A Month at “Home”

A lot can happen in a month. It’s not like you already didn’t know that, if you’ve been following this blog at all, that’s one of the most apparent things. But a month, in the same place, not leaving, not traveling, but staying in the city that I temporarily call home, has actually changed my life more then when I was traveling.

Florence is a wonderful city, it’s filled with so much history and beauty that it’s hard to ever get bored. That being said, I have yet to go see everything I would like. It’s a good thing that I have two weeks left because last minute sightseeing along with essays and finals is just the stress I like to put on myself.

Just your average day... — Just your average day…

My days have been spent studying (I swear I’ve actually done this), Netflixing (some things never change), shopping (Christmas), eating (I’m in Italy…what else am I going to do), and hanging out with friends (yes, I have those).

it's that time of year — it’s that time of year

I went into a jewelry making stored was able to see a local man make high end jewelry for designers like Dior and Neiman Marcus. Naturally, I bought some. I met a local handbag designer and got to watch her hand make a super nice iPad carrying case.

Realistic photo of what m heart looks like

I’ve been eating fantastically!

Like really,

Super-duper,

amazing food.

Everything is in such large quantities and it’s such high quality. It’s just really hard not to eat a lot over here. I am surprised that my clothing still fits me.

I’ve also met a bunch of really awesome people here. (S/O to Marco who asked when he was going to be mentioned on my blog). They have made my experience unique and filled with fun. I’ve gotten to go places and do things that I never would have imagined I would do while being here. My experience really wouldn’t have bene the same without having these goons to go out with every weekend.

I also am grateful for the friendships I’ve made with my other Syracuse students. Some of them put on an extravagant Thanksgiving dinner and It’s really shown me how important it is to have good friends, especially while abroad. I’ve gotten to make incredible memories and experience all the sights of Florence with some of the best people in the world.

My November abroad experience was the best I’ve had so far. I have loved everywhere I’ve travelled and I thought November just wouldn’t live up to my first half of the semester that I spent seeing many cities. It exceeded my expectations and I have come to learn that Florence is my home away from home.

Fall Break Part 2: Edinburgh

The amount of time you had to wait for this post is the amount of time it felt like I was on a train from London to Edinburgh. The train ride was scenic and beautiful and full of rolling hills with grazing sheep. (Mainly, I saw a lot of sheep on my train ride). The ride was something like 5-6 hours, I forget actually. I left from Kings Cross in London, and for you Harry Potter fans, that is where platform 9 3/4 is And I got into Edinburgh late in the afternoon, the city where J.K Rowling wrote the famous Harry Potter.

Before I continue to tell you about Edinburgh I would like to take this time to apologize for my last post. I was informed that my last post was lacking in proper grammar and spelling. Therefore, this post from here on out, will be impeccably written. Please excuse the atrocity that was my grammar in the last post.

Moving on, Edinburgh was beautiful! One of my friends from home studies at a university in Edinburgh and was kind enough to let me stay with her for a few days. The first day she met me at the train station and gave me a small tour of the city. The streets and buildings in the city center transport you to a different world. They’re old and grandiose and decorated with such fine detail, it is absolutely mind-blowing.

We went up to Edinburgh Castle and I rightfully claimed my throne. We walked part of the Royal Mile, which is exactly what it sounds like. A mile long strip lined with shops and old buildings that starts at the Parliament and ends at the Castle. For most of the time it had already gotten dark because by 4pm the sun doesn’t exist in Scotland.

The next morning was the start of a long day. My friend took me on an early morning hike up to Arthur’s seat, a large cliff like hill that over looks the entire city. It was an incredible panoramic view. On one side you have the sea and on the other you have the city center and you can see green for miles. Proving once again that Scotland is a beautiful place.

The view from Arthur's Seat — The view from Arthur’s Seat

After the hike, I walked around the city for 7 hours. I went through various different parks, made my way in and out of shops, explored the little side roads of the city, saw the elementary school that Hogwarts was modeled after, saw the university, and even napped in the national museum (because the entrance was free, it was large and easy to hide in, it was warm, and I was tired).

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time in Edinburgh, I only had those two days. I stuffed almost everything that could be done in the city into such a short amount of time. But, I loved the city! It was one of the coolest little cities I’ve visited. For such a small city, it has so many different elements.

Stop two of my break was successful, as is post two of my break. I reely feal liek my spelling, and grammer ws very good; 4 this post. i think my dad wuld probably agree wit me! I alredy have my dublin post almost, finshed. So the wait wont be long!

Thank you to everyone who reached out to me during the incidents in Paris. I was not in Paris this weekend, but thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. I would like. The recent tragedy in Paris has given all of us an opportunity to reflect on how fragile life is. What happened is terrible and I am thankful that my friends and family are safe. I am thankful for the incredible experience my parents have given me to study abroad. I am keeping Paris and anyone affected by this tragedy in my prayers.

