Siena and San Gimignano daytrip

     Tuesday we took a class trip to the two towns of Siena and San Gimignano. Started the day off in Siena where we saw the famous church in the town where they have 2 relics of Saint Catherine on display. The first relic is of Saint Catherine's skull that they have in a small glass case covered with a special covering to prevent any decay. The second is of the thumb of Saint Catherine which is also incased in a similar fashion. We also got a chance to see the famous Piazza del Campo which is home to the Palio horse race on July 2nd. This is a horse race with 17 horses and jockeys each representing a neighborhood in Siena. We were told each neighborhood pays for a professional jockey to ride bareback in the race but the horse's and the neighborhood they represent are always the real winners in the races, not the jockey's.

This is the stadium where the race takes place. 

Then we were off to San Gimignano.

     San Gimignano is a medieval hilltop town in the Tuscan region. While we were here we got a chance to try something I will never forget. Once we made our way to the first piazza we saw the crowds of people standing in line waiting for a special type of gelato. Turns out San Gimignano is home to the World's Best Gelateria. The gelateria has won this prestigious award since 2006. Of course being the fat kid that I am I had to taste several different kinds. On my TWO trips to the counter I got a chance to try mint with real mint leaves mixed in, imported vanilla infused with saffron, imported vanilla with chile spice, chocolate with grand marnier, and coconut with real coconut shavings. After this feast we decided to wonder around the small town to walk off the gelato. I bought a couple T-shirts and then it was time to head back to the bus to get back to Florence. 

This is a couple pictures of the gelateria.

Leaving Paris tonight

     Today is our last day in Paris. I am kind of sad to leave this city because the 3 days we spent here were not nearly long enough in my opinion .While we were here I got a chance to see 4 or 5 museums so I can't leave the city too sad. Our stay in Florence is also coming to a close in a little over a week as well. I will upload pictures as soon as we get back into Italy tomorrow morning.

 Ciao for now.

First night/day in Paris

     This weekend our group decided to travel to Paris. I was not big on the idea in the beginning being that I haven't heard the best things about French food or people. My first experience of French food was actually pretty tasty. Our group found the first place right off of the main road we came upon and chose that one. Despite how expensive the food ended up being I was very impressed. After lunch/dinner last night we decided to go check out the Eiffel Tower. We decided to hang out on the lawn and get a couple bottle's of wine and wait for the light show when the sun went down. Although it was extremely cold and windy, which none of us were prepared for, we were glad that we decided to stay this morning.
    
     Today we spent most of the day at The Louvre. I was amazed on how big it actually is and also how modern the inside was. I had always seen pictures of the inside and some of the more famous art pieces that are displayed but nothing compares to seeing them in real life, hands down. From start to finish it probably took our group about 3 or 4 hours to walk the exhibits we wanted to see but a person could easily spend all day inside appreciating all of the art. We also went to a famous tower here in Paris with amazing views of the city. The views have been said to rival that of the Eiffel Tower but we only had to wait for about 15 minutes instead of several hours to reach the top.
    
     Once we finished with what we had mapped out in The Louvre a couple of us headed to the Champs de  Elysees. The Champs de Elysees is a famous street with tons of premium shops located in Paris. We only spent about an hour or two walking the street but we plan on going back tomorrow afternoon for several more hours.
    
     Tomorrow we have a couple more museums to check out then its off again on the night train back to Florence for school Monday morning.

     Ciao

Movie night and Paris for the weekend

     This week has started off pretty hectic. We got home from the Amalfi Coast pretty late Sunday night and we are leaving again tonight. Monday morning was a little rough because we had to be up and in Italian class by 9am. We were told by our Italian teacher that this coming Monday we will have a test on what we have learned. It's hard to believe that we are almost finished with our semester here in Italy. I wish we could turn back time and start all over again.
     Tonight we have a movie night planned for our mgmt. classes and after that it's off to the train station to catch a train to Paris for the weekend. Our train leaves Florence at around 10pm and is scheduled to get into Paris at around 9am or so. This will be my first adventure taking a night train so I'm not too sure what to expect. Off to the lavarapido to wash and dry my clothes because I need to get packing for our trip tonight.
Ciao

Finally Home

     Just got home from our Amalfi Coast weekend. I know I just blogged a couple hours ago about the vacation but I realized I was short one blog for the week.
     I was under the assumption that we were going to get into Florence much later than we actually arrived but I am glad that is not the case. Our bus driver was slightly insane and felt the need to swerve and drive in and out of traffic in a huge bus but I guess I have him to thank for the extra hour or so of sleep I will be getting. After this past weekend it will take a couple days for me to catch up on sleep and recover from the substantial amount of walking we did this weekend. We were told that the first steps we went down to get to Positano were over 700 steps if that gives you any indication as to what I mean when I say substantial.
    I will upload my pictures tomorrow for everyone to see. I have just enough time to wash and hang dry my clothes before we head out to Paris on Wednesday. Happy Father's Day everyone.

