Come Home

The time has come; I will be leaving Italy on Monday. As I begin to come to terms with this fact I am filled with conflicting emotions. I have loved every second of being here, and in some ways Italy feels like home. I love the culture, the people, the food, the architecture, the list goes on and on. Of course, on the other hand I am eager to return home to see family and friends, MEET MY NEW PUPPY, have my car, and go to the beach (I know it must be freezing but you can bet I'll be there at some point upon my return)! In light of all these emotions I have simply come to the conclusion that I must enjoy every last second that I am here (which is why this post is going to be relatively short), delight in the company of my family and friends and all the other joys of being home, and set my mind on returning to this beautiful country again one day.

These last few days have been filled with going away dinners, parties, and visiting all the places I didn't have the chance to get to as of yet. I haven't even begun to think about packing, aside from the dread of not being able to get everything home. Prayers for packing and traveling to go smoothly would be greatly appreciated. 

The hour is coming where I will have to make my farewells so I will begin by saying thank you to all who have read my blog. It truly means the world to me that you would want to keep up with my adventures. To the people I have met on this trip and the close friends I have made: Grazie mille! This trip would have not been the same with out you, and a presto! I truly hope I will be seeing you soon! To my Californians patiently awaiting my arrival at home: I will definitely be seeing you soon so prepare yourselves for many, many stories. To my friends in Seattle: I will be there before you know it and I am definitely excited to see what blessings this quarter holds both academically, spiritually, and socially!

La bella citta, Firenze!

"I get lost in the beauty of everything I see. The world ain't half as bad as they paint it to be. If all the sons, all the daughters stop to take it in. Well hopefully the hate subsides and the love can begin... Come home, come home... cus I've been waiting for you for so long, so long." OneRepublic

Roam

It has been entirely too long since I last posted, and to those of you still paying attention I am deeply sorry. Life has been extremely busy as of late and I have somewhat been dreading writing due to the fact that I knew it would be a very long post and would take a long time to complete. But, finally here I am writing the latest news to share with all of my friends and family back home!

Last week I got back from our Fall Break; we had ten days to travel and I spent mine in Germany and the Czech Republic. My very best friend, Heather, has been backpacking through Europe so after spending some time in Italy together we packed our bags and headed to Munich. I boarded a bus to the Pisa airport at 3:30 in the morning, got on a flight to Memmingen, took a taxi to the Memmingen train station, and two trains to get to Munich, but I finally made it! Heather met me there after her overnight train to Munich because she has a EuRail Pass and I don't. We spent about a day and a half in Munich; exploring the city and the gorgeous English Gardens. We ate pretzel after pretzel, and even went to our very first beer garden. The hostel we stayed at was also quite fun. We shared our room with eight other Swiss students who were hilarious- we even went out to dinner with two of them and I got to practice my French (which is actually a lot better than I thought it would be)! The only downside was when they came back to the hostel at 5:30 in the morning after a night of drinking and clubbing, turned on the lights, and started throwing a tennis ball at one of the metal lockers in the room. I guess that's just the risk you take when staying at a hostel; and as our Swiss friends love to say, "No risk, no fun!"

The English Gardens

Then, we hopped on a train and headed to Stuttgart to stay with some family friends of Heather's. We had such a relaxing time being with a family, eating good food, and playing with some of the sweetest dogs! Although Stuttgart isn't the liveliest of towns, it was gorgeous. The leaves were all changing and we lucked out with wonderful weather; it finally felt like Fall! It was a much needed break from all the hustle and bustle of a city.

The gorgeous church right by the house we stayed at in Stuttgart

Then, we geared up after our relaxation time and made our way to Prague! Sidenote: always double check to make sure you've gotten on the right train- it doesn't hurt to ask. Heather and I were at the right platform for our train to Nurembug, where we would catch our bus to Prague. However, there were two trains at that platform and unless the sweet lady in our car hadn't asked me where we were trying to go, we would have ended up nowhere near where we were trying to go. But, luck, God, and sweet old ladies were on our side that day so we quickly exited the train and ran down to the right one and eventually made it to Prague! There, we were met by one of my roommates from Florence, Cat, and our very very close friend from home, Sarah! The four of us had such a wonderful time exploring the city, the Prague Castle, and enjoying some hot wine along the way. Even our hostel in Prague was amazing! It was clean, adorable, had the most amazing shower ever in the history of hostels I'm sure, and served delicious breakfast! But enough on the hostel, let's talk about the city. Prague is simply breathtaking; the architecture is beautiful. My favorite was the Castle. I fell in love with all of the gothic architecture in both Germany and Prague, but the Castle was by far the most magnificent. I can't even describe how incredible it was and although pictures don't even do it justice, I will just have to put some up so you can try and understand.

