Circuses and Squares

Cheerio from foggy Londontown!
So we got to London yesterday morning around 10 and we had a full day of sight seeing! We took a tour bus around the city which I usually frown upon but it really is a great way to save money on transportation to major sights, especially when dealing with the pound...so we rode the bus around for a while and got to hear great commentary from this cute old man named Phil- he was a great guide, very funny and smart. We went to Harrod's and to Hyde Park- I found the statue of Peter Pan that I wanted to see- learned about that from Winning London lol.
Our hotel is awesome by the way! It has so many complimentary services- laundry, free spring water and printing! Love it! And the location is great too, right across the street from St. Paul's Cathedral.
Last night we ate Indian food for dinner which is apparently the national dish of England, according to our cab driver. Apparently when India was a colony the British people liked the flavors of the food they made so they later adapted it to their tastes (probably meaning making it more mild). I thought it was great! It tasted light- it wasn't as filling as it is in the states, or perhaps it was because I hadn't eaten all day. To save money (and Cals of course!), I suggested to my mom that we eat one meal a day- so far so good! I pump myself up with Starbucks and I'm good to go! They are everywhere, within a 30 second walk from the hotel lol. It's like New York.
London is actually pretty similar to NYC...except it is much richer in terms of history and I find it to be cleaner and more esthetically pleasing. Not that I don't love New York, I do and I can't wait to go back! But, London is awesome and incredibly gorgeous.
So this morning I walked over the AWESOME Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern (without Mom because she hates modern art and would have said things along the lines of, "I can make that!" so, she skipped it and went to see the Queen's Gallery, which was apparently quite impressive).
The Tate Modern was UNREAL! I loved it so much that when I finished I asked about possibly interning there next summer- I want to be in there all the time! It was so cool. Apparently to intern there, you don't have to be studying Art or Art History, they choose people based on interest, which is good for me. While I was walking through the halls, a group of kids started walking around in the same pattern, they were doing a performance art routine. It was fun and unexpected.
In terms of quality of works and organization, I would say that Tate is my favorite museum. Alli and Scott- you're going to LOVE IT. Tons of stuff from Aruna's class and there are games and stuff- it's such a cool environment.
Scott, you know how you said that you don't like MoMA as much as you could because you think it feels a little bit cold- this museum is the opposite- it's inviting and great!
One thing that I found particularly cool was DuChamp's glass panels. We studied it in class but I thought it was so cool to see it in person. It looks completely different because you can actually see it as it was meant to be seen, transparently.
Something cute, there was a British woman in the museum with her 4-year -old daughter and she asked the little if she thought DuChamp's ready-made Bicycle Wheel was art and the little girl said, "No! It's a bicycle wheel!" Maybe you had to be there, her voice was cute...
There were a number of awesome installations and videos that were evocative.
Over all, awesome place- definitely up there with my favorite things here in London.
Then I tried to get into Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, but it was closed...Next I headed over to the National Gallery- also impressive, but I didn't spend long there- my mom adored it and she spent much more time. I think she's going to LOVE the Louvre, so I'm excited for her to see that.
Next I headed to Westminster Abbey, which was also closed, then to Parliament, yup, that was closed too- they are on holiday until June 2. Three things I wanted to see were closed today (Royal Court of Justice too). But I was so pleased with Tate that it was alright. I did stop at a cute antique market near Piccadilly Circus- called Piccadilly Market and I got Alli a little something and then just browsed a bit.
I spent most of the day wandering the city, I didn't have a map until I met up with my mom so I had no idea how much walking I had done- I walked all over the city today and it was great.
Tomorrow we are planning to see the Tower of London and then we'll spend the rest of the day relaxing and shopping on Oxford Street (Looks like a lot of fun- Top Shop, Urban, 2 H & M's etc etc!!)- We deserve a break because I think we each saw everything that was important to us.

