You cant fill a space with something that seems like it should fit.
For the first time its perfect.
I think you should know that.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Early Morning Land
5/31
Monday was the first morning in what felt like FOREVER that we were allowed to sleep in a little. We did not have out first class, so Carmen and I got up around 9 and went shopping before AND after our culinary class. I turned out to buy 2 new dresses, a super cute top, some really cute shorts, a new headband, and tons of new hair clips. I had not bought any clothes yet and its all so cute here!
In cooking class, we learned about rice and how it is used in different dishes. Then we made two types of risotto. One with a cabbagey thing that isnt in the states and carrots, and the other with Porcini mushrooms. I actually loved the first one, but did not like the mushroom one.
For dinner, Alex, Emily, Carmen, Dale and I went to the culinary school's restaurant for a free dinner, but they were booked for an hour, so we turned out to go out to a wine bar to waste time. Dale bought us 2 bottles of wine! It was a lot of fun. We finally went to the restaurant later and ate way too much.
6/1
Its June! On Tuesday, we rode a city bus to a local elementary school to see the differences in school cafeterias compared to American ones. It was absolutely amazing. The stuff these kids eat AT A PUBLIC SCHOOL would cost like $30 at a italian restaurant in the US. They told us all about how the kid's food is one of the highest priorities to schools. They get 2-3 courses, water and usually fruit for dessert. The school starts making it from the moment school starts in the morning in order to get it all done in time. They make sure every meal fits nutritional needs, etc. They also had a completely separate kitchen to make lunches for kids with special needs, allergies, etc. It was so amazing to see how much they care. Our school cafeterias make me sick!In cooking class, we learned about vegetables. Then, we made cous cous and Falafel. The falafel was time consuming, but turned out absolutely amazing!! Even Guido said they were "outstanding!" The Cous Cous was interesting, not my favorite.
For dinner, Carmen and I went to a yummy restaurant we had never tried nearby. The tables were really weird and attached, so a couple sat down literally at our table. I thought it would be really awkward at first, but they turned out to be from Holland and talked to us for a long time. They were super nice. I ordered gnocchi (I want to try all kinds!) and some wine. Carmen got a lasagne which she ordered as LASAG-NE. She soon found out they say it the same way here hahaa. We shared a salad and got an AMAZING chocolate cake for dessert!!!
6/2
Wednesday was our BIG TRIP to Cinque Terre!!!!!!! This was the trip everyone had been looking forward to the whole time. We met at 6:30 in the morning and walked to the train station. Train ride was almost 3 hours long, which I slept the whole way. Right before we got to the stop we needed (Riomaggiore) there were tunnels for about 10 minutes. Finally, when we got out, the FIRST thing we saw was the mediterranean sea! It was SO BEAUTIFUL. The WHOLE train car said AHHH all together. It was pretty funny. We got off the train, got tickets for the trail and were off! The Cinque Terre is a hike between 5 coastal towns along the mediterranean sea. It was definitely the farthest I have pushed my body in a VERY long time.
We were literally climbing straight up and straight down the side of a mountain in the wilderness. At one point, there were 380 steps going STRAIGHT up without stopping. Carmen and I were both literally pouring sweat, 
it was outrageous. The views of the ocean from the hike were breathtaking. All the cities on the ocean were unbelievable. It was like there were just colorful buildings clinging onto the cliffs. The last leg of the trail from town 4-5 was shut down due to a land slide, so we ended at the 4th town and ate lunch.
Since we were next to the sea, Carmen and I decided we had to get fish. So, we got white wine, salads, and their mixed grilled fish platter. It had mussels, octopus, calamari, swordfish, shrimp and prawn. It was definitely the most adventurous I've ever been. I ate all of it! Even Carmen was grossed out by a lot of it, but I thought a lot of it was great.
The swordfish was amazing!
We took the train for about 5 minutes over to the final leg of the Cinque Terre where the BEACH is!!! We spent about 2-3 hours sun bathing, drinking frozen drinks and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! A lot of people didnt want to get in because it was cold, but most did! It felt awesome! I swam around for a long time. Carmen and I got a kayak and did that for awhile. It was really fun but got kind of scary when we got too far out.
We finally got on the train home around 6 PM and rode for 3 hours home. We were completely exhausted. We got pizza to go and went straight to sleep when we got home. Definitely an AMAZING day.
"Dont make your risotta so thick that I could stucco my house with it"-Guido
Monday was the first morning in what felt like FOREVER that we were allowed to sleep in a little. We did not have out first class, so Carmen and I got up around 9 and went shopping before AND after our culinary class. I turned out to buy 2 new dresses, a super cute top, some really cute shorts, a new headband, and tons of new hair clips. I had not bought any clothes yet and its all so cute here!
In cooking class, we learned about rice and how it is used in different dishes. Then we made two types of risotto. One with a cabbagey thing that isnt in the states and carrots, and the other with Porcini mushrooms. I actually loved the first one, but did not like the mushroom one.
For dinner, Alex, Emily, Carmen, Dale and I went to the culinary school's restaurant for a free dinner, but they were booked for an hour, so we turned out to go out to a wine bar to waste time. Dale bought us 2 bottles of wine! It was a lot of fun. We finally went to the restaurant later and ate way too much.
6/1
Its June! On Tuesday, we rode a city bus to a local elementary school to see the differences in school cafeterias compared to American ones. It was absolutely amazing. The stuff these kids eat AT A PUBLIC SCHOOL would cost like $30 at a italian restaurant in the US. They told us all about how the kid's food is one of the highest priorities to schools. They get 2-3 courses, water and usually fruit for dessert. The school starts making it from the moment school starts in the morning in order to get it all done in time. They make sure every meal fits nutritional needs, etc. They also had a completely separate kitchen to make lunches for kids with special needs, allergies, etc. It was so amazing to see how much they care. Our school cafeterias make me sick!In cooking class, we learned about vegetables. Then, we made cous cous and Falafel. The falafel was time consuming, but turned out absolutely amazing!! Even Guido said they were "outstanding!" The Cous Cous was interesting, not my favorite.
For dinner, Carmen and I went to a yummy restaurant we had never tried nearby. The tables were really weird and attached, so a couple sat down literally at our table. I thought it would be really awkward at first, but they turned out to be from Holland and talked to us for a long time. They were super nice. I ordered gnocchi (I want to try all kinds!) and some wine. Carmen got a lasagne which she ordered as LASAG-NE. She soon found out they say it the same way here hahaa. We shared a salad and got an AMAZING chocolate cake for dessert!!!
