Bionde in Firenze!

Just had a faaabulous dinner! I've gone without Michele's cooking for 4 nights now which was a big mistake. Yesterday I had to miss dinner for my first soccer game. I have no idea why, but I joined the Syracuse team. We play against other teams from programs like ours here in Florence- its supposed to be ver casual, ver friendly... Anyways it feels totally weird getting my competitive edge back. I'm loving getting to know my teammates and really loving having some team pride and cheering for everyone. I haven't really played soccer since I played at recess time in 7th grade, so I didn't totally realize that its not a full on contact sport like it was in the old days. So instead of playing soccer and concentrating on playing well, I just unleashed some pent up competitive aggression and played a lil dirty. The other team was practically all guys and our team is practically all girls, so being at a disadvantage I didn't feel too badly pushing a little. My smack talk got a little out of hand until I realized that my program director was watching the game from very nearby (whoops). We tied our game 3-3 to Gonzaga yesterday which was a bummer. Todays game was even worse with a 3-6 loss, but my increasing feistiness made up for it. But the best part was coming home tired to a nice big dinner by Michele. Our first course was penne with arugula with a lemony sauce and pecorino cheese on top. Second was Tuscan sausage that was a little crunchy on the outside and so soft on the inside and it was SO flavorful, cooked carrots that had amazing seasoning, and toast with cannellini beans on top with an amazing olive oil drizzled on top. Our final course was a fruit salad of apple, peaches, and banana. So delish

Ciao all, or should I say Guten Tag!! Oktoberfest was everything I could have imagined and more. It was probably the most happy place I have ever experienced! To my beloved family, I hope you do not think differently or negatively of me as I indulged in such irresponsible endeavors this weekend. If you are fearful of forever having a ruined interpretation of your favorite little blonde, then please read no further.
I walked to the train station at 11:00pm to meet up with the Bus2Alps agency buses. After forgetting my passport and running back to get it, I barely made it in time! I found the one girl I knew that was going from Florence, Nina, and asked if it was ok to sit with her. Turns out she was traveling with 15 of her friends from Dennison, so I kind of got lost in the mix as the odd duckling. Anyways, they were all very nice and I played the name game with everyone and found friends in common. We left around midnight and about 9 hours later, we arrived in Munich. The city is gorgeous! The architecture is very mixed and very unlike the states, but all in all very cool. I didn't really know where to go from there, until I overheard a girl standing near Nina say that she was going to the hotel where I had my reservation. So I jumped in a cab with her, and didn't realize until the end that she wasn't a friend of Ninas, but a friend of a friend of hers from Richmond. So this girl, Katie and I get to our Holiday Inn, but realize we cant check in until 3. We wash our faces in the lobby bathroom and change our clothes, and meet up with her other friends from Richmond. They were ver ver nice to take in a straggler such as myself. I follow Katie and her 2 friends through the metro as we grabbed a roadie and continued to the gates of Oktoberfest!
We enter into the beautiful madness! Most women are clad in the traditional dirndls and men in lederhosen. Totally wanted to buy a dirndl but couldnt find them for any less than 70 euro, so I was not about to buy that. Anyways, we go into the most typical American college tent, Hofbrauhause, where the Richmond girls joined tons of their classmates and I decided to wander. There are tables everywhere, filled with all types of people speaking different languages. A big band in the middle of the tent was playing american songs as well the oktoberfest anthem, to which everyone in the tent sang to. Really I just bopped around for several hours running into old Tafties, a lot of Wake Forrest acquaintances that I knew through my bestie KVD, and some fab people that are in my classes here in Florence! Without any agenda, I had an amazing day cheers-ing with old friends and new ones and talking to foreign strangers about their culture. Everyone is singing and kissing and hugging and cheers-ing. I swear you can't find a happier place. I got a lot of cotton candy and made new friends by sharing that too. Also got a couple big pretzels... really they're HUGE. In the late afternoon I was getting tired and decided to go to my hotel. I walked to the metro station and asked about 20 guards if they knew the stop that would get me to the Holiday Inn. I struggled with the ticket machine that wouldn't take my bills, until the people behind me were so fed up they bought my ticket for me. However, the guards had told me the wrong stop so when I got off at Isartor as they had told me, I was still lost. I walked into some shops and asked people if they spoke english and if they knew where the Holiday Inn was...eventually I got to the hotel. However, the reservation was under my friend Allie's name, and she wasn't arriving until later that evening. So I took a nap in the lobby and woke up to some people laughing at me as I had been sleeping openmouthed and drooling...really cute, I know. Anyways, I decided that I had embarrassed myself enough and I should try checking in... which proved to be successful. I got into the hotel room no problem and slept for another hour or so when my friends from F&M (Allie, Hayley, and Carrie) and their other friends (Sarah and Shelby) finally checked in. We all grabbed dinner and went to bed early.
Woke up at 7ish to dress and head to the festival. We decided to go to avoid the american tents and try something more authentic- Augustine-Brau. We waited and pushed in a mob/line trying to get in. Once we finally did, we couldn't find a table and ended up splitting up and sitting with tables of strangers that had room. Allie and I sat at a table with some hard core Bavarians and struggled through their broken english to chat about politics, culture, college, etc and learned some phrases in German (most of which were not very nice). We drank 2 beers there (mind you 1 beer there is about 3 strong american beers) and ate a couple large pretzels. We wandered around some more, and checked out some other tents. I stole one beer mug that I kept in the back of my pants or tied around my waist with my sweater all day. We sat outside and ate some meats and some more cotton candy. At some point I acquired a whistle and a crown. Hayley and I rode the ferris wheel. I lost my beer mug and my whistle. Hayley and I got off the ferris wheel and decided to go home. Woke up to the sound of everyone else getting back and getting ready for bed (it was like 8:00pm). Woke up again at 5:00am to say goodbye to everyone. Fell back asleep for a couple hours and then took the metro to the Bus2Alps meeting spot and took the bus home. The alps were gorgeous and we saw so many castles and churches. We watched two of the worst movies ever (50 First Dates and The Hulk). Arrived back in Florence around midnight. Tired today, but looking forward to playing in a soccer tournament tonight!!!

