I'm at the Duomo!!
Ponte Vecchio!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
New Blog Page
I no longer will use blogspot! I'm trying something new...Tumblr
My link that my new blog is:
breezyabroad.tumblr.com
I also posted a link for my pictures that I upload thru Shutterfly.com if you don't have facebook :)
Thanks!
My link that my new blog is:
breezyabroad.tumblr.com
I also posted a link for my pictures that I upload thru Shutterfly.com if you don't have facebook :)
Thanks!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Day in Florence & Day Trip to Siena/San Gimignano
On Wednesday I had Emperors of Rome in the morning, and my Dante and Galileo class was cancelled for the day so I had a good 7 hours-Hillary and I decided to go into Florence! We went shopping, but I surprisingly didn't buy anything. We went to MaMMaMia for lunch and it was amaaazing! It was our first meal outside of the Villa food. We ordered a class of Chianti and I had a pizza with spicy salami and Hillary had a caprese salad and cooked spinach with garlic-and of course we had to end the meal with our first shot of espresso...YUMMY!! That night we tried to find a place to have a drink in Sesto and we ran into our Italian friend and he showed our American group a great place, but I was too tired so I didn't stay out with the rest of them and headed home!
Thursday morning I went into Florence for my art history class. On every Thursday we have class on site in the city of Florence, and visit museums, cathedrals, etc. We went inside the cathedral of the Duomo and it was beautiful! I have never seen anything like the paintings inside the dome, I can't wait to climb it! We also visited right across the way to the Baptistery, but had to catch a train home for lunch shortly after entering. I switched into the Italian Cinema class here, which will count for my humanities credit and that class is held on Tues/Thurs @ 2pm (I dropped Dante & Galileo to get into the class, but I think it is a good decision so far). Thursday night we decided to go out into Florence and we had a few places in mind to try, we started at "Twice" and no one was there so we went to "Slowly", which was just a normal pub and waited for "Yab" to open up - Yab is a great discotecta to go to on a Thursday night. I spoke a lot of Italian throughout the night, just trying to find places and calling a cab-I'm picking it up slowly :)
Breakfast was at 730 Friday morning and we headed out for Siena @ 8. Siena is so beautiful!! In the morning it was so foggy and you couldn't see anything, but by 11 it was clear. We visited the Cathedral of Siena and it was beautiful inside, unlike the Cathedral of Florence...but so different! We also had a tour of the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo which contains Duccio's famous Maesta (1308-1311) and various other works by Sienese masters. Then free time came for lunch! Hillary and I went shopping and we both found cute leather purses for 30-40 euro each and then had a cappuccino standing at the bar...if you sit down there is a cover charge. We then meet up with the rest of the gang in the Piazza del Campo which is their town square and houses the Palazzo Pubblico that we visited and saw many great frescoes. Then we departed from Siena and went to San Gimignano for an hour to walk around and I had my first gelato experience!! I had limone and mulberry which was so delicious!
After a long day, I just crashed and looked up traveling plans when most of the villa went out for a night on the town! Getting up early tomorrow morning and catching a train to Lucca with Hillary and Ally :)
Grazie, Ciao!
Thursday morning I went into Florence for my art history class. On every Thursday we have class on site in the city of Florence, and visit museums, cathedrals, etc. We went inside the cathedral of the Duomo and it was beautiful! I have never seen anything like the paintings inside the dome, I can't wait to climb it! We also visited right across the way to the Baptistery, but had to catch a train home for lunch shortly after entering. I switched into the Italian Cinema class here, which will count for my humanities credit and that class is held on Tues/Thurs @ 2pm (I dropped Dante & Galileo to get into the class, but I think it is a good decision so far). Thursday night we decided to go out into Florence and we had a few places in mind to try, we started at "Twice" and no one was there so we went to "Slowly", which was just a normal pub and waited for "Yab" to open up - Yab is a great discotecta to go to on a Thursday night. I spoke a lot of Italian throughout the night, just trying to find places and calling a cab-I'm picking it up slowly :)
Breakfast was at 730 Friday morning and we headed out for Siena @ 8. Siena is so beautiful!! In the morning it was so foggy and you couldn't see anything, but by 11 it was clear. We visited the Cathedral of Siena and it was beautiful inside, unlike the Cathedral of Florence...but so different! We also had a tour of the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo which contains Duccio's famous Maesta (1308-1311) and various other works by Sienese masters. Then free time came for lunch! Hillary and I went shopping and we both found cute leather purses for 30-40 euro each and then had a cappuccino standing at the bar...if you sit down there is a cover charge. We then meet up with the rest of the gang in the Piazza del Campo which is their town square and houses the Palazzo Pubblico that we visited and saw many great frescoes. Then we departed from Siena and went to San Gimignano for an hour to walk around and I had my first gelato experience!! I had limone and mulberry which was so delicious!
