smoodytravels

[smoodytravels]

Roma: This is what dreams are made of!

February 25th, 2017:

Today, my roommate Ashlyn and I went to Rome! Our day started off a little rough. We planned on waking up at 7am and leaving our apartment at 8:15am because our train left at 8:34am, but instead we snoozed our alarms too much and ended up sleeping until 7:45! Getting out of bed in a panic, we got ready quickly and hustled our butts to the train station and thankfully made it in time. When we got to the train station, the train ended up being delayed 15 minutes. Finally, we were able to hop on the train and get settled into our seats. We were about halfway to Rome when the intercom came on, and we were told that the train would be delayed another 45 minutes. Considering we had the entire day in Rome, we were not too bothered by this, until they told us 20 minutes later that the train would be delayed for another 30 minutes. Instead of arriving at 10am, we finally arrived at 11:30. 

When we got off the train, I didn’t really realize how huge Rome was! I knew beforehand that it was big city, but trying to navigate it was a whole different ballgame. Neither one of us have data on our phone, so we were unable to use our phones for a map. We came across a cafe that had wifi and food, two things we needed at the time! Unfortunately, the cafe’s wifi didn’t work, and the food wasn’t good. It seems to be a hit or miss here in Italy; you can end up at the most amazing food places or places that aren't so great. However, our server was really sweet and the coffee was good, which made up for the lack of quality of the food. As since our phones weren’t working with the wifi, we were unable to get directions, so, thankfully, we came across a Holiday Inn, where the woman at the front desk was able to help us by giving us a paper map, as well as directions on how to navigate the city. 

We headed towards the train station again, and bought metro tickets. When we were at the ticket booth, a woman came up to us and started talking to us in Italian, which we of course didn’t understand at all. Ashlyn asked her if she spoke English, and she gave us the WORST look I have ever seen. It’s really unfortunate when locals get irritated with us tourists who clearly look like we don’t belong in the town, it makes it harder for us to communicate with them. Quickly brushing off that encounter, we bought our train tickets and hopped on to the metro. First stop, the Trevi Fountain! 

When we finally got to the fountain after navigating the streets, I was speechless! I cannot even explain how incredible the Trevi Fountain is in person. To see it with my very own eyes is something I will never forget. I am constantly in awe of  things I’ve only seen in pictures and movies. When I was younger, I watched the Lizzie McGuire movie religiously. For those of you who don't know that movie, Lizzie, the main character, goes to Rome on a school field trip and meets a singer named Paulo and they adventure together in the beautiful city! She met him at the Trevi Fountain - so needless to say I was totally fangirling when I was there. There were SO many people surrounding the fountain, throwing coins in, making wishes, and taking pictures. Ashlyn and I did the same and had fun doing that. Next stop after the fountain, the Colosseum!

We had some trouble finding the Colosseum. For as big of a city that Rome is, we were surprised to find that there are hardly any signs to point us in the right directions toward the main monuments. After walking around aimlessly for a little bit, we finally found the Colosseum! We were kicking ourselves because we missed the turned to go down the street it was on, and got extremely turned around until a local helped to point us in the right direction. Once we hit the street, it was at the very end and very hard to miss! Even from far away, I was surprised at the sight of it! We walked down the long street and passed the Roman Forum, which we didn’t know was the forum at the time. We arrived at the Colosseum, and took an abundance of pictures until finally deciding to go inside and check it out. Once inside, both of us couldn't stop saying “wow” and gawking at how incredible it is. There’s just so much history in the monument, and it was so amazing to be inside a famous place and see it with our own eyes. I probably could've stayed in there for hours just looking at the relics and old architecture of the interior. While Ashlyn and I were taking photos, it started POURING down rain! It was honestly kind of funny because it happened so quickly. Thankfully, we both had our umbrellas and pulled those out. We headed downstairs and looked around some more and decided to make our way towards the Vatican to say hi to the Pope!

To get to the Vatican, we had to take the metro and that is a challenge within itself be honest. It is very simple to get off and on and figuring out which stops to stop at, but the amount of people that use it can be very overwhelming. Sometimes I can’t help feeling on edge when I’m bigger towns surrounded by a lot of people because I have to be watching my bags. It is better to be safe than sorry! Once we arrived at our stop, we headed towards the Vatican, which was quite a trek from the metro stop. Finally, we arrived and it is an incredible sight! It is smaller than I thought it was, but it was still so incredible to see another thing that I have only seen on tv! We wanted to go inside, but the line was SO long that we would've missed our train. So, unfortunately, we did not get to go inside and see the Sistine Chapel. Definitely on my bucket list still! After taking many photos and getting a few souvenirs, we headed back to the train station and hung out until we had to hop on our train back to Florence. 

It was a very fun, eventful, and busy day full of walking around and sightseeing. We were exhausted on the train ride home, which was 3 hours!! It was hard not to be restless when sitting on the train for so long, but we were happy to get back to Florence and hit the hay. I loved seeing all the sights, but next time I would really like to see St. Peter’s Basilica, the Spanish steps, the Pantheon, and inside the Vatican! 

