Good wine, great food, and even better company

Monte Bernardi Vineyard

If you couldn't tell from the title, my parents came to visit last week!  Even though it seems like all we did was eat and drink, it was nice to have them around for the week.  On days that I didn't have class, we explored Tuscany by visiting some of the smaller regions that were not originally on my must-see list: Chianti and Montalcino.  In both places we tried some amazing wines at famous wineries  (at Monte Bernardi in Chianti, and Poggio Antico in Montalcino).  We then had lunch and walked around a bit.  Our guide was the nicest Roman, Giuliano, who spoke English very well.  He joined us for lunch both days and we learned of many nuances between English and Italian culture.

Just one of the stops on our Taste Florence tour
- sampling cheeses at the market

My favorite day with the rents was their first full day where we went on a 'taste of Florence' tour.  It was  a four hour walking tour where we stopped to sample different cheeses, oils, pastries, wines, chocolates, and of course, gelato.  Apparently the Jersey Shore cast had our same guide, Toni, and the clip that aired on MTV was Snooki interrupting her at a winery (great PR for her business, right?)









Another highlight from their visit: my parents treated me and my friends to a fabulous Italian dinner!  My friends and I don't get to eat out a lot, so this was a great change of pace for us.

The whole gang at Buca Lapi

Some other highlights:

• Spending the week being spoiled in the hotel
• Getting to workout on a treadmill
• Finally buying some nice Italian boots thanks to my mother :)
• A three hour dinner at a seafood restaurant where I think I actually fell asleep between the 5th appetizer and the main course
• Being able to study for midterms in the peace and quiet of the hotel (just kidding)

But actually, midterms were this week and I'm proud to say I put the 'study' in 'study-abroad'.  Five midterms in just over 48 hours was not an easy task!  Now I am officially on Spring Break 2012, where I will be visiting two of my best friends in their current hometowns: first Alex in Paris, and then Maryann in Barcelona.  I'm excited to see what their lives have been like for the past two months.  Maybe there will be a compare-and-contrast blog post in the near future, who knows.  Stay tuned!

Me and Mom in Piazzalle Michelangelo

Pop and me!

Aren't they cute? How soon can you guys come back?

A weekend of canyons, chocolate, and cheese - Switzerland

Switzerland was amazing!  Definitely my favorite weekend trip so far.  We departed for Interlaken, Switzerland on Thursday evening and arrived around 7 am Friday.  There were seven of us (Bre, Kristi, Sara, CJ, Ellen, Peyton and myself) and we traveled through the company Bus2Alps with 40 other students.  We stayed at Balmers Herberge, which was adorable and the staff were so friendly.  It was on Europe's Top Ten Hostels last year so you know it's good!  We stayed in a room stuffed full of 10 bunk beds which reminded me of good old Hoofbeat Ridge Camps circa 1999.  




The weather was ironically too good: canyon jumping (which our entire group had been stoked about for weeks) was cancelled because the melting ice was falling into the canyon, which would be dangerous to swing through.  We still wanted to have our parents freak out about some sort of crazy activity on our trip, so we decided to paraglide.  I'm so glad we did!  Being 2,500 feet up in the air above beautiful Interlaken is a site I will never forget.  My "pilot" Nick was hilarious and made the 15 minute flight to the ground fun and enjoyable.  Near the last few minutes of the flight he asked if I liked roller coasters and proceeded to do crazy turns which felt like complete upside-down flips.  This was very fun/scary but my head paid the price once we landed - I had a headache for an hour.  (Side note: Why do I still get motion sickness? I thought I would have outgrown that by now).

Setting up the parachutes

Me paragliding! Photo taken by Kristi above me

Disclaimer: Photo not enhanced

One of my favorite parts of the trip besides paragliding was walking to one of the lakes surrounding Interlaken, Lake Brienz.  The water was a beautiful turquoise blue, I still can't believe it was real.  My photos all look like they could be postcards.

Me, Kristi, Sara, and Bre at the Brienz

That same day we took a bus and train up to Grindelwald, which had even better views of the alps.  It was a cute mountain town and we walked around for a while. I got excited when I saw a sign for "The Avocado Bar" but unfortunately it did not have anything avocado related.  (While most American students miss burgers, fries, or peanut butter from back home, I am seriously missing avocados.)

