Winding Down

It's hard to believe tomorrow is my last day in Florence. This last week has just flown by, I had to get in the last bit of touristy stuff such as climbing the Duomo (amazing), and seeing the David (again, but still incredible). Also had to finish shopping, do a project for class, and study for my final tomorrow. Needless to say, I've been busy.

I'm really going to miss Florence though. It hit me the other day while walking to class. I've become so use to walking around this very old, very beautiful city. I walk by the Santa Croce church, where Galileo and Michelangelo are buried, every day while walking to class. If I walk 50 feet from my apartment I can see the Duomo, one of the largest churches in the world. It's just worlds apart from life in the US. I think going back is going to be a bigger culture shock than coming here.

Not to say I'm not excited to come home, I can't wait, it's just weird to think about.

I don't know if I'll have time/feel like doing a post tomorrow, I'm going to talk about my travel plans now...

We leave Florence at 11:30 Pm (Yes, PM) on a bus for Rome. We're leaving so late/early because we need to get there 2 hours before the first flight of the ISA group, and someone has a flight around 6. Trent has a flight not too much later at 8:50. Eli and I, however, get to hang out until 6:45 PM for our flight to London. It's a 2 hour and 40 minute flight. Our flight from London to Dallas is at 11:40 AM on Sunday. So Eli and I have all night to go see our friend Tommy Obenchain (future CEO of ObenAir), who will be in London at the time. Chances of sleeping are slim. But after that we have a 9 hour or so flight home to sleep.

Heading home soon,

ae

Miss: I Do, I Will, I Won't

It's officially the last week of our trip. It's hard to believe it's been over 6 weeks since I got here. It seems like I've been here forever, but it also seems like the time has flown by. This week will be full of "It's our last Monday, it's our last Piazza Michelangelo sunset, our last view of the Duomo, etc", it's going to be sad. But I'm also getting excited about being home, this is by far the longest I've been out of the country. I've done a lot of thinking about what I miss most, what I'm going to miss the most, and what I'll be ok without, and came up with these lists:

I Miss:

My family, friends, Colleen, etc.

My car

Tex-Mex

Free water

Free refills

Not tiny bathrooms

My bed

American Television

Everyone speaking English

Air conditioning

Being able to use my debit card everywhere

And probably more, but that's all for now.

I Will Miss:

The whole gang

The Duomo

Sunsets at the Piazza Michelangelo

The Arno

La Carraia gelato

Oil Shoppe panini

Friendly Italians

Traveling around Italy

Euros (While the conversion rate is painful, and they kinda looks like Monopoly money, I've grown to like them)

The Flub

All the delicious Italian food

Etc, etc etc...

I Won't Miss:

Mean Italians

Shady street vendors

The ambulances

Our annoying door (it's very frustrating to open)

The exchange rate

That's about it.

All in all, it's been an incredible experience, and I'm sad to see it end, but I'm looking forward to being home.

Ciao

ae

In Fair Verona... And "Lake Como Light"

It was a pretty great weekend.

Saturday morning we took a three hour bus to Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet. Other than that, I didn't really know anything else about the place, but was actually a very pretty city. We took a bus tour around town and up to a hill overlooking the city, the view was amazing. We saw a castle, their Duomo (Not as good as our Duomo), Juliet's house, and the remains of the wall built to defend the city. The rest of our time in Verona was pretty quiet, other than watching Germany crush Argentina.

The next day we went to Lake Garda, specifically Sirmione, a town on a small peninsula that juts into the lake. The lake was beautiful, I really enjoyed our time there, though it made me wish I could have made it to Lake Como (hence the phrase "Lake Como Light"). We took a ferry around the peninsula and our captain pointed out the Roman ruins and hot springs. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the water and celebrating the 4th of July. Not your typical Independence Day, but it was fun.

And now begins our last week... sad.

ae

Il Palio: The Craziest 90 Seconds In Sports

Today a small group of us went to Siena to see the Palio. I've talked a little bit about it here. It's essentially the Kentucky Derby and the Super Bowl rolled into one, then shoved into a neighborhood street. It's a three lap race around the city square, ridden bareback by 10 riders.

