The Adventure Coming To A Close...

Came back from the Christmas Market trip through Bavaria today and realizing that I will leave Europe tomorrow morning at 10am to travel all day back to Seattle.

All I can say is one word: WOW

I can't believe all of the things that I have done in the past four months.  Experienced new things...I am very glad I did this trip.

On to the adventure of this weekend....

Thursday met at the bus at 5am! That is right 5 am! We were on the way driving to Bamberg where we spent all 3 nights.  On the way to Bamberg we stopped to our first of three cities.  We stopped to Rothenberg to the Christmas markets there.  Afterwards we got to our hotel in Bamberg.  One of the coolest things...I had my own room! :D

The next day, Friday, at 9am we loaded the bus up to head to Nurnberg.  This Christmas market is one of the most famous markets that we went to.  Aunt Anna and I wandered the market during the day and met up with Uncle Doug and friends later and wandered some more.  At night, this Christmas market is CRAZY! So many people! But very fun.  Because Anna and I wandered earlier, we decided that we were cold and found some therapy in Starbucks and waited for Doug and friends to come back before heading back to the bus.  

Saturday we a really fun day.  I decided to sleep in and meet Anna and Doug at 11am and we went into downtown Bamberg to obviously the Christmas markets! :D  We wandered the market and then met the bus at 2pm for a 3 hour ride around the mountains and villages around Bamberg.  We actually got to see some of the places where the Harry Potter movies were filmed! It looked very familar! :D 

Today (Sunday :D ) we wandered the markets a little bit more before we had to check out at noon.  After that, we headed back to the base where we were picked up.  And now I am packing and getting ready to head back to the states. WEIRD!  All I can say is that this is bittersweet.  I am sad to leave Europe...but very excited to see friends and family at home!

Love you and miss you all!  Can't wait to see you!

A weekend in Trier, Germany and Paris, France!

So lets just say that this past weekend was pretty much really awesome!

Thursday night, Aunt Anna, Uncle Doug and I head out to Trier, Germany and check into our hotel. Then most of friday we explored the city of Trier. There was 2 or 3 Christmas markets going on and we looked at those. The main reason sight we saw were the Roman baths in Trier. It was so cool to see what Romans use to live in and crawl below ground through the tunnels!

After our time was done in Trier we drove to PARIS! We got to Paris around 7pm and checked into our hotel. We got a really good hotel on the outskirts of the city. Our hotel was right across the street from a metro station! How perfect right? At around 8:30 we head into town to go see the Effiel Tower!! It is all lit up blue and has the circle of yellow stars like the EU flag because the president of France is the president of the EU right now. So I saw Effiel the first night! :D And I saw it SPARKLE!

The next day, we started at the Louve. We only hit one wing because it is SO BIG and so much to take in! We hit the wing that had the Monna Lisa. So I of course said hi to Monna! Then we had lunch at a place nearby and we all had the Croque Royal. SO GOOD! If you ever go to Paris get this! It is a ham and cheese panini with melted cheese on top and also and egg! :D

After the Louve, we went to the Museum d'Orsay. Saw some Impressionism paintings and I think those were my favorite! I really liked the layout of this museum more because it was smaller! :D Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to relax and then went it got really dark, we went back into town to go climb the Arch de Triumphe! This had the most amazing view of the city I have ever seen! I saw the Effiel Tower sparkle again!

Sunday morning, we got up early to go see Notre Dame! AWESOME! We were inside while mass was starting and we saw all the people of the church process into mass.  This was one of the most beautiful churches I have seen! And I have seen a lot of churches! :D  After Notre Dame, we checked out of the hotel and drove back to Germany!

So here I sit! Back in Germany, tired and happy!  This was quite possibly one of my favorite trips I have been on since I have been to Europe!

Hope that was enough for you! Love and miss you all!

First few days in Germany

So the adventure in Germany begins!

Got into the Dusseldorf airport around 7pm and of course the first thing I had was STARBUCKS! :D I hadn't had it since august when I was in London.  Aunt Anna, Uncle Doug and I sat and drank our amazing coffee and then we headed towards their house.  It was about an hour drive.  I stayed up for a bit, called some people from skype and then headed to bed. 

But who knew I would sleep until 1:30 in the afternoon the next day!  I must have been tired from all the stress of finals and moving.  Then Anna took me to the base where Doug works and we got some snacks and I got the first book in this Twilight series that everyone is raving about.  And guess what....I got to pay in American Dollars! :D I was pretty pumped about that.