Grindelwald

On Saturday we took a day-trip to Zurich which is about two hours north of Interlaken.  Zurich was cool but SO expensive, especially the food.  For example: my favorite drink at Starbucks (which was our first stop off the bus) was almost $8...I'm not going to say it wasn't worth it though.  After we walked around and climbed to the top of a church for some beautiful views, we played in the Franz Carl Weber toy store where we had way too much fun.  

The whole group in Zurich

Me and Bre at the Franz Carl Weber toy store - we each found our sorority's mascot in the Steiff section

Inside Teuscher Chocolate

I guided the group to Teuscher Chocolate, which is headquartered in Zurich and which also happens to be my mother's favorite store.  (I may have gotten her favorite champagne truffles, but shh!)  


Hopefully the truffles will last until tomorrow when my parents come to Florence.  I am so excited to see them and show them my new home.  I love that I am at an age where I can admit that I'm stoked to chill with my parents for a week.  Not sure what is on the exact schedule while they are here but I'm sure there are some exciting activities planned.  That's all for now! 

When in Rome! (Sorry, I had to)

Me and MaryAnn in front of the Vittoriano Monument

I have been so busy, but I'm loving it here.  The weather finally decided to warm up, which makes a huge difference on how crowded the streets and piazzas are during the day.  


Last weekend I met up with my Michigan friend MaryAnn in Rome.  It was such a cool city, very different from Florence.  It amazed me that you could turn a corner and there would be some monument or ruin appear out of nowhere.  


One of my favorite parts of Rome was the Vatican Museum (which isn't technically in Rome, ironically).  In my Art History class we are learning about a lot of the art there, so even though I have been inside before, this time my visit had more meaning.  We decided to get a guided tour of the museum and the Sistine Chapel, and despite our initial skepticism of the tour company, it ended up being a great decision.  

St Peter's Square

The Colosseum

The city was so busy but we managed to hit all the major sites.  The food was amazing and we experienced food comas after every meal - so worth it though!  I love Rome but I can honestly say I am very happy to be living in Florence.  It seemed like it took forever to get to places in Rome, and the city overwhelmed me at times.  Florence has the perfect amount of action and calmness for studying abroad.  I can't wait for my parents to visit me next week! (Not just for free meals and a comfy bed to sleep in for a week)


Next weekend: Interlaken, Switzerland! What's on the possible agenda?  Night sledding, ice skating, beautiful sites, chocolate tasting, and canyon jumping (!!!).  Wish me luck, I'll need it.

Carnevale di Venezia - They don't call it VenICE for nothing!

Dear Mom, thank you for making me bring my Ugg boots to Italy when I wasn't planning on doing so.  While every other girl on my trip to Venice this past weekend complained about frostbitten toes, my feet were comfortably toasty.  Even so, this didn't help the icy winds and frosty weather that encompassed Venice like a snow globe this weekend.


Carnevale started on Sunday (40 days before Lent) so we got to see the opening ceremonies.  It was a very busy weekend, so I'll try and summarize what our group did:

• Saturday: woke up at 5 am to depart by bus for Venice
• Arrived Venice around 10 am and got on a boat (after a pit stop for coffee)
• Got off the boat and went to St. Mark's Square/Basilica (got a cappuccino inside the Basilica)
• Walked around St. Mark's Square (got hot chocolate/hot wine....notice a trend?)
• Got back on the boat and went to Murano - famous for glass making.  We saw a demonstration and bought some glassware
• Got back on the boat and went to Burano - famous for its picturesque colorful houses (again, got a cappuccino)
• Got back on the boat to get to our hotel, which was in Lido di Jesolo
• Went to a Venetian restaurant where we were treated to an amazing four-course meal
• Went back to the hotel and passed out, finally somewhat warmer
  
• Sunday: woke up and transfered back to Venice
• Toured a very cool contemporary art museum called The Palazzo Grassi
• Ran back to St. Mark's Square to catch the official opening of the Carnevale where we saw the "Flight of the Angel", which is when the woman who wore the most beautiful costume from last year "flies" on a rope from the top of the Saint Mark bell tower onto the main stage.  This sounds very exciting but was actually a very slow process that took about 7 minutes total...not very dramatic!
• Walked around the Carnevale which was very crowded and filled with tourists (as well as Italians) wearing masks and dressed up in crazy costumes - kind of reminded me of Halloween with no candy.  I got a blue and silver mask
• Toured the Duke's Palace - got yelled at for taking pictures and wearing masks inside
• Took a boat back to our bus, and departed for Florence, where we arrived at 9 pm

So basically my trip consisted of boats and coffee, with a few masks and costumes on the side.  I will definitely be returning to Venice in warmer conditions!

