"we've got three more ragazzis coming!"

definitely the quote of the week thus far. shout-out to an anonymous friend for trying to use our italian language skills in everyday life. like when trying to get a table at a restaurant. ("ragazzi" means girls. ragazzis is not a real word...but hey, it got the point across?)

this week, we had many fun adventures in florence and all around tuscany!

 friends! about to go out on the town. i stayed home to blog...

 lunch at cinque, our new favorite restaurant in the santo spirito neighborhood. they use all fresh ingredients and their menu changes daily. i got a delicious salad with tomatoes, avocado, and delicious goat cheese with spices and an herb vinaigrette. 

 another highlight of my current life: drawing class. last week we visited the boboli gardens (the medici family's private gardens behind one of their palaces) several times to sit and sketch and watercolor. probably the highlight of this experience was the asian tourists who came up and watched me draw, pointed at my sketchbook, and said "ooo, uffizi!"

 more beautiful boboli views.

 wednesday night, everyone in our program came over to our apartment for a potluck dinner.

 hanging out on the terrace with roomies: me, hannah, kara, and margaret

 caroline and mary raine: we go on random adventures every wednesday afternoon. we also smile really big apparently...

 beautiful sunset over the arno. it just never gets old.

 adventure to our favorite gelato place: cantina gelato. grace and i always get mascarpone e nutella.

christie, margaret, and amy

 margaret's all-time favorite gelato. uno picollo cono cioccolato e caramello.

after another week of classes, reading, drawing, cooking, cleaning, (i made a chore wheel for the apartment so the terrible jobs like taking out the trash would be spread evenly. then i mopped. very necessary and just made me feel so much better--the chore wheel and the mopping both.) we set off on a an all-day biking adventure through chianti.

 my bike's name. intense right? margaret's was called "rebel yell." very appropriate i think.

 grace, margaret, and i modeling our helmets and all geared up for the bike ride! speaking of gears, our bikes had about 400...once again, very intense.

 we rode through (and struggled up) the rolling hills of tuscany. (i didn't get a whole lot of pictures on the way up because i was struggling to pedal...we got to appreciate the breathtaking views much more on the way back down in the afternoon.)

 stop #1: just outside a tiny country town we got to pick grapes and eat them right off the vine. delicious.

amy, margaret, and christie at stop #1.

at this point, my camera died. luckily, amy stepped up and became my paparazzi for the day...here are some of the moments she captured:

 we arrived at the vineyard/winery to a truck full of grapes. we got to sample these too. they were awesome.

 caroline loves grapes. and i mean LOVES. she was in heaven.

 with amy at lunch. we had bruschetta, hummus, and zucchini frittatas for appetizers and tasted two types of delicious olive oil made on site: organic and single-pressed cold-pressed extra virgin. during the tour, they explained what these terms meant. but for now we just enjoyed their delicious flavor.

 then they served us zucchini gazpacho. we even put some olive oil on this. then they served us spaghetti. after tasting all the food, oil, and wine, we took a tour.

 first we went to the winery and then to this cellar where the wine ages.

 a bunch of really old and cobweb-y wine bottles. shout-out to amy, the lovely photographer.

 where they store the olive oil after it has been pressed from the fresh olives.

 after the tour, we got back in the saddle again, this time taking in the beautiful terrain with a little less strenuous pedaling. 

so artsy. last stop before we returned to florence. we got to eat grapes off these vines too yumm.

after a shower and brief siesta, we went to a lovely long italian dinner with christie's sweet dad at la giostra, a restaurant here in florence that is famous for its pear ravioli. it sounds weird, i know, but it is incredible. one of my favorite meals i've had in italy (also, i know i reference a new favorite food almost every time i post but the food here is just incredible--so fresh and always delicious), topped off by a bite of tiramisu and an apple tart. i really appreciate people who want to taste each other's food. it just makes for a wonderful dining experience.

we slept well on friday night, to say the least. we awoke saturday with some fanny fatigue but it was definitely worth it. once again, it was refreshing to be outside the hustle and bustle of the city with wonderful company. the adventures continued through the weekend, but they will have to wait til tomorrow. 

now i'm off to study for my first italian quiz! time for the study part of the abroad experience. 

arrivederci!

climb every mountain

this weekend, we ventured out of florence for the first time since our arrival in this beautiful country. 