Dublin

Before discussing Dublin, I wanted to reference some quick notes about Italy. First of all, leaving the apartment last was so hard. I looked onto the table to see our three sets of keys in the empty apartment and I closed the door knowing that I would never walk into that apartment again. It made me cry because I am going to miss my life in Florence so much, my friends, my apartment and everything else that makes Florence special (too many things to possibly name).
As I took my last train I realized that my last train was the same as my first, the Fiumicino Airport shuttle to Rome Termini. This time when I got out the Airport, I recognized the ticket machines and understood the signs, things which made me nervous when I first saw them.
This must be pretty depressing so far, but I am honestly am having a hard time accepting that this experience is nearly over. I have been trying hard not to think about my experience in these negative terms because I should be thinking, wow, look at all of the amazing things I have had the chance to see.
On a lighter note- the Trenitalia Business class section is called "T-Biz"

So anyway, (something I have noticed that I say a lot in this blog of mine...can't help it)
We got to Dublin late at night on May 21 and we ended up having just one day to sight see. This made me nervous because I didn't think that I would be able to do everything. This is something that I have realized, it is better to do a few things and get a feel for the city than it is to run around stressed all day and ruin it.
So I focused on a few things that were important to me and I spent the rest of the time walking around the city and getting a feel for it. I went to Trinity College (1592 Established by Queen Elizabeth I) first and took a tour of the campus. The tour was given by an ADORABLE second year student named Kiernan Gellaher. He was so knowledgeable and well, cute. He told us all about life on the campus and the history of various buildings and notable alumni. I liked the tour a lot and at the end I went to see the Book of Kells, the most interesting thing about that was that the ink comes from all around the world, the red was made from the blood of a pregnant beetle. Interesting. After that I went and saw the old library called the Long Room, that library was fantastic and it smelled like old books, which is a smell that I adore.
Next I went to the Kilmainhem Jail. That was one of the cooler things that I saw in Dublin. The tour of the jail took an hour and the tour guide told us all about the history of the jail and the famous inmates including Eamon de Valera (who opposed Michael Collins when it came to the adoption of a treaty with Britain that would have given Britain the rights to Northern Ireland and the people essentially saw this as half a victory and therefore not good enough due to the amount of people that had died for the cause).
What I found really interesting about the jail was Jeremy Bantham's Panopticon theory at work. The idea was that the prisoners never knew when they were being monitored and they were therefore always on their best behavior. Theoretically, this would continue when they were outside the walls of the prison and they would be truly reformed. It is an interesting idea and it made for a very cool room. The use that wing of the prison to film many movies because the perfect horse shoe makes for great acoustics and the production staff also doesn’t have to worry about moving the prisoners because the prison has been closed to felons for many years and now serves as a center for learning and a social history museum.
Something else that was interesting was a story the tour guide told us about the youngest prisoner- she was an eight-year-old girl who was imprisoned for stealing a coat during the Irish Potato Famine. She and her family were starving and freezing to death and she was arrested for this act. She served for a few years performing manual labor.
My last sight seeing stop was at the National Gallery. I knew that there was a lot to see in Dublin and I didn't want to miss out on it, so I went into the museum thinking that I could take a quick look, but I loved it too much, I couldn't convince myself to leave. The collection was amazing and I was so happy to have chosen the National Gallery as one of my stops!
Then I wanted to meet up with my mom for a pint so I walked from the Gallery to where she was near the big modern needle on O'Connell Street. I liked that I was getting to know the streets and I liked feeling the rain as I walked through the streets of Dublin. I thought it made it feel like authentic Ireland.
My mom and I went to a famous pub on Temple Bar and had some traditional Irish food and Guinness. I learned that I hate Guinness- it was thick and dark and I thought it tasted like crap- but I thought that it was a good thing to try Guinness in Ireland. The food was better than I expected and the live music was really nice.
There were a few things that I wish I had done, but in the end I was happy with the three things that I chose to do and I spent the day strolling and smiling instead of running around unhappy. That would not have been very Irish of me anyway. It was a great day.

The next morning at 4 AM we left for London and that's where I am now...but I want to make that a second entry!

Ciao Italia!

I'm here in the Hotel Bellevue in Amalfi, in the south of Italy. Tonight is my last night in Italy and it's definitely bittersweet. 

