(no subject)
i officially have the bug. the 'ive fallen in love with florence/italy/europe" bug. and ive got it bad. i dont know how it happened but it just hit me like a brick wall! i am just so ecstatic to be here and do what im doing. i am so beyond fortunate to be here, living and studying in the heart of the city. my motto for the rest of my trip, actually, the rest of my life is "be here, now". and dammit am i going to stick to it.
the other night some girlfriends and i went out to the only major mexican restaurant in town. its called 'tijuana' and its pretty ridiculous. the menu was a laminated mix of spanish and italian. i was dorking it out, trying to translate the menu with my pocket 'guide to italy' which was a lost cause considering the waitress spoke english. the food was... disappointing. but i cant really expect much from an italian mexican restaurant. ive realized that america is one of the only countries that can successfully serve various kinds of food, at least the way im used to it. the best non-italian food ive had is chinese and i just ordered veggie fried rice, which isnt hard to screw up but a bit difficult to do well. i was pleasantly surprised.
earlier that day (thursday) my art history class met at the famous Academia, home of Michelangelo's "David" and various other unfinished statues. i have to say that seeing the "David" in person was surreal. first of all, i kept thinking about my dad, and then i realized that words and pictures really dont do it justice, any art really. but he is monumental, HES GIGANTIC! it was very cool to see.
last night some friends and i went to this german festival happening in front of Santa Croce. it was in spirit of Oktoberfest. it was so much fun. american festivals definitely dont compare to european festivals. there werent any rides and it still totally blew american festivals out of the water. there was a stand dedicated solely to MACAROONS! my favorite cookie in the entire world. they were huge and fresh, golden brown and warm inside. best think i have ever tasted. i picked up some hand made vegetable-based soap that smell delicious. there was a cookie stand with 20 something baskets of various cookies. you just pick out whatever combination of however many cookies you desire and then they weigh it for you. it was awesome! i ate so many sweets last night, my stomach loved it and then definitely hated it. we even got chocolate covered strawberries and grapes on a stick. oh, and french fries. when you go to any sort of festival, you have to do it right!
today we had another long field trip. we started out at the florentine mosaic museum. it was where hard stone mosaics were invented and it was so cool! there was a giant collection of rocks and stones from all over the world. i took pictures for a few of you that i know are interested. they made some seriously amazing stuff. then we went to a few churches and eventually made our way to Palazzo Vecchio. we got a tour of the entire palace. there was an entire room called the 'hall of maps' where the walls were covered from top to bottom with 14th century maps, took some pictures of those too. my teacher is so crazy and gung-ho about her job she convinced them to only let our class of 40 students stay in the palace while they shut it down for a town meeting. apparently while we were in there they were discussing the length of grass? i dont know but i took a picture, haha. there were some amazing statues in the area and in the building that i will be sure to show you guys. i have successfully started uploading photos to facebook which means nothing to my family members but the few of you that have them can look.
after we were set free from our field trip kate and i meandered through the city streets, stopping in whole in the wall shops and book stores filled to the brim with various italian books, encyclopedias and portraits of old men, it was fantastic. then we walked down the the farthest bridge we could access on the arno. once across the other side of the river we found this amazing market, filled with locals. there were some farmers selling local honey, bread, olive oil, wine and cheese....so nice! then i found the best thing ive found thus far: a coffee shop by the name of LaCite. it looks like it belongs in seattle/portland and is the only thing i have found so far that makes me feel like there are more down to earth, real people than my neighbors who spend all their time in fendi and dolce & gabanna.
the fact that i dont speak any italian beyond "buon giorno, buona cera, come va?, mi chiamo amanda, ciao and grazie" is really becoming a problem. i refuse to be one of those american students that just survives on their english and doesnt pick up italian while there here. i am going to start studying, maybe even audit the beginning italian class when i can. i just feel like an absolute imbecile when i say hello in italian and then the person responds in italian and i have no idea how to respond. my goal is to stop letting that happen.
tomorrow we have another 3 hour field trip with nazi woman because a church we were supposed to visit today was closed for a wedding so we have to go tomorrow. oh well, what can you do? mazal tov to them! next weekend should fly by, like the rest have. its already week 5! its so crazy. then i go to nice (i am a total idiot and have been spelling it 'niece', i suck, haha). ive recruited brandon, nathan, geoff, justine and leana to come with kate and i. it should be amazing!
another thing that has made me feel completely at ease inside is knowing that lahaina(best friend/wife since middle school) is officially in europe. we're in nearly the same time zone! i cant believe how exciting this is. she is already loving brussels which is so good to hear and ill be staying with her beginning mid-december. its going to be a blast.
one last thing: im super disappointed because i have major shin splints : ( ive been doing well, running every other day for the last four weeks and now i cant run without wanting to shriek in pain, its so bad. im going to give them a week of rest and then back on my feet i go! if anyone has any magical remedies, please let me know. i feel so debilitated not being able to exercise.
