il semestre e finito.

It's hard to believe, but I am officially done with my semester in Italy. All the exams are finished and all of the papers are turned in. My friends are headed back to their homes all across the country tomorrow. Crazy, I know. Where did these four months go? I've done so many exciting things and have made some amazing friends. I don't think I have the words to fully express what an amazing semester this has been. I feel so blessed.

Now it's time for my Italian holiday with the family here in Florence. It's going to be a jam packed week of awesomeness!

I'll be back in the States in a mere 7 days. See you then!!!

12 days...how did that happen?

I cannot believe that my study abroad program ends on Friday! How did that happen? Didn't I just get here? I feel like I have done so much in the last 3 1/2 months and still have so much that I would love to get to do. My time here in Italy has just been absolutely amazing! I can't imagine having a better host family. My host mom is super sweet, not to mention an excellent cook. I have gotten some great Italian recipes from her! Yay!!! She is so nice when I screw up when speaking Italian. She will gently correct me and goes on with the conversation. I think she is just glad I am trying to speak Italian. My host brother is pretty nice, but I don't tend to see him as much. I think the home stay has been one of my favorite parts of my time in Italy. You get to see what life in Italy is really like. I think I am really going to miss this place when I leave. I am 100% that this is the best thing I could have done with my time this semester. Everything has just gone as smoothly as possible. It was the first time I remember feeling like I was exactly were I was supposed at that point in my life. I can't imagine being any way other than exactly as it was. It was great!

My professors are just great. You can tell they really care about their students beyond the classroom. I went to Naples and Pompeii with one of my professors and his wife. We had the best time. This experience wouldn't have been the same without this group of professors. I have learned so much from them outside of what our classes focus on. For once in my life, I feel at peace with how things are progressing. I don't have to have my entire future figured out right now. I can just enjoy being young and explore my options. It's a very freeing feeling.

In the last few weeks, I have come to notice how much I have changed during my time in Italy. I knew I would grow as a person through this experience. I guess I just didn't realize how much you could change in 3 months. It will be interesting to see how the ''new me'' fits into my life back home.

Italy + failing technology = NO fun!

Today has been quite the day, but not in the best way possible. The day started out decently enough. I left the apartment around 8:15 am so I could make it to my 9:00 am class on time. My bus was acutally on time for once so I was 15 minutes early for class. I had to give 2 presentations in class, but I thought both of them went fairly well. From Art and Politics at Palazzo Vecchio, I headed back to the school for my second class of the day, Strange Art in the 16th Century. I was monumentally boring today. I am not really what it was about the lecture today, but I could not focus for the life of me. It was an hour and 45 minutes of extreme bordem. I had a nice hour long break for lunch during which I ate a PB & J and a banana. After lunch, I had my final class on the history of women in ancient Rome and Renaissance Florence. I love that class. It is usually so interesting, but today even it seemed to drag by.

After my classes, my roommate and decided that we needed an American food fix (we haven't had one since we arrived in Italy), so we headed to McDonald's. I ate a Big Mac for the first time in my life in Italy. How odd is that? We came home on the bus, which was crowded as usual with rush hour traffic. Tomorrow I head to Naples/Pompeii tomorrow with 1 professor and 7 other students, and I wanted to make sure my iPod was fully charged for the 3 1/2 hour train ride to Naples. I went to plug my computer in only to finally that my power cord had finally bitten the bullet. I knew it was fading, but I was optimistic that it could hold out for 3 more weeks until my classes ended for the semester. But of course, that was not the case. It is as dead as can be. I still have 2 papers to write and a powerpoint presentation to put together for my classes. That could be a little cumbersome with a computer that I can't easily charge. Luckily, my host mom has the same brand of laptop as I do, so I can at least charge my computer at the apartment. Now, if only, my battery would last more than an hour. I think it is fair to say considering that my computer ate half of my pictures from Athens and that my headphones and my power cord both died, Italy has been rough on all of my electronics. Hopefully everything else can hold out for another 3 weeks.

