I finally got my authentic Italian leather jacket that I wanted! I got it on Friday at a leather store near the market, which has been open since 1959. The woman who worked there, Ana (I think), was so nice and gave me a student discount AND a discount because she felt bad for me because of my foot, haha, who would've known I had an advantage by wearing this boot. The jacket is the most popular style right now: chocolate brown and fitted - it is marked as 490 euro, and I got it for only 180 euro. I am so excited, though I feel kind of guilty for spending that much money. However, it is the ONE thing Grandma told me to do while I am here, so I keep telling myself that to make me feel better :). I will also have it forever and it will always remind me of this experience. It has been hanging in front of our closet the past three days just so I can stare at it ... I am in love with it and am so happy that I did the ONE thing Grandma told me to do ... buy a leather jacket! I also didn't have any boots to go with it, so I bought some leather boots (not real leather) that were on major "saldi" (sale) at a store. I am very excited, and Marielle, Patee and I become good friends with the owner of the store, named Luka. He and Ana had an extremely long conversation with us, while they were just casually drinking glasses of wine that the waiters from the restaurant next door brought them. 
They said they were impressed with our Italian and were happy that we were trying to learn. Luka told us to come by the store whenever we want and he'll help us with any homework we have, and that he wants to help us learn more. He owns the store because it was originally his Dad's. He and Ana said they learned English by working in the store and talking with customers who spoke only English - I was amazed at how fluent and good they were in it just from learning it that way!! We have to pass by his store everyday, so we will be stopping in and chatting a lot - he will be a friend by the end of this semester, just like Marco! Luka gave us a lot of advice for being safe in the city and for how to react when the creepy men try to hit on us and just what to do in Florence/Italy in general. He and Ana are so nice - I have found that a lot of the people here are extremely nice, as long as we show respect to them and their culture. It has become very obvious to me that the Italians have a lot of respect and love for their culture and their country. Even in Italian class, my teachers talk about Florence and other cities in Italy as if they are just in love. They constantly talk about how much they love Florence and wouldn't want to live anywhere else - I can see why, but I would never hear anyone say that in the U.S. We also asked my teacher where her favorite place is in Italy, and she couldn't even name one because she said it's beautiful everywhere and everywhere is her favorite ... if someone asked me that about North Carolina or the U.S. in general, I would have no idea what to say! This country/city is just so beautiful and the people in it have so much pride in it. I feel like Americans do have pride in their country, but we definitely take it for granted, and we are way too uptight. It's amazing how laid back this culture (and pretty much every other culture besides America) is ... how the employees drink wine by the glass while working in a leather store, how the butchers smoke a cigarette while cutting up their meet, how stores allow animals to walk through them with the owners, how the waiters and waitresses can blast techno music in a tiny cafe and start dancing everywhere, how they aren't worried about offending someone by being so un-politically correct, how the waiters and waitresses will take their time to seat you or come take your order ... you would never find any of this in America and it just goes to show how uptight we are. I love how everyone walks everywhere here and no one is ever in a hurry. I feel like we wake up for class, go to class, and then just walk wherever the road takes us - and my Italian teacher told our class that she likes to just walk around Florence in her free time. I find it funny that at the stores, the market and the banks I've been to, there is a "ticket line," where the customers who are waiting to make their purchases have to take a number and wait until they are called. My Italian teacher told us it's because Italians are extremely inpatient and that's the only way to go through lines quickly without starting "riots." Well that explains a LOT about our family :)
On Thursday we went to Florence's annual Chocolate Festival. It was on Santa Croce, which is right down the street from our apartment. It was so awesome! There were several vendors, each one selling different chocolates in every way, shape and form. We saw a lot of vendors who
had carved chocolate in different animals, people and things - there were mice, cheese, sheep, the 101 Dalmations, Disney characters, alligators, and much more. Marielle and I bought some chocolate pieces in many different flavors (which she dropped on the floor last night). It was like Heaven under a big white tent! :) We went to Marco's pizzeria on Thursday night since we hadn't eaten there in awhile. We are going to try and eat there at least one time a week from now one because he is SOO nice. He made us our pizzas, right in front of us - the authentic Italian way!!! It is by far the best pizza I have had in Italy so far, and I am so excited to take Daddy there because it is his kind of place! Marco gave Marielle, Patee and I a free bottle of the restaurant's red wine. We are never going to drink it because we want to keep it as a souvenir! We'll see how that goes ... :) I think it's funny because I told Mom before I left that I wanted to find a little restaurant or cafe where we could eat every week and become friends with the manager/employee by the end of the semester, where they know our names. Well, we've already found it! Marco's!!!