[smoodytravels]

Venice

Wow, it has been a busy week! I haven’t had an opportunity to write here because I’ve been busy with classes and homework (yes, I actually go to class and do homework despite my busy traveling!) However, I have gone to a few cities here in Italy that are absolutely incredible! Here is my journey through Venice:

February, 21st 2017: 

Today I went to Venice with my friend Shelby! We were very pleased that the train left at 9:54am, because the train that we were originally going to catch on the previous Friday left at around 8:30. This day we got a full extra hour of sleep - woo!! Anything to give a little extra sleep is ideal. We got to the train station and realized that our seats were not next to each other because we bought them separately. That was a challenge within itself. After parting ways with Shelby at the train, I hopped on in my coach. There was someone sitting in my seat, so I figured I could go and sit somewhere else, not knowing that the seats were assigned. About 5 minutes later, these two girls came up to me and told me that I was in their seat (so uncomfortable). So, I had to get up and go to my assigned seat and awkwardly gesture to the older Italian man in my seat that it was mine. It is honestly such a handicap not knowing any part of the Italian language besides ciao, in situations like that I wish I had known how to converse with them! Once I was settled in my seat, we left the train station and the train ride was about two hours long. When we were approaching Venice, it became foggy and all of a sudden water appeared next to the train tracks! I was surprised at how quickly it appeared. We hopped off the train and began our day in Venice! It was foggy and pretty cold, which neither of us were expecting. I underestimated the weather and didn’t take into consideration that it was right next to water. But, nevertheless, it was absolutely beautiful! There were tourists walking around, but it wasn’t entirely crowded which was really nice. We walked along the riverfront and went into shops selling beautiful masks - it was our goal for the day to find a perfect mask for each of us. Right now in Europe, Carnival is occurring, which is a huge festival that towns celebrate different weekends. Venice celebrates “carnevale” on the weekends, which is a bummer because we missed all the activities and sights of people dressed up. We walked through a large number of shops until we realized that we were hungry so we started walking towards the water and noticed that we walked to pretty much the edge of Venice, and looking out was very eery because it was so foggy and felt like we were on the edge of the world. We had some trouble looking for somewhere to eat - it was either too expensive for our budget or not what we were looking for. Walking into some restaurants and asking for the menu and then leaving was very uncomfortable, especially because we got some pretty mean looks (oops). Once we picked a place, we warmed up and got some food in our tummies. It was so fun walking around and seeing the sights of Venice - unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the famous square (San Marco Square) because we would’ve had to take a water taxi and we were unsure of how to do that. We stayed in the main area, looking for masks and taking pictures. I fell in love with the town, it was so magical in its very own way. Even though it was foggy, the buildings were still so beautiful and I loved all the bridges and waterways that we had to navigate through to get places. Eventually we got our own masks, some other souvenirs, and headed back to Florence on the train. All in all, a great day with a great friend! Hopefully next time I will be able to do a gondola ride and be there on a sunny day but I am still so grateful I got to see the beautiful town. 

[smoodytravels]

Prato, Lucca, & Viareggio

Saturday, February 18th, 2017:

Today I went on a day trip through my program to Prato! I had never heard of it before, so I figured I should go and check it out. There was a group of about 20-30 of us, and we walked around the town, went to their textile museum, had lunch, and went to a museum that had exhibitions that were supposed to exemplify what the future would be like through art. They titled this exhibit “the end of the world”. It was a really odd museum, with very weird works of art, but it was still interesting to see. One of the works of art that I liked in particular was something that I actually had to walk through! It started out as a tunnel, but it got smaller and smaller, and spit us out at the end, and when we walked out, it was a tree trunk that I had just walked through! The woman giving us the museum tour told us that it took 3 months to build the entire tree, and in about a month it will be taken down when the exhibit moves to a new location. After the museum, we headed back to Florence, which was only about a 45 minute bus ride. 

Sunday, February 19th, 2017:

Today I had the most fun i’ve had since being in Italy! I woke up bright and early to meet some of my friends (shelby, maddy, MJ, & allie) at the train station so we could catch a train to Venice. Well, plans fell through and we actually ended up going to Lucca, which was such a good decision because it was the cutest and most beautiful little town! There was a wall that surrounded the majority of the town, and inside the wall there was a flea market where people were selling all sorts of random things - paintings, furniture, artwork, jewelry, you name it! After we walked through the market, we made our way to a small cafe and sat down for lunch. We all ordered yummy pizza and shared the house wine (red & white). The pizza was so good, and we were starving so it was basically inhaled in a matter of minutes. Everyone wanted to ride bikes around the town, but instead of renting individual bikes, we rented a 4 seater bike which was SO much fun. I haven’t laughed that hard in a really long time - tears were in all of our eyes because we were giggling so much while attempting to drive this funny contraption. We returned the bike, and me, shelby and allie split off from maddy and MJ and decided to walk around the town a little bit more, then take the train to a cute little beach town that was 20 minutes away! Luckily for us, it was only 7euro roundtrip to get there. The town was called Viareggio, and it was so quaint! Once we stepped off the train, we could immediately smell the ocean water. Of course we had to stop and get some gelato which was absolutely delicious! I loved walking to the beach, seeing the water, and hearing the waves crash against the shore. It reminded me of home, and almost looked like it too. We people watched as the sun set, and soaked in every last minute of the warm sun before it was cold. The weather made us all so happy, we needed some fun in the sun! It was such a great day with great friends. 

[smoodytravels]

Valentine’s Day & Cooking Class

February 14th, 2017:

For Valentine’s Day my roommate Ashlyn and I decided we wanted to do a “galentines” day. So, once we were done with class, we went to Lush (homemade beauty product store) and bought face masks. We also went to the store to get wine as well to have while we watched the bachelor. Later that night, I had signed up for a cooking class through my program with some of my friends. During the cooking class, we made an appetizer, main course, and dessert. For the appetizer, we made an eggplant, potato and parmesan cheese dish, which was absolutely DELICIOUS!! I really did not like eggplant, but after trying what we made, I think I might like it! For the main dish, we made homemade spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli, which was made with homemade egg noodles and then a sage and butter sauce on top. I had never made my own noodles, let alone my own ravioli - it was actually really easy to make and turned out great! The dessert was probably my favorite part - chocolate soufflé! All 3 things that we made were so easy to make and I’ll probably be making it when I’m back at home! The chef that helped us was very sweet and showed us his techniques, tips, and tricks to make our dishes the best they can be. We were all pleased with the outcome of our meal! Once I got home, Ashlyn and I did our face masks, poured ourselves a glass of wine, and watched the bachelor (its our weekly Tuesday night tradition). It was a great and memorable day!

