Germany

This post via Brian.  We arrived in Munich on Friday at noon vis Montreal, Paris.  We took the train into the city and traveled to our hotel by way of a great subway system.  Our hotel was a very well appointed and comfortable European style hotel.  We met Amy's, and our, friend Theressa in Marieplatz on Friday afternoon with her friend Lisa, after which we toured the city and had dinner at a fabulous beer garden.

Saturday morning, early, Amy arrived from Fierenze and met us at our hotel on Saturday morning. After a fabulous European breakfast, we toured many parts of the city, some of which we had already seen, climbed to a high church steeple for a view of the city, then went to a beer garden for lunch.  We then toured an historic palace for the afternoon.  Lastly on Saturday we went to a beer, craft and music festival at the Olympic Park.  It was a great time getting to eat many new foods and getting to see a great variety of new crafts.

Sunday we took the train to Theressa's home town of Erharting in Bavaria.  Once there we went to Burghausen on the Salz river and toured the castle.  It was a long, 1 KM, castle of great historic value and mostly untouched by the second world war.  This is significant because many structures in Bavarian cities and towns were damaged by American bombs.  That evening we joined Theressa's family, all of us dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing, and went to a local fair.  It was very much like a Vermont country fair, except for the food and the beer, and a very entertaining and unique experience.

Monday, we rose early to drive to Nieswanstein, a 3 hr drive, to see the classic castle of new origin(1800's) that was the prototype for the Disney castle.  It is the castle that you have all seen with the Bavarian Alps in the background.  It was a beautiful day with weather and views to do the site justice.  We did extensive hiking around the site and saw the castle from many different points of view.Lastly, we drove home through the Austrian Alps and the rolling farm land of southern Bavaria.  What beautiful country, with tidey farms, well kept houses, and great roads. Once we returned to Erharting we joined Theressa's family at the local beer garden for local beer and gastronomic delicasies.

Today, we drove to Salzberg, toured the city.  Nothing of great import, but a none the less beautiful city located at the base of the Austrian Alps.  On the way home we did a quick tour of Hanger 7 the collection of aircraft and automobiles(Formula 1 and NASCAR) autos of the owner of Red Bull. We finished our trip with a swim in a local lake to cool us off from the hot weather.We ended the day with a family dinner at Theressa's home with her family, with the best chicken that I have ever had. It was  harvested earlier in the day and cooked on the spot.

Wednesday, we are off to Erlangen, where Theressa's attends school.  We will let you know what we find there.

Bye Florence

I need to keep this short because I'm leaving for the train station in an hour. My parents should be in Munich now, but I haven't heard from them yet. My exams went pretty well, I'm just glad to be done. Yesterday afternoon I went to the Medici chapels and they were amazing!! After that I packed. Today I just packed and then went to the historic soccer match, which was AMAZING!!! It was so cool. You should all look up a little bit of it on youtube. Basically its guys wrestling and beating on each other and throwing a ball around. I saw two guys leave the field on stretchers, but then I had to leave so I could come back in time to get everything ready to leave. I'll post tomorrow once I'm with my parents! woohoo for a 7.5 hour train ride!!

--Amy

last week

I need to keep this quick because I have two finals tomorrow, but I just wanted to update you guys. Monday I had classes and then went to my aunt's house for dinner. It was just as fun as last time and the food was excellent!! On Tuesday in cooking class I ate sea food! We had pasta with tomatoes and clams and then my group made stuffed mussels. I tried everything and loved it! Today I went shopping with Lisi to buy my presents for my parents and I hung out with her for a little while. Really thats all of the interesting stuff that has happened this week. I need to start packing and I'm a little afraid that I have too much stuff!! I'm definitely not ready to leave Florence on Friday and its coming up too fast!! I'm sorry this is so short but for now I need to keep studying!!

