almost done

So I just finished my last class in Florence...its kinda crazy, I can't believe I'm leaving on Saturday. So I'm extremely tired right now and just wanna take a nap...however it appears that i have forgotten my key so I'm going to have to wait until it is appropriate to wake up my roommates. I have a lot to do in these last two days, hopefully I'll somehow manage to cram it all in. It's really setting in that it's over. I am excited to go home, there's a lot I miss (decent customer service for one) but i really do love Italy, more than I ever imagined I could. Anyway, since the last time I posted we went to the French Riviera. Basically it was even more beautiful than I remembered. We just got to lay on the beach and soak up the sun. I took the girls to a few places from the last time I was there including Wayne's and Thor's, the city was so familiar. The trip was fantastic...other than the fact that the French trains blew major cock. The next weekend we all stayed here in Florence. Kel was supposed to go to Sardinia, but missed her flight and stayed here. It ended up working out because we had an amazing Florentine weekend. We went to the Pitti Palace, more specifically the Costume Gallery which was so cool! We spent sometime in the Boboli Gardens and then made our way to Hemingway's for the single most orgasmic food experience I have ever had! We ate a lot of falafels and did a bit of shopping. finals week blew, but its finally over! I leave for Berlin on Saturday and then its a crazy whirlwind until June! Ok, i guess this is probably my last Florence...oh my god...

<3 Alli

everything i've missed...

ok, so i haven't posted in weeks and yet again i intend on rushing through another post because i have shit to do lol.

So last time i checked i posted before Dublin. Well it was an awesome city. Very cold and rainy, but still a lot of fun. The people were great and so was the atmosphere, but i would definitely suggest going in the summer. The weekend after that Meg and I were planning on doing Pompei/Capri and everything in between, however we discovered that a single ticket to Napoli was so ridiculously overpriced. Anyway, we decided to stay in Florence and have a romantical weekend, although we did take a day trip to Lucca, which was very beautiful. Last weekend Meg and I returned to Venice, this time with Kel. We stayed in a sketch ass hostel, but still had a great time. Josh and his friends from Paris got there on Saturday so we got to hang out for a few hours before coming back to Florence. We had intended to go out, but upon returning, we realized that we are a bunch of lazy old women so we just stocked up on food (2 falafels for Kel and Meg and a falafel and a pizza for me) and watched hours of friends. Sunday was productive homework day at Moyo (and also delicious food day). Monday, Josh and the Parisians arrived. Meg and I did some tour guiding before we all cooked dinner. The next day was more touring and more food. We finished off the night with dinner at Il Gato, shot cafe and beatles night. All of which were fab. They just left and in a few hours the rest of us are getting on a 9 hour train to nice woohoo! im exhausted to say the least. It was awesome to see Josh though, I haven't seen him since paris like 2 months ago! oh god, a lot of stuff to do...quite stressed!

<3 Alli

finally posting

its been forever since i posted, so im just gonna try and cram everything that has happened since my last post into this one.

Spring Break:
-Shannon was here
-we were fat asses
-partying after betty got back
-celebrating betty's bday with space and dinner at il gato

Scott visited:
-ricotta cheese cake (very dangerous)
-beatles night (crazy!)

Parents visited:
-museums/sites
-dinner at aqua al 2 (blueberry steak!!)
-Venice with Scott

other than that i basically kicked ass on my midterms woohoo! this weekend is dublin, then pompei/sorrento/amalfi/capri, back to venice, josh in florence, then nice, and then its my last weekend in florence. somewhere in there i gotta do my final papers and study for finals...OH WELL!

<3 Alli

Sicily, midterms, and whatnot...

As most of you know, our trip to Sicily was eventful to say the least. I would restate everything, but I just can't relive it right now. If you really wanna know just read Meg's blog, but honestly, you really just had to be there.

So midterms were this week. It was pretty funny because no one has done any work all semester and all of a sudden the entire school was scrambling to cram everything in. I had my last tests yesterday. None of them were exceptionally hard, but we'll see when I get my grades back.

No I'm just sitting in the student center about to go eat my orange with Kelly lol. Shannon's arriving in 2 days...ahh, can't wait, then scott's returning (same day as Kelly comes back), then my parents are coming. 2 weeks after that we're going to Pompei/Sorrento/Capri/Amalfi, then Josh, the French Riviera, and then our last weekend in Florence. Oh my god, its all going so fast! I never want to leave. I'm having the time of my life and I weigh a metric ton! AND I'm poor! ok...stopping now. this was a short post.

<3 Alli

together in Paris

So last weekend was Paris. Let me just start off by saying...travelling to Paris was 100x easier and more stress free than the whole Verona fiasco.

Anyway, when Meg and I got off the plane Josh was waiting for us. It as soooo incredible to see him again! It felt like a lifetime since I had seen him. He looked so chic and Parisian lol. That night we went over to his room for a bit and then over to our hotel to just chat and catch up.

The next day was tourist/food explosion! We started off the day with a nice little chocolate croissant for breakfast and then picked up Norah and Laura. After they left their stuff in the hotel, we made our way over to the Pantheon, but not before stopping for crepes. Then we had a pastry that weighed an actual pound...that is not an exaggertion...I ate a one pound pastry. After that we picked up Seth and took him back to the hotel where we relaxed for a little bit before meeting up again to go over to the Eiffel Tower. It was just an incredible as I remembered. Then we made our way to Notre Dame and to this place, Hippo for a delicious meal. After dinner it was more food with gelato, then Eiffel Tower, some Arc d'Triomphe...and bed.

