Days 110-117: The End

     These last few days have been spent finishing exams, shopping, and packing. I can't believe my time here is over. I have learned so much in this time and I am going to miss my host family and some Italian traditions that have really grown on me, like family dinner. Some crazy stuff has happened the last few days; there was a shooting outside of my school. It was a racist event and the man ended up killing himself after killing three of the cart sellers. It was really sad and the whole city was rioting and unsafe.
     Tonight, December 16 at 6 pm, I said goodbye to my host family, took my bags, and then Nick and I took a train to Rome. We left a day earlier than anticipated because of course there was a train strike in the morning.
     We rented a room to put our suitcases in, then explored the nightlife (or lack thereof). We ended up falling asleep and missed the train we were supposed to take; we would've missed our flight too but Nick's friend woke us up! We took a taxi to the airport, rushed through security as fast as we could and then.... the planes were all late by over two hours. We ended up making our plane and left Italy behind. After spending hours upon hours waiting, I had a direct flight home to Boston.
     My time here is officially over!

Days 107-109: Rome and the Vatican City

     This weekend in Rome was very relaxed. I was originally supposed to go with Caroline, but she got sick. So I decided to go on my own and explore the city at my own pace. I obviously saw the Collosseum. That was the thing I wanted to see the most. I spent several hours in that area just looking at the ruins and walking around. I walked the entire city in the two days that I spent in Rome. The Trevi Fountain was something that I'd seen in so many movies that experiencing that in real life was awesome.

     On the last day that I was in the Roma area, I went to the Vaticano. I saw everything in the day that I devoted to it, including the Sistine Chapel and walking to the top of St. Peter's Basilica. Although I didn't always know what I was looking at (Caroline always kept me informed as she is the art history major), I had a blast. I have never felt more independent than this weekend that I spent alone abroad. I think that everyone who studies abroad should take one trip on their own and spend some time getting lost and finding themselves.

 

     Rome and the Vatican City were really the same place to me. They appeared on the same maps that you could buy, everyone spoke Italian, and there were no crazy boundaries barring you from the enclave country.

Days 103-106: Getting Ready For Exams

     I spent most of these days working on my photography project. It was a project of our choice, and I chose to do reflections. It rained and so there were plenty of puddles, as well as christmas balls, doorbells, shop windows... really anything that was a reflective surface found its way into my project. I love to see how much better my photography has gotten since I first got my camera.

Day 96-102: Skits, Grocery, Uffizi.

     I cannot believe that it's been 100 days since I arrived in Italy! I had skits for my Italian class this week; we made up one about being on X Factor. I'm relieved my classes are almost over, but there are so many loose ends that need to be tied up before I leave here, specifically shopping and visiting Rome.
     I did some of the grocery shopping that I've done each week since I got here. This is a typical grocery list: Special K cioccolate, yogurt, zucchero cookies, apples, and bananas. The food here is so much better than in the states. I especially love the easy walk to get there instead of a 6 mile drive.
     I spent some time in the Christmas markets in Florence as well. They aren't as good as the ones in Munich, but the ambiance of the city has definitely changed since all the Christmas lights and shops are around.
     I visited the Uffizi on the 102nd day. I don't particularly enjoy Florentine art so I went through it very quickly. I do love the art in the Piazza around it though!

Day 95: Munchen day 3

     I was feeling much better today and after breakfast, Euroadventures brought us to Dachau concentration camp. This was one of the first ones opened and stayed open the whole war. It was really sad; the most memorable thing was a picture of a man that showed how he changed after a month of inhumane testing. He looked normal beforehand, but at the end he just looked miserable and ended up dying soon after the picture was taken. Seeing the gas chambers was creepy but because they'd never ended up using them in Dachau, it wasn't as sad as where they burned the bodies.