After a long day, I just crashed and looked up traveling plans when most of the villa went out for a night on the town! Getting up early tomorrow morning and catching a train to Lucca with Hillary and Ally :)
Grazie, Ciao!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Classes and such!
My classes are great so far! I like my professors and the size of my classes (smallest being 10 students and largest being 20)...so not like my classes in Ann Arbor! It's weird taking history and art history classes too-but my favorite class so far surprisingly is Italian! I love the Italian language and my professor is great :)
A group of us took about a 2 hour walk around Sesto today (we were kind of lost, but then again we didn't really have an intended place to go...so we just wandered)
We ended up going to The Drunk Ladder for drinks and then came back to the Villa and learned what an "A Bar" was..."After Bar - Party", so we had a little gathering in the basement and we sang Billy Joel, danced, and got to know each other a little bit better!
Today was a pretty laid back day. Classes, reading, and walking around Sesto-now we are trying to book some weekend trips and it is pretty stressful since our group is so large (12 people)...but we will figure something fun out!!
Can't wait to explore Italy and the rest of Europe!!
<3
A group of us took about a 2 hour walk around Sesto today (we were kind of lost, but then again we didn't really have an intended place to go...so we just wandered)
We ended up going to The Drunk Ladder for drinks and then came back to the Villa and learned what an "A Bar" was..."After Bar - Party", so we had a little gathering in the basement and we sang Billy Joel, danced, and got to know each other a little bit better!
Today was a pretty laid back day. Classes, reading, and walking around Sesto-now we are trying to book some weekend trips and it is pretty stressful since our group is so large (12 people)...but we will figure something fun out!!
Can't wait to explore Italy and the rest of Europe!!
<3
Sunday, January 9, 2011
City of Florence for the first time!
Dinner was amazing last night!! A wonderful risotto soup, potatoes, and Frontega chicken (chicken with tomatoes and cheese on top)!! Bruno (our cook) is great!!
Last night we went out in Sesto looking for a bar, after asking about 10 Italians through their broken English we ended up at a bar called "Drunk". When we walked in there was one couple in the place and the bartenders spoke absolutely no English. So to order we pointed at what we wanted and put up fingers for how many people wanted that. I had a cosmopolitan, because that was the only drink I knew from the menu and it was absolutely delicious (almost as good as Chuck's cosmos), haha and then I drink that was called a "Florida" and it was way too sweet for my liking...but did the trick! We fed Andi tons of drinks for her 21st birthday, so we were all having a great time. We left to come back and we were surprised when our roommates were still up, and then they informed us that it was 1130. Looks like we know how to party ;) ...jet leg I guess??
Orientation was this morning and we met all the professors and learned the rules and about traveling around Sesto/Florence. Then we had lunch, Professor Rebecchini (my art history professor) sat with us and gave us all sorts of good advice.
Later we heard an Introduction to Florence lecture by Rebecchini and learned about the Corsi Saliviati Family (whose villa we are living in). It was really interesting, but everyone was extremely tired. The Corsi Saliviati family had strong links to the Medici family, which I found cool!