6/2
Wednesday was our BIG TRIP to Cinque Terre!!!!!!! This was the trip everyone had been looking forward to the whole time. We met at 6:30 in the morning and walked to the train station. Train ride was almost 3 hours long, which I slept the whole way. Right before we got to the stop we needed (Riomaggiore) there were tunnels for about 10 minutes. Finally, when we got out, the FIRST thing we saw was the mediterranean sea! It was SO BEAUTIFUL. The WHOLE train car said AHHH all together. It was pretty funny. We got off the train, got tickets for the trail and were off! The Cinque Terre is a hike between 5 coastal towns along the mediterranean sea. It was definitely the farthest I have pushed my body in a VERY long time.
We were literally climbing straight up and straight down the side of a mountain in the wilderness. At one point, there were 380 steps going STRAIGHT up without stopping. Carmen and I were both literally pouring sweat, 
it was outrageous. The views of the ocean from the hike were breathtaking. All the cities on the ocean were unbelievable. It was like there were just colorful buildings clinging onto the cliffs. The last leg of the trail from town 4-5 was shut down due to a land slide, so we ended at the 4th town and ate lunch.Since we were next to the sea, Carmen and I decided we had to get fish. So, we got white wine, salads, and their mixed grilled fish platter. It had mussels, octopus, calamari, swordfish, shrimp and prawn. It was definitely the most adventurous I've ever been. I ate all of it! Even Carmen was grossed out by a lot of it, but I thought a lot of it was great.
The swordfish was amazing!We took the train for about 5 minutes over to the final leg of the Cinque Terre where the BEACH is!!! We spent about 2-3 hours sun bathing, drinking frozen drinks and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! A lot of people didnt want to get in because it was cold, but most did! It felt awesome! I swam around for a long time. Carmen and I got a kayak and did that for awhile. It was really fun but got kind of scary when we got too far out.
We finally got on the train home around 6 PM and rode for 3 hours home. We were completely exhausted. We got pizza to go and went straight to sleep when we got home. Definitely an AMAZING day.
"Dont make your risotta so thick that I could stucco my house with it"-Guido
Come to Cheeses!
5/27
On Thursday, our first class was pretty boring. A special guest lecturer came in named Alessandro Bosticco and spoke about the concept of "Slow Foods." The whole idea behind it is really cool, he just wasn't a good speaker. Not to mention he spoke for 2 hours straight. Slow Foods is a concept that started in Italy but has spread all over the world (there is a club in CoMO.) It reminds me of the organic/fair trade boom in the US. It is all about buying straight from farmers, eating healthy and enjoying food, not rushing it.
In our culinary class, we learned about mediterranean grains, etc. a
nd made margherita pizza and foccacia covered in caramelized onions, olives and anchovies. It was delicious.
For dinner, Carmen and I went to an amazing asian/italian fusion restaurant. We shared a bottle of wine and I got sliced marinated duck. It was absolutely amazing. They had the funniest appetizers like potato soup in a shot glass.
Later that night, we made the mistake of going out with 10 other girls from the trip. Ha! We went to a really cool looking bar that gave us all 2 for 1 drinks. I had 2 cosmos and Carmen has too many of everything, hahaa. I came home after those 2 because I knew I was already way too far in. Carmen went to another dance club where she said every single italian man was sticking their hands in, up, and all around the girl's pants/skirts/dresses. She was not too happy the next morning.
5/28
Friday started with Terra Futura, a really cool festival that takes place once a year in Florence. Terra Futura mean Future Earth and the whole thing is like an Italian Hippie Fest. There was a huge warehouse filled with booths of all the local people from all over Italy selling their handmade stuff. I loved it. Everyone was hung over from the night before, so I pretty much walked around alone and took it all in. There were literally hundreds of things I would have bought, but lots of it was pretty expensive. I got a hand made peace scarf that is rainbow and super gorgeous. I also met the biggest animal rights group of Italy named LAV and got a really cute tank top from them. I'm a little worried they might be extremists like PETA, but whatever. I also bought a hand made incense holder shaped like a cat, hehehe.
In culinary class, we learned about pasta and how to make it! We made some dough from scratch! We made 5 different kinds of pasta and 3 different kinds of sauce. They were all delicious. For dinner, we went to the restaurant owned by the culinary school for a free dinner. Then we went to sleep SUPER early because A.) we were dumb the night before and B.) we had to be up at 4 AM the next morning for our huge trip to Parma!!!!
5/29
Saturday started at 4 AM. Disgusting. We walked 20 minutes to the huge tour bus we took and drove 2 hours down the Italian highway towards Parma. It was so early, we all slept through the whole drive. Our first stop was at a small family owned cheese farm that made Parmigiano Reggiano. We got to see the whole process of the cheese being made starting with the milk being mixed, being put in huge wheel forms, and then being aged for years. We had to wear really annoying and disgusting plastic gowns, booties, masks and hair nets. The whole process was really interesting. Lots of people couldnt bear the smell of curdling milk though. We all got to buy the cheese afterward right off the wheel! I got a kilo for only 12 euro! So amazing!!!!
Next, we drove to a
huge Parma Prosciutto factory. The factory was overlooking the Parma valley and it was so beautiful. They walked us through the whole process of aging the meat for something like 8 years, I cant really remember. LOTS of girls were completely grossed out. It was pretty overwhelming. There were literally THOUSANDS of huge pig meat hanging f
rom wall to wall. We saw them when they were raw all the way until they were dry, salted, aged and stamped with the Parma symbol. It definitely smelled intense. I always think of the episode of Giada de Larentis telling the guy at a Parma factory to ship 2 whole ones to her house. What a bitch.
Afterward, they took us to their huge restaurant and served us a huge meal of all the prosciutto, bread, wine and salad we could ask for. It was delicious!
The last stop of the day was to an amazing balsamic vinegar factory in Modena. We learned about the process of aging the vinegar. All of the barrels are made of different types of wood and the vinegar is moved from one to the other every year to take in the different flavors of wood. The barrels are all in the attic of buildings. We got to taste all of their vinegars. They had some aged for 25 years, 12 years, 6 years, etc. They were all delicious. I turned out to buy the 6 year aged one and an apple balsamic vinegar to use on salads and chicken. I am so excited to use all my new Italian kitchen stuff.We drove 2 hours home and went to a quick dinner at a restaurant for gnocchi, salad, champagne and wine. It was a super full but fun day.