     After returning to Munich, I climbed to the top of the tower in the square. The views were gorgeous and you could see the Alps. I met some French people while I was here and spent some time talking to them. At 7:30, the whole group of us went to the station. Evan and I went to PizzaHut! I don't think I've ever been there in the states but I don't really enjoy the German food I've had so I stuck to something safe. At 9:50, the train left and we headed back to Florence. We watched Horrible Bosses and then The Other Guys. I can't wait to be back in Florence and sleep in my own bed!

Day 94: Munich part 2

     The Oktoberfest tents were where we started today. They had Christmas things set up. Most stuff they were selling was Native American, which was ironic. I spent a solid 5 hours here. 

     As I had barely slept the night before, I went back to bed at 2 pm for a few hours. I sadly was feeling sick, so I got Subway for dinner and then went back to my room with the girls I was rooming with. We stayed up awhile talking and then fell asleep.

Day 93: Germany!

     I went to Munich (Munchen), Germany with Euroadventures. We arrived at 7 am and everything was all Christmas decorated. Our hostel was outside of the city center. It's a good place for Oktoberfest, but not for the Christmas markets.

     After dropping our luggage off, we got a tour of the city. We walked through some of the Christmas markets, saw three churches, went to a field where you could walk around nude, and then saw "the wave". I would love to come here in the summer and see the people surfing on this manmade wave. But today was really really cold.

     Shopping in the Christmas markets was really enjoyable and I bought a lot of souvenirs to bring home to family. At 5 pm we met up to go to the Hofbrauhaus, which is the biggest beer house in the world. I didn't want to buy a beer as I don't really like the taste, so I asked this girl if I could pose with hers. When I put it back on the table it fell off into my lap! Luckily only half of it spilled, but I was covered. So here comes my funniest story of when I was abroad.

     The beer was so cold that I ended up taking my pants off and sitting in this massive restaurant in my underwear. After being there 20 minutes, this group of tourists from Asia came over and asked to take pictures with us because they'd never seen people with red hair. It was hilarious. After dinner we went back to the hostel. I went up to the bar on the fifth floor and hung out with some people. It was a nice way to end the night after a really busy day!

Days 91-92: Birthdays and Thanksgivings

     The 23rd was Luisa's birthday. Italians celebrate the same way Americans do with some cake and singing. Thursday I went to the Ferragamo museum with my international marketing class. We learned how shoes were made by this famous designer. The field trips for this class really haven't made any sense or added any value to the class; I'm disappointed I took this class abroad.
     It was also Thanksgiving which is obviously not celebrated in Italy. It made Caroline and I both homesick to know we were missing out on family time at home. After a sad "Thanksgiving dinner" of omelettes, I went to the train station Firenze SMN. I caught an overnight train to Munich!!! This weekend is going to be so much fun!

Day 90: Venezia

     Today is the day that I had been waiting for since I got here. I finally went to Venice!! It took about two hours to get there; I went with Shelly and her family. Once you walked out of the train station you immediately got the full effect of Venice: there's a white bridge on the left, water 'buses' and 'taxis', and of course, the river with some floating buildings. It was exactly how I had imagined it to look.

     We took a water bus to the main square and explored the bridges and area around there. The area is very touristy and so prices are very high. After a quick lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, we just got lost in the streets of Venice. I walked wherever I wanted to and over a ton of bridges just because I could. Then I went on a gondola ride. I could not convince the guy to sing no matter how much I tried; you paid 80 or more euro to ride one so I was not happy with him..

     Although this is a quick explanation of what happened, the pictures really explain how beautiful it was. When we were waiting for the train, there was a guy on the steps singing Jason Mraz while playing guitar. The whole experience was absolutely worth it. I wish I had had more time there. That was in my top five things to do before I die and it was as amazing as I thought it was going to be.

Day 89: Exhausted

     I am completely worn out from all the travel. Luckily I only had one class today. Tomorrow I'm going to Venice and I am so excited! Skipping one day of class will definitely be worth it to get all my travelling in!

