Entry 1: May 30, 2009

The other night we went to our family dinners. It was so much fun. The mom came and picked us up and took us to her adorable house ... it was really modern and it kind of surprised me. She had the cutest little boy named Fillipo. He reminded me of my little cousin Will. Fillipo was playing with Bakugon balls just like Will does. It was so strange not being able to communicate with a little kid. He was 6 and very smart. We asked him a few things in Italian but he would talk back to us sometimes and we had no idea. It was funny because he would get frustrated because we didn't understand him. He watched a DVD and his dad made him watch it in English for us. I thought it was sweet. The dad didn't know much English at all but the Mom was pretty good. We had so much food! After dinner we had the most amazing gelatto. It was kind of like Neapolitan and she also had strawberries to put on top. She had soaked them in Lemonchello and it was delicious. The people at the Servi apparently soak them in vinegar and sugar (I suggest trying it because it makes them so good).

Saturday we went to Anghiari and Arezzo. You should Google Anghiari because it is beautiful. It is a small town but I think it is my favorite so far. We went through some museums and then caught the bus to Arezzo. We saw the famous frescos of Pier della Francesca. He is one of the most famous painters and lived here in Sansepolcro.

Today it has been raining which kind of stinks. We aren't able to get out and about as much. My favorite place at the Servi is the outside garden and I can't go sit there to do my work. I have fallen asleep a few times while trying to do my homework. Tomorrow we get out of class early at 10:30 so that we can catch an 11:00 bus to Arezzo in order to catch the train we need to get to Sorrento. I am a little nervous about traveling but I think we will be fine. We are going to do a day trip in Capri and then go to Rome for the other two nights. When we get back Thursday we will be half way done with the Italy part of the trip!

Well I think I am going to get some gelatto!

Entry 1: May 27, 2009

Hello!

My Florence trip has already come and gone. We left Sansepolcro on Wednesday around 12:45 and then caught a train from Arezzo to Florence later that afternoon. The trip didn't take much time at all. We took the bus to Arezzo which took an hour and then the train into Florence only took an hour. When we got off the train in Florence I was pretty nervous. Our professors had really freaked us out about people getting mugged, so we were all prepared. I had on my ever so fashionable money belt the whole time I was in Florence. Even though I had my money belt on, I never really felt threatened. I just kept my purse on my shoulder and I was fine. No one in our group had trouble with muggings.

We went walked from the train station to our hotel. It was a really, really long walk but we finally made it. The hotel was nice but it was on a busy street. We dropped off our book bags and then went as a group to the main square and the Duomo. Florence is BEAUTIFUL! It was a little dirty because it is so busy all the time but it was gorgeous. The views from the bridges over the river were spectacular. I took tons of pictures. We went to the leather market and bought a few things there. The hotel provided a dinner for us and it was wonderful. The next day a few of us got up really early to go to the Academia to hopefully see David. We thought that there would be a long line but we were able to walk right in! It was unbelievable. I heard that you have to see it in person to really appreciate it and now I understand why. David is so much bigger and impressive in person. You can see every vein in his body. We ate a big breakfast later on that morning. We actually were sitting beside some big Italian politician. A news crew came and interviewed him right beside us. Before we knew he was famous, his waiter accidentally sprayed us with his bottle of champagne. The story is really funny but I will have to tell you in person so that you can get the effect. We wandered around until we went to the Uffizi. It was huge and a little overwhelming. Then it was time to head on back. We had to figure out how to get back without the professors leading us but we did fine. I was glad to pull into Sansepolcro that night. Florence was nice but I don't know if I could handle that pace for a long time.

Today we went to an Italian school! They were so cute and I loved my visit. I could write so much about them but I don't have time because tonight we have our dinners with our host families. I am excited but also nervous. Ciao