We left right after class on the 2:30 bus, it was only an hour long bus ride to Siena. Our first order of business once we were there was to each buy flags for our respective contrade (see above). After that we headed straight for the center square to stake out a spot. We were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't already packed when we got there, so we were able to get a spot right next to the track. After that, we had about 3 hours of waiting until the race actually started. Thankfully the parade of all the contrades started about two hours before the race, so there was always something to watch. Each contrade had two flag bearers (which they waved, spun and tossed all over the place), a dressed up rider on a horse, a knight in armor, and lastly the race horse (which didn't have a rider yet). After all the hoopla, the riders finally came out. I've never seen such a large group of people be so quiet. There was some yelling during the 20 minutes it took to get the horses properly lined up and settled, but tension was high. There wasn't actually a gun, but every rider seemed to know when to go. Wave finished the first lap with a commanding lead. On the second lap, Eagle (my animal) lost control and was vaulted off his horse and into the stands, his horse continued to run the race (Interesting fact, if his horse still finished first, it still counts as a win). Then, after about 90 seconds, it was over, and Forest/Rhino had won.

What followed was chaos. The huge group of Shell girls near us started bawling, the group in front of us jumped the fence, and we followed behind them. We had been told if you don't sprint (possibly illegally) out of the square after the race you're unable to leave for another hour or two, and we had a bus to catch. After sprinting off the track, we followed a large group of Italians away from the square. It was at this time I noticed there was a trail of blood on the street. I'm not sure if it was animal or human, but I didn't want to stick around to find out. The large group we were following ran into another large group and everyone started yelling. We were certain a fight was about to break out, so we all took off our flags and put them in our pockets, not wanting to get drawn in by association. We then ran away, got some gelato, and made the bus home. ... That story ended rather anti-climatically. I'm sorry.

Well that's pretty much it for now. Tomorrow morning we're heading to Verona, then Lake Garda on Sunday.

ae

Eating My Way Through Europe

I love food.

Anyone that's met my family knows that we all love food. So needless to say, I've really enjoyed all the different food I've been able to eat here. So I decided to rank all the countries I've been to based on their food:

1. Italy

This might be unfair, considering we've spent the most time in Italy, and I'm part Italian. But the food has really been incredible. Pizza, pasta, steak Florentine, tiramisu, red wine, panini (fun fact, I just learned the plural of panini is panini), gelato, etc, etc. One would have to put effort into finding a bad meal in Italy. I've been called something of a Italian food snob before, but I've loved it all. Everything is so fresh and delicious it's hard to find anything wrong with it.

Favorite meal: Steak Florentine with blueberry glaze

Runner up: Gnocchi with sausage and truffle sauce

2. Germany

I was in Germany when I came up with the idea for this post. At the time, I was thinking about putting Germany at #1, but upon returning to Italy I realized that was silly. Germany was where I made up for the lack of protein I might have suffered in Italy. Bratwurst and beer were staples of lunch and dinner, how could you go wrong? Our first night in Germany we didn't even eat at a restaurant, we went from street vendor to street vendor. We started with a bratwurst, followed that with a chocolate covered fruit (I had a banana), then a large mug of beer, then (if you're Eli), a second bratwurst. The Hofbrauhaus was one of our favorite spots, and where I had my favorite meal. Even the bratwurst I had at the Olympic Stadium was great.

Favorite Meal: Pork Knuckle and dumplings, with dark German beer

Runner up: Any of the 3 bratwursts I had.

3. Spain

While Spanish food didn't quite sate the Mexican craving I had, it was still quite good. Paella, sangria, tapas. Those were the staples of our Spanish food experience. I actually hadn't heard of tapas, apparently it's just another word for appetizers. They were still good though, my favorites were chicken wings, calamari, and croquettes. I had two different kinds of paella, one with seafood and one with chicken. I preferred it with seafood, it's hard to go wrong with seafood when you're on the coast. I really like sangria too, it was interesting how different it was at each place we had it depending on the amount of fruit or spices they put into it. I still really want some fajitas and guacamole though...

Favorite Meal: Seafood paella, with sangria. And the Romantica, a dessert Eli and I split. I'm not even sure what was in it, but it was delicious.

Runner up: Argentina style ribs

4. Switzerland

While Switzerland might be home to the nicest people and best chocolate on the planet, their actual food leaves something to be desired. I might say that my favorite meal in Switzerland wasn't Swiss at all, but was actually at a place called California Bar where I had the "Texas Burger" with bacon, cheese, fried onion, and other delicious toppings. But the best meal in Switzerland wasn't because of the food, but the location. We stopped to eat on our way up Mt. Pilatus, which was a very cool experience. I had onion soup, Eli had sausage, Trent and George had chicken wings, but Katie chose best with the fish dips. Also, I learned I do not like Swiss beer, it's too sweet. Maybe I should have asked what authentic Swiss food is.

