CERTALDO!

We are in Certaldo!!

After leaving Rome this morning, we drove a few hours, by bus, to the town of Orvieto!

(Get ready for a lot of pictures)

Orvieto was beautiful and fairly tourist free, so we felt like locals.  The shops were all so unique and mostly filled with handmade crafts, food, and spices.

 It was the perfect place to shop, but the owners didn't speak as much english as we were used to in Rome, so I realized that I either need to get really good at charades or learn more Italian.

We also saw a beautiful cathedral...and I actually didn't go inside, come to think of it.

but the mosaics on the columns were definitely my favorite part!

I really liked the random street art that was all over the buildings and benches!

After Orvieto, we went to Assisi, which had the cathedral of San Francesco (Saint Francesco).

Charlotte and I also got a yummy creme croissant to share and delicious juices (pear for me!)

THEN we were ready for the two and a half hour ride to Certaldo! a.k.a. nap time. It was raining when we first got here, but then it started snowing!! AND IT'S STILL SNOWING! Best welcome ever. We moved our stuff to our apartments...

and dinner was delicious!!

I CAN'T WAIT to go outside and see how much more snow there is!!

Caitlin enjoying the snow

and then Ivan and Brooke going into their Bed and Breakfast apartment...in the snow!

I can't wait to see more of Certaldo in the morning!!!

CIAO!

Fixed!

Ok, so I posted these pictures yesterday, but I forgot to add the edited versions of these photos and it was bugging me. There!

Rome.

I'M IN ITALY!

Spanish steps

Trevi Fountain

streets of Rome

Pantheon

Colosseum

ruins at the Virgin's Palace

all of our group in front of a Roma skyline 

(except Emily, who was taking the picture)

We've been here for two days now and it's been thoroughly exhausting in an amazing way.  We've seen so many monuments that I honestly can't remember all of their names. But I have pictures, of course. I do know that yesterday we went to the Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, and lots of other fountains and old ruins. It was ALLLL spectacular!  Today we went to the Colosseum, the Virgin's Palace, the Bone Church, which is a commemoration of deceased monks by using their bones to make art (it's completely mesmerizing and artistic and creepy and fantastic all at once), and then we went to these gardens at the top of a mountain where we could see a beautiful view of Rome!

Not to mention, the lunches and dinners have been so awesome and SO MUCH!  I'm talking three courses for each meal!!  I can't handle this...but I still each almost everything on my plate.  How could you not?? Today my lunch was a little smaller, but it was probably the best meal I've had so far! It was this cute little place in the metro station (a metro/train/bus station like no other) and I got this delicious pranzo speciale (lunch special) of a ridiculously yummy panini, choice wine, and caffe (coffee) to drink dopo (after  ...I'm learning already)

By the way, I've had three cappuccinos in the past two days and they are progressively getting better each time!  Hilary, one of the teachers, was telling Charlotte and I today all the places that would be perfect for us students to hang out at and apparently there's a great caffe place in Certaldo Basso that we need to check out. We've decided that we'll probably be there quite often.

There's one more day in Rome and I'm sad, but also super excited because leaving Rome means going to Certaldo!!  Tomorrow we're going to the Vatican and then pretty much have a free day, to roam around Rome. Yeah, we've used that joke a few times today.

Oh! The group we have is so great!! It's been two days and we all already get along! And there are no clicks to speak of so far, so let's hope it stays that way.  We all walk with different people each trip, sit next to different people each meal, and hang out as random groups. It's safe to say that this will be an amazing semester.

I've taken a LARGE amount of photos already, but I'll just share a few for now.

Ciao!

13 hours!!

The countdown is almost over!!! Thirteen hours left until Charlotte and I board our plane to Atlanta...then only a two hour layover stands in our way of a flight to ROME, ITALY! 


Mom, dad, and I have made it to Charlotte in one piece, eaten dinner, and seen my loooovely friend Kelsey ! Then we weighed our bags to make sure they were less than or equal to 50lbs...which they were not.  After a few removals we found success! 


