Vino, Vino...Me Piace Vino Molto

    Tuesday, Anna (my good friend in the pensione) and her mother and a couple other girls and there mom’s invited me to go on a wine tasting! It was Hanna’s birthday so we thought why not! There was 8 of us: Myself, Hanna (miss 21 bday girl!), Nicole, Anna, Anna’s mom, Michelle and her mom, and the mom’s friend Ginny. Our tour guide was a younger woman named Monika who moved here in the late 70’s from Germany as a young adult, and hasn't left since! She was simply amazing. We went to 3 different vineyards to taste wine and olive oil! The olive oil was amazing. It was so green and flavorful, seriously unlike anything we have in the US. We had such a great time with all the girls, just laughing and drinking wine. Some of the moms and girls started pouring out their glasses after mid-sip because they knew we had alot of wine to get through. However, Hanna and I were going to make the best of our 50 euro and we drank every glass they gave us at each stop! It was simply fabulous. I emailed Monika and arranged her to give Mom and Dad a tour too because it was just a great time seeing Tuscany.
(Michelle, Nicole, Me, Hanna the BDAY GIRL, and Anna)
 
 The Girls with Ginny, Monika the tour guide, and Fernando 

 The girls with Michael, an American who moved out to Tuscany to produce his own wine

 The girls and the moms!

Under the Tuscan Sun

 After Rome and Barcelona the weekend before and my parents coming the upcoming weekend, I decided to have a weekend in Florence to myself. My two friends Hanna and Nicole and I decided we would do touristy Florence things which we never really take the time to do. Which was perfect since Mom & Dad were coming and I wanted to be prepared! :) We also spent this weekend listening to Christmas songs and getting ready for Christmas time. Early? I think not! Since there’s no Thanksgiving here, it technically is the holiday season already! Anyways, Friday morning we got up early and headed to a sandwich shop called the “Oil Shop” only open on the weekdays. Its famous with Study Abroad students so we had to see what the hype was about. It was pretty good. We then ate them in Santa Croce, which is an old Church and one of my favorites. The piazza is pretty big so we ate, and talked, and people watched. Florence is the prettiest when you just take the time to sit and watch. There’s always Italians arguing, or just talking at an arguing volume, and tourists wandering aimlessly. It’s nice.
 
We then decided to go to the Bobili gardens. They are behind the Pitti Palace, a giant old palace which belonged to the Pitti family and now contains museums. We wandered around and ran into our friend Bobby who lives in our pensione.

(art in the garden)

After seeing most of the garden we decided to lay in the grass and just admire the views. It was freezing so we got all snuggly, hence the photo our friend Bobby took. Bobby, who has been singing all his life, serenaded us. We demanded Christmas tunes, naturally. We laughed and listened thinking how this should totally be apart of a movie. His voice is amazing, sorta gospely and soulful. It was the perfect day. It was one of those moments when you sit and think, "I'll always remember this exact moment and how it feels". Those moments are so rare, but they are the ones that will always last. We then headed back to the Penisone to freshen up for dinner. After a delicious meal at one of our local spots “Il Gato e Volpe” (the cat and wolf) we came back and watched a movie. It was a great day.

The next morning we got up and did some homework. We then went to the Pitti palace to look around and hit up some of the museums. Our favorite was the Costume museum which has gowns and outfits dating from the modern time till the 1600s. There was so many pretty outfits in there and it was really cool to see all the different styles of the days. We wandered around for a couple hours, and then went inside the Cathedral, the Duomo. Walking by it everyday is one thing, but the inside is beautiful and HUGE! We then had dinner, and went out for a little.

