Pisa & Lucca!

Sooo we went to Pisa and Lucca today, and let me tell you- what an adventure! Our bus ride to Pisa was only about an hour long- not too bad. We had to wake up at 6:30am to get to the train station in Florence by 8am... BRUTAL! The bus ride was only about an hour long.. so i obviously didnt get any chance to sleep- haha i was too busy looking out the window at the AMAZING italian countrysides. I still feel like I am living in a dream world.. lol I cant really be LIVING in italy!!! Once we got to Pisa we obviously took the typical tourist pictures, of us holding up the leaning tower.. it turns out that the tower isnt the only building leaning-- the baptistry and the church are both leaning too! how weird!! overall pisa was very very touristy- so it was nice to see, but kind of dry and crazy busy. Lucca on the other hand was absolutely breath taking. It is not a tourist town AT ALL, so we were the only americans there. there were about 40 of us there- we didnt know riding bikes around the town was mandatory.. but we ended up riding them anyway. I am sooo happy I did. The whole entire town is surrounded by "Renaissance Walls"- the best way to describe it is like a smaller version of the Great Wall of China.. that surrounds the tiny town. You have to pay to get in the town.. haha. So we rode our bikes on the wall which has like a decent size road for bikes, walkers, rollerbladers, etc., for about 2 hours. It was amazing! I realized that riding a bike will literally KICK YOUR ASS! Haha. We had amazing pizza there too, at a small pizzeria where they didnt speak any english. Ill attach a bunch of pictures to this post so you can all see!

Anywhooo- I must go eat some bread with some balsamic vinegar (my biggest weakness here so far) and then its time for bed.

I miss lil rhody sooo much, but im starting to get somewhat adjusted.
Buonanotte tutti <3
Love always,
Jenn

Week 1: McDonalds, Legal to Drink?, No Hangovers in Florence... lies

So I have been here for just over a week now. I am still home sick =( which stinks! I get sad at night just because I cant say goodnight to my parents and see my friends and my boyfriend. But, Florence is starting to grow on me. Once my homesickness is gone I'm sure i will appreciate the city much more. I haven't really been skyping that many people from home, which bums me out. But, I will get through it. I am sure May 8th will come faster than I expect.

In the past week, we managed to find a McDonalds! It was perfect for our minor hangovers last Sunday, haha. The quality of food there is wayyyy better than any McDonalds in the states. We have found our favorite bar- its called Joshua Tree Pub. Its an Irish Pub that is about 4 blocks from our apartment. We are regulars there now, the bartenders and owners love us! It's weird to get served at the bar without being carded or needing a fake ID. haha. And just when I thought terrible hangovers never happened in Florence, last night happened. Haha. I know better than to mix a bunch of different kinds of alcohol, but last night I must have forgotten about what a hangover from 5 different kinds of alcohol feels like. But, I will know better for next time!

We are going to Pisa and Lucca tomorrow for a day trip. I am sooo excited to see the leaning tower and take the typical tourist picture of me trying to hold it up. hah. I know, realistically, I wont be able to travel too much while I am here.. but I definitely want to make it to Amsterdam, maybe Ireland, Greece, and of course Rome, Venice, and maybe even Sicily!

My first week of classes wasnt too bad. I have four classes on Monday and Wednesday from 9-530pm which stinks, but Tuesday I dont start til 230pm and Thursday at 10:45am. So i do get a few days to sleep in a little.

Well, I wish I could type all night. But I'm off to hopefully watch some of my tv shows online and then call it a night.

Buonanotte tutti,
Jenn <3

Ciao Firenze!

Ciao! So this is my first post of my new blog :) I arrived in Firenze, Italia on January 13th after a looong journey from Logan Airport in Boston. My first week here has been amazing so far, but I have to say that I am extremely homesick. I am taking four classes here and one workshop, and LUCKILY I get Fridays off with no classes-- basically for traveling! My computer may be in the midst of crashing, sweeeet. So hopefully luck will be on my side and it will live atleast until May! haha.

I never realized how old Firenze is! The city is just flooded with architecture, statues, artwork, and pieces of the Renaissance-- which happened like 5 centuries ago! It is amazing to be learning about the Renaissance while living in the center of the Renaissance. Did you know that Florence was the center of the Renaissance? Neither did I, until I learned it in class today-- haha.

This picture in this post was taken by me on the Ponte Vecchio (a famous bridge in Firenze that has lots of shops on it that is basically for walking) looking out at the Alps in the distance.. SOOO PRETTY!

I miss my mama, pops, seeester, puppy, my grandparents, my friends, my bed, my toilet, DUNKIN DONUTS, among MANY other things. But im hoping it will get easier soon!

I'll be updating this again soon, until then-- arrivederci!
ciao <3>