Hotel Villa Azalee Florence

... 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 ...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I spent the morning taking an Italian exam!!! The afternoon was a little more fun, touring Palazzo Pitti with my Art History class.

It was a little strange spending it without everyone but my school put together a little gathering for us. A group of us dined on a typical American Thanksgiving at a local restaurant. We were served Butternut Squash soup with bread, Turkey ...

... since some monks were on the site a few hundred years ago.

Walked around Baboli Gardens which were pretty stunning and crazy to think they were someones backyard at one stage.

After dinner with Zoe, Nonie, James and Kerrin we walked around looking a bar and then when we found it didn't like it so just got 3 bottles of wine for 10 Euro and headed back to the hostel - only to see 4 bottles for 10 Euro around the corner!!!

... as the place was so cramped and nothing else to do in town, but ended up having a good night both nights we were there.


Sunday did the walk between the 5 towns from Riomaggore to Monterosso. Took about 4.5 hours including thestops in each town to check them out.
The views out over the Ligurian Sea are stunning. Leaving one town and seeing the next far off in the distance, and sometimes a lot higher up in altitude, was really cool.

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

... So after 3 nights of staying out late this was the Florence Abroad Bar Crawl. So how could we pass it up? ...We couldn't we went to the bar crawl where we were able to meet lots of other study abroad students....but also get lots of free alcohol which ended in an unforgettable night but rough morning. We were given unlimited beer and sangria at the first bar along with a free shot at each bar after that. There were four bars total but my friends and I hopped out after the third. 
Florence, Tuscany, Italy kemuelle

... outside church.
It us huge in size, but that did not limit the amount of decorations on
it. It is striking during the day, and almost intimidating at night.
Lots of work must have been put into it. And then comes the
disappointment - the almost totally bare walls and hardly an altar
inside. I have not ever seen such an empty church - all the stuff was
taken into the Duomo museum to charge for viewing, while church
entrance is free. Other churches charged 5e ...

... has if they can afford to make cathedrals like this. Another day in Florence was devoted to the Uffizi, home to a great number of famous works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Donatello and Rembrant. Although I was sick (and the air conditioning wasnt helping much) I really enjoyed myself here..... especially when I got to actually see with my own eyes "The Birth of Venus" and "Spring" by Botticelli. It was beautiful. The next day was our last in Florence - we headed up to ...

... photographed some pictures from the market. One is of soccer balls and the other is of a funny half man half women manicuns. There is a little piazza by my apartment that has a merry-go-round so i photographed one of the horses. The last photograph is of one of the small cars they have here with a huge crowd of people around it, it looked funny!

Florence Sunday 10/8/08 Tour: "An easy morning drive back north to Florence, cradle of the Renaissance. Follow your Local Guide to visit the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS with Michelangelo's celebrated David, the magnificent CATHEDRAL, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistery's heavy bronze "Gate of Paradise," and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. Afterwards, check out the shops with Florentine leather goods and gold jewellery."