Ciao everyone! I can't believe its been almost 2 weeks since my last post... There is so much going on that every time I've sat down to start writing, I get distracted almost instantly. I hope you're all proud to know that I have, in fact, been working very hard in my studies. I've just finished a whole 300 page book on Michelangelo in a matter of days and I'm exxxxxhausted.
Anyways- on to the good stuff.
Last Friday I hopped on a bus at 7:30am and drove with my class to a small town called Pietrasanta. It was adorrrablee. The town was littered with gorgeous sculptures everywhere! Apparently, it is the town with the most artists per square inch in the whole world. Just getting a cappuccino when we arrived, I met an American marble sculptor not much older than myself who was an apprentice at one of the nearby shops. His hands were covered in white marble powder, as were many of the hands of people I noticed in the streets. A british guide met us and explained to us all about what marble actually is, and why it is so prevalent in the town of Pietrasanta and the surrounding towns, like Carrara (where we went after). He pointed out different buildings and places where it is speculated that Michelangelo worked on or lived and gave us some history and a tour of the town. Then we went to a large workshop that produced gorgeous marble and bronze sculptures for artists that had designed commissions. I tried sculpting a spare slab of marble myself and, woof, it was so hard! The drill was heavy and awkward and I gained a new appreciation for the sculptors. We also about the process of bronze casting, as well as mosaics, as there was a large mosaic workshop attached.
After, we grabbed some pizza and gelato and hopped back on the bus, which took us to Carrara. Apparently, the marble quarries here were the exact ones where Michelangelo retrieved marble for his works, unlike many sculptors of the time who merely purchased the material from vendors. It was absolutely gorgeous! The mountains almost looked snowy, as they were practically sparkling white (not a good day to have forgotten my sunglasses). Anyways, we loaded into a little van that brought us (at 100 miles per hour, mind you) deep into one of the mountains. It was cold and super humid, so my pictures can out very blotchy (verr disappointing). But we did get a spelunking helmet so that made up for it. Looking fab in my hat, I listened to a lecture about the history of the mountain and the method of extracting the marble and how they are running out of marble...blah blah blah. Interesting for the first hour but then my ADD got in the way and I watched some trucks bop around and watched another tour group of older people in matching outfits.
Anyways after a longgg day I returned home to a glass of wine and some olives which Michele delivered to me in bed (Mom I hope you're taking notes...just kidding).
Saturday I got together with ma chicas and had breakfast at an American diner (please don't judge me for not embracing the culture, I just missed having an egg for breakfast). We did a little shopping, I lost my cell phone, then found it, got lost, found my way back...everything works out in the end. Then we ended up splitting up in to two groups, so with my friend Sara, I paid 8 euro and hiked to the top of the duomo!!!! Betcha can't wait for the pictures... It was so totally fabulous although my legs were completely shaking by the time I got back down. Honestly, if you don't come to Florence to visit me, you must at some point come to experience the view from the highest point in Florence (I'm making that up but it could be true/it felt like it/I know I should know this/I'll ask Dad)... But its like looking at a map since you can see practically the whole city from above. Ugh just divine, really.
That night we went to the steps of the duomo with a bottle of wine and some cheese and a huge box of crackers. We chatted with some locals and then went to our favorite Cafe Bigalo for a round of drinks. I became everyone's best friend with my box of crackers as I supplied the food needs of drunk strangers (seriously there were 100+ crackers in this box I bought for under a euro). Anyways it was a ver fun night- pretty casual with some games (Thumper) and good conversation and good people.
Sunday I went downtown with Sara. There was a huge parade of some sort going on- there were maybe 20 different marching bands and a whole lotta hoopla that followed us where we went. I swear they were practically performing for us during lunch- free entertainment. After pushing our way through the thick mess of people and children and instruments, we made it into the Uffizi for out first look around. We have season passes through the school which is just fabb. Anyways checked out some famous pieces and gabbed about the art with Sara. Then went home for a much needed nap and some homework.
This week has had a great theme of fun dinners. Michele has had various interesting people over for dinner, and every night we have been filled with amazing pasta, gnocchi, cheese, prosciutto, bread, salads, strawberries with homemade whipped cream, fried squash blossoms, fried mushrooms, ratatouille, chocolate cake, rum soaked pineapple... it just doesn't stop. Most of these nights, however, everyone has been "overserved" with wine, to the point where everyone is laughing hysterically with no real reason. Had a tough week of classes but I finished this morning and I'm getting all ready for Oktoberfest this weekend!!!
I leave at midnight tonight!