gotta go, getting kicked out of the internet cafe!
the other night some girlfriends and i went out to the only major mexican restaurant in town. its called 'tijuana' and its pretty ridiculous. the menu was a laminated mix of spanish and italian. i was dorking it out, trying to translate the menu with my pocket 'guide to italy' which was a lost cause considering the waitress spoke english. the food was... disappointing. but i cant really expect much from an italian mexican restaurant. ive realized that america is one of the only countries that can successfully serve various kinds of food, at least the way im used to it. the best non-italian food ive had is chinese and i just ordered veggie fried rice, which isnt hard to screw up but a bit difficult to do well. i was pleasantly surprised.
earlier that day (thursday) my art history class met at the famous Academia, home of Michelangelo's "David" and various other unfinished statues. i have to say that seeing the "David" in person was surreal. first of all, i kept thinking about my dad, and then i realized that words and pictures really dont do it justice, any art really. but he is monumental, HES GIGANTIC! it was very cool to see.
last night some friends and i went to this german festival happening in front of Santa Croce. it was in spirit of Oktoberfest. it was so much fun. american festivals definitely dont compare to european festivals. there werent any rides and it still totally blew american festivals out of the water. there was a stand dedicated solely to MACAROONS! my favorite cookie in the entire world. they were huge and fresh, golden brown and warm inside. best think i have ever tasted. i picked up some hand made vegetable-based soap that smell delicious. there was a cookie stand with 20 something baskets of various cookies. you just pick out whatever combination of however many cookies you desire and then they weigh it for you. it was awesome! i ate so many sweets last night, my stomach loved it and then definitely hated it. we even got chocolate covered strawberries and grapes on a stick. oh, and french fries. when you go to any sort of festival, you have to do it right!
today we had another long field trip. we started out at the florentine mosaic museum. it was where hard stone mosaics were invented and it was so cool! there was a giant collection of rocks and stones from all over the world. i took pictures for a few of you that i know are interested. they made some seriously amazing stuff. then we went to a few churches and eventually made our way to Palazzo Vecchio. we got a tour of the entire palace. there was an entire room called the 'hall of maps' where the walls were covered from top to bottom with 14th century maps, took some pictures of those too. my teacher is so crazy and gung-ho about her job she convinced them to only let our class of 40 students stay in the palace while they shut it down for a town meeting. apparently while we were in there they were discussing the length of grass? i dont know but i took a picture, haha. there were some amazing statues in the area and in the building that i will be sure to show you guys. i have successfully started uploading photos to facebook which means nothing to my family members but the few of you that have them can look.
after we were set free from our field trip kate and i meandered through the city streets, stopping in whole in the wall shops and book stores filled to the brim with various italian books, encyclopedias and portraits of old men, it was fantastic. then we walked down the the farthest bridge we could access on the arno. once across the other side of the river we found this amazing market, filled with locals. there were some farmers selling local honey, bread, olive oil, wine and cheese....so nice! then i found the best thing ive found thus far: a coffee shop by the name of LaCite. it looks like it belongs in seattle/portland and is the only thing i have found so far that makes me feel like there are more down to earth, real people than my neighbors who spend all their time in fendi and dolce & gabanna.
the fact that i dont speak any italian beyond "buon giorno, buona cera, come va?, mi chiamo amanda, ciao and grazie" is really becoming a problem. i refuse to be one of those american students that just survives on their english and doesnt pick up italian while there here. i am going to start studying, maybe even audit the beginning italian class when i can. i just feel like an absolute imbecile when i say hello in italian and then the person responds in italian and i have no idea how to respond. my goal is to stop letting that happen.
tomorrow we have another 3 hour field trip with nazi woman because a church we were supposed to visit today was closed for a wedding so we have to go tomorrow. oh well, what can you do? mazal tov to them! next weekend should fly by, like the rest have. its already week 5! its so crazy. then i go to nice (i am a total idiot and have been spelling it 'niece', i suck, haha). ive recruited brandon, nathan, geoff, justine and leana to come with kate and i. it should be amazing!
another thing that has made me feel completely at ease inside is knowing that lahaina(best friend/wife since middle school) is officially in europe. we're in nearly the same time zone! i cant believe how exciting this is. she is already loving brussels which is so good to hear and ill be staying with her beginning mid-december. its going to be a blast.
one last thing: im super disappointed because i have major shin splints : ( ive been doing well, running every other day for the last four weeks and now i cant run without wanting to shriek in pain, its so bad. im going to give them a week of rest and then back on my feet i go! if anyone has any magical remedies, please let me know. i feel so debilitated not being able to exercise.
gotta go, getting kicked out of the internet cafe!