Photo time

These are various photos from my recent trip to Rome with the ACM.

1-Ancient Roman Port town of Ostia

2-a group of us at Ostia after getting soaked in the rain/hail storm

3-Colosseum

4-Me at the Colosseum

5-Roman Forum

6-Colosseum & Me

7-Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace built by Augustus)

8-St. Michel on top of Castel San'Angelo

9-Me on top of the Castel San'Angelo

10-view from the top

Fall Break, baby! Athens style!

The image of Athens that I had in my had is not at all like the modern city. That is not too say that I didn't enjoy my trip to Athens. The majority of Athens was really dirty, hectic, and crowded. We ended up staying in this somewhat sketchy hostel about a 30 minute walk from the Acropolis.

We flew into Athens from Rome on a Monday. Our flight got in around 4:00 pm, but it took about an hour to get into the city proper. By the time we got to the hostel, we were both exhausted from our power-packed tour of Rome. We ended up taking a 2 hour nap. It was dark out when we woke up. So my first afternoon in Athens consisted of a taxi ride, a nap, and dinner. On the up side, dinner was fantastic. I love authentic Greek pitas! They're cheap and tasty.

On Tuesday, we headed up to the Acropolis. I recommend that if you ever travel to Greece you buy a good map of Athens and guidebook. Mackenzie and I figured we would just wing it when we got there. It worked out, but it probably would have been a lot more enjoyable if we knew more of what was going on. Ultimately, we found a place to buy our tickets and made up to the top. The view of Athens was incredible. I can't say as much for the Acropolis itself. I was somewhat disappointed by it because all of the buildings were covered in scaffolding. You couldn't fully appreciate the magnitude of the place. Oh well, it was still kind of cool to visit such a historic place. We also made it to the new Acropolis Museum in Athens. It just opened a few weeks ago and only cost 1 Euro to get it in. It was definitely worth the cost of the ticket. There are so many interesting artifacts to explore. If you ever go to Athens, you should probably check it out.

My last day in Athens was pretty laid back. We had a late start to the day. There wasn't a whole lot else that Mackenzie and I knew about that we wanted to go see. In fact, the only thing that was on our agenda was going to see Socrates' prison cell. That stop was my idea. Being a philosophy major, it seemed absurd to be that close to it and not go. I was so excited to see it! It wasn't anything grandiose by any means, but I still think it was cool. Otherwise, the day consisted of wandering/hiking in the area surrounding the Acropolis. We found this little secluded hill top clearing with a beautiful view of the sea in one direction and the Acropolis in the other. I would love to share my photos with you, but my camera/computer decided to eat them. So here are a few of the ones I have left. Enjoy!

Fall Break, baby! (aka my "Roman Holiday")

I just got back from fall break a week ago. What an experience--volcanoes, donkeys, 36 hours with no sleep, American college football, a cold, beautiful weather! What more could you ask for?

The whole thing began with a train ride from Florence to Rome. It only took about an hour and a half on the Eurostar. Mackenzie and I's first stop was our hostel, the Pop Inn Hostel, right beside the Termini Station in Rome. That in and of itself was quite the experience. We walked into the receptionist area to the music stylings of Usher and Pitbull. There were bright red velvet couches pushed up against the brightly colored walls. When we got to our room, we found Japanese cartoons and walls that looked as if they had been colored on with highlighters--yellow on the top and green on the bottom. The bedspread was pinkish-orange. We even had a pedestal sink and mirror surrounded by cobalt blue tile. It was a very visually dynamic room to say the least. From the hostel, we headed to the Colosseum. We figured it was quintessentially Roman site. I don't remember ever taking that many photos in one outing. It was gorgeous. There were people everywhere, but most of them were pretty nice.