--Amy

Back in Florence, again

Today we took a tour of the Jewish ghetto and other not as touristy parts of Venice which was cool. Then we had a couple of hours free to get lunch and do whatever before hopping on the bus and driving back to Florence. I made my risotto again for dinner so I can try to use up all of my food i've bought since I've been here and it was absolutely delicious. I unpacked, and now I have to get to work on my paper due on tuesday!! This is all I'm writing for now, because I seriously have to get to work. Happy father's day to any dads who read this blog, and especially my dad!! I love you and miss you and CAN NOT wait to see you bright and early Saturday morning!! 

I'll write again tomorrow

--Amy

Venezia!

Yesterday morning we got on a bus and drove to Venice! We grabbed a really quick lunch before seeing a blown glass demonstration. After that we toured the Doge's palace and the basilica and then had a break before dinner. Our dinner was pretty good, but definitely not like all of the other group meals we've had. But I tried fish!! Today we walked around the city a bunch and we have the rest of the day free. I shopped with some girls and didn't spend too much... just bought a small glass, a pair of earrings and bracelet. I think I'm going to try to find a replacement pinky ring because all of mine keep breaking :( We're on our own for dinner tonight and I think we already scoped out our place. I have my heart set on some four cheese pasta!! Hopefully I'll get some work done on my papers this afternoon, and just keep it low key. tomorrow morning we're doing another walking tour before driving back to Florence. I'll post again once we get back tomorrow night, and hopefully we'll have our actual internet back so we don't have to keep stealing from the other building!!

--Amy

Wednesday and Thursday

Yesterday was an average day. We went to the Palazzo Vecchio in my first class, and he just lectured in my second class. I did however somehow end up getting an 89 on my hard midterm!! After classes, I came back to the apartment and got a decent amount of work done on my papers before going over to my aunt's house for dinner. Febrizzio made pasta with bacon and it was really good. Then we had a delicious salad and some sliced meat. For dessert we had gelato over fresh blueberries and some dessert wine. Today, we did a walking tour of some Renaissance palaces, and went to Pitti Palace in my second class, and now I'm working on my research paper. Tonight is just going to be a chill night of laundry and packing for Venice tomorrow!! Not sure if I'll be able to get internet in Venice, but if I do I'll try to post at least once while I'm there.

--Amy

cooking class

As the title implies, that was the only interesting part of the day. This morning in my first class he lectured for a little while and then we went to Santa croce, which was pretty cool, but its nowhere near as amazing as other churches I've been in here in Florence. I had a pretty easy midterm in my second class and then we analyzed some texts by machiavelli, and honestly, that was really boring. Then I tried to get a head start on my paper, which I actually have started writing. Then cooking class!! Tonight we had a tomato soup type thing, i think? I thought it was supposed to be tomato soup, but it was dry and clumpy, so it wasn't really soup, but whatever it was, it was really good! Our second course was a tomato bean dish on the side of fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, and fried zucchini. I made the chicken, tomatoes and zucchini with my group. The bean dish was better though, because everyone has had fried stuff like that. But we fried it in olive oil so it was a little different. For dessert we had an orange cake with almonds on top (but of course I couldn't eat the almonds). It was interesting to say the least because it was kind of hard, so we were supposed to dip it in a sweet dessert wine. But it was still really good. Sorry today was so boring, but its going to be like that for a little while since I have so much work to do in such a short amount of time!! I'll post again before we leave for Venice on Friday!

--Amy

Southern Italy- full version

Some of this will be repeated from the last post, but this is with details!