Then that evening because it was thanksgiving, I went with Anna and Doug to the Boeing thanksgiving dinner. It got to meet some of the people that Doug works with.  It was a traditional thanksgiving dinner with turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, cranberries, and all the fixings! And I even got to eat pumpkin pie for desert! My FAVORITE!

That is just about all that has happened so far in Germany. BUT there will be much more to update on later! Love you and miss you all!

Finals and ending my time in Florencethis week...

So my time in Florence is coming to an end! Its still very bittersweet but I am excited to go to Germany this Wednesday!

Aunt Anna and Uncle Doug arrived in Florence this past Saturday! I have been trying to spend as much time with them as I can but I also have been studying for finals as well. I met them briefly on Saturday before I went to the Fiorentina soccer game. I told them a good place to eat near the Duomo and then I had to leave. But Sunday I went with them to the Uffizi Gallery and we had lunch at the rooftop cafe. It was a beautiful day cause it was cold, but it was sunny and the sun was shining on us making us warm! Tonight I am meeting them for dinner and I am not sure where we will go yet! Then on Wednesday we are flying back together to Germany.

Finals week has been pretty hectic so far, I took my Italian Cinema final today and I will have my Italian final tomorrow. Wednesday will be pretty crazy because I have my mysticism and magic final at 10:50 and then my flight is at 2:30 out of Florence! It will be crazy hectic but we will make it work!

My feeling are very mixed right now. I am sad to leave my friends here in Florence early but I am WAY excited to go to Germany and spend thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle. I feel like my time here in Florence has FLOWN by and now its coming to quickly to its end. I am realzing all the things I haven't done yet and I won't have time to. But I guess its all the more reason to come back right? :D

Well, thats all the update I can give for now. Off to go study more! Love you and miss you all!

Rome, Milan, Ferrari Gallery....so much to update on!

These past couple weeks have been pretty awesome! The 6-9 the program took us all to Rome. If you haven't seen my pictures on facebook or myspace I suggest you check them out cause they are pretty awesome! Rome was so beautiful and amazing and I had a great time there! I could have stayed longer!! We saw all of the tourist sites such as the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Vatican, Colosseum and so much more! I even went to an Ice Club! That's right and club completely made out of ice! It was insane! BUT the people at the club give you and thermal cape and gloves to wear so I wasn't completely frozen! :D

Then this past week went by WAY too fast! This last Wednesday Richmond held our final dinner. Everyone got dressed up and had a really fancy dinner. I am pretty sure that I was pretty sad the entire time cause it was one of the last times we would all be in the same room together. ALSO, my italian teacher from Lido showed up! I got to hang out with Alessandra! It made me so happy! And she promised that she would come to the states hopefully soon!

Friday I got the awesome chance to go to Milan to see Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper'. It was a pretty awesome sight to see...too bad we weren't allowed to take pictures of it or I would have snapped one! It was a 4 hour bus ride there and the same back so I was pretty tired by the end of the day. Milan is a crazy city too I might add. It was a lot bigger than I would have thought but it does have some AMAZING shopping! :D

Then yesterday (Saturday) I went to the Ferrari Gallery. That is right...I saw a bunch of really really awesome Ferrari cars! Those pictures are on my facebook and myspace as well! With every floor of cars I got more and more excited because 1) they were all pretty much red and 2) they were ferraris! :D So I have decided that I want a ferrari for christmas. Can we make this happen mom and dad? ;p

Well, the program here is slowing winding down because this next week is my last week of classes. Then finals and I leave for Germany on the 26th! It is both a happy and sad feeling because I have met some really awesome people here in Florence and I am going to miss them greatly. On the other hand I am excited to go someplace new and to eventually return home. It is a bittersweet feeling. I just have to make sure that I come back someday!

Anyways, hope that was enough update for you! Love you and miss you all!

Venezia

This past weekend I had the awesome chance to go to Venice! The program took all of us there and it was so beautiful! We left friday morning at 8:30am and got to Venice around 1pm, took a ferry to the mainland and then had museum tours all day.

Most of the weekend was full of tours BUT I did get some christmas shopping done! I was going to go on a gondola ride but they were expensive! It was about 100euros which is INSANE! The city itself is very expensive as well. Most restaurants had their dinners starting at 20euros. SO I ate at McDonalds! :D

As much as Venice was beautiful, it was still full of tourists! The city is on water and boat is their main mode of transportation. Which explains why the gondola rides were so pricey. I think the amount of time I got to spend there was the perfect amount. AND another thing, Venice has absolutely no night life! Not just going out, but movies or anything besides eating out. It was weird to me!