[smoodytravels]

Barcelona, Spain

Friday, February 10th, 2017:

Today was just like any other day – went to the gym, went grocery shopping, and then before I knew it I was packing my bag and getting ready to go to Barcelona with my friends Cece, Haley, and Cara for the weekend! The plan was to leave the apartment early so that we could get to the airport on time and be at our gate early – little did we know that security was extremely easy and quick to get through. We ended up waiting about 45 minutes until we had to board the plane, and when it was time to board, we had a complication come up. Haley, my roommate, was held up at the gate because her boarding pass said “Miss Haley” instead of her last name, so, the gate agents would not let her on the flight. Long story short, there was supposed to be 4 of us heading to Barcelona – and unfortunately there ended up being 3. After boarding the plane, I ended up getting the whole aisle to myself – which meant I had a window seat (I originally had the aisle). We had a short, hour and a half flight, and once we arrived, we got a taxi to the hostel. The hostel we stayed at was “Kabul Hostel” – which was essentially a “party” hostel. When we first arrived at 11:45pm, we went to go check in, but they had us wait until 12am to check in to our room, which we found extremely odd. Things were in full swing at 12am – people were playing pool, foosball, socializing, and having a good time. Our room was a shared/mixed room for 10 people. There ended up being 7 girls, and 3 guys staying in the room. At first, I was extremely skeptical about the safety of the hostel – mostly because I had never stayed in one before! This was my very first hostel experience, so I was slightly on edge at first. After we settled in to our room, we got ready to go out and check out the night life of Barcelona. Our hostel sold sangria for 1euro and it was delicious! We headed out, and I was instantly overwhelmed by the amount of people walking around at 1am. There were men who had 6 packs of beer who would come up to us and ask us “you want beer?” and say “beer for 1euro”, this happened to us about 10 times while we were walking on Las Ramblas (which is a very famous strip full of boutiques, restaurants, cafes, and stores). Once we were past the strip, we met up with some friends of Cece and Cara’s at a bar called “The Mint”. While we were there, this man came up behind me and gently grabbed my hair and sniffed it, then proceeded to tell me something in Spanish that I of course did not understand... it was the oddest thing. We were exhausted so we decided to head back to the hostel at around 3am, which definitely wasn’t the best time to walk back home in Barcelona, but there were 3 of us, and we were safe together. The city was bustling still, with so many people walking around and having a good time. We finally settled into bed at 4am!

Saturday, February 11th, 2017:

Today we woke up bright and early (9am) to start our long day of sightseeing! We had the free breakfast at the hostel, which consisted of cereal, toast, and fruit. The hostel provided a free walking tour, so we decided to do that at 10:30am. There were two options, the gothic tour, and the Gaudi tour. The three of us chose the Gaudi tour, which was led by a guy named Baldi, who was from Budapest, Hungary. Our tour showed some of the buildings that Gaudi created in Barcelona, and Baldi told us some things about Gaudi’s life as well. The buildings were absolutely incredible – that man was a genius with his artwork! We had to take the metro (underground train) to a few places, mostly because it was quicker than walking. I had previous experience of traveling on the metro in Paris last summer, so it was easy to navigate. I loved how quick it was to get places, definitely saves time! During our tour, we met this adorable woman from Beijing, China named Lilly. She was so sweet, and thought that me, Cece and Cara were in middle school. She wanted to know so much about us, and we asked her questions too. She was in Barcelona traveling by herself which is so brave, especially with the language barrier. We had a hard time understanding a few things she said, but we were trying out best. Our last stop on the tour was La Sagrada Familia. The church was so incredible; I was in so much awe looking at it from the outside. We were starving, so we walked into the more residential area past La Sagrada Familia and came across a tapas restaurant. For lunch, we ordered calamari, mussels, octopus with roasted rosemary tomatoes, and roasted potatoes. For dessert, we ordered a white chocolate “cake”, which was exactly like cheesecake! It was delicious. The service wasn’t too great, but we were fed so we were happy. Before we paid our check, our server brought us a liqueur to try for free and offered us 3 flavors, so we decided to try the strawberry flavor. It was horrible and tasted disgusting, I had the tiniest sip and could not have any more. After lunch we headed back to La Sagrada Familia so that we could wait in line to go inside. Thankfully, we only had to wait 30 minutes to get in. Once we were inside, I was in so much awe once again. It had the most amazing stained glass windows that took my breath away. The architecture inside was as incredible as it was outside, but I was surprised to see how much more modern it was on the interior. I’m guessing it was because the upkeep is probably a lot easier since the inside can be preserved better. Fun fact: Gaudi spent 12 years creating JUST the blueprint for the church, and began building it in March of 1882, but construction is still occurring and it still won’t be done until 2026! Once finished, it will have towers that are higher than the Eiffel Tower, making it the tallest building in all of Europe! We spent about 30 – 40 minutes inside the church, and afterwards decided to go to McDonald’s because we heard that they sell beer. To our surprise, they sold beer, so we got some as well as a quick snack to tide us over until dinner. Cara ordered a “party” mcflurry – which we thought was a mcflurry with multiple toppings, but it is actually a big carton of ice cream with a few toppings! We headed back to the hostel, and when we got off the metro onto the street, there was a parade happening! There were tons of people on the drums, shouting, and lighting these huge sparklers and waving them everywhere. Apparently, there was a festival occurring – which we were unaware about. Once we were back inside our hostel, we hung out until dinner. There was a free dinner offered, it was a simple pasta with some sauce, corn, mushrooms and I think peppers. Wasn’t the best, but it filled us up enough! We went back to our room and got ready to go out, made our way back downstairs to the common area, and got some sangria. While we were hanging out, these 2 guys came up to us and asked us where we from! The 5 of us automatically hit it off, and socialized over some drinks at the hostel before going out. Their names are Jacob and Nico, and they are studying abroad as well, making their way towards Cape Town, Africa which is where they will be going to school. They’ve been traveling around Europe for the past couple of weeks, and were staying at the same hostel as us. After about an hour or so, we headed out and went to a bar called CocoVail beer hall, which essentially sold only beer and cider. I ended up ordering the hard apple cider, which was actually very good! We didn’t realize what time it was until they were closing it down at around 2am, so we decided to leave and head to the next bar, which was called the DowJones bar. This bar works like the stock exchange, where the price of drinks fluctuates when people buy them. So, if more people buy beer, the price of beer will go up, and the price of a shot will go down. We all had so much fun there, it was a blast and did not disappoint! It was around 3am when we headed back to the hostel and once again went to bed around 4am! Busy but fun day, and we were so happy we got to meet Jacob and Nico, it made me feel so much more comfortable being in a new place, especially because they were so sweet and personable.

