DENNIS QUAID IS HERE: a weekend out of the nest

ciao friends! since i last posted about a full long weekend of travel, we have explored a little closer to home. we have also explored our textbooks a little more--bring on the quizzes! (no papers for me, yet- surprisingly. it's quite a refreshing change actually). while it is sometimes difficult to find motivation to study because we are in ITALY, it is SO cool to see and touch and actually live in the same space as the art and history we learn about in class. so after a short week of classes and studies (since we were in venice on monday...the week FLEW by), i gladly welcomed a quiet weekend.

also, if you don't understand the title, it means you didn't watch the videos i recommended in a previous post...awkward. here it the dennis quaid one again if you are interested in laughing really hard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C64ZYuR7PuQ

i. love. youtube.

THURSDAY night we joined the sweet sassers for aperitivo (complete with our favorite "fried pizza dough" and rihanna music playing in the background)

FRIDAY we caught a morning train to nearby lucca, a medieval town whose city center is surrounded by a huge wall. it's so cool. we went in a few beautiful churches, one of which housed the first depiction of christ in art. it's a wood statue of christ on the cross supposedly carved by nicodemus. very mysterious but very interesting! then we explored the market, snacked on some delicious sugar and white chocolate covered nocciole (hazelnuts. yum.) and even tried a fresh doughnut (delicious, but i have to say it didn't come close to gibson's)! after walking the city for a little while, we stumbled upon a pizza place that had been recommended to us. (very impressive considering we were wandering without a map...)

here's the whole crew: shout-out to the confused italian man we asked to take our picture, whose shadow can be seen in the bottom of the picture. win.

garden in the center of the city. so cute!

after wandering the streets, we rented bikes!!! they even had baskets and bells. it was great. we rode through the streets of the city a little bit and then rode on the path on the wall! it was lined with beautiful trees and incredible views of the city and the countryside.

let the biking adventure begin!

 it's actually very dangerous and quite difficult to take pictures while riding a bike....

water break.

then naturally, we stopped for gelato where i had the best caffe gelato i have had yet. it had ground coffee beans in it. YUM. after we turned in our bikes, grace, caroline, and i continued to shop and explore around the quaint city.

a precious bike in...

the circular piazza!!!

with GEG in front of the market

guess who i stumbled upon?? elvis! i felt so at home...

hipster's paradise. this store was closed. otherwise i definitely would have gone in.

going down/through the wall...this is how you get in and out of the city

the wall and tiny moat!

after a wonderful day of biking and exploring (one of my favorites so far, actually), we caught the train back to florence. all of my roommates were out of town, so i packed up my trusty backpack, grabbed my pillow, and headed across town to the borgo san jacapo apartment, where my wonderful friends, grace, caroline, christie, and amy, hosted me for the weekend. i even had a room to myself! haha, i slept on their european pull-out couch (the couch cushions literally folded out to create a gymnastics-type-mat on the floor. it was great. so european.).

SATURDAY we slept in and then went to the diner (a place that serves american food, i.e. eggs, pancakes, BACON, american coffee, hamburgers, fries, milkshakes, etc.) for brunch.

i had french toast, bacon and real coffee. YUM.

with caro (shout-out to her for providing these pics)

it was awesome. spent the afternoon relaxing and then went to mass at the duomo with caroline and amy. it was only my second catholic service ever, so i felt a little lost most of the time, but it was a great experience over all. then it was off to borgo san jacapo, my home away from home for the weekend! pillow talk, cantina del gelato, and biscotti abounded. just livin' the borgo san jacapo life! shout-out to my gracious hostesses!

SUNDAY we went on a trip to arezzo organized by the school. here we walked through the antique market, ate a delicious 3-course typical italian lunch (complete with tiramisu), and saw incredible frescos showing the myth of the history of the cross. i only took one picture the entire day (sorry i was slacking...) and it was of amy sleeping on the train (oops! couldn't resist)...

then it was back to firenze for a week of learning, cooking (the highlights this week were zucchini casserole and cuppa cuppa cuppa, a delicious fruit dessert--dolly parton's favorite in steel magnolias), exploring, and planning more adventures!

until next time!
maria pioggia (literally mary rain in italian. HA! i think it's pretty funny. thinking of introducing myself this way to italians...)