Later in the afternoon, we met up with a Coe graduate that our professor knows. His name was Tad. He's lived in Rome for 4 years now and owns his own tour company. He was a great host. Friday night we went out to the bar with he and his girlfriend. We also went by the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. He took us to the most amazing restaurant I have been to. Tad was kind enough to order for some pasta typical Roman pasta dishes. I had penne with a cream sauce and sausage. It was amazing! We split a nice bottle of a Roman white wine and a tiramisu. What an incredible meal!

Saturday we got up and it was freezing out compared to how the weather has been. I ended up buying a gray pashima scarf just to stay warm. We went to the Piazza della Repubblica which has an awesome fountain. We also went to a nearby a Basilica. It had the biggest organ I have ever seen. It was huge! I would love to hear it played. I bet the entire building would shake. It would be awesome! Our next stop was the Spanish Steps. We saw 2 couples who had just gotten married taking their wedding photos. How cool would it be to have your wedding photos taken around Rome? We also went by the Trevi Fountain to take more photos during the day.

After our trip to Fontana di Trevi, we headed back to our hostel to meet up with Tad. He let us go on one of his "All Around Rome" tours for free. It was awesome. We made it to all of the major sites of ancient Rome. It took about 4 hours, and I loved every minute of it. We covered all of the history of ancient Rome in about an hour. We went to the Circus Maximus, the Mouth of Truth, a Roman amphitheater, the Jewish ghetto in Rome, the Colosseum, and all sorts of other stuff. It was so much fun! I love Rome!

Saturday night we went to a Irish pub with Tad and some of his friends with the goal of watching the U of I/Wisconsin football game. I got a pleasant surprise when we got there. The Red River Rivalry game between OU and Texas was on. It was the first time I have been able to watch any sort of American football since getting to Italy. I think I had been going through football withdrawals. It was a great surprise. I only got to watch 3/4 of the game, but it was better than nothing. I ended eating Chinese food for dinner. Italian-ized Chinese food is different from American-ized chines food, but it's good. Overall, it was a pretty great day.

My last day in Rome, Sunday, was a little more relaxed. It was equally enjoyable. We spent the entirety of the morning in the Piazza Navona. It is this nice Piazza with 3 main fountains. There were all sorts of artists selling their watercolor and oil paintings. There were also some people doing caricatures in the piazza. We had a great time just wandering around looking at the numerous paintings. We ate lunch at a cute little cafe that looked out over the piazza. Pizza Margherita is fantastic. We also went to see the bridge of angels. There are several beautiful statues of angels on the bridge leading to the Castel Sant Angelo. Then we decide that since we could see St. Peter's Square from where we were, we might as well wander on over there. It is a pretty impressive space. There was some sort interesting event taking place at the Vatican with a long procession of men in purple and white robes. I never found out what was going on, but it was definitely interesting to see. Our day concluded with a trip to the same Irish pub as the night before to celebrate Tad's birthday. So we got to hang out with he and his friends once more. It was a good end to an already amazing trip to Rome.

Next stop...ATHENS!

Fall Break

Ciao!

So as of today I am headed to Rome for 3 days and then to Greece for 7 days for my fall break. I definitely can't wait to go!!! There will tons of pictures and many descriptions when I get back. Hope you're enjoying the fall weather!

Arrivederci!

Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato

I had another pretty relaxing weekend this last week. I spent most of time in Florence. On Saturday, 4 friends and I headed up to Piazzale Michelangelo. It has a great view looking out over the city. The weather was perfect--sunny and warm, but not too warm! Some of the girls took some time to sketch, while others of us just chatted and took tons of pictures.

From Piazzale Michelangelo, we hiked a short ways up to Basilica di San Miniato. It has an even better view of the city. The church itself is pretty incredible too. I, again, took tons of pictures.

Hope you enjoy them!