Favorite Meal: Texas Burger

Runner up: Onion Soup

Real Favorite Meal: Swiss Chocolate

That's pretty much it. Hopefully this post has made you hungry.

Life's too short for bad food,

ae

A Productive Tuesday

Tuesday was a pretty busy day.

For our class we took a tour of the History of Soccer museum, which is just outside of Florence. I wasn't sure what to expect out of the museum, but I really enjoyed seeing it. There was all kinds of memorabilia inside, such as jerseys from the Italian national team from 1934 all the way to the 2006 team which won the World Cup. Oh, and they also had two actual World Cup trophies on display in the museum. Also on display was an autographed Pele jersey and a Maradona jersey. The museum had all kinds of old sports equipment such as old-school soccer balls and cleats. Behind the museum was the practice facility that the Italian national team uses before it plays, and stays there for a few weeks before the World Cup. The facility has four very nice practice fields, apartments, even a restaurant. We were allowed to walk around for a bit, which was very cool.

After lunch, Trent and I decided to head to Pisa. I've been there once before, took the cliche picture and everything, but Trent hadn't so I decided to go with him. I'm glad I went though, because the first time I was there we didn't do much other than take pictures of the tower. This time we also went into the baptistry and cathedral. I really enjoyed both of them, particularly the cathedral. Other than that, there isn't much to Pisa. Lots of stores. So we just went back home, it took about 4 hours round trip.

Last night we had a picnic up at the Piazza Michelangelo and watched the sunset. It was a nice night. It's weird to think that there's only a week and a half left of the trip. Looking back, I'm not sure if it's flown by, or if it's been forever. All I know is there's still plenty I need to do before I leave.

Ciao for now,

ae

Pictures from Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre 2, USA 1

So this weekend we went to Cinque Terre, which as been a trip I've been looking forward to since before I even got to Italy. I had pretty lofty expectations going in, but Cinque Terre still exceeded them.

After checking into our hostel (which was actually not in any of the 5 towns, but just a few minute bus ride from Riomaggiore), we were on our way to start our hike. We started by taking a ferry from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. The first hike was pretty tough, it was a just over two miles of hills and rocky terrain, but the views were amazing (I'll post pictures soon). We took a much needed stop in Vernazza for some swimming and cliff jumping. The second hike was even longer, about two and a half miles with lots of elevation change (aka, the never-ending staircase). This second hike was just as fun, even though Spencer lost his shirt (more on that later), and I almost had to kill Eli with a rock (for lying). The next two hikes were not difficult at all, the last one is even called the "Lover's Road". We got back to Riomaggiore just in time to watch the second half of the US/Ghana game... unfortunately. While we lost 2-1, we at least played well (And didn't get embarrassed like England's 4-1 loss to Germany).

Day two in Cinque Terre was great too, we spent our time relaxing in Monterosso, mainly on the beach. This was the perfect way to recover from a long day of hiking. However, while everyone was just taking it easy on the beach, Spencer and Leni went on an mission to find Spencer's shirt. We all thought they were crazy, but they went anyway. Over 3 hours later they return with the shirt. They share their adventure that involved bartenders, dogs, locked gates, and beer boxes. I'd go into more detail, but I wouldn't to the story justice. Oh, and he had left it on a table in the middle of the second trail, so exactly how it ended up where it was is still a mystery to me. Overall our time on the beach was great though, and I had an amazing pesto pizza for lunch. Cinque Terre is definitely one of my favorite places in Europe.

That's all for now,

ae

Song of the Day

Blog that talks about Ashley, because she's awesome

(If you look closely at the picture of Matt and his groomsmen, I'm on the left)

USA USA USA!

We just watched the USA-Algeria game, which the US won with a goal in the 91st minute. It was a really great game, and the place we were watching it at turned on "Born In The USA" after the game. And now the US is advancing to the next round.

That's really all for now, I was just really excited about us winning.

ae

Video of the Day

Speaking Spanish Sufficiently Should Suffice

It's been a busy past few days.

Our flight from Munich (Well, apparently "West Munich" airport is two hours from Munich, in Menningen) was delayed about an hour, so we missed the last bus to the train station that was going to take us to Barcelona. So we ended up having to take a cab, but we were able to split it between 5 people so it wasn't too expensive.

