November 4-6, 2011: Paris, France!!!!

On the 4^th we took a plane to Paris, France for the weekend!  When we arrived in Paris it took us a little while to find our hotel, but it was in a shady neighborhood and we were still hungry so we decided to venture out to get food.  We walked to the river and found a place nearby that had crepes so we each got one.  Mine was Egg and Chicken and Cheese and it was a lot of food!  We ate Crepes and walked around a little more (we saw the Eiffel Tower flash at 11) and we decided to go home before too late, because the hotel closes it’s doors at 12.  On the way back we passed a girl going the opposite direction on a bike then heard her scream, and when we turned around a car was slowing down but not fast enough.  The car hit her (more like tapped) but she fell over on her bike and we rushed over to help, her sweater was caught in the handlebars and her glasses and headphones (most likely the reason she got hit) had gone flying.  She was fine, but a bit shaken, and I handed her the glasses while a man was helping her up and with her other things, and the driver of the car got out for a minute and we left before we could see anything else.  We got back to our hotel and went to bed right away.

We woke up pretty early so we could walk to Notre Dame.  We got there early and there was no wait to get inside, so we walked around the church and then decided to go up to the towers.  It was €8 and there were 400 steps but at the top there was a beautiful view of Paris and so many Gargoyles!  The entire time Katie was comparing the real thing to the Disney movie.  We saw the big bell and went up all the towers, being up there made me want to read the book.  After Notre Dame we walked along the Seine and stopped at a bunch of the little shops along it to look for presents for people, but I never ended up getting anything.  On the way we decided to find lunch, and we stopped at a nice place.   We each ordered French Onion Soup and Croque Monsieurs (but mine was on white bread) and they were all really good.  After lunch we walked to the Eiffel Tower where we took pictures with it and then we waited in line to go up, we realized the line we were in was only the stairs to the 2^nd deck and we could not buy tickets to go all the way up, but a man told us it was possible to buy them on the 2^nd deck.  We walked up to the 2^nd deck and looked at the view of the city for a while, then we decided to go up, but we couldn’t figure out where to get tickets to go all the way up.  After asking a few people we found it, but the ticket office was closed and there was a woman inside who was ignoring the people outside, and we didn’t want to knock on the window and make her angry.  After a while of waiting 2 women came up to us and offered to sell their tickets to us, but there was only 2 of them, so I elected to stay down (the heights were already freaking me out).  I stayed down and bought some food from the café and found a bench to sit on.  While sitting there a woman sat next to me, and her boyfriend eventually came over and they started talking about buying tickets to go all the way up so I told them that the ticket office was closed, and then we started talking a little bit.  They were from Florida but his father was from Philly, and they were on vacation in London but decided to take a day trip to Paris.  We spoke a little more before they left, and then I decided to head down.  There was a long wait for the elevator down which was good because I wanted to kill time so I wasn’t waiting in the cold for a long time (we didn’t want to use our phones because there would be roaming fees).  After only waiting on a bench for a few minutes Katie and Steph showed up.  We decided to walk to the Champs Elysees and buy food for a picnic in our hotel at a Monoprix.  At the Monoprix we each found a scarf as well as a bunch of food.  We took the Metro back to our hotel where we had a little indoor picnic before bed, which was nice because we didn’t want to walk around outside.

We woke up early so we could get to the Louvre around the time it opened because on Sundays it’s free, therefore; there was going to be a huge line.  We took the metro there and the line wasn’t very long, we decided to see all of the paintings in the Louvre.  We were there from 9:30-1:30 when we decided to find lunch, we ended up going to the shops underneath the Louvre to eat.  The food was a little expensive but very good, and after we went aboveground and hung out in the Tuileries people watching.  It was pretty cold out so we then decided to get a hot drink.  After the drinks we decided it would be a good time to head to the airport.  We figured out the metro to get to the airport and we got there around 6 and our flight left at 8.  After going through security we could only hang out in the concourse because they only announced the gates 20 minutes before the flight left.  So I read and finished my book while waiting for the plane.  On the plane I sat next to a nice Italian girl, but we didn’t talk.  When we landed we only had a few minutes to take the last train of the night, so we decided to run through the airport.  We ran and made the train with 3 minutes to spare, and then we walked home and went to bed.

November 1-3, 2011: Relaxing School Week

We had off on November 1 so I met Jess and we tried to find the Burger place from Friday but we couldn’t find it at first, and then it was closed, so we gave up and got Kebabs instead.  Nothing eventful happened the rest of the week, but it was nice and relaxing.

