It's A Small World

I visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa this weekend and I took the cheesy tourist picture. It was an adventure getting there but I happened to run into my friend from high school that attends the University of Georgia at the train station! It's a small world. The lesson of the day was definitely go with your instinct when it comes to trains. We ended up on the wrong one for about 10 minutes going towards the Alps but we managed to rectify the situation.

Ciao!
Alisa

Roomie Adventures: Laundry in Italy

My roommate and I washed laundry today. We have about a week and a half left and we didn't want to go back to Florida with a ton of dirty clothes. To begin she washed her clothes in the baby washer we have in the apartment. This washer is also in the bathroom. It doesn't really actually wash your clothes it seems though, more like soaks them and makes them sour. Then after, you have to hang them up on the clothing line outside of the apartment. Since I am not a fan of wasting time nor having my underwear hanging outside for the world to see we visited a laundromat down the street from our house.

Being the people that we are we first had to get something to eat. We ate at a beautiful restaurant called "Anita" for the second time since we have been here. I enjoyed a pasta with meat sauce, curry chicken, and roasted potatoes. It was very filling. On top of that it was free because of our vouchers with our program.

After our lunch we went to the laundromat and accidentally got the washers that were 7 Euro a piece instead of 3.50. Apparently the bigger the washer the more it cost. We did however save money by purchasing our laundry detergent at the 99 cent store, which by the way is amazing. They have everything you could want in there from 4 rolls of toilet paper in a pack to beer (which the winos that hang outside of our apartment seem to enjoy). We washed our clothes and enjoyed some gelato from the place next door and it was a success!

I'm planning to meet up with some more people from our program later to enjoy our last Friday night in Florence!

Ciao!
Alisa

Boboli Gardens

Also this week a few friends and I visited he Boboli Gardens. It famous park in Florence. People can be seen having a picnic or looking over the beautiful city of Florence. There are several sculptures, fountains, and of course flowers dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries. We will be revisiting this location some time next week before we leave for Rome.

Ciao!
Alisa

Wine Tasting

This week we did as the Italians do and went wine tasting. We went to a couple of locations about 30 minutes outside of Florence in the countryside, one of the locations being a historic castle. I learned how Italians classify their wines and we tried a few as well. We then enjoyed an amazing lunch at a restaurant in the countryside. I feel like Olive Garden is never going to be able to hold a candle to the amazing Italian authentic pasta I have here.

Ciao!
Alisa

"Have You Ever Seen Hell's Kitchen?"

Last night we cooked an authentic Italian meal from scratch at our cooking class It was a great experience, however it took quite some time. We cooked ravioli with spinach ricotta , vegetable souffle, and dessert. The cooks were hilarious and I think they thoroughly enjoyed working with our group because of all the characters we had. Above is a picture of our group and our chef. The funniest quote from the night was when the chef asked me if I had ever seen Hell's Kitchen, because I accidentally filled a bowl with hot water instead of cold, hence the name of this entry. Today I have class and will be going to Italy's National Museum for the soccer team!

Ciao!
Alisa

Scratching Off the Bucket List: Pompei and Mt. Vesuvius

So, I am back in Florence after an amazing weekend! Today we went to Pompei to see the Roman ruins and also to Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius is known for its eruption in AD 79. This eruption led to the burying and destruction of Pompei. We saw ruins there of markets, we saw the body of the people and animals petrified from the ash they were buried in.

We later went on the expedition that was Mount Vesuvius. We road on our charter buses as far as we could and then we get out and hiked about half a mile to the top of the volcano. It was a thrilling experience. We were able to see the view of Capri and Sorrento and that is just another thing I can cross off my bucket list. We have 2 weeks left in Italy and time is going by so fast! Tomorrow I have class and then a cooking class!

Ciao!
Alias

Sorrento

Thursday we traveled by train to Naples and then by bus to Sorrento. Sorrento is by far my favorite place we have visited thus far. The hotel we are staying at is Concha Park which has beautiful lounge areas, a pool, and all together wonderful scenery. I feel as though Italy is a tourist country in general, but this is by far a great location for a hotel because it's not a ridiculous amount of people. There are lovely shops and the town is right near the water. The only downfall is I do not have the best wi-fi so I can't really skype, facebook, tweet, blog, etc. as much as I would like.

On that note, something I love about being here and not having my phone on is that I feel like I am forced to connect with the world that immediately surrounds me and not what's going on in Gainesville or with my friend in Georgia, etc. When I am walking around Florence I am enjoying the beautiful scenery and not texting and tweeting and seeing nothing but the screen of my iPhone. Until next time!

Ciao!
Alisa