I met my mom in Rome on Saturday and then we come here to Amalfi for 3 days. We went to Capri yesterday and that was really beautiful. I was excited to see the Blue Grotto after hearing so many amazing things about it, but it was closed due to high waters, which was sad. But we did take an amazing 2 hour boat ride around the whole island and the captain took us into a few other grottos. It was a really gorgeous island with tall cliffs covered in moss. 

We went to Anacapri to take a chair lift to the top of a mountain. It was really cool to see the island from above.

The only thing that I will complain about briefly is that things in the south take about 8 hours longer than they should. The boat that took us to the island only came back once, and it was much later than we wanted to leave. I guess I should just accept it and go with the flow, but I'm sort of not a go with the flow person :(

Anyway, Amalfi is incredibly beautiful. I don't know how people drive here. The roads are so narrow and the cars just speed past each other. For the girls who were in Sicily with me, it's like Erice lol.

So today we went to Vesuvio and Pompeii. We took a 2.5 hour bus to Vesuvio which put me right to sleep. Something about buses really puts me out. We got there and we climbed to the top. It was windy and foggy up there. Apparently is is snowy in top of the mountain until about May. It took 20 minutes to reach the top. It was very cool to be on top of Mt. Vesuvius but I honestly couldn't see inside the crater because of the fog situation. 

We had lunch and met a really nice couple and then we went to the ancient city. The ticket booth didn't take credit and my mom and I were both completely out of money, so we wasted about 30 minutes trying to find a Bancomat, which made me upset, because we were only allowed 2 hours to begin with. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see everything, but I think that we ended up seeing quite a bit. I learned some cool facts while I was there so that made me happy.

Just a side note, there are tons of wild dogs in the ancient city. I thought they were cute and friendly and one of them looked like Maggie :)

So I guess that's about it for now. I am heading to Dublin tomorrow and then London and Paris. I think Josh and I are going to take a day trip to Brussels- which would be so fun. Also, I think that my mom and I have decided to do Barcelona for the last four days, which will be terrific! The city of the future!

Wow, I can't believe I am leaving Italy...strange.

Okay, Ciao! <3

Quick Post

So, as of about 4 PM today I am a certified expert of Tuscan wine!! :)

Also, I shipped stuff home today, gifts etc and it was 7.5 kilos, which is about 16 lbs- it cost 116 Euros- wow! I was okay with it because my mom said it was okay but then Josh called and said that a package that size would cost about 35 Euros to ship from Paris, so that sucks. But, whatever, I think that it was money well spent, now I don't have to worry about those items while I travel around with my mom-

Have a safe flight, Mom, I will see you in Roma on Saturday at around 2:45!!

We're cooking dinner here tonight- girls night and then we're going out to a club or two.

Doing Florence things tomorrow obviously because it's our last day, :(

This has been the best semester ever. 

:)

La Ultima Fine Settimana a Firenze

So, as the probably incorrect blog title above states- This past weekend was the last weekend in Florence. It was pretty sad to think about it all ending but it was really nice to spend it with the people I really care about here. Kel missed her flight to Sardinia so she got to stay in Florence for the weekend. I know that she was disappointed to miss out on Sardinia but we were all glad that she was in Florence for the last weekend. 

So we had productive days this weekend- I was finishing up my list of sights etc that has been looming for a while. We went to the Pitti Palace and saw the costume gallery (very very impressive) It had all of the trends throughout the past few centuries which we found very interesting. Then I went and checked out the Modern Art Museum in the Pitti Palace which was actually really disappointing. It wasn't what we would consider modern art- it was a lot of war depictions and portraiture. 

Next we went to Hemingway's, a gelateria from Let's Go Europe! I had been wanting to go there for a while but it's really far away. It was absolutely incredible. I ordered a chocolate, banana and strawberry shake and a piece of carrot cake (necessary...) and then when I saw Alli's banana/chocolate crepe and Kel's strawberry/chocolate crepe come out I simply had to get one. I got one with banana/strawberry/chocolate- so amazing. We took pictures of them haha, they're on Fb.