Patee, Marielle and I went to dinner with Stacey, Rebekka, Shannon, Sam and Lindsay on Friday night at a famous Italian restaurant that is in my guide book and very recommended. It is called Za-Za's and I can't wait to take Mark there! It is so nice inside, and was extremely crowded. I went there knowing that I wanted to order an authentic Italian dinner, instead of just pizza and regular pasta, so Patee and I both ordered the "Florentine Fried Chicken served with Potatoes Cooked in a Flour Paste." Well, apparently that translates to: chicken fingers and french fries. Yes, we ate chicken fingers and french fries in Florence, Italy. We were so mad, but we made up for it with some AMAZING cheesecake, which was the best I have EVER tasted! We will definitely be going back to that restaurant, and I had such a fun time getting to know the other girls who were with us. We have such a good group here and are having a blast together, which makes this trip just 100 times better.
On Saturday, pretty much our entire group got up early to go to Siena for the d
ay. It was a very last-minute and unplanned trip, and when we got off of the bus, we had pretty much no idea what we were doing or what we were there to see. Hahah... but we figured it out pretty easily - thankfully we had our Italy guide books that had maps and told us what to do! I learned that I'm going to have to read my guide books more often before we go on our trips so that we know where to go and what to do. Even though it was raining, Siena was still beautiful! We are going to go back one day when the sun is out for once so we can enjoy it even more. We took the bus roundtrip, which was so easy and pretty cheap - I love being able to travel so 
easily here. When we first got there, we found the Plazza del Campo, which is a humongous brickyard surrounded by European buildings and restaurants. The Plazza del Campo is also where the horse race takes place every summer - it's a really famous horse race that Italians go to and dress up in Medievil clothes to watch. The Plazza del Campo is also the place where Fonte Gaia is sitting. Fonte Gaia is the fountain Daddy told me I had to make sure I see. It is considered to be "the queen of Sienese fountains" both for its central position (in il Campo) and also as a work of art. It has a bunch of different designs on it, including a wolf that spits out water. At 321 meters above sea level, it is situated at the highest elevation of the fountains in Siena and it brings water from the northern part of the city, along a ridge uninterrupted by valleys. The Campo is also where the City Tower and Civic Museum are. We were unable to climb the City Tower as it was closed for bad weather, but we went into the Civic Museum, which had a lot of artifacts and ancient rooms/paintings, etc. To our surprise, at the end of the Civic Museum, there was a huge balcony that overlooked the 
city of Siena. It was beautiful and we were in awe at it! We stood there for such a long time and had a hard time leaving. After we did those, we went to Museo dell'Opera dell Duomo, which has sacred works from 1300 to 1500. At the end of the museum is a very tall walkway, called La Facciatone, that we could come and see a panoramic view of Siena. We climbed a million stairs that were extremely narrow, steep and scary! It was so worth it though because the view was absolutely amazing and breathtaking. We could see absolutely everything from the view, including the Campo, Duomo and City Tower. I have never seen such a pretty view! After La Facciatone, we went to the Battistero - the baptistry behind the Duomo, which holds a marble font with bronze panels that depict the life of Saint John the Baptist. It was such a beautiful little Church that was the town's Church back in the day. I wondered why they don't use it anymore and instead use it as a tourist attraction - Actually, I wonder that about a lot of these things ... what makes people turn them into tourist attractions? After the Baptistry, we went to the Crypte, which wasn't very interesting because there were no signs that gave us information on what was in there. We believe it had a bunch of tombs in there, but there weren't people in the tombs, so it was weird. We went to the Siena Duomo, which was