Sunday, February 12th, 2017:

We woke up at around 9:15am this morning, got ready and headed downstairs for our free breakfast. We had breakfast with Nico, and then packed up and checked out of our hostel. We met up with Jacob and Cara and Cece’s friend Jordan, and headed out for the day. Once we were outside of our hostel, we noticed that there was a TON of people in the courtyard because of the festival occurring. There were all sorts of people selling things, and people would bring suitcases full of the most random items that looked like they grabbed from their house that they didn’t want. They would unzip their suitcases, and dump the contents out on big sheets. We saw things like old cameras, watches, sim cards, shoes; anything you would find at a garage sale, it was there! It was by far the oddest thing we saw. Other people were selling coins that you could collect as well. People who were participating in the festival were wearing costumes, dancing around and having bystanders in the crowd dance with them. We walked through the crowds, and headed towards the metro. Our plan for the day was to go to Park Guell, a very famous park with some of Gaudi’s artwork in it. This park is mostly known for the benches that overlook the city of Barcelona; they have beautiful mosaic tiles on them of all different colors and styles. So beautiful! Once we made it to the park, we walked around and explored. We came across the benches and bought a ticket to go in (which was 6euro). Cece and I spent an excessive amount of time JUST taking pictures and videos inside the park by the benches, but we really couldn’t help ourselves because the pictures turned out great, and it was the perfect background. We came across arches that are underneath the benches, and these arches are actually featured in the Cheetah Girls 2 movie when they go to Barcelona (fan girl moment). It was really cool to be in a place that I’ve seen in only pictures and movies! In total, we spent about an hour and a half in the park. It was time to head back to the hostel to get our things and head to the airport, but we had just enough time to stop for lunch. We stopped at a tapas restaurant on Las Ramblas, where we ordered tapas and paella, which wasn’t my favorite thing I’ve had, but it was still pretty good. After lunch, we headed back to the hostel to say bye to Nico and Jacob before leaving. We were totally bummed to say bye to them –  but we wished them safe travels on their journey with hopes that we’ll get to see them again in the future. Fast forward to getting ourselves to the airport and on the plane, we made it back to Florence Sunday night and I had never been happier to be back “home”! It felt good to be back in a place where I felt comfortable, and it felt good to sleep in my own bed. The weekend was so fun and a whirlwind adventure, I’m looking forward to the next!

[smoodytravels]

Classes, Trip Planning, & Sunsets

Tuesday, February 7th, 2017:

Today marks the second full week of school to start! My classes are great and my teachers are good too. After my class, I was headed towards my friend Shelby’s apartment, and just so happened to run into 3 of her roommates! (they also go to WSU) We walked around a little bit, and stopped at a leather store, where I tried on an incredible leather jacket, but it was 190 euro so I unfortunately had to turn down that purchase (no matter how badly I wanted it!!) Before I got to the apartment, I made a stop at this delicious panini shop and had the most amazing panini I have had since being here in Florence! It had freshly cut salami, cheese, and roasted tomatoes on it, placed in between a warm focaccia style bread. SO. DELICIOUS. I can’t remember the name of the place, but I’ll be back soon so I will definitely have to write it down. The woman working behind the counter was also very sweet, and helped me select which sandwich I would like. It ended up being 5euro, but it was totally worth it because of the size of the sandwich.   

Once I got to Shelby’s apartment, Shelby and I started planning some trips together, which is so fun and exciting, but as I have mentioned before, stressful. Everything has to be timed and budgeted perfectly, so we were trying our best to plan it out. Our last big trip we are planning together is Greece, a destination I have ALWAYS wanted to go to. I don’t even know how long I’ve wanted to go there. Once we decided to call quits on planning for the day, me, Shelby and one of her roommates Allie walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset. This is the second time I’ve been up there, and it was absolutely amazing. We got there just as the sun was setting, and I was surprised at the amount of people that were sitting on the steps that looked out towards the city. The view takes your breath away.. the 3 of us couldn’t stop saying how much we were in awe of this beautiful place that we get to live in for the next 3 months. We sat on the steps for about a half an hour, and after that it was time for me to walk home! That night, me and Ashlyn went out to dinner with some girls that she had met the first week we were here. We went to Gusta pizza, which has been on Food Network channel back at home, and Guy Fieri has been there as well! It was so delicious, but the walk to get there was a bit long. Its on the opposite side of the river from where our apartment is, but it was definitely worth the walk and the wait for our food. The pizza here is so amazing, everything tastes so much more fresh than back at home (although I could totally go for some Pagliacci’s right now). Ashlyn and I headed back home after dinner and caught up on the Bachelor and went to bed. 

