Carnivale & Rome!!

Well..I’ve been on the move! Two weeks ago I attended the Italy version of Mardi Gras..they call it “Carnivale” It’s basically this couple week celebration different weekend in February in all different spots across Italy. We decided to attend the one in Veregio, Italy. Vereigo is a beach town about 2.5 hours from Florence. We took a bus there and then went to lunch at an AMAZING restaurant. Maybe the best food/service I’ve had in Italy yet. They just kept bringing course after course and were so fast. They were feeding a hundred of us and to them it seemed like no big deal. The first thing I noticed about this place was that instead of having wine on the table they had COKE! HaHa. Very unexpected. We were all actually really excited because soda is extremely expensive in Italy..the same and sometimes more than alcohol! Haven’t quite figured out why yet. I was so excited, yet for some reason never drank any and only had water. It’s almost like I got so used to not having soda I didn’t want it. Anyways, enough about our meal. After our meal we headed off to Carnivale. At this point we were all in food commas and not even in the mood to go. I was not excited at all and decided I may have over anticipated the fun of this “carnivale.” We ended up getting off the bus in Veregio and had about an hour until the parade started. It turns out Veregio is a beach town right on the coast. Suddenly we stepped onto a beach and I sunk my feet into the Mediterranean. Man, did that feel good. Next thing I know I look up to my right and in the distance can see gorgeous mountains with snow on them. All I could think was: “How many times in your life can you stand on a beach, look up, and see mountains with snow on them?” That’s when I knew it was going to be a good day. That combined with the blazing sunshine. (Which we haven’t had a lot here in Italy) Turns out..when all was said and done, it was the BEST parade I’ve ever been too. At carnival basically everyone dresses up in costumes (Kind of like Halloween) or masks, and everyone throws confetti around (and I mean everyone) and sprays silly string on each other. I’m talking from ages 1 month old to 90 years old. That’s what made it the best. I feel like the US doesn’t have anything like that. Everyone enjoyed themselves..all ages. The parade is made up of the best floats I’ve ever seen in any parade. They all have a certain meaning (political, social..etc) They often make fun of politicians. They even included Bush is one of the floats getting roasted in a pan. Lol. They (as you can imagine with his foreign popularity) had a float with a fake Barack Obama wishing him “good luck” HaHa. The whole thing was just a pretty great experience and I’m really, really glad I went.
This past weekend we went to Rome Thursday-Sunday. I know that everyone thinks of Rome as just a bit city filled with tons of people, that isn’t that beautiful..but the truth is…I think it has some of the most amazing places to visit in Italy. In just 3.5 days I saw SO MUCH. Not only did I see so much, but so much of it was really interesting. In the off season of tourism in Italy, as it is now..it really isn’t that crowded. When I was there I saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, The Vatican, St. Peter’s Bisilica, The Sistine Chapel, The Coleseum, and many other random places. I also got to hang out with my friend Kara who is studying abroad in Rome. She loves it there. I really like it, but I don’t think I’d like being in such a big city. I actually was anxious to get back to the comfort of Florence, by the end of the trip. The last night in my Rome my friends and I went on the “Spanish Steps Pub Crawl.” This was basically a bunch of students going from bar to bar. All of the bars were differently themed, such as there being an Irish Pub, a Scottish Pub, and the “jail bar.” The Jail Bar was the most creative of the three. The bartenders were actually dressed up in black and white jail suits and they were “behind bars” which made it seem like they were in jail. HaHa.
Oh and here is what I decided on for a travel itinerary:
March 5-8th: Prague
March 12th-15th: Somewhere with Mom and Meg when they are here!:) Probably Tuscany or Venice, Italy
March 27th-29th: Still deciding if I’m going to do Dublin, Ireland this weekend or not
April 3rd-12th: Spring Break! I am going to Switzerland to visit my friend Lindsay who is from Babson and studying abroad there. We are staying in Switzerland for a few days then going to Barcelona, then from there Lindsay is coming back to Italy with me for a few days before she heads back to Switzerland.
April 16th-19th: Munich, Germany Mini Oktoberfest!
April 24th-26th: Lake Como, Italy
May 1st-May 3rd: Last weekend in Florence!!
May 7th: HOME!

When I break it down like this it seems pretty quick huh? HaHa. In fact, in a week, I’ll be half way done this journey! Oh and all of those trips are going to be by bus or train except Ireland and Possibly Switzerland to Barcelona….so wish me luck! Hahaha. You all know I hate to fly and this way I’ll hopefully get to see more of Europe as I’m traveling. Does anyone have an advice for traveling around Europe by train or bus? Feel free to throw it out there to me….:)

Alright, Well I actually have a lot of work I need to get done, since I was a slacker in Rome all weekend. I’m so glad everyone has Skype now by the way. It’s so nice to talk to all of you!