absolutely beautiful inside ... at this point, I think it's prettier inside than the Duomo in Florence. The Altar was gorgeous and filled with different colored flowers, and the architecture and paintings were so detailed - it amazes us that these things are still around. To the right of the Altar was a Chapel, which was also beautiful. It had about three pews in it, and there was a candle-lighting right in front of it. For 50 cent euro, you could light a candle and say a prayer in honor of someone. I lit one for Grandpa just because I am constantly thinking of him and how I can't believe I am here immersed in my family's culture. I also know, according to Grandma, Grandpa wished they could have come to Italy one more time, and even though I feel his presence everywhere here, I lit it so he could actually be there with me. This trip makes me realize how much I really miss Grandpa, and how much I really wish I could've known him longer and that Mark could have met him.
At the end of our trip, it was absolutely pouring rain and the
temperature dropped like ten degrees! We were miserable and my foot was in so much pain, so we took the first bus home. We attempted to find the wine library and the place where St. Catherine of Siena's head is, but we couldn't find it and no one seemed to be able to give us accurate directions. We will be back though!
On Saturday night, I made pastina for the first time! I am so proud of myself! It didn't taste as good as Grandma's, but I will be experimenting with it more ... Patee liked it too, so I am proud! :) My Italian teacher told me that manicotti is a Southern Italian cuisine and that I won't find it at the market in Florence, so I guess I'll have to keep searching so Marielle and I can learn how to make that. I thought it was weird since Grandma is from Northern Italy. I definitely have decided that I want to experiment as much as possible with cooking and learn how to cook. I'm sure Mark would appreciate that too, as he is expecting me to cook him an authentic Italian dish when he gets here ... and it can't be pasta! I have a lot of learning to do, but good thing Marielle is here!!
Today, Patee and I finally caught up on the sleep we've missed in the past week or so. We got 14 hours of sleep last night, woke up and the SUN WAS OUT! This was the first time we've seen the sun in so long! We were so excited, had lunch and went right out the door. We walked to Ponte Vecchio again, and then we went to the Plazza de Michelangelo, which is a huge hill you climb up behind Ponte Vecchio and the river. It has a replica of the statue of David in the middle of the plazza, and then it has a panoramic view of the ENTIRE city of Florence. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was in awe - Patee, Stacey, Rebekka, Marielle and I took so many pictures together and of the scene in general - we went during sunset, which was even better. Luka told us that it was the best time to go there too, and he told us a lot of people go up there with a bottle of wine for the sunset, so maybe we'll try that next time. I can't wait to take Mom, Dad and Mark there - there is so much for them to do here and I can't wait to see their reactions! It seems like it'll be a good place to get away and think and just reflect if I ever need to. I just can't believe I am a resident here for four months. On our way home, we witnessed a motorcycle accident, which was very disturbing to me. There are no speed limits here and the motorcyclists drive however the hell they want to and at whatever speed they want to - they are way too risky and dangerous on those things - it was the third motorcycle accident Marielle has seen since being here (my first). He was trying to go around a car that was stopped and attempting to parallel park, but the car didn't see him and they collided. A lot of people helped him and pulled the motorcycle up and called the ambulance. He seemed fine, but it looked like he couldn't move his legs. I felt so bad for him. Those kind of things make me realize how grateful we are in America to have little things, like speed limits. At the same time, we hate driving the speed limit... but look what would happen if we didn't have them. I feel like it's insane to not have one! Another interesting thing that Luka told us was that in 2012, Florence won't have ANY cars whatsoever. They are building a metro and will only have that and scooters and motorcycles. Talk about going green.