So that night we wanted to go to a pub called Michael Collins (also the title of a film that we watched in Venice Film Festival with Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts about the Irish Independence movement and its leader, Michael Collins). But we ended up going to the wrong piazza so we went to Central Park instead. Central Park is a club that is kind of far away so we took a taxi- they recently re-did the outside and it's quite nice. The drinks were super expensive though- 10 euros! That's about $16. Nuts. So anyway we got home around 4 and ate McDonald's (shameful...).

The next day we did more Florence things, such as eating falafels. We also went to this caffe called, "Chiara Scurro" which is an art term from Aruna's class...that's meaning escapes me. But anyway, they make this amazing cappuccino freddo which was awesome. 

If, at this point, you think it sounds like all we do is eat here in Italy, you're right.

However, the highlight of the day for me was that I finally got to go into the Badia (a church where monks in white robes chant...and it was believed to be where Dante first gazed upon Beatrice. I love stuff that involves Dante.) Their voices were incredible and so relaxing. I loved that I didn't understand what they were saying and I just got to hear their perfect voices.

Saturday night was the LdM fashion show- all of the fashion students showed off their work on the runway outside San Lorenzo church. It was so impressive- there were tons of people there. The models had their hair and makeup done and there was a runway and a spotlight. Betty's outfit was awesome and Alessandra did a great job modeling it. I was really impressed by the quality of work that everyone turned out. There were some really cool things that I would totally wear.

Yesterday I went to visit Santa Maria Novella church during mass (to avoid paying 3 euros). It was really beautiful- I particularly liked the stained glass behind the alter, it was in one-point perspective, which is something you don't see very often. 

This morning finals week began with Italian at 9AM...Betty helped me out big-time by giving me her review sheet, which made the final go pretty smoothly. Thank goodness.

So this is the last week here in Florence. Kel started packing last night, a big orange bag is almost full and it's really getting weird. We have been cleaning the apartment and taking down pictures. We have our inspection tomorrow and we all really want our $300 deposit back.

I got my train ticket to Rome yesterday. I'll be meeting my mom there and then we will head to the Amalfi Coast, Dublin, London, Paris, Brussels, and hopefully Munich.

I am obviously excited for all of the experiences to come but I will be very sad to leave the life I have made for myself here in Florence. 

That's all for now, 

Love you all so much and see you soon!

Ciao <3

Meg

The French Riviera

This weekend was the perfect weekend for all of us to relax- it was so different than the traveling I had been doing. I always feel like I need to see everything in a given city. So it's hard when you only have a few days and I end up rushing around and exhausting myself. The good thing about Nice, Cannes and Monaco was that there wasn't a ton of sightseeing to do, so I didn't feel guilty lying on the beach for most of the time. 

So the only drawback (which was semi-major) was that we all spent SO MUCH money on food and drinks. France is so expensive. And all I could think of was that Josh said that he found Nice less expensive than Paris...eek.

We weren't able to have a meal that cost less than 20 euros as a general rule. But the beach there was gorgeous. The first day was a little bit windy, so we only laid out for a couple of hours, which was enough for me and Kel to get sunburned and Alli to turn black.

That night we went to Monaco to see the Monte Carlo Casino etc. It was pretty much the most gorgeous place ever (I feel like I say that a lot...but I have seen some pretty amazing places). The architecture was so ornate and intricate. Most of the buildings were white or pink and when set against the blue sky they looked spectacular. The casino was beautiful inside. I was surprised that we were allowed to go in because we certainly aren't high rollers. We were allowed to go into the first part of the casino but if you wanted to go in to where people actually gamble, it cost 10 euros, so we just used their bathroom and left. We ended up going back to Nice for dinner because Monaco was insanely expensive (obv.)

We ate at a place called Pelican something and then Alli, Kel and I went to Thor's Pub and had some drinks. It was nice to sit and chat with them about how we were feeling about the end of study abroad and how it is coming up so soon. It was sad to talk about that, I can't believe that the program ends in 13 days- we have to start packing soon and that really freaks me out. I feel like I just went to Rome yesterday and that was my second weekend here.

