Haven't blogged much lately due to midterms and other catastrophes. Either way, today is the first day of my fall break. I leave for Barcelona at 8pm and cannot wait! We planned a major tour of Spain, starting in Barcelona, heading down to Madrid, then further down to Cadiz, and finally to Granada for a look at the Alhambra. It should be pretty breathtaking!!
Will have TOO many pictures by next Friday when my roommates and I get back.
Be healthy and have a Happy Halloween!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Craziness in Tuscany
So its been a crazy couple of days here in Tuscany, so much so that I feel a second post is appropriate for this week.
Now it all starts out friday night when Sara and I decided to go outfor once in our lives. We knew we wanted to go to this bar "Slowly"... but we didn't know where it was. But Florence is small so we were confident that we could find it. Well we had to walk down to the bottom of our Via Bolognese, the longest hill in the universe, then caught the 7 bus into the center of town. (I haven't paid for a bus in about 3 weeks)
When we got to the Piazza Della Republica, we knew we were near but had to ask a few drunken italians how to get to the bar. They didn't do us wrong and we found it. It was packed inside so we danced around inside and out deciding if we wanted to stay or not... well we went in, got a drink and drifted towards the back. These two gay guys were looking at us funny, but suddenly one of them leans in and tells me in a mix of french, italian and english that he thinks my coat is very elegant. okay.
Well Sara starts dancing with him (they were the only people dancing in the place) and his friend awkwardly stumbles around until he asks me if I dance, and for lack of anything better to do I accept. Wrong choice, this guy was a such a sleazer. He kept trying to make out with me and I wasn't having any middle aged italian that night so i told Sara we needed to leave. After the grease melody I finally pried her away from her dancing and we left... We walked to the next block down and were just people watching on the corner when these three Italians came up to us (this is where is starts getting sketchy...) They asked us the usual questions like where we're from, why we're in Florence, what we study... and our answers vary by the inquisitor. Anyway, they ask us if we want to go to this club with them thats not too far. We follow, Us two girls arm in arm and very weary, but as we are across the main historic center and drifting into a dark part of town I tell Sara that when these guys turn the corner, we're ditching them. So as we start slowing down, sure that they aren't going to the right place, we see three american boys and ask if they know where the club is. Of course, they don't. But they point us in what they think is the right direction. As we come upon Piazza Santa Croce we decide to sit on teh steps outside the church and just watch the drunk kids.
We meet Hank, who is from "Gods Country" otherwise known as South Carolina, and his friend Steven, who is also from "Gods Country, this time in Virginia... They're drunk as skunks and looking for marjiuana, but they were a nice change for our social scene of the night. When we start to talk to these two spaniards, a boy from Madrid with a very deep "Soy El Jefe!" kinda voice and a girl from none other than Salamanca, so we had a lot to talk about!
It was getting pretty late so we decided to grab a taxi and head home, no matter the cost. Well we had to have the Kebab place call cause depending on what neighborhood you're in the taxi's won't come pick you up after a certain time. Well the Kebab man said "Taxi non c'é." so, there were no taxi's for us that night. So we walked back on our aching high-heeled feet to Piazza Della Repubblica to the Hotel Savoy, who never gets turned down a taxi. And home we were at last!
whadda Night!
Then Saturday Lily and I decided to travel into Tuscany and go to San Gimignano. Don't ask me to pronounce it for you, but it is so cute. Many Towers, Wild Boar, and Good Wine! THENNN: The kicker, as we're travelling back on the bus from San Gimignano to Possibonsi (the town about half an hour away where the train stops) we hear a big crowd cheering, and we decide to run up after we buy our train tickets to see wassup. Well we couldn't get the whole story cause we looked like the only americans there, tourists even, but the crowd was separated into a bunch of colors and teams, and two team would send up their representatives at a time, and stick them in a big wooden barrel and they would SMASH GRAPES, like Lucy style-- and it seemed to us they were measuring how much juice they could get in a certain amount of time. Craziest thing I've ever seen! Everyone was so into it!
Sunday was BUM DAY as usual, and then we went out to dinner again with Kelly's Dad. He took us to Za Za, which is apparantly the most popular restaurant in Florence, by the Mercato Centrale. It reminded me a lot of Boca Di Beppo, but the pesto was amazing.
Ho fatto i foto.
The bread at Antica Porta
Trees in a row in Tuscany
YUMMY PASTA in San Gimignano
Family Portrait?
Wild Boar?? yummayy.
Wishing Well!
The Many Towers of San Gimignano
View from the top of the Torre Grosso.
Me and Lily on il torre.
Oh, you know... just the buddha, the david, some cherubs, the last supper and some owls in miniature stone form.
wine flowed through the streets.
Crazy Grape Squashers.
