Fashion Update from one of the Fashion Capitals of the World...

Sooo nothing too excited happened this week besides searching the entire city of Florence for a planner...in English. I ended up finding one, but it's a leather bond and looks way to professional for me. McKenzie and I have also recently discovered Nutella, and have somehow managed to eat nearly the entire jar in one week. You may not recognize me in December.


However the peak of the week was probably dinner, turned late night pub crawl, with Abbey. Over dinner Abbey and I were discussing the trips we plan on taking while in Europe, and we began getting really excited about our trip to Ireland.


How ironic was it that there was on Irish Pub just across the street from where we were eating? We thought we had better check it out to make sure we really wanted to visit the country. Upon entering the pub we were asked if we were going to be watching the match. We looked at eachother and decided "why not?". For those of you who are not familiar with the term "match", this is not a wrestling match or a tennis match this was a soccer match. I was a bit confused on the topic, so I thought I'd clarify that for you. We met some other Americans there and ended up having a really good. Turns out we are definitely going to Ireland!


Our next stop for the evening was another bar/cafe where I learned the latest new fad. Apparently wearing only one shoe is a popular new trend starting right here in Italy! Who would ever think?? I will be sure and keep you updated on all the must-haves. But for not take off a shoe, because it's hot!


Friday morning McKenzie and I decided to go to IKEA, which is in a suburb about 20 minutes away. We were told that there was a free shuttle going directly there from the train station, but after being told seven different places on where to catch this bus, we hopped on a city bus and finally made it there.

This is not a homeless person, this is my roommate looking pretty ridiculous. She wasn't properly equipped for the rain. BUT please note that the umbrella she is using was bargained down two euro by yours truly :).


After our treacherous journey across Florence, we finally made it to IKEA, and I couldn't be happier.


On our way home we crossed a bridge, and there was a nice view of the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte Vecchio is a bridge lined with stores filled with fine gold and silver jewelry. I cross it pretty much everyday.

Saturday we took a trip to Siena. It was such a pretty city, and I was bummed we only got to spend a few hours there. We were able to see the main attractions though.

This is the head of Saint Catherine. Kind of morbid, but I thought it was cool. Saint Catherine was from Siena, and I was able to see her home and learn about her life on my visit.
This is the centre of Siena- Il Campo. Once a year there is a horse race around the square. There is a horse from each district, winner gets bragging rights for a whole year and a flag to hang in their district. The center of the square is filled with 50,000 spectators. And I thought it was crowded when I visited!!

Siena is split into 17 different districts, all different animals. This was a statue they had in the Lupa (female wolf) district.

McKenzie and Niki workin' their "juicies" on their way up one of the many hills in Siena.

This is the Duomo of Siena. It really reflects the Gothic architecture that was popular in the medieval times, when Siena was a thriving city. It was suppose to be much larger than it is, but they ran out of many and the building was never completed.


A group shot in front of the Duomo.
me, becca (top), niki, and mckenzie

We ate lunch at a medieval restaurant. It was super cute. It reminded me of a brick cave...I don't know if that really makes sense. They did a great job at setting the mood. There was even a man walking around playing the accordion.

I thought since I was in Siena, I would try pici, a type of noodle made only in Siena and surrounding areas. It's homemade spaghetti noodles, only much thicker and much yummier! We also drank Gallo Nero wine, which is a Chianti wine made in vineyards near Siena.

The end of Siena...now onto San Gimignano!


One of the streets in San Gimignano...or San Pajamas, whichever you prefer.

This little city is set up in the Tuscan Hills. The view is only one thing this town has going for it. Its an ancient town that is known for its towers. During medieval times each family had their own tower which reflected their power and wealth-the taller the tower the more money the family had. If the family lost their money, their tower would be torn down by other families.

We decided that this city was like Disney World. Every corner you turned there was some kind of entertainment. Their was a harpist playing here in a courtyard by the Duomo.

GELATO!!! Best I've had yet. I got fragula (strawberry) and cioccolato. yummmmm....

The ladies of the evening...
mckenzie, me, alyssa, abbey, and smaranda

It appears that Abbey and I have made some friends, but that is not true. We don't know these three guys. We were going to take a picture of the two of us, and these fine young men decided they wanted to be in the picture. Nothing stopped them from hopping in.

Italians not only know how to dress, but they also know how to dance. As you can see this lady has both things going for her. Sadly she didn't have anyone to dance with, so she danced with herself in the mirror....all night. Another fashion update- gold is in, so wear from head to toe as you see our friend doing.

Well it is time for me to have a spoonful of Nutella and hit the sac!
Ciao!

Pisa. Kinda sounds like pizza..but not really.

So last weekend  (I know I'm already falling behind) we took a bus to Pisa and Terrania Beach on the Ligurian Sea. We left early Friday morning and got back late Saturday night, so we only had to pay for one night in a hostel. 

The day started out cloudy, and we were all a bit skeptical since we had designated the whole day to laying on the beach. As you can see it ended up to be a beautiful day. The beach was about a fifteen minute ride from the Pisa centre, and when we got there we had no idea where to go. We followed the other touristy looking people with beach towels, and ended up finding the sea. 

You would think that a towel would be a pretty important thing to pack if you were planning on going to a beach, but some of us decided we needed to fill our backpack with blow driers and straighteners instead. Of course I decided not to bring a towel, so I arrived at the beach towel-less. McKenzie, Maryn, and I decided we would venture off to see if we could find some chairs to rent. We went to a couple of beaches, but they were either too expensive or private clubs. We were about to throw in the towel (no pun intended), but we found the perfect beach. It was called "American Beach"....seriously. They ended up having really cheap chairs and umbrellas to rent. They also had a snack bar where we ate HOT DOGS for lunch. I know what you're thinking, but it just felt right. 

