Alright so it's been a while since I last posted....oops...but I do have an excuse!!! Studio and Context were both due within the last couple of days...However now I am finished!!! Yaaay! Just two written exams stand between me and my undergraduate degree! Let's see what have I been up to....
Classes have been much of the same -- a mad dash to get everything ready, printed, and presented...On April 8th friends of the family from Paris came up and we had a fantastic time going around Florence, and visiting Siena! I even got to go up into the belltower in Siena this time, so that was fun! It was gorgeous weather the whole time they were here, and it was great to see them! We met in Piazza della Republica on Easter Sunday to watch the flag throwers and the parade, and then followed the crowds to the Duomo to watch the fireworks. Quite the production and REALLY crowded! The parade was...interesting...There were lots of people dressed up in Renissance costumes, and thousands of men in tights. Then came about six giant white oxen hauling a huuuuuge box that they lit fireworks off of, preceded by a not-so-traditional tractor....not quite sure what that was for...I've put up pictures, so check them out!
The next week was spent working on papers, and studio projects that were due, but on April 21st Amy arrived from Seattle!!! We spent most of the night chatting and catching up -- LONG overdue! She has been travelling around Asia since October, which meant I hadn't seen her since August!! It has been so great to see her again, and I'm really excited for our trip! We walked around Florence on Wednesday, and saw a few of the main sights, and on Thursday I had my final Studio Critque...still not quite sure how that all went -- i'll find out tomorrow!
As soon as Crits were done, we were off to Sicily for the weekend! Relaxing after a couple weeks of craziness was fabulous, and the beaches were amazing -- if a little dirty. Despite wearing Amy's factor 55 sunscreen, I managed to absolutely FRY the first day, but the sunburn is fading, and I had fun anyway! We left Florence at 3:35am on Friday morning to catch a bus to Pisa airport. We got to Sicily around 9:30am, and headed straight to our hostel which was *amazing.* There were 6 other people with us besides Amy and I, and we stayed in two, 4 bedroom rooms. Each room had a huge bed, and a pull out couch bed, and came equipped with a kitchenette, a TV, and a bathroom -- with HOT WATER!!! It's the little things in life....
After checking in most of the group headed straight for the beach. We eventually crashed on a peaceful spot, after walking for a ways to find a beach that wasn't gross....I paddled in the Medditerrean sea (which was COLD!) and then I think we all passed out for about five hours, (hence the sunburn......), before the sun went behind the clouds and we headed back to the hostel. We cooked ourselves dinner, played charades, and then called it a night.
On Saturday we decided to try and go to one of the Islands off of Trapani. We decided on Levanzo and caught the noon ferry there, after spending the morning in a small boat fair on the docks. Levanzo was GORGEOUS and reminded me of Greece! We wanted to see the grotto on the other side of the island, so we took off along one of the roads (there were only a couple to choose from!) and followed that for a ways....Aaaaand then the path ended...but we decided to keep going. As long as we followed the coastline, we would find the grotto eventually, right? Yeah. right. After a few hours that ended in scambling over rocks, getting dive bombed by attack seagulls, and running up the side of a cliff to avoid said evil monster birds, we found the grotto -- and it was closed. Of course. :) However it was a great hike, and beautiful scenery so none of us were very put out! We got to the top of the cliff, found the road again, and headed back towards the center of town. Even though all of us had brought water bottles with us on the hike, it was a very hot day, and so we ended up stopping at a little village to ask the people who lived there for water. :) The couple who helped us were called Lena and Ignatio, and they were so sweet and generous!!! They filled up our waterbottles and sent us on our way. When we made it back to the port, we still had a couple hours before our ferry came, so we headed down to the beach, were a couple crazy people decided to go swimming...when we went back into town, we caught the 8pm ferry back to Trapani, and headed back to the hostel for some food and then sleep.
On Sunday we were up at 5:30am to catch a taxi to the airport for our early morning flight back to Florence. I went with Amy to check her into her hostel, and then Karen and I spent the day working on Context, getting our poster ready for our presentation which was today!
This week is my final week in Florence...I can't believe it's gone so fast! I'm really going to miss it when I leave....on Tuesday (tomorrow) I have my AII final, and then meetings with both Franco and Carlo/Stefano for our grades, before the final Abroadco dinner with Laelle. On Wednesday Laura, Amy and I are going to have a day going around Florence, visiting museums, and doing those last-minute touristy things that I never quite got around to.....before dinner with the architecture professors that night. On Thursday I have my Italian final, and then the departure orientation for the school, and Amy and I are planning to have dinner at Quattro Leoni where there is rumored to be a fabulous pear pasta...Then on Friday we're off to Cinque Terre for the day, and on Saturday I leave Florence for the first stop on our tour: Venice and Verona! It still hasn't sunk in...i'm not ready to leave yet....
Details and Itinerary for my tour will be posted within the next day or so. :)
Here is the itinerary for our trip! Amy and I will first be heading to Venice for a few days, with side trips to Verona, and Murano. Then we're off to Monaco, Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, and then finally to Kent, England where Amy will leave me and then I tour England, and the Family! A link to our calender has been added to my 'Link' section of my blog. :) Amy has her baby laptop, so we'll still be able to keep in touch as we travel! Send us recommendations on what to see and do!!! 