La Spiaggia a Cecina (The Beach in Cecina, Italy)

Hey all,

This last weekend was fairly tame compared to every other weekend I've had hear in Italy. Saturday and Sunday were both very relaxing. Saturday, my host mom, Orsola, took Mackenzie and I to the beach. We went to a little town called Cecina just outside of Livorono. It's about a 2 hour drive by car to the western coast of Italy from Firenze. It was much more subdued than the beach at Viareggio. This beach had no sand, but was instead covered with the most beautiful stones and small pebbles. It sounds painful. Surprisingly, sleeping on the beach for a few hours was incredibly comfortable and peaceful. So the majority of my day included laying out, swimming, chatting with my host mom, and reading on the beach. Quite enjoyable, if I do say so myself!

Then on Sunday, a group of 6 us from the ACM participated in the Corri La Vita 5k cancer walk through the middle of Florence. It is annual even in Florence sponsored by Salvatore Ferragamo, who actually made an appearance both the walk began. It started in the Piazza della Signoria. I have never seen so many people packed into one town square. It was incredible to see how many people came out to support cancer prevention and research! I spent the rest of the day relaxing, cleaning, and doing homework. While it was significantly less busy, it was a very pleasant weekend. :)

Venezia

A few weekends ago, the ACM took us all to Venice (aka Venezia in Italy). I wasn't really certain what to expect because I had heard mixed reviews of the city from friends who had been. Quite honestly, I don't think we could have had a better weekend to go. The weather was absolutely gorgeous as were the views around the city.

The trip began at 8:00am Saturday at the train station in Florence. We took a Eurostar train from Florence to Venice. I think our group from the ACM took up pretty much the entire car. It was fun experience and a good way to see the Italian countryside. Our first afternoon in Venice, we spent at the Piazza San Marco. Venice is the final resting place of Saint Mark, the gospel writer. We went on a tour of the church at San Marco. It was absolutely gorgeous. The church is in the shape of a Greek cross with a dome over each arm and one over their intersection. The ceiling of the church was covered in a square acre of mosaics with gold leaf background. One of the professors, Gail, gave some of the history of the church itself and the artwork within the church. I, of course, found it absolutely fascinating.

On Sunday, we went to Ca'Rezzonico, a typical Venetian palace from the 18th century located along the Grand Canal. Just about every wall and ceiling in the house is covered with frescoes from several well known Italian artists. We spent several hours just wandering and exploring this house. It was massive. We had some free time after Ca'Rezzonico, some of my friends and I headed out to explore Venice and get some shopping in. There is some amazing Murano glass in Venice in all price ranges imaginable. We came across one chandelier which was 15,000 Euro. Later in the after, we went to the Peggy Guggenheim Art Museum. It includes art from her private collection and is displayed in her Venetian palace on the Grand Canal. I LOVED that museum! She had 4 paintings by Jackson Pollack, 2 by Pablo Picasso, 1 by Salvador Dali, 3 by ManRay, and pieces from countless other artists including a temporary exhibit by Robert Rauschenberg. We only got to stay for about 2 hours because of when the museum closed, but I think I probably could have been then for another 3 hours and been perfectly content. If you ever get to go to Venice, make sure you make it to the Peggy Guggenheim. It is well worth it.

Our final day in Venice began at 6:00am for me. A group of about 6 of us headed out to the end of the pier near our hotel to watch the sunrise over the Gulf of Venezia. I have never seen the sky turn such brilliant shades of red, orange, pink, and then finally blue. It really makes you appreciate the beauty of God' creation and the diversity. It was such a calming and refreshing way to start the day. The only sounds to be heard were the waves crashing up against the pier and the occasional seagull. Our final ACM expedition in Venice was to the Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. We Titian's most famous painting on the high altar in the basilica. It was a pretty cool church, although rather small compared to San Marco. I never imagined that exploring churches would be so interesting.

On the whole, my excursion to Venice was exhausting but absolutely worth it. I hope everyone gets a chance to make it to Venice someday.

If you want to comment...

I heard from my parents that commenting on here is a rather cumbersome process. I didn't realize that when I set it up, sorry! In any case, I would love to hear back from anyone and everyone about my blog. If you would like to comment or have a question, feel free to just send me an email at presbypk88@hotmail.com.

Have a great day!