Day 88: San Marino

     San Marino: One of the few enclave countries in the world. That's where Caroline and I went today! It took 3.25 hours to get there. It was all built up on a hill and remined me of St. Paul de Vence mixed with Tuscan towns. I liked it here but sadly it was too foggy to see anything. There was a Cathedrale and after lighting candles there, we got some good food (raviolis!). The ride home was long and it definitely wasn't worth the 7 hours of traveling that we did, but at least I have another country down!

Day 87: Milan

     Today Shelly and I went to Milan! It took only 40 minutes to get there. Once we arrived, we took the metro to the Duomo. You could see it before you walked up the steps; I think this is my favourite duomo in Europe. A ton of pigeons attacked us and there were people everywhere; it was much more crowded than Firenze.

     We spun on the bull's balls for good luck inside of the marketplace, saw the theatre, and then walked to where The Last Supper was painted. We had to wait two hours, so we walked around the area and saw what Milan was like outside of the tourist areas. When we finally got to see DaVinci's 'The Last Supper', we had to go through four doors because they have to maintain one temperature and air pressure in there. It was Really huge! I was expecting something as small as the Mona Lisa.

     There really wasn't too much to do in Milan besides shop, and so we went back to Florence slightly early. Caroline, Shelly and I went to the Diner for dinner to get some fake American food.

Day 82-86: Longer Week

     This week was just as normal, except we had a makeup day on Friday. On Wednesday, my Italian class went on a scavenger hung! We went to the train station and had to find certain things, like when the next train left for Milan and random things like that. Then she brought us to a coffee place and got us all a drink! It was so sweet of her; I got the most delicious cioccolata calda and I am going to be coming back here again for sure.
     Thursday I had a substitute teacher for my international marketing class, and he has given me the best advice I've gotten probably my entire college career. He told us that the meeting between our joy/talent and a demand is where we will find a career we are truly happy in. He had so much to say and I won't forget this experience; he made the entire study abroad time worth it.

Day 81: Leaving Prague Already

     Today was spent mostly souvenir shopping. I saw those fish spas that bite your feet in a window; they're banned in the US. I wish I'd had more time in the square to experience that! We left at 12:15 pm and Caroline and I ended up sitting at the back of the bus. We felt really sick and were really happy to stop in Austria to get some food. We arrived in Florence at 1:30 am!! Far too much traveling for a weekend; next time I will definitely be taking a plane!

Day 80: Czech Republic

     Most of the things that I did today I had seen yesterday. I went to the top of the Astronomical Clock Tower. The views are gorgeous. I also went back to the Lennon wall to take a ton of jumping pictures.

     Much later, at dinner, I got to try banana beer. I don't like Czech food because I don't eat meat. But they have funny names, such as Weinerschnitzel. Czech Republic has princess money and everything looks like it costs a ton but the exchange rate makes it really cheap. You could be paying 80 czech money for a $4 coffee. That's really everything exciting about today.

Day 79: 11-11-11 and Prague

     I have been waiting for 11/11/11 for literally years! I was standing right outside of Starbucks and the statue in Westminster Center when I made my ultimate wish. Prague has been really cold and Caroline and I are pretty tired from poor sleep on the bus ride.

     Euroadventures gave us a tour of the city. We saw a statue of a guy sitting on a horses' stomach while the horse is hung upside down from the ceiling. Apparently this is Czech humor. From there we walked to the Plaza with the Astronomic Clock Tower. There were Christmas mini shops set up in the middle of the Piazza. The City is known for their "Thousand Gold Spires" and you can see them everywhere.

      The Czech souvenirs are pretty awesome. There are 'Czech me out' shot glasses and 'Praha drinking team' sweatshirts. I really enjoy these. My favourite part of Prague has been the Lennon wall. It was a wall that was compltely graffiti-covered in quotes and pictures and love things. It was so colourful. It changes daily so I would love to see this every day that I'm here.