5/30
Sunday could have been a free day, but we decided to go to a small town called Lucca with 10 other people because we had heard such great things about it. The train tickets were only 5 euro! Lucca is a town that thought they would get attacked by cities surrounding them, like Florence, so built a huge wall all the way around the city for safety. They continued to make the wall thicker and thicker, but they NEVER got attacked. So now, there is an adorable, QUIET, and calming town that is all within a huge wall. The most interesting thing is that they have paved the top of the wall, which is wider than a street,
and put grass on both sides so that people can bike on the wall! Carmen, Emily, Alex, Dale, and I all rented bikes and went around the 3 mile wall for an hour. There were so many dogs and it felt so good to bike.
Next, we went out for lunch at a great restaurant. We all got all kinds of bruschetta for appetizers and I got a pancetta and cheese foccacia sandwich. We also got an amazing white wine. We spent a long time just sitting around talking and by the time we were done, it was time to catch the train home. It was a super relaxing and fun time.
Once back in Florence, Carmen and I went out for drinks, then got "dinner". She got a salad and I got creme brulee for dinner. We had eaten such a huge lunch, I wasnt hungry! Dessert for dinner is totally OK for me.
"Dale, pose!"-Carmen
"COME TO CHEESES"-Dale
"You know why the cheese says DOP, right? Because its totally dope!"-Dale
On Thursday, our first class was pretty boring. A special guest lecturer came in named Alessandro Bosticco and spoke about the concept of "Slow Foods." The whole idea behind it is really cool, he just wasn't a good speaker. Not to mention he spoke for 2 hours straight. Slow Foods is a concept that started in Italy but has spread all over the world (there is a club in CoMO.) It reminds me of the organic/fair trade boom in the US. It is all about buying straight from farmers, eating healthy and enjoying food, not rushing it.
In our culinary class, we learned about mediterranean grains, etc. a
nd made margherita pizza and foccacia covered in caramelized onions, olives and anchovies. It was delicious.For dinner, Carmen and I went to an amazing asian/italian fusion restaurant. We shared a bottle of wine and I got sliced marinated duck. It was absolutely amazing. They had the funniest appetizers like potato soup in a shot glass.
Later that night, we made the mistake of going out with 10 other girls from the trip. Ha! We went to a really cool looking bar that gave us all 2 for 1 drinks. I had 2 cosmos and Carmen has too many of everything, hahaa. I came home after those 2 because I knew I was already way too far in. Carmen went to another dance club where she said every single italian man was sticking their hands in, up, and all around the girl's pants/skirts/dresses. She was not too happy the next morning.
5/28
Friday started with Terra Futura, a really cool festival that takes place once a year in Florence. Terra Futura mean Future Earth and the whole thing is like an Italian Hippie Fest. There was a huge warehouse filled with booths of all the local people from all over Italy selling their handmade stuff. I loved it. Everyone was hung over from the night before, so I pretty much walked around alone and took it all in. There were literally hundreds of things I would have bought, but lots of it was pretty expensive. I got a hand made peace scarf that is rainbow and super gorgeous. I also met the biggest animal rights group of Italy named LAV and got a really cute tank top from them. I'm a little worried they might be extremists like PETA, but whatever. I also bought a hand made incense holder shaped like a cat, hehehe.
In culinary class, we learned about pasta and how to make it! We made some dough from scratch! We made 5 different kinds of pasta and 3 different kinds of sauce. They were all delicious. For dinner, we went to the restaurant owned by the culinary school for a free dinner. Then we went to sleep SUPER early because A.) we were dumb the night before and B.) we had to be up at 4 AM the next morning for our huge trip to Parma!!!!
5/29
Saturday started at 4 AM. Disgusting. We walked 20 minutes to the huge tour bus we took and drove 2 hours down the Italian highway towards Parma. It was so early, we all slept through the whole drive. Our first stop was at a small family owned cheese farm that made Parmigiano Reggiano. We got to see the whole process of the cheese being made starting with the milk being mixed, being put in huge wheel forms, and then being aged for years. We had to wear really annoying and disgusting plastic gowns, booties, masks and hair nets. The whole process was really interesting. Lots of people couldnt bear the smell of curdling milk though. We all got to buy the cheese afterward right off the wheel! I got a kilo for only 12 euro! So amazing!!!!
Next, we drove to a
huge Parma Prosciutto factory. The factory was overlooking the Parma valley and it was so beautiful. They walked us through the whole process of aging the meat for something like 8 years, I cant really remember. LOTS of girls were completely grossed out. It was pretty overwhelming. There were literally THOUSANDS of huge pig meat hanging f
rom wall to wall. We saw them when they were raw all the way until they were dry, salted, aged and stamped with the Parma symbol. It definitely smelled intense. I always think of the episode of Giada de Larentis telling the guy at a Parma factory to ship 2 whole ones to her house. What a bitch.Afterward, they took us to their huge restaurant and served us a huge meal of all the prosciutto, bread, wine and salad we could ask for. It was delicious!
The last stop of the day was to an amazing balsamic vinegar factory in Modena. We learned about the process of aging the vinegar. All of the barrels are made of different types of wood and the vinegar is moved from one to the other every year to take in the different flavors of wood. The barrels are all in the attic of buildings. We got to taste all of their vinegars. They had some aged for 25 years, 12 years, 6 years, etc. They were all delicious. I turned out to buy the 6 year aged one and an apple balsamic vinegar to use on salads and chicken. I am so excited to use all my new Italian kitchen stuff.We drove 2 hours home and went to a quick dinner at a restaurant for gnocchi, salad, champagne and wine. It was a super full but fun day.
5/30
Sunday could have been a free day, but we decided to go to a small town called Lucca with 10 other people because we had heard such great things about it. The train tickets were only 5 euro! Lucca is a town that thought they would get attacked by cities surrounding them, like Florence, so built a huge wall all the way around the city for safety. They continued to make the wall thicker and thicker, but they NEVER got attacked. So now, there is an adorable, QUIET, and calming town that is all within a huge wall. The most interesting thing is that they have paved the top of the wall, which is wider than a street,
and put grass on both sides so that people can bike on the wall! Carmen, Emily, Alex, Dale, and I all rented bikes and went around the 3 mile wall for an hour. There were so many dogs and it felt so good to bike.