[smoodytravels]

The David & Rain

Sunday, February 5th 2017:

On the first Sunday of every month, museums are free to the public! So, me, Haley and Ashlyn decided to go to the Accademia museum, which holds the infamous David statue (which is 15ft tall). It was so amazing seeing the statue in person.. everything I’ve seen in pictures that are here in Florence is even more incredible in person! Honestly, there are no words to describe it. Once we saw that, we decided to walk around the rest of the museum and see a few more things. We were really only there to see the David statue, so we left after about 45 minutes. After we left, we decided we wanted to go and see what other museums we could come across that were free. We ended up going across the river, over the Ponte Vecchio, and went to the Uffizzi Gallery, which holds many works of art as well as the Boboli Gardens. It was a rainy day, so we didn’t go to the gardens, but definitely went inside the museum and looked at some beautiful pieces of art. After we were done there, we headed home and hung out for the rest of the day. It was a pretty relaxing Sunday to say the least! 

[smoodytravels]

Rainy Day in the City

Saturday, February 4th, 2017:

Today, Ashlyn and I both slept in pretty late, and took our time getting ready for the day. I made a delicious breakfast (scrambled eggs, toast, and avocado), it tasted just like home which was comforting to me (I’m a big fan of comfort food). After that we got ready for the day, and left the apartment for a few hours. Me, Haley, and Ashlyn walked around the city, meanwhile it was pouring down rain. Even on days like today where it was raining, it was still beautiful and bustling with people. As we were walking along the Ponte Vecchio, we stopped to take a few photos, and a woman from Africa came up to us selling some bracelets. We talked to her for a little bit, and she was really trying to get us to buy her jewelry, but we declined multiple times and walked away, which of course did not make her happy. We then walked across the Ponte Vecchio to the other side of the river, found a cute coffee shop, and all had some caffe latte. Just what we needed to warm us up! After that, we walked around some more, walked along the river, and took more pictures. We came back home and hung out for a little bit longer. Ashlyn and I decided to head out for dinner and get some pizza, but on our way to find food, we came across a super cute boutique with affordable and adorable clothes that fit our style. Needless to say, we’ll probably be back at that store often. Most of the boutiques here are for older women, with fancier clothes that I don’t really wear and they’re too expensive. So, when we find a cute shop, we try not to forget it. The worst and best part about this store is that it is RIGHT by our apartment. Good and bad thing for sure. We walked around some more to try and find a restaurant that had affordable prices (we were only looking for pizza though, which is usually around 5-7 euro here). We ended up eating at a restaurant called Lorenzo De Medici – so good! I ended up ordering a salamino piccante pizza, which was delicious. The only thing we didn’t like about it was that they charged us to sit down and eat (2 euro). Some places do this, others do not, just depends on where you are in the city center. I learned the hard way that places are less expensive the farther away you get from main tourist attractions (aka the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio). Makes sense though, those are the tourist traps. After dinner we headed home and are having another relaxing night at home, which I don’t mind. We finally get to watch the bachelor tonight – we’ve been dying to watch it! Stay tuned for more updates throughout next week!

[smoodytravels]

Facetime, Dinner, & The Bachelor

Friday, February 3rd, 2017:

 Today we walked around the city some more and ran some errands! It’s been raining off and on these past few days, so it makes the city look gloomy (its still beautiful though!) Me and my roommate went to the store and bought a few things for dinner, then came back to the apartment to hang out for the rest of the night. I got to Facetime my best friend from school, Julianna (miss you so much!!!!) It was so nice catching up with her and hearing about her study abroad experience in Wales. I’m so happy that she has formed a group of friends to hang out with. After talking to her for about an hour and a half, it was time for dinner! Earlier in the week I bought some chicken and lettuce for salad, and Ashlyn made the chicken as well as some sautéed potatoes, and it was delicious! I offered to cook some too but she so kindly offered to make it all! We haven’t really been eating extravagantly lately (we’re on a budget – lol) so the chicken, potatoes and salad with a glass of red wine seemed like a gourmet meal to us. Afterwards, we really wanted to watch the bachelor (we both sadly love that show and we’re 2 episodes behind) but our wifi was running so slow that we couldn’t watch it. Instead, we watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 days, but we both fell asleep for almost the whole movie because we were so exhausted. We woke up to the sound pouring down rain and thunder, which we didn’t think was thunder at first. Ashlyn opened the window and we both looked outside just in time for a huge lightning strike to go through the sky, which was kind of freaky! We crawled back in our beds, watched the rest of the movie and went to sleep.

[smoodytravels]

Third Day of Class, Pizza Making Lesson, & First Wine Purchase

Thursday, February 2nd, 2017:

