Oktoberfest!! I SURVIVED!!

well i am proud to say that I am a survivor the 200th anniversary of oktoberfest! it was a long day but well worth it! so friday night, i packed up my bags, brought a pillow and blanket, and walked over to the train station to meet the group that I was going with. A bunch of people from my program, probably about 40 were going so it was nice to now people going with me. i got to the train station and there were about 100 people! it was finally time to leave and the whole time i was thinking how i wanted to sit in the front because it will be quiet and all the loud people will be in the back...of course i got a seat in the back. my friend casey and i were just looking at each other and so mad because guys sitting behind us had speakers and were already playing music! this was going to be a looong bus ride! so the bus finally takes off and it was fun to socialize but at the same time it was about 1 am..so about an hour later it calmed down and everyone attempted to sleep on the cramped (with no leg room) bus.

we finally arrived after stopping on the border of germany and austria, changing outfits and fixing ourselves up after being on the bus for such a long time. it was pretty chilly in munich and the whole day it was overcast. so we got there around 10, which was way to late! it was sooo crowded and we stood in line for about an hour and a half and couldn't get into a tent! there were so many people i guess because this was the last weekend of the 200th anniversary. so we just walked around a lot in the beginning trying to see if there were any tents that were already full..but we couldn't ever find one! we walked around the beer gardens too but there were just so many people it was crazy! we then went to a carousel that is like a rotating bar and we got our first beers there. i got a half liter of i can't remember the name now but it was like most beer and then a splash of lemonade. soo good! i couldn't believe that i was actually enjoying this beer. so we hung out there for a pretty long time, met some people from pepperdine who were studying in southern france. we then decided to leave and get something to eat. we then got huge sausages that didn't even fit in the buns! and i thought the hotdogs at costco were big! hahaha

we then were getting pretty tired so we went and sat on this hill that had a huuuge statue of a lady. but we didn't realize that apparently that was the hill were all the passed out/throwing up people went...so we were just sitting there and seeing all these people passed on in the middle of the road- talk about making you not want to drink! so we left there and we were all pretty tired so we decided to leave oktoberfest since we weren't going to be able to find a place to sit and find a restaurant in the downtown area. of course we find the one and only italian restaurant! haha but they did have beer and german pretzels so it was fine. so we got some more beer of course and just sat there for a while, enjoyed each others company, sang along with the germans while they were drinking a ton, ate some huge pretzels and it was a less crowded oktoberfest-ish area that i really enjoyed! then around 9 we went back into the oktoberfest festival area and i really just enjoyed people watching..the germans really do know how to drink..thats for sure! there was such a range of drunk people, from 12 year olds to 80 year olds..so crazy! then around 11:30 we headed back to our bus and everyone just passed out on the bus..it was such a long ride home and i was sooo happy to be back in florence!

so i came to the conclusion that i had a good time at oktoberfest..but to be completely honest, it just wasn't my scene, there were so many drunk people running into you you, and there were just so many people. but don't get me wrong, i loved the experience and the fact that I can say i have been to oktoberfest..but would i go again? it would take some convincing haha
then later that day i met up with some family friends from san jose, the guidaces and I was able to catch up with them. they also gave me a package that my mom gave them to give to me which i loooved!!

i am still getting used to seeing stuff from home because its hard and it makes me a little homesick every once and a while but i know that i have so much love and support coming from home! hope everyone is doing well and thanks all for reading my blog!

