"We'll always have Paris."

The last weekend in February, my friend Bud and I went to Paris! And it was spectacular. Just splendid. We left on the night of the 24th. We were supposed to fly from Florence to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to Paris. However, that night we got layed over in Frankfurt because our flight from Florence to Frankfurt was delayed so we missed our connection. But we were on the first flight that next morning and didn't really lose any time. We got to Paris around 9am that morning, went and checked into our hotel and got some breakfast. After Breakfast we hit the ground running. We used the METRO the entire time we were in Paris. It was fantastic. So easy to navigate. That morning we went to the Louvre, which was fantastic. I love that museum. Bud and I are in the same Humanities class and we got to see pretty much all of the works we had studied the two semesters in Florence. We were very overwhelmed by the size of the Louvre. I had been before, this was Bud's first time to Paris. We got to see all of the pieces we wanted to. After the Louvre we went to Musee D'Orsay. This museum has mostly Impressionist and works from the Belle Epoque, which is my favorite era of Art History. After lovely strolls through these museums we went and ate lunch at the HARD ROCK in PARIS!!! It was fantastic. I got nachos and a coke with FREE REFILLS! So delicious. After lunch we went shopping. I got a Longchamp bag! I'd been wanting one for so long. That night we ate dinner and did the Eiffel Tower. The next morning, Bud went to Versailles and I went and got my nose pierced and went shopping on the Champs Elysee. Bud and I met for lunch and walked around before we had to go back to the airport. The plane rides back to Florence were quite smooth.

The time I risked my life for Turkish Delight.

The week after my Amsterdam weekend was an interesting one. I got back from the Netherlands on Sunday afternoon. Monday was a regular day of class. But Tuesday we left for Turkey as a group. We left Florence at 8am and drove to the Bologna Airport where we took a flight to Istanbul. In Istanbul we took a flight to Izmir, Turkey, which is on the asian side of Turkey. Izmir is near the ancient city of Ephesus. This is the same city that Paul wrote to(Ephesians). It took us a full 12 hours of traveling to get from Florence to Ephesus. Wednesday morning we woke up and toured the ancient city. The tour was so fascinating. I love ancient Roman cities and its architecture. We got to see the library at Ephesus. It was the second largest in the ancient world behind the library at Alexandria. It was huge. The city was just so interesting. I mean, Paul actually walked down the same streets we were walking down. He could have sat on the same steps I sat on. I was awestruck. After Ephesus we visited the Temple or Artemis and the Church of St. John. While we were at the church there was the noon time call to prayer for the muslims. It was so contradictory. I was standing in the middle of a Christian church hearing the Islamic call to prayer. The last thing we did in Ephesus/Izmir was visit Turkish rug and ceramic factories. After those visits we went to the airport and flew back to Istanbul for the rest of our visit.

Thursday morning we woke up and went and saw the great mosaics of Turkey and then went to the Blue Mosque. I had never been to a mosque before. I thought it was very interesting. I love learning about other cultures and religions. After the Mosque we went to the Sophia Hagai. Which was an old Christian church that was turned into a mosque in the 1600's and is now a museum. That was very interesting to see all of the changes it had to go under to convert into a mosque. After that was lunch. And i found out that I LOVE Turkish food. Its so yummy. After lunch we went to the Grand Bazaar. I bought a hookah and a pair of hiram pants. After the Bazaar we went to an authentic Turkish bath. Its like a spa but better. I got a scrub, massage and a facial. I was so relaxed after. I went back to the hotel, ate dinner and passed out. It was fabulous.

The last day we went to an Egyptian Spice market in the morning and then took a cruise around the Bosporus from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side. It was neat to see the changes from European side to the Asian. After the market we had free time on the European side. I needed to go back to the spice market to get more turkish delight. I was with my friend Lana and Alexa. We needed to get from one side of the free way to the next. We ended up crossing six lanes of traffic and a tram way to get to the market. We almost died. Multiple times. But it was a fun adventure. That night we ate at the hotel and saw the whirling dervishes. Turkey was an amazing experience. I absolutely fell in love with Istanbul.

AMSTER-DAYUM!

We've finally gotten back on our regular school schedule with four day weeks and three day weekends! It was so nice. Classes are going well, but a little overwhelming. I've missed my friends from home a lot this week. This past weekend I went to Amsterdam! Which was just amazing! I loved the city so much. I went with my friend Bailey. We left really early on Friday morning and was in A'dam by lunch. A'dam has the most amazing public transportation system. It was so easy to get around. We got a 48hour pass for all the public transportation and used it as much as we needed. Once we checked into our hotel we went back to the city center and went to the VanGogh Museum. I am a HUGE VanGogh fan. And this museum had a good majority of his works. We got to see the Irises, Sunflowers and a few of his self portraits to name a few. After the museum, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Which was so delicious. I had potato skins and a coke. You can't really get that stuff in Italy. Then we walked around the city and looked in a few shops. That night we turned in early. I had been up since 3am.

Saturday morning we got an early start. That morning we got breakfast at this place called Pancake Corner. Bailey got a banana pancake and I got a grilled cheese. I had been craving a grilled cheese since I left the states. After breakfast we went to the Anne Frank House. It was so sad and depressing. The space that her, her family and another family shared was so tiny and dark. I had never realized how devastating her story was. After the Anne Frank house we made a trip to the Heineken Brewery! Which was actually really neat. I've never been the biggest beer fan. But I really liked seeing how it was made and it didn't taste half bad. After the beer, we found a bagel place with free WiFi. So that's where we spent the rest of our afternoon. It was delicious. I love Bagels. After out bagel stop we went to the infamous Red Light District. That was the weirdest thing I have encountered. Prostitution is such a nonchalant thing in A'Dam. The girls were just hanging there. It was weird seeing their blinds shut because everyone knows what's going down behind the curtain. After the detour in the redlight district, Bailey and I went gambling. I love to gamble and she never had. So it was a fun thing to do. I came out of the casino even so I was a happy camper. For dinner that night we had cocktails and brownie sundaes. Best decision ever. SO yummy. The next morning we woke up and went to the airport and flew back to Florence. Amsterdam has been one of my favorite places I've traveled. I truly enjoyed my time there.

Reunited and it feels so good!

I am back in Florence after a nice month long break back in the states. My Christmas holiday was so nice. I got to hang out with my friends and family and really just relax! Such a blessing. But now I am back in Florence and it is as beautiful as ever. I love this place. So far I have just been doing the normal thing. The first two days I was here it was just super chill. Just do whatever we wanted and just relax, get acclimated to everything. Then we all went to Assisi the sunday after we got back. I love Assisi so much! Its adorable. Then the first full week back in Italy was Intensive Italian. Which wasn't as bad as last semester. We got to do an Italian cooking class, volunteer and learn Italian card games. On the weekends so far we have been relaxing and just enjoying being back in Italy. This past week was our first week of classes. Which was just awful. It was SO long. I'm taking Renaissance Art, Italian, Humanities and Anatomy/Physiology. I love my anatomy class so much. Ren art will be good. but my teacher is iffie. And the other two are what they are. I'm really excited to start traveling for the semester. I have something planned every weekend. Its going to be a hard semester but its also going to be a whole lot of fun. I can't wait.