October 31, 2011: Halloween

Today we had class but in the morning we had to wait at the Immigration Office so we could be fingerprinted for our Permits to Stay.  Then we had Italian class, and I went to hang out with my friends at this place called Mama’s Bakery, which has tasty sandwiches and homemade bagels!  We go there every Monday after Italian class.  After hanging out with Karly and Jess I went home to get ready for Halloween, we were going with our friend Gledia from Italian class to a party near the school.  I got ready (I wore neon colors/was from the 80s) and met my friends at Piazza Pitti outside the school to wait for Gledia who took a while getting ready (her costume was amazing!) but she eventually met us there and then we walked over to the party which was a little awkward at first.  One of the guys who was at the party works for Florence for Fun and was leading a pub-crawl around the city, and if we went with him it was only €10 for the entire thing.  So we all went with him and met our other friends at the Duomo.  First we went to Café Bigallo, which is right near our apartment, then we walked to Red Garter where we were dancing for a while, and then the pub-crawl went to Club 21, which was so crowded we could barely move inside.  We didn’t spend too long in there because it was uncomfortable.  When we were outside we were waiting for our friends who were still inside while Katie decided to try and go to club Yab on her own.  We waited for a while until all of us were out of the club, when that happened I got a call from Katie who was lost in the city, while on the phone she figured out how to get to the Duomo so I met her there and we waited for our friend Cliff to give her the €50 he was holding for her, and then we walked her to Yab which we couldn’t get into (thankfully).  Then I convinced her to go home so we walked home, and outside our apartment my friend Jess was waiting because she didn’t know where our other friends (who she lives with) were, so I went with her to find them.  They were in Piazza Signorina by a Ferrari car that was going to be in a race in a few days.  We convinced them all to go to their respective homes and I hung out with Kosta a little longer talking, and then he walked me home (even as I protested).  Then I went to my apartment and went to bed.

October 29-30, 2011: A Weekend in Firenze

Not leaving the city this weekend so I can hang out with my friends (which is nice).  We me our friends at a bar called Viktoria, and I got this drink called a Willy Wonka which had a ton of whipped cream and strawberries in it (it was tasty!).  Then we wanted to dance so we tried to go to Club 21 but there was a cover charge that night so we decided not to go, we heard of another club called Blob and we walked around the city trying to find it.  While trying to find it we stopped at a bar called the Loch Ness and hung out there for a little while.  Then we found this place that sold really tasty burgers and Greek food (which excited our Greek friend Kosta).  After that we decided it was pretty late and we all went to our respective homes.

On Saturday night we wanted to go to this club Doris that’s a gay club on Saturdays (with Drag Queens and all!!!!!) But before we went shopping and were invited over to Kosta’s house for Greek Coffee!  The coffee wasn’t that different, but it was good.  Our friends came over to our apartment later and we hung out here until around 1 and everyone decided they didn’t want to pay the cover charge to get into Doris, so we went to Club 21 instead.  We hung out and danced for a while until a few of us decided to go home.  Everyone eventually got home fine.  It was an amazing weekend overall.

October 23-28, 2011: Midterms and the Wall

This week is Midterms, but I already took one last week and don’t really have anymore this week (well I have Italian).  On the 24^th I went with my friends again to Laserline to get Jess’ tongue pierced, I also went so they could unscrew the stud in my labret because it’s too tight and I can’t unscrew it.  I put in my new labret but it was too short and meant to change it but I forgot and it popped off and I lost the ball (which was the most important part of the piece….)

On the night of the 25^th I woke up to one of my roommates waking me up (at 6am) because she heard a drip from my side of the room (my bed is right in front of the window).  So I turned on my phone so we could see by it’s light, when I looked we found that the drip was coming from the wall behind my head (which I did not hear….) and there was a pool of water from the wall that went under my bed and was creeping its way to the rest of the room.  Of course this pool of water went through the boxes I had under a table next to my bed where there was a bottle of wine in one and my external hard drive in the other.  Thankfully nothing got damaged, but the box to my external hard drive was soaked and I had to throw it out (that will be fun on the plane home) so I have no reason to complain.  I’m lucky the power cord with my laptop charger on the floor next to the table was undamaged and that my roommate has good ears.

The next morning I called our land lords who promptly came over with a builder (construction worker) to try and assess/fix the problem.  They went on the roof (our apartment is on the top floor) and figured out the gutter was clogged and water couldn’t leave the roof and that’s why this leak happened.  They cleaned the gutter but the wall is soaked all the way through.  So the solution is to keep our windows open until it dries (about a week) and then they are going to paint over the wall.  This wouldn’t be so bad if it hadn’t started to actually get cold….it’s 1:30 now and the temperature outside is 63 and at night it gets down to the 40s.  I’m just glad they gave us comforters!  Hopefully the wall will take less time to dry….it gets REALLY loud at night, even when the windows are closed…..