And a Funny one for good measure:
Lindsay donning Sara's new sweater... it's wool and some unknown NYU genius put it in the dryer.
See Ya Next Time!
Now it all starts out friday night when Sara and I decided to go outfor once in our lives. We knew we wanted to go to this bar "Slowly"... but we didn't know where it was. But Florence is small so we were confident that we could find it. Well we had to walk down to the bottom of our Via Bolognese, the longest hill in the universe, then caught the 7 bus into the center of town. (I haven't paid for a bus in about 3 weeks)
When we got to the Piazza Della Republica, we knew we were near but had to ask a few drunken italians how to get to the bar. They didn't do us wrong and we found it. It was packed inside so we danced around inside and out deciding if we wanted to stay or not... well we went in, got a drink and drifted towards the back. These two gay guys were looking at us funny, but suddenly one of them leans in and tells me in a mix of french, italian and english that he thinks my coat is very elegant. okay.
Well Sara starts dancing with him (they were the only people dancing in the place) and his friend awkwardly stumbles around until he asks me if I dance, and for lack of anything better to do I accept. Wrong choice, this guy was a such a sleazer. He kept trying to make out with me and I wasn't having any middle aged italian that night so i told Sara we needed to leave. After the grease melody I finally pried her away from her dancing and we left... We walked to the next block down and were just people watching on the corner when these three Italians came up to us (this is where is starts getting sketchy...) They asked us the usual questions like where we're from, why we're in Florence, what we study... and our answers vary by the inquisitor. Anyway, they ask us if we want to go to this club with them thats not too far. We follow, Us two girls arm in arm and very weary, but as we are across the main historic center and drifting into a dark part of town I tell Sara that when these guys turn the corner, we're ditching them. So as we start slowing down, sure that they aren't going to the right place, we see three american boys and ask if they know where the club is. Of course, they don't. But they point us in what they think is the right direction. As we come upon Piazza Santa Croce we decide to sit on teh steps outside the church and just watch the drunk kids.
We meet Hank, who is from "Gods Country" otherwise known as South Carolina, and his friend Steven, who is also from "Gods Country, this time in Virginia... They're drunk as skunks and looking for marjiuana, but they were a nice change for our social scene of the night. When we start to talk to these two spaniards, a boy from Madrid with a very deep "Soy El Jefe!" kinda voice and a girl from none other than Salamanca, so we had a lot to talk about!
It was getting pretty late so we decided to grab a taxi and head home, no matter the cost. Well we had to have the Kebab place call cause depending on what neighborhood you're in the taxi's won't come pick you up after a certain time. Well the Kebab man said "Taxi non c'é." so, there were no taxi's for us that night. So we walked back on our aching high-heeled feet to Piazza Della Repubblica to the Hotel Savoy, who never gets turned down a taxi. And home we were at last!
whadda Night!
Then Saturday Lily and I decided to travel into Tuscany and go to San Gimignano. Don't ask me to pronounce it for you, but it is so cute. Many Towers, Wild Boar, and Good Wine! THENNN: The kicker, as we're travelling back on the bus from San Gimignano to Possibonsi (the town about half an hour away where the train stops) we hear a big crowd cheering, and we decide to run up after we buy our train tickets to see wassup. Well we couldn't get the whole story cause we looked like the only americans there, tourists even, but the crowd was separated into a bunch of colors and teams, and two team would send up their representatives at a time, and stick them in a big wooden barrel and they would SMASH GRAPES, like Lucy style-- and it seemed to us they were measuring how much juice they could get in a certain amount of time. Craziest thing I've ever seen! Everyone was so into it!
Sunday was BUM DAY as usual, and then we went out to dinner again with Kelly's Dad. He took us to Za Za, which is apparantly the most popular restaurant in Florence, by the Mercato Centrale. It reminded me a lot of Boca Di Beppo, but the pesto was amazing.
Ho fatto i foto.
The bread at Antica Porta
Trees in a row in Tuscany
YUMMY PASTA in San Gimignano
Family Portrait?
Wild Boar?? yummayy.
Wishing Well!
The Many Towers of San Gimignano
View from the top of the Torre Grosso.
Me and Lily on il torre.
Oh, you know... just the buddha, the david, some cherubs, the last supper and some owls in miniature stone form.
wine flowed through the streets.
Crazy Grape Squashers.
And a Funny one for good measure:
Lindsay donning Sara's new sweater... it's wool and some unknown NYU genius put it in the dryer.
See Ya Next Time!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
SURPRISE!
It's wednesday, 5:30PM, and I'm sitting in our tiny little library (picture below). I am feverishly trying to write an impossible essay for my Social Foundations class. Now, I love the teacher, and I got a B+ on our first quiz last week, but goodness gracious this class feels like philosophy 101, and I did NOT sign up for it!
Buahaha... A sample so far?