We got on the bus and left Florence at 6 am. It was rough, but awesome because we got to watch the sun rise. I'm one of those people who can't sleep once I'm up, so I got to watch the Tuscan countryside wake up. At one point there was mist on the Apennines and the sun rising behind them, and a castle on a hill close to me, and it is probably one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. I was on the opposite side of the bus, so I couldn't take a picture, but I don't think I needed to because it is burned in my brain. It was a 6 hour drive down to Naples, and we didn't even stop anywhere before going to Vesuvius. We drove in the bus most of the way up which was one of the most terrifying things ever. Imagine a 55 passenger bus driving up the side of a mountain (which means sharp turns). The bus driver had to continually honk because he couldn't see if people were coming or not and he took up both sides of the road whenever he was turning, which was a lot. Sometimes it even took multiple tries to get around turns. But we had a beautiful panoramic view of Naples, until we got into the clouds. We couldn't see much from the top, not even the inside of the volcano. But its still awesome to say I've been at the top of Vesuvius!! Then we drove about an hour to Sorrento where we stayed in a 4-star hotel! We hadn't eaten lunch so a bunch of us went for a quick lunch at 4 when we had a 3 course meal at 7. We were starving though, so I was still able to eat all of my dinner. The first course was this DELICIOUS cheese-filled crepe. Mom: we're going to find a recipe so I can learn how to make this!! The second course was leg of lamb with some sort of asparagus sauce, which was pretty good. And we had a tiramisu cake like thing for dessert. After that we went for a Limoncello tasting and then walked to a lookout point where we could see all of the bay of Naples.
Saturday was our day on the Isle of Capri. We had a continental breakfast at the hotel, which was the highlight of the morning because it was absolutely delicious and awesome to eat a big breakfast for the first time in a long time! When we got to the ferry it was raining and we had a pretty rocky ride over to Capri. Then we got on another boat and took a tour around the island, and by that point it had stopped raining and seemed like it was clearing, but when we got off back at the marina, it was thundering. Luckily, it cleared up about 30 minutes later and we ended up having a beautiful day! I wandered around with 3 other girls. We checked out some of the streets and found a nice place to eat, and then got gelatto at apparently the best gelatto shop our tour guide Luca has ever tasted. It was pretty good, but I'm not sure about the best. Then we went to the beach for the rest of the afternoon, where I got sunburned on the backs of my legs. oops. It's mostly gone now though! That evening we went to a pizzeria for dinner where we had three different slices and a tasting of different fried appetizers. Pizza order: cheese, then spinach, artichoke and mushroom, and the third one was ham. One of the fried things was fried mozzarella which was so good (mom we're gonna play around with that too).
On Sunday we got to sleep in a little before heading to Pompeii. Pompeii was amazing. It is crazy how this entire city was just lost for so long! It was cool to learn about how it happened and have seen the volcano already and know just how destructive it was. Honestly, from the proximity of the volcano to Pompeii, I'm surprised that the city wasn't more destroyed. The tour took a long time and by the end we were all exhausted and ready for lunch and sitting for 6 hours on the way back to Florence.
Today thus far, I had a midterm in the morning which I most certainly could have done better on, but he only gave us a small amount of room to write and no instructions for how specific to be, so it was a little frustrating. Then we watched a video on the calcio storico, which is the historic soccer game played here in Florence on the day dedicated to St. John the Baptist, which we are going to see on our last day in Florence. It's pretty intense and I'm really excited for it now. In my other class we toured the Medici Riccardi palace and then the inside of the Palazzo Vecchio, which I had no idea was so big!! It took forever and we were all so tired afterwards. Now I have to go prepare a short presentation on the facade of the Santa Croce for tomorrow. Hopefully I'm going over to my aunts house for dinner, which will be awesome because I've hardly spoken any Italian since I've gotten here, and Febrizzio is hopefully going to teach me how to make something amazing! I'll write again tomorrow, but for now I should get to work. Miss you all!!