FRIDAY we boarded a bus at 8 a.m. and headed to ravenna with our program. we saw beautiful churches and mosaics...here are the high points:

first stop: beautiful medieval church

 next up: the first of many beautiful mosaics made with real gold. the picture does not do it justice. 

we got to wear these awesome radios with earpieces for our tours...so we were pretty much secret service agents for the day. i call this one "get down, mr. president!"

 grace and me in front of church #2

 delicious lunch at a local ravenna spot. (i promise i do have a neck...although you can't tell in this picture)

 fresh handmade ricotta and spinach ravioli in a sage butter sauce. i think this is my favorite thing i have eaten since i've been in italy. seriously. (fun fact: ravenna is also apparently famous for pumpkin ravioli...i didn't get to try any but this lunch was totally worth it.)

 lunch date. table for two please!

 look who found some delicious gelato! don't worry, margaret and i got some too (mint chocolate chip for me). it was the fastest-melting gelato i have every encountered. but it was delicious and beautifully sculpted by the girl behind the counter.

 walking the streets of ravenna.

 my favorite church. this is just the very front. the entire ceiling and sides were also covered in glittering mosaics. beautiful.

 friends in the main piazza of ravenna.

 bag twins!

"jesus power" bus we saw on the way home. thought it was worth a shout-out. 

another highlight of the trip: we watched the justin bieber movie on the way home. great end to a great day. this was only the beginning of my whirlwind weekend...

SATURDAY, i climbed every mountain. 5 mountains to be exact...well actually 5 towns.

the cinque terre. 

the day began early. my alarm went off at 5:45. we were at the train station by 6:40 (running ten minutes behind schedule...it's what i do best). boarded the train at 6:55 (my first on this european adventure eek!!!) and were en route by 7:00.

the roomies. bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and looking ready for adventure. 

after changing trains once, napping intermittently, looking at the beautiful italian countryside, and arriving in riomaggiore (the first town on the 13-mile hike), we set out for our trek along the coast. 

this is how the "hike" started out...paved path full of tourists. at this point, we were feeling a little silly about our hiking attire and backpacks. check out that scenery though...it didn't look real it was so beautiful.

 between town #1 (riomaggiore) and town #2 (corniglia)

 town #2 (corniglia). precious.

 boats.

one day, i will come back and sail here. i'm sure dad will be in...
upon our arrival in corniglia, we were informed that the next leg of the hike was closed. so we explored the town for a while and then hopped the train to the next town. (so i guess we didn't actually hike 13 miles...but it sounds more intense)

hike from the train station to town #3 (manarola). and we thought these stairs were bad...(to be continued)

 it was a little toasty out...but don't worry, i had my 1.5 liter water bottle so i stayed hydrated. sort of.

town #3: (almost) the whole gang. about to descend the mountain to the water. and we stopped to take some pictures, naturally...

me with mccallen and christie in front of a cute pink house and the beautiful ocean.

hanging out by the water after walking down 200 million stairs

some went for a swim!

solo shot. awkward, but necessary.

friends resting by the water.
then back up the 200 billion stairs and onto the trail. after getting a delicious peach from a market and a spinach & ricotta foccacia (do you sense a pattern? that is my new favorite combination) in town, we headed out for town #4, unaware of the trials to come.

and by trials, i really mean stairs. hundreds and thousands of stairs. but the strenuous and rocky path was a small price to pay for the beauty we experienced.

incredible.
then we made it to town #4 (vernazza) and took a much needed water break. pictures at this point were pretty low on the priority list. we were focused on drinking water and putting one foot in front of the other.

later vernazza! headed to town 5 (monterosso) the finish line!

and after an hour and a half of more stairs (mostly down this time) and paths through vineyards and literally on the edge of mountains (SO cool)...

WE MADE IT!!! there were definitely moments when we didn't think we would.

left: tunnel connecting the "old town" and "new town" of montorosso



right: beach time! we jumped in the water, had refreshing drinks and appetizers on the beach, and caught the train to our next destination, the italian beach town viareggio.



unfortunately, although we had made a reservation for a hotel there, the language barrier got the best of us. so i set out on a new adventure with amy and christie (and a bunch of other people from our group)--just three girls with two train tickets, no plans, and all our belongings on our backs. it was a liberating experience. luckily, the second hotel we came to had an opening. so we showered and finally ate (or "shoveled") our dinner around 10:30. we shared a veggie pizza, a margherita pizza, and one with anchovies and zucchini flowers (exotic, right?). after a long day of train-riding and hiking, we happily ate them all. other highlights (besides finally being clean): we befriended canadians, ordered a yummy peach gelato dessert with rum and chocolate, and put our toes in the sand before we went to bed.

SUNDAY: christie and amy in front of hotel bali, our home away from home for a night. sort of...just glad to have a place to lay our weary heads after a long day of hiking. i'd say it was a huge success. then off to breakfast: best fruit cup i have ever eaten, pastries, and a cappuccino.

 spotted: justin bieber in viareggio

amy and christie. i promise i was there. i was just taking all the pictures...

it was a beautiful day with some much-needed relaxation, reading, and sketching. i drew this umbrella and chair for my drawing class! we are all back in florence safe and sound. laundry is in progress. grocery shopping is done. ready for another week of studies and adventures in this incredible country!