Internet only in hotels-last days in rome, first few in florence

Ok, so again this is going to be a short post because once again i'm writing from inside the hotel that our apartments are connected to and i only have 19% left on my battery and forgot to bring my adapter so i'll try to keep it brief.  So we had a last few nights in rome which were fun.  We went and saw pompeii except it was raining the ENTIRE TIME.  Of course, me being the smart one i am forgot an umbrella and since my mom's old school rain jacket from the 80s has no hood i was pretty much drenched (everyone else was too)- it basically started hailing while we were exploring pompeii.  That night i went out to get gelato with my roommates and walk around rome.  We saw the trevi fountain which was really spectacular and walked down the spanish steps.  The next day we went to vatican city and saw everything.  The artwork and pretty much everything in there was amazing.  There were a lot of pigeons though so i was happy that we could go inside (i'm not sure what i'm going to do when i travel to venice).  We went out that night to campo dei fiori ( an american bar spot) but it was a lot of fun.  I'm running on not that much sleep though.  The next day we packed our bags for florence and pretty much spent the entire day on buses and getting settled into our apartment.  It was incredibly inefficient but i guess i just have to get used to the italian lifestyle (slow and relaxed).  Our apartment is so nice.  It's huge! It's like a maze trying to navigate the rooms and i lucked out with the largest room.  I have so much space that i do not know what i'm going to do with but it's nice to finally have some room and to unpack.  Today we had to wake up early to sit at an orientation near the school which is really close.  I was literally the only one in the program who is taking any sort of advanced italian class so i had to take a placement test and then i just walked back to the apartment by myself.  On the way i stopped in a pharmacy to get some facewash and face lotion and it was such an adventure.  They don't have normal products here so i got some random italian face wash that the women said she used and was good.  When i was walking back some guy thought i was an actual italian and i guess i must have looked like i knew where i was going because he asked me for directions.  yay! Anyways, that's all i'm going to write for now, but i'm sure i'll have lots to write about on sunday when the weekend is over.  Classes start monday.  It will be nice to get some structure.  Ciao.

Wine for 2 Euro!

It's my official second day in italy and it's great so far.  We woke up pretty early, ate breakfast, and walked around rome.  We saw the forum, the colliseum, and the spanish steps.  I think i'm adjusting pretty well. I've already been using my italian a lot which is good.  I ate lunch with the roomies at this cute little caffe place and we had pizza.  It was delicious, except we ordered soda and it cost 4.50 euro!  Ridiculous.  I got wine for cheeper than that.  Oh well, I guess it's better to know that now then later on.  Anyways this is going to be a short post because I still am paying for internet so i dont want to use it all up.  This is a boring post.  Just thought i'd share my delight at purchasing wine for as little as 1.64 euro.  Glorious.  

Arrival in Rome!

So i'm finally in Rome and write now i'm blogging downstairs in the lobby hotel.  I'm so jetlagged, but i can't sleep anymore or i'll be completely off.  The flight was pretty good, I mostly slept most of the time, but I knew i was going to Italy when they were offering complimentary wine with our meal.  Che fantastico! ha..We actually arrived here pretty early, but literally waited forever in the airport at the baggage claim.  Of course, I was freaking out because my bags were not coming and i was one of the last people to get them but they came so remained calm for the most part lol.  We drove to the hotel on a double decker coach bus and it was amazing just looking outside and seeing everything that was going on.  Our hotel is really nice.  We have a bidet in our room! I"m really tempted to take a picture but of course i have no battery charger so so be it.  Anyways, I'm paying for internet so i'm typing this as fast as i can.  I'll write again soon.  Ciao!

First Post

Ciao, to anyone who is reading this!  This is my first post, and I'm not much of a blogger so i'm going to attempt to keep you all entertained (even though I feel like this blog is going to be mostly for me and ariel).  Even though you should all definitely  become "followers" of my blog and any posts are much appreciated.

So, i'm going to be in Italy for the next four months of my life.  Studying in Florence, finally!  I have been wanting to do this as long as I can remember and now i am FINALLY doing it.  Ahhh i'm so freaking excited.  So i figured I'd start the first post by putting down some goals for when i'm living abroad-whether they are realistic or totally irrational i figured i'd put some down and see how much i can get done throughout the semester:

1. Have the best time I possibly can.

2. Go skydiving in Switzerland.

3. See Prague and Greece

4. Have an Italian Romance (or at least get taken on a few dates)

5. Develop some European style or at least become somewhat fashionable (those who know me think i need to develop some more "style" so to speak)

6. Become a wine conosieur (spelling?)- or at least very knowledgeable in fine wines

7. Eat the best food

8. Be open to everything

9. Do something completely crazy and spontaneous and out of character

10. Become friends with lots of Italians

11. Learn to cook a classic Italian meal

12. Keep up with this blog

That's all i can think of at the moment but more to come throughout the semester. 

Arrivederci,

Aly