week of Sept. 26

hello everyone! sorry i haven't wrote on here for a while but school is picking up so I don't have as much time...anyways, last sunday was a cancer awareness walk that about 15,000 people participated in, called "Corri la Vita" (walk for life). it was sooo much fun! there were so many people in purple shirts and work out clothes! it was so exciting because no one here ever wears work out clothes and if you know me just the slightest bit..you know that i wear workout clothes everyday and coming here was a struggle of having to dress up in real clothes every day. but this was the one time that people were actually wearing workout clothes! i finally fit in! so we went to the starting point which is the plaza signoria (statue garden and fake david are there) and there were soo many people! it was so awesome to see so many florentines here supporting cancer and volunteering their time and effort. During the walk many museums and gardens that usually you have to pay to get it..so we went to so many churches (be proud grandma and mom!), the pitti palace, and the famous gardens (honestly i have no clue what they are called) but they were gorgeous...the walk was fun to be with my friends and trying to meet new people..my friend liz and i got a belium waffle with nutella on top during the walk just for kicks..and it was so good! there was so much sugar and it was so chocolate-y it was definitely the breakfast of champions! so the walk finished around 2 and then there was music in the plaza so we just hung out there for a while..pretty good day!
this week was not too exciting except for learning another past tense of the italian language...so now i am up to three tenses!
yesterday i went to the library since i got a card a few weeks ago and i checked out some movies that are in italian with english subtitles so i am excited to watch them..i got mrs. doubtfire, bridget jones diary, million dollar baby and dirty dancing..i am hoping that this will help me with the language because i am finding out that writing the language is coming easy for me, its just speaking which is so hard for me!
but on that note the other day i decided that i wanted to do a language tandem exchange which is (basically what julia roberts does in eat pray love) and i teach the person english while they teach me italian..so i got the english speaking newspaper, The Florentine, and looked in the classified section and found a 30 year old who is looking to work on his english. so i emailed him and we met today (i was sooo nervous by the way!) but he was super nice and we got a sandwich and cafe and he helped me so much with italian and he is already really good at english but he just wants to learn sayings that we say in america so he can get the "lingo" down..so i am really glad that i went through with it and he was so good at helping me learn words and getting tenses down..we were just walking down the street and he would point something out and i would try and figure out the word..i think it will really help so i am excited about it!
o alsooo i am working on getting an internship for a website called "Flo n the Go"! its a start up website that i would write articles for from an american student perspective about the lifestyle in florence..i am really excited about it and hope that it all works out! i would be writing a couple articles a month and would be published on the website right away..so i will definitely keep you all updated about that!
well i am off to oktoberfest for the weekend! its going to be crazy and i am a little frightened..we leave at midnight tonight, take a bus and get there at 9 am, stay till 11pm and drive back for another 9 hours...get back sunday around 8am..it will be the longest day of my life! but how can i be in europe and not go to oktoberfest while it is going on! maybe i will start to like beer there..who knows? i will let ya know!
hope everyone is doing well..if you ever want to email me, my email is michelle.giraudo@yahoo.com..i love emails! and i love real letters too! thats like christmas for me! ok bye everyone! i will update you all soon..don't worry!

sorrento+capri=one AAMAZING weekend!!

so to be honest i have been dreading this blog because so many amazing things have happened in the past few days i don't know how i can even explain or write it all down but i will try my best! sorry this is going to be a long one!

