Entry 10: 11-28-11   

Paris, what an incredible city and what a better way to start out a trip to Paris than with the best package I have received the whole time I’ve been in Italy. On Wednesday the 23rd of November I took a bus to Arezzo with a friend that was meeting her parents there. I tagged along because I was also meeting someone at the train station. My friend’s parents called while we were on the bus to say that they were waiting at the station and that they couldn't wait to see her. I had my camera ready to capture the moment of happiness on their faces once her parents and her were reunited. She ran towards them with a huge smile on her face and I ran after her trying to get an adorable picture of this moment. She reached them and I couldn't help but smile. She was so happy and it just made me miss the people that I love even more. As I snapped a few pictures it was almost like I was in a movie, the way the random people began to part and there he was. Right then I could feel a smile forming on my face and my eyes begin to water, I ran full force through the crowd and jumped into my boyfriend’s arms!  

He held me in his arms for it felt like years, squeezing me as tight as he could, never wanting to let me go. That moment was better than any landscape or master had made me feel this whole trip. We all got back on the bus to take our guests to see Sansepolcro and experience the life we have been living these past three months. Once we arrived we settled into the hotel and took a walk around this small town, pointing out the best places to eat, introducing Reeves, my boyfriend, to friends I have made here and just enjoying being reunited again.

Later that night we were trying to finalize everything that needed to be finalize before we left for Paris on Friday. The next day I took Reeves to Anghiari because if you ask me I believe that it is the best city to experience the beauty of Tuscany. If you walk on the edge of the walls in Anghiari you can really see what a Tuscan landscape looks like and take in and enjoy the beautiful scenery in front of you. Reeves really enjoyed this place as I knew he would. We headed back for a lovely thanksgiving meal with friends, by far the biggest thanksgiving dinner I have ever been a part of.

Friday morning we got up early to catch the bus to Bologna where we would take a plane to Paris. This was a full day of travel not giving us much time Friday night to enjoy Paris. This didn’t stop us though we put our things down in the hostel and were right back out on the town getting a good feel on the night life of Paris and being surrounded by the city of lights. That is exactly what Paris is, lights everywhere making everything even more beautiful. We grabbed a quick bite to eat next to Notre Dame, no big deal, and then walked towards the Eiffel Tower to try and catch its final finale of the night at 1:00 a.m. We stood on the streets of Paris and watched as the Eiffel Tower sparkled for the world to see. It was truly beautiful.

Afterwards we continued walking around trying to figure out our way around town and then decided we should probably head back and sleep considering we had a big day tomorrow. We needed to make connection on the metro to get back to our hostel but what the map for the metro fails to mention is that the metro doesn’t run after 2:00 a.m. So there we were five girls and Reeves in the middle of Paris with no way of getting to our hostel. We decided, heck why don’t we try and figure out the bus system while were here, so we did and though it was a little difficult and scary and got back safe and sound.

Saturday we began the morning with a free walking tour with a woman who loved history and better yet she was great at her job. She was hilarious but also very knowledgeable. I can honestly say it was one of the best tours I have ever been on. She took us to see everything in all of three hours. She also referred to us as her little ducklings. It was memorable to say the least. After the tour Reeves and I split up from the rest of the group to get some alone time but little did he know “alone time,” meant lots and lots of shopping!  Thankfully for me Reeves doesn’t completely despise shopping with me and I am nice and I let him go into stores he wants to too.

The Champs-Elysees is known around the world for its famous shopping and it might possibly be the longest street I have ever walked down. Beautiful from top to bottom and to make things even better at the bottom of the Champs-Elysees there was a Christmas Carnival going on that had more sweets than I have ever seen in one place.