--Amy

Southern Italy

I survived the weekend, but now have two midterms in the next two days and its already after 10:30 here, so I'm just going to give you guys the readers digest version for now, but tomorrow afternoon I'll write with details.
 We got up very early and drove to Naples, climbed Mt. Vesuvius, but it was so cloudy that we couldn't really see much. Then we went to Sorrento, had some free time, and then had a delicious meal at the hotel restaurant. Saturday we went to the Island of Capri, which was so beautiful. I laid out on the beach with a bunch of girls and, naturally, got sunburned. For dinner we went to a pizzeria and I now like artichoke and mushroom pizza. Today we went to Pompeii and then drove home!
 Tomorrow I have my Quarters of Florence midterm and then we're reviewing in my other class for our midterm on Tuesday. Too bad I don't have the review before my midterm in my other class because they're on the exact same material! Hopefully tomorrow night I'm having dinner at Lisi and Febrizzio's house!! That would make my day! But for now I need to study and go to bed! I apologize for any poor grammar, its been a long weekend! Hope things are well with all of you!

--Amy

no internet :(

Today in my first class we visited the pitti palace, but we were running late, so we hardly got to spend any time there. In my second class, we talked about the same stuff we did in our first class, which was good because it reinforced the information and cleared up all of my questions. Then I just came back and worked on my paper due tomorrow. Unfortunately, our internet is down so I have no clue when I'll be able to update again, plus we go to Naples for three days and I'm not bringing my computer. I'll try to write again on Sunday night or Monday, but for now there's really not much to say and I have to finish editing my paper :(

--Amy

The last two days haven't been very interesting. Yesterday in my first class we visited a monastery and were on site visits the entire class (2.5 hours) and just analyzed primary sources in my second class. In the afternoon I tried to do some homework and did some chores around the apartment. For dinner the boys cooked up some chicken and I made some pasta to go along with it. We celebrated my roommate's birthday and that was a lot of fun. Today we visited Santa Spirito church and some workshops across the river, and the San Lorenzo church in my second class. I have my first paper due on thursday, so that is stressing me out a little bit. I had my second cooking class today and that was a lot of fun. We had bruschetta, home made ravioli with spinach and riccatta, a chicken dish, and my group made a riccatta based cake. Everything was delicious! It has been raining a lot over the past few days! And it doesn't just rain, it pours and thunders and its a little bit scary!  As I anticipated, I've just fallen into a rhythm so nothing interesting is really happening right now, but we are leaving for Naples and capri on Friday morning! I'll post again before we leave for that. Hope everybody is doing well and I miss you all!

Amy

weekend with Theresa

I'm sorry, I was about to post last night, and then we couldn't decide what we wanted to do today, and I never got around to posting!! Yesterday, Theresa and I walked up to Piazzale Michelangelo in the morning and also visited the San Miniato church. It was beautiful and nice to see it again, and appreciate the view now that I've been in the city longer. We also went to the cemetery in the back of the church, which was massive and amazing to see. There were so many intricately designed statues in there marking graves and family tombs. It was sad, but interesting in the fact that it is so different from American cemeteries. After that we came back for lunch before going to the Florence wine event where you could get 10 wine tastings and a glass to keep for 10 euro. We got 6 tastings for only 3 punches on our card. We went and got dinner and gelatto in the middle before going back for more. After that we came back and planned out Sunday before going to bed early. On Sunday we got up really early and went to the Uffizi, which was a lot of fun because I have not been there yet on this trip. After that we stopped at the store to get stuff for lunch and dinner. We made lunch and then went to the wine festival for a little bit. Then we went to the Bobli Gardens, which were beautiful for about 15 minutes until it started to rain.... and then hail.... and then our umbrella broke and we were soaked and decided to seek shelter after sitting in this unfortunate weather after 20 minutes. We sat in the small shack at the entrance for about an hour and then decided to walk back... barefoot... with no umbrella and we were about 20 minutes from my apartment. So it was an adventure to say the least. And then we made an amazing risotto which I promise I will make for all of you at some point because I'm now in love with it, and I walked Theresa to the train station at 9:15 and now I have homework to catch up on before classes start again tomorrow! But it has been a great weekend and I am so excited to see Theresa again in Germany in 3 weeks!! I'll try to write again tomorrow, but it will probably be short because I don't forsee anything too interesting happening tomorrow.

