FLORENCE.

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So much went down this weekend in Florence. But in a good way! And it wasn't big things that happened, it was just that the weekend was filled with little events and experiences that made for an awesome weekend. I guess I will break it down into categories because there is just so much to say!

FOOD. I had so many experiences with food over the weekend. First, you should know that Florence is known for it's amazing steaks, so naturally, I had to try one even if it meant splurging a little bit. We went to this place for dinner Friday night called Aqua Al 2 (mom and dad, I will take you here just so you can experience what I am about to describe!)We went with a couple of new friends and their friends that live in Florence and the friends told me that the blueberry steak at this place was epic. I was slightly hesitant to order it, but I went for it anyway. BEST FOOD DECISION OF MY LIFE. I am not one for ordering steaks when I go out, actually I am not sure I have ever ordered another steak but this steak was amazing. I could have eaten two of them that is how good this was! It was a simple steak (in Florence they don't do much to the steak so it is pretty much just very natural as steak can be) with this dark blueish sauce on it. wow. It was like an explosion of flavor in my mouth with every bite. Also, as a funny side note to that dinner, I ordered what I thought was a salad with carrots in it and it turned out to be nothing but a plate of shredded carrots. It was hilarious. But all in all, with some balsamic and olive oil, it wasn't all that bad!That meal was awesome. However, I cant say my whole experience with food in Florence was good. The original purpose for coming for Florence was for my food class trip on Saturday. We met and went to a nice church at first, then chocolate tasting. The chocolate was so smooth and delicious. mhmm. Naturally I bought some extra chocolate when I was there and even more naturally none of it lived to see Sunday night. haha. But anyway, I was so so excited for my Italian Renaissance meal that was supposed to be with my class. Well, it was probably the weirdest meal I have ever eaten in my life. There were so many flavors packed into five courses that it was borderline ridiculous. ick. The chef apparently cooked Obama's meal after he was inaugurated, but if that is what Obama was eating then I would rather have my middle class plain pasta with sauce meals. It was rough to say the least. Two other experiences I had was Saturday night with lasagne and nutella crepes which were both to die for, and on Sunday morning we went to a place called "The Diner" and I had breakfast for the first time in a month! Chocolate chip pancakes! Although that is prob the only place in Italy that you can find them, so they were priced at seven euro, which, for those of you trying to convert that to dollars back in the states is probably about ten or eleven dollars. For three pancakes! Crazy, but still good 😊 They are no granny pancakes, but they weren't horrible. Ahhhh, writing that just made me think about those weekends where I would wake up to my mom or granny in the kitchen making some kind of delicious breakfast foods... what I would give to wake up tomorrow and have my granny cook me waffles and bacon and be able to lounge around with my parents in the living room watching NCIS. That sounds awesome right about now.

NEW FRIENDS. This weekend Jules and I (Jules is pretty much my best friend here, we travel everywhere together. It isn't even a question when we make plans we automatically assume that we will be together haha its funny actually but I love it!) traveled with people outside of our normal friend group. We were with two sets on people: Sam and her roommates the first night, and another group of guys/girls that we spend the rest of the time with. We actually weren't going to stay a second night, but we spontaneously decided to stay and our friend Alex wanted to stay too so we ended up getting a 3 person room and it was the best hostel ever! for 25 euro a night we got internet and a computer, a flat screen tv, a balcony with an awesome view, and a heated towel rack. Worth it? Absolutely 😊 But all in all, it was so nice to travel outside of our comfort zone of people. That's what this is all about! And it was great!

THE SIGHTS. Compared to Rome, there wasn't that much to see in Florence. I always thought that Florence was just as big as Rome, but I was so wrong! It is off season so there isn't as many people right now, but the streets themselves are so much wider than Rome and there isn't as many historic sights. But the first thing Jules and I did was climb the Duomo and for one reason or another we were cracking up the whole way up to the top and it was probably one of the funnest events that I have done so far! The view at the top was spectacular and being able to experience that with a good friend was great! The second thing we saw was at the Academia. In there is the original statue of David which is SO much bigger than I though it was!! The sculpture was by far the most beautiful that I have seen so far ( and that is saying a lot because there are SO MANY STATUES in Italy). The attention to detail was amazing, I can't really describe. All I can say is that the pictures of the statue of David do not do it justice for sure. Along with that we went to the leather market ( I got a little leather journal with handmade paper which is lovely!) and we went on the bridge that is famous for its shops (which were pretty much all jewelry shops, but I am not complaining about that :p ).

NIGHTLIFE. On Saturday night we all went out and about trying to find somewhere to "dance of faces off". First, Alex's friend told him about this awesome place where you can get a pitcher of sex on the beach for 10 euro. So naturally, as sex on the beach is my go to drink, of course we had to go there! If we a sweet little place. No dancing or anything, but some pretty funny pics were taken :p Then we went to another little bar and walked around for soo long trying to find a dance club. After failing miserably, we ended up at Astor, which is in fact where the Jersey Shore cast hung out all the time. To be honest, it was pretty lame. It was definitely a modern club and there were lots of people, but the place that you dance downstairs had so many flashing lights I am surprised no one had a seizure! It was crazy and they only played techno music so all in all, it was a flop. But I really had fun walking around and trying to figure out where we were. The streets were surprisingly dead at night, so there were some dance moments in the streets of Florence, which was a lot of fun! After walking around we decided that we should eat, so we ended up at where else but a McDonald's. This was my first experience with European McDonald's and I'm not gonna lie, it was delicious! I had something called "Miami Fries" and they were great! I also had a little vanilla ice cream cone which was great too! Never have a been so pleased with a McDonald's! At that point it was about 3 am so we headed back to our awesome hotel room where Jules, Alex and I had life talks until about 430 in the morning! haha he is a great guy! I think we will be bffs 😊

