, and they went back to go to bed. Marc and I went back to the apartment and spent some quality time with my housemates until we joined the group back at the hotel for the evening to relax and unwind.

The next day, I luckily had no classes because of All Saint's Day, so I spent the day showing them around the main points of the beautiful city of Firenze. Them being here actually made me realize how well I know the city. I really should be more confident in giving directions and finding new ways to get to places because I naturally just led the way without even thinking. We hit up the big attractions, such as the stunning Duomo, Piazza della Repubblica, the fake David and Palazzo Vecchio, the Arno River, Gustapanino (obviously), one of my favorite gelaterias, and we even made it up to Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato Al Monte for the  sunset. I finally found my last name in the cemetery, actually! I wonder if I have any roots here? I actually realized that I started taking all of these places for granted since I have been to them time and time again. However, seeing them through their fresh eyes made me appreciate Florence that much more.

                            Kristy & Brandon              Kristy & Joel at San Miniato al Monte (photo credit to Kristy)

 My last name at the cemetery!

 

No explanation needed. <3

Unfortunately, I had five hours of classes on Wednesday, but in between, I found time to show them around a little more and, of course, hit up Gusta Pizza (you Florence-dwellers know what I'm talking about). We also found time to enter the Duomo so they could observe the towering Gothic architecture inside and truly understand the vastness of the structure. Before my night class, Marc and I enjoyed some gelato together in the Piazza della Santa Maria Novella near my house and just enjoyed one another's company. After night class, we met up for dinner at a delicious restaurant I'd never tried before that week called La Lampara on Via Nazionale. I had some tasty spinach ravioli. It's actually funny how few times I'd been out to eat in Florence prior to their visit since I have a kitchen. I was able to enjoy some legitimate Italian cuisine when I was out with them, which was a nice treat. As a student, it's hard to splurge on a big meal when you can make one for cheap!


On Thursday, we took a little morning trip to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower, Duomo, and Baptistery there. It was a little rushed because I had to be back for class that afternoon, but it's something I needed to cross off my Italian Bucket List. Marc and I almost missed the train back, but we got on with seconds to spare, went back, ate lunch, and met up after my class to relax together and have a date night at a local restaurant later that evening. After our cute little meal together, we met up with the gang for a bar night. I don't drink, but they wanted to, so I brought them to the college-age bar, Astor, which was actually way classier than I'd anticipated. We all relaxed and listened to music while they sipped on their drinks before calling it a night.

         

                                                                          Pisa!

 On Friday, we had originally intended on going to Venice for the day, but I ended up getting sick after being so rundown from the previous weeks of traveling, and I couldn't make it to the train in time. Marc was a sweetheart and stayed with me to make sure I was okay, even though it kept him from the trip, which I will forever appreciate. So while our friends were touring Venice, we kept it low-key and browsed the local markets to find Marc's family some gifts and just enjoy Florence together. We met up with the gang later on for dinner, but unfortunately, I didn't get anything because I still felt kinda blah. To make up for him missing the Venice trip, though, we spent our last day on Saturday together in the jaw-droppingly beautiful city, just the two of us. Even though it was cloudy, we had an incredible time together seeing the canals winding around the islands, watching the gondolas go by, shopping in the Murano glass shops, eating a quick lunch, and viewing the beautiful cathedral and views from Piazza San Marco. Upon our return, we bolted to the Accademia in the center of Florence so he could catch a glimpse of Michelangelo's David before he departed. It was the first time I'd seen it too, and I'm so glad we made the time to experience its astonishing presence together. It's way more impressive than the Mona Lisa in person, I can tell you that much.

             La citta bella di Venezia <3

On our last night in Florence, all five of us had one more dinner together at one of the restaurants in Piazza della Repubblica, got gelato, then relaxed while the boys smoked cigars like fancy pantses by the Duomo. From there, we relaxed together until it was time for me to go to bed and for them to get their taxi to the airport at 4am. Saying goodbye to everyone was heartbreaking, and I cannot wait to be home to have a reunion with the group and reminisce over the memories. Saying goodbye to Marc was obviously the most difficult, however. Even though we're used to long distance from seeing each other only twice a month at home, this has been a challenge. It was hard to let him go, but in just over a month, I'll be back in the states for good. I have to fully embrace my last 5-6 weeks here, but there is no denying that I miss being in America with my friends and loved ones. It's time to get down to the nitty gritty with school, though, and ace these classes like a boss. Stay tuned for a new post soon! Arrivederci! :)