After a day of shopping we sought out to find a place to eat and have a good glass of wine. I walked towards to Eiffel Tower to try and find a place but when we did this we were thinking about how expensive it could get. We looked at menus for almost ten different restaurants and then decided we were just going to walk all the way to the Eiffel Tower, go up it and then try to get dinner afterwards in a different part of town. Once we were almost there we passed a cute little place that we were sure was out of our price range but we looked at the menus anyway, and much to our surprise it was perfect!  I sat and ate a delicious meal, while looking at the Eiffel Tower, with my incredible boyfriend. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

After dinner we made our way to the Eiffel Tower finally to go up in it. The night we went it was actually very interesting because it was so foggy that you couldn't see the top of the tower at all. Normally I would be all for going to the top of the Eiffel Tower but this fog really creeped me out and I just couldn't bring myself to do it so we rode up to the second floor instead. I thought before that Paris was the city of lights but until you go up in the Eiffel Tower you have no idea just how incredibly astonishing Paris really is. This trip just kept getting better and better, not to mention holding hands with the person that I love and not getting hit on by hobos on the streets.

Sunday was going to be a full day of travel again but before we started our journey home we decided we couldn't possibly leave Paris without going inside Notre Dame and going to see the Luxembourg Gardens, and might I say that both were extraordinary. The Stained Glass in Notre Dame left me speechless as I walked out feeling like royalty. Lastly the Luxembourg Gardens was exactly what our groups needed just before a long travel back home. It was quiet and relaxing and beautiful. The perfect ending to the perfect trip and to add on to that this was the perfect last trip to have for the semester. I couldn't have been happier with the way things turned out for me these past three months. This was the ultimate study abroad experience and I am so grateful with how blessed I was with this trip of a lifetime.

 

Entry 9: 11-16-11

This week has been a stressful but surprising relaxing week. It started off with finding out about the seven papers that we have to write before we leave and that doesn’t exactly make a person happy, but that didn’t bring us down. We worked hard during the week trying to get everything we could done so that we would have an open weekend. Well, we didn’t work hard enough because by the time Friday rolled around we were still slammed with work. Some of the girls had already planned a trip to Barcelona, Spain that they weren’t about to pass up and I don’t blame them. They left that night and that left about 7 of us to hold down the fort at the Palazzo. We tried to focus on our work but everyone was in such a bad mood and so tired that it was impossible to get anything done so we came up with the best plan ever. We created a movie theater inside the Palazzo. I’m not sure why this idea had not been brought up before. We grabbed the projector from the classroom and some blankets and curled up with each other deciding to watch “Anchor Man.”

This what exactly what we needed. We all just needed to calm down and enjoy each others company for a little bit. We needed to forget about how much work we had to do and just enjoy ourselves. That is why we are here and that is exactly what we did. After that movie we decided that we would bring it back a few years and enjoy a few episodes of “Boy Meets World,” an extremely popular T.V. show from our childhood that we had forgotten how much we loved. Then we went to bed and actually might have gotten our first night of good, long sleep. 

We woke up rejuvenated and ready to work. After working on papers and other homework all day Saturday we had another movie night and after we actually had a little dance party with ourselves. We turned on some music and just jammed out with each other not worrying about all that needed to be done but just having fun. We decided that the others that were in Barcelona were having a ton of fun so why shouldn’t we. We had smiles on our faces and to me that is a successful weekend.

Sunday we all looked forward to a home cooked meal made by Dr. Bailey, affectionally known as Mama B, and when it was 7:30 we all ran to the kitchen hungrier than ever. Waiting for us was a pot full of baked potato soup, buffalo chicken dip, and a whole platter of fresh cut vegetables, basically everything we had wished for. We sat down and had a fantastic meal together, once again enjoying each other’s company one last time before we had to get back to the insane amount of work awaiting us. Interestingly enough, my weekend events weren’t quite over just yet. Some local friends of ours invited a few of us to go and see a movie with them in the cinema in Arezzo. We hesitated for a minute but then our friends proceeded to tell us they wanted to take us to see the “Lion King” in 3D!  This was an offer we couldn’t refuse. Though I had a great time staying in for the weekend watching movies with my roommates I was longing to get out of the Palazzo and breathe. We rode to Arezzo with them after getting more of our homework done and it was worth it. The movie theaters in Italy were surprisingly comfortable. I’m not sure why but I wasn’t expecting that. It was so interesting to finally see a movie in Italian and it was even greater seeing “The Lion King,” because it was a movie that we knew well enough what was going on to understand a little bit of the Italian.

