ALEX COMES TO ITALY!!!

    FINALLY!!!

       It seemed like it had been forever since I had seen him and I was so excited!  Alex flew in and stayed for about ten days for his spring break!  We had such a great time!  I showed him all over Florence, (bypassing the museums since he wasn't too interested ha) then went to Bologna and Viareggio, a town on the Italian coast! 

 We went to Bologna the first weekend he was here and it was great!  The weather wasn’t so much but we still had fun!  We walked around the city center and climbed the huge tower, La Torre degli Asinelli.  It was kinda scary; the stairs were steep, dark, and small.  Once we got to the top it was definitely worth it though!  Afterwards, we walked around, got some gelato, and then went out to dinner! 

 That next week I had midterms in all my classes so it was hard to do everything we wanted and still have time to study but it all worked out!  I took him to all my favorite places to eat, the leather market, and the river!  I’m sure he got his fill of pasta and wine…welcome to Italy!  We also climbed the Duomo all the way to the top.  I got a little woozy because it was very tiny stairs that winded all the way up!

          Anyways, I couldn’t wait till midterms were over because we were going to Viareggio right after my last class!  Viareggio is a small city on the western coast of Italy on the Ligurian Sea!  It is known for its Carnivale where they have huge floats and parades for several weeks!  Sadly we just missed it.  However, we had a great time!  It was so fun to see the sea and walk along the beach!  There was a Ferris wheel that we also got to take a ride on!  The city was a nice get-a-way from the huge city of Florence.  It was quiet and hardly and tourists (Florence is overrun by them right now)!  We just walked along the boardwalk, harbor, and pier.  It was a beautiful day to be at the beach!  I want to go back already!

 Before I knew it, the week was over and Alex had to head home.  It was so great to see him and have him

see what my life is like here but I miss him even more now. 

    

          

It's been a while....

   Things have been super crazy around here, well not crazy but lots of stuff have been going on.  This month has been and still is the month of family and boyfriend visits!  Tate, Ali's boyfriend came last week when we were in Venice, then Alex came right after, now Shandie's boyfriend is here.  And then after all the boyfriends leave, the Moms are coming, Ali's first, then my mom, then Shandie's!  Its gonna be great!  Oh, and not to mention, midterms where right in the middle of all this! JOY!
     I last wrote about Switzerland and that was a WHILE ago.  So I will do my best to get you caught up!  Ok so lets go all the way back to Assisi, Siena, and San Gimignano.  ISA (our program) has several excursions included during our time here in Florence.  Our first two were to Assisi, then Siena and San Gimignano.  It was so much fun!  We all loaded up on two huge private coach buses and took off to Assisi.  If you have never heard of the twon, you should look it up.  It s a world heritage site and an important pilgrimage site, St. Francis is buried there, and it is also the world's only "City of Peace."  Picture the movie "Under The Tuscan Sun" and that is what this place loosed like.  Actually that movie was filmed about 20 minutes from Assisi.  The town is small, quiet, and very clean.  I loved every bit of our time there!
      The next day we headed to Siena and San Gimignano.  It was so much fun seeing all these places with so much history!  Siena is where they have the famous horse race in the town square called Il Palio, the opening of Quantum of Solace was filmed during the race!  It was a beautiful city with great shops and good food!  Later that day we went to San Gimignano which is smack dab in the middle of chianti region, only where the best wine in the world comes from!  It was absolutely beautiful!
    Thats all for now, I still have more to tell you but that will come later!