The four of us in front of the Castle

I loved the gargoyles!

Unfortunately our time in Prague had to come to and end so I boarded a bus and headed home to Florence. And, when I reached Florence 18 hours later, I could not have been more relieved. That's right, 18 hours on a bus with people who ONLY spoke Czech, not knowing where I was or when I would get to Florence. Oh, and to add to it the man in front of me had the worst B.O. ever and kept his seat pushed back the whole way. Let's just say that's the last time I buy a ticket anywhere that doesn't have an arrival time on it. It was quite the experience!

It is wonderful to be back in Italy; I still absolutely love it here and am already getting sad that I'll be leaving in a little less than a month! Life here is so much fun; I've even been singing at a pub here called The Lion's Fountain! There's a couple Americans that play there once a week together and I've had the opportunity to sing a bit with them, which has been a blast. Last time I even got to perform one of my own songs for the very first time, which was a dream come true. I will never forget that experience for as long as I live. And it was made even better by my wonderful friends who came out to support me and cheer me on!

The walls of the pub are covered with writing so my wonderful fans left their mark for me!

My lovely fans!

This weekend we head to Rome which I am definitely looking forward to. I've only been once and it was a very long time ago so it will be interesting to see how my view on the city has changed as I've gotten older. That city houses so much history, especially that which is such an important part of the Christian faith. I'm extremely excited to see it all again with my new eyes as a much more mature woman of faith.

I will definitely be posting again after the trip, but until then....Ciao!



"Roam where you want to, roam around the world." The B-52's

This Is Our Someday

This post is dedicated to my amazingly talented friend, James Maslow, for his first album hitting iTunes and being number one the first day! If you don't already know the band Big Time Rush, from the Nickelodeon TV show with the same title (why wouldn't you? If you know me, then you know of them) then check it out! So James, I am so proud of you and even though I am halfway around the world, my thoughts, prayers, pride, and excitement is all for you!

So proud! James is second from the left (for those who don't already know who I'm so proud of)

Now back to life in Italy, which is, as always, a dream come true. This past weekend I had a wonderful friend from home, Annie Heathorn, come up from her study abroad program in Rome to spend some quality time with me. We had a wonderful time riding bikes, eating good food, and seeing the city from the top of the Duomo. Duomo means "cathedral" in Italian, so you can imagine many churches are named such. However, in Firenze "Duomo" refers to the massive church in the center of town (it's the one you can see in every picture of Florence). We made the very claustrophobic climb between the two walls that make up the dome and experienced an amazing sight. We picked a gorgeous clear day to go up there and could see so far out into the hills of Tuscany. It was wonderful!

Made it to the top of the Dome!

The next day we rode bikes all around the city and out into a little of the surrounding, less crowded area. It is a miracle we did not get hit in the city; there are so many people and cars don't really care if you are in the way. However, once we got out into the less dense area it was perfect. We found a few parks, played on some swings, climbed a totem pole, sat along the Arno (the river that runs through the city) to watch the sunset. It was perfect.

Sunday came and Annie had to leave, but the sadness was lessened by the fact that my parents arrived! We spent a little time walking around the Boboli gardens, and getting dinner; it was wonderful to see them, even though they were very jet lagged! I'm looking forward to a wonderful week with them, taking them to my favorite places and showing them my life here in Italy. I no longer feel like I'm visiting this wonderful place; this is now my home and I absolutely love it!

