Carnival in Venice

This weekend we took a day trip and attended Carnival in Venice.  It is festival that goes on every year in Venice from the beginning of February to the end of February. The festival originated as a public holiday and celebration the day before lent. In the past the event celebrated prosperity, myths, and culture. We traveled by bus for 3.5 hours (UGH!) and then boarded a ferry that took us to San Macro Square (the main area of the festival).  The minute we stepped off the ferry and onto the island we were surrounded by crowds of people.  Everywhere you walked you would see street performers dressed up standing waiting for you to take pictures or watch them.  It seemed as though numerous Italians from other parts of the country traveled to Venice for carnival to simply make a statement by dressing up and posing for pictures.  By the main square there was a main stage where shows were held.   Some of the shows included magicians and mimes.   There were tons of shops with souvenirs, masks, and trinkets from Venice.  I was able to purchase my 1st mask! One of the neat areas we found was face painting.  It is a huge tradition to have your face painted with intricate designs and to wear a mask. We spend most of our time eating, drinking at bars, and observing the bizarre phenomenon.  Everywhere you looked people were wearing masks, extravagant costumes or goofy outfits.  The island was quite confusing due to narrow passage ways, and dark tunnels. We got lost quite a few times to say the least.  Overall I would say it was a neat experience and I'm very excited to return to Venice with my parents when they visit to see more of Venice! I saved the chance to go on my first gondola ride for the next time I return ....Obviously so my parents can pay for it :)

The rest of the weekend we recuperated and I caught up on homework and cleaned our messy apartment!  I found out today that I got 100% on my Italian quiz! Pretty exciting considering I have no clue how to speak properly in this country!

Xoxo
-A

Paris

After jet setting to Paris for the weekend with a group of 18 girls I now have a new appreciation for small group trips (with my family in particular). This past Thursday we departed early in the AM to Paris.  We took over 5 systems of transportation to secure a cheap flight.  In the end we learned it cost the same amount to fly out of a nearby airport and pay more for the flight versus commuting to a middle of now where airport with cheap flights.  Regardless we arrived in Paris and stayed with some other sorority sisters in an home exchange apartment.  Our location was great and we traveled mostly by metro the entire time.  I became a metro extraordinaire.  I know it is hard to believe but somehow I ended up as the group tour guide for the weekend.  I led a group of 18 people around the entire time.  I now understand how annoying I was when I was little and would ask a million questions over and over and over when visiting tourist attractions.  We started the day with Notre Dame and then proceeded to Musee d' Orsay.  After we ate at Ratatouille where we sampled the traditional ratatouille dish (known as a vegetable stew served chilled).  The following day we started with Versailles.  I was blown away by the palace and grounds. I decided I could easily get married there or live there due to the extravagant interior design. After Versailles we went to Sacre Coeur which is a church set on the top of a hill in Paris.  The church had a breath taking view of the city below.  We listened to a local performer on the steps of the church and drank hot wine...a recent discovery :)  After we went to the Champs de Elysee where we viewed the arc de triomphe.  While walking down the Champs de Elysee we smelled Abercrombie Fierce (Abercrombie cologne) from the street.  We soon discovered the flagship store on the strip.  Male models we standing outside shirtless inviting pedestrians to come inside.  Inside was like a dream come true! 6 floors of all Abercrombie! In addition we visited Laduree (a famous bakery/macaroon shop) and tasted colorful macaroons.  The next day we ate breakfast at Angelina's a famous pastry shop near the Louvre.  The pastry shop is notorious known for their hot chocolate and chocolate croissants. I ordered the hot chocolate and received a cup of rich melted chocolate.  It was delicious but heavy on calories! After we ventured into the Louvre.  Angelina's helped brace me for the bordem I soon felt after entering the Louvre.   As you all know I HATE MUSEUMS WITH A PASSION! However luckily so did everyone else I was traveling with.  We quickly scanned the museum, saw the Mona Lisa, sculpture of Venus, and other exhibits and then left! After we went to the Eiffel Tower and waited in a long line :( As the planner of the group I suggested we get tickets ahead of time however we failed to do so.  We finally made it up to the summit and it was freezing.  We made it up in time for sunset which was incredible.  On the way down we were able to view the Eiffel Tower lit up.  To end the day we dined in the Moulin Rouge district!  Overall I had a great trip in Paris! I would go back anytime just for the food! I had a chocolate croissant each morning and even managed to make room for a crepe!  Don't worry I already went for a run yesterday!

Right now in Italy there is a chocolate festival going on around the corner from us.  It is the best festival I have ever seen! I'm a huge fan of chocolate so basically it is a dream come true.  So far I have gone everyday and gotten a piece in honor of Valentines Day!

That is all for now!

Ciao!

Less than 24 hours in Rome

Unfortunately due to the cold weather and snow in Italy we had a bit of a frantic travel experience.  We attempted to travel to Rome last Friday morning and arrived by train to a snow storm with snow flakes the size of golf balls.  Apparently it hadn't snow this bad in 20 years! The entire city shut down including transportation.   We finally located our hotel and met up with our two friends studying abroad in Rome.  After settling in and eating we decided to return to Florence due to the rumors of a blizzard headed directly to Rome.  All the attractions shut down for two days so we made a quick decision to catch the last train back to Florence.  To recover from the disappointment we spent some quality time at a local pub nearby on Saturday, got delicious panini's at Salmeri Verdi (One of the best Panini's places in Florence and recommended by many) and then managed to go out at night.  Sunday we cleaned and cooked our way through the day.  This week I visited the local market which sells tons of local products at various stands.  I found a form of dried cranberries which was pretty exciting!  In my cooking class we prepared Pasta Normandy, a veal prosciutto dish and sampled two white wines.  We learned white wine is normally paired with greasy, fatty foods because it helps to cleanse your system due the high acidity.  I'm starting to grasp the basics in the Italian language and can now officially navigate through the grocery store. Tomorrow we leave for Paris and I'm so excited to travel! I hope there aren't any issues with our travel however I'm sure there will be some minor bumps in the road :)