Well, it is past bedtime. Actually it's about bedtime - we can never go to sleep before 2 a.m. for some reason. I am still so in love with this place, but it's hard to not be able to share this entire experience with the people back home, especially Mom, Dad and Mark. I almost feel guilty for having this opportunity, but I can't wait for them to get here and see what I am talking about - I can totally see why people always want to come back here and why people say they could live here forever.
Ciao!!
They said they were impressed with our Italian and were happy that we were trying to learn. Luka told us to come by the store whenever we want and he'll help us with any homework we have, and that he wants to help us learn more. He owns the store because it was originally his Dad's. He and Ana said they learned English by working in the store and talking with customers who spoke only English - I was amazed at how fluent and good they were in it just from learning it that way!! We have to pass by his store everyday, so we will be stopping in and chatting a lot - he will be a friend by the end of this semester, just like Marco! Luka gave us a lot of advice for being safe in the city and for how to react when the creepy men try to hit on us and just what to do in Florence/Italy in general. He and Ana are so nice - I have found that a lot of the people here are extremely nice, as long as we show respect to them and their culture. It has become very obvious to me that the Italians have a lot of respect and love for their culture and their country. Even in Italian class, my teachers talk about Florence and other cities in Italy as if they are just in love. They constantly talk about how much they love Florence and wouldn't want to live anywhere else - I can see why, but I would never hear anyone say that in the U.S. We also asked my teacher where her favorite place is in Italy, and she couldn't even name one because she said it's beautiful everywhere and everywhere is her favorite ... if someone asked me that about North Carolina or the U.S. in general, I would have no idea what to say! This country/city is just so beautiful and the people in it have so much pride in it. I feel like Americans do have pride in their country, but we definitely take it for granted, and we are way too uptight. It's amazing how laid back this culture (and pretty much every other culture besides America) is ... how the employees drink wine by the glass while working in a leather store, how the butchers smoke a cigarette while cutting up their meet, how stores allow animals to walk through them with the owners, how the waiters and waitresses can blast techno music in a tiny cafe and start dancing everywhere, how they aren't worried about offending someone by being so un-politically correct, how the waiters and waitresses will take their time to seat you or come take your order ... you would never find any of this in America and it just goes to show how uptight we are. I love how everyone walks everywhere here and no one is ever in a hurry. I feel like we wake up for class, go to class, and then just walk wherever the road takes us - and my Italian teacher told our class that she likes to just walk around Florence in her free time. I find it funny that at the stores, the market and the banks I've been to, there is a "ticket line," where the customers who are waiting to make their purchases have to take a number and wait until they are called. My Italian teacher told us it's because Italians are extremely inpatient and that's the only way to go through lines quickly without starting "riots." Well that explains a LOT about our family :)On Thursday we went to Florence's annual Chocolate Festival. It was on Santa Croce, which is right down the street from our apartment. It was so awesome! There were several vendors, each one selling different chocolates in every way, shape and form. We saw a lot of vendors who
had carved chocolate in different animals, people and things - there were mice, cheese, sheep, the 101 Dalmations, Disney characters, alligators, and much more. Marielle and I bought some chocolate pieces in many different flavors (which she dropped on the floor last night). It was like Heaven under a big white tent! :) We went to Marco's pizzeria on Thursday night since we hadn't eaten there in awhile. We are going to try and eat there at least one time a week from now one because he is SOO nice. He made us our pizzas, right in front of us - the authentic Italian way!!! It is by far the best pizza I have had in Italy so far, and I am so excited to take Daddy there because it is his kind of place! Marco gave Marielle, Patee and I a free bottle of the restaurant's red wine. We are never going to drink it because we want to keep it as a souvenir! We'll see how that goes ... :) I think it's funny because I told Mom before I left that I wanted to find a little restaurant or cafe where we could eat every week and become friends with the manager/employee by the end of the semester, where they know our names. Well, we've already found it! Marco's!!!Patee, Marielle and I went to dinner with Stacey, Rebekka, Shannon, Sam and Lindsay on Friday night at a famous Italian restaurant that is in my guide book and very recommended. It is called Za-Za's and I can't wait to take Mark there! It is so nice inside, and was extremely crowded. I went there knowing that I wanted to order an authentic Italian dinner, instead of just pizza and regular pasta, so Patee and I both ordered the "Florentine Fried Chicken served with Potatoes Cooked in a Flour Paste." Well, apparently that translates to: chicken fingers and french fries. Yes, we ate chicken fingers and french fries in Florence, Italy. We were so mad, but we made up for it with some AMAZING cheesecake, which was the best I have EVER tasted! We will definitely be going back to that restaurant, and I had such a fun time getting to know the other girls who were with us. We have such a good group here and are having a blast together, which makes this trip just 100 times better.