Next, we went out for lunch at a great restaurant. We all got all kinds of bruschetta for appetizers and I got a pancetta and cheese foccacia sandwich. We also got an amazing white wine. We spent a long time just sitting around talking and by the time we were done, it was time to catch the train home. It was a super relaxing and fun time.
Once back in Florence, Carmen and I went out for drinks, then got "dinner". She got a salad and I got creme brulee for dinner. We had eaten such a huge lunch, I wasnt hungry! Dessert for dinner is totally OK for me.
"Dale, pose!"-Carmen
"COME TO CHEESES"-Dale
"You know why the cheese says DOP, right? Because its totally dope!"-Dale
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Alejandrooo
5/26
Wednesday started uneventful but ended with one of my favorite things yet! Our first class just consisted of us finding out which topic we will talk about in our final presentation. In our culinary class, we learned about Extra Virgin Olive Oil and tasted different kinds from all over the country. We got to taste our teacher's olive oil! It was so yummy. We made pesto, olive tapenade, and bruschetta next. All of it came out delicious. I love eating the stuff we make.
The night, we got assigned to different host families to have a real Italian dinner with! I was paired with two girls, Lindsay and Eva, and we were assigned a family that lived 10 minutes away in the center of downtown Florence. We walked there at 8 PM. Their apartment was right in the center of everything! It was adorable but VERY small. They said the building used to be a convent. It was pretty much a long hallway with a living room area, one bathroom, a TINY TINY kitchen, and a newly remodeled master bedroom. Both the parents were chemists and spoke english. They were so welcoming and genuinely nice. They had one son Lorenzo who was 13 and very shy but absolutely adorable. He played his violin for us for awhile. The funniest thing was that there were 2 other people, a 20 year old girl and a 24 year old guy. All they did was introduce them by name when we walked in so we just assumed they were all their children. Half way through dinner, they started to become super touchy-feely and loving. We were all confused until she said they were engaged. I had no idea who they were at this point, so I asked,
so is this your daughter, or..." and they all acted so embarrassed to realize they had never explained themselves. She was their niece and he was just her fiance, no relation. They laughed for about 10 minutes when we all admitted that we were completely confused by the affection. She served the most lavish dinner, it was amazing!!! First, was a artichoke and spinach lasagna with white wine. Then a meat roll with spinach and cheese inside, salad, homemade bread, tomatoes, and fried seasoned potatoes and red wine. Finally, they served a huge platter of cookies and desserts, then a separate plate of every fruit you could imagine. It was amazing. They taught us so much about the culture, it was probably the best thing we've done thus far!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Ciao Bella, Ciao Bella!
5/23
Sunday was the first lazy day and probably the last. After a week of non-stop action, we had absolutely nothing to do on Sunday. Some of the girls went on a day trip to Venice, but about 20 of us did not because we are going with someone after classes are done. Carmen and I knew we wanted to sleep in since we hadnt all week, but I was surprised when I got up at 11:45. Lazy. Ass.
We finally got over to a cafe late in the afternoon and had coffee and pastries. We came back to the apartment and were all kinds of lazy. In my opinion, it was well deserved. That night, we went to the COOLEST wine bar! All the bottles of wine were held in with nitrogen and all you had to do was load a electronic card with money, stick your card in, push the button for the wine you wanted and th
e wine came squirting out. So high-tech and fun. You could pay for just a taste or a full glass! We also had dinner there. It was super tasty. We got a free appetizer (prosciutto wrapped around gorgonzola and fried asian style zucchini flowers. I had a spinach salad and Carmen had a bruschetta with ragu on top. We also got free drinks because the check took so long, but I hated both of them! She brought us Grappa and Lemoncello. The Grappa was like warm rotton alcoholic licorice. I almost vommed. Vom city. Vom nation.
After dinner, we went to the gelato shop that we had heard so much about. It is called Grom and we had heard from a ton of people and books that THIS IS the gelato you would go home talking about. It definitely did not let us down. The location of it was kind of weird, but I got Strawberry (fragola) and it was DELICIOUS. Only 2 euros too!
5/24
Monday was out first day of actual classes! From 9-11:30 we have "class" with Dale and Anne from MU. Most of the days are short excursions. Our only assignment is a 20-30 minute presentation that we do with a partner on t
he last days of class. We got our topics and Carmen and I were happy to find out we got first dibs on the topic choice after Dale drew our name from a bucket. Our presentation will be over Mediterranean Diet and how it affect mental health/longevity. They give us tons of articles to help us, doesnt seem hard at all.
On Monday, Dale took us to the top of a huge hill on the edge of Florence. At the top is Piazza Michelangelo, which is a big viewing area with shops and restaurants overlooking all of Florence. It was so gorgeous. The hike was steep, but short. On our way to the next class, we got AMAZING Doner Kebabs, which are kind of like gyros. Absolutely fantastic.
Once we were done there, we went to our second class from 12-2:30. This class is super fun. It is at Apicius, the culinary school, and each day we have about 30 minutes of lecture and 2 hours of cooking! Our teacher, Guido, is a world renowned EVOO maker. His EVOO is sold at Sur La Table, Whole Foods, and Williams Sonoma for $50 a bottle. We learned about basic nutrients and the difference between Mediterranean diet and American diet. We didn't cook anything on Monday, but we went to the San Lorenzo Market. That is the largest market in Florence. Every local seller comes out every morning to sell their stuff. There is all the fresh fish, meat, and produce you could ever imagine! So amazing.
For dinner, we went to Ganzo, which is the restaurant owned by the school. We get 7 free meals there while we stay here, so we decided to use on. I had chicken with pineapple and mango chutney, rice, and tiramisu. It was very good!
5/25
On Tuesday, we started the day with another trip to the San Lorenzo Market just so we could see all the fresh morning stuff. In cooking class, we made Hummus and Tzaziki. They were both delicious! On the way home, Carmen and I got really lost. Luckily, we found our way home, and took a VERY LONG scenic route. For dinner we went to a little restaurant we found that was delicious. I had a pasta in white sauce that had zucchini flowers and some kind of fish in it. Tasted a lot like salmon. I also had a dessert that I didnt really know what it was. Some kind of cake covered in chocolate. It was delicious though! Anyways! I'm getting lazy about this blog. I'll try to be better!
Carmen-"Have you ever typed a phone into your name just so you can creep them on FB later?"
Bridget-"NO!"
Carmen-"I have."
Carmen-" Oh. My. Gawd. My panties are soooo crunchy!!!"
