So I have gotten very bad at keeping up with this, and I am very sorry about that! It has been hectic and we have been on the move and then internet problems and then health issues. And so in order to keep up we are going to have the compact version of everything. Ready... and... go!

3/22/12

We finally had the group all together!! Kelsey and Charlotte showed up later the night before so we were all able to spend the day together!! I was so happy, exploring Paris is great in a small group but with more people are more personalities and we naturally notice more then! The day was fantastic, of course we were all in Paris so we had to do what we had all been waiting for and go up the Eiffel Tower! It was quite a wait but it wasn't so bad, by the end of the line my feet hurt a little and I was getting a little sore but besides that we all had some pretty decent conversations that made the time pass by fairly well. When we got up we got some awesome shots of the city down below, and a couple of us goofing around...

The tower and the view was just spectacular! Couldn't have found a better way to spend the morning!! After the excitement and seeing the city we of course needed to explore it a bit! We started off with a little ice cream at the bottom of the tower and a mini nap by the fountain (as can be viewed in a previous blog post). We then headed over to the Arch (which you can see in the first picture above) because we just needed to see it up close. It was pretty darn cool

We then went down some road that I am going to be totally honest, I didn't care for much, there were a bunch of stores that are really high to do, Prada and what not. One store did interest me quite a bit tho!

I might have a slight addiction to the Disney store. An addiction I can totally live with! The rest of the night was pretty chill. I had a little picnic on my floor in the hostel and just enjoyed the night.

3/23/12

Well this day was just overall amazing!! A lot of people wanted to go on a walking tour but since I had already seen a lot of the city earlier in the week I decided to go off on my own and see Notre Dame a little more closely. And that I did. I went down below into the crypt, then up into the actual church, and up even more to the bell tower and up by the gargoyles. I was a little worried when I was standing in line to go up (400 stairs by the way) because about half an hour after I was standing waiting the people working inside decided to go on strike. I was a little angry because that was all that I wanted to do all day but the man behind me calmed me down when he told me that that sort of thing happens all of the time, and it would be over in a matter of minutes. And he was right. Within 15 minutes I was up and able to see my precious gargoyles!






Later that day I met up with the rest of the group and we went to the Louvre, this time not to just enjoy the pretty gardens (I mean we did do that too) but we got to go inside and see some of the many treasure the Louvre has to offer!!

3/24/12
Our final full day we still wanted to see what we could of Paris, but we did not want to push ourselves, and so we had a relaxing day of checking out the Sacre Cour again and wandering the area surrounding that. We also went downhill a bit and went past the Moulin Rouge for a final time. After this there was the Opera House that a lot of people wanted to go and see and so we went for a very long walk (along the way having a jolly good time trying to find a nonexistent bathroom) and found the Opera House. We didn't go inside because we didn't really want to wait in line and didn't want to pay but just seeing the outside was beautiful!


3/25/12
Sunday always seems to be a dreaded sort of day. We had to wake up very early yet again to catch a taxi to get to the airport for another bloody flight. This one not so good, Hannah ended up getting a little sick and Jenna and Hannah both had to pay extra for their heavy luggage. Airlines are really dumb!! It all, I think, was worth it though, because when we landed we were in Pisa!! We got to see the tower and a Cathedral by the tower and a baptistry by the cathedral. It was all so pretty!!!

Oh and we got Gelato :)  The view and the food was all great, Hannah and I even got real Italian pizza at a cute little place with a great view of the leaning tower!!

 That whole morning was great since I was able to just relax and snooze a bit and get some sun!! It finally got the time though when we had to get back to the airport, this time just to catch a bus. This time taking us to Florence!! Finally!!!! Finding the school/hotel was a little fun since we had no idea where we were at first, but when we finally did we were able to relax a bit before we had a little orientation meeting and then dinner, oh dear Lord dinner, I cannot even describe how beautiful this dinner was!! We went to a little restaurant a couple of blocks away and had the most delicious lasagna ever followed by a salad with the most tender turkey I had ever eaten and ending with a dessert that was just lovely, a nice pastry with fresh fruit topping it. Ah mamma mia!! I could not believe my taste buds!!

