Around Florence

Here are some pictures from around town of what I have been doing for the past few days!

Uffizi Museum

We were not supposed to take pictures so there are only a few.  Plus it was very hot and very crowded so we didn't last long.  We have a free pass to all the museums so we can go back!

Ceiling:

On the rooftop porch of the museum:

My roommates:  Nikki, Me, Vanessa

View of the Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi

Standing on the Ponte Vecchio:

Gold Stores on the Ponte Vecchio:

Delicious wine bar:

Dinner at a cute cafe around the corner from our apartment:

The italians love it when you attempt to speak Italian to them... and obviously I am talkative (maybe a little flirtatious) so we got free limonchello from our waiter.  :)

State Court House in Florence:

This morning we attended a sexual abuse trial, it was very interesting to see the differences but obviously it was in italian so it was hard to understand.

Ciao!

ML

Life in Italy!

We moved in to our apartment on Monday!  It was much better than I expected!  We weren’t supposed to have AC but we do!  We have tons of storage, a nice kitchen, and a large bathroom by Italy standards.  My favorite part: we have a great balcony with a nice view and a courtyard downstairs, which I didn’t get a picture of! L  The worst part:  we are on the 5^th floor with no elevator, so I am getting my cardio every day but carrying my luggage was horrible!!

This is the bus that we take to school every morning, it is about a 30 minute ride to the university.  I don't have much to compare the bus to but they seem pretty nice, however there is no AC.

Here are pics of the apartment:

Kitchen:

Coolest thing ever, a drying rack in the cabinet above the sink!  I love this! 

Dinning room:

Hall

Bedroom/Living Room

I share it with Nikki.

Nikki getting ready!

Bathroom

The lunch I packed for school today:

Our classroom:

Ciao! 

ML

Football

Ciao!

Saturday night I went to a delicious dinner with my classmates! Everyone seems super friendly and very easy to get along with.  I had a pizza de mare (seafood) and some delicious wine. No picsL

Sunday morning we took a wonderful tour or the city and here are some pictures:

Yesterday was San Giovanni Feast Day, a huge holiday in Florence and so there were tons of parades.  This was the procession from The Baptistry to the cathedral, everyone important in Florence was in the procession, the Bishop of the state, the mayor, etc.  Also this was only one of two days out of the year that they open the famous gold doors of the Baptistry.

Inside the Baptistry

Gold Doors (Dad - I am guessing these are the doors yall saw a copy of in San Francisco)

Sunday afternoon we had class, which was very interesting but really? who wants to be in class in Italy?  My favorite class is the International Family Law class. We are going to learn all about international adoption! J

My roommates are super fun and nice and so far we are getting alone great.  Speaking of roommates we aren’t in our apartment yet!  Pray for us, we have a meeting at 6pm tonight and hopefully we will be able to move in!!

Last night was the most fun I’ve had so far in Italy.  Italy played England in the Europe Soccer semi-finals and we won!!  We went to a bar to watch it and the energy was amazing.  It went in to double over time and then a sudden death kick off thing.  It was crazy and everyone in the bar went nuts when we won, the whole city erupted in screaming, honking, and cheering!  And Havana Club and I were finally reunited:

So far I am loving every minute of being here, I love walking around the city, the old buildings are so different and beautiful than what I am use to and the people are very friendly.  I am getting used to the food but it is very different, obviously the pizza is great but every time I can get some fruit and vegetables I jump at the chance, which isn’t as often as you think!  Once we move in I will be able to go to the market and buy food to cook so hopefully I can get stuff to make a caprese salad. I am dying for salad!

Ciao for now!

ML