OTHER NOT THAT IMPORTANT STUFF. Went shopping at H and M, I couldn't find an antique shop so I didn't get my antique key, and I really wish I had more time to shop in Florence! I am trying to budget myself this semester. I have never actually had to write out a budget plan before, but I kind of like it! It makes me feel really organized with what I am doing. Oh I forgot to add something that I loved about Florence: Jules and I love to get cappuccino's together. We sit and talk and reminisce on the hilariousness that has been this semester so far. And our first day in Florence we sat at this little cafe with our drinks and compared and contrasted Italy and America and it was so interesting to do that. We decided that there is something so different about Italy. Not only is the culture itself different but everything and everyone here are so much less stressed and rushed. In America I feel in general people are rushing to get things done. Eating quickly, driving quickly, even walking quickly. But here in Italy, the people take the time to appreciate what they are doing and experiencing. It's so much of a simpler way of living. I love it. I really noticed it when I found myself rushing to finish my cappuccino and then stopped to ask myself why I was in such a rush. I had nowhere that I had to be, I had all day to do whatever we wanted in yet I was so used to rushing it just came naturally to me I guess. It's funny to walk to streets with my italian friends because they all walk to slow compared to us and honestly, if more people in the States were like that, I feel like everyone would be so much less stressed. I feel like when I come back I am going to be in slow motion compared to everyone else! haha

THE TRAIN. I think everyone should take the train at least once in their lives. I mean take the train as in a long train ride where you can just look out the window and think. You have time to relax and actually think about things. The scene is beautiful coming back from Florence. You pass the lake (it starts with a T but I can't remember the name right now) and the whole way you are surrounded by these beautiful mountains with little towns carved into the sides of them. It's sad though you really cannot capture the scenery with a camera, especially on the train. I love the train rides though. You have nothing to do but to sit there and to really enjoy the view. Often I find myself looking at the mountains and thinking that they look so much like the ones I am oh so familiar with in PA, they look so much alike, but at the same time they look completely different. Sitting on the train and taking in all of the scenery often times makes me appreciate everything that has lead me to that exact moment where I am young, healthy, and studying abroad in a foreign country. It makes me think of this Darius Rucker song (called "This" ) which is pretty much just about how every bad, good, happy, and sad thing that has ever happened to him has led him to this exact moment in his life where he is just so happy and so thankful. And that is exactly how I feel when I ride on the train and see this picturesque view that I am constantly surrounded with. Living in Perugia, seeing the same beautiful things everyday, you start to not really appreciate the beauty but then when you hop on a train to a new city, you really see a whole new perspective of it. When I start to get into that mode when I am sitting there on the train my mind really starts to take off and I just find myself evaluating every decision that I have made in the past couple of years and also I start to think about the decisions that are yet to come. I mean here I am, in this place that has completely changed my perspective on life. I have been in the same area for 19 years, yes. But now, I am seeing a world that I never even knew was out there and that makes me wonder...what else is out there? I don't want to live my life with closed eyes. I want to see things. I want to see other cultures, how other people live. I want to interact with people in a language that isn't what I am used to. I want to completely shatter my comfort zone and expand my horizons to the point where I really don't have limitations of what makes me feel comfortable. Ok, ok I know that may seem a little extreme, I know I still have a comfort zone, and I love that. My family, my house, my friends, the familiar in general...I love it all. But at the same time I have always been curious. You learn in high school about history and about other parts of the world and you read about it and you see pictures. Well... I was never satisfied with that. I would rather go experience it rather than read it from a textbook. I don't know how many pictures I have seen of the Statue of David and to be honestly I have never cared at all about it. It was just another statue by some guy. But seeing it in person, being there, being so close that you can basically touch it, that totally changes your perspective.That statue was so beautiful. The attention to detail was so magnificent, the sculptor was actually able to portray the veins on David's hands and that was just remarkable to me. It blew my mind that someone could be so talented as to sculpt this figure out of stone that is triple the size of himself, and still manage to make it flawless. Wow, it just really blew my mind. And if you would have sat me down at Bangor High and said here, read about the statue of David, I probably wouldn't have even opened the book. It's things like that. I love to know about history, that's something I have discovered about myself since I have been here. I always hateeeed history, but it is different when you are learning about things, and then you are there, right in front of it, living it.My mom will probably freak when I say this but there is this internship here. In the summer you advertise for this winery and you get to live here and work there and you have an italian tutor... I don't know much about it but I can say that I am interested. Even if I couldn't do it this summer..next summer is always a possibility. That would also give me time to save up money again. I think it is about a four week thing, but I can't even imagine the experience that that opportunity would give me. Wineries fascinate me. And I love the idea of advertising and getting involved in that side of business... I have to find out more but I am not opposed to that. I think I definitely want to get a job someday that allows me to travel, that would be my dream! I just wanna go everywhere, maybe I am just young and restless but I have always been this way and now that I am actually here living it, I just want to see everything that I possibly can.As i was pinteresting the other day I stumbled upon this Steve Jobs quotes and decided that it was absolutely wonderful, I will leave you with these wise words that I think nobody who is reading this, you can pertain in it your life in some way. Caio Bella.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." -Steve Jobs.

ps. I didn't reread this so I apologize for any confusing sentences!

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