Our First Friday and Saturday

Ciao! It was rainy outside again today, but it's ok because we ended up sleeping in till 1 o'clock ( probably had something to do with the fact that we were up till 4am). Last night (Friday night) we went out at night for the first time and had a blast! We went to a bar called Lions Fountain. It was decorated with college t-shirts on the ceiling signed by students who studied abroad in the past. There were also a ton of signatures on the walls ( we found ZTA in a few places!) We met so many people from different countries. First of all, i met a guy from u of i that is from Alton Illinois and actually knew where I lived, so that was awesome! Also, one guy was from Finland and kept saying things in Different languages. A British man who had a wig on that was noticeable from a mile away and looked like he was 50 years old started talking to us too. He asked if I had been to Europe before and I told him my family and I took a trip a few years ago. I told him I saw Omaha Beach in Normandy and he then told me that his grandfather died in the war and if we continued to talk about it he would start crying. He dramatically walked away and I felt bad but my friend Angela said " There's no way, he wasn't alive then. That's not possible". It's one of those instances that you had to be there to see but it was one of the funniest experiences of my life! We also met crazy Italians, but that'a a given. On the way home we found what we thought was a burrito...still not totally sure what it was but I ate it lol.

Despite the gloomy weather we spent today (Saturday) walking all around Florence. We stopped at a cafe and I had a sandwich with motzerella and tomatoes and my first cappuccino here! Then we went to markets and shops in piazzas and across the Pontevecchio (which is the big bridge across the Arno river that has a ton of jewelry and leather shops). I looked like a weirdo smelling all of the leather jackets and purses but I am obsessed with the smell of real leather! You can tell its all real because of how soft it feels. And all of the jewelry was so beautiful I was crying inside because I couldn't even afford half of an earring :( but it was still fun to look at. For dinner tonight Angela, Danielle, and I went to Pizzeria O'vesuvio, which is where Jersey Shore worked while they stayed in Italy. They still have disclaimers from MTV on the walls saying that if you enter you are agreeing to be filmed. They also have pictures and writing on the walls of the casts favorite pizzas ( they have a pizza called the Ron Ron). This place reminded me of what we would consider fast food. You order off the menu and pay at a cash register and then wait for your name to be called. They use a huge fire oven to make the pizzas so it was really fast and it was really good! As for tonight we might stay in to stay out of the rain and get an early start tomorrow!

Picture Descriptions:


1-The breakfast I had this morning at a cafe
2-5- The piazza that had the markets (it's called Republica). The little girl was adorable and made me miss my little friend Maddy, even though she's not that little anymore :(
6-12- The Pontevecchio bridge with all of the views from it. It is my favorite place in Florence so far.
13- A sweet chair I saw in a window
14-18-Tthe Jersey Shore pizzeria. My pizza had pesto, mozzarella, and tomatoes!
19- Me and my roomies in front of the Duomo (starting left: Angela, Emily, Me, Danielle, Nicole, and Nina)
20- Danielle and I with our new friend from Finland