Sunday was the first lazy day and probably the last. After a week of non-stop action, we had absolutely nothing to do on Sunday. Some of the girls went on a day trip to Venice, but about 20 of us did not because we are going with someone after classes are done. Carmen and I knew we wanted to sleep in since we hadnt all week, but I was surprised when I got up at 11:45. Lazy. Ass.
We finally got over to a cafe late in the afternoon and had coffee and pastries. We came back to the apartment and were all kinds of lazy. In my opinion, it was well deserved. That night, we went to the COOLEST wine bar! All the bottles of wine were held in with nitrogen and all you had to do was load a electronic card with money, stick your card in, push the button for the wine you wanted and th
e wine came squirting out. So high-tech and fun. You could pay for just a taste or a full glass! We also had dinner there. It was super tasty. We got a free appetizer (prosciutto wrapped around gorgonzola and fried asian style zucchini flowers. I had a spinach salad and Carmen had a bruschetta with ragu on top. We also got free drinks because the check took so long, but I hated both of them! She brought us Grappa and Lemoncello. The Grappa was like warm rotton alcoholic licorice. I almost vommed. Vom city. Vom nation.
After dinner, we went to the gelato shop that we had heard so much about. It is called Grom and we had heard from a ton of people and books that THIS IS the gelato you would go home talking about. It definitely did not let us down. The location of it was kind of weird, but I got Strawberry (fragola) and it was DELICIOUS. Only 2 euros too!
5/24
Monday was out first day of actual classes! From 9-11:30 we have "class" with Dale and Anne from MU. Most of the days are short excursions. Our only assignment is a 20-30 minute presentation that we do with a partner on t
he last days of class. We got our topics and Carmen and I were happy to find out we got first dibs on the topic choice after Dale drew our name from a bucket. Our presentation will be over Mediterranean Diet and how it affect mental health/longevity. They give us tons of articles to help us, doesnt seem hard at all.On Monday, Dale took us to the top of a huge hill on the edge of Florence. At the top is Piazza Michelangelo, which is a big viewing area with shops and restaurants overlooking all of Florence. It was so gorgeous. The hike was steep, but short. On our way to the next class, we got AMAZING Doner Kebabs, which are kind of like gyros. Absolutely fantastic.
Once we were done there, we went to our second class from 12-2:30. This class is super fun. It is at Apicius, the culinary school, and each day we have about 30 minutes of lecture and 2 hours of cooking! Our teacher, Guido, is a world renowned EVOO maker. His EVOO is sold at Sur La Table, Whole Foods, and Williams Sonoma for $50 a bottle. We learned about basic nutrients and the difference between Mediterranean diet and American diet. We didn't cook anything on Monday, but we went to the San Lorenzo Market. That is the largest market in Florence. Every local seller comes out every morning to sell their stuff. There is all the fresh fish, meat, and produce you could ever imagine! So amazing.
For dinner, we went to Ganzo, which is the restaurant owned by the school. We get 7 free meals there while we stay here, so we decided to use on. I had chicken with pineapple and mango chutney, rice, and tiramisu. It was very good!5/25
On Tuesday, we started the day with another trip to the San Lorenzo Market just so we could see all the fresh morning stuff. In cooking class, we made Hummus and Tzaziki. They were both delicious! On the way home, Carmen and I got really lost. Luckily, we found our way home, and took a VERY LONG scenic route. For dinner we went to a little restaurant we found that was delicious. I had a pasta in white sauce that had zucchini flowers and some kind of fish in it. Tasted a lot like salmon. I also had a dessert that I didnt really know what it was. Some kind of cake covered in chocolate. It was delicious though! Anyways! I'm getting lazy about this blog. I'll try to be better!
Carmen-"Have you ever typed a phone into your name just so you can creep them on FB later?"
Bridget-"NO!"
Carmen-"I have."
Carmen-" Oh. My. Gawd. My panties are soooo crunchy!!!"
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Chianti Area!
Yesterday (Saturday) was so full of amazing memories. We left early in the morning, like always, on a huge bus. We drove 2 hours on the highway into the countryside. We stopped at a huge gas station where they promptly handed everyone huge trash bags because the next 30 minutes would be VERY curvy and they expected people to get sick.
Luckily no one puked on the bus. I felt pretty sick, but I made it. There were 2 girls who had stayed out until 5 AM the night before (only 2 1/2 hours before we left) and got absolutely plastered/made out with Italian married men. One vommed in every toilet we stopped at. She also forgot a bra at home. Dale was very understanding and nice to her. Hahhaa.
Our first stop was a beautiful little town called Pienza. They are very well known for their Pecorino cheese. The view was gorgeous and there were tons of cute shops. Lots of us bought some cheese there. I got 3 different chunks of Pecorino cheeses shrink wrapped together. It was so yummy! We stopped for sandwiches and gelato.
Next, we drove 30 more minutes to a winery up in the hills called the Bindella Winery. It was so beautiful! A woman took us on a tour of the whole winery and took us into the cellar. She explained the whole process of making/bottling wine. We went into the main 
building for a wine and food tasti
ng. We got to try all of their main wines and cheese, bread, meats and chips. Most of us bought some. I got a bottle of their white wine. All of them were delicious and it was hard to choose!
After staying there to explore the winery for awhile, we left to go to Montepulciano. A BEAUTIFUL town that is at a super high altitude. It has gotten pretty well-known ever since one scene in the second Twilight film was filmed there. It was so gorgeous. The whole city is uphill and when you get near the top, there is a huge square (where the film was) and the most unbelievable view over miles and miles of italian countryside. We walked around the town for a long time, got dessert, then headed home.
The ride home was luckily all highway. No vomm-ing but lots of everyone sleeping. We got home completely exhausted. Carmen and I went to a quick dinner.
I got prosciutto pizza. Then we got home and stayed up on the computer and stuff. First night we were allowed to sleep in the next morning. We both totally slept in until 11:30 AM. Amazing!
Ciao!
Bridget-"She looks like Oprah"
Carmen-"Um, no she looks like Michelle Obama"
Bridget-"GOD! We're so racist!"
Carmen-"He was so hot! Did he have a nice voice?"
Bridget-"Ugh, I dont know. It was muffled behind his fucking ugly goatee!"
Carmen-" OMG, if he was a JEW you wouldve love it!"
Luckily no one puked on the bus. I felt pretty sick, but I made it. There were 2 girls who had stayed out until 5 AM the night before (only 2 1/2 hours before we left) and got absolutely plastered/made out with Italian married men. One vommed in every toilet we stopped at. She also forgot a bra at home. Dale was very understanding and nice to her. Hahhaa.