Day 75-78: A Regular Week

     Nothing crazy happened this week. I picked my classes and got everything I wanted, I decided to start the entire show of Lost from start to finish while I'm still here in Italy, and started planning a lot more trips.
     I grabbed lunch with Nick at the Oil Shoppe one day; this is a great place to get cheaper sandwiches! Tonight (Thursday) I left for Prague at 8pm and the bus is going to take about 12 hours to get there. The last thing I saw before falling asleep was the gorgeous mountains in Austria.

Day 74: More Spain!

     The pastry shop near our hostel had the best pastries for breakfast :). We started our day there and then went to The Chocolate Museum. Our ticket to get in was a bar of chocolate! It was a nice way to pass the time because chocolate sculptures are a cool idea. We didn't have much time in the city today, as we had to catch the bus back to the airport. The trip home was easy and I will have to come back here some day!

     However, I did have a moment of culture shock. I ordered a caesar salad and was really excited to finally have this again! But that is not what caesar dressing is in Spain. It's actually mayonnaise. Yuck! I definitely won't be ordering that again.

Day 73: Gaudi Art and Ice Bars

     Today was my first experience with Gaudi Art. Caroline and I took a bus to Guell Park. This place is really awesome because not only is the art really unique, but also has great views of the city. One of the museums had some furniture that he made. I think Lady Gaga would've liked it: it was cool looking but completely impractical.

     Sagrada Familia is also Gaudi Art. It's a church of sorts. It's really big and is a crazy shape. Recently the inside was finished, but they still haven't copmleted the outside. The inside has mile high ceilings and the stained glass made beautiful colours dance across the white walls.

     After this, we got some hot chocolate. It is so thick and I'm not sure exactly how it's made but I've never had anything like it. We spent the night on the waterfront. At the restaurant where we had dinner, it just so happened that Caroline knew the two kids who sat next to us! What a small world. After dinner we went looking for IceBarcelona, an ice bar right on the beach. There was a lot of night life to choose from, which is very different from Florence. It took awhile to find but was totally worth it.  Everything, including the glasses, were made of ice! Today was one of the best days of my life, despite the terrible weather!

  

Day 72: Barcelona!

     This morning Caroline and I took a bus and a plane to get to Barcelona! Flying RyanAir is definitely an experience; the entire 75 minute trip is an advertisement. We had to take an hour long bus to get directly into the city and then spent awhile trying to find our hostel. We had our own room and a balcony overlooking the street.

     The metro wasn't hard to figure out because I lived in Boston my whole life. The first place we went to was Montjuiic. We ate churros and saw where the 1992 Summer Olympics were held. The whole city is much larger than Florence and I was already in love with it!

     La Rambla is a nice hangout spot and the Mercat was a cool open air market that we visited. We walked up and down La Rambla until we reached the waterfront. It rained this whole time but I had a blast. After a lot of walking, we decided to try and find Gimlet, a mojito bar on the other side of town. We completely overestimated how far away it was; we stopped at a restaurant along the way and even though we were three doors down from it we didn't go in. Barcelona is an absolutely amazing city, I can't wait until tomorrow to experience more!

Day 70-71: Same old week days

     Getting back to schedule wasn't hard; my week days are pretty much becoming the same so I won't explain them in much detail. It is really exciting to plan all the trips I have coming up. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 4:55 to go to Barcelona!!

Day 69: All Saint's Day

     I came back to Italy on a holiday; the family was sitting down to dinner. I am definitely glad to be back! Caroline and I are booking our trip to Barcelona for next weekend. I was exhausted from all the travel again so I went to bed early tonight.

