Time flies when you are living in ITALY!!!!

WOW!! Did I really just finish a study abroad program in Italy?? Three months ago I arrived in Italy and now I am on a plane home. I got homesick at times, but it was a great experience. One of the best decisions I have ever made. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go. I would love to go back some day!

To conclude our trip we went to Venice and Rome after leaving Siena. One word to describe Venice.... AMAZING! It was probably my favorite city. I loved taking a water taxi to get to my hotel. I loved the fun shops. I loved the beautiful Murano Glass. I loved the crazy pigeons in St. Mark's Square. I loved the Gondolas. I loved EVERYTHING about it.

Thursday night we arrived in Rome. On Friday we had the whole day to explore Rome one last time, and we all flew out early Saturday morning. WOW WOW WOW!!! This has been awesome! I can't wait to share more of my experiences with everyone when I get home!

The Whole Group in front of the Trevi Fountain. LOVE YOU GIRLS!!!

Goodbye Siena!

Today is my last day in Siena. It has been my home for the last 3 months, and it is going to be very sad to leave it behind. I have had a BLAST while I have been here. This has been an awesome experience. I know I have said this a lot…but THANKS AGAIN MOM AND DAD!! This has truly been amazing!

On Friday, we made Thanksgiving Dinner for all of the teachers at the Dante School to say thanks. And, because we are all very sad to be missing thanksgiving. The dinner was very good though, and I'm so glad it turned out well. It was a lot of work.

My Cooking Class

My Italian Class

Yesterday we took one last trip to Florence. I got to see many famous paintings, as well as Michelangelo and Galileo's tombs. And... went to the Academia to see... DAVID! That thing is huge! It was so amazing. We sat there for about 30 minutes just staring at it. It was a fun last trip to Florence.

Thanks for all of your support! I am now off to Venice and Rome for one more day….then I will be home on Saturday! I LOVE YOU ALL!!

The Taddei Family. Frederica, Fiorella, Giuseppe, and Pepo

Italian Culture Night

Last night we had a night full of Italian culture. First, we had a lecture on Italian opera. The opera started in Italy around the year 1575. It has been very popular since then. We watched clips from the opera called La Traviata. If any of you know Italian or anything about opera, you would know that La Traviata basically means prostitute. Ha. It was a story very similar to Moulin Rouge. Girl falls in love with a poor guy, and she dies of tuberculosis in the end. Actually…that is the EXACT story of Moulin Rouge. It was a very interesting lecture, but something tells me I might fall asleep if I ever go to a real opera.

After the lecture on the opera, we went to an Olive Oil tasting. It was wonderful. We went to an Olive Oil museum a few weeks ago…but we were very disappointed when we didn’t taste any olive oil. So, our director pulled some strings and we got our olive oil samples! Not like I don’t get enough olive oil every day, but it was still fun.

Italians put olive oil on everything….EVERYTHING. The cute little man that gave the presentation told us that he puts olive oil on his vanilla gelato. Mmmmm…..?!? One of the things that I found very interesting was that yellow olive oil, is not always the best tasting. When you see yellow olive oil, this means it has oxidized completely and lost most of the chlorophyll. The better and richer tasting olive oil is green!

Only a few more days here in Siena…WOW!

Weekend in Siena

Yesterday I went to a medieval market in Piazza del Campo. The weather was perfect and it was so much fun to walk around and see all of the booths filled with great stuff. There were many things to buy and taste. The tasting was the best part!

After the market we shopped around Siena for a few hours. It is fun to explore the city. I love Siena. I would love to come back here someday. This has been such a wonderful experience. This next week is my last week in Siena. I am sad to leave this city, but I am so excited to go to Venice and Rome one more time. Then…. home to see all of your beautiful faces!!

Ceramic Factory

Last night we took a tour of a ceramic factory here in Siena. It was really neat. Most of the pottery sold here in Siena is made by one of these small factories. I learned all about the process of producing beautiful ceramics. It was a fun night...but during the whole presentation, all I could think about was how much the owner looked like Vincent Price in Edward Scissorhands. Do you see the resemblance??

Vincent....

Mr. Pottery Man...

Florence...Take Three

I got to go to Florence...again!! Each time I go, I love it even more. Yesterday we saw the Uffizi Gallery/Museum. It was AMAZING! I saw paintings by Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, Lippi, and Botticelli. One of the biggest highlights was seeing the Birth of Venus. It was beautiful. The colors were not as vibrant as you seen in history books, but I couldn't believe I was actually there... seeing it with my own eyes! I feel so blessed to be here...Thank you, THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!

After we went to the museum, we had lunch at a little place called Eby's. It was a Mexican Restaurant. It was so good and so nice to eat something a little different. I love Italian food...but after eating that every day...for every meal, a burrito was a nice change.

Delicious!

The rest of the day we visited the Museo Di San Marco. This museum was also very beautiful. It holds the Annunciation painting by Fra Angelico. Once again, I couldn't believe I was actually there. I only have 3 more weeks, and things still feel surreal to me.