I had my first Thursday class today, which was my second wine elective with the same professor as my Tuesday wine course. I think I’m going to like my Thursday class more than my Tuesday class based off of the content of the class, but they’re both about wine (and we get to taste wine each class) so I’m really not complaining. For three out of four of my classes, we get to go on field trips called field learning activities, where we go to somewhere outside of Florence for the day and learn about the town and culture. These are awesome because they count as 2 lessons in one day, so we get two additional days off of class out of the whole semester. This worked out in my favor because now I have a few extra long weekends. During class, we tasted a white wine which was also pretty good, but once again, not my favorite. After my class, I went back home, dropped off some of my things, and headed out to my pizza making lesson! I signed up for this through the program I am on here, which was great because all I had to do was put down a 10euro deposit to secure my spot. Our lesson was at the restaurant “Ristorante Accademia”. We got to meet the owner, Gianni, and one of his chefs (I don’t remember his name). Gianni was so sweet and told us a little bit about himself, as well as some knowledge about wine! He offered us wine and cheese before we made our pizza, and said “have as many bottles of wine as you would like!” while we were there. There was about 12 of us, all girls. We started our lesson with Gianni’s chef showing us how the dough is made, with yeast, salt, and flour. Then, he showed us how to knead out the dough into a circle as well as tossing it up in the air (Italian style). Gianni played Italian music over the speakers and has us dance around the table when we were kneading the dough. So fun! After that, his chef helped us to make our pizzas. I put tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni (salamino piccante in Italian) on mine, and it was put in the wood fire oven (which was 500 years old, so amazing!) After my pizza was done, the chef put fresh basil on it in the middle. Pair that with some of their wine, yum!! I took the rest of my pizza home, and later that night had it for leftovers. We went to the store later on in the evening and I made my first ever (legal) purchase – rose wine, my favorite! It was only 3euro, and it was not half bad! After that we hung out the rest of the night and planned some upcoming trips (so exciting!!)

[smoodytravels]

Classes & Coffee

Tuesday, January 31st, 2017: First Day of Class

 Today was my first day of classes, which I was really happy about because I was extremely ready to get back into a routine. I only have one class on Tuesdays, which is one of my wine electives. All of my classes have around 30 people or less in them, which I am definitely not used to, but its pretty nice. My teacher for this class is Italian of course, and gave us an introduction to what the class will be like for the semester. She mentioned that we get to taste wines almost every class – which is really great because that will help my knowledge of wine immensely for my major back at WSU. We tried a red “Nicole”, which wasn’t my favorite but it was still pretty good. The rest of the day was spent walking around the city, running errands and then relaxing in the evening!  

 Wednesday, February 1st, 2017: Second Day of Classes

On Wednesdays, I also only have one class, which is one of my marketing classes (I’m in two). Most of my day was spent walking around the city with my roommate Haley, and then I grabbed some coffee with my friend Shelby (who also goes to WSU). We went to this cute little coffee shop right by the building two of my classes are in, and it was only 1.20 euro for a caffe latte (latte). It was so yummy, and students work at this little café. They also had cute treats to munch on as well – definitely going to have to try those soon. After that, I hung out at home and started planning some trips with Haley. We have come to the realization that trip planning is very difficult, as well as budgeting and matching everyone’s schedules so that everyone who wants to go can go. I feel as though I have all the time in the world to go places, but after planning trips for the weekends, I really only have a couple weekends open left! It’s really exciting and gives me an adrenaline rush. My bank account is crying but the memories and sights are going to be SO worth it.

[smoodytravels]

San Lorenzo Market & Margaritas

Monday, January 30th 2017:

On Monday’s I don’t have class all day, so it gives me plenty of time to basically do whatever I want and explore the city of Florence (and later on plan extended weekend trips!!). Today, I took my time waking up and made myself some breakfast (eggs & toast). Side note on making eggs and toast - cooking in our small kitchen is definitely interesting and challenging. Our stove is a gas stove, which you have to light every time you want to use it. We don’t have a toaster or a microwave, so we have to be innovative with the way we make our food. I’ve been making my “toast” in a pan these past few mornings. Living my apartment has made me realize the things I take for granted, like a microwave. Microwaves here use up a lot of electricity, and as since the town is so old it can be tough on the main electrical lines. Most apartments here don’t really have a microwave! 

After getting ready for my day, me, Caroline and Haley headed out to the San Lorenzo Market, which is this giant market that has leather goods, and a market inside with fresh produce like meats, cheese, pasta, olive oil, wines, etc. The leather market is interesting because there are vendors selling the exact same things right next to each other, so its a matter of picking which vendor you would like to buy your leather item from. The vendors will talk to you when you’re walking through the areas saying “hello, miss, I have nice leather bags and wallets” or something like that, trying to get you to buy their things. Its honestly kind of annoying, because I don't even get an opportunity to see what they have because i’m so focused on ignoring the vendors. If you stop and look at something, they’ll harass you until you buy it. The key to this: bargaining. If you bargain with the vendor, you’ll be able to get the item down to a lesser price than what you started at. I haven’t done this yet, but I’m nervous to try it. Stay tuned - I’ll post when I do! We went inside to the bigger market (called the mercato centrale), which has all the produce and other miscellaneous items. Upstairs, they have a type of food court area with foods from all over the world. The food at each vendor look absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to try some in the near future. 

When we were done looking around at the market, I grabbed (yet another) delicious panini for lunch. They are so delicious, I could probably have one every day for lunch and it would not get old. We made our way to this store called Tiger - which is Italy’s version of Target and Spencer’s Gifts mixed together. It had the most random items in there from kitchen supplies to workout clothes. 

Later on in the day, I headed out again with another one of my roommates, Ashlyn, and her friend Nick. We walked around the city, and went to the main building that two of my classes is in. The building is absolutely beautiful inside! (will post pictures soon). After that we went and grabbed gelato at this incredible gelateria called “Gelateria De Neri” and it had the best gelato I've had to far - and i’ve only been here for a week! I ordered strawberry cheesecake - SO DELICIOUS! That might be my go-to flavor in the future. 

Once I was back at my apartment, I relaxed for a little bit and then went to a Mexican restaurant with Haley and a few of our new friends. We all ordered margaritas (my very first one!) and they were so good. The name of the restaurant is Tijuana’s, and they have specials for margarita Mondays (of course). I ended up ordering passion fruit flavor and it tasted like frozen/blended pog juice but with tequila in it. Pretty yummy! It’s so fun hanging out with new people and getting to know them - its starting to make me feel better about this experience and all the good times I am going to have in the near future with them. So cheers to that! 