We took a walking tour of Sesto to learn where the bus stops, train stations, and supermakerts are located right before dinner. That night we decided to go into Florence and we took the bus there, while waiting for a bus I tried to speak Italian with the locals and learned quite a bit! We ended up going to Space which is a "discoteca" (club) and had a great first night in the city :)
Waking up at 8 was hard, but I had a quick breakfast (breakfast usually consists of fruit, bread, and jam) and got ready to head into Florence with the group and professors. The city of Florence is beautiful! Of course, I forgot my camera-but my friends took lots for me. We saw the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio for the first time today, and they were amaazing! We didn't do any museums today, but went into two churches. One of them was overlooking the city and was the most beautiful view of Florence.
The weather was great, it was sunny and around 50's and when we went into the churches it was so cold that you could see your breath since they aren't heated.
After finding our own way back to the Villa we all crashed. I took a nap with Hillary and had stuffed ravioli, tomatoes, and bread for dinner.
Classes start tomorrow!! I can't wait!
My class schedule is-
Monday and Wednesdays:
830-10 Julio-Claudian Emperors of Rome
10-1130 Dante and Galileo dropped
5-550 Italian 101
Tuesdays:
10-1130 Origins and Birth (Art history class)
2-330 Italian Cinema - picked up
4-450 Italian 101
Thursdays:
830-10 Origins and Birth (Art history class)
2-330 Italian Cinema - picked up
4-450 Italian 101
Love and miss you all!!
Last night we went out in Sesto looking for a bar, after asking about 10 Italians through their broken English we ended up at a bar called "Drunk". When we walked in there was one couple in the place and the bartenders spoke absolutely no English. So to order we pointed at what we wanted and put up fingers for how many people wanted that. I had a cosmopolitan, because that was the only drink I knew from the menu and it was absolutely delicious (almost as good as Chuck's cosmos), haha and then I drink that was called a "Florida" and it was way too sweet for my liking...but did the trick! We fed Andi tons of drinks for her 21st birthday, so we were all having a great time. We left to come back and we were surprised when our roommates were still up, and then they informed us that it was 1130. Looks like we know how to party ;) ...jet leg I guess??
Orientation was this morning and we met all the professors and learned the rules and about traveling around Sesto/Florence. Then we had lunch, Professor Rebecchini (my art history professor) sat with us and gave us all sorts of good advice.
Later we heard an Introduction to Florence lecture by Rebecchini and learned about the Corsi Saliviati Family (whose villa we are living in). It was really interesting, but everyone was extremely tired. The Corsi Saliviati family had strong links to the Medici family, which I found cool!
We took a walking tour of Sesto to learn where the bus stops, train stations, and supermakerts are located right before dinner. That night we decided to go into Florence and we took the bus there, while waiting for a bus I tried to speak Italian with the locals and learned quite a bit! We ended up going to Space which is a "discoteca" (club) and had a great first night in the city :)
Waking up at 8 was hard, but I had a quick breakfast (breakfast usually consists of fruit, bread, and jam) and got ready to head into Florence with the group and professors. The city of Florence is beautiful! Of course, I forgot my camera-but my friends took lots for me. We saw the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio for the first time today, and they were amaazing! We didn't do any museums today, but went into two churches. One of them was overlooking the city and was the most beautiful view of Florence.
The weather was great, it was sunny and around 50's and when we went into the churches it was so cold that you could see your breath since they aren't heated.
After finding our own way back to the Villa we all crashed. I took a nap with Hillary and had stuffed ravioli, tomatoes, and bread for dinner.
Classes start tomorrow!! I can't wait!
My class schedule is-
Monday and Wednesdays:
830-10 Julio-Claudian Emperors of Rome
5-550 Italian 101
Tuesdays:
10-1130 Origins and Birth (Art history class)
2-330 Italian Cinema - picked up
4-450 Italian 101
Thursdays:
830-10 Origins and Birth (Art history class)
2-330 Italian Cinema - picked up
4-450 Italian 101
Love and miss you all!!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Arrival in Firenze!
I have arrived in Firenze!! Flying was great-I went with my friends Hillary and Ally, so that definitely made things easier! We connected in Philly and Frankfort, Germany and had perfect timing in between both flights (just enough time to get to the next terminal, but not too long to get antsy).