Cold but happy to be in Venice

St. Mark's Basilica - so pretty!

We watched him make a little glass horse in 60 seconds - very impressive

Me and Allie in Burano

Just one of the many Carnevale outifts

Today was Valentine's day so a few of us went to the Florence chocolate fair which has been going on all week in Piazza Republica.  There was so much chocolate I couldn't decide what I wanted.  It was very overwhelming, even for a choco-holic like myself.  I know my mom would have loved it though - so many truffles to choose from.  There were also a bunch items designed out of chocolate, like Gucci shoes and Carnival masks.  Thankfully I had to go to class, otherwise I would have spent all day there!

I wonder if these come in a size 8

No trips planned this weekend so I am excited to explore more of Florence and relax a little! I have an Italian quiz tomorrow...wish me luck (augurimi la fortuna!)

Exercise? What's that?

The entire time I have been in Italy I feel that I've been doing at least one thing wrong at all times during the day. Whether it's forgetting I have to pay for plastic bags at the grocery store, or crossing the street where I'm not supposed to, I have gotten some looks that just say, "It's okay, you're American and don't know any better." (This is actually a great excuse for day-to-day mistakes, by the way).


Anyway, Bre and I went for our first run yesterday and you would have thought we strangled the Pope with some of the looks we were getting.  I don't think there is even a word for 'exercise' in Italian.  The streets are so narrow, so we decided to run along the river to avoid any major collisions.  However, because people didn't understand why we were running, they wouldn't really move out of the way which made things difficult.  In the occasion that we would pass other runners (surprisingly, this happened twice!) I couldn't help but smile and laugh to myself because it was indeed a pretty amusing site.  


In other news, we recently discovered a secret room above Allie's doorway, so if the Italian Mafia come for us we know where to hide.  Bre and I don't have a secret room but we do have a beautiful ceiling to look at. 

Not a bad view to wake up to!

I leave for Venice bright and early tomorrow for the opening weekend of Carnevale! I hope the water isn't frozen over so we can take gondola rides and experience Venice before it sinks. Buona notte! 

Strike #1 for the Americans

Our shower....in the living room

 I came home from class today and Bre informed me that we do not have a shower for a week because it is leaking.  Not only that, but it is leaking through our floor into an antique shop below our apartment, probably ruining priceless Italian antiques.  Oops! So now our shower doors are chilling in the living room while they fix it.
   
The most interesting (and entertaining) part of this was trying to interact with the technician who spoke very little English.  While he was sitting in our kitchen waiting to work on the dishwasher (which was also broken) I realized how big of a barrier language really is.  I wanted to have a normal conversation but found that next to impossible without making bizarre hand gestures and guessing on Italian phrases (based on the Spanish I remember.)  By the end of my trip I hope to overcome this barrier and engage in more interaction with the many Florentines I see every day!

My first cup of joe!

 When I first surveyed the strange Italian appliances that came in my apartment, I knew this ancient-looking pot was for coffee but I had no idea how it worked.  I later found out it is called a Moka, and should only be used with Italian coffee.  

My roommate Allie and I decided we were getting frustrated with the 2-sip cups of coffee sold at Italian cafes.  We managed to assemble the Moka correctly and make a pretty mean cup of joe, although it took about 7 minutes.  I do miss the quick service and friendly atmosphere of Starbuck's but I think I can get used to the Moka.  (I'm more upset that my Starbuck's Gold Card will not be racking up any gold stars for the next few months.)

So difficult for a simple cup of coffee!
I sympathize with J-Woww when she tries to make coffee in Florence on Jersey Shore