so last week my friends and i decided that we wanted to go to sorrento and capri (down south) for the weekend. so thursday night the three of us (me, casey and katy) booked our hostel and friday we went to the train station, got a ticked to rome. that was about as much planning that we did for this whole weekend. so on friday, i took my test in the morning and then packed up for the weekend and then got on a train to roma. the train to rome took fooorever..i didn't realize how long it was going to take but since it was the cheapest train, of course it would take forever..i think it took a total of about six hours just to get to rome...but the train ride was fun we met up with three other people who were also going to sorrento and capri that our from our progam..so the train took about six hours and then from there we had to get a train to napoli...the train to napoli was fun cuz i tried/attempted to talk to an older lady who barely spoke english and i was using what little italian i knew to talk to her about her family and my life in california..i realized so many people have so many questions about our life in america..like they seriously believe the hills/laguna beach is real! so then that train ride was about two hours and my friends were talking to other italians and we were like ya we are going to sorrento and they were all saying "good luck" because its so far away and hard to get to..so i was pretty nervous and had no idea that it might be difficult to get to..so we got to napoli around 11 o'clock at night..yes the scary napoli that everyone stays away from..ya i was there at 11 o'clock at night..luckily we had two guys with us and they stayed with us the whole time and we were just in the train station so it was all good...thennn from there we finally got on a metro bus to sorrento which was another hour train ride..but this was the best train ride ever! so we were talking to these german girls and they were also asking us about tv shows in the us because they watch everything we have in the us but just with german or italian subtitles..so they were asking if shows like Next, Date my Mom and just trashy shows (i love new york) were real..of course, me being the one to loooove trashy shows was chattin it up with these girls and they were shocked to find out that california wasn't like that haha and thennn we were talking about sports and one of the german girl plays american football..and then i said that o my sorority has a powderpuff football team and they all didn't know what a sorority was so then i started to explain it and this lady sitting behind us helped me to explain what it was..then she went on to talking about how she is in a sorority..she went on for a while about how she helps out during recruitment for hers and then i finally asked her what she was in and she said ALPHA DELTA PI! and i just about freaked out!! how can i come half way across the world and find a sister!! it was just so exciting and we took a diamonds picture together and it was just great! so we then finally got to sorrento and then we went to our hostel after searching for it for a while...so we get there and realize that we are going to have one random roommate and we asked the front desk if it was a girl or a boy..and he goes o its a girl and its wa-nye..then i looked at the paper and was like o no that way-ne..un regazzo! so we get to our room and there is this gooorgeous australian man in our room! we were all just thinking jaaackpot! so we chatted it up with him for a while and he has just been traveling for three months by himself. we told him that we wanted to go to capri in the morning and he did too so after getting to know him we decided that we would all take a boat tour around capri the next day..we then all went to bed cuz we had had a long day of traveling and a long day a head of us tomorrow.

the next morning we got up and went to the breakfast that our hostel had for us. un cafe and crossiant..classic italian breakfast. we then go to the boat dock and try to make the original boat that we wanted to take but we missed it by just a few minutes..so we hoped on a big ferry boat to capri and got there in about 20 minutes..it was fun to see the ocean for the first time in a while and it is just soooo gorgeous everywhere you look its unbelievable. when we arrived we didnt really have any plans so this random guy came up to us and asked us if we wanted a boat tour..he seemed a little sketch cuz he didn't have any paper work with him or a shirt to make him official but it was super cheap to go on his boat for two hours..i asked him how long he has been doing these tours and he responded with three years and then i asked any deaths? and he said no..so that was a little comforting haha (by the way the gorgeous australian is with us the whole time..can't forget about him!) so we get on the boat and it was a nice boat..an area to lay on in the front and a nice sitting area in the back..so we take off and its super rocky and i just kept thinking i hope no one gets sea sick! but the views were so beautiful..the water was so blue and clear and the town from far away was gorgeous...like honestly i can't even describe it just go look at my pictures on facebook haha! so then after about thirty minutes i was thinking about how i gotta go swimming in the water! so we stopped at the Green Grata and the water was pretty calm so we all decided to jump in..and it was amazing! the water was pretty warm for an ocean and it was sooo salty so i was able to float so much better! i stayed close to the boat but the aussie (wayne) and katy went into a cave and katy actually got stung by a jelly fish! she was pretty calm about it and a champ cuz she didn't even cry or really do anything about it..and she realized like i am on a boat so what can i do about it..so thenn we just layed and "tanned" on the boat and then got to the blue grato..which i guess is pretty famous but i had never heard about it..so it was an extra 10 euros to go in but we figured we gotta go! so we jump in a small dingy and this guy Rafeal starts to push us and we literally barely make it underneath this super low ceiling right as we enter-then we get through that with screaming and all and realize we are in this cave that is completely blue! it was sooo crazy and beautiful..the water was bright blue and the light from outside looked blue too! the italians were all singing in italian except for rafeal and i was a little disappointed..then we got back out and got back on our main boat...and headed back for capri..we then unfortunately had to get off the boat and i got un panino con proscutto, mozzarella e pomodore..that was amazing! so then we were fueled up and did a 25 minute hike up to the top of capri because their city center was there..so we made it up to the top and it was like a beverly hills of italy..pretty sure george clooney and mariah carey have villas here..so we walked all the way up there and then down and then took the ferry back to sorrento..