October 22, 2011: Eurochocolate

Today is Eurochocolate, we got to Perugia by bus around 10:30am, and we had until 4pm to explore.  On the bus we got free picture frames where the frames are made of chocolate. We each got a chococard which allowed us to get free samples and discounts at a lot of places. I bought some chocolate for my Nonna (who loves dark chocolate), and we found Cannabis chocolate (enough to taste like it, but not enough to give the effect).  Then we walked around a lot, and towards the end of the day we found absinthe in chocolate shot glasses and each took a shot (needless to say I tried it and I am never doing a shot of it again.) and it was intense.  I got a porchetta sandwhich (too much chocolate is too much chocolate) to help me get over being chocolated-out. And we took the bus back where the tour guides started watching the Da Vinci Code, but I had no interest and I had a headache so I slept on the ride back.

October 17-21, 2011: New Friends, New Clothes

On the 18^th I bought a new jacket and another pair of pants for only €53!!! I still need leather boots and a scarf or too (succumbing to the European ways I know….) On the 21^st I went with my friends to laserline to get piercings, Karly got 2 in one ear and 1 in her cartilage on the other ear, and Sofita got her tragus pierced, as well as 2 more ont the other ear.  Jess wanted to get her tongue pierced but we’re going to Eurochocolate tomorrow and you can’t eat chocolate right away!

October 15-16, 2011: Roma

October 15, 2011

We have to be at the bus station by 6:45 am today.  We arrived on time but of course a lot of people were late. We took a bus to Rome, dropped off our overnight bags in the hotel and then took a bus to Vatican City before the Manifestazione started in our part of Rome.  We went to the Vatican Museum and saw a lot of cool art including the Sistine Chapel!!! (Where you’re not supposed to take pictures but I may or may not have snuck one or two….) Then we tried to go to St. Peter’s but the line was ridiculously long so we walked around instead. We were avoiding the areas where the protesting was in case it got out of hand (it did….a LOT out of hand) and saw the Hard Rock Café Art Gallery and we saw a few churches and it was pretty cool.  After a while we took a super crowded bus back to our hotel where I shared the same seat with a little old nun.  We got off the bus, settled in our hotel, and waited for 7pm when we would go out to get dinner with one of the Arcadia staff members in Rome (Tina).  We went to the restaurant Est! Est!! Est!!! and waited for Tina and it was taking her a while so we called her and there’s apparently two restaurants with the same name that are very close to each other and have no affiliation with each other, and of course she was at the other restaurant.  Instead of making the 14 of us go to the other restaurant she came to meet us and we ordered an antipasto and either pizza or pasta.  The antipasto was grilled eggplant, zucchini, some mushrooms, olives, salame, and ham.  It was very tasty!  Then I ordered Sausage Pizza (which was amazing) and pannacotta with caramel sauce for dessert.  After dinner I started feeling shin splints so I took a shower and went to bed while the others went out.

October 16, 2011

Today we ate breakfast at 8 and tried to see the Ecstasy of St. Theresa by Bernini before we started the day, so we went in the wrong church (before realizing it wasn’t there) then found the right church but it was small and mass was going on by the time we got there so we had to leave.  Then we walked to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum and got to see both, which was pretty cool. After we walked to the Trevi Fountain and were free for the afternoon.  I went with my newly made friends to try and see the Ecstasy but when we got to the church we found out it was closed until 3:30 and we were leaving at 3:45 so we gave up and got a coffee at a bar.  Then we talked with each other in the Hotel and learned about each others lives which was pretty fun.  Then we got on the bus to go back home, we stopped at a rest stop where nothing eventful happened, and then we arrived back in Firenze a little after 8.  I walked home and didn’t do much the rest of the evening.

October 13-14, 2011: Il Plastico

October 13, 2011

Started to feel a little better so I went to classes today, left my Mixed Media class early because I didn’t have anything to do.  Didn’t do much that night, worked on homework.

October 14, 2011

Finally went to Il Plastico today.  They have the weirdest hours, and when we arrived at the store we looked around and realized they really didn’t have anything useful for us, so on the way back to the apartment I stopped by the other toy store and found something I didn’t see before.  I bought little “Ancient Roman” soldiers and we are going to Rome tomorrow so I am going to bring them for my project and it will be pretty cool.  Didn’t do much the rest of the day.

October 8-12, 2011: Sick

October 8, 2011

Today Cliff and I tried to visit Il Plastico for our Mixed Media class but it has really weird hours so of course it closes at 1 on a Saturday.  So we visited a toy store to look at their figures then I started to not feel well and went home.  After I got home I fell asleep for a few hours which didn’t make me feel better then it felt like I had a fever so I stayed in bed and tried to sleep it off.

October 9, 2011

I slept a lot last night and more today but still am not feeling well.  Made an appointment with an English speaking doctor for tomorrow.

October 10, 2011

Got up for my appointment, and the Dr. told me I had flu-like symptoms and gave me medicine to hopefully help.  Then I slept more until people got back from school then I started to wake up a bit.

October 11-12, 2011

In bed sick all day, mostly slept. Antibiotics helped a little bit.