Our full day in Barcelona was mostly spent exploring the city. We saw the Cathedral, the Sagrada Familia, and the Picasso Museum (Which was very cool). Afterwards we stopped to watch the Spain/Switzerland game, which didn't turn out so well when Switzerland ended up winning 1-0 (Though, we weren't too upset since we all love Switzerland). That night we wandered around town, George was convinced he knew where we were going but we never found it. We did however stumble upon the beach, and jumping into the Mediterranean late at night has been one of the highlights of the trip.

The next day we took the train to Tarragona, a small beach town near Barcelona. It took less than an hour after we arrived for us to end up on the beach. After all the traveling we had done over the past few days, it was really nice to just sit back and relax. The weather was perfect too (Particularly when compared to all the rain we had in Germany). The next day was mostly more of the same, I had a delicious kebab at the Kabana (that's how they spelled it) by the beach, and we watched the US/Slovenia game (2-2, everyone was upset about the blown call). We had dinner afterwards, and while it's not quite Mexican food, Spanish food is very good. I had some very good seafood paella and sangria.

Our last day was spent traveling, though it took a lot longer than it should have. This is because RyanAir, "The On-Time Airline", delayed our flight 3 hours. We didn't get back to Florence till about 10 PM. Sunday was spent recovering from the week of travel, and watching Italy tie New Zealand.

It's now the beginning of the second 3 weeks. I'm taking a Sports Marketing class, which is from 12-2 every day. It seems like it's going to be a pretty interesting class, and we get to go on a field trip to the History of Soccer Museum, and see the practice facilities that the Italy national team use.

That's pretty much it for now... We're going to Venice on Thursday since we don't have class because of a Florence holiday. We are also going to Cinque Terre this weekend, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Ciao,

ae

Song of the Day

Germany's too cool for a clever title.

I tried for a while to think of a clever title for today's post, but there's too many:

Ze Germans
How Do You Say "It's cold and raining" in German?
Lukas Podolski Is My Hero

Lu-lu-lu Luaks Podolski
Deutchland could be my homeland.

Brautwerst Is Too Good

Etc... So, in other words, Germany is great. We came here having no idea what to do, but we've ended up having a great time. We started in the city center, wandered around a bit trying the brakutwurst and pretzels, had some beer. Yesterday night we went to the Olympic Stadium and watched the game with at least 10,000 Germans. It was probably the greatest night we've had in Europe, and it all started by a split second decision by Eli to follow a group of Germans. Today we wandered some more, went to the BMW museum, and ate our weight in brautwerst and pork knuckle. It was amazing. I didn't think Switzerland could be beat, but Germany proved that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

That's it for now. I'll have to run miles and miles in Florence to work off what I ate in Munich. Tomorrow we take a plane to Barcelona. So long for now.

ae

I love Switzerland.

Hello from Lucerne.

Yesterday was full of trains, but it was a good time, except Eli's unfortunate loss of his laptop...

Today was a lot of fun though, we woke up early, had breakfast, then went to the top of Mt. Pilatus. The view is amazing. I'll post picture's when I'm back in Florence. The afternoon was spent wandering around town, then tonight we watched the US vs England game of the World Cup. We watched it on a big screen near the river surrounded by a huge crowd. It was a great enviornment to watch the game, I was pleased with how many people were cheering for the US. The game ended up 1-1, but we should have won. Tomorrow morning we're headed to Munich, just in time to catch Germany's first game of the cup.

I'm almost out of internet time, so that's all for now.

ae

So long Florence.

Sorry it's been a while seen my last post. Not too much has happened this past week, it was the last week of class so I had to study for my test on Friday. I also had a presentation to do, so in all 75% of my grade came from the last day of class. I'm pretty confident that I did well though.

But now, we are off. Today we're headed to Lucerne, Switzerland, one of my favorite places in Europe. We're there for two nights, then it's another train to Munich, Germany. The afternoon we get there is Germany's first game of the World Cup, so that will be pretty great to watch. Two nights in Munich, then we're catching a plane to Barcelona, Spain. Staying there for the rest of the trip, then flying back to Pisa on Saturday. All in all, it should be a great week. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Well I have a train to catch, I'll try to post a couple times this next week.

ae

Some Pictures from the Weekend:

What a Weekend

This post will probably be rather long, I'll go ahead and say that now.

First, a couple nights ago we went to the gelato place my sister has been recommending to me since before we even left for the trip. Now that we've gone, I'm upset it took us so long to go. It's by far the best gelato I've had in Florence. There will be many return trips. Thanks Ash.

