back from spring break...

the past ten days have been a total blur! my crazy spring break began on friday with a 2am trip to the secret bakery since we were already awake to catch our 3am bus to the pisa airport. after an hour bus ride, we caught our 6am flight from pisa to eidenhoven where we took another hour bus ride to amsterdam. the whole reason we took that particular flight was to save money, but at the end of the experience, i think i would have rather paid the extra money to get a direct flight from florence to amsterdam! regardless of our lack of sleep, my roommate mairin and i were so happy to finally arrive in amsterdam around 11am on friday. it was so different that i had remembered it to be! while the city has its crazy parts, the residential areas are BEAUTIFUL!!! it reminded me very much of london. the first thing we did was find this restaurant that a couple of my other roommates had told us about called "wok to walk". everyone who has been to amsterdam says this place is amazing--and i couldn't agree more! you choose from different noodles, veggies and sauces. then, they mix it all up on these big iron bowls. yum! on our last day, we went to the anne frank house which was just as interesting as i had remembered it.

from amsterdam, we took a train to paris to meet up with the rest of our roommates. the three days we spent in that city were just so fabulous. the entire time i was there i couldn't stop thinking about my mom. every little thing there reminds me of her--it is such a magical place. we did all the typical sights along with some great restaurants and shopping. i told a couple of the girls that we needed to go to the trucadero where we could get an unbelievable view of the eiffel tower and take some great pictures. the minute we got there i had the most unreal flashback from my europe trip with my friends after highschool. on that trip, we took some of the most incredible pictures! i could close my eyes and imagine my highschool friends standing right next to me. as happy as i was to be there again with my new friends, i still wished i could be back in that moment from a few years ago. while in paris, we found the most delicious macaroons at this bakery called laduree--i have never tasted anything like them! 

after paris, we took another train to bordeaux. honestly, i had no idea what to expect! but once we got there, we had a blast. the tourist office told us about a wine and cheese tasting that was only 20 euro so we couldn't say no. the tasting ended up being just our friends and it lasted 3 hours. the best part was at the end when they told us it was time for the cheese tasting. they led us downstairs to this little room FULL OF CHEESE and said, "grab a plate and help yourself." we just about died!!!!! i had never seen that much cheese in one place and i didn't even know where to begin. every single bite was a bit of heaven!!! our favorites were the cheese rolled in apricots and the fabulous selection of brie. wow--even thinking about it now makes me smile! but the best part of bordeaux was yet to come. as i said, we had no idea what to do or eat while we were there so i went online and researched some places to eat. i came across a review for a restaurant called "cafe cassolette" that sounded great so we decided to go. it was probably the best decision we made while we were on spring break! the entire meal, start to finish, was totally and completely fantastic. we decided to order off of a section of the menu that allowed each person to select 5 different dishes--all of them were served in little casserole plates. our favorites included: chicken salad with pesto, salad topped with sauteed onions and cheese, chunks of potato with melted cheese and bacon, warm bree rolled in pepper, and warm apple topped with melted white cheese. i feel 20 pounds heavier just thinking about how much we ate. honestly, if anyone ever has a chance to go to bordeaux or is even in the area, it is worth it to go in to the town  JUST TO TRY THAT RESTAURANT!!!! we loved it so much that we went back both nights for dinner. i definitely left a part of my heart at that restaurant.

we took an overnight train from bordeaux to nice which was interesting. it made the most sense based on our limited amount of time to travel, but it wasn't the most comfortable choice! regardless, we got to nice early friday morning for the last part of our spring break. it was such a relaxing and fun town. by this point in the trip, only three of us were left (the rest had gone form paris to venice). it was the first time our bodies had seen bright sunlight in months! we were blissfully happy. as we sat on the beach drinking bottles of wine, we had to pinch ourselves to make sure it wasnt a dream. we agreed that we are, without a doubt, very very lucky girls. the rest of our time in nice was spent eating great food and visiting all the adorable local markets. we had read about a local speciality called "socca"--a thin chic-pea bread. while at one of the markets, we saw a woman cooking it so we immediately got in line to try it out. of course, it was delicious. i don't think we ate anything we didnt like! thats probably the reason some of my jeans don't fit anymore--good thing its springtime and i can wear dresses!

our last train from nice to florence was a long one but i was with great travel buddies so the whole experience was perfect! once we got back to florence, i was so excited to be "home". i just love italy! i had such a sense of calm when we all walked into the apartment after a crazy ten days of traveling. all in all, spring break was an absolute success. out of 7 girls noone lost their passport, missed a train, or had anything stolen--horray!

