Hotel Villa Cappugi Pistoia

... headed into the cemetery. It was actually very ornate, the headstones were huge (I remember one being a life size statue of 2 people dancing), and some were in rooms/buildings, I’m sure there is a proper word for them. We each broke off and strolled around separately, then convened together and started walking further up the road. We made it to the Piazza we had wanted to go to, took tons of pictures, and goofed off (I can’t express enough how ...

... Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Potatoes, and Mixed Vegetables. For dessert pumpkin pie, ice cream, and apple cider! It was nice to spend the night with classmates and a few professors.

Friday night, we had yet another Thanksgiving with all of my friends. Everyone prepared their favorite dish and we spent the night telling stories of our families Thanksgivings.

I'll update you soon,

Siara

... all the other hotels/apartments that they've tried to turn into a "hostel" by simply throwing some bunk beds into existing hotel sized bedrooms.
Wandered around Florence which is a beautiful city and great to just wander around - apart from there being more US exchange students there than locals.
Found Mostodolce brewpub and tried their beers. First decent beer I've had since entering Italy.
The Pils was a bit average but the ...

Cinque Terre photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album. php?aid=163678&id=613699523&l=b ae7645b89

Stayed at Affittacamere Patrizia Hostel in Rio Maggiore in Cinque Terre and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
When we got to the Hostel it was just an office and no one was there. Our keys were stuck to the door with instructions on how to get to our dorm room. There was another set of keys there too so we could have taken those too and ...

Hi Everyone!

After an exhausting weekend in Brussels, I was in for yet another treat with cooking classes in Florence. Organized by my school, a group of us met with a chef for some lessons.

We were taught how to prepare typical Tuscan cuisine including Ribollita and Stuffed zucchini-flowers.

Everything was delicious & I look forward to trying these recipes at home!

I'll update you soon,

Siara

... The game went through the second half with no scores, then two overtimes which sent the game into penalty kicks. The last game Tai and I watched together was the world cup championship game, Italy vs. France, and that game sent down to the wire as well. With every one of these shots, the fans for each team in the bar exploded in cheers for their respective team. The atmosphere was excellent, especially because most of the people Ronaldo shot third ...

... see the real thing! I took loads of pictures and will hopefully upload them one day! What kills me about churches in Europe is that they all have some sort of mythical creature all around them. Mostly I've just seen gargoyles, but here in Venice, it is griffins. Lions with wings ... very cool. All over St. Mark's ... I took pictures of them too! By the way, it started raining last night, just as we were pulling in to Venice on the train, and it was ...

Hello from Florence!!! We have had a full day of sightseeing today!! We got up at 7 and headed out to start exploring! First we started at the Academia. It is a museum that now houses the famous Michaelangelo David statute. I was really surprised by how huge the statute was. He was probably 15 feet tall plus the pedistol he was on was tall too. It was really neat to see that in person and the detail on the statue was amazing. Then we ...

... do love the place. There are always new discoveries, such as the Santa Croche region which I haven't really visited before. I have been looking for a way to summary my thoughts on the old town in Firenze. I was walking around in the late afternoon darkness, away from the Duomo. A man from Manchester was walking with his girlfriend, and looked up and saw the Duomo and Tower, lit up in the night. "Jayz, thats fookin' beyewtifull, 'idden it?" Not bad really.

... to get into these museums. We were treated to a beautiful and scenic walk along and across the Arno river. I was also able to walk across the Ponte Vecchio (one of the oldest bridges on the Arno) for the first time since coming to Florence. It was crowded and lined with jewelry shops and international tour groups, but I was able to squeeze past some tourists to soak in the picturesque view. At the end of the race, we were given free ...