The people that worked there all spoke really good English. One girl was clearly American because she was wearing a Wisconsin shirt. They were so helpful, and actually called the hostel in Pisa for us and made sure there was room. 

 

So this is the hostel we stayed at. As you can see it's quite decadent. I know you're thinking that this looks like an abandoned church, well thats because it is. I can honestly say I am glad to be alive after staying in this place and wasn't possessed by some evil spirit, even though some claim they actually were. It ended up being an ok night. We met some Australian guys, who were also staying in this church/hostel, and went to dinner with them. After having a peaceful, or not so peaceful, nights rest we woke up to a chilly, rainy day. We all took showers, mine was ice cold, but everyone else said there's was fine. I don't think I knew how to work the shower?? 

After minutes of being there, I did one of those super-cool poses in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa where I was "catching" it. 

Since we couldn't make it to Iowa City for the Iowa/Iowa State game, we decided to support the Cyclones in front of the tower. I know not quite as exciting as tailgating, but it's the best we could do. As you can see the guy behind us was bummed he was missing the game too, so he showed his team spirt with us.

There was this little courtyard in on of the museums we toured, and there was a really cool view of the tower. 

So very excited to be in Pisa.

So pretty......!

The six of us posing for a picture in the Camposoto Cemetery. 

Although there were times when we wanted to jump off the top of the tower, we ended up having a pretty decent weekend. I learned two things on this trip: always have a map of the city you're in, and six girls traveling together may be too much estrogen. 

Tomorrow we're going to Sienna for the day, so hopefully it won't take me as long to post about this trip!! 

PLEASE update me on your lives, or you're not my friends anymore :P...vadams@iastate.edu. LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Bidets, Tiny Cars, and Delivery Pizza

Well, after much persuasion from my roommate, who is within 10 feet of me 90% of the time, I have finally decided to start blogging. I guess it's to educate those of you who are interested in my experience in another world...well country.

To start off, I suppose I should inform you that I am Florence, Italy for a semester of school. Hopefully if you're reading this you already know...! I got here September 1st and will be returning back to good ole' Iowa on December 21st, just in time for all of you to give me Christmas presents. I'm not going to go into every detail of the past nearly two weeks. You will have to create your own version of what it's like entering a country where the only things you know in there language is "hello", "good-bye", and "do you speak English". However; I have managed to get by, and have already started to learn more words and phrases.

I was able to move into my apartment as soon as I got into Florence. I live with 3 other students from Iowa State. Kind of feels like Ames in the middle of Italy. Actually it doesn't at all since I knew none of them prior to coming here.

Here are some pictures of the place.

The living room, we made the boys wearing only there underwear get off of the way to take a picture.

This is our bidet. We use it to wash our feet. So if you ever stop by, please don't stick your butt in our bidet.

The first week was pretty stressful. Adjusting to a new country was more difficult than I anticipated. Once again, I won't get into the details, but I will run by the highlites.
-Walked to the closest thing to Hy-Vee (there are only two of these stores in Florence, and they are nothing like a Hy-Vee). Stocked up on all basic items to fill an empty kitchen. We discovered we had way too much stuff to make the mile walk back to our apartment, so we decided it would be the perfect time to figure out the bus system. We waited nearly fifteen minutes for the bus to arrive. The bus gets there, we gather up our bags and bags of groceries. Two different groups of people get on, but as we head to the steps of the bus the door is slammed in our faces and the bus takes off. Don't worry we made it home.
-After walking two miles in 90 degree weather, we finally made it to the cell phone store only to find that they had just closed for siesta. Siesta is two hours long. Oh how I love the laid back Italians.
-It would be my luck to get tonsilitis within the first week of being in Italy. Third time this year! While everyone was celebrating the last weekend of summer, I was laying in bed with a 101 degree temperature.

Classes started on Tuesday. I'm taking Italian, Industrial Knitwear, Jewerly-making, Batiking, and Art History. I know it kind of sounds like I'm taking a semester off to go to summer camp. Each class meets for three hours once a week, except for Spanish...I mean Italian (cough McKenzie). We have Italian two hours a day for four days a week. Thats going to be the most intense class. I've already learned some stuff. I can now ask people who speak Italian where they're from (note these people are usually from Italy). Its pretty convenient.

This is my school. There is one door, and three floors. Definitely different than I'm used to but I've liked it so far.

A view from one of classrooms. Its a little different from looking out a window in LeBaron.

This is the Pitti Palace. Its right across the street from our school. Once the Palace of the Pitti family and then the Medici family, now it is a museum, gallery, and garden for tourists.

Also across from our school is a lovely fruit market where this man sells coconuts to passer-byers. McKenzie was kind of diggin' him, so she hopped in to get a picture with him.

A very normal size for a car around here...this is my color choice.

Apparently the steps of the Duomo is the place to hang out at night. We've met many interesting characters here. All the boys are in love with American girls. I had one boy sing to me in Italian and had no idea what the words meant. Later someone told me that the song meant he would never love anyone like he loves me...I don't think he even knew my name.

Maryn posing with the pizza once it finally arrived. Pizza delivery is not quite as quick as it is in the States. It took an hour and a half for them to deliver our pizza!

Well that is all for now! My goal is to keep this updated every couple of days, but my track record for keeping a journal is pretty poor. Love, love, love you all!!