i have a bunch of pictures to post and will have that done tomorrow so i will post the link as soon as possible!

and now it's back to classes! 4 out the 7 girls  families are visiting this week so it is bound to be busy. i can't wait to continue exploring the city and preparing for my next trips to cinque-terre, budapest, the amalfi coast, capri, pompeii, sicily and possibly a day trip to naples just to taste the pizza. with only 6 weeks left i know i have to make the most of every moment!

i hope all is well with everyone! thank you for continuing to read about my adventures!!

lovelovelove 

three midterms down and one to go...

this week has proved to be one of the most stressful weeks thus far. my history of christianity midterm was on monday and i feel like it went well. i made a call to nana and g-dad the night before to have them help me with some of my unanswered questions. aren't i such a good little christian? :-) im actually really excited for my final paper in that class. we were able to choose any topic regarding christianity and my teacher suggested i look into mormonism. i was totally thrilled with his suggestion because i have always wanted to know more about the 'revivalist' religions (as my teacher calls them) like mormonism and jehovahs witness. he gave me the book 'under the banner of heaven' by jon krakauer to read as a jumping off point for my paper and from the first few pages, i can tell it is going to be really interesting. as for my midterm on tuesday, i just had to hand in a paper so that was a nice break from the constant chaos of memorization that all my other classes require. today i had my italian test which was, surprisingly, really great! tomorrow i have my history of the medici midterm which is going to be tough but ill keep my fingers crossed for the best. 

all plans are still on for spring break and it is bound to be memorable. a trip to budapest is also being added to next months agenda. i called mom yesterday because i had myself all worked up over the idea that i wasn't going to be able to accomplish everything i had planned to do. i listen to all the kids in my class talk about the fact that they travel every single weekend and i started to think that i wasn't making the most of my time over here. mom was kind enough to allow me to vent and today i feel much, much better. unfortunately i had allowed myself to become completely comfortable here in florence--i was taking this situation for granted which is something i never wanted to do. i talked about it with my roommates and we all agreed that we need to continuously remind ourselves just how blessed we are to be here. i can't be concerned with how the other kids in my class spend their time here, i just need to be satisfied with my experience and not try to 'keep up with the joneses'.

i will try and write while on spring break, but if not, i will post pictures and updates as soon as i get back! the weather here has been absolutely spectacular and i hope that everyone else is having a similar experience with the arrival of springtime!

lovelovelove

milan and midterms...

i just got back from milan and spent the last few days with mom and dad. i honestly did not expect to love milan as much as i did! it is such a fabulous city with absolutely ridiculous shopping! wow--if i lived there i would be in so much debt!! the quick 2 day trip started on thursday night when i met mom and dad at this great little restaurant with the best risotto i've had so far in italy. of course, mom and dad had already become best friends with the restaurant owner so he showered us with grappa and lemonchello. i've learned it doesn't hurt to get to know people in the restaurant business over here--they love giving free food and drinks to costumers they like. saturday started out with mom and i shopping all around the city. the clothes are like artwork over there. everything is so beautiful and i couldn't imagine actually wearing any of it. the entire trip mom and i kept saying that sofie and emma (my fabulous fashionista friends) would look incredible in EVERYTHING! mom read that above all of the designer stores like prada, louis vuitton and chanel there are apartments for the designers to come and stay--not a bad way to live, right? i found the most incredible prada bag and i couldn't bring myself to buy it. but they also have a great prada store here so i will have to bring all the roommates to get their opinion before i make my decision! i was super excited to find a really funky pair of reading glasses in this little eye glass store. i try to follow after mom and go for the totally unique glasses and milan definitely had them. after shopping, we went on a little tour of the city and to see da vinci's 'the last supper'. when i think about why i wanted to study abroad in italy--being able to see that painting was, without a doubt, one of the most prominent reasons. i am just so captivated by, not only its beauty, but also the controversy that surrounds it. the church where it is located only allows 10 groups of 25 people to see it every day. the process of even being able to get into the room is like trying to get into fort knox. you must past several automatic doorways that do not allow you in until the sensors can tell that everyone is within a certain parameter of the doors. when we were finally into the room, i was at a loss for words. it truly is just so magnificent. later that night, we went back to our favorite restaurant for dinner. the next morning, mom and dad had to leave early to catch their plane so i spent a couple hours walking around the city before catching my train back to florence.