Days 59-68: United States of America "Visit"

     Being home was a great experience. I spent the first few days being jetlagged and surprising everyone that I was back home. I visited Bentley several times and had a blast seeing everyone again. Ordering in English was something that I had to get used to again. I did get to experience a giant snowstorm and drove in it on the 29th!
     I was ready to go back to Italy by the 31st, and spending that holiday in an airport was definitely fun. Terminal B is really boring though, and I couldn't wait to just get all that travel time over with. 23 hours of traveling to look forward to!

Day 58: Going Home!

     As I was leaving this morning, Caroline woke up to give me a goodbye hug. We had a realization that the most time we've been apart since I got here was one night. I'm going to miss her!
     I had forgotten how terrible it was to drag a heavy suitcase on the cobblestone roads to the train, but I made it and met up with Shelly. We were sitting on the train waiting for it to take off. It left eight minutes late, which rarely happens; we got to Rome at 8:21. Everything ended up going well, and after standing in lines for literally hours at the airport, we were on the plane to the USA!
     My plane landed in NYC and I got two hours to text away. I MISSED THIS SO MUCH! It's funny how you slip so quickly back into your old lifestyle, even though I'd spent two months away. On the flight from NYC to Boston, I got a window seat. My mom and sisters met me there. We ran towards each other to hug as soon as we saw each other. After 23 hours of travel, it was great to be home. :)

Day 57: Train Strike Issues.

     As I was in class getting ready to take my midterm in International Marketing, I found at that tomorrow there is supposed to be a train strike! This is extremely inconvenient, as Shelly and I are supposed to take the train to Rome in the morning. Luckily my Italian professor told me that the trains leaving at 5:50 am should be okay; the strike wasn't supposed to start until 9am.
     When I told my host family that I was going to Rome in the morning, they told me to be careful as apparently there are riots and flooding in the city. I watched the Italian news but it's quite hard to understand. I'll just hope that everything goes okay!
     TOMORROW I GO HOME TO THE STATES!!!!

Day 56: More midterms

     I can't wait to finish this week and be done with all these exams; today I had wine marketing, which I think went fine. Marco and I had our usual dinner banter. I'm actually going to miss everyone for the week that I go back home!

Day 55: Photoshop Midterm

     I had my first midterm of my study abroad experience today. It wasn't difficult, and because I finished early, I got to work on the pictures I took in Cinque Terre. After class, Caroline and I went to Le Botteghe di Donatello for lunch. It's a little expensive, but you get great views of the duomo and even better food. I would absolutely recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Firenze!

Day 54: Language Barrier

     Nothing really happened today, besides at dinner. Dinner was at 9 (I can't get used to this cultural difference!) and Marco and I were teasing each other as always. He tried to say that he had a crappy day, but what he really said was, "I crapped all day: at school, at work.." Caroline and I fell off our chairs laughing. Sometimes language barriers are the best part of this experience. :)

Day 53: Running to Piazza Michelangelo

     Caroline and I ran from our bridge all the way to the top of the hill of Piazza Michelangelo. I have never been up here, but these views are the best in Florence. You can see everything. There was also a church that looked like the batistry, and a cemetery.
     Later, we went to Vivoli, which definitely has the best gelato. I got Millefoglie, which is my favourite dessert in gelato form. It was not cheap, but totally worth it.

Day 52: Flight Booking

     I booked my flight back to Boston today! I will be flying out of Rome in less than a week. I decided I'm going to keep it a secret from everyone and just show up as a surprise!
     Shelly and I tried to go to Gusta Pizza, but it ended up being closed. Places here have such weird hours, I can never remember when something is going to be open or not, especially because of the law that shops can only be open for a certain amount of hours every day.
     Caroline and I decided to go to The Diner tonight. I can't believe that I am going to be eating real American food again so soon!! The Diner does have the best milkshakes I have ever tasted, though.

Day 51: Cinque Terre

     Today I woke up at 6:15 am because I had to catch a train to Cinque Terre! Shelly and I took a train that stopped in Pisa and then we were supposed to get a connecting train, but it never showed! We ended up having to buy a new ticket and pay an extra sixteen euros. Oops!

