What Happens in Gallo d'Oro, Stays in Gallo d'Oro

Some of the best lasagna in the world... and it's just our first course at lunch! 

After lunch it's nap time! 

Sofia's 1st birthday!

Brandon literally tells everyone now that he's been in my pants ! 

Beer-pong tournament!

Flip Cup

I cut Will's hair so he asked to do my makeup! I pretty much died laughing!

Bravo! 

Things That I Never Thought I Would Miss and Now Do...

 Driving/riding in a car.
      -Florence in a very walkable city, as are most places in Europe. However, there is something to be said about being able to get into your car and just go. The chance to drink you're morning coffee and listen to radio during the daily commute, is something that I've come to miss.

Skittles/Starbursts
     -It's unbelievable how much I miss fruity candy!

Peanut Butter
     -I miss it on toast, apples and in cookies! Creamy and crunchy are created equal!

Washer and Dryer
     -I'm going to fully enjoy walking down the hallway to do my own laundry and not a mile into town.

"American" drip coffee
     :(

Dad's Sunday breakfasts
     -As much as a like yogurt and corn flakes... I don't like it that much every morning.

A full size bed
     -I haven't slept in a twin since I was 8 years old!

Medical professionals that drive emergency response vehicles.
     -This week during our final soccer game, my friend Ben was injured and dislocated his knee cap! After calling an ambulance, we had to wait 45 mins for them to arrive, 20 to load him and another 40 to make it to the hospital!!! Come to find out, Italian medics are only volunteers and cannot administer any sort of care/drugs another than transport. Poor Ben!!! The stretcher across the cobble stones was brutal.

A gym
     -LA Fitness is sounding rather glorious at the moment.

Family movie night.
     -A movie on the couch with mom's kettle corn and coffee.

Washington fall leaves
    -The NW reds/yellows and oranges that come with the autumn season.


But not that I'm complaining! I am loving my time here, although I do think that you don't realized what you miss until you don't have it any longer.

"What Would Rick Do?"

In all my travels, I constantly ask myself the question, "What Would Rick Do?" Here we are on the train to Assisi. Havilah and Clare are both consulting the bible of guide books.

Life As I Know It

How to begin...always an important question. And one that I find myself continually asking over and over again. What should I write about? What happened during my week? What will people actually want to read about?
I have a feeling that this blog will be a patchwork quilt of messy disorganized thoughts and experiences, so keeping that in mind, bare with me.


Life is being to develop a foundation and some stability. Since arriving to Firenze last month, I have not spend the night in another bed other than my own. Which is always a nice thing. Every morning we have the same breakfast laid out for us. Yogurts, hard-boiled eyes, corn flakes and toast with jam and butter. Considering all other foods we have during the remaining hours of the day, it's comforting to have a simple, predictable breakfast.

Classes are going well. I am under the impression that all of our professors are just as happy to be here as we are. Always encouraging. School is only a 3-5 min walk from my pensione and a good chance to stretch out my sleepy legs in the mornings.
I was elected as pensione representative for my building and report on the week each, on monday evenings to the school Dean about our living conditions. Mid week I have the responsibly to fill out a spread sheet indicating each persons weekend travel plans. For these reasons, I have been given the title of "mom", amongst the boys. *rolls eyes.

So far, I have only visited a few cities/towns outside of my home base, Florence.

Fiesole (which I sadly do not have a picture of) is located on the northern hill side and over looks the city! Quite the impressive view, I must say. Havilah and I took the bus up on saturday after noon, spending the afternoon eating snacks and reading course work in the sunshine, all the while marveling at Firenze. One can easily forget that we live in the valley. However, once you can see over the whole city,  you are reminded that you live in the region of Tuscany! Olive trees full of harvest crowd the hillside, soaking up the sun.

The Following weekend, Havilah, new friend and classmate John and I traveled for the day to Cortona! The home of author Frances Mayes and real life setting for her biography, Under the Tuscan Sun. My eyes watered with tears of joy, as we took the bus in a zig zag pattern up the steep hill. I have poured so much of my heart into reading her books, and getting the opportunity to see with my own eyes what she sees when she describes her hill side home, moved me. We wandered the narrow cobble stone streets all afternoon. Stopping to eat lunch at a spot recommended by Rick. haha Love that man.

Last weekend was Assisi. Normally I would say that we are about 2 hours by train north of this holy city, however, it took as damn near six hours to arrive at our destination! lol We had an adventure. The afternoon was spent exploring every church from the top on the hill downwards. I prayed at the body of St. Fances and St. Clare! What an amazing opportunity and a beautiful spiritual day.

On another note, I have felt led to teach, although I wasn't sure just how to go about it. I prayed about it for a while and God gave my the perfect fit. At our Florence school, we have a married couple who are our campus ministers. They moved here to serve us for the year and with them, their two twin eleven year old daughters. I posed the question to mom Carla that I would love to hang out with the girls if she the husband ever needed a date night out...... they ended up inviting me to their flat for dinner the following Tuesday. Something just clicked!
The girls are so lovely and I am a perfect fit with their family! Now Tuesday nights is our time together. I come over after school and the girls and I bake a few dozen cookies, which we take to the Glee showing at school that night. Having dinner together as a family is so refreshing! And I get the chance to help the girls with their homeschooling.