--Amy

Theresa's here!!

Sorry I haven't written in a few days, its been kind of crazy here! On Wednesday I had my usual classes, and in my first class we visited the San Lorenzo church which I pass everyday on my way to school and have been dying to see! It was absolutely gorgeous!! Then in my other class we talked about the Medici family and their rule of Florence. After that I went back to the San Lorenzo church so I could visit the Laurentian Library. It was absolutely amazing and I took so many pictures!! In the evening the three apartments in our building had a pasta cook-off which was so much fun, and I would have won if my dish hadn't been cold when it was served because I was ready so much sooner before everyone else. On Thursday, I took advantage of the day to sleep in, walk around and take pictures, and get ahead on some work. Today Theresa arrived at 6:20 am. For those of you who don't know, she is my friend from Germany that I met at a shooting camp in Georgia 4 years ago, and I haven't had the opportunity to see her since, so it's amazing to finally see her again! We came back to the apartment and got our bearings and then did a walking tour of the city and stopped off at the medici-riccardi palace. It wasn't as great as I thought it would be, but it was still cool to see it since I also pass by it multiple times a day. After that we met up with some of friends and went to the market before taking a bus up to a small monastery just outside of the city. This was absolutely beautiful. We got a tour from an adorable old monk, but it was all in Italian so we didn't really have any idea what he was saying, but it was still pretty cool! Taking the bus up there was a bit of an adventure as well. Theresa, one of the guys and I experimented with a pasta sauce for dinner, which turned out alright. We put in tomatoes, garlic, onions, white wine, olive oil, and some cheese over spinach and riccato ravioli. It was delicious, but a few too many flavors for your mouth to handle all at once. But hey, we tried! After that we all went up to the wine festival, but we had gotten there too late, so we couldn't buy a ticket. But its going on for the next two nights, so we'll go back! For now we're gonna get some sleep because I'm sure we'll have a packed day tomorrow! If I can figure out how to post pictures, I'll see if I can get some up in the next day or two. Otherwise, check facebook because I put a lot of pictures up on Wednesday. Again, sorry I waited so long to post!

--Amy

first cooking class!

This is going to be a short post a) because its late and b) because I don't have a lot to say. In my first class today I learned a lot and we took an interesting tour of the city and in my second class we saw Santa Maria Novella church which I have never seen before! There were a lot of chapels in that church, all of which I found very interesting! I also had my first cooking class today which was so much fun!! We made a risotto, pesto (which I couldn't eat because of the nuts :( ), a Fratella?, and a chocolate cake!! We split up into four groups, and my group made the risotto!! It was so good!! Then we just hung out, and now I'm going to bed once I do my quick reading for my class tomorrow morning! (I hope its quick!!) I'll write more tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll have time to upload some pictures on thursday, because we have no class. For those of you who care, I also got to see two of the guys from Jersey shore today. I don't like that show, but it just excites me because I know they're kind of famous. Tomorrow in my morning class we're seeing San Lorenzo church, and things in that area, which I have never seen before, but pass by multiple times on my way to class everyday and I can not wait to see inside!!

--Amy

First day of classes

I had my first class, the quarters of Florence, today at 9 am. I know that I'm going to love this class! My professor is this funny Italian guy who is just so enthusiastic about everything he talks about and he goes on these little side rants which make the class all the more entertaining. We're going on site visits everyday which means less of a chance of me falling asleep during the 2 1/2 hours! I had an hour lunch break before my next class, Italian Renaissance Civilization and Culture. This class was not quite as good and it took all of my energy to unsuccessfully not fall asleep. You'd think this would be my favorite class, but the professor is dull and the room is really hot and I already sat through a long class. We go on a few site visits in this class, but mostly to the same places and not quite as frequently, but thats ok! I had to run a few errands after that and then I skyped with my parents and grandma before doing some homework and going to dinner with a bunch of the girls. Tomorrow in my morning class we're going to San Lorenzo church and the places close by there and we're going to the Santa Maria Novella church in my second class. I'm really excited because I've never been to either of these churches and I've always wanted to. But for now I'm gonna go to bed early because I haven't been and hopefully I can sleep off whatever is making my throat hurt so I don't get sick!! goodnight! 