     Cinque Terre is five "lands" that have paths as well as trains connecting them. It's a tourist spot, and probably one of the most beautiful places I have and will ever experience.

     We finally got there in one piece and started in the first town, Riomaggiore (La Spezia). You could walk down to the water's edge and see all the boats. I couldn't get over how colorful the houses are here, the pictures I took couldn't even do this place justice!

     Between the first and second towns is the most famous tourist spot: the Via Del Amore. This is where all the locks are and where people carve their names into plants. It's super romantic, and of course Shelly and I had to leave some kind of mark on the town!

     This walk led to Manarola, the second town. This town is kind of boring. Sadly, we missed the train and so we decided to have lunch here. I got a super fresh, green pesto and pasta. Maybe it was worth getting stuck here after all...?

     Shelly and I took the train to the third town, Corniglia. There was a giant hill to get to the actual town; the walk was pretty strenuous. When we were about halfway up, a bus passed us. Apparently you could get a bus up the hills... The walk was well worth it though once you got to see the views. However, there wasn't really anything to actually do when you got up there.

     The fourth town, Vernazza, was tied for my favourite. There were beaches, shopping, gelato, and everything you could hope for in this little town. Shelly and I decided to embark on an intense hike to the final town. These were the most beautiful views. The sun was bright, the water was glistening, and Vernazza looked so bright and lively from above. The hike took about an hour twenty minutes.

     Monterosso, the last town, also had a beach. I wish we had had more time in this town, but Shelly and I had to go back home to Firenze, as it was getting late. I got a call from my mom while I was here, telling me I could come home to the states for Fall Break! I was so excited; today was just absolutely perfect.

Day 50: 43places

     Today I discovered the most wonderful website: www.43places.com. It highlights everywhere you've been and where you want to go. My map is looking a little barren, but I hope by the time I leave Italy for good that I'll have traveled a lot more. Especially with Fall Break coming up, I'll have plenty of time to travel!
     Tomorrow I'm going to Cinque Terre, and I've heard it's absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait!!

Day 49: A typical Wednesday

     I can't believe that tomorrow will be my 50th day in Italy. Today was an average Wednesday in Firenze- walk around the city, photoshopped some of my picutres, and then went to Italian and Wine Marketing classes.
     Probably my biggest accomplishment of the day is beating level 30 on bejewelled. I'm actually giong to miss having such a small phone when I go back to America.

Day 48: Classical Photography

     Today I woke up and went to photo. I edited some of my photos from France once I finished my project. I got a lot done, but I still have a lot left to do. It takes longer to go through and delete pictures on a mac, but it's certainly worth it when I can crop out random things from my photo. I wish I knew how to straighten a crooked photo, but I'm sure I'll learn before the semester is over. Today we did classical photography after the break. I went home while I waited for the camera (there were 2 classical photo cameras for the whole class, and I was the last one on the list to use it). Nick was late bringing it back so I only got 7 minutes to use it instead of 15. Italian class was after this, and it dragged by. I can't learn when I'm forced to sit down and listen during class.
     Dinner was pasta and the second dish was chickpeas, spinach, and mozzarella. It was SO GOOD! I'm super tired, so after talking to Tom on the phone for an hour, I fell asleep immediately.

Day 47: Back to the Grind

     Today I woke up, did my homework, and then went back to bed until right before class. We had a male substitute teacher for Italian. He was really nice, but quite hard to understand. I went back to bed when I got home; France had really knocked all the energy out of me. I can't believe I only have 68 days left in Italy, yet I'm too tired to go out and about today!

Day 46: French Riviera: St. Paul de Vence, Cannes, and Eze

     Today we got up at 7:20, started repacking, and got ready. I feel so happy in France, I don't want to leave! I slept extremely well, something that neither Caroline nor I do back home in Italy. We went down to breakfast at 7:45. It was only one croissant, which is completely different from Luca's trips, where we get a buffet breakfast. We left at 8:30 to St. Paul de Vence. The bus ride was nice because Caroline and I got to sit next to each other at the front of the bus instead of across from each other at the back.