we got back to sorrento and were all pretty tired so we decided to head back to the hostel and rest/shower and then we would go out that night..so after a few hours we went out to dinner at a cute restaurant in the center of sorrento..its cool too cuz cars are not allowed to go in the city late at night so its all walking..so i had raviolis which were maagical! so soft and all hand made from scratch! could not be any better! then we found this bar that we thought looked pretty fun so we hung out there for a while..i met a couple from canada that were super cool but didn't like celine dion! what the heck!! but they were still pretty cool so its ok haha and i met some people from east bay area which was cool..my fav part of going out is always talking to people and seeing where they are from and trying to make connections..which most of the time i can! haha so we then didn't get home till around 3 am and i just passed out i was so tired!

the next morning we were all pretty tired and knew that we had a long day of traveling ahead of us so we walked around sorrento for a little while and then hoped on the train to take us to napoli..some people wanted to go to the restuarant thats in Eat Pray Love so i sucked it up and got brave and walked around in napoli trying to find this famous pizzeria..it was so scary in napoli..i never need to go back there again..there were vendors all over the streets selling knock off purses, wallets and even things that you know have been stolen..there were rings, ipods and cell phones..like its crazy that stuff could be yours! so as i was holding onto my wallet/passport for dear life we finally found pizzeria de michele and it was closed!! we completely forgot it was a sunday and the whole country of italy (except for the scary vendors) close down cuz its family day!! i was soo bummed! so i took pictues of it and then went across the street to a place that apparently is owned by the same place..but its still not the same! so we went there and i got a pizza con proscutto..it was aaaamazing!! i felt like elizabeth gilbert/julia roberts and decided that i was going to eat the whole pizza..and i did! i have to say it was good..but not the best pizza i have ever had in my life..i have yet to have that experience..so we then very carefully walked back to the train station and in that time i decided that napoli is like the ghetto of LA or New York..just dirty and not fun. we then decided to pay a little extra and take a faster train to florence..so instead of about 10 hours it will take us 4..good deal! so we got back on the train and i sat across from this old italian man who i think seriously just stared at me while i was reading my book for a solid three hours..it was soo awkward..like everytime i looked up he was looking at me so strange..i think he was just interested in what i was reading and who i was as an american i guess...we then got back around 8 at night and i came home..skpyed with the rents/gma and then passed out! i was exhausted but it was an amaaaazing weekend!! worth every penny!!

so now i am onto planning for this weekend! i either want to go to lucca or bologna for the day!! bologna is where lasagna came from and lucca just looks gorgeous!! and then sunday i am doing a breast cancer walk!

thats it for my update..thanks for reading! sorry it was long but i just have so much to tell you guys about!! hope everyone has a good week!

getting into a routine...

