Ventures to the top!

Had the greatest experience YET since being in Italy, and that was going up to the Piazzale Michelangelo with Emma, Caroline, and Ashley. It's about a half mile walk/hike up roads and sidewalks that brings you to a large cement square with a replica statue of David. It was built in the 14th century to be an entrance gate from the mountains into the city (I read up on some history!)

So we missed out on the sunset but its only a 15 minute walk from our apartment. The next time we go up there we want to make it a picnic with some vino and watch the sunset! It is a breathtaking view and there's cafes up at the top as well that you can sit at for hours. All of the churches and buildings are lit up, and on the bottom of the photo that's the Arno River. Ponte Vecchio is also on the left along the river. I can even see myself going up here (When its MUCH warmer) and doing my homework or reading. CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO SEE IT BIGGER! sooo so cool.

So, before my most favorite part of the trip of walking up to Piazzale Michelangelo, we stopped at one of the bridges to cross the Arno with a view looking out to the mountains in the northwest. Its hard to believe we are SO close to the mountains, and its also only an hour bus ride to a beach an hour away on the other side of the mountains. On the north side of the river it's easy to tell it's more of a city with a lot more people. It's very similar on the south side, but the piazza is the main tourist site, and the rest is residential. It makes for a much quieter area that is also very green. Emma, Caroline and I want to run up this hill all the time once it stops snowing.

After our excursion on Sunday, it was time to settle down and get ready for my first day of school! My very first class was Italian, and my teacher was born in the US but grew up in Italy, so he was easy to understand. I also had intercultural communications with professor Mazzi, a very animated Italian teacher with an Italian-spanish accent because he also spent a lot of time in Brazil and knows spanish, italian, and english! In that class we have kids from around the world, so it won't be hard to find the intercultural communication with that! It's already been a crazy intercultural experience being in Italy so that will be fun. 

On Tuesday, the only class I have is travel writing. All of our classes (besides Italian, which meets Mon/Weds) are all 2.5 hours long! Hard to go from 50 mins. to over 2 hours but then we are done for the week and it gives enough time for field trips! My travel writing teacher is from Great Britain and wrote for the BBC for 12 years. She is a great lady and we get to read about fictional and non-fictional journeys dating back to 2000 BC. We also get to journal about our "journey" and travels around Italy. This is the class I have been looking forward to since I signed up for it. We even get to go see ancient ruins in Rome that connects to some person at some place traveling... I will learn more about that later in the semester. Basically this week is just going over syllabi and learning our classmates/teachers. 

Monday night after my 8:30 class finished, the school put on an appetizer/wine welcoming for all the students. I thought it was going to be in an oversized lecture hall or something boring, but HOLY COW it was in a castle! Well, a fancy piazza anyways. We had the entire main floor of the Palazzo Borghese and I have never seen something more elaborate in my life. There was a main banquet room with statues, chandeliers that were 8 feet tall, paintings on all the ceilings and furniture that made me afraid to touch, since I'd be afraid to break something. Below is Caroline and I in the main banquet hall (she's my roommate from Edina). I'm going to try to steal some of Caroline's pictures because I didn't have my camera. Also, here is a link to their website. I didn't catch up so much with the history on it but its amazing!!! Got to go into every room in that place full of students from the US having traditional Italian appetizers, deserts, and of course wine.

http://www.palazzoborghese.it/en/gallery.html

Tomorrow (which is my Friday since no classes are offered Fridays to allow for travel) I have my two marketing classes. International marketing and fashion marketing. I am sure we will be visiting one of the fashion museums around here, like Gucci and Chanel. That's another big thing I've noticed around here: there are more high-fashion stores along the streets of Florence than there are in the Edina Galleria and Mall of America combined. Maybe I will pick up a few fashion tips here or there! Since it's so high-fashion, that means I can't wear my sweatpants to school. Strictly jeans/sweaters/business casual wear or if teachers don't think you meet the dress code they can kick you out! I'd rather not let that happen, so that's another way Florence is pushing me out of my comfort zone. Yay for breaking boundaries!!

For the weekend, we have had so many travel ideas thrown up in the air, we might just go to the train station, pick a train that's leaving soon, and go. Thought about Chianti and Sienna to go on wine tours, or go to Pisa and Lucca to visit the leaning tower and discover smaller towns. Also north to Venice and ride a gondola, or even to Lake Como (George Clooney has a house there) and be in the mountains. I can't believe that its only a 2-4 hour train ride to get just about anywhere in Italy. So in love, and who knows where my adventures take me next! Well, right now its to bed. I'm tired, that's the only thing to complain about is Florence wares me out! So, good night world, next time you read I'll have my weekend adventure post up. Ciao! Much love, AF