Honest experiences..not just fluff

It was bound to happen. Life in Italy couldn't stay perfect forever. Today was the day perfection came to an end all because of Italian class. We had a quiz this morning over passato prossimo (one of 2 forms of the past tense in Italian). I felt somewhat unprepared for it as our instructor did not provide adequate information regarding the content of the quiz. I figured I would just do the best I could and hope for a good outcome. Well as it turns out, none of us were really ready for the quiz. Our professor flipped out, so now we have another quiz tomorrow. I don't so much mind having to study for another quiz. What I do mind, however, is the behavior of my fellow classmates. We are all in college and thus should be able to behave accordingly. We spent the first hour and a half of class in a state of complete and utter chaos. How am I supposed to learn anything if all we do is repeat everything we have already taken notes over? How hard is it to look it up yourself instead of wasting everyone else's time? I came to Italy learn, and right now I feel like there isn't much of that going on.

Sorry for the rant about school. In someways, it seems appropriate to share all sides of my experience--not just the happy rainbows and butterflies moments. It would be unrealistic. I am certain today will improve. The course I am taking on the image of women in Renaissance Rome and Florence begins this afternoon. I am quite excited for it to begin. The professor seems amazing and the topic is very intriguing. Things have to get better in time. It helps knowing that in just 2 days I will be in Venice!

Pisa + Viareggio= Good Weekend

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It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly the weekend goes by here. Friday after 3 hours of Italian class, 20 ACM students and 3 faculty members caught the train to Pisa. I don't have much experience with trains, so it was a fun/quick way to get to Pisa. I think the train ride only took about an hour with a few stops in between. It was a beautiful ride because you can see the Italian countryside. We spent about 4 hours in Pisa. We walked the mile long route through the middle of Pisa from the train station to the the Field of Miracles (with the Leaning Tower, Cathedral, and Baptistery). Once at the Field of Miracles, we had a chance to take pictures with the tower (we were such tourists). Janet gave us some of the history behind the tower and cathedral before taking us into the cathedral. I have come to realize that while looking at the art inside these establishments is interesting, I would much prefer to study the history and the architecture of the buildings. Our professors don't really go into those areas of study much. I guess I will just have to research it on my own.

After we got done at Pisa, a group of about 15 of us caught the train from Pisa to Viareggio, a nearby coastal town on the Ligurian Sea. We didn't have any plans for where we were going to stay or what exactly we were going to do. We wandered around Viareggio for awhile before we lucked into a 2 star hotel only a few blocks from the beach. They had room for all 15 of us. I think we pretty much made up the whole hotel. Dinner that night was less than ideal. The restaurant some of us went to treated us like crap probably because we were Americans. But hey, at least the food was good.

I spent all of Saturday at the beach. The weather was ideal beach weather. It was just warm enough to be pleasant, but not too hot either. I enjoyed just sitting in the sun reading a new book I just got. It is called The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It's an awesome book. You can tell when reading it that the author is very intelligent. I love the vocabulary she uses. It's one of those books you just can't put down. I strongly recommend it.

Sunday was really laid back. I got up late and spent the day in the park reading. It was the quintessential Sunday afternoon followed by a gelato outing. In short, it was amazing!

Next stop, Venice!

View from my apartment window

Oh what a wonderful world...

This weekend was fantastic. Friday night a group of us from the ACM headed to a local bar called The Joshua Tree. It had a really relaxed atmosphere and the bartenders were hysterical. It was a good way to unwind after the first week of Italian class.

Saturday began bright and early at 8:00am with a trip to Cinque Terre. It's about 2 1/2 hours northeast of Florence on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. Cinque Terre, which means "5 villages", is probably the most gorgeous place I've ever seen. We took a 45 minute hike along the Via dell'Amore to get from Manarola to Verannza. Along the Via dell'Amore, we came across a guy playing his accordian. So as we strolled, we heard "What a Wonderful World." We didn't have much time to explore Manarola, but the walk to Veranzza made up for it. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot. The breeze off the sea was refreshing. While in Veranzza, we went swimming in the sea. We ended our time in Cinque Terre with a stop at the local gelateria. Yum!