Ok, so flights are confirmed, bags are packed, weekend traveling plans are being made, we're excited and freaking out and AHHH this will be so great! 


Alright, we're also scrambling to print documents and last minute details, so I'll stop now and work on that. My next post will be from ITALY!! YAY! 

8 days...really?

A little over a week.  I've received both of my required books (after a small fiasco when I realized I ordered the wrong art history book and needed to order the RIGHT one) so that's taken care of.  My extra contact lens were ordered and picked up, a few supplies gathered, lists made, some clothes and shoes stacked...still a lot more to do.  Plus I have to pack and unpack once I realize I've packed too much.  


This will be an interesting 8 days. Oh wait! Make that seven because we'll drive to Charlotte, NC before I fly out on the 27th. 


BRIGHT SIDE: our heat was fixed today, this weekend is the Spaghetti Dinner for my church (one of my favorite days of the year...that I missed last year), I'm not too stressed out, and there are only EIGHT DAYS until I go to Italy! 


By the way, I feel really weird not posting pictures on here yet since I'm obsessed with pictures, but I think I'm waiting until I get to Italy for the first photo upload...sort of an unveiling or something. I don't know, just go with it. 


Anyways, I should sleep because I think tomorrow is supply shopping day!  Hopefully that will be in addition to a lot more Italy preparation. We'll see.

Housing Assignments!!

We got our housing assignments yesterday from Linda, our trip director, and I was able to get a glimpse of the outside of the building and part of the town through google maps! It's so beautiful even though I can only see the street views! There's this one building at the end of our streets that is overgrown with green, red, and purple vines.  I'll probably end up virtually walking around the whole town by the end of the week.  My roommate, Charlotte, and I were getting excited last night about being motivated to go running while we're there.  I definitely wouldn't mind a morning run with this view!


In other news, I ordered both of my required textbooks and hopefully those will get here a.s.a.p. so I won't have to worry about them.  Unfortunately, I still need to worry about if I'll get an eye appointment and updated prescription before I leave in EIGHTEEN DAYS.  This week's activities will consist of making an appointment, gathering supplies, figuring out what I still need to get, practicing packing the duffle/suitcase, and squeezing in hangout out time with family and friends that are leaving at the end of this week to go back to school. Am I a nerd for making list after detailed list? Oh well.


Oh yeah! We got home tonight and found out that we have no heat in our house...some might be disappointed about that, but I choose to think of it as prep for Italy, considering the fact that in the town of Certaldo it's against regulation to have their central air go above 70 degrees. Look at that optimism :)


If you want a view of Certaldo (hopefully this works) here's a link to the google maps address! Search around, I just discovered the hillside!
http://maps.google.it/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=it&geocode=&q=Via+Boccaccio+28+50052+Certaldo+FI&sll=43.589074,11.118778&sspn=0.215846,0.235519&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Via+Boccaccio,+28,+50052+Certaldo+Firenze,+Toscana&ll=43.548877,11.043808&spn=0.013499,0.01472&z=15

Practice & Planning

My family and I are on our week vacation to Florida (with stops to visit friends along the way there and back) so I figured this would be the perfect time to test out my brother's old duffel/rolling suitcase for the trip. So far I think it's passed the test.  There's a good bit of space, roomy side pockets, and an area underneath everything for shoes and such.  Hopefully this one's a keeper! 


I have to confess, I've been thinking so much about how many and what type of clothes/shoes to pack that I nearly forgot that we'll have to include supplies, towels, and bathroom necessities. Fitting it all in with room to spare will be the tough part.  Our trip director advised us to pack everything and then unpack half of the load...we'll see if that works. 


Other than figuring out WHAT to pack, I still have to GET everything I need to pack.  Only 21 days left.  Lots of check lists will be made between then and now.  I'm pretty sure reality is setting in at this point and we'll be off to Italy soon enough! 


Maybe I should buy an Italian phrases handbook...