 (above: outside the Duomo, below: the inside of the Duomo)

   Sunday we took a trip to Fiesole, which was an Etruscan (civilization, pre-Roman) settlement. It’s in the hills overlooking Florence and really gives some awesome views! It’s a pretty quaint town but it’s beautiful. There’s a monastery and church at the top that we got to peek through. We sat and looked down on Florence and talked about how lucky we all were. It’s weird to think how quickly time is flying by. I’ve been marking the end of my semester when my parents come, since I only have 2 weekends after they leave. And now that they are here, I am so happy to see them, but also sad knowing my time is ticking. Which is why we spent this whole weekend doing as much as we could. I’m just not ready to say goodbye to Florence.

Roman Around!

I have been a bad blogger. Or a lazy one at least! Two weekends ago, I was in Rome with my class, Roman Art & Architecture.
 
We left Friday morning at 6 am, and I was less than my bubbly self to put it nicely. Thank god we had a 3 hour bus ride for me to get some shut eye! There’s about 25 kids in my class, plus my teacher and 2 staff for assistance. We arrived at 10am, and went straight to business.
        Before I begin talking about my trip, I need to first explain our tour guide, aka my teacher, Professor Carrera. Although, I’m fairly certain that words cannot adequately describe her. She is about, oh I don’t know, 90? Okay, alright, she’s in her late 60’s AT LEAST. She’s taught so many people’s parents who were in Florence God knows how long ago. She was initially from Puerto Rico and the States, but eventually met a Florentine and has been here ever since. She is a trip. She repeats herself constantly and claims to know everyone’s names by heart (she also teaches the Intro to Florence class, which I am in, so that makes another 80 students, totaling about 100 plus students). In ONE conversation she called me Allie, then Amy, then after I corrected her, she said Oh I know Abby. So….that’s her, in a nutshell. Which seems the appropriate colloquialism since she is A NUT.
       But we all love her, you just have to learn to love her.  Professor Carrera claimed prior to this trip that she “would kill us!” from all the walking we were to do in Rome. We laughed, being that she’s been around since the antiquity and is like 5 foot nothing. WE WERE WRONG. This trip was more sightseeing and touring than ever thought possible. We saw Rome like no one else. It was amazing, but defiantly an exhausting weekend.

The Arch of Titus


Colosseum, or the Flavian Ampitheater (which is the actual name of the building, the name Colosseum came much later as a nickname, since Flavian built the temple of the colossal statue of Nero, a former emperor who was insane. Hence, the location of the building on the colossal statue made it the "colosseum") there's a little lesson for ya.
 
  So we arrived at 10 am and saw everything to see in Rome till about 6 p.m. The deal with the class going there was that we students would present all the art pieces and monuments/buildings. So before the trip we signed up for 3 pieces to research and then present to the class in front of the work. It was really a great learning experience. Not only did we get much more involved and engaged, it made the day go by faster since the “guide” would change at everything we stopped in front of. Day 1 we packed it in! The Palazzo Massimo museum, the colosseum, the Arch of Titus, the Forum, The Sacred Way, The Borghese museum. By the time 5 rolled around and we were waiting to get inside the Borghese museum we were all laying on the grass outside of pure exhaustion. Until the horrid woman (just kidding) made us go inside. However this was my favorite museum. The Bernini sculptures blew my mind. The way he used the marble to show weight and depth was incredible (don’t I sound cultured!) but really. Google image him and you will get some pretty sweet sculptures. We couldn't take pictures inside the museum so I can’t show any.


The Roman Forum (or what's left)

The Spanish Steps, and my friend McCall (who's a Manhattan beach local!)

 

The Pantheon (by far one of the coolest buildings I've seen in Europe; 1st c AD, meaning "house of the gods" dedicated to the 7 Planetary Roman gods) NOT to be confused with the paRTHEnon, professor carrera said she'd fail us.