Yesterday we went on Viareggio for take two of the beach and getting there ended up becoming an adventure in itself. Eli, Trent and I were running a little late, so we missed the train that the rest of the group took. The next train directly to Viareggio was over a hour later, so we asked someone at an information booth if there was some other earlier train that would stop in Viareggio. He quickly gave us an answer and we were on our way. After a few stops, Trent and I noticed that the track we were on wasn't one that would get us where we wanted to go. Eli made the executive decision to get off the train at the next stop, which was a little town that started with an E that I can't remember for the life of me. We've decided that the information guy simply lied to us, and was laughing as we walked away. We go buy a new ticket that will for sure get us to Viareggio, and hop on our new train. While in Pisa, I notice that we have to get off and get on a different train 4 minutes before the train leaves. What followed was a rather comical sprint to the other train, with Eli yelling "Run Forest run!" as motivation. After that it was just a quick 15 minute trip to actually get to Viareggio, followed by a 15 minute walk to the beach. One thing I found interesting was that we spent less time on the train than we did the first time, when we took the train straight to Viareggio. We stayed at the beach for about 5 hours, and it was a great time. The water was cold, but felt great. It wasn't too hot, so just sitting out in the sun was pleasant. Of course, we all ended up getting sunburned, but it was totally worth it. Everyone seemed to really enjoy their time on the beach. That night was pretty quiet.

Lessons of the day:

1. Train people are liars.

2. A straight line isn't always the fastest way to get somewhere.

3. Rides that look like they were made for 3 year olds, are meant for 3 year olds.

On Sunday we decided to go to the nearby town of Lucca, where we were told you can rent bicycles to ride around the city walls on. We all thought this was a great idea and decided to try it out. The train ride there was a sweltering 80 degrees, but the bike ride was worth it. Bikes were only 2.50 Euro for an hour, and we got our money's worth out of it. The wall was huge, with a wide road lined with trees on top. It provided a great view of the city and the surrounding area. We rode two laps around the wall. The general consensus was that it was one of our best days here, it was a really great Sunday afternoon. For dinner, after getting back to Florence, we went to The Diner, an American diner in the middle of Florence. Everyone was able to satisfy their burger and fried chicken cravings. I got the Ari's Burger, with gorgonzola and caramelized onions. Bacon cheeseburgers were also a popular choice. They even had fries and real ketchup. It was by far the fastest I've ever seen our group eat. Everything was delicious.

That's about it for now, the last week of the first session starts tomorrow.

ae

"I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for quite a while"

Today, June 2nd, is a national holiday in Italy. It's called the Festa della Repubblica, and is the celebration of Italy becoming a republic in 1946. June 2nd was the day that the citizens of Italy were called to the polls to decide what form of government the country would have instead of fascism. The vote was 12,717,923 for republic and 10,719,284 for monarchy. So there's a little history lesson for you.

Since we were given the day off from school, we decided to go to Viareggio, a town not too far from Florence and on the beach. When we checked the weather last night it said there was a 90% chance of rain, but we decided to go anyway, convinced that the weathermen didn't know what they were talking about. Even while riding in the train towards the beach and we saw the dark clouds in the direction we were going we still didn't think it was going to rain, believing our overwhelming optimism would keep the rain away. When we got to the town, it was about a 15 minute walk to the beach. We all took off our shoes and started to walk on the sand, then it started to rain. We ran to a nearby restaurant and ate, again hoping the rain would blow over while we were inside. When we came out we thought we were right, but then it started to monsoon. After some more walking in the rain we stopped at a gelato place to try and wait out the rain. "I think it's starting to let up" was a common phrase, but it never came true. After about an hour of waiting, we finally accepted it wasn't going to stop. It was another 15 minute walk back to the train station, made much more exciting by the pouring rain. And of course, the sun came out right as we got on the train.

It wasn't exactly the day trip we imagined, but we all still had a good time. We might be going back this weekend when the weather is better. It's back to school tomorrow. It's crazy to think the first session is halfway over.

ae

Movie Clip Of The Day

Boboli Pictures

Some pictures from are trip through the Boboli Garden:

We Took the Road Less Traveled...

Today a few of us (Aubrey, Eli, Eleni, Erin, Kacy, Trent, and I) decided to go to the Boboli Gardens. The gardens are located behind the Pitti Palace, home of the Medici family. I hadn't heard much about the gardens, but I had no idea they would be as massive as they were. They just go on and on. They're also filled with statues, plants, fountains, and had some really great views of Florence and the area surrounding the city. We spent over two hours wandering around (Kacy tried to get us lost), and it was absolutely worth the 10 Euro we spent to get in. Particularly if the fountain Kacy found really was the Fountain of Youth.