--Amy

Pisa and Lucca

We started off today by getting on a bus and traveling to Lucca. I have never been there before and it was absolutely beautiful. It's like a mini version of Florence, because it has a similar feel, but is much smaller and still has all of the original city walls. However, the walls are so thick that they have made the top of the wall into a park with a paved path surrounding the city. We rode our bikes around the city on that path, and it was so much fun and so beautiful!! Lucca is my new favorite city in Italy!!! We had a picnic lunch on the wall as well before taking the bus to Pisa. All we did in Pisa was see the leaning tower and the Cathedral and baptistery. There were so many tourists there it was crazy!!! But seeing the leaning tower was amazing. We came back and I made my pasta sauce and then we got gelatto and now we're going to bed because its late here and we have our first classes tomorrow!! I know I said I would upload some pictures today, but there's not really any that I like enough to upload. I'll work on that in the next few days. In the meantime I'll try to upload some pictures to facebook!!

--Amy

Siena

Today we met at 8 and took a bus to Siena. On our way, we stopped at a little town called Montiriggioni. It was used as the safety town for Siena against battles with Florence in the middle ages. It was a tiny town, but absolutely beautiful!! We only stayed for about an hour, but it was well worth the stop! In Siena, we took a tour of the town and then had a delicious lunch at a small restaurant. Then we toured the duomo, which I have already seen twice, but it even took my breath away the third time!! On our way back to the city, we stopped at a small church on the hill above the city near piazzale michelangelo. For dinner we found some cheap pizza, and now we're on our way to bed after a long day! I promise I'll upload some pictures tomorrow! I just put some on my computer, so it will happen tomorrow along with the pictures from Pisa and Lucca tomorrow!!

--Amy

orientation day

This morning we had to be at orientation early and that took a good portion of the day. Then we were tired and some of us took a quick nap before grocery shopping. We just hung out for the rest of the day because we were tired. However, we had our opening dinner for the school (last night was for our program) in the palazzo Borghese, which was delicious and beautiful. Most of our group decided we wanted to go to the gelatto festival, however, we got lost on the way and half of the group decided to just head back, but a few of us went on and it was beautiful and so worth it!! We're just getting back and have to get up early to go to Siena tomorrow, so this is a quick post, sorry. Hopefully I'll start taking more pictures soon, so I have some to post for you guys!!! keep reading and commenting please, I'd love to hear from you guys!!!! I'm having such a great time and meeting a lot of awesome people!! Miss you all!!!! 

--Amy

Move-in day!

As the title implies, today we moved into our apartments and everyone else showed up!! The apartment is pretty cool, pretty much what you would expect. Two bedrooms, a decent sized kitchen, a bathroom, and in the hallways there are some couches. We are in one of the three apartments that is separate from the rest of the group. However, we have a nice patio and it connects our apartment to the guys apartment, which has been nice since now we've gotten to know the five of them pretty well. We didn't do anything too exciting today, just moved in and got an introduction to some of the funky things about living in an old building. We all ate dinner together at a nice restaurant where we had a 3 course meal plus dessert, and the food was AMAZING!!! Our first course was a small piece of bruschetta (mom ours is better) and some cheese/ quiche type thing which was actually really good, but I'm not sure what was inside of it and I probably don't want to... the next course was a delicious pasta in a marina sauce, and the final course was ham on potatoes. I'm not really sure what we had for dessert but it moved and was white and we haven't decided if we liked it or not, but we did like the chocolate sauce that it was on top of!! This took two and a half hours (and it didn't start until 8) and then we took our walking tour of the city which was fantastic. When we got into the piazza della signoria there was a huge orchestra playing along with opera singers, and the whole city was just absolutely beautiful at night! Some of us stopped for gelato at a legendary gelattaria and it was really good! But for now its 12:30 and we have our orientation tomorrow at 9, so we're going to bed!! good night!