PS: I don’t go back and proofread these because I’m usually in a rush and just typing in a mad rampage as I’m remembering the details of everything I’ve been up too..so sorry if there are errors/typos..(I know that bothers some people tremendously..cough Bud…cough Bud…) ;)

Celebrate We Will, Because Life is Short, But Sweet For Certain...

I feel like I’ve definitely settled into Florence. Two weeks ago I was still thinking..”Wow, it’s crazy I’m here.” Now I think, “I can’t imagine going home or having it be any different.” I feel like I’m definitely going to experience some reverse culture shock. I actually feel kind of used to being around people who speak a different language then me and live differently. I mean honestly I think I’ve realized how much I fit in from the beginning: Talking fast, savoring food, really loud, high temper, really crazy at sporting events….yeah, I’d say I belong here. Speaking of being crazy at sporting events…
Sunday I attended the Florentine futbol (soccer) game here in Florence at their big stadium. Florentine can kind of be compared to our New England Revolution soccer team except on a whole other level because soccer is so big here. You should’ve seen these fans! (pics and videos) HaHa, they were hilarious. Singing and jumping up and down. The game actually ended up being unbelievable! It was 0-0 and with two minutes left in the game Florentine scored. It was HILARIOUS when they scored. The three players who were involved with the goal ran OFF the field and around the whole stadium! I guess that’s a customary thing here. As opposed to the US where you get fined for dancing after scoring a touchdown in football. Rivalries are so intense here because they run deeper than the sport. The team they were playing...apparently in the part of Italy, the people there are considered “fascists” and still believe in the fascist regime. They were even doing the facist salute (hand in the air, palm out) at the game! It was really weird to experience this. I can only imagine if we added POLITICAL rivalries to the Red Sox/Yankee rivalry back home!! YIKES!! I can only imagine…
My friends and I have begun experiencing some of the restaurants and nightlife around here and it’s been really fun. We’ve even made friends with some of the staff of the restaurants. There is one restaurant right down the road from us that has a different theme every night. Monday: Open Mic night Tuesday: Beer Pong tournament Wednesday: Wing Night Thursday: Trivia Friday: Karaoke Saturday: Live band Sunday: Sports night Plus it’s an AMERICAN bar, so they have all American food. YES they have CHICKEN fingers….I’m in heaven. I’ve been to all of the nights except Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. My friend and I entered the beer pong tournament last night and didn’t make it past the 1st round. (I know…pathetic..I was disappointed…good thing there is always next week) I definitely took part in wing night (phenomenal) and represented Boston well by busting out Sweet Caroline at Karaoke last Saturday. (pictures) And on Sunday I watched the 6 nation Rugby game there. (Think this bar is sick of me yet?)
I should be done planning my trips by the end of this week, so I’ll have to blog about where I decided in my next post. This weekend I am staying in Florence, and then next Thursday going to Rome until Sunday. And then Rob comes on Monday!:) Yay, can’t wait to have someone from home to see! Speaking of someone from home…my friend Jarrod that I graduated with is also studying in Florence this semester. Not at my school, at a different one. It turns out he lives 5 minutes from me! What are the chances!? So we hung out last weekend. He also had a bunch of NH friends with him so we had a little NH reunion.

Tonight I went to a wine tasting, which was really interesting. We drank 3 different kinds of dry, white wines and they instructor explained to us all of the differences between the wines and just explained general knowledge of wine in general. I’m kind of getting into the whole “wine exploring” thing. Different wines interest me. Too bad they’re not the easiest thing to bring home in my suitcase… Couple more things I’d like to point out about Italy/Italians:
-If an Italian man says “Ciao bella” to you on the street…it is NOT a compliment. Keep listening you’ll hear it 10 times behind you to every woman they walk by. It’s amazing really. It’s like they don’t even care if you really are “bella” All they care about is that you’re a female. No joke: Tonight I got 3 “ciao bellas” and I hadn’t showered all day, had my hair up (which was half falling down), wearing bundles of clothing, and scarfing down a gelato…..pretty sure that says that “ciao bella” means nothing…
-I think it’s funny when they don’t understand me when I speak in English because I “talk fast…” ummm..apparently they have NO CONCEPT of listening to themselves….faster talkers I’ve ever met.
-You don’t tip in Italy..yet the service is better than America. Explain that to me.
-Whenever I meet someone here who is NOT an Italian but lives here (not as a student) they have all lived here for over 5 years and all say nothing but POSITIVE things about it. Never have I heard anyone say they haven’t liked living in Florence.
-They charge you for EVERYTHING. Not joking…at McDonald’s (yes, there is a McDonald’s here…) they charge you for KETCHUP. Hahaha…if you like a lot of ketchup you’re basically screwed..
-If you frequent a certain restaurant, café etc and you start to speak in Italian and make friends with them..they will start to give you free stuff…for instance here are some of the things I’ve gotten free at places since I’ve been here: bread, tequila shots, champagne, appetizers, desert..:) -No one is ever on time. I’m so scared I’m going to be late for class every day. I start practically sprinting if I think I’m going to be one minute late….I get there…I’m still the first one there. We start classes on average…10 minutes late every day.
-The police or cabinarri..or whatever they call the, (they’r e both the same) take anything serious…as not serious..and anything not serious…as serious. For instance if you get anything stolen from you (which my friends have…not me..knock on wood) you tell the police and they tell you, you should’ve been more careful. They don’t ask for a description or anything. BUT..if you forget to punch your bus ticket when you get on the bus you get a 40 euro fine if they catch you, and if you buy a Prada bag or any sort of fake bag off the street from a vendor, not knowing it, you get fined thousands of dollars. Interesting priorities they have here.
-The mafia still controls more than you think and ranks above all of the police and the government and basically is the government. Scary…I know.
-More motorcycles than I’ve ever seen in my life. Definitely more motorcycles than cars. Okay…