On Saturday, pretty much our entire group got up early to go to Siena for the d
ay. It was a very last-minute and unplanned trip, and when we got off of the bus, we had pretty much no idea what we were doing or what we were there to see. Hahah... but we figured it out pretty easily - thankfully we had our Italy guide books that had maps and told us what to do! I learned that I'm going to have to read my guide books more often before we go on our trips so that we know where to go and what to do. Even though it was raining, Siena was still beautiful! We are going to go back one day when the sun is out for once so we can enjoy it even more. We took the bus roundtrip, which was so easy and pretty cheap - I love being able to travel so 
easily here. When we first got there, we found the Plazza del Campo, which is a humongous brickyard surrounded by European buildings and restaurants. The Plazza del Campo is also where the horse race takes place every summer - it's a really famous horse race that Italians go to and dress up in Medievil clothes to watch. The Plazza del Campo is also the place where Fonte Gaia is sitting. Fonte Gaia is the fountain Daddy told me I had to make sure I see. It is considered to be "the queen of Sienese fountains" both for its central position (in il Campo) and also as a work of art. It has a bunch of different designs on it, including a wolf that spits out water. At 321 meters above sea level, it is situated at the highest elevation of the fountains in Siena and it brings water from the northern part of the city, along a ridge uninterrupted by valleys. The Campo is also where the City Tower and Civic Museum are. We were unable to climb the City Tower as it was closed for bad weather, but we went into the Civic Museum, which had a lot of artifacts and ancient rooms/paintings, etc. To our surprise, at the end of the Civic Museum, there was a huge balcony that overlooked the 
city of Siena. It was beautiful and we were in awe at it! We stood there for such a long time and had a hard time leaving. After we did those, we went to Museo dell'Opera dell Duomo, which has sacred works from 1300 to 1500. At the end of the museum is a very tall walkway, called La Facciatone, that we could come and see a panoramic view of Siena. We climbed a million stairs that were extremely narrow, steep and scary! It was so worth it though because the view was absolutely amazing and breathtaking. We could see absolutely everything from the view, including the Campo, Duomo and City Tower. I have never seen such a pretty view! After La Facciatone, we went to the Battistero - the baptistry behind the Duomo, which holds a marble font with bronze panels that depict the life of Saint John the Baptist. It was such a beautiful little Church that was the town's Church back in the day. I wondered why they don't use it anymore and instead use it as a tourist attraction - Actually, I wonder that about a lot of these things ... what makes people turn them into tourist attractions? After the Baptistry, we went to the Crypte, which wasn't very interesting because there were no signs that gave us information on what was in there. We believe it had a bunch of tombs in there, but there weren't people in the tombs, so it was weird. We went to the Siena Duomo, which was
absolutely beautiful inside ... at this point, I think it's prettier inside than the Duomo in Florence. The Altar was gorgeous and filled with different colored flowers, and the architecture and paintings were so detailed - it amazes us that these things are still around. To the right of the Altar was a Chapel, which was also beautiful. It had about three pews in it, and there was a candle-lighting right in front of it. For 50 cent euro, you could light a candle and say a prayer in honor of someone. I lit one for Grandpa just because I am constantly thinking of him and how I can't believe I am here immersed in my family's culture. I also know, according to Grandma, Grandpa wished they could have come to Italy one more time, and even though I feel his presence everywhere here, I lit it so he could actually be there with me. This trip makes me realize how much I really miss Grandpa, and how much I really wish I could've known him longer and that Mark could have met him.At the end of our trip, it was absolutely pouring rain and the