At the end of the movie I was satisfied with my weekend, because I knew that even though I felt like I didn’t get much done I still had a great time and enjoyed myself. My whole weekend was solely based on food, homework, movies and spending time with friends. For most people back home that sounds like a normal weekend, and I guess you just don’t realize how great those weekend are until you go without them for a long time. I’m starting to miss home, but at the same time I never want to leave this place because it is almost like my second home now. Can all of my family and friends just come live with me in Italy?  I believe everyone would be happier that way.

Entry 8: 11-09-11

The last travel break of the semester I traveled to the Amalfi Coast. It was a wonderful time. I visited Sorrento, Capri, and also the ruins of Pompeii. This trip was a bit hectic compared to other trips so far. Everything was running smoothly, we didn’t get sick on the bus to Arezzo, we got on the train we wanted and we had a great train ride to Naples but it was when we arrived in Naples, that we were in for a sweet surprise. I got off the train and headed towards the metro that would then take us to our hotel in Sorrento but when we asked for four metro tickets to Sorrento the man looked us in the eye and said, “No train,”  and continued his conversation that he was having with a co-worker. Our eyes got very big and we began to panic. We got the man’s attention again and asked him what he meant by no train and he explained to us that there was a train strike that day and the next train we would be able to get would be tomorrow. At this point we were freaking out because everything we had ever heard about Naples was bad and not to spend more than an hour there and definitely not to go outside the train station. We began to try and figure out what we were going to do, we didn’t have a taxi number and we surely weren’t about to stay in Naples overnight.

Suddenly a man tapped on the shoulder of one of the girls I was with and said, “Sorrento? I take you there.”  We really started to panic and walk away saying, “no thank you.”  He walked with us and was trying to tell us that he was with a taxi company and showed us his card. He continued to tell us to cost and to follow him. We looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders because at this point we weren’t quite sure what to do. We consulted and decided we would take him up on his offer, but just in case he turned out to be a fake or dangerous we had a backup plan: to run!  

The man then walked us out of the train station and walked us down many different streets. We started to worry because we were getting farther and farther from the train station, but we still followed. Finally we got to the cab and we hopped in. Everything looked real and safe so we decided we would be ok, but on the way there we would still be watching every street sign making sure we were going the right way. After an hour of being in the tiny cab we arrived at our hotel. We glanced around to see what Sorrento had to offer near to us and then headed in to see room in the hotel. We rested for just a minute and then we were off to a see the beautiful Capri that we had heard so much about.

We took to ferry to the island of Capri and walked around for a little while admiring the scenery surrounding us. The famous cave that Capri is known for was closed due to bad weather so for us that meant shopping and lots of it. We took the bus all over Capri hopping off at many different shops, checking out all the different mineral stones and cameos that Capri was so known for. Many of the girls that I was with bought a cameo ring and I bought a mineral stone ring from a sweet old man who owned his own shop and made many of his pieces by hand. After we had spent all of our money we started back towards Sorrento where we would get dinner and walk the streets to experience the night life of Sorrento. We ate at an amazing little restaurant on the market strip, which was right outside our hotel window. They had cheesy pizza that melted in your mouth and lasagna square that made my mouth water. After such a long day we went back to the hotel and went to bed around 8:00, that just sums up how tired we really were!

Saturday was completely devoted to Pompeii and climbing Mount Vesuvius. We took the metro to Pompeii where we paid for a tour that drove us up to Mount Vesuvius half way and then we got to climb the rest of the hike to see the crater. The longer we hiked the colder it got but once we got to the top I felt like I had accomplished something great because on my left was an active volcano that destroyed Pompeii and on my right was the view of a life time. It was incredible. You could see for miles and miles to the point where you couldn't tell where the ocean ended and the sky started. It was a moment in my lifetime that I hope I never forget.