--Amy

First day

So after sleeping for 14 hours, I am almost over my jet lag. I meandered through the city this morning and met up with my aunt for a quick walk through the city and lunch. It is quite hot here so we went for some gelato. I have never actually been able to taste the caffeine in chocolate before, but I sure did today! It was surprisingly good, but was the chocolate equivalent of an espresso shot!! It was so hot, that after wandering back to my hostel I needed a quick nap, and only went back out for dinner. 

As a surprising turn of events, three of the other girls in my room go to UNC and are in the equivalent program to the program I'm in so they will be living right down the street from me and taking classes at the same school throughout the month!! And they were also on the same flight as four other girls from my program that I ran into this morning! 

Since I have to check out at 10, I should probably get to bed early again. Tomorrow will be a busy day and things will just keep getting busier, but I will continue to try to write everyday for the first week or so until things get repetitive after classes start, and I'll post pictures once I have some!! 

--Amy

Ciao firenze!

So after over 20 hours of traveling, I'm finally here!! Everything went fairly smoothly, although I didn't sleep much on the plane. The flight from paris to milan was absolutely beautiful because we were flying over the alps most of the time. I had to sit around in the train station in milan for a while for my train which was boring because there was nowhere to sit. But all in all it was a fairly stress-free trip, just tiring!! Now I'm here staying in a giant hostel and I don't know anyone, but on thursday everyone else shows up and I move into my apartment, but for now I'm going to find some food and water and then go to sleep! I'll write again in a few days once interesting things start happening!

--Amy

Tomorrow!!

I can't believe tomorrow is the day I leave!! I guess I'm kind of ready. I'm so excited to go, but I'm not ready to leave Vermont again for 6 weeks, considering that I just got here after being away for 5 months.

For those of you who care, we'll be leaving our house in the 11:30-12ish time frame to drive up to Montreal. I have a 5:20 flight from Montreal to Paris, 4 hour layover in Paris, then I fly to Milan where I will catch a train to Florence. Roughly 21 hours of traveling!!

Well, I should probably get back to "packing" and whatnot but I just wanted to put up one more post before I leave! I'll post again once I get there.

--Amy

so soon!!!

Hey there!!

I decided to make a blog for my trip so that everyone can check up on me! I'm so excited! I can't believe I leave in 45 days!! It sounds like its so far off, but it seems so much closer than that! Only two and half more weeks of classes, then exams for a week, home for a week and half before heading over!!

For those of you who don't know, I'll be taking six credits in Florence set-up through a University run program! I will be there with 48ish students from NCSU. Over the course of the month we will take a three day trip to Venice, another three day trip to Naples and Pompeii (and a few other places nearby), and some day trips to Siena and Pisa. We do have one free weekend, and I am so excited for my friend Theresa from Germany to come down and visit me!! I haven't seen her since September of 2007 so I absolutely can not wait! I will be living with three other girls in an apartment right near the Academia Gallery (which luckily has a kitchen so we won't have to spend a fortune eating out!!)

After the trip, I will be meeting my parents in Germany where we will travel around for a week, and see Theresa again and meet her family!! We will end our journey with a few days in Paris!

Well, I just thought I'd get the blog set-up before I leave! I'm not sure how often I will update, but hopefully at least three times a week, and especially after really exciting days! However, I expect I will be updating facebook more often, so that will be more reliable. This blog will also highlight the entirety of my journey with my parents, so their friends can keep up with their trip on here too! (I should probably change the title when that comes around)

This will probably be the only post until a few days before the trip.

Thanks for following!!!

Amy Roderer