Greek Holiday feat. Melissa and Denise

Patience is key and so is Procrastination in writing this blog post. I’m gonna throw it back to mid-October and catch you all up to speed on not only my trip to Greece, but my mom and grandma’s visit to Italy. I’m currently sitting in the Dublin airport with a 7 hour layover to get back to Milan, so I should have plenty of time to get this post done.

I’d really like to thank my Mom and Grandma for coming to visit me. Unfortunately, the came at a very stressful time so I wasn’t able to hang out with them as much as I would have liked, but seeing them was really nice. I know it took a lot for them to come out and see me and I really appreciate it. It was a nice halfway visit right as I started to get a little homesick.

While they were here, they got a nice 11 mile walk in around the city of Florence, my host family had a huge dinner for them, they saw the David and the Duomo, and they went shopping. Our last dinner we went to a restaurant to get Bistecca Fiorentina. It was one of the nicest restaurants I’ve ever been in (and I know I will never live it down). They gave us some Prosecco ‘on the house’ along with some limoncello and antipasto platter. Needless to say, I had absolutely no say, whatsoever, in choosing the restaurant. I would never choose a restaurant that was so fancy. (Showing up in jeans with my backpack on added a classy touch to the whole experience).

this was one of the best meals of my life

They also went to Greece! (Hence the name of the post). My mom had a friend right outside of Athens, so she took me to visit them. We stayed at a very nice hotel on the beach, which was a nice change up from the typical hostel. I personally didn’t go swimming, but you easily could have. It was a nice change for the month of October.

When we arrived we ate delicious seafood and explored the beach and small town we were in. The sea was brilliant and so was the food. I’m not quite sure what my mother did, but I napped for about 3 hours after eating because I was running on 3 hours of sleep from the night before and we had been traveling for a nice chunk of the day.

Saturday, we ventured up to Cape Sounion to meet my father at the Temple of Poseidon. The views of the sea were breathtaking, the entire landscape was amazing. Seeing the temple was really cool and I think my dad agreed. Honestly, he didn’t say much the whole trip, he just liked to pose for pictures.

We then went into the city of Athens, which different then any city I had been to. I wasn’t expecting it, but the city center was crazy busy. We went up to the Acropolis, and it was stunning.

It is amazing that after all that time, there were still structures in good shape. It was a fantastic view and the history behind it was outstanding. Being up at the Acropolis was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.

For lunch, we went to this awesome Greek restaurant. Right?! Greek food?! in Greece?! It’s like a foreign concept. The food was really good, a nice change up from Italian food. We then went shopping in the city center. All the stores were selling Greek products, like olive oil, and olive soaps, and olive lotions, and olives. Later we had a huge dinner at a local restaurant with amazing tzatziki sauce and live music.

Overall, I’m really happy that I went to Greece, it was jam-packed with things to do and see, but It was also a nice beach holiday. I was even more excited to get to spend the time with my mom and grandma. I know I’m really behind on my posts, but I blame them. Because they were here, I spent time with them and not writing blog posts. Now that they’re back home, I’ll have plenty of free time to write about my Fall break.

Barcelona: The city of 1000 Selfies

Hola! Mis Amigos! I am oh so sorry for the slight break in postings. It has come to my attention that many people have been waiting for a post, so I’m going to try and crank one out. The past few weeks I’ve had almost no free time, but I promise in November I will come back with more and more posts. For now I will leave you with my posting on Barcelona:

It's not really a trip to Barcelona without the Gaudi bench pic — It’s not really a trip to Barcelona without the Gaudi bench pic

Two weekends ago I went to Barcelona and I absolutely loved it. It is, by far, my absolute favorite city I’ve been to. Not to worry some of my family that might be reading this, but I was 100% alone on this trip. I went there alone, knowing nobody, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I literally took 100 selfies on this trip because I had nobody to take pictures of me

Traveling alone was an experience in itself and it’s something I would love to do again. I met so many students from so many different countries. I was actually the only American, I met people from all over the globe and surprisingly enough, no American students. I was free to do what I wanted, stay places as long as I wanted, see things at my own schedule, eat what I wanted, and experience the culture the way I wanted to. Traveling alone is one of the best decisions I ever made.

The city of Barcelona is stunning. I’ll say it again, but it is my favorite place I’ve travelled thus far (if my words don’t get the point across I’m sure the insane amounts of pictures do). The city is like a nice mix of NYC with a little bit of Miami and Paris thrown in there. Obviously it’s its own unique city, but to describe in words….

There was so much for me to do, I couldn’t possibly find time to do everything. That being said, in the 2 1/2 days I had, I was determined and I saw everything except the soccer stadium. (Which is a real bummer, but it does give me an excuse to go back now).

