London Calling!

The next Monday was crazy insane! Everyone was studying. Constantly. And Tuesday was stressful. We had to be done with our test right at 3:30pm so we could make our 3:57 train to the Pisa Airport so we could make our 6:20 gate meet for RyanAir to London Stansted. Luckily, we were on time the entire day. It was perfect. I was thrilled! It was our long weekend and I got to see my dad! That night we got to London and took a bus from Stansted to Victoria Station. We took the tube to Earl's Gate to our hotel. I love the London Tube! We checked into our hotel and went and grabbed some food. By the time we made it back to our hotel G. was almost there! It was so awesome to see my dad! I had been missing my family SO much! It was a great fix! The next day G. had business stuff to do. Anna and I went to the British Museum and had lunch with my friend Carly, who is studying in London. Then we got lost. Which was so much fun! That night Anna was going to see Les Mis with our faculty family who were also in London and I was meeting G. for dinner and a movie! So we went back to our hotel and got ready. We hit the Victoria and Albert Museum before we met up with everyone. It was amazing! That night G. and I went to this amazing burger place and saw The Social Network! I was so excited to finally see it! The next day Anna and I hit up Nottinghill and Portobello Road Markets. Then met G. for lunch at another burger place. I have bee missing cheeseburgers if you can't tell. After that we went to Harrod's and got Krispy Kreme Doughnuts! I was in heaven! Then we hopped on a plane to Dusseldorf Germany. Michael had a show to do there. I unfortunately had an allergic reaction and had to spend the majority of Friday in a German ER. NOT FUN! But thankfully all is good now. Then Saturday morning we headed back to Florence and pretty much chilled the rest of the weekend! All in all it was a great break. I'm so glad I got to see my dad! Best part for sure!

POMPEII!

I freaked out in Pompeii! I have never been that jazzed to go somewhere. As you know, I was in Greek and Roman art last semester. We studied Pompeii and the various styles of mural painting. It was so amazing to see and touch the ruins and murals! We also got to climb Mt. Vesuvius. Which was paradise compared to Mt. Etna. It was warm! Naples was a lot different than I expected. It was pretty outside the city but inside it was a tad on the dirty side of life. Friday night we took a ferry from Naples to Ischia. Which is an island of the coast of Naples. It was BEAUTIFUL! We spent all day saturday at Poseidon. Which is pretty much a water park for adults. There are all of these pools and spas that vary in temperature. You are supposed to go from the coldest ones the the hottest ones. They each vary in temperature. There is also a sauna and hot rocks for your feet! It was so nice to just relax and sit in water all day! It was nice after the crazy week I had. Then on Sunday we went back to Naples and went to the National Museum. Which has a lot of artifacts from Pompeii! Then it was back to Florence to Study for the next 36 hours!

The week full of Studying!

The next week, October 25-28, was full of studying. I had my Italian midterm that Thursday, Sociology Inquires due before we left that weekend and my Humanities midterm that next Tuesday! I spent every ounce of free time studying and writing. I ate meals in the library. I spent hours upon hours studying for these things! It was crazy! Wednesday night I had dinner with my Adopted Family! It was so much fun! We get there and My "mama" had prepared spaghetti con pomodori! Which is spaghetti and tomato. It was the best I have ever had! I was in heaven. For the second course we had rabbit. I had never had rabbit before. All I could think about was the fact I was eating Thumper. We had red wine with dinner and dessert wine with the flour-less chocolate cake she made for us! Which was beyond yummy! And to finish off the night we had Italian MoonShine made by my "papa". It was the strongest alcohol I have ever put in my mouth! It was an experience. I did well on my Italian midterm! And that weekend we went to Pompeii!

Half Way Mark.

The week after Sicily, October 17-23 mark our half way point in being here! It was a really fun week and weekend! Anna, my roommate/bestie, her family came to Florence to visit her! Which was fantastic for her, but nice for me too! I got to see her parents! Which was awesome because it was just really nice to see familiar faces! They were very kind and too me out to dinner with them one night! It was great just to be with people from Nashville! I miss my hometown! That weekend was just awesome! On Friday, a group of us went to the EuroChocolate Festival in Perugia, Italy! It was one of the coolest things I've done since being here! We spent the whole day tasting chocolate from around Europe. I had some really yummy hot chocolate. My new favorite chocolate is the Lindt Milk Chocolate Balls. Seriously, everything under the sun was covered in chocolate! I was in heaven! The other awesome thing about that day was the train ride back to Florence! The train we were on had four seat pods. So, in my pod it was Eunice, Bailey, Alexa and myself. We had a massive girl talk session! We pretty much planned out our weddings and talked about boys! It was the best train ride ever! I loved it! The next day we did a really fun thing at the train station. Lana, Brianna, Chelsey, Sam and myself got to the station and bought tickets for the next train that left the station; which was Pisa! We went to Pisa for the morning and took the really cheesy tourist pictures at the leaning tower and ate lunch! We also bought a bottle of Champagne at the supermarket. But that comes in later in the story. When we were done in Pisa we did the same thing at that train station. The next train leaving was to Lucca. Lucca is precious! There is a fantastic park! The leaves were changing and everything! Just delightful! We just sat and people watched. Then we got on a train heading to Florence. This is where the champagne comes in. Sam and I had bought it at the supermarket in Pisa and drank it the entire train ride from Lucca to Firenze. It was so much fun! It had always been on my bucket list to pop open a bottle and drink strait from it. Got to mark that off! And then that Sunday was just a chill day. I studied for Humanities and slept. It was fantastic.

