è primavera!

(Chianti for wine tasting at Castello di Verrazzano on the left)

The past month I've done a fair amount of traveling around different parts of Italy.

A couple weekends ago I went to the Almafi Coast to see Sorrento, Capri, and Pompeii, which was my first experience ever traveling alone. It was absolutely beautiful there and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to go - I received a grant from Skidmore to do it. It was super unplanned and on the fly and I was endlessly asking for directions in Italian. But by the end of the trip I was able to help a Canadian couple get back to their hostel on the bus and was speaking Italian with the ticket guy...it was a great feeling of accomplishment! The biggest problem that weekend was the fact the my little cabin I stayed in did not have heat...or blankets...which made for a very chilly night's sleep. I decided that the trip would have been more fun to pal around with someone, but the chance to have the experience of traveling by myself and totally flying by the seat of my pants (is that the right expression?) made it priceless.

Then the weekend after I did the opposite style of traveling and went on a huge group trip with my program to Siena, Perugia, and Chianti, completely and totally planned for us. It was really fun to switch gears and hang out with tons of friends for the weekend. We spent a lot of time riding in busses around different parts of Tuscany. I actually really enjoyed just listening to music and looking out the window at this beautiful part of Italy that we live in. My favorite part of the trip was going to a wine tasting at a castle in Chianti (see picture). It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and so lovely and relaxing. Honestly, I think that that was one of my favorite places I've seen in all of Italy...and it's right in my backyard!

Back in Florence for the past couple weeks, I've mostly been working at Palazzo Vecchio a whole lot, enjoying the beautiful weather, and playing around with friends in the city. I've been continuing to cook all the time and my most interesting dish I made lately was fresh asparagus sauteed in a balsamic-orange-garlic sauce over basmati rice. The other day I also made a chicken caesar salad and made homemade dressing to go along with it. On another note, I've started to see a real improvement in my Italian skillz lately. I even had a 15 minute conversation about art with someone the other day!

Everything is starting to wind down, though, and I have less than three weeks here. I'm trying really hard to get everything on my to-do list checked off and to make the most out of my time left!

Ciao, Belli!

I'm alive!

Right now I'm sitting in this awesome cafe in a low key, more local section of Florence across the Arno River. I finished a caffe macchiato and a piece of cake while a man was playing "Hallelujah" by Lenard Cohen. There are books and couches everywhere I've been sitting up in a loft area skyping with a friend for a while. Life is good.

First I should mention my spring break trip and while I can't talk in detail about everything, I'd like to sum it up a little bit.

Paris: was absolutely wonderful. I saw all the major things to see and I saw tons and tons and tons of art. The Louvre was a fun and overwhelming experience because of the sheer quantity of art and vastness of the museum, but just beautiful. The Pompidou had such a cool setup and the main exhibition happened to be my favorite contemporary artist, Lucian Freud! It was a dream come true and I watched the sunset over Paris from the top of the building. The Musee d'Orsay was so lovely and every painting made me gasp because it was either a favorite painting or a famous artist! Aside from that, I ate a lot of camembert and baguettes and avocados and drank a lot of bordeaux....amazing!

Prague: felt like going home. When I left last spring I was a little bit sick of it, but going back reminded me of everything I looooved. Staying with Olga and Ivana was so nice and homey and relaxing. We walked around a ton to all my favorite places, sat in the sun in the garden at my favorite cafe and ate my favorite cake, cooked dinner a couple times (Italian pasta and then fajitas! Yum!), and drank a lot of beer.

Back in Florence, I've gotten back into a normal schedule, cooking a lot and classes and tour guiding. Today I even got tipped 10 whole euro! I've been finding some really awesome local places and am psyched to continue exploring now that the weather's gotten so lovely.

Last weekend I hiked through Cinque Terre for a day and had a great time with a great group of people. We hiked all day and it felt so good! Even though I've been sore all week...

This upcoming weekend I'm traveling to the Almafi Coast (Sorrento, Capri, and Pompeii) as a result of a grant that Skidmore's giving me! I can't wait, I hope it's warm!

Hope everyone is doing well, I miss you!