     We spent an hour and a half exploring St. Paul de ence. It's an adorable little town up on a hill. It was all made of rocks. First, we walked to the panorama and took pictures of the beautiful mountains and surrounding towns. Then we walked down to a cemetery. It was a really nice cemetery; one of the graves said, "Revient me chercher", which means come back to find me. In the entire town, there is one main road and two side roads, and no cars can drive here. We stopped in some cute shops, and I spoke to all the shop owners in French. I love the language so much! We went to a church and we were the only ones in there. We wanted to go up into the priest standing thing but our morals got in the way :p. We did a little more exploring before we left to get to the bus. I got MinuteMaid Apple Juice in a can for the ride.  At 10:50, we left St. Paul de Vence for Cannes.

     I have wanted to go to Cannes since I went to the Printemps de Bourges 5 years ago. Sadly, Cannes was a huge letdown! The ride was 40 minutes. It was very beautiful, but there wasn't much to do, and everything was about 10 euro overpriced (an average salad we saw was 15 euros!). We walked next to the docks to look at all the boats. Then we went to a small market that sold art, and then saw the building where the internal film festivals are held. It was made of glass mirrors. All over Cannes, there was candy shaped art of country flags. I was so obsessed with finding them all! They were my favourite part of Cannes; sadly, they aren't there all the time. It was just an artists featured work. Finding them reminded me of the cow hunt my family and I did in Boston.

     Caroline and I found some cheap food after an hour search. We got caprese paninis for 4.50 euro each. They were so big that we didn't finish them! Food in France is way better than Italian food, and you get a much better deal (except in Cannes). We decided to walk up a ton of stairs to the clock tower and church. The views from there were breathtaking. Walking back down was a struggle, but we made it down and back to the beach in about 10 minutes.

     We decided to walk out onto the rocky part of the beach, and stayed out there just looking at the ocean for 15 to 20 minutes. Then we hung out on the seawall until we left at 2:15. We had to wait an extra 13 minutes because 2 dumb girls showed up late. Then we left for Eze.

     We had passed Eze yesterday on our way to Nice, and it was a very pretty town. We went to a perfume factory where we saw how perfume was made. You have to go to school for three years and then work in a factory for 7 to become a perfume maker. You also can only work 2 hours a day because then you get your scents mixed up. Sounds like an awesome job if you can persevere for 10 years!

     After that was over, Caroline and I walked up a dirt road path (seems to be the theme of this whole trip!) to the top of Eze. There was a yard sale and I saw the french version of Hungry Hungry Hippos! We had to walk uphill more to see the Clock tower and church. On the way down, we bought Magnum ice cream bars. The bus left at 16:54. I can't wait to get back into Italy so I don't have roaming charges and can call people again! We watched Ocean's 11 on the ride back and returned at 11. I was surprised by how quickly the ride had gone by. I went to sleep at midnight after making 2 phonecalls. What a great trip :)

Day 45: Monaco and Nice, France

     It wasn't hard to wake up at 5 in the morning, shocker! I packed everything (and forgot my swimsuit, boo) and then went to Piazza Indepenzia, a fifteen minute walk from our house. I fell asleep on the bus. I had to sit next to a random guy because the bus was pretty full  by the time Caroline and I were getting there. I did see a part of Cinque Terre in my semi-conscious state! We stopped at 9 am to run to the bathroom/some people bought food. After we left there, it took about 2 more hours to get to Monaco. We passed by Eze along the way; we're going there tomorrow!