[smoodytravels]

San Gimignano, Chianti, and Siena

Sunday, January 29th, 2017:

Today I went on a day trip/excursion to San Gimignano, Siena, and Chianti, which were absolutely beautiful places! The day started out with waking up bright and early to go to the train station and 8:30am, hopping on buses and making our way there. The girls that I had met who also go to WSU were on this trip, as well as other friends that my roommate Haley and I had met last week (special shoutout to cece!) The first stop was San Gimignano, which was a cute and quaint little town. It was about an hour bus ride from Florence, and the view on the way there was incredible. We were so fortunate to have a sunny but crisp day. Me, Haley, Cece, and two other girls walked around the town, got some coffee, and took plenty of photos. We came across a man named Paulo and a woman (did not get her name) who was painting small pictures with views of Italy, he was an amazing artist and so sweet. We climbed some steep steps up to the top of a lookout area, where we had a panoramic view of the town and the rolling hills. It almost looked like a painting because the sights were so breathtaking. Next, we made our way to Chianti, which was another quaint town. Our bus took us to a winery where we got to taste four different red wines, and have lunch as well. The wines were delicious, so delicious that the table I sat with for lunch ordered 3 more bottles to share between the 8 of us! (it was only 6 euro for 3 bottles split between us so it was affordable). The lunch consisted of an appetizer plate, with assorted meats, cheese, and bruschetta, and then for the main dish spaghetti, followed by a marshmallow and chocolate type flan dish for dessert. After lunch, we went and took fun photos with everyone to kill some time. We hopped on the bus again and drove to another small town in the area for a quick stop, took some photos and hopped back on the bus to make our way towards Siena, which was a 20 minute bus ride. Siena was beautiful but smaller than I thought it would be! We had a walking tour, which took less than an hour to walk the whole city. It is only three main streets and they all connect together, so its not too hard to get lost there. Me and the girls from WSU killed some time by looking in shops, but then didn't realize we had a ton of time left, so we sat in a burger/fast food type restaurant and hung out and talked. I didn’t mind sitting there and getting to know the girls, but I think an hour less in Siena would've been perfect. Either way, it was a fun and busy day with lots of walking and great sights!

[smoodytravels]

Settling In

The first few days have been nothing but busy and full of walking around the city. I can’t believe how fast this week has gone - I have met so many amazing and incredibly outgoing people and its only just the beginning! Here’s a recap of my first few days in Florence:

First full day: Wednesday, January 25th, 2017

I woke up to the sound of people bustling in the streets early in the morning, as well as heard the bell from the Duomo ringing at around 8am. It rings every single morning at the same time. The first full day in this amazing city consisted of orientation for my school, which meant no sleeping in after being extremely jet lagged and tired. We sat through orientation, and during my break, my friend Shelby and I decided to go have lunch together with some other friends. But as since we are still unfamiliar with the city, we (of course) got lost trying to find the restaurant that we were supposed to be going to. We were so incredibly close, but the streets here are so confusing, and Maps on the iPhone was really not that helpful. So we picked somewhere near by and had pizza - this was my first pizza in Florence and it was delicious! We then made our way to her apartment, which took us 40 minutes to get to because we got lost again (lol) and took our time strolling the streets along the River Arno. I can’t believe it took us 40 minutes to reach her apartment, when we could've been there in probably 20 minutes, but its something we both laugh at now. We had an appointment for orientation in which we had to be back at our location anytime before 5:30pm, and instead of sitting in auditorium for 2 hours (which was what we were supposed to be doing), we were walking around the city, taking pictures and seeing the sights. So, we ended up getting to the location around 5pm, our appointment was finished in about 10 minutes, and we went our separate ways to our apartment. 

That night, me and a few of my roommates went to the welcome dinner provided for us through our program. We had some good but interesting food - pumpkin risotto, vegetarian lasagna, turkey with artichoke, and a dessert which seemed to be an apple type pastry with chocolate on top. Wednesday night was our first night of going out and seeing what night life is like here. We went out to a “shot cafe” which is a bar, and then “space” a fun night club that mostly American students were at. I had the opportunity to meet more people who are in the same program as me, all of which are sweet and fun to be around. 

Thursday, January 26th, 2017:

This day was for relaxing and taking it easy. Trying to adjust to a new place has been a little difficult, but I’m learning to take things with a grain of salt and to try my best to stay positive even when it gets a little tough. Both my roommate and I slept in pretty late and caught up on resting. We went to a coffee shop that’s near our apartment, “Arnold Coffee”, and inside they play American music and consider themselves to be the “American Coffee Experience” - perfect for people like us. 

Later on in the day, we made our first trip to the “conad”, which is Florence’s version of a grocery store. It was a pretty small store, and the aisles are tight. When we were checking out, the woman at the counter could probably tell we were american.. the camera probably gave it away. At the store, we had to put all of our own groceries on the counter for the person to scan, and then bag it as well. The woman scanned our food items so quickly, I hardly had time to get the euros out to pay for it. I paid, and she immediately started to quickly scan the next person’s groceries, meanwhile i was struggling to put everything in the grocery bags. 

That night my roommate (Ashlyn) and I went to go buy blankets for our beds in our apartment because it gets so cold at night. Once again, we got lost trying to find this place, and it took us about 40 minutes to get there (lesson learned so far: don’t ask me for directions, since I obviously get lost everywhere I go). When we finally found the store, we went down a road that had the Duomo at the very end, which we have decided is our main location to go back to if we get lost. I couldn’t believe we had missed one street that could've taken us to the store so much quicker, but you live and you learn right? Later, we had dinner with her friend Nick, who’s also studying abroad here but through a different program. We went out to dinner with him, and went to a cute Italian restaurant, where I ordered spaghetti noodles with garlic and olive oil (pretty simple, I know, but I couldn’t resist), which had a ton of garlic in it. Regardless, it was still pretty good! The staff that worked there were nice, and even helped me to order my food in Italian (I tried my best, it wasn’t very good). After dinner, we walked back to our apartment, and I decided to stop for my first gelato. However, the gelato I ordered was 9euro, because it was by the Duomo which is more expensive because of the tourists (rookie mistake #2). By the time we got home, it was around 11 and we were ready for bed. 