Ugh what a fabulous weekend. A little Saturday morning sleep in, then I packed a sketchbook and went out to the Piazza Savonarola outside the apartment. And oh mio dio my drawing has gone to the absolute dogs. I had a nice chat with some locals about the weather (more like I stammered the words "ciao" and "buono" several times) but all the same I felt oh so sophisticated. A little after noon my ragazzas picked me up from the piazza and we headed to the Duomo for the starting point of our exploring. I had verrr yum salad and sandwish with salami, followed by gelato per usual. We walked through the shops, Piazza della Signoria, and across the Ponte Vecchi. My friend Sara and I split from the group to check out the leather market and grab a coke. After drooling over some leather jackets and bags, we heard some loud drumming, and being the nosey americans that we are, rushed to see what was going on. And and it was buon fortuna that we did because the source was a parade (and who doesn't lovee a good parade?). There were women and men of all ages dressed up in medieval garb carrying flags and swords and bows/arrows and such... We followed the parade until it finished in the Piazza Signoria (Vecchio) and watched their finale of elaborate synchronized flag dancing. Also there was a wedding going on but I'm not totally sure the two events were linked- still, the bride looked like lovely and the couple looked so beautiful and in love, so that was just great. After all the excitement I was verr tired so I went home for a nap and some skype time con il mio bello ragazzo. Dinner was yet another amazing meal with ravioli.

Domenica (Sunday) we went with our host mother, Michelle, and her son, Vieri, to the lake! Absolutely gorrrgeouss. I watched the sailboats, went swimming, took a nap, got sunburned, put on more sunscreen, ate a sandwich- it was perfetto! By the late afternoon we had all gotten plenty of sun and drove back into Florence. Driving is verr scary in these narrow streets-oh mio dio i simply had to cover my eyes. We took a couple detours through the hillside of Fisole (I think that's it?) to see some huge houses and see the amazing view of Florence from above. Breathtaking-I swear the pictures don't do it justice. I practically fell into my bed the moment we got home, but within 5 minutes Michelle was knocking on our door with glasses of wine and a bowl of cocktail peanuts and snacks for a "ora dell'aperitivo" (happy hour). Isn't she the sweetest? As always dinner was perfect. Michelle has learned to just give all excess food to me, to which I really can't say no. She served really fresh strawberries with a glaze made of sparkling water, vinegar, brown sugar and lemony little greens. After I inhaled every course and more, Michelle sent us to bed immediately. Ero contentissima!

Ciao ciaoo... Yesterday was a verr successful day. I signed up for all of the classes I wanted- an art history course called 'Masterpieces of Art', a seminar titled 'Michelangelo', a business course of 'Managing in a Global Setting', and two italian courses that focus in language and culture. With a quick registration in the morning, we had most of the day to spare. With 6 other bambinas, I walked to il Duomo just a few minutes away. And oh la la was it just faaaabulous. Thing's huge i swear. Checked out the baptistry doors which were gleaming and gorgeous too. Verr verr cool to see after so many years of just seeing in my art history textbooks. Like a regular american tourist, I ordered a pizza and some vino for lunch, followed by gelato. What also made yesterday such a winning day was that I booked a bus to Munich for Sept 29th- the first weekend to Oktoberfest. So I'm actually going! There I will meet up with a bunch of F&M chicas and chi o sorellas. Looking forward to the pretzels maybe more than the beer. Anyways... we returned to the piazza savonarola where I live and the SU campus is and people watched for an hour of so. The italian kids are simply adorable. We watched as they played soccer, biked, raced eachother etc... One chubster boy with glasses and army cargo pants probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Wanted to take him home but didn't think his parents or my nonni, Michelle, would approve.
I returned home shortly before a dinner maybe more fabulous than the one before. First course- grilled/baked eggplant mixed with parmesan. Never been a huge eggplant fan until then. Absolutely amazing. Second course- chicken roasted in herbs from Province and a side of cooked mushrooms both so flavorful and decadent I began to understand the phrase "so good I wanted to cry". Lastly, the meal was finished off with fresh peaches swimming in a lemony sugary glaze. I hope it doesn't freak out my nonni if I take pictures of these plates, because they are as beautiful as they are delish.
Going out last night wasn't as successful. All my chicas wore heels and were in pain much of the night, drinks were very expensive and totally watered down, and we got lost coming home because we found some totally tanked girl who couldn't tell her elbow from her ass and needed to get her home. That extravaganza took us miles from home and we found it very difficult to get a cab. However, the night wasn't a complete fail as there were less creeps and we made some more friends who are on our program. Also experienced a fab little bar called the Lion's Fountain which is very very american- the ceiling is strung with american college T shirts (though its missing an F&M one).

Today off to museum hop with my SU student free pass