I flew in on Thursday and had a good portion of the night left. Apparently the Spanish are a completely different species because I’m pretty positive that they don’t sleep. From 2pm-5pm all stores are closed for their ‘siesta’ and they eat dinner around 10pm. If you arrive to the party (aka club) before 2am, you’re like that one nerd in high school who has never heard of being fashionably late, ringing the bell to a party with a vegetable platter, to share, as their party snack. And god forbid you try to go home before 5am, you might as well just stay home.

After a long night Thursday, my brilliant self decided to make reservations at Sagrada Familia for 10am. I’m sure you could imagine how awake and ready I was when my alarm went off at 9am! But in all honesty, the Sagrada Familia was beautiful!

The architect, Gaudi, who designed the church designed most of the city buildings as well. It is mind-blowing to see. The church has been under construction for maybe 100 years and it still has a ways to go.

That day I also went to the famous Park Guell. I walked around the entirety of the park and it was amazing. It’s on top of a hill and it overlooks the whole city, the view is priceless. The nice thing about Barcelona is that not only is there a beach and a city, but it’s lined with mountains as well.

And I thought I was ridiculous with the selfies

After Park Guell I walked back to my hostel. Being a college student, on a college budget, paying for transportation when I have feet is like the enemy. In total, for sightseeing (and only sightseeing, not going to clubs or bars), my milage was 9.2 miles. I don’t even want to know how much the real total was because my feet hurt just writing 9.2 miles.

I promise I did more then just take selfies

The next day I decided to relax on the whole structured sightseeing norm. I slept in until noon and still managed to only get 6 hours of sleep. I then walked the southern part of the city, and by that I mean the beach. I started on Passeig Gracia (I think that’s right). Basically, the entire street was designed by Gaudi and it is gorgeous! It’s like 5th avenue, every designer and big name has a store there.

I then walked to the beach and Barceloneta. Barceloneta is just the boardwalk neighborhood area, and it was amazing. There was some sort of lifeguarding/ surfing competition happening on the beach, so I laid out in my jeans and soaked up the sun and the sights.

I then went and walked around the gothic district. Its a bunch of little roads that make no sense and it’s filled with cute local shops and I loved it. It was my favorite place in the city. I walked around at sunset and took everything in. I ended that day with only a sad 7.7miles of sightseeing.

Just so you can get an Idea of how pretty the gothic district was.... — Just so you can get an Idea of how pretty the gothic district was….

That night I decided to sleep after my 10pm dinner because I had to catch a bus back to the airport at the reasonable hour of 3am. Overall, my Barcelona experience was amazing. It was definitely the break I needed from the hectic life of Florence to catch up on my sleep. My advice for anyone planning on going to Barcelona: hopefully you can buy a syringe of caffeine or you’re really good at sleeping in airports at 4am or else you should allow yourself more then 2 days to see everything. That or make use of their wonderful subway system!

In all seriousness, I really loved Barcelona. I want to thank everyone who made my trip to Barcelona possible. It was one of the best experience of my life and I wish I could have stayed longer. I’m off to London, but I’ll catch you up on Greece and the UK in my spare time 😉

Actually Studying Abroad

Last week, someone commented that it didn’t look like I was actually studying. I would like to use this time to clear up any confusion. I am actually studying while over here. The reason I came to Italy was to study the Mediterranean Diet, so far, it’s going successfully. But, for further confirmation that I truly am studying, I would like to dedicate this weeks post to my academics.

This week I decided to stay in Florence, because we all need some down time every once in awhile. This down time was actually very productive, for each one of my classes. I think you’ll see why as I discuss the work I’m doing for each class.

Marketing- Thursday was a rainy day, unfortunately. In Marketing, though, I have to do market research on the Italian consumer. Now, what better way to learn about the Italian consumer then to become the consumer. So, on a rainy Thursday, I brought myself to a smaller local market and went shopping. I needed some sweaters and the market was a really cheap flea market! You could buy everything from fresh food for dinner, to underwear, to heavy coats. It was quite an experience. I really enjoyed learning about the consumer through this market.

Mediterranean Diet- My Nutrition class is arguably the most exciting class I’ve ever taken, and the most relevant. I came over to study the Mediterranean diet, therefore my main class should be about the Mediterranean diet.

Difficult classwork, you must really focus to ace the assignment

For class on Friday, My professor took us to Chianti. Chianti is known for olive oil and wine, but mainly wine. For class we saw an olive grove and vineyard, then learned how to taste wine and did an actual wine tasting, (with high quality, not cheap wine). We then went to a fancy restaurant and ate traditional Tuscan foods. One of the dishes was a red onion flan with truffles and truffle sauce. We had steak, cheese (yes, I ate the cheese), fresh vegetables, pastries, and wine. This was an actual class trip, so I don’t think I need to elaborate on the educational value. As a nutrition student, being able to eat the foods that I learn about is an invaluable experience.