3/26/12
With Monday comes classes, well kind of. This first week we were able to attend each of the first classes to decide which ones we wanted to keep and which we wanted to drop. We all have to take the Italian class but then there is one class on the Medici and Patrons of the art, another about men and women in dialogue during the Renaissance, and the last is a drawing class. The day ended with another great dinner at a different restaurant. This meal was made up of bowtie noodles with vegetables followed by an amazing pork chop and ending with tiramisu. Yummy!!

3/27/12
Much like Monday, Tuesday was an introduction to more classes followed by being introduced to our host families that night. I adore my host family, I live with my mother Anna, and her mother, and Anna also has a daughter that lives with her. There is also a very nice girl that lives with us from Holland, but we don't really see her too often.

3/28/12
Well the day started out great. We all met up at the school (Linguaviva) to go on a little tour of Florence, where we got to go high up to a church that has a beautiful view of the city! We had a nice walk down to the center of town

The tour ended with a little scavenger hunt that we were all sent on that I am sorry but I cannot describe to you well. I ended up feeling very sick at this time and ended up actually being taken to see a doctor because I was in so much pain. It turns out I pulled something in my neck and shoulder and of course this meant I was put on bed rest for a couple of days. So that takes care of my blog until Friday...

3/29/12
Bedrest...

3/30/12
Well I thought that I was feeling well enough to do something this day, so I decided to go with the class to Venice, and it was so beautiful!! Water everywhere obviously! Everyone really does travel by boat! And we got to go to this little area called Murano where they make glass sculptures and even got to see a vase and a glass horse being made!

 We had a little time to explore on our own and then we had a tour together of San Marco and a government building. I felt really bad because people kept carrying my bag for me so I didn't hurt my shoulder any more, but I appreciate them so much because it meant I was able to enjoy the buildings without too much pain. After our tour Jenna, Hannah, Carrissa, Mallory and I all went to a little market selling antiques and took a look around while eating some delicious gelato! Later on it was back at the hotel to chill before dinner at the hotel restaurant.

3/31/12
Most of this day was pretty good. We got to tour some more really pretty buildings, a church and the Scuola of San Rocco with some beautiful paintings by Tintorreto. I loved it so much that I had to buy a little book about the building and some of the paintings. Jenna unfortunately started to get sick at this point and had to go back to the hotel to lay down. This lead to a rather unfortunate series of events. After the tour Hannah and I decided to check up on Jenna at the hotel, although we got lost in Venice on the way and had our own mini adventure back, we finally got back to the hotel, and at that point I wasn't feeling so well and decided to take a little nap as well. Well that nap turned into 6 hours, and by the time we were suppose to go to dinner I had a full blown cold and was just feeling sore all over and Hannah was starting to feel nauseous. Well I think you can all guess where this lead to, and the three of us were some sad little people as we tried to rest and not move from our beds all night.

4/1/12
Happy April fools day! And I wish I could say that whole sickness thing was a big joke, sadly no. Jenna woke up feeling not totally better but much better than she had and Hannah and I didn't even want to move and so stayed in the hotel room a couple hours later than originally planned. After a few extra hours resting I decided to try to go on the afternoon tour of the Academia Gallery, but after about an hour of standing and trying to pay attention I started feeling sick all over again and had to head back to the hotel yet again. I can say I have felt much better, the boat and train rides back to Florence weren't the most fun, but now that I am back and my amazing host mother Anna has made me some chicken broth and made sure I stay hydrated I am starting to feel a bit better, and am hoping after the 12 hours of sleep I plan to get that I am able to be up and moving to get to the classes that I have already missed too much of! Arrivederci!