I didn't get much sleep on the plane (roughly 45 minutes TOTAL)...but I watched Two and Half Men, Date Night, and Salt - which all did a great job of keeping my mind off the duration of my flight! I also listened to the live tour of James Taylor and Carole King since I didn't get to see them in concert last year ;)
My favorite flight was from Frankfort to Florence, the flight attendent was so full of life and asked us if we wanted to pop open a bottle of sparkling wine...I passed because it was 5 o'clock in the morning, but it was nice of him! But the best part was flying over the Swiss Alps, they were beautiful!! They popped up right through the clouds!
Landing and getting a taxi was cake - Hillary, Ally, and I all shared a taxi ride to the Villa. We checked in with Helen (she is like our house mom) and got assigned our rooms! I'm in room 18, and it's a bedroom right off of the library. I have 2 roommates, Brittany and Andi! I lucked out once again and got great roommates going in blind! :)
I went to the centro comercial (supermarket thingy) and it was VERY difficult to buy towels, let alone read the labels to decipher which bottle is shampoo and which is conditioner. We were also out of luck buying food there (our main point of going). But I got a huge bottle of wine for 2 euros...better luck next time!
I finished unpacking and I just couldn't make it...it was 230pm here and I just HAD to sleep! So I took a little nap-and I'm glad I did! I feel much better, hopefully I will be able to get a good night sleep tonight! (Of course after we go out to celebrate my roommate Andi's birthday!)
We have dinner tonight at 7, and then orientation tomorrow morning! Can't wait! Love and miss you all!
I didn't get much sleep on the plane (roughly 45 minutes TOTAL)...but I watched Two and Half Men, Date Night, and Salt - which all did a great job of keeping my mind off the duration of my flight! I also listened to the live tour of James Taylor and Carole King since I didn't get to see them in concert last year ;)
My favorite flight was from Frankfort to Florence, the flight attendent was so full of life and asked us if we wanted to pop open a bottle of sparkling wine...I passed because it was 5 o'clock in the morning, but it was nice of him! But the best part was flying over the Swiss Alps, they were beautiful!! They popped up right through the clouds!
Landing and getting a taxi was cake - Hillary, Ally, and I all shared a taxi ride to the Villa. We checked in with Helen (she is like our house mom) and got assigned our rooms! I'm in room 18, and it's a bedroom right off of the library. I have 2 roommates, Brittany and Andi! I lucked out once again and got great roommates going in blind! :)
I went to the centro comercial (supermarket thingy) and it was VERY difficult to buy towels, let alone read the labels to decipher which bottle is shampoo and which is conditioner. We were also out of luck buying food there (our main point of going). But I got a huge bottle of wine for 2 euros...better luck next time!
I finished unpacking and I just couldn't make it...it was 230pm here and I just HAD to sleep! So I took a little nap-and I'm glad I did! I feel much better, hopefully I will be able to get a good night sleep tonight! (Of course after we go out to celebrate my roommate Andi's birthday!)
We have dinner tonight at 7, and then orientation tomorrow morning! Can't wait! Love and miss you all!
Monday, January 3, 2011
My First Blog During My Last Days In America!
I've learned that packing is indeed hard work when you only have two suitcases and too many clothes! I feel like I need to bring everything, considering I will be in Italy for two different seasons. I leave this upcoming Thursday (6th) @ 135 pm out of Detroit and arrive in Florence Friday (7th) @ 935 am...a very long flight!
The nerves are trying to get the best of me right now, but Drew is doing a great job of keeping me sane - for now ;) I'm so blessed to be able to study abroad in Florence for a whole semester...and just as blessed for all the people who care about me who will read this blog at some point or another!
I love you all and thank you for all your support!
The nerves are trying to get the best of me right now, but Drew is doing a great job of keeping me sane - for now ;) I'm so blessed to be able to study abroad in Florence for a whole semester...and just as blessed for all the people who care about me who will read this blog at some point or another!
I love you all and thank you for all your support!
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