Florentinian Spring Break

Ciao,

Sorry for the inconsistent blog updates, finding time whenever I can to update. Thought I'd make a brief post on what I decided to do for spring break (March 9-13). I actually decided to stay in Florence for spring break. While most of my friends were jetting off to the far reaches of Europe for the week, I decided to stay in Florence and really take the time to see my own city. Believe it or not I had not actually spent a full weekend in Florence since the middle of January and thought spring break would be the perfect time to see Florence on my own time. My friend from Germany was also planning on visiting me in the middle of break as well so that was nice. The beginning of spring break was pretty low key, taking the time to do laundry, update my blog, sight see, FaceTime with family and friends. One day I went to the Uffizi Galleria (home of The Birth of Venus) and that was rather relaxing. That museum is huge, I will admit I did get tired of looking at paintings of Jesus. On Wednesday my friend Yannick came and it was great to show him around the city. Over the course of the week, Florence just exploded with tourists. Tourists EVERYWHERE. In Florence you cannot walk more than 10 feet without someone trying to sell you a selfie stick.... yes that is a very real thing here. It is a stick you can attach to your phone to provide better access to selfie picture taking. It is pretty funny, but pretty obnoxious. I am just waiting for selfie stick obsession to take off in the states haha. But overall my spring break was very relaxing and it was great to just stay in Florence. Hope everyone is doing well at home and sending all my love from Italia! Ciao for now.

Greetings from Venice

Cinque Terre Day Tip

Last Friday, my friend Lauren and I decided to take a day trip to the five beautiful coastal towns called Cinque Terre - pronounced as Chink-qua-tear-eh (direct translation is literally "five lands"). Oh my gosh is was such a gorgeous day to go. The train from Florence was about 2.5 hours and you could take the regional train to any of the towns you wanted to. The towns are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore, with Riomaggiore being the closest one. We spent a majority of our day in Vernazza and took our time hiking and exploring the city. Definitely a dream destination for any hikers and ocean lovers out there. Overall it was a day well spent and I wish I had spend more time in Cinque Terre.

Corniglia

Not a bad hiking view

Finding time to stop and smell the flowers

Vernazza

Ready to take on the world

Me and Lauren watching the sunset in Vernazza

This panoramic does not even do this place justice.

Balancing act.

Sardegna Pictures!

Tree hugger

Ventuno in Sardegna

It was windy. L-R: Me, Kayla, and Lauren

Life was not meant to be spent in one spot

No, just no.

Me and Kayla watching the sunset

First dinner post haircut.

Birthday Weekend in Sardegna

February 27th - March 1st

This weekend I decided to spend with a couple friends (Lauren and Kayla) in the gorgeous seaside city of Alghero, Sardegna (pronounced as Sard-een-ia). Sardegna is an island off the coast of Italy and considered Italian territory. We left on Friday morning, took a train to Pisa to catch the direct flight to Alghero. The flight on the way there was beautiful. Clear skies allowed us to see the ocean and the bright blue water. Once we reached Alghero we had a transfer from the hotel pick us up. We stayed in the Hotel Angedras Alghero. Very nice hotel for the price that we were able to get it at. I think it was about 129 Euros total for three of us for two nights and we all had our own beds. So yeah pretty sweet set up. Our hotel was only about a five minute walk to the coastline. Oh man Alghero was gorgeous. It used to be an old medieval walled city and much of the remnants of the city reflect its historic period. The city itself was pretty empty since it is still considered the off season for tourism, but in the summer when it is warmer that place must be swamped with people. Friday we just relaxed and walked through much of the town. On Saturday my friend Kayla and I decided to get a haircut and we chopped off all our hair. While none of the hair stylists spoke any English and we were praying that it would go alright, the haircuts actually turned out great. We were both very pleased with the results. Saturday afternoon we spent packing a picnic and biking along the Sardinian coastline. We were able to rent bikes from the hotel for only 5 Euros for the day. We biked to a little sandy private beach and had an amazing picnic on the water. Definitely one of my favorite things I have done since being in Europe so far. It was so much fun. That night we went to a little Italian restaurant in one of the little alleyways and had some bomb seafood. Nothing like the fish and chips we had ordered in Milan (refer to previous blog post). On Sunday (my actual birthday) we sadly had to leave and fly back to Pisa and then get the train back to Florence. But overall it was an awesome weekend and definitely one of the coolest ways to turn 21. Best birthday weekend ever! Cheers to everyone back home. I am currently on spring break and would love to catch up with anyone back home since I have some free time. Let me know! Sending you guys lots of love and I miss you all! I will be updating very soon! Ciao for now.

One In A Milan Chance

February 20th - 22nd

Traveled to Milan for this weekend with a couple of girlfriends. It was great. Got to see the Duomo Milano and went to the Museum of Science and Technology featuring Leonardo Da Vinci. Wow what a swell guy. I swear this guy could do anything and learned everything. He was a physicist, an inventor, an astronomer, an artist, a botanist, and a scientist researching everything from quantum mechanics to the human body. It was so cool to see all the things he discovered and had ideas about. Along with the Da Vinci exhibit, the museum had exhibits on space, energy, flight and aeronautics, and any technological device you could think of. Definitely technology Disneyland for engineers. Overall it was a pretty chill weekend. We stayed in the Hotel Club only about five minutes from Milano Centrale train station. The city was pretty busy from Carnival that had happened a couple weeks ago, and the upcoming time of Italian fashion week, and the preparation for the 2015 Worlds Fair that is suppose to take place in Milan. But it was a fun trip and I am glad that I got to see one of Italy's biggest cities (definitely Italy's most expensive city as well).

When you buy fish and chips in Italy...

Just me and my crew

Prototype of a Leonardo da Vinci Invention

L-R: Lauren, Amy, Emily and Me

Throwin confetti at the Duomo

Main shopping galleria