We climbed back down and went to walk through the ruins of Pompeii. Once we arrived I thought it was going to be about a block or so of ruins but when we actually walked inside it went forever. We spent three hours walking around the ruins trying to imagine the life that had taken place there and the lives that were lost. There is so much that I feel like I missed. I could have stayed for five more hours and still not been able to see everything I wanted to see. The ruins weren’t the only thing stopped me in my tracks but even looking past the ruins you really can’t describe the beauty in Italy’s landscapes. They leave me speechless every time I see a new place and a different season. They remind you how beautiful life really is.

All of my travel breaks so far combined have reminded me just how beautiful life really is and to never take anything for granted and to always live in the moment.

Entry 6: 10-26-11
 
This weekend was just another weekend in Sansepolcro, but we did have an eventful day in Perugia with some friends.  The Eurochocolate festival was happening in  Perugia and one of our local friends asked us if we would like to join him in going to the festival.  How could you turn down a question like that?  So we hopped in the car and were off to Perugia.  What we didn't know was that our friend that was driving had no idea where he was going once we got to Perugia.  We quickly pulled out the map and tried to direct him but the language barrier was making this a struggle.  

When we finally arrived, we walked up four enormous flights of stairs up to the city and once we stepped foot onto the actual city I felt as if I was in a movie.  The stonework and architecture that surrounded me was beautiful beyond words.  Walking towards the festival we saw people walking back with bags of chocolate in every shape and form and once we reached the top we were in chocolate heaven.  There was chocolate for miles down the streets of Perugia.  There were chocolate bears that stood eight feet tall and chocolate kisses that weighed two hundred pounds.  Every type of chocolate you could think of in one place.  The great thing about this festival was that they loved giving out samples and since we are broke college students we gladly took advantage of this opportunity.  
               
After walking around for awhile we decided to see a little bit of Perugia while we were there so we headed towards the outside of the walls and just as we turned the corner to one of the streets we saw the most incredible view from the top of the mountain.  This view put me at a loss for words, because I could not only see all of the lower part of Perugia but mountains for as far as I could see.  It was a beautiful painted picture that god had painted right before my eyes.  It gave me a sense of hope that this world really is a beautiful place.  We just have to find the beauty in the world to really see it.  After that moment of seeing this memorable view I had a smile on my face.
               
While we were walking back we decided we just couldn't leave without trying Italian hot chocolate so we stopped at the first place we saw that sold it.  As we were walking up it looked like they were putting on a performance after the performance ended we realized they were shooting a commercial for the hot chocolate company.  We immediately asked if we could be in it.  With huge grins on our faces they said yes and we signed a release just incase they actually decided to air ours.  We grabbed fake instruments and put on funny looking wigs and waited for our cue.  The lady with the big chocolate action sign help it up and yelled, "Action!", The hot chocolate song came on and we began to jam out.  We tapped it three times and as a reward they gave us free hot chocolate!  
               
After the very successful day in Perugia we went back to the car and tried to determine where we wanted to eat dinner.  The local boy who was driving us quickly spoke up and said he would like to take us to a beautiful place that was very delicious.  No one argued with that, so we headed back to Sansepolcro to find this unknown place.  When we got there, from the outside of the building it looked like an old antique shop but once we walked in it was like stepping into a royal museum.  Everything was laced with gold and there were statues all around the dining area, it was just very beautiful.  Since we didn't have to spend any money at the chocolate festival we decided it would be ok the buy a nice dinner.  We sat down and were served a glass of the house wine and a basket of bread, those two things alone could have made me want to come back to this place in the future but then they brought out their specialty pizza's and that left no doubt in my mind that I would definitely be returning.  Nothing could have topped this weekend off better than that incredible day.