That's all for now,

ae

Poem Of The Day

Seeing Siena

Last night Eli, Katie, Alexandria and I took a late night stroll up to the Piazza Michelangelo. It's a great view during the day, but the experience at night is very different. We had a great time, lots pictures were taken and will be uploaded eventually. Afterwards, however, Trent, Eli, and I suffered through the worst night of trying to sleep since we arrived. Apparently groups of very loud Italians scheduled to walk by our apartment every 15 minutes from 1:00-4:00 AM. It was awful. But we still managed to rally and make the bus at 9 this morning for Siena.

After an hour long drive or so we made it and our walking tour

began. Our guide took us all around Siena, explaining about the 17 contrades (neighborhoods) of Siena and the Palio, which is a huge tournament between 10 of the houses twice a year (July 2nd and August 16th), with the main event being a horse race in town square:

Each contrade has an emblem (mostly animals), and I decided to pick one for each member of our group:

Me- Eagle

Eli- Dragon

Trent- Rhino

Alexandria- She-Wolf

Lyndsey-Giraffe

George- Snail

Alex- Porcupine

Lindsea- Wave

Erin- Seashell

Eleni- Owl

Aubrey- Panther

Kacy- Caterpillar

Katie- Unicorn

Tara- Tower

Danielle- Goose

We also saw their Duomo, which is beautiful and is filled with art (but ours is bigger). Siena is definitely a place I would like to return to sometime. Before we left we all had lunch (I had noodles with wild boar sauce, it was delicious). After that it was just a 30 minute drive to San Gimignano. I hadn't really heard much about the town, but when we got there, it was really cool. The view was incredible (pictures will be coming later), the towers were cool, and we had the greatest gelato in the world. And I'm not kidding about that last part. This gelateria, Pluripremiata, is a two time world champion gelateria. I was unaware that there was a Gelato World Championship, but I'm glad that there is and that I would like to find out how I become a judge. I was skeptical at first, but after I tried it (one scoop champagne/pink grapefruit, one scoop strawberry), I was a believer. It was sooo good. Afterwards we just wandered around for a bit then took the bus back home, everyone very very tired.

That's all for now, I'll post pictures once they're uploaded.

ae

Much Ado About Nothing

It's been a pretty quiet past couple days. School takes up all of our mornings, which is typically followed by lunch, a short siesta, then random wandering around Florence. Yesterday I explored the nearby library, which seems like a pretty neat place and has a cafe on the third floor which a good view of the Duomo. I'll probably go there to read/study occasionally. This weekend we're going to Siena and San Gimignano, which should be a lot of fun. There is also going to be a gelato festival, which should be fun. Eleni and Kacy have done nothing of note.

That's pretty much it for now, I'll report back after this weekend.

ae

Introducing "The Group"

I guess I should explain who "we" entails in all of these posts I make. In general, it's a group that varies from 8-14 people that all started hanging out the first night we were in Rome. And they are:

Me- Texas A&M
Trent- Texas A&M
Eli (The Boss)- Texas A&M
Alexandria- Texas A&M
Lyndsey- Arizona State
George- South Carolina
Alex- Alabama
Lindsea- Berkeley
Erin- George Washington
Eleni- Indiana
Aubrey- Auburn
Kacy- Tennessee
Katie- UNC Wilmington
Tara- New Mexico State

So that's the gang. Once we finally get a picture with everyone in it I'll post it.

Back to School

Today was the first day of class. Trent and I are taking the same class that starts at 9 (There are classes at 9,12, and 3). We're taking a "Human Resource Management" course which actually seems like it will be a good class because our teacher, Andrea, is an interesting guy and a good, interactive teacher. Our grade will come from attendance, participation, an oral presentation and a final exam which will be given on the last day of class. Today was the basic introduction to the class, but near the end we got to watch a clip from the Dead Poets Society, which he related back to Emotional Intelligence.