     Monaco is the second smallest country in the world. It's smaller than Central Park in NYC. It takes 5-6 minutes to go from end to end. The ocean is absoultely gorgous here. It's on the cote d'azure. We got off the bus around 11:20 and rushed to see the Changing of the Guard. I couldn't see much, but it looked like it was like the one in DC from what I could see. Right next to this place, I spotted a license plate with 3 3's in a row. From the area where the Guard is, you can see three countries in one picture: France, Italy, and of course, Monaco. There are only 4,500 Monaco citizens because you have to live there for 20 years to become one.

     I absolutely love Monaco. I feel so at home here because they speak French. Caroline and I got lunch at a creperie. I had an egg and cheese crepe, and then a "Bounty" crepe, which was chocolate and coconut. YUM! I love french food. We didn't have time to go down to Monte Carlo and gamble, sadly, but we did find a spot with spectacular views. We took a ton of pictures and then went back to the bus. We left Monaco at 2:20 pm with our tour guide.

     The bus ride was full of views of the towns as we climbed higher up into the mountains. We stopped along the way to see Nice from a more birds-eye view. Our hotel is in Nice. It's named hotel Busby. It's not great but that's okay. I couldn't care less because I'm in one of my favourite countries in the world!

     We went for a tour around the old city with a small group. Nice is definitely in my top five favourite places in the world. Everything is gorgeous and the people are so nice! We saw Elton John's house in the distance. We also saw a cathedral that was stunning. (Luckily only one, yay!)

     After the tour, Caroline and I went to the beach. The beach was made of pebbles and made the most beautiful sounds. It was so relaxing! After that, we got ready for dinner. The restaurant was 10 minutes from the hotel. The guy leading the trip (not Luca) picked an Italian restaurant that was family-style. It wasn't very good; I think he managed to pick one of the few bad places to eat in France. Walking back was so cold! I love it here though. I wish I could stay forever! J'adore la France <3. It's 10 pm and we're just settling in for the night.

P.S. To anyone that is reading this: Nice is not pronounced 'nice', but 'knee-ce', and Eze is not pronounced 'easy', but 'eh-zzzzz'. "Eze is not easy and Nice is not nice."

Day 44: Academia Museum

     Today I went out to the Academia with Caroline. It was gross out because it had rained all morning. We waited in line for about 30 minutes and then got in. It was free, which means my museum card has now paid off by 1 euro! The museum didn't let you take any pictures, but really the only thing worth seeing was the David. It was huge! I sneakily took a picture! Michaelangelo's other works that were in this museum were unfinished.We spent about an hour inside and then went for pasta at a bar. It must be a rule in Italy that to be a waiter, you have to be super attractive. I spent the rest of the day just chilling around the house; I haven't been feeling well. I went to bed at 10:30 because tomorrow I'm waking up at 4:50 and leaving Italy for the first time since I got here!

Day 43: Fieldtrip To A.... Grocery Store?

     Today I woke up, went out at 10:45, bought two ATAF (the bus) tickets, and then went to the bank to get money for the French Riviera. I went to class in Strozzi at noon; we all went together as a class to catch the ATAF. We went to Esselunga, a grocery store outside the city. It was the dumbest fieldtrip ever. We had to find products that were in this grocery store as well as in America. It was a waste of 3 euro to get there when we could've done the same thing in Firenze. We got back and I had to run to Italian class. After class I spent the rest of the day sleeping because last night I only slept 4 hours. I just couldn't sleep, which happens a lot here.

Day 42: Chianti Fieldtrip

     Today I went to La Campagna with Nick for his 21st birthday!! It was a really nice sit down lunch before class. I didn't have Italian class today because I was excused to go on a field trip with my Wine Marketing class! Woo! We went on a coach bus at 3:30 to a winery that was about 25 minutes away. We got to taste grapes right from the vine. It was really cool because you could taste the difference of the grapes from vine to vine. We saw how they make the wine, as well as their wine cellar (which was really small in comparison to the one from the weekend). Then we had a wine and cheese tasting. We had to run to catch the bus at 5:15, and then we went home.