Sunday, then, we went to Fiesole. It is a little town just outside of Florence up in the hills. There is so much history in that small town. It has both Etruscan and Roman roots. We went with one of the professors, Ed Burke, and his wife Maureen. They took us to the see the Roman ruins which included 3 Roman baths, the foundation of a Roman temple, and an amphitheater. I loved getting to explore. Ed could answer just about every question we could come up with. Studying history first hand is so much better than simply reading it in a book. While in Fiesole, we also went up to the church San Francesco. It had a gorgeous view of the city, but the hike up the hill was a killer. I felt like such a wimp climbing up it. In the end it was totally worth it. On the way back down, we met a jewelry vendor who is in Fiesole everyday. He makes all his own pieces for fairly cheap. The were very funky and fun. I got a sweet ring for Euro 2,50. I want to go back up there to get some other pieces.

This coming weekend we are heading to the beach again after a day trip to Pisa! :)

Amazing Italy

Today was our third day of Italian class. It's astounding how much you can learn in the course of 4 hours. We ultimately focused on vocabulary you need to know when shopping in a market for either clothes or food. I think the best part of today's class was going to the central market near San Lorenzo. I think you can find just about anything there. They had tons of fresh meats, cheeses, breads, pasta, wine, and produce. Outside you could fine belts, purses, scarves every color, size, and style, key chains, shoes, jewelry, magnets, etc. It was incredible. The prices are pretty reasonable, but you can always bargain...at least on accessories and clothing. Once it cools off, I will definitely be going back to load up on scarves. :)

I think yesterday activities were among my favorite since I've been here. Everyone from the ACM program met up at the school in the afternoon for a brief history lesson about the development of Firenze (Florence) before heading out to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The piazzale is on a cliff/hill overlooking the Firenze cityscape. It's absolutely goregous from up there. You can see the Fiume Arno (the river), the top of the Duomo, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, and everything in between. I took tons of pictures which are coming soon (they take forever to upload and my computer time is limited). From the Piazzale we headed up the hill a little ways to the Basilica di San Miniato which also looks out over Florence. The basilica is actually also a monastery. The artistic details of both the interior and exterior of the building are superb. It's as if you can feel the history and granduer of the place. I really enjoyed hearing about the history of the basilica. What fun!

In just a few hours, my roommate Mackenzie and I will be moving in with our host family. I don't know to much about them other than they are from Southern Italy and are very nice. More details to come soon enough.

I'm absolutely loving my time here!

Just a quick update...

I made it to Italy safely on Friday evening around 8:00pm. I have spent the last 2 days exploring Florence with some of the other people from the program who arrived early. It's been great getting to wander with no specific destination in mind. I didn't realize just how much I missed seeing the first time I was in Florence.

The program officially starts this evening with a dinner for the whole group of like 25 students. Italian class begins Monday morning at 9:00 am. It's supposed to last 4 hours. Later in the afternoon then we have orientation tomorrow as well. We move in with our host families on Wednesday. That should be interesting to see where I will actually be living. Hopefully by then I will have pictures to post.

Hope you are all doing well! I'd love to hear from you.

Take care.

My inspiration for the name of my blog came from a quote I came across by Robert Downing. He said, "Italy, my Italy! Queen Mary's saying serves for me--(when fortune's malice lost her Calais)--Open my heart and you will see Graved inside of it, Italy." While I cannot say the same is true of me (at least not as of yet), I loved the sound of "Italy, my Italy." It seemed a fitting name for my coming adventures in Italy.

I leave a week from today. I'm not sure where the time has gone, but I am getting quite excited to go. I can't wait to get to Florence. I am a little sad about being away from my friends and family for 4 months, but I am certain the coming adventures will make it all worthwhile. I can't wait to discover what the future holds.

Italy, here I come!