After class Eli, Trent, George, and I went back to the Oil Shoppe (I got smoked salmon, Eli got grilled white fish, Trent got roast beef and sautéed spinach, George got the meatball sub for the first time, they were all great) Then we all took a short but needed siesta. Tonight we're having a big group dinner at an apartment.

ae

Movie Clip Of The Day

And now for something completely unrelated:

Here are some random pictures I've taken from around town, so I guess I'll just put them here:

Piazza Michelangelo

Today we walked up to the Piazza Michelangelo, a large square that overlooks all of Florence. It's quite the hike to the top, but the view is definitely worth it. It's also a really nice day outside which made it even better. Here are some pictures from the top:

Afterwards we walked back down to have lunch and drank a whole lot of water. (While lots of places are closed on Sundays, there were still plenty of places to eat, so starving isn't a worry anymore) When we walked out of the restaurant it was lightly raining, which was very strange since we could still see blue sky. It rained for a couple blocks then it stopped, and went back to being really nice again. We walked around town a bit, stopped for some gelato (Eli decided to one-up everyone by ordering a crepe with Nutela and gelato. It was incredible.) While standing around eating our gelato we heard a bunch of beating drums. Confused, we followed the sound to a square were we found some men swinging around flags to the drum beat. There were also two men with pikes, a guy that looked like old fashion Italian upper-class, and about 4 people with hawks. We watched for about 15 minutes, though we never figured out exactly what was going on. I took several pictures of of it too:

Uploading all those pictures was a pain... But that's all for now.

Ciao,

ae

Sunday Morning

It's been a fun past two days. Friday afternoon we had a long orientation, afterwards we walked around town for a while. That night some of the girls of our core group of 12 cooked dinner for everyone. It was really good, and it was nice to have a meal in an apartment opposed to eating out like we have every other night. After that we ended up going to a bar/club/discoteche called YAB which ended up being a great time.

Saturday was a pretty relaxed day, we slept in for the first time all trip because we didn't have anything planned in the morning. For lunch I wanted to go to the Oil Shoppe (the sandwich place) but when we got there we were disappointed to find out that they were closed on Saturdays. That afternoon we took a guided tour around Florence, which was nice because it helped us get a better feel for where everything was in the town. After that we had a huge dinner for the entire ISA trip at a restaurant called MammaMia!, I had a sausage pizza and then everyone got a piece of tiramisu (which was by far the greatest tiramisu I've ever had, it was incredible). The rest of the night was pretty relaxed. It was the Champions League finals game (Inter vs Bayern), everyone was crowded into the pubs to watch the game. Inter ended up winning, much to the excitement of all the Italians. And for anyone that doesn't follow soccer, The Champions League Final is pretty much the Super Bowl of European soccer. Afterwards we got some late night gelato then went to bed.

Now it's Sunday morning. It's going to be interesting to see how we eat today, since most stores are closed on Sundays. We went to the grocery store a few days ago, so we have cereal, fruit, and pasta, so hopefully that is enough to last us the day. If not, I guess we'll starve. Tomorrow is the first day of school, sadly, and I have class at 9AM. I'm curious to see how my class is going to go.

That's all for now,

ae

Meatball Sub

A quick note:
I just had the greatest meatball sub on the planet. It's at a restaurant 50 feet from our apartment and cost only 4 euros. While in line we also ran into two former Aggies that were here on vacation. Small world.

ae

In Florence

It has been a very busy past two days. On Wednesday we toured the Vatican, the Roman forum, and the Colosseum. It was a long day filled with walking, but it was a lot of fun seeing the Vatican and Colosseum again. Seconds after we walked out of the Colosseum it started to rain, which led to a fun sprint back to the hotel in the pouring rain. Thankfully it cleared up while we were inside for a meeting, and we were able to spend our last night in Rome out on the town. A group of us had a great dinner, grabbed two bottles of wine then went and sat on the Spanish Steps.

The next morning we got on a bus for Florence, which was about a 4 hour ride. Eli, Trent and I then had to take a cab to our apartment, which is conveniently located about two minu

tes from the Duomo. The apartment is larger than I expected it to be, but is still rather small. It's brand new, with silverware still wrapped in plastic. The only downsides are spotty Internet (which should be fixed in the next couple days), the washing machine is in a room that is 5 feet tall (I'm not sure what they were planning), and while it is nice being on the first floor, it is very loud. Last night I was woken up by a large group of people walking on the street at 4AM and 6AM. After getting settled in yesterday we walked around town for a while, crossed the Ponte Vecchio, and hung out in the Piazza di Santa Croce. After that we went to dinner, where Eli won the most adventurous dish award for ordering grilled swordfish, which was very good. Aubrey made the mistake of ordering a three course meal, and was full after the first course. Later that night we went to a neat bar in the plaza around the Duomo, and sat on the balcony.