Now, I am back in Florence and realizing just how much LITTLE time I have left here! I have about 3 weeks of classes and then finals! Today I turned in one of my two research papers that is due. It felt good to turn it it, now I just need to finish my second one.

Next trip is ROME! I am WAY excited! It is not this weekend but next. This weekend is Halloween and I am excited! Italians don't really do much for Halloween but I have been told that they have been recently. It should be interesting!

Now, it is after midnight here....time to go to bed! Love you and miss you all!

Midterms OVER...now on to research papers!

As you can tell from my title, my midterms are over! I haven't found out how I did on them yet but the suspense is killing me! (its a figure of speech its not LITTERALLY killing me :D). But I think I did pretty well.

This past weekend I have spent most of it in the school's library cause it was actually open this weekend! They had extra hours so students could work on their research papers that are due here in the next couple of weeks! So here I am...updating my blog! I decided I needed a quick break from writing about Italian cinema.

I am very excited for the upcoming week because of 3 reasons; 1) I find out how I did on my midterms, 2) I have a cooking class on thursday! and 3) friday the program is taking us to Venice! I cannot wait! It will be nice to get out of Florence, I love it here but I really want to travel! Which that is why I am in the library this weekend because the Monday we get back from Venice, one of my research papers is due! Bad timing huh? So I am being a good student and not procratinating! :D I am very proud of myself!

I don't know if everyone has found out what my new addiction is. I heard people tell me about this TV show back home and I never thought I would be interested in it but I watched a couple episodes this past thursday and now I am HOOKED! Now that I have left you in suspense are you wondering what the show is.....Heroes! Yes, Heroes. I know I am behind on the times but I am in the middle of the first season and I think I am on episode 16 or something. Its so good! I recommend EVERYONE to watch it! BUT you have to start from the beginning!

Well....now that I have completely updated you, even to what TV shows I am watching I better get back to my paper!

Love you and miss you all!

wow...it's already october!

I can't believe that it is already October! Time is flying by!

So right now I am sitting in the library of the school attempting to study for my Mysticism and Magic midterm tomorrow morning. I am kind of nervous for it but I am studying hard core so hopefully I will do well! My two other finals are next week, SO studying for them will happen this weekend...I hope! :D

This past weekend there was an international market near Santa Croce and I went to it on Sunday. I called it a mini-Oktoberfest because I wasn't able to make it to Munich for the real one. So I went with some friend and ate some German sausage and got some candy. It was good! The afterward I went to the San Lorenzo market and got some Christmas shopping done! I am feeling very accomplish! OH! And I had to get an italian cell phone because using my american one became way to expensive. But the company I went through gave me a US Virtual Number. So what that means is I can give you a number in the 253 area code that will forward to my italian cell phone and it won't cost you a thing! If you would like this number let me know!

Today before I came to the library at 10:30 am I went to a chocolate tasting...that is right...chocolate! It was delicious! I tasted 5 different kinds of Italian chocolate. I learned a little bit about the history...if I even remember right now cause I was too busy admiring the amazing chococlate. Anyways, it was a good time!

Other than all of these things I have made a decision. This past weekend I have been walking around the city a lot. I have decided that I want to do this every weekend! This city is so beautiful and I love walking around it!

I hope that was a good enough update! I miss you and love you all! I will let you know about how the rest of my midterms go. Wish me luck!

getting blown away....

So I am writing on a Friday afternoon after just having a cup of American Coffee....it was black with sugar but it is the first cup I have has since being in Florence and it was delicious! I can remember the last time I had Starbucks...It was in the London Gatwick airport before I left for Pisa! And yes...I remember the date, August 19th! I know lame but I do sort of miss my triple grande iced soy carmel sauce latte! BUT good news, there is Starbucks in Germany so I will be hitting that up in December! :D

Monday when I went to the school for my Mysticism and Magic class I learned that the school almost burnt down this last weekend! Someone had left a projector on and burned 3 of our classrooms. Luckily, someone called the fire department and there was not too much damage. But for this week, some of my classes were held in another school about 2 mins away from Richmond.