Entry 5: 10-19-11

Venezia Italia, what an incredible city! The trip to Venice was the greatest, and once we got there it made up for the terrible route there. The trip started out with a 5:30 in the morning curvy bus ride to Arezzo where we would hop a train to Venice. We got to Venice by 10:00 A.M., and have a full day ahead of us. Well, I’ve never gotten motion sickness before, but this bus driver was going a little faster than usual and it was also very early in the morning and I happen to already too sick from the weather changing so drastically around me. We had already been on the bus for about 45 minutes and I had to keep telling myself, “We’re almost there, Erin, we’re almost there,” but it wasn’t enough. Right there in the beginning of the day, I regurgitated right onto the seat of the bus. I couldn’t believe how embarrassed I was! I was just ready to get off that bus and get to Venice at that point.

As soon as we got off the bus we got in line for our train tickets and much to our surprise, there were no more seats and the next train available was 3 hours from then. So we sighed and got the later tickets and went to a local cafe that happened to be the only place open since we were there so early. Basically the trip to Venice was off to a horrible start. I didn’t have a pleasant bus ride, our train tickets were sold out, and then we had to sit and wait for 3 hours in a coffee shop when we could have been sleeping. Needless to say no one was happy.

Once we got to Venice everyone’s attitudes completely turned around. We were ready to have an amazing time and nothing was going to stop us. As we walked out of the doors to the train station we were greeted by the Grand Canal, only one of theoldest and most visited places in the world. It was a beautiful sight to see and we were anxious to see more but first we needed to get settled in our hostel. As we took the water boat down to Grand Canal to get to our hostel we were amazed by the breath taking architecture and definition in the ancient city that surrounded us. When we arrived at our hostel we were surprised to find that we were staying in a palace, one that Casanova himself had stayed in.

We dropped off our stuff and headed out on the town. We went straight to San Marco’s square and checked that out and then went into San Marco’s Cathedral, which was beyond royalty. The Cathedral was covered in gold; from top to bottom everything shined. It made me feel like royalty just by standing in this incredible place. Knowing that this Cathedral was hundreds of years old and being able to tell and picture workers and artist building this place. I sat there and couldn't comprehend how it was all possible, but I was amazed by the work and wished those workers and artists knew that the master piece they created is still being looked at in aw today.

We went back to get some sleep after exploring for the day but when we got back our hostel owner had other plans for us. He took everyone out to show us the best places to hangout at night and pointed out interesting things to possibly do tomorrow. He was like a more realist version of a tour guide for teens and the best part was that he was free. Finally we got back to the hostel and had a very cold and uncomfortable sleep.

This didn’t stop us from waking up with a smile on our faces. We had a big day ahead of us. We went straight to the island of Moreno to explore glass and glass blowing. When we got there we bought lots of gifts and presents for ourselves. Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time there because we planned to go to the Guggenheim Museum that day, as well. So hopped on the water taxi and headed to the Guggenheim Museum where we saw beautiful pieces of artwork.

After the Guggenheim we decided we really wanted to go on a gondola ride and this was the perfect place to do it, right in the middle of the Grand Canal. We negotiated with the gondolier and he made us a good price, so we crammed onto the gondola and were off. He took us through a lot of back streets, which was really nice to get away from the busy canal and have silence while we admired the old buildings. The driver took us by Casanova’s house and also by Marco Polo’s house as well. Then he dropped us of just in time to do some more shopping.

Once we had spent all of our money, we got back to the hostel and were surprised to see that everyone staying in the hostel was in the common area talking and waiting. We sat our things down and went to see what was going on. We asked around and it seemed that our hostel made a three course dinner for us for the price of only 5 euro. This was an amazing deal so we quickly jumped at the opportunity to join since we didn’t have much money left anyway to waste on an expensive meal. We had a lovely and filling dinner that we were more than satisfied with and since we met so many new people though we were tired we just couldn’t turn them down when they asked us to join them for another night on the town. So we went and had fun cutting up and meeting new people, learning different cultures, and bonding with new friends.

This was a trip that I never guessed would have turned out so great. We made great new friends in such an old town and being surrounded by beauty. I couldn’t have asked for a more spectacular weekend than one like this.