The day after that we spent the day in Nice and we had dinner at a Tapas Bar and then we went to Wayne's which was the place that Alli and Josh went to in Senior year where people dance on tables. I have to say I was a little disappointed because, A, it was too crowded to dance on the table and B. the drinks were very expensive glasses of sugar water...I don't know, I guess I just had more fun the night before at Thor's. 

Anyway, the next day Betty, Alli, Kel and I had a plan to go to Eze to the perfume factory and then to Cannes to lay on the beach. The problem is that the train station in Nice was terrible! The ticket machines only take special French credit cards with chips in them and they don't take cash, only change and there are no change machines. So the only thing to do is to wait on line to go to a ticket window. There were only three people working in the whole train station so the line was so long that we almost missed our train to Eze. When we got there we couldn't even go to the perfumerie because you had to take a 25 minute bus and it was already so late in the day and we wanted to go to Cannes. We went to the beach in Cannes for the day and I bought really expensive sunscreen because nothing is cheap in France. I think I spent 12 euros in the sunscreen, which is roughly 18 US dollars :( But the funny thing is I didn't get burned at all! And in the US I always get burned, even when I wear a high SPF and re-apply. So, once again, the Farmacias (Farmacie in this case) in Europe are great and sell products that actually work. 

Another dramatic train situation happened when we were coming back from Cannes to Nice and we had to catch our night train. 

The train to Nice was 35 minutes late! That never happens in Italy...the latest a train will be is 10 minutes and that is a rare occurrence, so we were so nervous that we were going to miss our night train and have to stay over again in Nice which would have been incredibly expensive.

We ended up making in by like 1 second and only because Betty's cousins were able to get all of our bags onto the platform for us (thank you so much!). 

Kel, Alli and I watched some Friends and then slept for about 4 hours.

It was a great weekend because when we weren't dealing with the train system, it was very relaxing. 

The beaches were absolutely amazing.

-One strange note- I don't think we were on a nude beach but there were a few women with no tops on. I found it very strange to see a mother playing with her child in the sand with her boobs hanging in the kid's face- not so good.

But I guess it's just different from what I am used to seeing at the Jersey Shore...

So, overall, great weekend because I was with my best friends here and we always have fun no matter what, and I'm not spending a cent for the next two weeks (I wish).

<3

Florence and Venice

Josh and his friends came to Venice last weekend and Kel, Alli and I met them there. I was excited to be in Venice again and finish up some of the sites that I hadn't gotten a chance to in my past visits. The first day Kel, Alli and I hung out with Scott and didn't do many touristy things- I think we might have gone into one church, but that was basically it. We went to a grocery store to buy supplies for dinner and waited on line for about 40 minutes, which was ridic. Then we made dinner in Scott's apartment. It was so delicious, we made a salad, sautéed veggies and Scott made an awesome pasta with sauce and tons of ricotta cheese and pecorino that he grated the day before.

So dinner was a great success and I liked the wine that my professor suggested so that was good.

The hostel we stayed in that night had a curfew which was terrible because we almost got locked out but we made it and overall, not such a good hostel experience. They didn't have paper towels in the bathroom, how bizarre? 

Okay so the next day we went to a cool modern art exhibit on an island off of Venice. I really liked the work and it was nice to take a break from the Renaissance art in Florence. Then we met Josh and his friends at the train station and we had some lunch. 

We went to the Peggy Gugenheim which made me really happy- I was surprised that it was so tiny but I thought that the collection was very impressive and once again, I loved seeing modern art, I really missed it lol.

So after that we went into a couple more churches- I was particularly happy with the last church that we squeezed in- the Jesuita? (right Scott?) I thought that the marble inlay was really interesting and I am so glad that we made it in there.

What I like about Venice is that Venetian history and Italian history are so different. There are so many unique churches that look nothing like the ones in Florence or anywhere else for that matter- I really love Venice. I am so glad that Scott studied there this semester because for one thing- he knows so much about it and that makes him a great tour guide, and another thing is I probably wouldn't have gone there four times this semester if he wasn't studying there. 