temperature dropped like ten degrees! We were miserable and my foot was in so much pain, so we took the first bus home. We attempted to find the wine library and the place where St. Catherine of Siena's head is, but we couldn't find it and no one seemed to be able to give us accurate directions. We will be back though!On Saturday night, I made pastina for the first time! I am so proud of myself! It didn't taste as good as Grandma's, but I will be experimenting with it more ... Patee liked it too, so I am proud! :) My Italian teacher told me that manicotti is a Southern Italian cuisine and that I won't find it at the market in Florence, so I guess I'll have to keep searching so Marielle and I can learn how to make that. I thought it was weird since Grandma is from Northern Italy. I definitely have decided that I want to experiment as much as possible with cooking and learn how to cook. I'm sure Mark would appreciate that too, as he is expecting me to cook him an authentic Italian dish when he gets here ... and it can't be pasta! I have a lot of learning to do, but good thing Marielle is here!!
Today, Patee and I finally caught up on the sleep we've missed in the past week or so. We got 14 hours of sleep last night, woke up and the SUN WAS OUT! This was the first time we've seen the sun in so long! We were so excited, had lunch and went right out the door. We walked to Ponte Vecchio again, and then we went to the Plazza de Michelangelo, which is a huge hill you climb up behind Ponte Vecchio and the river. It has a replica of the statue of David in the middle of the plazza, and then it has a panoramic view of the ENTIRE city of Florence. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was in awe - Patee, Stacey, Rebekka, Marielle and I took so many pictures together and of the scene in general - we went during sunset, which was even better. Luka told us that it was the best time to go there too, and he told us a lot of people go up there with a bottle of wine for the sunset, so maybe we'll try that next time. I can't wait to take Mom, Dad and Mark there - there is so much for them to do here and I can't wait to see their reactions! It seems like it'll be a good place to get away and think and just reflect if I ever need to. I just can't believe I am a resident here for four months. On our way home, we witnessed a motorcycle accident, which was very disturbing to me. There are no speed limits here and the motorcyclists drive however the hell they want to and at whatever speed they want to - they are way too risky and dangerous on those things - it was the third motorcycle accident Marielle has seen since being here (my first). He was trying to go around a car that was stopped and attempting to parallel park, but the car didn't see him and they collided. A lot of people helped him and pulled the motorcycle up and called the ambulance. He seemed fine, but it looked like he couldn't move his legs. I felt so bad for him. Those kind of things make me realize how grateful we are in America to have little things, like speed limits. At the same time, we hate driving the speed limit... but look what would happen if we didn't have them. I feel like it's insane to not have one! Another interesting thing that Luka told us was that in 2012, Florence won't have ANY cars whatsoever. They are building a metro and will only have that and scooters and motorcycles. Talk about going green.
Well, it is past bedtime. Actually it's about bedtime - we can never go to sleep before 2 a.m. for some reason. I am still so in love with this place, but it's hard to not be able to share this entire experience with the people back home, especially Mom, Dad and Mark. I almost feel guilty for having this opportunity, but I can't wait for them to get here and see what I am talking about - I can totally see why people always want to come back here and why people say they could live here forever.
Ciao!!
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