Me and dad :) Pretty sure I'm making fun of him for something right then

"Someday is what we make it. Someday is right here and now. Why wait? Cause this is our someday." Big Time Rush

Big Weekend

What a wonderful and long weekend! As such, this is going to be a very long blog. I apologize right now. Feel free to read it in parts; maybe take a coffee break in the middle somewhere. Well, here goes... It started off with a day trip to the lovely towns of Siena and San Gimignano. Siena was by far my favorite day trip so far; it is such an intriguing city, filled with so much history that is still very much a part of their day-to-day life. Siena is split up into seventeen different districts, or contradas. Each contrada has a mascot, some of which are Unicorn, Forest, Owl, Elephant, Giraffe, and Turtle. Not only are you baptized into the church as a baby, you are also baptized into your contrada. This means that if you are baptized into the Turtle contrada, you will remain a Turtle for life. It doesn’t matter if you marry a Unicorn, or move to the Elephant contrada, you will always be a Turtle. They also have large rivalries and alliances between contradas (much like San Ramon vs. Monte Vista but on a much larger scale). Now I’m sure you’re wondering what this is all leading up to; they wouldn’t have these contradas and rivalries for nothing, right? Right. Twice every year, Siena holds “Il Palio”. It is a very large horse race. Every contrada has one horse and one jockey. Interestingly, the jockey is usually hired and not from the contrada. Also, the horses are picked by random to ensure fairness. We had the chance of walking past a stable, which looked much like a home because the horses are that special to the contrada. Apparently, the horses come in four days before the race and are protected by 24-hour bodyguards, as are the jockeys. These people don’t joke about this race. The race itself, takes place right in the middle of the city; in a huge piazza. I absolutely loved the chance to get to walk around this remarkable city, that’s history is very much alive today. These people still practice all of these long standing traditions. It was amazing.

The piazza where Il Palio is held

Valeria and I in the same piazza

Then we traveled to the lovely town of San Gimignano. There we got to explore the city, get some wonderful gelato, wander in and out of shops, and take in the gorgeous countryside view. I tried a lovely new flavor of gelato: raspberry rosemary, it was quite unique and delicious! The view was by far the best part though. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day so we couldn’t see too far, but it was breathtaking nonetheless. I just love looking out over the country and seeing the vineyards and villas scattered along the hills.

The next day we had another treat in store for us. A few others and myself ventured to Venice! The whole day I felt as though I stepped onto a Disneyland ride, it was unreal. We got there and immediately hopped on a taxi (now mind you, Venice has no cars, all of their taxis, police, ambulances, and even garbage vehicles are boats) and went on a little ride down the Grand Canal, the main waterway. We got to see so much of the city, and check out all of the adorable gondolas, and some gondola drivers. Then we went for a little stroll through San Marco Square, and on to a glass blowing exhibition. The exhibition was very short, but also very amazing. The “master” made a vase in about 5 minutes, maybe less. Then we had some free time so, naturally, we got some lunch. We all had seafood and bellini’s, a typical Venician meal. Seafood is one of their specialties, and the bellini was invented in Venice at a bar called Harry’s, which we walked by but didn’t get to go in. Then we headed out on a longer tour around the city, complete with a short but sweet gondola ride. It was such a lovely day; I couldn’t have imagined it better. The city is so picturesque, and yet I feel like my all my pictures (and I took a lot!) don’t nearly do it justice.

Gondolas!

Super excited to ride the gondola!

Riding the gondola :)

Gondola driver (can you tell we were really excited about the gondola?)

Wait, this isn't Disneyland?

Sunday was another lovely day. It was much more low-key than the others, but very relaxing and refreshing. I went church hunting! The morning service I went to was an Italian Evangelist church. I bravely went all by myself and understood about 10 percent of the whole service. Luckily, I was able to find what book they were in, as well as which chapter, but I could not tell you what they were saying about it. The people were very welcoming though, and I got invited to a college group and a bible study. I would love to go, but honestly I don’t know how beneficial it would be due to the fact that I would have no idea what was going on. Later that evening I went to an English service at a Methodist church, which was absolutely wonderful. The Florence Gospel Choir was there which reminded me of being back at SPU in Gospel Choir. Also, a missionary from the states spoke and it was so powerful and convicting. I felt completely refreshed and empowered! I am definitely going to go back and I hope to bring others with me! Also, I’m thinking of joining the Florence Gospel Choir while I’m here. It seems pretty relaxed and very fun.