    The next day was another jam packed day. We headed to the Vatican city to see the Museum, the Sistine chapel,etc. I really enjoyed being there, but it was a different experience than I expected. With so many people there, I really didn’t feel like I was anywhere holy, let alone where all (well, most of) the Popes lived. It was a little much. However, the Sistine chapel, art-wise was amazing. It was just hard to stay there long without being pushed over by an Asian tourist who JUST had to have the perfect picture of them not smiling in the chapel, though pictures weren’t allowed. But I snuck one on my iPhone :)

Sistine Chapel fresco

St. Peter's Square

    We then went to St. Peters, and what seemed like a thousand other churches. The last church was the Church of Gesu, the “mother” of all Jesuit Churches, where St Ignatius lived and studied.We even got a private tour of his quarters next to the church. It was pretty cool, being that I go to Loyola Marymount where our mascot is “Iggy the Lion” after IGnatius..(Iggy, Iganatius, get it?) The church was over the top decorated. Professor said Ignatius prayed in his quarters and then would walk next door to the church and after entering the church he’d lose his faith again and have to go back to his quarters to reflect. Old people humor. It really is amazing though, being in Rome. Everything is so old, and you really feel like you’ve time traveled. After the tour, we,with the little energy we had (and the coffee I refused to go without) headed to see the Colosseum at night. It was so much more stunning without all the crazy tourists everywhere. Plus the way its lit up, all you want to do is stand in front of it and stare. Which is basically what we did. We then met up with some friends who are studying there, but go to Gonzaga, and went to an irish bar...what did you think I was TOO tired to go out? Please. It was a fun night.

Colosseum at night (first: with flash, second: sans flash)

    The next morning we toured more churches, yes, there are even more than I thought. We were supposed to go to Ostia Antica, which was the ancient port of Rome for more relics, but with the weather forecast predicting rain we couldn't go since it wouldn’t be safe since its all dirt. This gave us our first day-time free time! We decided to go hear the Pope speak in St. Peter’s square. We waited an hour or so, and finally he came out and gave a speech in Italian. He then addressed all the people in their native language that he knew. He knew a ton, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian (obviously), Dutch, German, English. He wished us a Blessed Sunday and peace and thanked us for coming. It was so cool. With my camera which has aweeeesome zoom I got some pics of the Pope. Pretty cool.

 

 Yep, that's him!

    After that we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the hotel and back to Florence. Definitely my most educational trip thus far!

Halloween..more or less

So Halloween isn't really Italy's thing. Which I thought was perfect, since Halloween is so not my thing. But all the GIF kids were convinced we should get costumes. Slim pickings, may I add. So things got a little creative...and a little weird. Mom sent me some fake moustaches in my care package (total score!) a couple weeks ago, so all we knew was that we would be men. Or women wearing moustaches, regardless. So Me, Nicole, Niki and Kyndra all ended up to be "lumberjacks", which involved flannels, jean shorts, boots,and the obvious moustache. We even made name tags with our lumberjack ego's on it, I was "Bruce", Nicole was "Billy Jo", Niki was "Bob", and Kyndra "Bubba". We insisted, particularly after a couple drinks, that EVERYONE called us by our male name. Alright, I admit it, I was the most adament on this, it was just so fun! Anyways, here's some pictures. Mostly of us not smiling, because lumberjacks don't smile! I included some of the other costumes, just because they were so funny. CIAO!

Nicole & I, beign "manly". Her flexing her muscles, and I'm shooting a gun (I think)

  
Monzie and the CREEPIEST mask of an Indian found at none-other than the 1 Euro Store!

The boys as the rainbow...

Allison & Sophie as "french woman and man"

This one is really a gem..best for last..and the definite winner in our book for the evening! our friend Mike went as "foliage"..... I can't say anything more

More Florence Photos

Today, myself and my two friends, Hanna & Nicole, decided to walk around Florence. We wanted to cross the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) to get to the Piazza Michelangelo to get the best view of Florence, so we heard. It was amazing!! Snapped a couple pics from my phone and wanted to share them! Sorry I've been a bad blogger lately, midterms were this week! I'll keep posting though, pinky promise! Off to Rome at 5 am tomorrow morning, only a solid 3 hours from now...YIKES. xoxo

Santa Maria Novella.

