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