Florence Day 2

Interesting day today! Part of the group climbed to the top of the Duomo. I went to the Duomo museum with another girl. It was a cool museum! The original doors from the Duomo are on display as is much of the original artwork. After that we went to the Ufizzi museum and had lunch. 

After lunch we went to see another smaller church. This church houses the tombs of both Galileo and Michelangelo.  

We ended our tours with a tour of the Leather School of Florence. It was really cool! They showed us how they make handbags. The students practice on cheap leather and the artisans use some of the finest leathers in the world. They had so many beautiful leather handbags! It was fascinating! 

Tonight we are going as a (very large) group to dinner and getting some dishes that are deemed 'must haves' while in Florence! 

Florence Day 1

We are in Florence for the week as a group. Lots of fun! We got up bright and early to hop on a train (train travel is so much more fun than plane travel). When we arrived we went to our hotel which is located right by The Duomo!

We took a tour with a very eccentric tour guide. She took us all over the city. Did you know that Florence is known for their high quality gold, leather, paper, and straw? Cause that was one of the many fun facts she shared! 

After our tour we all went to explore the leather market. Two girls from the group and I met a nice man who taught us how to feel the differences in leather quality and the area of Italy that is best for leather (obviously Florence, he said Naples is good but not as meticulously made). I didn't buy anything but it was a cool experience for my first day in Florence!

London's Calling

To begin, the title of this post is a shout out to my little Caroline's blog (http://carolinetakinglondon.blogspot.co.uk/?view=timeslide&m=1). Seemed appropriate since I got to visit her this weekend!

Friday

I left Ariccia for London at about 7:45 in the morning. The airport was a fun experience. Budget airlines do not assign seats so people line up about 30 minutes before they board and people literally run to the plane to get a seat where they want. Fun start to the weekend for sure! When I arrived I had missed my shuttle into London, which I had carefully planned to avoid that problem. I finally reached Victoria station and met up with Kate and Caroline. We sat and told stories. So much fun! Caroline and I went and attempted to shop. We both got super cute new shoes which we wore out that night. After dinner we went and met Kate and another graduated Kappa. We had difficulty finding the bar we were supposed to meet them at and Caroline and i stopped to ask so nice (and cute!) police officers for directions. They were all taking turns guessing where we were from. Apparently Caroline and I sound Australian or Canadian??!! When we finally made it we had a fun time out on the town with our sorority sisters!

Saturday

 Caroline had to get up to go to Oxford at about 9 on Saturday so I decided to wander around London, And by wander I mean walk more than normal people ever would. I had the time of my life exploring the beautiful city. I discovered this awesome exhibit at the Fashion and Textiles Museum and spent a while looking at that. 

I found a store that sold French Macaroons and got a few of those. I met up with Caroline and we explored a beautiful department store called Fortnum and Mason. It was 5 stories and amazing, way out of my price range but a girl can look! After that we grabbed dinner. We ended up at an Italian restaurant that had fried calamari. I received  hilarious looks when I asked for marinara sauce to dip the calamari in. Our waitress was so intrigued she came back and actually asked why I did this. We ended the night by getting a bottle of wine and trying all the macaroons I had gotten. Perfect relaxing night!

Sunday

Sunday morning I had to part ways with Caroline. Very sad, but we are going to Paris soon so our European adventures aren't over yet! I went to the airport and sat around for a while attempting to call my parents on Viber. Finally I headed back to Ariccia after a very fun weekend!

Italian Food Diary 1

In addition to blogging about all my fun activities in Italy, I also want to document all the FOOD!! From class and from meals

My first Cappuccino ever!

Strawberry Tart from Nemi

Risotto: Cooking Class 1

Carbonara: Cooking Class 2

Food for Aperitivo

So much to tell, not enough space

So after visiting one of my sorority little sisters in London this past weekend, I was inspired to keep a blog documenting what I do while I am in Italy this summer. I have been here for a few weeks so I would be writing a novel if I tried to talk about everything so I will just touch of the high points and promise to be better about blogging the rest of the summer!

Week 1
We arrived in Rome, Italy on May 7 early in the morning. We were promptly piled in a bus and taken to Ariccia where we are staying. Auburn has set up housing for our study abroad program in the  Chiggi Palace in Ariccia. We spent most of the week exploring our new surroundings and adjusting to living in a new country.

Week 2

This was our first week going to Rome. We had class on Monday and Tuesday, then went to Rome Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday we visited the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and so much more! Then Thursday we went to the Vatican for the first time. If you have never been, go. The architecture is beautiful. I walked around in awe for two days because Rome is just such an amazing place. Friday and Saturday we traveled back to Rome in small groups in order to finish our scavenger hunt. That was a blast because many of the items we had to find I never would have thought to go looking for! I will post the pictures from that when I have finished putting together the assignment that goes with it. Overall we had a blast learning more about Italy and the Roman Empire!                            

 

 

Week 3

This week we had class on Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday we went to Pompeii and hiked Mt. Vesuvius (much harder than one would imagine). I was so excited about Pompeii because I have been wanting to visit the ruins since elementary school when we read a story about it. Thursday we went to Hadrian's Villa (Villa Adriana) which was beautiful. Overall a tiring but rewarding week!