We shopped around at the market and found a really fun Christmas store near the Duomo. I bought a really pretty manger scene and when I asked the man to wrap the manger scene in bubble wrap, this is what he did instead.....

Merry Christamas haha!

It was a great trip. I am going to Florence one more time...and I can't wait!

Yummm...

I can't believe that I have not yet blogged about gelato. Gelato has been my little obsession here in Italy, and I think it's time I say something about how great it is. I never thought I would become picky about my gelato, but I have. Dryers ice cream may not cut it when I get home. The gelato has to be creamy and soft, not icy...and for any Gelateria (gelato shop) to be a "good" Gelateria...they MUST have chocolate and mint. Those are my two favorite flavors. I've noticed that the tourists here in Siena flock the the Gelaterias that are well lit and colorful. That does not always mean they have the best tasting gelato though. If you are ever in Siena, give me a call, and I will let you know where to stop for a yummy treat! :)

Halloween Weekend!

HAPPY LATE HALLOWEEN!! I LOVE Halloween. It is one of the best Holidays. I am very sad I was not home to celebrate with my family and friends...but I got to celebrate it in Italy, so there isn't any room for complaint. On Saturday we went to 3 cities outside of Siena. Monte Oliveto, Buonconvento, and Rapolano. Each of them were really fun. In Monte Oliveto we went to a Monastery. This was very interesting. We learned all about the process of becoming a monk. Back in the day it was pretty tough to become a monk. We ate lunch at a restaurant near the Monastery that was provided by the program. I have never eaten so much food. We had bruschetta, 2 different pastas, turkey, fries, salad...and a dessert full of rum. I was pretty drunk the rest of the afternoon ;)

Inside the Monastery...the shining :)

In Rapolano we went to a Olive Oil Museum. It was kind of a disappointment. I was expecting to taste and buy some Olive Oil...but there was none of that. Oh well. It was cool to see how olive oil is made. It is a long process...and most of the steps to make Olive Oil, are still the same as there were hundreds of years ago.

After our excursion to all of these cities, we headed back to Siena. We went to the church for a Halloween party. It was nice because there was no winding and grinding on the dance floor...but I would have loved to go to a dance party.... DRESSED IN MY KNOME COSTUME. We had a lot of fun though. We played musical chairs, watched a skit by the missionaries, ate food, shaved balloons, and had a costume contest. Unfortunately, we didn't win with our knome costumes. It was a fun Halloween!

Fashion Capitol of the World

I just got back from Milan yesterday for fall break. It was such a fun city and it was so busy. We arrived on Friday afternoon and made our way to The Best Hotel. Well, I wouldn’t really call it the BEST hotel, but that’s what it was called. That afternoon we went to the Duomo. The Duomo was beautiful. Inside the Duomo is a relic that holds the fingernails and hair of the 12 apostles. Hmmm?! On top of the Duomo is a golden statue of the Virgin Mary, just like the angel Moroni. Oh….and if you ever travel to Milan, beware of creepers. I was given a bracelet by one of these guys and then he tried to make me pay. After he tied the bracelet on my wrist, and I still did not pay, he pulled the hood of my sweatshirt and took the extra bracelet back. He did not like me very much.

After our tour of the Duomo we walked around the Galleria. This is a large outdoor shopping center. I could not believe how many shops were in Milan. There is a store called La Rinascente. This was just like Nordstroms…but on steroids. There were 8 floors and the top floor had 3 or 4 cafes. This store was any shoppers dream.

We also went to a movie theater Friday night and saw the movie Fame. It was in Italian… but the music was in English. I was surprised at how well I could understand what was going on. I am in LOVE with that movie. I highly recommend it to all of you! It was fun to experience an Italian theater and compare it to movie theaters at home.

This pigeon had a nice snack out of the popcorn machine. yummy!

On Saturday we made our way to the Beverly Hills of Milan. The stores were AMAZING. They were all WAY too expensive for me, but it was so much fun to window shop.

I had a blast in Milan. Dad, this is another place we need to go. A family with all girls…in the fashion capitol of the world…it would be WONDERFUL!! Think about it Dad!!

International Food Festival!!!

On Saturday we traveled to Arezzo, which is a smaller town about an hour and half from Siena. While we were in Arezzo, we went to Vasari’s home. Vasari is a famous biographer who wrote about many well-known artists. After visiting his home we had a few hours of free time to explore the city.

This weekend happened to be the International Food Festival in Arezzo. It was amazing. Booths lined the streets, full of different kinds of foods to taste and buy. Most of the stands were of European countries and each of them had something yummy to offer. I tried a macaroon for the first time… and LOVED it. I also got a big German Pretzel that was delicious.

Marzipan (this pic is for Marron!)

After our free time, we met together as a group and took a tour of a pottery museum. It has one of the largest collections of pottery in all of Italy. It was a great Saturday in Arezzo, and I am looking forward to Milan next weekend!