The next moring, Meg, Laura, Norah, Seth and myself went over to the Louvre while Josh went to pick up Callie. That place still takes my breath away. I really gotta get my Ufizzi pass...anyway, it was a little confusing, but we managed to see a lot in 3 hrs (Napoleopn III's Apartment, Coronation of Napoleon, Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and many more). We then met Josh and Callie. We had some lunch, walked down the Champs d' Elysees, and eventually made our way to Sacre Couer (I'm speeding up because I don't have much time). Sacre Couer is probably my favorie place in Paris. We admired some of the artists work, enjoyed phenominal view, went inside the basilica, and then went to this fondue place for dinner. We drank wine from baby bottles and had delicious fondue, and I ate raw meat...yummy. Meg and I did a kickline outside the bathroom. We went to this other place for dessert and drinks and then headed back to the hotel.

Sunday Meg and I had to catch a pretty early flight, so we had just enough time for 1 more meal. We had amazing french onion soup and crepes. Well that ended the Paris vacay. We got back to Florence pretty early. I met Kelly's friend Kerri, and we ate delicious salad and I made sangria. Beatles tonight, Sicily this weekend and midterms next week...woohoo!

Before I post...a huge thank you to Josh for seriously being the best tour guide evs!!!

<3 Alli

random post about nothing in particular

So after that weekend we enjoyed a nice week. Monday we were planning on going out, but my cold really started kicking in so I passed. Feeling 10x better now (miracle Italian drugs). Tuesday....oh god, fat day doesn't even cover it! We had a bunch of people over at Meg's and there was so much food! Including a chocolate souffle!!!! I literally had to roll myself home! We decided that it was diet time seeing as next weekend we're going to Sicily, I want to look somewhat presentable. That plan lasted about at long as a loaf of bread in my presence. After buying our fantabulous boots on wednesday, Meg, Kelly, and I went to Cafe ZaZa. OMG best restaurant in Florence! We yet again made pigs out of ourselves.

Wednesday was the opera. We saw Elecktra. I don't know if I'm just not cultured enough, but I couldn't get out of there faster. I didn't understand what was going on! I mean the music was beautiful, and they did a lot of cool stuff with light and shadows, but I really thought the action on stage would better convey the plot since I don't understand German (the language it was sung in) or Italian (the subtitles). Betty said she wanted to commit su lol! Anyway once we left, we went on a hunt for a kebabery (thanks meg). Found one...it was delicious and made me never want to say the word diet again.

So that was my week, and I'm heading to Paris in a few! I can't believe that I can say that. I can't believe that I can say "oh I'm just going to Rome for the weekend" or "I'm spending a few days in Sicily". Its truly incredible that I have this experience. Everyday here is so....god I can't even find words to describe all the things I see and feel! In my opinion it should be mandatory at every college that students spend a semester abroad. Its the most incredible experience, not just because I get to travel to all these fantastic places, but it really does change you as a person. It was so hard to leave everything I have ever known 3000 miles away, but I'm creating this new life for myself. Everyday I meet knew people, not just from all over America, but all over the world! When I got here it was the hardest thing ever. I was so miserable and I felt like I had made the biggest mistake. After that first week though, I kinda started seeing that most people felt the same way. Once I accepted that, I just decided to have the time of my life and I'm doing that and more! I feel like New York is the home I was born into, but Florence is the home I made for myself...if that makes any sense...

in fair Verona where we lay our scene

Let me start with Thursday night. Some friends of ours threw a "Red Party". It was mucho fun. Got to hang out with plenty of cool people. (I'm kinda rushing fyi). Then we hit up Twice for a bit, and then made our way to the secret bakery, where I got a chocolate croissant. I was so tired I just spent the night on Meg's couch. I wonder what my roommates must have thought when I walked in the door at 9am in heals and smudged makeup lol!!!!!!!

After much discussion about what to do last weekend, Meg and I went to Verona to meet Scott. Ok, let me start with getting there. First we had a stop over where we had to change trains in Bologna...BIG MISTAKE! Our train was late and only got to Bologna as our connection was leaving. So Meg and I had to wait like an hour and a half for the next train. When we got on it was very unclear if it was actually going to Verona, so we spent a hour freaking out that we were gonna end up god knows where. We did however make it to Verona.

The first night was pretty relaxed. We just kind of wandered around. Verona is so beautiful! Just so pretty and clean and i don't know...just beautiful! We enjoyed a nice long dinner before heading back to the hotel. Saturday was our tourist day. We saw both the tomb and house of Juliet. Obviously not real, just kinda commemorating the play. There was a modern art museum and we climbed 83 meters to the top of this tour to look out at see all of Verona. We hit up both the Roman Arena (which is now houses opera performances for which Verona is famous) and the Roman Teatro. We also hit up a few gorgeous churches.

After being major tourists on Saturday, Sunday we just took a bus to this town called Bardolino. It was beautiful and right on Lake Garda. We basically just walked along the water, had a nice looooong lunch and lay in the sun. I got a bad cold on this day, but I still loved the town. Now comes the bad part. The 24 hr. tourist info station is obviously only opened from 9-5 Monday-Thursday, so we didn't know that the bus schedule we were given was completely different. We had intended to take a 4:30 bus to be at the train station by 5:30 to catch a 6:15 train home...new schedule, we had to take a 6:30 bus and get on a train that we hoped would get us to Florence. We managed to get home, but I was just so exhausted, stressed and sick I basically collapsed in bed. So it was some stressful travelling, but still an enjoyable weekend. next post!