Amalfi Coast

     This weekend we traveled to the Almalfi coast with the Florence for Fun travel group. This company puts on weekend trips in Europe for a set price with most accommodations and meals included.  While we were there over the weekend we were able to see Pompei, Mt. Veseuvius, Sorrento, and the isle of Capri. 
     We started off with Capri which was beautiful. The city reminded me of Monaco in many ways. Capri was beautiful and had the same terrain that Monaco also had but Capri was also untouched in areas whereas Monaco was concrete and touristy in most areas. While in Capri we took a boat tour around the coast to see the areas not visible from the city. One stop was the Blue Grotto. This is a grotto built into the mountainside that you are allowed to take a row boat into. Once inside I was overwhelmed with the natural light source coming from the water which turned the water a bright blue color. Once I get back to Florence tomorrow I will upload pictures of our weekend and you can check out the grotto for yourself. It's defiantly one of the prettiest natural sights I have ever seen. After doing a little shopping and visiting the pebble beach we turned in for the night. 
     Saturday we spent the day in Positano and toured the city. This city was also very beautiful and filled with venders and little shops willing to sell you anything you could ever need. The Florence for Fun group offered to take the group out to their favorite bar Saturday night for a night out in Sorrento which is a small town near our hotel. The  English Inn was the bar/restaurant the tour guides took the willing group members to Saturday. The bigger bar and outdoor patio was located on the second floor and was covered with a trelace covered with ivy and lights. 
     Sunday we took a bus to Pompei. This was by far my favorite part of the trip. We were able to walk through the streets where a complete town was demolished and covered with 7 feet of volcanic debris along with all of its inhabitants in a matter of seconds. Walking around the town and into the homes of these people was chilling. I have seen several shows and pictures of Pompei but nothing can prepare a person for the tour we took. 
     I took hundreds of picture that I will upload once we get into Florence tomorrow morning. Along with most of the European cities I've seen the Internet here is non-existent and I will probably be pretty tired after the 7hour bus ride home. The pictures won't do the coast justice but it's a little insight as to what I was lucky enough to experience this weekend. 

     

Busy week

     This week has been jam packed with activities and fieldtrips. Wednesday, in particular was a pretty eventful day. We started the day off by waking up around 7:00am to get dressed for the day. Italian class at 9 was pretty usual as we learned about our numbers and a couple Italian verb conjugations. After Italian we all took a field trip to the Ufizzi Museum as a class to see some o Michaelangelos painting's. The paintings were pretty amazing I must say. After the museum our mgmt. teacher had a speaker from the embassy ready to speak to our class about trade and exporting practices in Italy which I thoroughly enjoyed. Being that I am a business major and have a concentration in international business, those are the type of class periods and public speakers that really interest me.
     
     Our management teacher, Ms Lanier, has recently discussed job analysis and description with our class and has introduced an interesting assignment for this blog post. She asked us to incorporate the qualities and criteria we look for in a girlfriend or spouse in our post so here it goes. I might seem to be a little selfish and chauvinistic in some of the qualities I want from my significant other but I think a person is a little entitled to be picky with the person they plan on marrying so forgive me. I want a girl that has the drive and ambition to be the best at whatever job they decide to pursue but also knows that money is not the most important thing in life. I want a wife that has this ambition but also has the desire to see her kids grow up over the years. I think education is very important also so I would also require this person to have a degree of some sort as well. If I had it my way my wife would have these qualities as well as wanting to be a hands on mom and send the kids off to school everyday like my mom did. The couple minutes my mom spent with my sister and I at our bus stop every morning might have seemed petty back then but this is one of the many reasons my mom and I are as close as we are today which is also what I feel is very important. I want the type of wife that has a very strong bond with family and her children and is almost a friend of her children but also knows where to draw the line when it's needed. From my past experiences I've noticed that being in a relationship with a person that shares the same values and morales you do and was brought up in a situation and environment such as yours normally makes for a better fit. Not to say that a couple wouldn't be great for each other otherwise I just feel it's easier to understand a person on a deeper level if you share some of the same values and expectations in life. 

Back to the weekly routine and Almalfi Coast for the weekend

I had a great time in Rome this weekend but I surprisingly missed my apartment in Florence. It's amazing how I can miss a place that I've only been living in for only 2 weeks now. We've got our first test tomorrow for my Mgmt. 320 class so I've got an important day ahead. I'm excited to get back into a regular routine again during the week before we head out again for the weekend. This coming weekend we've got a trip booked for the Almalfi Coast. We're going to see Mt. Vesuvieus, Pompei, and the Isle of Capri. Once I catch up on all my school work I will post my pictures from Rome this weekend and some from the end of last week also.