Moving on, this week has been an interesting one. On tuesday, instead of having Italian class, we were taken to the Palazzo Vecchio along with other American students in Florence for "Welcome Day". It was were the Mayor of Florence and some other members of Parliment welcomed us to this beautiful city! It was interesting....I was able to fill out a form so that I can have my absentee ballot sent here so I can still vote in this very important US election coming up(more on that later).

Wednesday, I went to the San Marco Monastery with my Mysticism and Magic class. This is actually a still living monastery which was interesting to hear. It was pretty amazing on the inside. In every cell in the monastery, it had a different fresco, so it was really cool to go from cell to cell and look at all the frescoes. I took some pictures but none of them turned out a well as I had hoped. But check facebook out anyway if you can.

So this week I have been battling a cough, which has been no fun! It is going around the people in my program so it was bound to come find me but now, I have gotten my roommates sick! So that is a quick update on my health if you wanted to know. :D Hopefully after I get over this...I will not be sick for the rest of the trip! *knock on wood*

This saturday I am going to my first ever soccer game in europe! I am super excited! The game is Fiorentine vs. Genoa so I managed to by a really decently priced Fiorentine scarf that I am going to sport at this game! I will take pictures!

Moving on to what I have been reading about in the papers about the US. So apparently our market is not doing so well right now. WaMu just got bought out by Chase in one of the biggest bank failures in history...and of course I happen to bank with them. I really hope that this does not put a damper on my finances while I am in Italy because that would not be fun for me! I was watching a video on CNN.com and it said that for now that people who bank with WaMu aren't going to see a change YET. Who knows what will happen....the market pretty much sucks and let's hope whoever becomes President will make a change for the better!

Hope that was enough of an update for ya'll! Miss you and Love you!

P.S. I decided to put up a picture of the Ponte Vecchio becauce it looks BEAUTIFUL at night! :D

cooking cooking cooking

So the last two days were so awesome I have decided to write a blog about them!!!

On tuesday after my Italian class, I was able through the school take an authentic cooking class. It was so much fun! We made everything from scratch including the pasta! We made a three course meal. For the first course we made vegetable souffle. Second course vegetable lagsana with pesto sauce and then for desert tiramasu! OH MY GOSH! It was amazing! And the best part......we got the recipies! So I can make this at home!

So I have decided that when I get back to the states, I am going to cook this meal!

Then today wednesday, at 6pm, I had a pizza making class. 15 of us Richmond students showed up to this resturant and we got to go in the kitchen and make pizza. The dough was already made which kinda made me sad but we got to flatten it, put the sauce on and any kind of toppings we want! My pizza turned out amazing as you can see in the picture above!

Classes are going well. The not so fun thing I have to do for my classes other than Italian is write a research paper that is about 3,000 words long. And my outlines for these papers a due with in the next week and a half. It's crazy how fast the semester flys by! BUT I am hoping that this weekend while my gang of friends is in London, I will get a head start on my subject and find some sources and organize!

I will hopefully get a lot done this weekend.

Love you and miss you all!

Oh the adventures of walking around Florence....

So today my friends and I decided to at 4pm walk over to Esselunga. Esselunga is a supermarket kinda like WalMart or Fred Meyer, they have EVERYTHING. There are 2 located in Florence and they are on the most outer part of the city. They are about a 20-25 minute walk to get there.

So we meet up at the Duomo(beautiful church btw! pics coming soon!) and start walking towards the store. We get there and get all of our shopping done, and check out. We walk outside....it is pouring down rain! We try to call the taxi number but it is busy, probably because everyone was trying to get one! Gilbert then walks a block or 2 to buy bus tickets cause we heard that you could take the bus closer to the center of the city. Gilbert gets the tickets but then and finds out that the closest bus station is at the Duomo! Let me say that the Duomo is about 2 or 3 blocks from where I live.

So we decide to trek the rain, it let up a little bit when we started to leave but in the middle of our trip it began to rain AND hail! We were caught in a thunderstorm!

By the time we got to the Duomo, we were drenched and the rain had stopped. Everyone around was dry and here we come walking through Florence, bright yellow bags in hand drenched in rain water.

As soon as I got home, I unloaded my bags and took a quick shower to get all of the gross water off of me.

So if this study abroad trip hasn't been an adventure to the fullest...I don't know what is!

First week of classes...and my address!!!

So monday classes started at Richmond, which by the way is in an old 17th century palace! Awesome huh?