Entry 4: 10-12-11

This week in Italy a lot of the girls, including myself, thought it would be nice to spend the weekend in Sansepolcro. It had an incredibly busy week this past week and we really just needed to have weekend where all we had to do was sleep in and lounge around. Don’t let this be mistaken for a boring weekend in Italy by any means. Currently we have been so stressed out and on edge for all the deadlines and studying that needed to be done that if we wouldn’t have stayed in and rested this weekend there’s a good chance some of our girls would have gone insane. Not to mention the Tuesday following this well needed stress free weekend was our Italian 101 final.

We knew that before we started to study anything for Italian we had to get out of the Palazzo. With all the work and studying going on we have barely had a chance to get out and get some Vitamin C so we agreed that Friday night we would all go out and enjoy a night on the town and not have to worry about anything. Unfortunately this plan was shot because Friday rained all day and no one was out, so a cute outfit wasn’t going to be wasted on a crappy night. Girls’ night still had to happen, so we cuddled up in our comfortable clothes, wrapped up in warm blankets and all crowded in the lounge to watch “Pretty Little Liars,” everyone’s favorite T.V. Show. We watched episode after episode laughing and cutting up, just enjoying each other’s company until we were all so worn out that we had to go to sleep.

The next day the weather was beautiful and everyone was inching to feel sun dancing on their skin again so we all got up, got semi cute considering we had been wearing nothing but sweatpants and a t-shirt for the past week, and we went out. It felt so great to see locals we hadn’t seen in a while and walk by the shops that had changed their windows since we had last been out. Later that night one of our good friends in town invited us to a pub that he would be DJing for the night. We were so excited and just couldn’t turn him down. When we arrived the music was pumping and you couldn’t help but start to dance. This is exactly what the doctor ordered after such a stressful week. We all got up on stage with our friend who was spinning the records dancing and having such a great time.

We were a little disappointed when we realized we weren’t going to be able to travel this weekend, but sometimes a simple weekend at home is just what you need. For us that is exactly what we needed. This week wasn’t about traveling and seeing the world but it was about realizing that we still were traveling and seeing the world it just didn’t feel like it because we have made Sansepolcro home for us. We sometimes forget that we are thousands of miles away from our actually home because being here feels so natural. I believe now I can say I have a second place apart from the statesthat I call home.

Entry 3: 10-4-11

Cinque Terre Paradise

Cinque Terre is five cities grouped together on the coast of Italy and it happens to be the closest place to paradise that I have ever seen. We left early Friday morning around 6:50 to catch the bus to arezzo that led us to the trains we needs to get to Monterosso, Cinque Terre, the place of which we were staying. We ran into some trouble with ticketing, but soon figured it out with a little help from the desk at the train station. After 4 hours on 3 different trains, I was hoping this place was worth it and once I began to see bodies of water I knew it would be.

Once we arrived in Monterosso, we hopped off the train and headed to get our Cinque Terre cards that we would need to hike the mountains to get to the other 4 cities. Then we walked out of the station and there it was: paradise, beautiful, incredible love for what was right in front of us. I had been to many different beaches but this was like nothing I had ever seen. We were all at a loss for words, all we could do was smile and stare at this breath taking picture God had painted for us. We began to walk to the hotel and on the walk we just kept saying, "Is this real? Is it a dream? Someone pinch me," but what we didn't know is that from there it was only going to get better.

We arrived at the hotel, got our key and as the kind man opened the door to our room we were all a bit confused. There were 4 doors behind the door he opened so we had the same reaction anyone would have. We asked which one was ours, but to our surprise they all were! We were paying 25 euro a night to have a full apartment for the weekend! We had nine beds, our own bathroom, a kitchen, a living area and a terrace that overlooked the city. Our mouths were wide open because we couldn't believe that this was really happening. There were only five of us staying there and we had nine beds! We settled in and quickly got our bathing suits on to soak up the sun on this perfect day.