Duomo & Baptistery

  

Orsanmichele

Palazzo Vecchio, in Piazza della Signoria

Views from Piazza Michelangelo

 Hanna

BARTHHEEELONA

I know, I know, every city I write about seems to be my favorite. But really, this one was the cream of the crop, for lack of a better cliche. I really loved Bar"thh"elona (as the locals say it), it IS a lisp, regardless of what my roommate Hanna Surman says. From the paella (rice with seafood and spices) to the sagrata familia, to the beautiful ocean Barcelona had it all.

We skipped class on Thursday and headed to the aiport in Pisa (about a 65 minute train ride) for our flight which was leaving around 1pm. There was 8 of us girls traveling/staying together, though we did run into other GIF kids. It was  By the time we arrived in the Barcelona Airport and took the bus to our hostel it was around 5pm. Our hostel, equity point, was located so close to "Las Ramblas" which is like the main part of the city with awesome shopping, restaurants; it has a big sidewalk in the center of it, so you literally feel like you're walking in the middle of things. There's something about the buzz of Barcelona, like there's definitely a hum to the streets. To me, it was a hustle and bustle, but not like how Paris was, or Florence either. It was a nice combonation of people on the go, but these same people who also take every day to have a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day. It's the perfect balance, we've already discussed my new found love of naps!

We got to our hostel to regroup, and decided to head out to walk around looking for food. We knew that Spaniards don't eat till god-awful late, but after a day of traveling, food was necessary at Italian time! So we headed to Las Ramblas and walked around. We asked a woman at the hostel where good tapas were, she directed us to the street (pictured above) which was cool. But when we got to the place, we found it wasn't quite what we were looking for...it was more of a hole in the wall, and tapas didn't sound filling enough! (we hadn't eaten since breakfast really, and we all know how i get sans food, it equals sans happiness). We ended up walking into a place which offered Paella & Sangria for 6euro! Sign ME UP! We got a table for 8 upstairs. Unfortunately the sign on the menu was no accurate, and we ended up getting Paella, a typical Spanish dish of rice and spices! It was incredible! It came in a giant pan, and we ate the whole thing right up. It was so delicious, it was spicy with tons of seafood in it. I could have possibly eaten the whole thing myself. We also got 2 liters for the price of 1 of Sangria, since the waiter felt bad that we didn't understand the sign. It was so dangerously good. Plus it came with these super long straws so how could you not have fun??

After that, we headed to a bar we had heard good things about. It was called the "black sheep" it was only around 9:30, but we were so tired and knew we couldn't make it to the Barcelonan crazy hours of the night. But we HAD to order the tower of sangria, which is 5 liters of sangria. One friend of ours wasn't feeling well, so we split it between the 7 of us. It was really good, for about 2 glasses, then I started to feel like I was drinking cough syrup. It was worth (and slight headache) the experience though.

The group split up to walk around more, but by 11pm I was calling it quits. I knew we wanted to be up early so I headed back with the early bird crew. We there finally meet our 2 other roomates (2 were missing) since we shared a hostel room with 4 other girls. Interesting experience, which I was NOT prepared for. Not that Mom didn't load me up with all the hostel essential items prior to my leaving: quick dry towel, pillow, sleeping bag, locks for valuables etc. I just ENTIRELY forgot all these things. So yes, I drip dryed after my shower, and slept on top of a sheet the hostel gave me, and used my jacket as a blanket. Which sounds awful, but being on the SIXTH floor of a hostel with a broken heater (and let me clarify, this type of broken means it wouldn't turn off...) so I was more than warm. In fact probably too warm! Anyways the 2 girls were from Australia and really nice. And no, they didn't have any males with them...DARN! But they were studying in Ireland and in Barcelona for the weekend. I passed out mid conversation with them. But who could blame me, we'd been on the go since 8!