So we went back home on Saturday night to Florence because we wanted to go out and we had tons of work to do on Sunday- but we ended up deciding that it would be a better idea to watch Friends all night and eat two falafels. Very nice...

So on Sunday we went to Moyo and used their free internet after we ate lunch. I was pissed because I ordered this chicken fajita thing and the chicken looked really bad, it was ground meat chicken...so I took one bite and asked the waitress if I could have a salad instead and she said yes and then charged me for both...Didn't really want to spend 25 euros on lunch, but you know. I know that in the US, that probably wouldn't have happened. So little things like that are making me excited to go home...the use of a dryer, not getting eaten alive by mosquitos every night while I sleep (on my face...non va bene). And overall customer service and respect here just sucks. 

Anyway, we picked Josh and his friends up from the station on Monday afternoon and they put there stuff down in my apartment and then we had lunch in Palazzo Signoria where we went with Shannon (the place with the awesome pizza...) and then we went into the duomo and later that afternoon we went to Piazzale Michelangelo which has the greatest view of the city of Florence in my opinion. We had some nice white wine and walked back over the Ponte Vecchio. I love the way the Arno looks at night with all of the lights reflecting off of it. I really love that. 

Alli, Kel and I did that last week, we went to Piazzale Michelangelo and then we walked along the river and ate dinner at this great restaurant on the water which was surprisingly cheap and amazing. It's called the Goldenview...if you're interested.

So Monday night we cooked in the apartment and it was very delicious. The next day we went to see the David in the morning, my Amici degli Uffizi pass allowed us to all cut the line which was incredible because the line was so long and they would have wasted so much of their time in Florence. So we did that and then we tried to make an appointment at the Uffizi but the next one was on Saturday, which didn't work. I was upset that they didn't get to go in, but they seemed alright with it and hopefully they will have a chance later on in life to go in.

We went to have lunch at Moyo after that, the Moyo Salad is so good.

After that we went to Santa Croce, which is always lovely and Alli had lots of information becuase she has been there many times with her classes, so that was cool.

After that Alli and I were fat and got falafels about 40 minutes after eating lunch.

That night we went to dinner at Il Gatto e la Volpe. So delicious. We shared pizza and I got ribolitta which is vegetable soup with bread in it. It's a Tuscan specialty and it's delicious.

Then we went to Shot Cafe and to Beatles Night. The Beatles were really good and they played some songs that they haven't done before. 

Overall, I think that Josh and his friends got a nice taste of Florence. We did a good amount of touristy things but we didn't feel rushed and I think they appreciated that. I finally feel like I was a good tour guide of my city because the night before they got here I brushed up on some facts...I hope that they loved it because I love it so much here.

It's a strange feeling- I love this city so much and I get upset when I think about leaving, but at some points I feel excited about going home and I feel like in a month I will be ready to see my friends and family at home. I will also be ready for the following: making unlimited Verizon to Verizon calls, unlimited texting, a proper washer that fits more than a t shirt and two bras, a dryer so that I don't have to wait a week to wear my clothes, waiters and waitresses who are friendly and accommodating, THE DOLLAR, screens in the windows so insects don't attack my skin while I sleep, working for money, and I am slightly excited for my internship.

But other than that- I don't want to leave my apartment, the amazing people that I have met and can safely call them best friends, the food, this beautiful city and everything it has to offer, Beatles Night, traveling... etc etc etc.

So anyway, I think it's clear that I'm torn, and I know that going home is going to be a rough transition, but I can't help but way that I'm looking forward to going home just the slightest bit.

Anyway, 

Kel, Alli, Betty, her two cousins and I are leaving for Nice, Monaco and Cannes tonight around 11! The train ride takes 9 hours and we get there around 8 AM. I am really excited to see Nice, so many people from the program have gone there and they have said how gorgeous and relaxing it is. I think that this is going to be the perfect vacation for us. It will be relaxing and fun and we will definitely entertain each other. 

Love and miss you all!

CIAO <3