so last sunday i went back to chianti for the 40th annual wine festival..i personally had never heard about chianti before coming out here but apparently its a pretty big deal..so me and a couple friends jumped on the bus right before it was leaving.. had to stand on the entire hour and a half bus ride and eventually made it there..the festival was pretty large with booths everywhere of people who own vineyards trying to sell their wine..we payed ten euros and got an actual wine glass and seven free testings..it was fun to go to the booths and pretend like i know about wine when i really have no clue what the people were talking about..i got good at swirling and looking at the wine, but that was about it for my knowledge of wine! haha we took a break and got some pizza in the town center that was huuuge for 2 euros! i love finding good deals..so we kept taste testing wines..i drank most white wine even i guess thats not a type of chianti but i think i have to work up to the red wine haha we took the bus back and of course i had to stand the whooole time but i was able to talk to a few people which was fun..i met one guy from belgium who studied at Santa Clara law school last year! such crazy and small world. i got back from the wine tasting around 7 and was so tired i ended up picking up a doner kabob (a german wrap with lamb i think) and it was soo good! and then i just went to sleep.
monday i had class at nine and its crazy just how quickly this class is going..i remember learning spanish and just the first two years were just about the colors, numbers, months and just easy stuff like that..nooot this class! the first day we learned about conjugations of verbs and vocabulary is on the side that we need to learn ourselves..we go so quickly in such a short amount of time usually by the time class gets out i am just exhausted! after class there were elections for the student council..its not that big of a job and just meets once every other week and i kind of thought about it and since i looove campaigns (its how i won thrift store prom!) i wanted to run and win this election. the student council is made up of one student per major. some of the majors are architecture, literature, art history and mine is history and classics. luckily, there are only about 5 people in this major. so i thought about it and i only need 3 votes to win and one of those would be mine! and since i already knew two people with the same major as me..i knew i had it the bag. so the voting for my major came up, i stood up in front of the whole school, stated my name, my year and what school i was from..they then voted, tallied up the votes and I WON! i got my three whole votes that i needed! haha impressive, right?
so the next day i had the first meeting for the student council..the position of the job is just basically to give feedback about our classes, field trips and everything going on in the school. it was a pretty good meeting but i just felt cool cuz i was at this meeting haha. nothing too exciting happened on tuesday..just class and then going home to study!
then on wednesday i had class from 1-4 because i have two different teachers for my italian class so the times of our classes vary from day to day. that night a few of my friends and i decided to go and watch a futbol game at an irish pub down the street from us..when we first got there the place was not crowded at all and then when the game started..so many people showed up! it was fun too cuz i ordered a beer for the first time at a real bar! not like i actually liked or drank most of it..it was still exciting to order it haha the game was fun and milano won so in the end everyone was happy..i realized when watching the game italians don't scream at the tv, they just throw up their hands and say "ehhhh" which is kind of funny..its all about their hands here..we then got some gellato and sat on the steps of the duomo..its so much fun to just sit and watch people here..but then some creepers always try to come up and talk to you and you have to some how get them away from you haha
so day i have just had class this morning and now i am going to try and meet up with my friend laura who is studying here this semester too! then i have class from 4:30 to 6:30 and then might go out to dinner with some friends..i have not eaten out at all at restaurants so that should be nice!
well thats it for now..ciao until next time!

part 2! oh myyyy!

