MASICCIO!

Hey there my little cheese pizzas!

Wow… what a weekend! There is so much to talk about…  Leggo: Tuesday-Sunday

TUESDAY! We made some delicious food in pairing food and wine.  My group made fried veal.  It was rather tasty.  I’m going to miss the food in that class! The best food I have had in Italy has all been in that class.  In history, we had class in the same church that me and the roommies went to a few weekends ago.  I didn’t know it was so historically important! I mean, everything around here is historically important.  I honestly don’t remember what we did Tuesday night… Probably Italian things? It’s been hard to keep up with my blog lately because I’ve been so busy!

Cooking group!

YUMMY!

WEDNESDAY! In pairing food and wine, we had an awesome bread and tomato soup! WHOO! My group made rice fritters.  Wow.  Those were so good.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to like them, but holy cow batman.  They were delicious! In history, we had class at the Santa Croce church.  That place is gorgeous! I was taking a ton of notes because I had a quiz over it the next day.  That night, the roomies and I got ready for one of the cultural events.  It was a classical music festival concert! There were some extremely talented musicians there.  I wish I could play an instrument like them! Another fun fact, Italians bow five thousand times.  At the end of a show (same with the ballet/opera), the performers will bow a few times like in America.  Then they will walk off stage or the curtain will come down… then they will walk back on stage or the curtain will rise and they will bow a few more times.  This process repeats literally at least five times.  The audience continues to clap this entire time… Whyyyyyyy?

Noms.

Classroom for the day at Santa Croce.

Music festival!

THURSDAY! The roomies and I got up early Thursday morning to go see the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens.  It was gorgeous! The palace is massive, and the gardens are so beautiful.  It’s definitely a hike to walk around, but the views are worth it.  After walking around the gardens for a while, we grabbed a quick lunch, then headed to meet our pairing food and wine class at the train station.  We were taking a field trip by private bus to a farm that makes wine and olive oil.  The farm was so adorable.  It was an old deserted medieval town that a family renovated.  All of the inhabitants were killed during the Black Plague.  Lovely.  We had a wine tasting and a “light lunch.”  The wine was delicious! The pairing was really great.  Yes, I am a wine snob now.  Goodness.  How annoying.  The countryside was beautiful as always.  The scenery here is so ridiculously picturesque.  Because we went on this field trip, I was an hour and fifteen minutes late to my next class.  Luckily, I got there before they left to walk around Florence.  I took my quiz – ace baby.  ;) Then I grabbed a quick cup of coffee from the coffee machine (man am I gonna miss that) so I could literally run back to the apartment to pack for our weekend excursion! We were meeting at the train station at 6:30PM to catch our bus with Florence for Fun to the Amalfi coast! The bus ride was about 7 or 8 hours.  It really wasn’t too bad.  We stopped for dinner at a rest stop where we accidentally sat at the handicapped table.  Diane and I found this to be absolutely hilarious.  I wore my Venetian gondola driver shirt.  So much win.  When we arrived in Sorrento, we were exhausted.  We got in bed around 4AM.

Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens.

The view at the farm!

Boy banding.

FRIDAY! Early morning ("she wakes up... knock knock knock on the door...").  We woke up around 6:30AM to meet the bus to head to Capri! WOW.  Capri is an island off the coast of Italy, and it is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  I can’t even get over it.  Pictures can’t capture how amazingly beautiful that place is.  We took a ferry from Sorrento to Capri, and then boarded a boat for a ride around the island.  Somehow, we ended up getting the awesome seats on the top of the boat.  I think everyone secretly hated us for it because they were literally the best seats.  So blessed! Thanks daddy.  :)  It was so fun riding around on the boat around Capri.  I couldn’t stop talking about how awesome it was.  We then stopped at the entrance to the Blue Grotto.  WE FOUND COSTOS FROM SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS! Heee heeeee... This is seriously one of the coolest things I have ever experienced.  We got off of our boat into a smaller rowboat.  The rower sailor dude rowed us to the entrance of the grotto, had us lay down in the boat, and pulled us through the entrance.  SO COOL.  The water is the most brilliant shade of blue.  It glows blue.  It has something to do with the light reflecting off of the rocks or the bottom… something like that… WOW.  We were freaking out.  It was just amazing.  Google image it, folks.  The Blue Grotto used to be the private swimming pool of one of the emperors.  I mean, no big deal.  After that, we headed back to the island for some free time.  We ate seafood at a restaurant on the beach, and then laid out for a while.  The beach was rock instead of sand… really uncomfortable on your feet.  We hung out there for a little while.  We then had to start heading back to the meeting point.  We got some gelato to eat on the way.  Super refreshing.  It was so hot! Felt like home.  :) We then started making our way back to the hotel in Sorrento.

Capri!

Caves...

Inside the Blue Grotto!

BLUE GROTTO!

Gorgeous view!

Wow.

The beach.  Is this real life?

