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