So this is my schedule;
Monday: 10:50am-12:30pm Mysticism and Magic of Medieval and Renaissance Italy
2:30pm-4:00pm History of the Italian Cinema and Society
4:20pm-6:20pm Elementary Italian 2
Tuesday: 4:40pm-6:20pm Elementary Italian 2
Wednesday: 10:50am-12:30pm Mysticism and Magic of Medieval and Renaissance Italy
2:30pm-4:30pm History of the Italian Cinema and Society
Thursday: 4:10pm-5:30pm Elementary Italian 2
Friday: NO CLASS!

So I would have to say that my schedule is pretty awesome! My mysticism and magic class has been interesting thus far, I feel it might be a little challenging when we get further into the course. Right now we are compare religion and magic in different text from medieval times with some text from the bible. Its been pretty interesting. My Italian Cinema class has been good! I was a little afraid on monday because I felt the professor was just talking just to talk at one point BUT wednesday it was good. We watched a movie called Mediterraneo and it was about these Italian mitlilary men that get trapped on an island in Greece for 3 years and they make their life while Italy is having a civil war. And of course Elementary Italian 2. The reason why I am taking this course is because while we were in Lido, we were talking Elementary Italian 1 and it was very intense! But we learned about a semesters worth of Italian in 3 weeks. This class feels a little overwhelming right now but I think I will get it of I study a lot. OH and the grade I got for Elementary Italian 1 was an A-! I was pretty proud of myself.

The reason why these is no class on Friday is because some of the classes here at Richmond have course-related field trips that they go on to different museums and cities around Florence. Also, so we as a program can go to Venice and Rome, class has to be cancelled on Friday. It makes it kinda nice!

One of the coolest things that Richmond gave us was a Uffizi student card. It is a card with my name on it where I can go into any museum in Florence for free if I just show the card and my picture ID! Aweomse huh? So friday's I can take advantage of that!

I have heard many people ask me what my address is. WELL, I can't receive mail at my apartment but I can at the school. BUT PLEASE NO PACKAGES. The school won't receive them. So if you would like to send me a letter you can send it to:

Lauren Short
C/O Richmond
Via Maggio 11
50125 Florence, Italy

I hope this was a lengthy enough post for you all, I should probably get ready for the day seeing as it is 12:30 in the afternoon!

Love you and miss you all!

there are no words to describe what just happened

So today we had our orientation meeting and safety meeting from the police. I of course, left that meeting more terrified than ever to walk the streets of Florence.

Anyways on to the juice that just happened. I went to dinner with Gilbert, Barbra, Carissa and Melissa and Gilbert walks me home and I get inside my building. I get to my flat and I put the key in and start to turn it and it won't budge! I tried for 5 min. Gilbert tried. We even called Barbra to come and try and we sat there for about 20 minutes trying to get my door open. So we call the emergency number for AIFS and they give me the landlord's number cause I haven't put it in my phone yet and so we call him. We keep trying until he comes. Antonio come about 15 minutes later runs up the stairs and of course....opens the door. I felt like a huge idiot! He tried the key at least 2 more times to be sure. The key just has to be jiggled and I thought we were doing that but oh well.

Oh and might I add I had chinese for dinner.....in Florence. Funny huh?

Oh the adventures of Florence!

Please someone pinch me!

I had my final test in my 3-week intense italian course! I think I did pretty well! Then I had to wait until 1:15pm for my bus to go to Florence. As soon as we got here we stopped, took out our luggage and my two roommates and I got a taxi because buses are allowed into Central Florence because the streets are very narrow!

My two roommates names are Amanda. Yup, both of them! They are pretty awesome and really nice. Our apartment is AMAZING! There is a shoe store right below us and a club within 30 seconds of our place. We had to climb up a bunch of stairs with our luggage but it was worth it!

The apartment building was built in the 1400's is what our landlord was telling us. It's got a kitchen with plenty of dishes. There is a dishwaser, washer (but no dryer) and all the essentials to clean.

The bathroom is RED and WHITE! That made me so happy and pretty much my favorite part!

Our landlord, Antonio is really awesome and showed us everthing we need to know about the apartment. He gave us 3 free pizza gift cards for us which was really nice.

I have the single room to myself and it is so beautiful! I will post picutres of the apartment soon. BUT the best part is yet to come. I noticed a wireless router between the couch and our bathroom door. And now i guess we have free wireless too! There is a wired connection as well! I can't believe it! I really need to be pinched and wake up from this amazing dream!

The school is about a 15 min. walk from my aparment. We are in the middle of everything! It is amazing!