All in all, I had a fabulous weekend! Looking forward to the next weekend to come as well; my wonderful friend Annie is making her way up from Rome so we can enjoy each other’s company, and my lovely parents are coming on Sunday to spend a week with me! I am so blessed!

One last thing, SORRY again for the super long post!

“I need a big weekend; kick up the dust. Yeah, a big weekend. If you don't run, you rust.” Tom Petty

Soak Up The Sun

This weekend, myself and a group of 15 other people went to the lovely Cinque Terre. The name means "Five Lands," and is named so because it consists of five different towns situated on rocky cliffs on the Mediterranean Sea. We took the 6:10 morning train to Riomaggiore, the southernmost town and spent the day and night there. We were anticipating rain the whole weekend, but we got there and it was absolutely gorgeous! We immediately hit the beach; unlike California beaches, the beaches here are small and mainly rocks. However, after being in a city for a few weeks, us California kids weren't even about to complain; we were in Heaven. Unfortunately, we did not get much swimming done due to the massive amounts of jellyfish in the water, but laying out was just fine for me. Later, a few of us rented kayaks and went for a little jaunt around the cliffs.  It was such a perfect experience. The rest of the evening we spent wandering around the town, taking pictures, and doing a bit of fun reading. Then, the rain came. We got caught in a bit of a thunderstorm, and got a little soaked to the bone.

The next day we were catching a train from the northernmost town in the evening, to get home. One of the ways to get from town to town is to hike, and we were eager to take up that option. We set off on the first hike, known as the Via dell'Amore, or "Lover's Walk." There is all sorts of graffiti everywhere you look of names of couples and confessions of adoration; it's really quite moving. Also, there are locks all over the gates at the entrance of the walk, and even the fences holding the rocks on the cliffs. Apparently, they resemble a "lock of love" between lovers; a symbol that their love will never be broken.

After the first walk, we hopped on the train to the next town, Corniglia, because the trail was closed due to rain. We took a quick breather and bathroom break and headed on our way to the fourth town, Vernazza. This was the tough hike. Not only were we hiking with our overnight bags, I made the mistake of soaking my Toms (shoes) and had to wear sandals. However, for all of the pain and sweat that went into the hike, the view was well worth it. For the most part we were right along the bluest water that I have ever seen in my life. It was breathtaking.

We finally made it to Vernazza, after meeting a lovely couple from San Diego, and witnessing a real cat fight... literally, cats fighting in a tree. We stopped for some delicious lunch and opted to take the train to the last town, Monterosso, so we could hit the beach as soon as possible. We got there and had the most perfect beach weather imaginable, even though rain had still been in the forecast. This beach was "sandy," meaning smaller rocks, but it was perfect. The water was incredibly warm and the sun was so relaxing. We stayed at the beach for most of the rest of our time there, reading, tanning, and playing in the water. Then, we treated ourselves to some gelato and headed home. All in all, it was such a relaxing weekend, and much needed break from city life. It is great to be home though... amazing how Florence is already feeling like home.

Riomaggiore

View from the beach at Monterosso, complete with awesome Pirates of the Caribbean looking ship

"I'm gonna soak up the sun; gonna tell everyone to lighten up. I'm gonna tell 'em that I've got no one to blame. For every time I feel lame I'm looking up. I'm gonna soak up the sun." Sheryl Crow

Scenes From an Italian Restaurant

I've been in Italy for almost two weeks now, so I concluded it was time to write a little about the food. Let's begin with an overall statement: The food is DELICIOUS! I can't go into everything I've eaten, because not only would that be embarrassing, but also boring; however, I will talk about my main highlight as far as food goes.

The program I'm with scheduled for us all to take a cooking class from professional cooks. It was INCREDIBLE! Now, I know you're all thinking, "wait a minute, Molly? Cooking? That doesn't add up". Let me just tell you, I am going to be one master chef when I return to the states. We still have one more cooking class scheduled, as well. At the class we made ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese (completely from scratch), the most delicious eggplant, zucchini, potato, and cheese appetizer, and panna cotta for dessert. Everything was very simple to make, and extremely delicious. Our teacher was a very young, hilarious guy who had his nose pierced so we bonded instantly. He is also studying to translate Italian and French so I got to practice a little of both, which was very fun.  After we made the food we all had a giant feast and ate EVERYTHING. I also may have finished a few people's desserts. I am so excited to recreate our dishes at home.