Our first stop was a beautiful little town called Pienza. They are very well known for their Pecorino cheese. The view was gorgeous and there were tons of cute shops. Lots of us bought some cheese there. I got 3 different chunks of Pecorino cheeses shrink wrapped together. It was so yummy! We stopped for sandwiches and gelato.
Next, we drove 30 more minutes to a winery up in the hills called the Bindella Winery. It was so beautiful! A woman took us on a tour of the whole winery and took us into the cellar. She explained the whole process of making/bottling wine. We went into the main 
building for a wine and food tasti
ng. We got to try all of their main wines and cheese, bread, meats and chips. Most of us bought some. I got a bottle of their white wine. All of them were delicious and it was hard to choose!After staying there to explore the winery for awhile, we left to go to Montepulciano. A BEAUTIFUL town that is at a super high altitude. It has gotten pretty well-known ever since one scene in the second Twilight film was filmed there. It was so gorgeous. The whole city is uphill and when you get near the top, there is a huge square (where the film was) and the most unbelievable view over miles and miles of italian countryside. We walked around the town for a long time, got dessert, then headed home.
The ride home was luckily all highway. No vomm-ing but lots of everyone sleeping. We got home completely exhausted. Carmen and I went to a quick dinner.
I got prosciutto pizza. Then we got home and stayed up on the computer and stuff. First night we were allowed to sleep in the next morning. We both totally slept in until 11:30 AM. Amazing!Ciao!
Bridget-"She looks like Oprah"
Carmen-"Um, no she looks like Michelle Obama"
Bridget-"GOD! We're so racist!"
Carmen-"He was so hot! Did he have a nice voice?"
Bridget-"Ugh, I dont know. It was muffled behind his fucking ugly goatee!"
Carmen-" OMG, if he was a JEW you wouldve love it!"
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Aching muscles
5.20
Thursday was also full of many things! I think thats going to be the trend. I woke up to my goofy cell phone alarm that talks in a british accent. After getting a coffee and croissant at our new regular cafe, we left for a class taught by a really nice Italian woman who works at Apicius (the culinary school). She went over all different types of food and we got to try it all. We learned how to tell if a cheese is aged or young, etc. It was very interesting. She taught us all we had to know about basic italian foods.Carmen and I walked all over the place between that class and our next thing. We did a lot of shopping! So far I've gotten a leather jacket (gasp), a leather side purse thing, 2 glasses for my new home, a cashmere scarf, and a wine stopper! I think thats it. During our break, we also got REALLY YUMMY sandwiches at a store near the school. Mozzarella, basil and tomato!!!!
After our break, we met at the school to go on a walking tour throughout the town led by teachers. We stopped at all kinds of shops where they had set up free tastings! My group of girls was led by this outrageously good looking guy who was super fashionable. He is a chef at Apicius. We went to a little wine bar where we got Prosecca and truffle sandwiches! So good. Then we went to a small grocery store that he said sold some of the best stuff in Florence! There was tons of food, local stuff, wine and coffee. It was so interesting. He then took us to the most central shopping area of florence to show us all the high brand stores and he showed us Dolce, Armani, and Cavalli's houses. This wasnt planned but he loved to tell us all his knowledge on the fashion on Florence. He is probably very gay, but the girls in my group would do anything to get into those skin tight armani jeans.
Our last stop was a huge wine shop where we tasted different wines and got to explore their cellar. There were literally hundreds of wines. So interesting and pretty. By the time we were done, we were exhausted. Not only did Carmen and I go to a class on the other side of Florence, we walked around town for 2 1/2 hours between and then walked for 2-3 hours for the tour! Ah!
We went home and sat around for a bit, then went out to dinner with our roommate Jacqueline and her boyfriend Justin. We found a little restaurant across from a huge museum near by. I ordered steak medium and it came back so rare. It was delicious, though. So I did not mind. Carmen ordered Peposo which we had JUST learned about that day. Beef cooked in pepper, wine, onions, etc. for 5 hours. It was delicious, I had a bite.
5/21
Friday started early once again. We headed to the Accademia Gallery at 9 AM. This museum is in Florence, about a 20 minute walk from our apartment. It has many sculptures/paintings, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, Michelangelo's David. Unfortunately, absolutely no cameras were allowed to be used in the museum, so we have no proof we saw David. The sculpture was MASSIVE. I could not believe a human being made it. The museum itself was surprisingly small, but very interesting. After we were done at the museum, we once again had a break between things. Of course, we went out and shopped again. In the afternoon, we went back to the school building to learn how to pair the right wines with food. It was SO interesting and we were served pastas and all kinds of wine in order to find the perfect match! I'm pretty sure I'm going to come back from this trip as a complete win-o. After the class was over, we decided to explore an end of town we had never been to before. It was much less touristy and seemed more local. We found TONS of cute shops and bought hand made chocolates. It was really cool. We even saw italian teens hanging out together outside of a movie theatre. Just like in the US. I guess teens are the same everywhere.
We finally went out to eat at 1030 pm. This actually isnt that late for Italians. We went to a place right around the corner where we got FREE champagne and ordered white wine. I had the best gnocchi of my life. It is definitely one of my new favorites.
"I want a spotted dog, because I love cows."-Carmen
Thursday was also full of many things! I think thats going to be the trend. I woke up to my goofy cell phone alarm that talks in a british accent. After getting a coffee and croissant at our new regular cafe, we left for a class taught by a really nice Italian woman who works at Apicius (the culinary school). She went over all different types of food and we got to try it all. We learned how to tell if a cheese is aged or young, etc. It was very interesting. She taught us all we had to know about basic italian foods.Carmen and I walked all over the place between that class and our next thing. We did a lot of shopping! So far I've gotten a leather jacket (gasp), a leather side purse thing, 2 glasses for my new home, a cashmere scarf, and a wine stopper! I think thats it. During our break, we also got REALLY YUMMY sandwiches at a store near the school. Mozzarella, basil and tomato!!!!
After our break, we met at the school to go on a walking tour throughout the town led by teachers. We stopped at all kinds of shops where they had set up free tastings! My group of girls was led by this outrageously good looking guy who was super fashionable. He is a chef at Apicius. We went to a little wine bar where we got Prosecca and truffle sandwiches! So good. Then we went to a small grocery store that he said sold some of the best stuff in Florence! There was tons of food, local stuff, wine and coffee. It was so interesting. He then took us to the most central shopping area of florence to show us all the high brand stores and he showed us Dolce, Armani, and Cavalli's houses. This wasnt planned but he loved to tell us all his knowledge on the fashion on Florence. He is probably very gay, but the girls in my group would do anything to get into those skin tight armani jeans.