Sometimes, the best way to learn is a hands-on approach

Political Science- As I write this blog post, I am also studying for a Political Science quiz that I have. Saturday, I sat down and rewrote my notes for my PSC class. I realized, while rewriting about the public sphere, I would learn more by actually immersing myself in the public sphere. The public sphere, for those who don’t know, is where people talk openly about politics (for lack of a better explanation). So, what better way to study this then hanging out with some friends in the central market and talking about life over pizza?!

Not only am I studying PSC, but I'm studying the Mediterranean diet — Not only am I studying PSC, but I’m studying the Mediterranean diet

Italian- Now, one could argue that I’m studying Italian at most points of the day, but reading labels and signs and ordering sandwiches gets a bit boring after awhile. Sunday, I took my studying to a new level by learning fight songs and cheers for the Fiorentina Soccer team, at a ‘calcio’ game. Fiorentina is ranked number one in Italian League A, so the stadium was packed, and the crowd was going crazy! There wasn’t a moment where people weren’t making insane amounts of noise. The energy in the stadium was unreal, a great way to end the weekend.

Overall, it was a productive weekend home. This upcoming week I get to brush up on my Spanish, as I will be in Barcelona (even though I’m pretty sure they speak Catalonian or some other derivative of Spanish). Hopefully the air is ready up and it’s evident that I really am studying while abroad.

Cibo e Gelato

The beginning of my week has been, well, all about food! Naturally, what’s a girl to do when she’s in Italy, a country that’s synonymous with great food, other than eat. I’m making it a point to try anything offered to me (within a reasonable sense), and whenever I go out, to try something different, even if I have no idea what the menu says.

Monday was my first day of classes! Italian class is so far so good. It’s moving very slowly, but I’m picking up the language quickly. I can ask for directions, where to buy certain important items (like gelato), and some small talk (like where do you study and what do you study). I can understand Mara a little bit when she talks to me at the table. And what I don’t understand, I can infer from the context of the situation.

My philosophy class is very different. For a science-minded person, it’s a different way of thinking. However, I am getting a different view of the world, so you can’t really go wrong.

My marketing class is fun! My professor is an actual working businessman, so he gives a unique perspective. The class is 3 hours long, but it’s hands on and very creative and open ended. My favorite class though, is nutrition and I’ll get into that a little later.

Monday night I didn’t feel like going out to a club, so I went to a festival instead. It was called Festa Della Rificolona. Basically, it’s dedicated to Our Lady the Virgin” and people walk around the city with paper lanterns and they end in a piazza and have a big party with candy and funnel cake and activities and dancing!

(I’m sure you can google the history if it’s a big thing for you to know exact details. People used to walk around the country side with paper lanterns to light the way to the nativity of “Our Lady the Virgin”.)

It was huge for little kids to spit like little pea like balls at everyone in the crowds, think of spitballs, but not with spit. I jumped right into the festivities and started doing group dances and line dances. I danced with elderly Italian couples and waltz (I actually learned!!) with some locals. I even ended up getting some Italian candy, which was a lollipop and some wafer chops that tasted like licorice. Overall, it was the most fun I’ve had so far!

I’ve been getting deli sandwiches for lunch at a grocery store around the corner. They are amazing, fresh pesto sauce and deli meats all for under 3 euro. I also get a nice deal because there is a young male butcher that flirts with all the American girls and gives them a little extra sauce or slice of turkey.

There's a reason Badiani won awards for their gelato. I could eat it for every meal — There’s a reason Badiani won awards for their gelato. I could eat it for every meal

I also tried world famous gelato. Like it actually won awards and has patented flavors. It’s called Badiani and with the first scoop I was in heaven. It was this special vanilla cream flavor with their own homemade nutella type fudge. If you’re ever in florence it’s worth the walk.

Florence's largest indoor market! — Florence’s largest indoor market!

Back to my nutrition class. Half of the classes we will basically be tasting different foods and the other half we learn about the history of food. Today we went to Florence’s biggest indoor market and saw a butcher cut up some horse meat. Then we blind tasted a ‘food cart delicacy’, as my teacher called it. I really liked it and I was able to finish the leftovers. Turns out it was cow’s stomach, not tripe but lampredotto. It is common in Florence and I thought it was delicious!

Lampredotto is one of the coolest things I've eaten over here! — Lampredotto is one of the coolest things I’ve eaten over here!

In shorter news, I met two German students, they were really funny and it was interesting to see how they reacted to the whole culture. I also caved and went shopping (it was only a matter of time)! I got a cute purse, a scarf, sunglasses and make-up!

Sorry that this was so lengthy, but there is just so much to talk about! I’ll have to start posting more frequently! Ciao!

Meaghan in Florence

…and many other places

Tag: firenze