We got the the water and couldn't comprehend how there wasn't one thing we didn't like about this place. The water was Windex blue! You could see to the bottom of the ocean for miles. Gorgeous landscapes that were only seen in pictures were in the palm of my hand. As I picked up a small flat rock and skipped across the never ending Windex blue ocean my dream became real and I knew this would be my paradise forever. As we laid there on the beach a man came by yelling, "Coco Bella Coco." at the time I had no idea what he had in his basket but as he approached us I could see that he was carrying fresh coconut straight from the trees and selling them for one euro each. And since we were there to have a full Cinque Terre experience we each bought a piece, still in shock that all of this was happening.

When we decided we had enough sun for the day we headed back to get ready for our first seafood meal since we left the states and was it so worth it. We ate at a restaurant, up on a cliff, overlooking the water while a man played his saxophone for us as we enjoyed our lovely meal.

The next day we woke up early to get a head start on hiking across all of Cinque Terre. We stopped every few steps to look back and take in how beautiful this place was and as we made our rounds to every city it there were no words for how satisfied this place made me feel. I have truly found my paradise and can't wait to go back.

Journal Entry #2: 9-21-11

Third week in Italy was breath taking. It came time for us to have our first excursion as a group. We were all so excited because we were about to enter a beautiful city that most of us had only learned about in books or had seen in movies of this place but we were about to experience Florence first hand.

We took a bus from Sansepolcro to Arezzo and then we took a train from Arezzo to Florence. When we got off the train in Florence I was shocked to see how many people were there, I was used to Sansepolcro, a small little town I was beginning to call home. Dr. Bailey, our head director, starts pointing out things as we are walking to our hotel and once we turned a small corner next to the train station and I saw all those tents I was in a shopping coma. The Sanbrenzo market in Florence is like nothing I’ve ever seen it was tent after tent of scarves, leather goods, purses and so much more. I knew then that I would need to find a bank really soon because this is the place I was probably going to spend a majority of my money and I did.

Then after we passed through the market, Dr. Bailey said, “Ok around this corner is something spectacular, so get ready,” and there it was, the Duomo. The Duomo took me completely by surprise considering it was placed literally in the middle of a piazza with all of Florence surrounding it. You could walk up and touch it, it was just so unbelievable. I wish I could have looked at it for three hours. It was the most beautiful thing that I ever looked at with my bare eyes. The detail put into this incredible structure left me speechless. The marble placement and even the colors were just too good to be true. It’s hard to believe that man actually built such a beautiful place.

After experiencing this amazing sight we finally got to our hotel after forty-five minutes to settle in and set down our things, but we didn’t waste one minute. We were quickly changed and off to see the rest of the beautiful city. About an hour later we all ran into each other at the market, so we decided to eat dinner together at a close by cafe. We shared what we each had purchased and enjoyed delicious pizza for dinner. Eventually, after talking for a few hours we went back to our hotel and enjoyed a well-deserved night’s rest.

The next morning was a full day of sightseeing that we all were extremely excited about. Our first stop was the Pitti Palace, an art museum only about ten minutes from where we were staying. We got to be exposed to Rubens and Donatellos up close. Walking through the Pitti Palace was very interesting because everything was a piece of artwork. There wasn’t one bare wall or one empty ceiling. Everything had been painted on or sculpted. To think artists took the time to focus on every little detail makes me want to spend hours looking at the paintings. There were at least twenty paintings per room and I regret not spending more time to look at every single one. I could have easily spent days looking and admiring the time and hard work put into those paintings and sculptures.

After we left the Pitti Palace we split up into our own groups and roamed around Florence looking at the architecture and other beautiful places around the city. As the day was coming to an end everyone headed back to the hotel and began to get ready for Allison’s birthday. We had already made reservations to eat at a restaurant behind the Duomo. We took pictures and then headed to dinner. We all sat down outside and looked up and we were literally eating dinner facing the Duomo. If you

have ever eaten dinner on the water this didn’t compare. It was so beautiful. After dinner we went to go see what the night life was around Florence, we then ran into two girls that wanted to bring us to a place called the Fish Bar. There we met several Americans. The bar began to play American music and started dancing having such a great time. Once it got pretty late we all headed back for another well’ deserved night’s sleep, to wake up to one hectic Sunday.