The next morning we woke up at 7, and headed for our hostel breakfast at 8am. It was a nice spread of toast and cereal and coffee, which was perfect. Lots of coffee, with a side of advil Please! After that we headed to Sagrata Familia, the famous Church in Barcelona started by Gaudi. I had no idea what to expect- except for long lines! I was in for such a treat, including no lines, score! We walked right up, and I was blown away. The building was like nothing I had ever seen. The outside was so detailed and decadent, I felt overstimulated just looking at it.


Then once we walked inside, I honestly became speechless. Which everyone KNOWS is quite a big deal. It was stunning. I was overwhelmed with the beauty and the overall atmosphere of the building. The celings were gigantic, and there was natural light everywhere. It didn't feel real. (I know I am doing the worst job describing it, but there is just no way). It was truly unlike any Church/building I have ever seen or imagined. I could have spent hours there. We walked around the whole interior but unfortunately the towers were closed so we couldn't ride up. I said a couple prayers and sat in awe for a solid 30 minutes. After regrouping, the group headed to the Gaudi museum where we learned about his life, his ingeniousness with architecture, and saw his tomb. It was really awesome. I really would love to learn more about him, I am just fascinated!
 



We finished the church around 11 and decided to head to the other side of town to visit the picasso museum! Another awesome experience. I studied Picasso in my modern art course at LMU and it was amazing to see the works up close and personal. Again, I was captivated. I looked at every painting possible to see in the museum for at least a couple minutes. I loved loved it!!

After the museum, we headed to the market. At this huuuge market they sell everything from fish to candy to the most delicious fruit smoothies. They are much less thick than a smoothie, but made natural seasonal fruit. 2 for 1 euro! I stuck with the classic, strawberry banana (i mean if you got a good thing why mess it up right?!) But they had some really rad and different ones like guava and starberry, or coconut (gross, right mom?) and lime. We went to this market at least 3 times this trip solely for the delicious juice. Next time, I would definitely buy other things from the market though. They had such a wide selection of everything, and all so fresh!

By the time we did this, the group split up again. Some girls headed to siesta, while myself, Sophie, Clare and Kelsey headed to walk around. We walked into a couple stores and got lost for a little bit. We ended up walking by "Obama's" which actually has a statue of Obama on the inside. It's a weird place though- i'm not sure what to even say about it. It was called "british africa" and there was pictures of slavery and stuff...maybe it was lost in translation. who knows! Anyways- We headed back to the hostel around 6 to get ready for the rest of the night!


After showering and getting ready we headed to grab dinner at a place called "Sandwiches and Friends". Soph and I split a wrap and Caesar salad. It was quick and easy. Around 1130 we headed to meet up with some friends of Amelia who were studying in Barcelona. As it turns out, her friend's roommate, who's name was Jack, knew my old high school friend Talia Borgo. I swear the world is not as big as it seems. In fact, quite small. So anyways, we drank some wine at their apartment and waited to go out. I didn't think I would make it but at around 1:30 AM (nuts) we headed to the opening of a new club called "Privilege". We ended up getting in somehow and bypassing the line and the inside was crazy huge. It was actually a really nice club, compared to some european clubs we've seen. But then again, Barcelona is known for the nightlife, and I can see why. The music was european techno and the lights that were streaming and strobing were sooooo cool! The bar was giant and the chairs and tables were all nice. We headed towards the dance floor (just us girls, we ditched the boys) and started grooving. Somehow, I got pulled up to the stage in the VIP section. Guess I know how to shake my groove thang? haha I'm not sure how it happened, but I was up there. My friends, seeing me up there, climbed up too, only to be kicked off. As badddddly as I wanted to stay and mingle with these VIP's I made the move back to the peasants (JUST KIDDING) to be with my friends. We danced the night away. Sophie and I found this part of the club which played American Top 40 hits and we sang to each other and danced, laughing the entire time. Spanish men are much less forward than Italian men, so I never felt like my personal space was invaded. Around 3:30 we decided to take a taxi home...though most Spaniards were just getting started! I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, naturally! haha. I loved every second, and can't wait to go back to another Barcelona club (in my future visit)

The next morning we woke up early. Let me be frank, this was by the other's girls accord. Had I had it my way, I would have slept till AT LEAST 11. But it was better this way. We had breakfast and headed to the lobby to take our free walking tour of Barcelona, provided by the hostel. After meeting our tour guide, I realized why it was free. Every other word was "like this...like why...like that". After 1 Gaudi building, we peaced out and headed out, determined to make our own tour.
 