We have more orientations today... This morning we had one from 9:30-11 and we have another at 2:15 that might last over 3 hours. Not fun. Some people want to go to a discoteche tonight, so that might be interesting.

I think we're about to go get lunch, so that's all for now.

ae

Picture of the Day

The Colosseum is awesome.

When In Rome

Well, after about 16 hours of traveling (9 hour flight, 4 hour layover, 2 1/2 hour flight, 30 minute cab ride) we are finally in Rome. The 9 hour flight really wasn't that bad. I read for about an hour, watched Invictus and The Book Of Eli (Both of which were very good movies, I highly recommend Invictus to anyone that hasn't seen it), and then slept for maybe two hours.

The dinner on the plane was actually pretty good, some kind of teriyaki chicken, rice, broccoli and carrots. Breakfast, however, was pretty terrible. A cold ham and cheese wrap, bad yogurt, and the worst cup of coffee I've ever tasted. The layover in London was actually pretty quick, the only downside being the poor decision I made in ordering a "cheese burger". It was pretty terrible. After that it was a quick flight to Rome where I slept most of the time.

I then rediscovered how depressing it is to exchange currency. $130 became 84 Euros, though I actually got a better deal than Eli. After collecting our luggage Eli, Trent, two other girls that were on the same ISA trip as us, and I all took a cab/van to the hotel. We're staying at the Grand Hotel Palatino, which surprisingly is actually the same hotel I stayed at last time I was in Rome three years ago. We were an hour late getting to the hotel, so we missed the first "Mandatory Orientation Meeting" (oops), but later learned that all they told us was "Don't be stupid" for 45 minutes. We did make the two hour bus tour of Rome, which was pretty cool, but it was kind of hard to understand our guide between her Italian accent and the bad PA system on the bus. It was essentially "To you left is something very old and famous, to your right is old and beautiful", but it was still enjoyable.

Last night a group of us went out to dinner, were the owner of the restaurant dubbed Eli "The Boss", which is now his nickname for the rest of the trip. We split 5 liters of wine between the twelve of us and I had a very good carbonara pasta. We then spent the rest of the night wandering around Rome, took pictures of the Colosseum (which looks very cool at night), and we were actually all in bed by 11:30 or so, the lack of sleep finally catching up with us.

Today we're scheduled to tour Vatican, the Colosseum, and a few other main spots around Rome. Tomorrow we're heading to Florence via bus.

This post was longer than I thought it would be.

Ciao,
ae

Song of the Day

Austin vs The Volcano

In case you haven't heard, there is a large volcano in Iceland that has been erupting periodically over the past month or so. This has been sending huge plumes of volcanic ash into air which, other than looking like Armageddon:

cause all kinds of problems for international travel. Many flights of the past few weeks have been canceled because of these ash clouds, and it is expected that Eyiafjallajokul (the volcano) might erupt again today or tomorrow. This is the only reason I can assume that over the last 12 hours my flight has been changed from it's original 5:35 PM departure, to 7:59, and then finally to 5:47. I'm pretty sure this means that British Airways has no idea when it is actually going to depart. To be on the safe side, I'll probably get to the airport around 2:45. If necessary we can take refuge in the numerous restaurants found in Terminal D.On a more positive note, at least the weather should be nice in Rome when we get there. Highs in the mid 70s, lows in the 50s. Perfect weather, as long as it doesn't rain.

Well I'm off to go finish packing, 24 hours from now (as long as there is no volcanic activity, striking flight crew, or some other act of God) I should be in Rome.

ae

Song of the Day

And more pictures of the Iceland volcano (and the resulting ash clouds):

Leaving Tomorrow

Hi there, and welcome to my blog. This is my first time doing anything like this, so I guess we'll see how it goes...

Well, tomorrow is the big day, I'm leaving for Italy at 5:35 PM. It's about a 9 hour flight, so we will be getting to London at about 8:30 AM (London time), and then we have a 4 hour layover until the flight from London to Rome.

It's a weird feeling that we're about to leave. For so long it's just been this thing way in the future that I would talk about, and now it's finally here. And after a whole lot of planning, paperwork and packing, I'm ready to go. I have everything in one huge bag and a backpack, hopefully that will be enough to last almost two months...

That's all I have for now, I still have a bit more to do before tomorrow. I'll probably make another post tomorrow before I leave.

Ciao,

ae

Comic of the Day