"Furthermore, the intellect is not limited solely to the use of comprehending and abiding by the ways of stoicism,
but rather as a possession. Stoics believe that the judgements and opinions of a person are half
of all they can control in the universe. The other half is will, which is only facilitated by the knowledge
of what is right and wrong to act upon."
Yeah, talk about a snooze-fest. Anyways...
Last night Kelly's dad came in to town, and he took us out to our favorite "Parents are in Town" place called "Antica Porta" on the other side of the Arno. It is the most amazing pizzeria you have ever seen. The guy who runs it, who calls himself Nelo, as i so graciously found out in Italian..., is a wild-haired, beer-bellied guy with a great sense of humor and, I'm sure, appreciation for 4 lovely ladies, myself and the older men (read Dads) that in our company. Last time we went we got free limoncello shots, and this time? Some wonderful little dessert pastry pockets filled with NUTELLA, which- funny story, we had all OD'd on Monday night, watching Chocolat (free nutella, hot chocolate and cookie fest! YESSSS we didnt feel too good after..)
anywhoo-- i really should get back to work now, but before i forget!
Just me, chilling
That's it. one giant beauty and the best table, a wall of books and a giant window wall. we do have a view of the duomo though, its can't be beat.
Buahaha... A sample so far?
"Furthermore, the intellect is not limited solely to the use of comprehending and abiding by the ways of stoicism,
but rather as a possession. Stoics believe that the judgements and opinions of a person are half
of all they can control in the universe. The other half is will, which is only facilitated by the knowledge
of what is right and wrong to act upon."
Yeah, talk about a snooze-fest. Anyways...
Last night Kelly's dad came in to town, and he took us out to our favorite "Parents are in Town" place called "Antica Porta" on the other side of the Arno. It is the most amazing pizzeria you have ever seen. The guy who runs it, who calls himself Nelo, as i so graciously found out in Italian..., is a wild-haired, beer-bellied guy with a great sense of humor and, I'm sure, appreciation for 4 lovely ladies, myself and the older men (read Dads) that in our company. Last time we went we got free limoncello shots, and this time? Some wonderful little dessert pastry pockets filled with NUTELLA, which- funny story, we had all OD'd on Monday night, watching Chocolat (free nutella, hot chocolate and cookie fest! YESSSS we didnt feel too good after..)
anywhoo-- i really should get back to work now, but before i forget!
Just me, chilling
That's it. one giant beauty and the best table, a wall of books and a giant window wall. we do have a view of the duomo though, its can't be beat.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Majoring in Procrastination
Hey all... Another mildly uninteresting week followed by three raucous days of weekend.
I am trying to crank out, very unsuccessfully, 2 essays and a hundred or so pages of reading for the next two midterm weeks. Unfortunately for my academic record at the moment, i'd rather share some pictures. with you!
Andiamo!
We checked this guy at the bus stop::: i dubbed him Friar Lawrence.
Some awesome graffiti, a longing roomate, and a cute with a tiffany's bag-- what more could a girl want from Italy?
I resisted the urge to purchase this hand sequined gold hooded pea coat. it cost 1010.00 euro.
Bathroom!!
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New Sunglasses!
Matching Coats!
we like playing dress up?
BIG ASS BEE SIGHTING
More sweet italian graffiti
Arezzo
some crazy marching band. they were less than melodic.
chandeliers by the bucket loads.
sweet old furniture
i baffi
Me and my future couch.
the members of narnia, all dressed up and ready to go out on the town.
chotchkies at the Arezzo antique market.
Just outside Arezzo, by train.
sleeping Kelly on the COLDEST TRAIN EVER.
snoozing Lindsay
dreamin' Dani.
Thats all for now, folks! Ciao
I am trying to crank out, very unsuccessfully, 2 essays and a hundred or so pages of reading for the next two midterm weeks. Unfortunately for my academic record at the moment, i'd rather share some pictures. with you!
Andiamo!
We checked this guy at the bus stop::: i dubbed him Friar Lawrence.
Some awesome graffiti, a longing roomate, and a cute with a tiffany's bag-- what more could a girl want from Italy?
I resisted the urge to purchase this hand sequined gold hooded pea coat. it cost 1010.00 euro.
Bathroom!!
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118722698459027442" />New Sunglasses!
Matching Coats!
we like playing dress up?
BIG ASS BEE SIGHTING
More sweet italian graffiti
Arezzo
some crazy marching band. they were less than melodic.
chandeliers by the bucket loads.
sweet old furniture
i baffi
Me and my future couch.
the members of narnia, all dressed up and ready to go out on the town.
chotchkies at the Arezzo antique market.
Just outside Arezzo, by train.
sleeping Kelly on the COLDEST TRAIN EVER.
snoozing Lindsay
dreamin' Dani.
Thats all for now, folks! Ciao
