Most of these pictures are from the tour we took on Saturday morning all around Florence. It was over 2 hours long, but I learned so much which really makes me appreciate every square inch of this city even more so. I got my museum pass in class which allows us access into every museum and monument in Florence for absolutely free AND we get to cut the lines. I temporarily misplaced it and my roommates went to see the original Il Davide at the Galleria dell'Accademia on Sunday afternoon. I didn't find my pass until lasts night, so this magnificent piece of art in which I have been waiting years to see will take my breath away with my own eyes soon enough.

Saturday afternoon it randomly started pouring rain while I was out wandering about Florence without an umbrella, but I came across the huge marketplace which literally overtakes about 10 different streets in Florence and is massive. I bought a beautiful turquoise ring made of Indian silver and turquoise for €4 when the original price was €15. It is so much fun to bargain with the flee market merchants, if only I could do that on Ponte Vecchio with all the gold they have and get it down to a price I could afford. Saturday night we went to an Irish pub and became best friends with the bartender and got all free drinks. He even ended up coming out to the Italian discoteche Space with us. It was quite an experience.

Sunday morning I woke up and had to do my café assignment with my classmates. It was much harder to find an open café than we expected! We wandered about Florence for nearly 2 hours because everything was closed since it was a holy day.

Last night, I hiked up a trek to Michelangelo's Piazza to the most breathtaking view of Florence I have ever seen.  Look at the quick post above to see the pictures from this view. It was incredible-so much, that my eyes started watering. I think it was the first moment I literally felt like I was in Italy. I mean it soaked in that all my work, all my effort and all my dreams of ever coming here but always being merely a dream, became a reality.

It really was sensational. As we were walking back down, we heard beautiful guitar playing on the Ponte Vecchio and decided to stop to listen. There were two talented Italian men playing guitar together and a huge crowd formed within a few minutes. Another surreal feeling of being in Europe that I must get used to: the suave music that infiltrates your senses in every way when you walk the narrow streets of Europe and forget you are actually in a place where this is normal.

Today was Monday, and I had my first class of my elective course: Mediterranean Food and Culture of Italy. It was incredible!!! I am SO excited for this class and for all the exciting things I am going to learn. The book looks so interesting and the best part: I get to keep the book! Hopefully it will be able to fit back on the plane with me upon my return...

This evening, two of my friends came over, Sara and Rachel, two girls I really click with and am having the opportunity and chance to travel with (besides Cristel of course ;), to plan out an itinerary for all the places we want to see and experience. It is quite a learning experience to find the flights, hostels, trains, and the best deals and everything! I'm finally getting the hang of it, though.

I am SOOOO excited for the next few months. There is still much planning to do, but I think I am most excited for Cinque Terre which we are planning next weekend to take a train to Monterosso, and backpack all the way down to Riomassiore-seeing all 5 little cities. I have been wanting to see this place since I started learning about Italian culture and learned that this place existed. We are planning on arriving early Friday morning and taking our time to really experience every city and we are going to backpack throughout the entire coast. The hike can take 4-5 hours, but we want to take our time and enjoy the beaches as well, so we are planning on staying in a hostel in the 2nd or 3rd city: Vernazza or Corniglia.

I cannot contain my excitement for this trip! It's hard to grasp how I am feeling and all of my emotion into a written statement, but I am extremely excited.

If you get the chance, go look up "cinque terre" into google images right now.

Unbelievable right???






That's what I am going to see.