as for now, i am studying for midterms! i had kind of forgotten that i was here for school! but it will all be worth it after this week because i leave for spring break on friday morning. i am going to amsterdam with one of my roommates (the rest are going to london), then we all meet in paris and continue on together to bordeaux and nice. it was probably the most stressful spring break i've ever planned but i know it will all be worth it! i went to amsterdam with mom, dad and bubba back when i was younger and to paris a few times (i feel so lucky to be able to say that!) but each experience is different and i can't wait to see all those places again. i am not the same person i was when i visited those locations last time, so i bet i will have a whole new outlook this time around. i won't have room to bring my computer but i will try and update yall throughout the trip.

mom and dad--thank you so much again for everything! you have no idea how much it means to me to share this experience with you! please please please give all the babies kisses for me. make sure that taco tummy has plenty of food, harley has lots of snuggle time and mr. max has his pillow just right.

s0f--you MUST go to milan. that city was made for you. mom and i kept saying that everything was "soooooo df!!"

julianna-thank you for taking care of mr. harls while mom and dad were gone. he was such a lucky boy to have you walking him!

hope everyone is doing well and has a great week!!

lovelovelove

mom and dad visit florence...

wow..the past week has been non-stop with mom and dad! it was so amazingly fabulous to see them! while i was able to meet up with them in rome for a night, i decided to take a train in a day early to see some sights on my own. i actually ended up seeing EVERYTHING in that one day! who says  you can't do rome in a day? it was really empowering to find my way around the entire city by myself, but there were times when i wish i could have had someone to look over to and say, "wow look how beautiful that is!" and although the history in that city is truly incredible, it wasn't my favorite place. it just felt like a big, dirty city to me. i have become to used to florence and it's tiny street corners and alleyways--rome just felt so...crazy and fast. but i would go back again in a heartbeat just to see the sistine chapel again. WOW!!! absolutely breathtaking.

mom and dad didn't get in until 11 that night so i decided to grab some dinner while i was waiting for them. the entire dinner experience was a bit weird. i made a reservation for one, and people just kept asking me, "are you sure no one is joining you?" every single person in the restaurant was staring at me all night! maybe italians don't eat alone. i brought my journal along  to update while i was eating--so i would sit and enjoy my dinner then open a page up and write some things down. i started to notice that the owner of the restaurant was even coming out to look at me. i think they thought i was a food critic! once i caught on to this, i would really act the part--id take a bite, think about it for a little, then write in my journal. it was pretty funny! after dinner i went back to the hotel and waited for mom and dad. the next day was rainy so we just did a little sightseeing before i had to get back on my train to florence.

on tuesday, mom and dad arrived in florence. i felt like i had so many places to take them so we got started right away and went to all the great restaurants and markets. i finally found a leather jacket that i wanted but i wanted to make sure that mom and dad thought the quality was nice. they loved it just as much as i did and mom surprised me and bought it as a late valentines day gift! ive worn it every day since then!! on saturday, dad decided we should rent a car and drive to lucca. i had heard so much about this tiny town and had been wanting to go since january. after finding our way out way out of the city, it was about an hour car ride to lucca. the entire city is walled in so we walked almost the entire wall while stopping to get lunch. it is a much more family oriented place than florence. it was so peaceful and quiet--one of my favorite places in italy. after a few hours there, we got back in the car and began the journey to find mom's favorite olive oil. we were driving directly on the coast! it was breathtaking. we ended up finding our way through the mountains at this beautiful house/ranch where they made their own olive oil! they spoke very little english so i had to piece together my italian to try and buy stuff for mom. we bought a five liter tin can full of their home made oil!! we have no idea how it tastes so i can't wait for mom and dad to try it when they get back in the states. 

while they were here i took them to some of my favorite places like the boboli gardens, san michele church, a bunch of fabulous restaurants and my new favorite place--the mago merlino tea house. one of my professors had told me about this place and because this professor is such a weird guy, i was interested to see what it was all about. i had gone for the first time last week and i knew i needed to take mom and dad. you are able to sit on the floor in this back room filled with pillows and just sit and drink all different kinds of home made teas. the chi tea is to die for! all the walls are lined with moroccan tapestries and the rooms smell like incense. it might sound like a shady place but it really is very cool. besides dragging mom and dad around the city, we were also able to relax and catch up. i can't believe they are already gone, but i am meeting up with them in milan on thursday!

this week i will be studying for midterms and getting my last minute planning done for spring break. i hope that this post finds everyone happy and healthy! ill update again as soon as i can!

lovelovelove 

julianna--i tried grappa and WOW!!! it really is like lighter fluid but i really really like it!!