On Sunday we were supposed to catch a train back to Arezzo and then the bus back to Sansepolcro but the train strikers had other plans for us. We all met for our departure from the Florence train station and as we waited, we began to notice that many of the trains weren’t running and a lot of trips were being cancelled, so we waited and waited to see what would happen with ours. Finally our departure pops up on the board and says cancelled, so this being the first real trip we were taking, to see that our train was cancelled and we had a test the next day for our Italian class we were very worried. Dr. Bailey started to call around and see what options we had.

Suddenly we saw a train that was leaving for Rome but we knew it had to make stops on the way so we grabbed our bags and began running towards the train full force. The train was going to be stopping by Arezzo so we quickly hopped on.

Once we got to Arezzo we would have to take a bus to get back to Sansepolcro, but buses ran regularly so we weren’t too worried about it but we didn’t even think about the fact that it was Sunday. Sundays are the worst days for buses because there are usually only about three buses that run. Unfortunately for us we missed the one we needed to get on by two minutes leaving us in Arezzo for four hours waiting for the next bus. This wouldn’t have been such a terrible thing if it wasn’t Sunday because it would have giving us a chance to roam around Arezzo for a little while but since it was Sunday absolutely nothing was open. We walked around for about an hour and then we sat singing songs at the bus stop for several more hours. If all of us didn’t like to sing this could have been a terrible trip but good news for us, we loved it! So my trip to Florence was amazing. I have no regrets and I can’t wait to visit again.

Journal Entry 1: 9/14/11


Traveling to Italy was the longest but most exciting experience I've ever had in my life. I have never flown for longer than two hours on a plane, so having to be on a plane for a total of 10 hours completely drained me. I wanted to sleep so badly, but it was impossible to accomplish this task. Looking back on it I'm so glad I didn't fall asleep, because while looking out the window I was actually seeing the world for the first time! As soon as the plane landed in Rome we were all bursting with energy because we couldn't believe we were finally here. It took us about 45 minutes to get completely through the Rome airport, having to go through customs and baggage claim. Finally, we walked outside to find that our bus was nowhere to be found. We searched forever and it was beginning to hit us that we needed to learn Italian and we needed to learn it fast! No one could understand us and for the first time we were speaking the wrong language. Eventually, we found the bus and had a very bumpy ride to our new home in Sansepolcro.


After 3 hours on the bus we all felt like we were going to lose our stomachs. We arrived at the Port of Fiorentina and were greeted by our directors and people we would soon call our friends. As soon I walked through the doors of the Palazzo Alberti I was blown away and we weren't even allowed to see our rooms yet. I couldn't believe how big and beautiful it was. We immediately sat down at a long lovely laid out table, set with pasta dishes, black bamboo place mats and a basket of fresh bread that I couldn't wait to dig into. Alexsandra, the assistant cook to Margarita, the head chef, began to bring out course by course of this amazing and delicious food that was almost too good to be true. Once it started to melt in my mouth, I knew I was going to love this place. After lunch we got settled in and began to learn about what the town was about and places to go and things to see.


Walking around the first night out and looking in the windows of the shops on the main street we saw Renaissance items on display in most of them. The first weekend here the town of Sansepolcro was hosting a event called the Balestra, which originated in 1594 and is a crossbow competition between Sansepolcro and Gubbio, a neighboring city. This event happens twice a year, once in May and once in September. It is a huge deal in these small cities to keep a tradition such as this one. It was an honor to be invited to participate in this exciting tradition. We dressed in lovely renaissance attire and processed around the town holding up our Meredith College banner, having everyone look at us and take pictures, saying "Gli americani soon qui," meaning "the Americans are here." It was such an exhilarating feeling to be a part of something this small town has carried on for years. We have beautiful pictures that I know I will look back on and smile knowing that I was a part of something so special in a foreign country the first week I was here. This has been two of the best weeks of my life and I can't wait to see what else Italy has to offer.