Cittadella Residence Florence

I liked Florence so much the first time I went, I came back! I realized in August that I loved this city and that I didn't have enough time to spend here, so I decided I wanted to go back to enjoy the slower moving life of Florence.

The first day we got to Florence, Katy and I went straight to the leather market. I had been eagerly waiting the entire semester to buy a new purse, and I knew I had seen several I really liked in Florence, so I had made ...

... 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

... signing our lease. Because I’ve never had to do anything like this before it was completely overwhelming. They were very helpful and spoke/ presented the lease to us in both English and Italian. Before the process could be completed we were told we needed some additional paper which was back at our hostel. Now being completely stressed and sticky from the beautiful 90’s sunny weather we were forced to go cross town and ...

... a bit of shopping. I decided not to buy anything because i knew i was going to have to carry it throughout the rest of the trip but of course the girls thought differently. They all ended up buying stuff and i made it clear to them that i was not going to be the one who was going to carry it for them for the rest of the trip. They didn't seem to care, but i know that's going to come back to bite them lol. We ended up walking ...

... Later in the afternoon, we all met up at the Uffizi Gallery. I strongly recommend this tour and it's well worth the price because not only do you get a great introduction to the city and learn the significance of the architecture, the popular sights, etc, you don't have to worry about the price of museums nor the strongly recommended advanced reservations. If a whole day doesn't appeal to you, then book a shorter tour of one ...

... Glory bee is trimming her finger nails in preparation and skilling up her map reading abilities, actually so far she is beating me hands down , I actually think the compase I bought only works south of the equator, Thats my excuse and I am stiking to it. Well ciao for now friends and family ( hi Mum and Dad) tomorrow we head into Tuscany country side, not knowing where we stay or where we go, exciting huh.Buono Notte Good Night!!!!

... watery glue...he then took powdered colors and splashed them around the water randomly, creating a vague pattern in the water....then he took a wooden comb (there were many, each had metal spokes out of the bottom at varying widths) and pulled it through the water, changing the design. Then he laid paper flat on the water, pulled it through a press and voila!!! Amazing design! It was probably one of the coolest things I have seen yet here in Florence :)