ok so nothing exciting that i can remember happened on thursday..so don't worry about that day..fast forward to friday...we had our first field trip! now usually when i think of field trips i think of the st. chris days when moms would carpool us to some spot but this was different..we had to be at the school at nine o'clock and there were two huge buses waiting to take us to tuscany! we left around 9:15 and drove past the plaza michelangelo (tops places in the world) and then drove out to the tuscany area (no big deal..just my backyard! haha) ok and if you have ever seen Under the Tuscan Sun..its just a beautiful but maybe times that by 10..GOORGEOUS! the vineyards are all full of grapes right now and its just prime time here! so our first stop was volterra..its an etruscan city from suuch a long time ago and is beautiful..we did a walking tour and had one of our teachers show us around..it was cool to see the history of this city..we had lunch at a cafe in one of the centers and we wanted to order a glass of white wine cuz the area is known for their white wine and we each got mini bottles! they were so cute and we also shared a pizza with proscutto..my fav obviously! haha so then we got back on the bus and we drove for about an hour to san giamiano which is another famous etruscan city...but this city is also known for their worlds best gellato! sooo of course the first thing i did when i got there was get the gellato..i got lemoncello and chocolate! sooo good! like i was in gellato heaven for about an hour after that..AMAZING! ok so then we walked around the town, it was super cute..the stores had a lot of painted tuscany style pottery and i picked up an oil and vinegar bowl with a cute little stopper..so we walked around some more, there was a beautiful wedding going on in the church downtown which of course i had to take pictures of! we then got back on the bus and went to the casa di machiavelli..the author of the prince (political book)..we got there and checked out the house and wine cellar..got attacked by mosquitos of course and then went across the street to a restaurant for a full course meal! we first got pieces of bread with olives, cheeses, tomatoes and one was liver! i definitely passed on that one..then they passed out this soup that was to DIE FOOOR! it was a vegetable and bread soup that was amazing..it was thick and so they said put some olive oil on it and it was soo good! then we got meats which were chicken, sausage and ribs..they were all so tender and seriously magical..it was amazing! sidenote: i ate a tooon of food but it was all over the period of a three hour dinner! we then got back on the bus and didn't get home till about 11 o'clock..we were all exhausted!
the next morning we had to wake up at 6:20 cuz we had a hiking/wine tasting day in chianti with this student tourist group (not through the school)..we got to the train station on time and then left on a bus for chianti..we stopped in a small town called Pisano and then started our hike..it was about a two hour hike all through vineyards and towns and was just amazing! it reminded me a lot of sonoma/napa area just minus the huuuge villas! apparently sting just bought a villa in the area and they only go for 4 million to 12 million euros! so we walked what seemed like forever up hill and it was pretty hot too and then stopped at a church on the way back! (grandma i know you would be proud!) it was pretty small and cute! i lit a candle and said a little prayer for all my friends and family back at home..we then walked to a house to have lunch at..we were first served salami and proscutto, then some bread and garlic olive oil (chianti is also known for their oil i guess) and then pesto pasta, then red sauce pasta..AMAZING! it was funny because we were with a huge group of other college students and they barely ate anything like we kept asking them to pass down the food cuz it was soo good! haha we then had biscotti and vin santo (yes like the restaurant in downtown willow glen) which is a sweet dessert wine..not my fav but i gave it a try...this lunch was about three hours too! the meals here are soo long its crazy...but i looove it! we then got back around six pm..and i am soo tired! but i knew that i had to update my blog! and upload pictures!
so tomorrow i am going back to chianti for the official chianti festival! i know more wine tasting but it is such the culture here and why not just embrace it? the italians drink molto (a lot) of vino but over a looong period of time i am learning from those three hour lunches and dinners! haha i am having such an amazing time here and i feel like i have been placed here for a reason which is to find out what i want to do with my life..i am not rushing the process but i know that this is what i am meant to be doing right now..everything feels so right and i am not taking any minute for granted!
thanks for reading...i promise to update more often..also check out my facebook for pictures! grandma..just ask mom and dad to show you! haha molto almore a tutti! (much love to all)

top of the duomo, field trips to tuscany and chianti...oh my! part 1

sorry its been a couple of days since i last posted on my blog soo i am going to try and hopefully remember everything! soo on wednesday i had class till 12 and since it was the celebration of the birth of mary (sept. 8) the duomo opens up on the terrace up top for free!..its only open this one day this whooole year..so it was pouring rain and we stood in line for about 15 minutes and walked up toons of steps and finally made it to the top..once we got there it was breathtaking..it was almost like an adrenaline rush being up so high and seeing the beauty all around me..i was also able to go into the duomo for a few minutes (usually costs about 8 euros) and it was amazing too! we stayed up on the terrace for about thirty minutes just looking and being in awe of this amazing city! we also called one of our roommates who were home and had them go up on the terrace and we could see them! so that was pretty cool..then we had to walk all the way down the stairs but luckily the rain had stopped so it wasn't slippery anymore...then i decided that i wanted to get my haircut..i have always wanted to get it cut since i got here and i figured it was about time! i had talked to a friend who studied abroad here a few years ago and told me of a place to go by the ponte vecio (the bridge with the stores on top)..so i just started walking over there..had no clue where to go and asked a few people and one lady told me go right down the street and ask for marco..he is AAMAZING! she also said tell him that i sent you and he will give you a discount..so i went down the street and to the right and walked inside this huuge salon..with all locals and only a few that spoke english..pretty intimidating..so i talked to the lady at the front desk, asked for marco and she said ten minutes..so ten minutes later i was brought to the back of the saloon, got my hair washed by one girl and then was sat down in a chair in the front...a tall, muscular man in tight white jeans, and a black shirt with a leather jacket came from behind and said mi chiamo marco, parli italiano? (my name is marco, do you speak italian?) i said no and a girl came to translate for me..i kind of told him what i wanted and then she told him and then he basically said this is best for you and just started cutting..he was just soo serious while he was cutting it was pretty entertaining..i am just used to the supercuts lady who pretty much guesses on my cut so this was a change for me! haha so then he cut my hair and basically just walked away..then another person came to style my hair..and she was putting gels in it, blow drying it and marco would come back every once and a while and like check and make sure that it was being done the way he wanted..it was pretty fun! so i got the hair did and absooolutely looove it! its such a good cut and layered amazingly i love it! i honestly can't wait for my hair to grow longer so i can go back to marco! haha i wish i could post pictures on this but it doesn't let me!