Our last stop was a huge wine shop where we tasted different wines and got to explore their cellar. There were literally hundreds of wines. So interesting and pretty. By the time we were done, we were exhausted. Not only did Carmen and I go to a class on the other side of Florence, we walked around town for 2 1/2 hours between and then walked for 2-3 hours for the tour! Ah!We went home and sat around for a bit, then went out to dinner with our roommate Jacqueline and her boyfriend Justin. We found a little restaurant across from a huge museum near by. I ordered steak medium and it came back so rare. It was delicious, though. So I did not mind. Carmen ordered Peposo which we had JUST learned about that day. Beef cooked in pepper, wine, onions, etc. for 5 hours. It was delicious, I had a bite.
5/21Friday started early once again. We headed to the Accademia Gallery at 9 AM. This museum is in Florence, about a 20 minute walk from our apartment. It has many sculptures/paintings, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, Michelangelo's David. Unfortunately, absolutely no cameras were allowed to be used in the museum, so we have no proof we saw David. The sculpture was MASSIVE. I could not believe a human being made it. The museum itself was surprisingly small, but very interesting. After we were done at the museum, we once again had a break between things. Of course, we went out and shopped again. In the afternoon, we went back to the school building to learn how to pair the right wines with food. It was SO interesting and we were served pastas and all kinds of wine in order to find the perfect match! I'm pretty sure I'm going to come back from this trip as a complete win-o. After the class was over, we decided to explore an end of town we had never been to before. It was much less touristy and seemed more local. We found TONS of cute shops and bought hand made chocolates. It was really cool. We even saw italian teens hanging out together outside of a movie theatre. Just like in the US. I guess teens are the same everywhere.
We finally went out to eat at 1030 pm. This actually isnt that late for Italians. We went to a place right around the corner where we got FREE champagne and ordered white wine. I had the best gnocchi of my life. It is definitely one of my new favorites.
"I want a spotted dog, because I love cows."-Carmen
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Quante?
And so the trip has begun.
My second day in Italy is coming to a close and I am actually awake enough today to write a blog post. I'm hoping to blog enough that I'll have every memory locked in this page.
I got to the STL airport at 8:30 AM yesterday morning after Frances drove me there in the rain. It was hard to say bye to my little Carbonator and Bacon Bit! We took a 45 minute flight to Chicago in which a creepy man sat next to me and informed me that if the engine blew up, I'd be the first to die due to the blades being right next to my seat. Thank sir, FML.
Next, a 2 hour layover and then 9 1/2 hours to rome! I thought it would be horrible and take forever, but I had hardly slept the night before so I fell asleep off and on throughout the flight. When I was awake, I played video games like a 4 year old boy or I read "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler. It made me literally LOL way too many times.
We got a meal on the plane which was scary and bland.
We got to Rome and I was just SO excited that the biggest leg of the trip was over and we didnt crash and burn (blades in my face.) The Rome airport felt like a crazy train station and was FULL of high brand stores. It was SO packed and exciting. We went through customs to enter the country and all they did was glance at our passport and move on. I was like... seriously? I could easily terrorize you right now. The flight from Rome to Florence was only 30 minutes long. The flight there was beautiful. We saw islands and Florence from above. So green and gorgeous!
We all were freaking out about how terrible it'd be if our luggage got lost, but my roommate and I got our bags within the first 10 suitcases out. What a relief. 2-3 girls didn't find theirs though, I feel bad for them. We took a line of taxis that the school had set up for us to our apartment. It was absolutely crazy. The city was beautiful speeding by us as the driver went 60 mph down roads that felt 5 ft wide. Taxis here will stop for NOTHING to get to the point that they want.
We got to the apartment and it is so great! Apartments and schools here are just hid in like a huge building with a door on the front. The only way we know its our door is the number next to it. The apartment is 4 stories tall with apartments on the 2,3 and 4th. Originally, we had an apartment on the 4th floor. It was hell getting our suitcases up there. We had 2 bedrooms for 4 people and it was amazing. Out of nowhere the old ladies from downstairs who are chaperoning come up and say "we dont want to be in a room all together so we're switching with you" we had no choice. So we repacked everything, dragged the bags downstairs to our new room and all 4 of us are in one room! We were soo pissed! But then we found out we have internet and the old one didnt. So we decided it was definitely worth it.
After unpacking, we went to our first lunch. It was so delicious and cheap! Next, Carmen and I roamed around downtown Florence and then we got ready for our special welcome dinner. The welcome dinner was held at a restaurant owned by the school and ran by students. All the courses were so amazing and we all got as much wine as we wanted. The wine was super dry and I had a hard time swallowing it. Even the girls who liked wine said it was super dry. All of us had to get really dressed up because the restaurant was really fancy. Lots of us (including me) made the horrible mistake of wearing heels there. It was like a 20-30 minute walk and the streets here are COBBLE STONE. I literally looked at the ground the WHOLE TIME. No more heels for me ever. We finally went to bed after about 32 hours of not sleeping. I fell asleep the moment I hit the pillow.
Today, we woke up and Carmen and I walked around the corner to a tiny little coffee shopped owned by a very old Italian man. We went when school was getting started so we got to see tons of little kids and moms stopping for croissants on the way. We ordered lattes and chocolate croissants in Italian and stood at the bar area to eat/drink it. No tables at coffee shops in Italy! It was SO DELICIOUS.
We went to the school where we will be taking courses and had orientation. They walked us around all the buildings we would be in. It started raining, which a lot of people were upset about, but it was OK. We had a 2 hour break where we went to a underground restaurant and I got really delicious pasta. It had prosciutto mixed in! Delicious. We got gelato for dessert. I got coffee flavor and it was amazing. Then we went on a walking tour of Florence. We got to see all the historical buildings, it was really cool.
When we were done, we got more gelato! I couldnt pass it up so I got some strawberry kind. It was AMAZING. We were done with school led stuff for the day, so we sat around awhile, then went out to walk around Florence and had dinner in a huge beautiful square. We all tried some amazing pizza. Mine had basil, tomatoes and lots of cheese. Ill upload pictures tomorrow, but it was fantastic. Carmen and I shared a bottle of white wine. It was SO much better than the one we had last night. I loved it.
