Were Going to France!!!

Going skiing in the Alps is becoming one of my favorite things to do in Italy. This time that I went my friends Kelly and Kaley came with me to meet Alessandro and the Stucovitzs'. We all met in Milan then drove up to Courmayer together. Kaley decided she wanted to try snowboarding for the first time. haha. That was interesting. Kelly helped her and played ski instructor the whole time with Alessandro and I went off onto the mountain. Every time I have gone skiing it has always snowed a bunch which is awesome for powder. The first day we skiied at the ski resort and I skiied on a couloir for the first time. A couloir is a french word for passage and means a deep gorge or gully formation found on the side of a mountain. It was really cool. I felt like I could be in a ski video or something. haha. The second day we decided I was realy to take on Mont Blanc. The views from the top were amazing!!!! I felt like I was on top of the world (but really Europe). The snow and sun combined for a great day. Once we got home Alessandro thought it would be fun to go to France for an apres ski. We drove under Mont Blanc through a tunnel that takes 20 minutes to go to the cute town of Chamonix. Kaley, Kelly, and I were excited because this was our first time out of Italy since we got here. It was also interesting that you could drive to another county in less than 30 minutes. France was worth it! The last day in Courmayer we decided to try something different than skiing and ventured to the bunny hill with the little kids to go sledding. They probably thought these 20 years olds were wierd sledding next to them but we enjoyed ourself feeling like kids again. The weekend was so much fun we were all dredding going back to Florence to study for midterms.

see the little person, thats me skiing on Mont Blanc, it was a little scary

our sledding adventure



the city of Courmayer from Mont Blanc

"Piazza San Michelangelo"

One weekend I had the opportunity to stay in Florence. One lazy afternoon Jenna, my roomate, and I visited Piazza San Michelangelo. This is a popular tourist place in Florence that looks over the whole city. You have to climb this small mountain to get up there but the views are worth it! We spend 3 hours there sketching and watching the scenery. While Jenna was reading and I was sketching some tourists even stopped and would say, "look mom this girl is sketching." I was really impressed because I never think my sketches are that good. My design teacher, Julie, who taught me how to draw would have been proud. haha. That night my friend Mike who went to high school with me came into town from where he is studying in northern Italy. It was fun for me because I haven't seen him in a while and it gave me the opportunity to do the touristy stuff in Florence. We went and climbed the duomo, saw David and just walked around. It was a fun relaxing weekend.

Florence city at sunset. So beautiful!!!


Mike and I on the Ponte Vecchio.

My Roman Holiday

Rome was absolutely amazing!!! The city has over 5 million people in it and is always crowded. It reminds me of a really crowded Chicago with people everywhere and always somewhere to be. This trip was planned through Accent, the program I came here with, and we had the opportunity to have a tour guide the entire weekend. Her name was Fraia. She was great. She told us so many great stories about pieces of art or buildings that you would never hear in a history book. We got to walk around with earpieces and Fraia was constantly telling us interesting stuff about Rome. In 3 days we went the Parthenon, Trevi Fountain, Campo de Fiori, Vatican, Saint Peter's Basilica, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Spanish Steps, and many other places that are less well known. Every night when I got to the hotel I was exhausted from all of the walking. Roman cobblestones are very different than Florence ones. They are much smaller and awkward, so your foot is wobbly in between them. We walked around 15 miles the whole weekend and I was very happy to get on the train. It was also a lot warmer in Rome and the flowers and trees were so pretty and very different than anything we have in the States. I didn't take as many good pictures this weekend but I hope you still like them.

the school of Athens in the Vatican museum

the Colosseum

me in front of St. Peter's basilica

the Parthenon

A Night At The Opera

Last Thursday evening we had the opportunity to go to the opera in Florence. We went to a opera called Pagliacci. I think it means clown in english. The play was about a woman who had a love affair with someone while she was traveling in a circus with her husband. She ended up getting stabbed at the end by her lover. So dramatic. It kind of reminded me of a soap opera. haha. It was all in Italian and a little hard to understand but the english synopsis helped. It was fun to get all dressed up for a night and go to the theatre.

Carnivale

This past weekend was Carnivale celebration in Venice. I spent 3 days there in a little apartment that was a great location right between the Rialto bridge and San Marco Square. The first day we came in it was not that crowded at all but by the time we left last night there were about 5 times as many people in the city. On Saturday we took water taxi's to Murano and Burano. Murano was really cool with all the glass everywhere and we even got to watch a demonstration. For lunch on Burano island, a little lace making fishing village, I had an amazing kuttlefish risotto. On the way back from both islands was sunset on valentine's day and that was fun to spend with my girlfriends. Sunday was the 'big' carnivale day. I was one of the 80,000 people that went to San Marco square to watch the parade and angel drop from the sky. It took us 45 minutes to maneuver our way out of the square once it was over. I have never been that close to so many strangers before. haha. It was kind of gross. The weekend ended with a wonderful (romantic) gondola ride. haha.

glass blowing demonstration in Murano


the cute colorful houses in Burano


part of the parade in San Marco square


Venice at sunset



gondola ride

Boun Giorno: First Week in Italy

So much has happened in my first week here. It has all been so exciting! When I arrived in Milan Elena and Alessandro came to pick me up. The first day was hard to stay up with only 3 hours of sleep but somehow I made it to the evening. The next day we went skiing in Courmayer for the weekend. The night before we went it snowed 30 inches! WOW!! I haven't skied on that much snow in a long time. Hanging out with my Italian family was great, like no time as passed since last Christmas. I then left them the following Wednesday for Florence. Florence is a city that has met all of my expectations and beyond. I am living in an apartment with 5 other girls right in the heart of where all the Italians live in the city. This morning at the market was my first time I tried using italian sentences and it went aweful. Some of the locals from small towns don't know much English. Hopefully I will do better next time. We also took a bus today up to this little town called Fiesole that overlooks the whole city of Florence....bellissimo!!

All of my roommates with Tuscany in the background.

Welcome to my blog!

This site is for family and friends to see how I'm conquering the world abroad in Florence next Spring. I will be arriving in Milan January 23 to visit the Stucovitz's. Enjoy!