Ikea, Plaza de Michaelangelo e molto mango!

So last sunday was the big trip to Ikea..in the morning we first went to the local market right down the street..it was so much fun and the food is amazing! It was fun to try and speak italian with the little that i know but i worked with it and slowly my trying italian once again turned into spanish with an italian accent and some english..i bought peaches, bread and cheese..everything one needs for an amazing meal..we then had lunch and headed over to the bus station because there is a free bus that takes your right to ikea! after trying to figure out which bus we need to take we jumped on it and went for a crazy ride..molto patzo (very crazy) drivers here! see..my italian is getting a little better! so we get to ikea and its so oooverwhelming..so many people speaking so many different languages and trying to find out where everything is! we went in with a list of what we "wanted" and "needed" which was very helpful in making sure we stuck with what to buy..there were so many things that we "wanted" once we got there but we really had to stick with what we just needed..cuz we were going to have to take the train back and then walk for about 10 min to our place..so I bought the necessities and then had to wait for the bus for about 45 minutes..so we managed to carry everything (with some help for guys) back to our place..we were so exhausted but we wanted to set up our new tables, i made my bed with my new comforter and then I had to take a nap. that night we were all so tired we decided to stay in and enjoy our new additions to our place..great night
the next day we got up pretty early after a goods night rest and bought some fresh bread, oil and vinegar and hiked up to the plaza de michaelangelo..most aaamazing spot ever! its this spot that literally looks over all of florence..you can see everything from this spot..i even found my house! it was so hot up there and it was quite a walk so we were all pretty sweaty once we got up there but it was so worth it! we then walked over to the famous florence gardens..it was gorgeous in there! it was a little pricey to get in but we figured we have to do it eventually! so there were about ten of us who went in and we were also able to go inside and see the outfits that the family would wear back in the day...so amazing!
by the time we got back home it was around 5 pm and we were again so exhausted and a bunch of us went upstairs to our neighbors balcony which has an amazing view of the duomo and just hung out there..the beauty here is unrealistic..i hope i never take it for granted..later that night we went and had dinner in the middle of the plaza de signoria which has the fake david statue (if that helps to remember) and just hung out and we were eating and thought that there was this huge concert going on right next to us..we heard this flutist and tons of applause and we decided to go check it ou and found out that it is just a guy playing on the street! he was amazing!! he played beauty and the beast, andre bocelli and other old italian songs! soo amazing..then right after that a guitarist play..but he play american songs! what the heck? so i wasn't as impressed by this guy..the flutist still has my heart! its so crazy that this is going on right down the street from me!
the next morning i had class at nine am..its still pretty difficult but i am taking learning this language as a challenge..i have never really been challenged in my academics after high school so i am taking this on as a major challenge that i want to conquer! so then after class my friends and i picked up some pizza for 2 euro, sat in the plaza again (fav place ever!), and then went to h&m..this one is dangerous here! three stories!! then i just came back to my place..did some homework and then my friends and i went back to the flute guy and guitarist..then my friend liz and i went to plaza republica and there was more live music! we found an italian alanis morrisette! she was amazing! i got home around 11 last night and had so much fun just listening to music right down the street!
today i don't have class till one so i am working on my italian, maybe some grocery shopping and then we will see where the day leads me!
thanks for reading!!