Weekend in Rome

     This weekend we traveled to Rome as a group. While we were here we visited the Vatican, Coliseum, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, and the ancient forums. I was amazed at how old and beautiful all of these sites are. It's hard to think that these historic sites are really hundreds of years old at the very least. Just as I've noticed in Florence, the businesses I visited in Rome are minimally staffed also. It is very different in the states because the customers thrive on quick service therefore businesses normally have several people working at the same time. This is not the case in the countries I have visited in Europe so far. I was curious as to why European businesses don't typically have more employees and I learned a couple different reasons why. The main reason I came across was because the hiring and firing policies are more strict in the U.S. Employer's in the U.S. are limited as to what they may ask of their potential employees. In Europe on the other hand a potential employee might be asked to provide pictures, marital status, and family size when taking the first step and applying for a job. This might not be politically correct in Europe but in the states an employer would face much bigger problems because laws would be broken. Although European's might be a little more nosey when looking for employees I also learned that the European people hold onto a job much longer typically than the average American  employee.

Wed June 8th

     Today started off with Italian class at 9am this morning. For our class period today our teacher took us to the fresh food market to learn some of the Italian names to common food items. Being that this was the first time I got to see the market I didn't know what to expect. Most people that know me know that I am a huge food person and love the artisanal qualities and care that the people take into account at these type of markets. After walking through the market we had a small break before our group trip to the Pitti Palace. Luckily we made it up the hill before the rain started or else the trip would have been somewhat soured. The palace was enormous. Our tour guide told us that the palace itself had been passed down several times to a couple different families through the years. The palace has been added on to several times also in the transitions and currently has roughly 1,000 rooms. Once the tour was over was when the rain really started to come down. Our walk back to our apartment wasn't the greatest needless to say. Well I am one of the lucky ones that doesn't have class today so hopefully I'll get a nap in before our Chianti wine tasting tonight at school. 

Ciao

Weekend in Monaco

     This weekend we took the train to Monaco. 

After going out on Thursday night the 5 of us traveling together hopped the train at 4:30 Friday morning and headed toward Monaco. The trains were somewhat confusing and delayed on the way to Monaco but nothing major compared to our journey home which I will talk about a little later. The country was amazing to say the least. I uploaded all of my pictures to my facebook and the pictures definitely don't do it justice. 

     We were definitely spoiled on this trip being that the 5 of us rented an apartment in the city of Beausoleil (sp?). After arriving and walking around a bit we decided to have dinner and turned in pretty early. The next day, Saturday, we decided to walk around the city/country during the early morning hours and stumbled upon a bar/restaurant built into the side of a mountain for a couple drinks and dinner. We stayed at the bar for quite a while and had an amazing dinner. So overall our weekend was a success.

Gelato Tour

This morning we woke up earlier than normal and everyone met on the steps of Santa Croce to start our day. Our teachers had set up a tour of a famous gelato shop here in Florence which was really awesome. We were schooled on how to properly make gelato and granita and the differences between an artisinal gelato shop and one that uses preservatives and cuts corners. After the owner explained the ingredients in each of the gelato variations he made a fresh banana gelato right in front of us to top off the morning. After mixing the ingredients and pouring them into the machine we waited 15 minutes then it was time for us to taste the finished product. The gelato we tasted was amazing. Im not one for banana's but the flavor was unbeleiveableably fresh. Although the gelato and the artisinal process is a bit more expensive and much more work because the gelato is made fresh everyday, I will never settle for anything but the good stuff from now on because the difference is night and day. 

Tonight our management classes are headed to watch a movie at a teachers apartment in place of a class period. After the movie and discussion our group is headed out for drinks for a couple hours and then we are packing up for our weekend trip to Monaco. Our train leaves Florence at 4:30am and we will arrive in Monaco tomorrow afternoon at around 2:00pm. 

After we get back from Monaco I will upload al the pictures I have on my camera for everyone at home to see.

Internet is down

Sorry I haven't posted anything yet we've been having issues with our internet since the day we arrived.

     Our first night in Italy was rather interesting. We decided to walk around to see the sights just as most people would want to do. There are so many interesting things to find in this city but using a map is not exactly the best way to find them. Coming from the US I am used to most streets and maps being geometrically correct, this is not the case in Florence. Because this city is extremely old the streets are rather confusing. There were many times we were walking down a street and it branched out and turned into several more streets. Not only are the streets themselves confusing but not all streets have street-signs, and if they do they are in Italian and all sound very similar.

     The food here is amazing. Literally every restaurant we have stumbled upon has been great, with the exception of the one restaurant serving "American" food which was disgusting. The wine is also great here. We found a great little shop right down the street that sells 4 bottles of wine for €10 (which is currently the equivalnt of roughly 14-15 US dollars). Speaking of the wine shop, we have also seen the American celebrities currently in Florence. The Jersey Shore cast has been here for a couple weeks now and they seem to be the talk of the town. We've somewhat stalked them and figured out where the Pizzeria that they work at is in town and we saw Ronnie outside while they were filming. Nick (a room mate of mine) and I went out late last night to grab something to eat before we went to sleep and the cast was filming less than 20 feet from our front door at a restaurant across the street.

    I plan to take a ton of pictures soon and update my blog more regularly now that the internet is somewhat functioning.