Ciao my friends,
I regret that I have not posted hardly at all during my time here, and I know I am going to be so disappointed later that I have not done so. Unfortunately, I under estimated just what the time commitment would be to my studies while here, and adding in trying to see the city as well as the rest of Italy, I regretfully have put journaling and blogging to the wayside. Anyways, here I am now, with all the highlights of the trip so far!
I can’t believe that my time here is already halfway over… Every morning I have my historical perspectives of chemistry lecture from 9-10:15 am, or we have a field trip that will generally take up most of the morning/afternoon. I am really enjoying this class, the book and the lecture material is very interesting and my professor is so sweet (he even bought me a canal after our last trip). So far we have taken trips to the water treatment plant that serves Florence and the surrounding area,the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, a perfume/soap/liqueur factory that has been continuously operating since the year 1612, and the local botanical gardens, which are the oldest medicinal gardens in Europe. Tomorrow we are taking a trip to an olive oil farm (farm? factory? plant? I’m not sure… I will learn tomorrow). Generally the afternoons are spent studying, getting lunch, going to the store or market, and doing laundry and day to day stuff. My Orgo 2 class is then every afternoon from 3-5:30, and after we are generally pooped for the rest of the evening. We have about three homework assignments due every week, an exam every Monday, and we have a paper coming up as well, so we are generally pretty busy just trying to get our work done and study during the week so we have time free on the weekends. My roommates Lauren and Veronika are both in Orgo with me, and my other roommates Nevada and Savannah are in biochem, so we, and most of our friends, are all in the same boat of studying all week to enjoy our time on the weekends.
So far our weekends have been amazing and worth all the stress during the week. The first weekend here I spent Saturday just exploring the city and studying and getting adjusted, but Sunday we had another field trip, this time for Orgo. We started the day exploring Montalcino. There was a fortress that we got to walk to the top of and take pictures, and then we got coffees and just hung out loving the fact that we were out of the city for a little bit. Our second stop was to the Sasso Di Sole winery, where we got a tour and tasting of their wines, as well as a bit of lunch. Our last stop of the day was Pienze where we got to taste some cheese, and then walked around for some gelato and amazing views. As much as I love Florence, it’s been nice on the weekends to get out of the city and get some fresh air.
Our second weekend was also pretty packed. On Saturday, Lauren, a few other friends, and myself took the train to Pisa in the morning. We walked to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and got our incredibly tacky tourist photos, and then we got souvenirs and breakfast. As much as I hate to say it, that’s literally all there was to do in Pisa, and with our exam on Monday and a busy day Sunday, Lauren and I just couldn’t enjoy it, so we got the next train back to Florence to study back at the apartment. It was definitely worth it, though, as we were able to completely enjoy our trip to Cinque Terre on Sunday. Although I don’t usually do so, this time my friends and I all booked the trip through a tour group. There were a few things I would have done differently, but overall the tour was nice, as it included the bus to and from, and experienced tour guides, which saved me time from having to do research if I had wanted to do the area on my own. We got to take pictures of the amazing, classic Cinque Terre hillside, and then for lunch we got to try some incredible pesto pizza. The second half of the day, however, we diverged from the group, as my friends and I decided to hike from Manarola to Vernazza. The hike was absolutely beautiful, but it kicked my butt, and I realized just how out of shape I have gotten since hiking the Appalachian Trail last year. It doesn’t matter though, it just felt amazing to be hiking in the mountains once again, and the views of the coast from the mountain just cannot be beat anywhere. Luckily for us, the hike led right to the Mediterranean so we got some drinks and ran into the sea, and had about an hour to float around and relax before heading back. I was unbelievably exhausted after this trip, and I think my phone said we walked about 12 miles and climbed almost 90 floors that day. I came right home and passed out for the rest of the night.
We just came back from our most recent weekend trip, and I have to say this was the best time I have had in Italy so far. Our university was closed on Monday so we spent the three day weekend on the Amalfi Coast. Four of my roommates, two of our guy friends, and myself all booked an AirBnB, and got the train into Naples Friday night, and then hired a car to drive us into Sorenti, the little coastal town we would be staying in. Our AirBnB was absolutely gorgeous, it was three stories, had four bedrooms and four bathrooms, an amazing terrace/patio overlooking the mediterranean, and a stocked wine cellar we could buy from. Saturday was a relaxing morning spent at the beach, just a quick walk down the mountain side where our AirBnB was located. We got lunch on the water and then walked into town after a quick nap to find a grocery store and look around. In the evening we had a private limoncello tasting at the villa, and I’ll admit I’m really not a big fan. We had limoncello, and then meloncello, pistachiocello, raspberry, hazelnut, and coffee flavors as well. I think I would rather just stick to beer. We ended the evening with EJ and Nevada making us an amazing dinner and then all of us heading up to bed for the night. We got up early the next morning, EJ and Nevada again made us a wonderful breakfast (with even more wonderful mimosas), and we headed to the harbor for our private boat cruise. We spent the day on a chartered boat going around the isle of Capri, jumping off the boat, and swimming in the mediterranean. This was one of those days that I just had to look around and realized how blessed I was to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world, hanging out with the most amazing people I have known for just a short time, but already love so much, and having the time of my life. It’s days like these that make traveling so incredible, and are the stories that I hope to tell for a lifetime.
Overall, this trip so far has been so far from what I expected, in both good and bad ways. For now, I am just planning on soaking up the last few weeks that I have here and have the time of my life as I finish my last semester of college! These have been just some of the highlights of our trip and our big weekends, but I will try to be better about posting more just about Florence and the experience!
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