Friday, January 27th, 2017: 

Today, Ashlyn and I woke up earlier in the morning (and by early I mean 9), and we needed to run some errands. We headed out, trying to find the main building of the school that we’re going to (Florence University of the Arts). Yet again, google maps took us in the wrong direction to the wrong place shown on the map. We ended up walking all the way there, and found ourselves at a door that looked nothing like what we were looking for. We had to turn in important paperwork before 3pm, so we were worried that we would never find the paper in the next few hours. We decided to turn around and try to head in a different direction, and thankfully we ran into two girls who go to WSU (Rylee and Emily), and by chance they were looking for the same thing we were. We ended up walking in circles in the same area looking for this hidden office. Our feet were starting to hurt, and we were getting more confused when the streets started to all blend together (which they do all the time because they all look the exact same). We FINALLY found the office after about an hour and a half looking for it, which was incredibly close to the location where we met them the very first time. Every time Ashlyn and I get lost, we always kick ourselves because we’re so close to where we need to be (like last night). Ashlyn and I split off and I hung out with the girls we ran into, and we went to Zara for some shopping (dangerous because they have super cute clothes that are affordable). I split off with them, and headed back to my apartment. Later on that day we had a walking tour of the city with students who live in the same area as me and my roommates. It was so helpful to see the certain locations, as well as buildings my class is in. In the evening, I went out to dinner at this amazing restaurant called Trattoria Za Za, located right by the San Lorenzo market (huge market with everything you can imagine from leather goods to food). I had dinner with the 4 girls I met from WSU, as well as one of my roommates, Haley. It was so fun to get to know new people through a meal (and a couple glasses of wine of course). We ended up staying there for about 2 and a half hours talking our heads off and planning trips with each other - so exciting! I love being able to meet new people and share in the excitement while we’re here. 

Saturday, January 28th, 2017: 

Today has been quite the day.. my roommates Haley, Ashlyn, Caroline, and I decided to head out and look for the buildings our classes are in, which are pretty close to our apartment which is great! After that, we met up with Caroline’s friend Ross, and grabbed some lunch. I had a panini at this great place called Pugi’s, so delicious! The paninis are absolutely amazing, with cheese and mortadella meat (so good, my mouth is watering just writing this). After that we went on a walking tour/hike to the top of the Piazza Michelangelo with other students from our program. The view from there is absolutely incredible, you can see all of Florence from the top. After that we went to the conad (grocery store) to buy groceries for dinner. Caroline cooked us spaghetti and we had a small salad on the side (with a olive oil and vinaigrette dressing on it of course). Afterwards, we went and got some gelato, which was thankfully  only 2 euro for a small cup instead of 9 this time. I ended up getting nutella flavor, which was delicious! I’m trying to branch out of my comfort zone with foods and try as many flavors of gelato as i can. That probably won’t be a problem in the next 3 months! It was another fun and busy day, my legs and feet are tired. Looking forward to tomorrow - wine tasting and touring in Siena, Chianti and San Gimignano! Ciao for now!

[smoodytravels]

We Have Arrived!

After about 17 total hours of traveling, I finally made it to Florence on January 24th! Two of my roommates were on the connecting flight from Frankfurt to Florence with me, which was great to meet them in person before getting to our final destination. It was a surreal feeling arriving to the airport.. flying over Florence and seeing it for the first time was exciting. I didn’t have the window seat, but I was still able to see outside the window and see part of the city. After getting my two (heavy) checked bags, six of us made our way to the vans that were taking us to our apartment. The man driving the vans had to pack all of our large suitcases into this mid-size van and we felt like hoarders because we had so much stuff!

We finally arrived to our apartment and had to haul our bags up the three flights of stairs, which was a workout in itself! Our other roommates had already arrived and were settling in. I live in a cute apartment with seven other girls. One from University of South Carolina, three from George Washington University, one from University of Alabama, one from New Jersey, and my roommate, who is from Colorado State University. It’s a very diverse but fun group of people.. but its definitely taking some getting used to, especially because most of us didn’t know each other before arriving. I know that this semester will be great with them!

After arriving to the apartment and decompressing from our travels for a little bit, we went out to explore the area around us for a little bit. Me and two of my roommates were so hungry that we basically picked the first place we could find, it was a very cute but empty restaurant serving Italian food of course! My very first meal in Italy was spaghetti and a glass of pinot grigio - how cliche right? Side note on the pinot: it was 7 euro for one glass because we were in a tourist trap, which we didn’t know until after the check was brought to us. Rookie mistake (oops!) After dinner we came back to our apartment to unpack, hang out and relax a little bit. As I was getting ready for bed, I had a realization that I had been up for a total of 34 hours (because I couldn't really sleep on the 9 hour flight to Frankfurt). I was exhausted and probably haven't sleep that well in a long time. I went to bed and was looking forward to a new day ahead of me.

[smoodytravels]

As my new journey quickly approaches, I am starting to become anxious yet so excited at the same time. It has been a dream of mine to study abroad and see the world, and I am so incredibly fortunate to be given this opportunity. I want to thank my family and close friends for supporting  and encouraging me in this decision to start a new chapter in my life. I will be attending Florence University of the Arts and taking business courses as well as two wine culture electives to further my knowledge of Wine Business Management. Stay tuned for updates on my journey through Europe!