Agrigento, Taormina and Mt. Etna! Sicily Part Two!

On Thursday, October 14th, we went to the Valley of the Temples! I was GEEKING out! OhMy! I took Greek and Roman art last semester. And The Valley of the Temples are old Greek and Roman ruins! I just LOVED it so much. The ruins were actually well preserved. I was just so neat to really be able to apply what I leaned last year and truly experience what I have studied. There were Temples of Hera, Zeus, and Concordia! Concordia is the best preserved. I was in love! That afternoon we took a bus ride to our next destination, which was Taormina. We stayed at a great beach resort! It was beautiful. The first night we were there, almost our whole group went out and drank wine on the beach! It was the craziest thing. I mean we were at a resort in Sicily, Italy, drinking wine! We were all just laughing. That was our life at the moment! The next morning we explored Taormina. There are a lot of Greek and Roman ruins there as well! The ancient theatre was fascinating! Then that afternoon we were allowed to do whatever we want. Either stay in Taormina or go back to the hotel and hit the beach and pool. I chose to g back t the hotel. And I took the most epic three hour nap! It was glorious! I just got to relax and chill and I got to read for fun! That night it was Joslin's birthday! SO Elizabeth rented out the club/discotecca that was at the hotel. And we danced ALL night! It was so much crazy fun! The perfect ending to the last night in Sicily. The next morning we woke up and went to Mt. Etna. Which is an active volcano in Sicily. Before we left Elizabeth had said that it was going to be chilly on top of Mt. Etna. Chilly for me is between 30 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. We get up on top of Mt. Etna, it is about 10 degrees Fahrenheit; with a wind chill below zero. It was also VERY windy with frozen rain and snow flying around. I was FREEZING! I only had a NorthFace and a sweatshirt on. And I was wearing tennis shoes with short ankle socks! I have never been that cold in my life. It honestly looked liked we were on another planet. It was so foggy and cold. It looked liked the moon! So, we quickly came back down and ate lunch. Then it was off to the airport and back to Florence!

Palermo, Cefalu and Castelbuono! Sicily Part One!

The first part of our EFT was spent in Palermo, the capitol of Sicily. Once we picked the rest of our group up from the airport, we went to the Capuchin Church. This church hold the remains of the Capuchin Monks. These monks are on display. It is the eeriest thing I have ever seen! There are skeletons just hanging there; in various forms of decomposition. As I was staring, I was just thinking WHY? I don't understand what possessed someone to do that? I was creeped out. The next morning, Tuesday, we visited Palermo. We saw the Norman Palace and Chapel. The chapel has some of the most amazing mosaics in the world! I was BLOWN AWAY! It was done in pure gold tiles and other stones. It was just breathtaking. The amount of skill that went into these churches is astonishing. We also got to see the Cathedral. Which surprisingly not as exciting as the Palatine Chapel. That afternoon we went to the Church at Monreale. Which is rumored to have the best mosaics in the world. Which I would have to say is true. I just stood there in awe. Mosaics just really astound me. The Jesus mosaic in this church was just spectacular. Words can't even describe the splendor of this church and its mosaics. Wednesday morning we left Palermo and traveled to Cefalu. Which is this adorable seaside village about an hour outside of Palermo. The beach was amazing and clear! It was a very relaxing day. We walked about the adorable town and had lunch and gelato! I love gelato so much! I was nice just to unwind. That afternoon we went to Castelbuono, which is near Cefalu. In Castelbuono, there is a church with a mural of Jesus being crucified. The tradition is that if you pray for something in front of that painting in the church then your prayer will come true. The catch is you must really believe in the powers of Jesus and this work. I, of course, prayed for something. So, I'll just have to wait and see if it comes true!

Project Serve!

The weekend before we started our EFT (Educational FieldTrip) in Sicily, those who wanted were able to give back to our "community" in Italy. We went and worked for an Anti-Mafia organization reclaim produce fields in Corleone, Sicily! We left form Bologna on Friday, October 8th and flew to Palermo, Sicily! Sicily is so different from mainland Italy. Even their dialect of Italian is different. That night we got to meet who we working with and ate dinner. The next morning, we woke up early and went to work on the fields. We spent from 7am to 1pm cleaning up the fields. We were working on grape fields. That afternoon and night we went and heard stories from people who fought the Mafia back in the day! It was very interesting. The next day we were supposed to work in the fields again but it rained the night before and the fields were very muddy. Instead, we visited the surrounding areas of Corleone. Its very beautiful. And that afternoon we went to the Anti-Mafia Museum in Corleone. It was very eye-opening. And we had some really good pizza! On Monday morning, we left Corleone to go back to Palermo to meet the rest of our group for our EFT! It was such a cool weekend; I enjoyed being able to give back!