That is all for now!

xoxo
-A

Classes at Lorenzo De Medici

First week of classes and now a four day weekend! I had made it through the first official school week :)  I started on Monday with my beginning Italian course and Pairing of Food and Wine.  The Italian course is enjoyable and is similar to Spanish so I can understand most of the class so far.  By far the food and wine class is my favorite.  I have a passionate foodie teacher who isn't afraid to get messy and teach us everything.  The first thing we made was pasta carbonara which is a pasta with a cheese and egg mixture along with bacon. While cooking the pasta my teacher showed me that he wasn't afraid to stick his hand in boiling water to taste/test the pasta.  I felt as though I was watching a cooking show right before my eyes. We also tasted 2 wines in class including a white Chardonnay and red Merlot.

Tuesday I attended Anthropology of the Catwalk, and Visual Merchandising.  I already can tell the anthropology class will be boring however I really enjoyed the visual merchandising class.  We will be working with local businesses in Florence to help merchandise their windows and stores in addition to multiple group projects, and story boards.

On Wednesday I attend my Italian class again and then have trend forecasting.  I'm very excited about the trend forecasting class.  This class teaches you how to forecast certain styles, upcoming trends, and fads through the use of photoshop and Adobe.

Many of my classes take field trips throughout the course which is very exciting.  The only bummer is that most of my classes are 2.5 hours long and I find it very difficult to sit that entire time.  The most impressive thing about the teachers at Lorenzo de Medici is their English.  Every professor has excellent English.

Last night some of the girls I'm living with and I indulged in a fancy dinner at La Giostria, which is a restaurant around the corner from us.  I had eaten there before when I was young and was reminded of the memories when I walked in.  We were greeted with sparkling wine and a large platter of appetizers. We started off with their famous pear ravioli as an appetizer and then ate apple glazed chicken with roasted potatoes and vegetables.  After leaving I was in a food coma and could barley move. 

That is all for now!
Arrivederci!

Pisa & Verrazzano Castle

Yesterday we went to Pisa for a short day trip.  We visited the Pisa church, baptistry, cemetery, and leaning tower.  We learned from our tour that each town is focused around birth, life, and death.  Babies used to be baptized twice a year in which the entire town would gather for the two events.  The church is used weekly to hold services.  Inside the church was extravagant and decorated with a roman inspiration due to the round architecture.  We also learned that Galileo was born in Pisa and conducted one of the first experiments on the leaning tower.  Our tour guide explained the leaning tower was slowly tilting to the ground 1 millimeter each year until the building was secured a few years ago.  The reason why the tower is leaning is due to the soft soil it was built on.  Pisa is located close the sea water and over time the soil became soft and sunk causing the building to lean. After Pisa we returned to Florence and went to the grocery store! 

Today we went to Verrazzano Castle & Winery.  We toured the beautiful grounds and facility.  The Verrazzano Castle produces over 106,000 bottles of wine a year and was founded in 1170.  The winery is known for there Chanti wine and was one of the 1st to produce Chanti Wine.  We got to see the wine cellars, prosciutto cellar, and barrels of wine.  After the tour we sat down in a gorgeous room at the winery that overlooked breath taking views of the Tuscan hills.  We tasted 3 wines, red rosso, chanti, and a dessert wine (which tasted like whiskey) I was not a fan of the dessert wine!  We also ate lunch there and had one of the best meals so far.  We were served pasta, salad, prosciutto, salami, potatoes, quiche, sausage, & bread.  While numerous students decided to get drunk I enjoyed the food and company I was with.   After we returned to our apartment and napped for the afternoon. Finally I was able to Skype with my parents! (Probably my favorite part of the day)

Tomorrow we are planning on gathering school supplies, remaining house hold items, visiting an open air food market and cooking our first dinner together!  Make sure to check out pictures on Facebook.

Ciao! 

Sienna

Today we took a day trip to Sienna with our group and advisors.  We learned that Sienna and Florence have always been rival cities due to their political power and religious power.  We toured a church as well as the main town of Sienna.  Another thing I learned today was that Sienna is known for the best food in Italy.  (Not very hard to compete since all the food is AMAZING HERE)  We took a leisure lunch on the piazza and I enjoyed one of the best mozzarella and tomato salads I have ever had.

 We then returned to Florence and later dined at a local place next to our apartment.  I also learned that our apartment is owned by Ferdomo (very well know Italian Designer)  Unfortunately our internet isn't consistent so hopefully we will work through it so I can skype everyone!

Tomorrow we have orientation and then are planning on taking our first trip to the supermarket! We are surviving off of a small amount of food and toiletries so hopefully we can refill soon!  

FLORENCE!

I have FINALLY arrived in Florence! After a long commute I made it!  It took three flights to get here and the last one managed to lose 70 pieces of luggage.  Luckily mine was not one of them! After the two hour delay of luggage mishaps I was dropped off at my mini mansion! We are living in an apartment with three floors, including four bedrooms (walk in closets...I couldn't be happier) a washer and dryer (impressive for Italy) a kitchen including a dish washer :) and marble counters! Also we have a sun room that overlooks The Duomo (Major tourist attraction and beautiful building which Florence is centered around) We can literally climb onto the roof from our sun room! We were warned about blowing fuses and power outages but hopefully we can manage to avoid those!

I plan on using skype to talk during the semester so hear is my skype username
Alexhoffman7

Tomorrow we start orientation and this week we are taking few day trips to Sienna, Pisa, and a castle!

That is all for now.
Ciao!