That’s it for now. Tomorrow I begin my internship at the local high school. I’m teaching students English..if you can believe that! Thank goodness they’ve been taking English since elementary school so when I can’t speak Italian at all they understand me….haha.

Time for bed!! Miss you all.
-JW
Okay..I tried to upload videos, but it was taking forever..so we'll go with pics for now and I'll try for videos this weekend..

Gelato: Your best friend..your worst enemy.

Me in front of the Ponte Vecchio @ night

Beer pong @ Red Garter

Our large pitcher at Red garter lol


Friends and I at the Florentine soccer game! Yes, they are purple and yellow and their jerseys say "Toyota" on them...haha

The crazy crowd at the game!

The baby from the other team who wouldn't stop arguing with the ref.

The Stadium

Karaoke at Red Garter..a little Grease...

Can't go wrong with dancing queen...

Mom-This is for you. You would've rocked this one.

Letting some New Englander's participate in Sweet Caroline!

I don't hog the mic or anything...

me (aka Pebbles) at her favorite spot.

NH buddies!

Kaylee and Erin with their margarita pitcher and HUGE straw!

Firenze

Pictures of my first week in Florence and our apartment:


In front of the Ponte Vecchio on the way to school
Hey-waddaya know! Grosso!

Walk to school

Arno River

They have an American diner in Florence and we cleaned our plates!

First dinner in Florence in a gorgeous palace

My roommate Emily and I

Emily, Samara, leah

Dinner-Night one

Pics of the apartment:

My bed:)

I'm all settled into Florence. I've been here since Friday but it seems like forever. We unpacked right away and got everything situated. Our apartment is so cute and so much more modern then I expected. It's small, but actually not small for Europe! We have 1 double, 1 single, 1 kitchen, 1 bath, and one small living area connected to the kitchen for the 3 of us. We decided to split the single up so we each get it for a month. This is my month:)

We're about a 25 minute walk from school which is rough, but it is a gorgeous walk. Not many people can say they have to cross the Ponte Vecchio bridge to get to class. haha. We are also by the nightlife and great restaurants!

Today was our first day of classes in Florence. Mondays are going to be brutal for me. I'll have 4 classes. I go from 9am-6pm with a 2 hour break in the middle. Tues and Thurs are going to be great because I'll have one class at 2:30pm. Wednesday I have 3 of the 4 classes I'll have on Monday, and Friday I have no classes. I'll take that. One of my classes is Italian Mafia and it is so interesting and intense. (Rob would love it...plenty of guns/violence..haha)

Everyone has been booking trips recently for the weekends we have open. Im hesitant to book them because of money and my fear of flying, but Im really trying to suck it up. The train is also an option, but it takes quite a long time to get to most of the places I want to go and is more expensive then flying half the time if you can believe that. There are some really good discount european airlines. (ryanair) Some people have definitely encouraged me to travel (Thank you!!)

I am realizing a lot being here. Particulary, how lucky I am to be here. Also that a bad day in Florence is still compareable to a good day at home. (haha) This place has some sort of magic about it. (don't get me wrong..Italians are still greasy, and smelly..haha) Not all of them..that's a generalization...but mostly.

Im excited to see how my classes continue to go and to get to know my roommates even better and especially to travel!

A few more observations about Italy/Italians:

1. Not the biggest fans of Americans: Often get weird looks once they realize I speak English. They think we're obnoxious, drink too much, and are too loud. Well sorrrrrry smellies.

2. Faith in Barack Obama: Think he's focused on improving our foreign relations because Bush messed them up. Should be interesting to see how much that actually happens.

3. Never realized how much they hated/how terrible Mussolini was: They hated the guy. I mean really...he messed things up...bad.

4. Very bad European winter: All over the news..wicked cold, lots of rain..I WOULD end up here during that. haha

5. Within Europe...discount airlines are much cheaper than trains. Who knew?

6. Bread, Bread, Bread.......yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum

7. Hot chocolate in Italy is basically a melted chocolate bar..that thick...no joke. Self explanatory.

8. At restaurants it's never "What do you want to drink?" It's.."How many bottles of wine do you want?" everyday/everynight Talk about upselling:)

Time for bed:) Check back in soon!