SATURDAY! We got up semi-early Saturday morning to go to Positano! We got on the bus and headed out.  When we got there, we had to walk down about 800 stair steps to get to the beach.  When we got to the bottom, all of our legs were shaking uncontrollably.  It was hilarious.  We couldn’t stop laughing! My calves still hurt.  We then went down to the beach to rent chairs and umbrellas.  The beach was gorgeous! After going to these beaches, it’s hard to want to go anywhere else.  Everything will be compared to these gorgeous Italian beaches.  This beach was also rocky.  It really hurts.  I wanted my Chacos! Christin was wearing hers – we were all jealous.  The water was so refreshing, and way saltier than I had expected.  You can see right to the bottom! Unlike Galveston… After lying in the sun for a while, we walked into the little town for lunch.  After lunch, we rented a boat.  Our sailor dude took us around the coast of Positano.  He drove us into some grottos and caves.  THEN we went CLIFF JUMPING! What?! It was so fun! Okay, so the cliff wasn’t too terribly high… but it was awesome.  We swam for a while.  It was so great! The water felt amazing! We then rode on the boat for a while enjoying the sun and the scenery.  When we got back to shore, we walked around the town for a while.  This place is famous for custom-made sandals.  Diane got a really cute pair! After shopping for a while, we headed back to the meeting point to walk up to the public bus that would take us back up the mountain to catch our bus to the hotel.  This public bus stop was nonsense.  The concept of waiting in line does not exist in Italy.  Italians just walk right up to the front and push you out of the way.  So this was definitively an experience.  We had a large group trying to get on.  We formed a human wall of sorts.  It was great.  I had my stance on ready to throw some bows.  Eventually, we made it to the bus and back to the hotel.  After dinner at the hotel, we got ready to go out in Sorrento! This was literally one of the most fun nights I have had here in Italy.  We hung out at the hotel terrace for a while jamming to the good music they were blaring.  We then headed to a place called English Inn.  On the way there, a group of Italians from Sorrento came up and started talking to us.  They were so awesome! They were teaching us Italian slang words, and we taught them how to say “Howdy, y’all!!!” So.  Hilarious.  We headed into the bar.  The DJ was playing awesome music! We had so much fun dancing and being silly together.  There went as many creepy Italians, which was nice because we didn’t have to worry about being groped… hah.  We randomly ran into most of my favorite API people! It was just way too much fun.  We were having so much fun that we didn’t realize how late it was.  For the most part, Italians simply don't ever rush you.  Bars, restaurants, stores... they just don't.  I love that.  We headed back to the hotel, but on the way to the room, Shannon and I got distracted.  We sat down at one of the tables and started making friends with the hotel staff.  They gave us some delicious food, and I practiced my Italian.  We then headed upstairs to go to sleep.

Beachin' it.

Swimming before cliff jumping!

Boating with the girls!

I'm on a boat.

Titanicing.

Gig 'em!!!

SUNDAY! Well.  We didn’t get that much sleep… so that morning was a little rough.  We were all super tired, but I was so excited to see Pompeii! Pompeii was so awesome! It is a quaint little ghost town.  This town was around in BC times, and was covered by 18 feet of volcanic ash when Mt. Vesuvius erupted way back in the day.  The town was excavated.  We even saw bodies of people who suffocated to death in the explosion.  It was so crazy.  After walking around Pompeii, we got some lunch and did a little shopping.  We then headed to the bus.  The bus drove us as far up Mt. Vesuvius as it could.  Theeeeeennnn we hiked all the way to the top! It was definitely a workout.  Someone somewhere was firing a fun or a cannon or something? Well, it kinda sounded like the volcano was erupting.  Some people had minor panic attacks... It was rather entertaining.  Shannon and I had a burst of determination and powered through to the top.  The view was absolutely amazing.  I can’t even describe it.  Pictures just can't capture all of the beauty I have seen here.  You could see Naples and the inside of the crater at the top of the volcano (I’m sure those aren’t the technical terms).  After taking some pictures, we headed back down the mountain.  The hike down was pretty hilarious.  We kept sliding because of all of the rocks.  Then we would laugh.  Then we would slide again.  It was great.  We then got back on the bus for the 7-8 hour bus ride back to Florence.  I was so happy to be back! Florence is starting to feel like home.

Chillin' in one of the hotel rooms in Pompeii.

This person chose to not run away...

Pompeii!

Gorgeous.

The top of Mt. Vesuvius!

Roommies!

AWKWARD MAJESTIC ARMS.

Oh hey, that's a volcano.

Gig 'em!

Check out that view.

WELL.  Today is the beginning of my last week in Florence.  I can’t believe it.  Where did the time go?! We still have so much we want to do and so many things we want to see! I absolutely love it here, but I am so excited for what awaits me at home.  I miss my friends and family, I can’t wait to hang out with my Fish Camp, and I can’t wait to get started again with Fade to Black! I wish I could just bring all of them here!

Arrivederci!