Side-note: During the course of my time here I have learned that I LOVE eggplant.  I never really tried it before, it always kind of scared me.  But now, I eat eggplant ALL THE TIME.  Honestly, it might even be rivaling the bell pepper for the spot of my favorite vegetable.

"A bottle of red, a bottle of white. It all depends upon your appetite. I'll meet you any time you want in our Italian restaurant." Billy Joel

These Boots Were Made For Walking

Well, I made it through the first week of classes and had a wonderful weekend.  My Art History class is so enjoyable, especially since we get to see so much of the art we're studying firsthand.  It's a whole new experience.  But, by far, my favorite class is Italian.  My teacher is the most adorable Italian woman who does not speak much english and teaches us by doing fun things in class, such as writing our own personal ads and listening to italian music.  It is so much fun, and I feel like I'm learning so much as well.  I try to practice my Italian whenever I go out, at least a little bit.  The other fun thing about our school is that it is right next to the amphitheater where Florence held their games (yes, I'm talking gladiators) back in the day.  Apparently, the basement of the building we have school in was used to house the beasts used in the arena, as well as the gladiators.  Fun bit of history!

Outside of school we have just been enjoying the beautiful city of Firenze.  There is so much to do here and I want to experience all of it.  On Friday we went to Fiesole, a small town up on a hill outside of Florence that has a beautiful view of the city.  The town was built by Etruscans and then taken over by the Romans so there is a lot of beautiful architecture.  We got to tour the remains of a theater, and the Roman baths, which was very interesting.

The view from Fiesole (a bit cloudy so it's somewhat hard to see)

Remains of the Roman baths at Fiesole

I also had the pleasure of attending a traditional Italian Mass at the Duomo, the large church with a huge dome that can be seen in any picture of Florence.  The building itself is breathtaking.  The outside is so intricate, but the magnificence is truly shown when you enter and look up a the inside of the dome.  There is a gorgeous fresco done by Vasari that is so detailed, I could stare at it for hours and still not see everything.  Mass was extremely beautiful.  Of course, I did not always know what was going on, having grown up in the Christian tradition and not Catholic, and also not knowing Italian very well.  However, the few words I could pick up, to understand the gist of what was going on, and the power of such a long standing tradition was so beautiful.  I hope to attend more services at different churches, as well as some in English, so I'll understand a little more.

By far, the best part of my weekend was last night.  We all got to go to the Fiorentina soccer game (the Florence team)! It was such an incredible experience.  It was not like american games where there are replays on a big screen or mascots running around doing silly things, but there was nothing boring about it.  There was a group of Italian guys in front of us with matching shirts who were probably singing during about 90 percent of the game.  Instead of regular cheers like we have in the states, they have full songs that everyone knows.  One person starts and EVERYONE follows, it's incredible.  We did witness a bit of a standoff when the other team scored a goal and their fans, few though they were, offended our fans.  As I wrote to my brother in an email, I felt like I was in the middle of the movie Green Street Hooligans.  Soccer is a whole other world over here, and it is extremely exciting!  Sadly, we did lose the game, but the experience was one that I will never forget.

Some of the girls from the trip and the Italian boys in front of us who sang the whole game!

The fight between our fans and theirs (check out all the security)

Having fun at the game! Their color is purple, I was one happy girl!

We walk EVERYWHERE here! I am not against walking in any way, I like to think that I walk a substantial amount when I'm home.  I probably walk even more when I'm at school because I haven't had a car for the past two years.  However, nothing compares to how much we walk here! Not only do we walk everywhere, almost all of our apartments are flights and flights of stairs up so we are getting quite the workout.  At first, it was very hard; my legs just weren't used to all the walking.  Now, I'm getting a lot more used to it and I absolutely love it.  There's so much to see here, and I would miss so much of it if I weren't walking everywhere.  But, I'm probably going to come home with the legs of a body builder.

My beautiful, new Italian boots :)

"These boots were made for walking, and that's just what they'll do.  One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you." Nancy Sinatra