I must just take a moment and say that this blog is a labor of love! I have been trying for the past two hours to upload pictures.... no bene! Which is quite a shame considering the fact that I had taken nearly 500 photos since we last connected. ugh.

I think that I'm going to give it up for the evening. Sorry, I guess your best bet is to have a look on fb.

Week One: An Introduction to Florence

Six comes with such force every morning and today is no exception. Havilah's alarm sings out the days greetings and I pretend to not hear the cursed song. God bless her for running, one of these days, I'll be able to leap from bed with such vigor to run the days forecasted calories off.  Maybe, perhaps tomorrow the start of our typical three day weekend. Or not.  Speaking of running, Sunday I, along with Havilah and a few other GIF kids, will be running the Corri La Vita (Run for Life). This Florentine race is a fundraiser or cancer research and care.

According to The Florence Newspaper.it, "This years Corri la Vita expects a record-breaking 20,000 participants." " Vita consists for two routes: The five kilometer walk/run for the less competitive joy-runner; and the twelve-kilometer competitive run for serious athletes. The non-competitive route circles the inner city, beginning in the Piazza della Signoria and passing some interesting city landmarks, including the Church of San Felice and the Palazzo Non Finito."

We will be running the red route!

In other news, school has been going fantastically. I love all my classes and my teachers truly seem to be as excited to be at GIF as we are. I do have some difficult course but that's just the challenge of University! 

Yesterday I went on a long walk with one of my classmates to Piazzale Michelangelo and finally took my camera along for the ride. It's difficult to know what to photograph. I feel at ease knowing that since this city will be my home for the following school year, I am in no rush to snap pictures of everything quickly.

Home At Last in Firenze

Okay so first of all, I feel like I should just say that I have not taken any pictures of the city since we finally arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Shocker, I know. However, it has been quite lovely to just stroll down the street, not looking like a  complete tourist with my giant camera hanging around my neck and my map out to double check my location.
Havilah and I are all settled into our Pensione, which will be our home for the following school year. We took the liberty of rearranging the furniture and taping postcards, photographers from home and maps to our walls. Besides needing a few odds and ends from Ikea, we are feeling quite at home.
The food... well what can one really say about Italian food. It's amazing, delicious, scrumptious, cheesy, bold, fresh, simple, creamy and full of flavor. And if you're not walking/ running daily, will make your waist line tighter. But that hasn't stopped me from fully enjoying every bite!
This evening, we walked (the normal) 1+ mile to Gusta Pizza where I devoured the largest calzone I've ever seen! (All on my own, I might add.) It was stuffed with ricotta, salami, mozzarella, smothered in ragu! Bravo! All five of us girls were completely full.... however, we were still craving Gelato. So we walked a few blocks over, alongside the Arno River to my favorite Gelateria, La Carraia. This corner Italian ice cream shop wins over my heart and sweet tooth every time I step inside the door. For about 2 euro, you get a small ramekin size container and then select your flavor(s). My favorite pairing is After Eight (better than Baskin Robbins Chocolate Mint) and Biscotti!!!
While inside with our delicious treat, the sky began to crack and light up with an intense storm... and it rained. Actually it poured! As a Washington girl, I know that i've seen my fare share of rain in my life, although is storm was by far the craziest.
Even as I sit in my room now, (I'm safe mom and drying off) I can still hear the rain and thunder howling outside my window. The whole skyline of the city seem to be illuminated just about every five to seven minutes.
Buonasera!
Ciao

Vienna Revisited

...And so our Gonzaga in Florence Opening Tour will conclude is Vienna Austria. For about 90% of our group, this will be their first time in the capital. However, this is my third visit to this beautiful city and I always find myself at easy here. The streets are familiar and the people friendly. 50% of Vienna is green, mostly consisting of parks for the people or palace gardens in the inter city center.  On Monday we arrive after a 4 hour bus ride from Prague and settle into our new hotel. Thankfully it is located right across the street from the Underground station and serves much better tasting food then our previous two hotels!  Tuesday morning we board the tour buses again for a drive through the city, which is guided by a local resident. It is impossible for me to take in what she is saying concerning the cities history and culture when I am continually replaying my own previous memories and experiences in Vienna in my head as we pass by them.

In the evening, Havilah and I venture out on the bus/tram system to the outer city districts to meet up with my dear Austrian Friend Susi. She is studying at the University of Wien and working on her Masters in English. We spend the night in her kitchen eating homemade Gnocchi with ricotta cheese and fresh tomatoes and basil accompanied by a glass or two of wine. Susi's roommates join us for the meal and we laugh and talk into the late evening, debating about dialects and cultural differences.For me, there has got to be nothing more satisfying than good food, friends and laugher over a glass of wine!

Our final dinner of Tour is tuesday night and afterwards I quickly run off to bed. Our group has been spilt into three for our departure tomorrow to Florence. I look forward to finally getting to Italy and beginning school. The only downside is that my group has to be checked out of the hotel at 4am!