I had to see the beach and so I lead the group towards the water. I WAS SO GLAD TO SEE IT! How I have missed the smell of the ocean! It was beautiful. We wandered around the marina, and eventually made our way to the beach.

 

We sat for about 45 minutes just talking and taking it all in. The weekend weather was drizzly and overcast, sunny at times, but I didn't care. I just needed to be at the beach.



After our beach sesh, we headed to find Barcelona jerseys because we were going to a Barcelona Football match!!! Which for those of you who didn't know, like myself, Barcelona is one of the best teams in Europe. Everyone in the group wanted the official new jerseys, which run around 50 euro though you can talk them down. They ended up buying a knockoff but cool version for 22, while I opted for a 10 euro scarf which was equally cute and can be used again. I'm thinking of hanging it in my room! When would I ever wear a yellow red and blue jersey? Answer: never.


We grabbed a quick dinner of Kebobs and headed to the game. The subway was completely packed. I have never felt so equated to a sardine. I almost died, I seriously hate crowds. We finally made it and half the girls (the boring-er half) headed inside while Clare, Kelsey, Sophie and I made our way to the bar for some pre-game beers with the locals. All about the culture, we were!


(L-R: Clare, Kelsey, Soph & ME)
After that, we made our way up the stands to the top to our seats! Now in my cute scarf and tank top, I totally looked like I belonged. Except for one thing: at the top of a stadium, it is freezing...has the holiday bowl taught me nothing?! Apparently not. But when we girls were shivering, this amazingly nice Spanish man came down 4 aisles and handed me his puffy jacket. For no reason. I had not made eye contact or even seen the man. Everyone else was jealous and I was baking in that thing! So cool of him. The atmosphere was incredible. Do these people love soccer or what.. It was an awesome game. Everyone was chanting and yelling and it was like a waaaaaaaaay better more engaging and better crowd of a dodger game. oh,  and we won 5-0! It was the perfect way to spend our last night in Barcelona.
As if that is the end of the night. After the game, we went back to the hostel around 11:30. We ate dinner so early (around 4) that we were all starving. So we did what the Spanish would do..eat TAPAS! I ordered 3, they were tiny, Don't judge! But so yummy, guacamole/chips, fried shrimp, and chicken skewer. They were all so tiny and cute, I could have eaten 20. But we were on a budget so it worked out fine. Around 1 we decided to head to this bar where they had all these crazy shots! It's what they were known for in the american student tourist crowd. So we did. We arrived at the bar and it was halloween decorated, with the bartenders in costume! Very american feeling. We were all so tired but we agreed we had to try one shot..the boy scout shot. let me explain....

the bartender concocts some sort of alcoholic shot. he then hands you a marshmellow on a skewer. he proceeds to light the bar on fire and directs you to roast the marshmellow. you then stick the burning marshmellow into the shot (for flavour I'm assuming?).You then eat the marshmellow and then take the shot. like a boy scout! CRAZY RIGHT!?

 trust me, we were all just as stunned as you are. it was awesome! they have other crazy shots, like the monica lowinski (involving whipped cream and other inappropriate items), a harry potter shot (which i was dying to take but i didn't have it in me) and other shots which are lit on fire, which to me seems a bit much, but hey, when in barcelona! With the combo of the game and the beers, plus knowing we had an 11am flight, we called it a night! Another instant sleep, and before I knew it, it was back to Firenze.

I loved Barcelona, truly my favorite city.