And now I'm FINALLY caught up on my two days.
Other than that, there are lots of dogs here. Most of them look pretty rough. Some seem well taken care of, but I've seen A LOT with homeless guys. Its really sad. There is also absolutely no grass in this part of florence, so I wonder where they poop. I see a lot peeing everywhere.
Euros are starting to get really easy to use. Its the talking part that we're trying to catch on to. Luckily Carmen has a phrase book and I have a dictionary from Tara, so we've been doing OK.
"Dont married people know that the last thing a single person wants to do on a Friday night is play a nutty game of Yahtzee? I'd rather take a bubble bath with my father."
Good night friends,
Bridget
My second day in Italy is coming to a close and I am actually awake enough today to write a blog post. I'm hoping to blog enough that I'll have every memory locked in this page.
I got to the STL airport at 8:30 AM yesterday morning after Frances drove me there in the rain. It was hard to say bye to my little Carbonator and Bacon Bit! We took a 45 minute flight to Chicago in which a creepy man sat next to me and informed me that if the engine blew up, I'd be the first to die due to the blades being right next to my seat. Thank sir, FML.
Next, a 2 hour layover and then 9 1/2 hours to rome! I thought it would be horrible and take forever, but I had hardly slept the night before so I fell asleep off and on throughout the flight. When I was awake, I played video games like a 4 year old boy or I read "My Horizontal Life" by Chelsea Handler. It made me literally LOL way too many times.
We got a meal on the plane which was scary and bland.We got to Rome and I was just SO excited that the biggest leg of the trip was over and we didnt crash and burn (blades in my face.) The Rome airport felt like a crazy train station and was FULL of high brand stores. It was SO packed and exciting. We went through customs to enter the country and all they did was glance at our passport and move on. I was like... seriously? I could easily terrorize you right now. The flight from Rome to Florence was only 30 minutes long. The flight there was beautiful. We saw islands and Florence from above. So green and gorgeous!
We all were freaking out about how terrible it'd be if our luggage got lost, but my roommate and I got our bags within the first 10 suitcases out. What a relief. 2-3 girls didn't find theirs though, I feel bad for them. We took a line of taxis that the school had set up for us to our apartment. It was absolutely crazy. The city was beautiful speeding by us as the driver went 60 mph down roads that felt 5 ft wide. Taxis here will stop for NOTHING to get to the point that they want.
We got to the apartment and it is so great! Apartments and schools here are just hid in like a huge building with a door on the front. The only way we know its our door is the number next to it. The apartment is 4 stories tall with apartments on the 2,3 and 4th. Originally, we had an apartment on the 4th floor. It was hell getting our suitcases up there. We had 2 bedrooms for 4 people and it was amazing. Out of nowhere the old ladies from downstairs who are chaperoning come up and say "we dont want to be in a room all together so we're switching with you" we had no choice. So we repacked everything, dragged the bags downstairs to our new room and all 4 of us are in one room! We were soo pissed! But then we found out we have internet and the old one didnt. So we decided it was definitely worth it.
After unpacking, we went to our first lunch. It was so delicious and cheap! Next, Carmen and I roamed around downtown Florence and then we got ready for our special welcome dinner. The welcome dinner was held at a restaurant owned by the school and ran by students. All the courses were so amazing and we all got as much wine as we wanted. The wine was super dry and I had a hard time swallowing it. Even the girls who liked wine said it was super dry. All of us had to get really dressed up because the restaurant was really fancy. Lots of us (including me) made the horrible mistake of wearing heels there. It was like a 20-30 minute walk and the streets here are COBBLE STONE. I literally looked at the ground the WHOLE TIME. No more heels for me ever. We finally went to bed after about 32 hours of not sleeping. I fell asleep the moment I hit the pillow.
Today, we woke up and Carmen and I walked around the corner to a tiny little coffee shopped owned by a very old Italian man. We went when school was getting started so we got to see tons of little kids and moms stopping for croissants on the way. We ordered lattes and chocolate croissants in Italian and stood at the bar area to eat/drink it. No tables at coffee shops in Italy! It was SO DELICIOUS.
We went to the school where we will be taking courses and had orientation. They walked us around all the buildings we would be in. It started raining, which a lot of people were upset about, but it was OK. We had a 2 hour break where we went to a underground restaurant and I got really delicious pasta. It had prosciutto mixed in! Delicious. We got gelato for dessert. I got coffee flavor and it was amazing. Then we went on a walking tour of Florence. We got to see all the historical buildings, it was really cool.
When we were done, we got more gelato! I couldnt pass it up so I got some strawberry kind. It was AMAZING. We were done with school led stuff for the day, so we sat around awhile, then went out to walk around Florence and had dinner in a huge beautiful square. We all tried some amazing pizza. Mine had basil, tomatoes and lots of cheese. Ill upload pictures tomorrow, but it was fantastic. Carmen and I shared a bottle of white wine. It was SO much better than the one we had last night. I loved it.And now I'm FINALLY caught up on my two days.
Other than that, there are lots of dogs here. Most of them look pretty rough. Some seem well taken care of, but I've seen A LOT with homeless guys. Its really sad. There is also absolutely no grass in this part of florence, so I wonder where they poop. I see a lot peeing everywhere.
Euros are starting to get really easy to use. Its the talking part that we're trying to catch on to. Luckily Carmen has a phrase book and I have a dictionary from Tara, so we've been doing OK.
"Dont married people know that the last thing a single person wants to do on a Friday night is play a nutty game of Yahtzee? I'd rather take a bubble bath with my father."
Good night friends,
Bridget
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Beginning
The main purpose of creating this blog is to have a documentation of my upcoming trip to Italy. It'll be hard to leave for 5 weeks, but the idea of going to Europe and experiencing the culture of Italy and France for the first time is more than I can even comprehend. I do not want to forget a minute of it, so hopefully this blog will be filled with all the big and small memories that are made every single day.
Getting ready for this trip is not easy. Finals for a whole week and then one weekend to get everything ready to go on the following Monday. I feel like a mom leaving Karlee a check for Carbon's necessities.
I've had a lot of changes lately, so a blog is probably a good idea for my sanity alone. My black beauty Carbon has come into my life at the worst time possible, of course, but he is everything I've ever wanted. Other changes have been much more complex and will probably come out in time. I should be studying right now.
and out of nowhere, you stepped into my life
changing everything in the best way possible
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