Stress...

So this friday I have my oral test for italian! GAH and then saturday i have my written test. GAH!!

So please pray for me.

But the exciting news is that after my test saturday i am getting on a bus at 1:15pm and finally going to florence!!! I don't know when I will have internet next when I leave Lido so it might be a while before you hear about some of my fab adventures!

Just thought I would quickly update! Love and miss you all!

The amazing cinque terra adventure...

So yesterday I had the amazing opprotunity to go to Cinque Terra! It has 5 different villages and I hiked through the first three and then decided that I didn't want to hike that much and took the train to the 4th and 5th villages. This place has some of the most beautiful beach and villages I have seen since being in Italy! Every city I walked through felt surreal. I felt like I was walking through a movie set!

I really can't wait to show all of you picutres because I think you will be blown away, espically by Cinque Terra.

The 4th city was my favorite cause of course it had shopping! I got a really nice new leather purse. It will be good for when i go to Florence because it lays really close to my body and had many different compartments and zippers for all of them! yay!

Tommorrow (Monday) I have my second Italian test. We have learned a lot in the past week so I am really nervous! And at the end of this week, we have our final test. So my test anxiety is pretty much going nuts! Pray for me and wish me luck!

Just so you all know, I do love getting random emails and posts on facebook. It lets me know that you are still thinking of me and I don't get so home sick! Don't forget about me!!

Love you and miss you all!

Lucca and my first Italian test

So yesterday I got the amazing chance to go see the city of Lucca. What a beautiful city!!! It is a tiny little city that Florence was trying to expand to but the city of Lucca wanted to be its own so they built these really high walls all around the city. Today, you can walk on them and see all of the city. I didn't get a chance to do this but all the more reason to come back to europe later! heehee I saw many cathedrals and churches but my favorite was when we got to climb up one of many bell towers and see an entire view of the city! Oh i can't wait to post pictures! The city of Lucca also has some AMAZING shops! I found a Sephora there! Crazy huh?

Other than Lucca yesterday, today I had my weekly test in my italian class. Me having crazy test anxiety was freaking out about it. The test was only a page long and I seemed to do okay. But after looking at my notes after the test I think I got a couple wrong. I guess I will find out tomorrow. After school I sat around, walked to the post office and got stamps so some of you will be getting postcards soon if I have your address! Then had a meeting with the Resident Director to get some of my classes changed so that I am taking only 3 classes with the same credit load I was taking. When I get to Florence I will be taking Mysticsm and Magic in Medieval and Ren. Italy, History of Italian Cinema and Society and Elementary Italian 2. Right now while we are in Lido, I am in Elementary 1.

Missing everyone and just thought I would give an update!

The leaning tower adventure...

Today I had my third italian class. It is getting easier as the days go by. Class does not seem as overwhelming as it did the first day. And I am learning too! yay!

Today after classes I went on a trip to Pisa. On the way we stopped at Puccni's house and had a tour. I would have taken picture if i could but i did get a picture of the outside just to prove that I went! After that we traveled to Pisa. We saw the leaning tower and the cathedrals and monuments. I of course, got the tourist picture of me pushing up the leaning tower. It had to be done!

I just got back from having a glass of wine and desert with some friends that I have made. Pictures will be coming soon when I get to Florence. So much to show! I will be posting them on facebook!

If you want a postcard please e-mail your address to me if you haven't already to LShort@gmail.com

Still missing everyone at home but I am having a fantastic time!

The start of a new adventrue...

I have started my trip to Italy and already it has been fantastic!

I flew to London on the 16th which when I got there, became the 17th! I almost missed my flight to London because my flight from San Fran to London was running late. I ran to the terminal and ran towards the gate. I barely made it in time. In London on the 2nd day we had a bus tour of all of London. It was so beautiful! I got to see the London Eye, the Tower of London and Covent Garden. After the bus tour, my roommate for the London trip Barbra and I decided to tour Weistmeister Abbey, a beautiful church in the west part of London that still holds services today. From London I flew to Pisa and then took a private coach to Hotel Colombo in Lido Do Camaiore.

Yesterday the 19th we had our first orientation meeting and then we all walked into town and ate. I didnt realize that eating at resturant would take over 3 hours! It was quite and experience! But today we started our Italian classes and it was a bit overwhelming because the teachers teach entirely in Italian. But I am slowly learning! It has been quite a trip and cant wait to post picutes and write more!