Adventures In...Italy: Part 5 - Arrivederci, Italia

Bre, Aryn, Myself, Haley, and Ashley in front of Prada.

I am currently sitting in the basement of my home in the USA right now.

I miss Italy so much.

It was so amazing. I miss the whole package - not just the places, the food, the fashion, the atmosphere - but the people. The people I met and got to know at GIF are amazing. Except for the few that don't go to Gonzaga, I'll at least get to see you all back in the fall at school. :)

I know I didn't write a whole lot about Florence itself, mostly because I had limited time and wanted to talk about all the weekend trips. But Florence was awesome! It was where we lived, where we got to know each other, where we experienced kind-of-actually-living in Italy.

View of Florence from Piazzale Michaelangelo.

The Duomo in the center of Florence is huge. I've said it over and over and everyone knows it. You can even see how huge it is by the photo above. But, no matter how many photos you see, you will still get that "woah" reaction when you are standing next to it and looking up and seeing this massive thing.

Between going to see all the art, the David, going to Villa Corsini to taste the wine (everyday after-school activities), we had a regular life. Kind of. We woke up, had breakfast at the pensione (cereal, small white bread with jam, coffee, and the occassional egg or yogurt), went to two classes (marketing and philosophy for me), had amazing three-course lunches at the pensionie, then napped from our three-course food coma, did homework, did laundry, walked around the city, or went shopping We'd usually go out to dinner (Mostodolce - right next to my pensione - or Dante's or La Spada or just grab a quick panini, kebap, or gelato).

We had a few dinners with the school too. They involved free (or pre-paid), unlimited wine. There was a lot of wine. Italy is allll about the wine.

Normally, in the US, I wouldn't be too excited about going to art galleries or looking at art. But the art in Rome and Florence was so breathtaking. There's so much history behind it, and it is so beautiful. Every church, no matter how popular it is, has extravagant art.

Some of the best memories were nights out in Florence.

Can't wait to reuinite with you all in the fall :)

Can't wait to go back to Florence one day. 

xo

Adventures In...Italy: Part 4 - Amalfi Coast

I think the Amalfi Coast is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Last weekend I went to Sorrento, Positano, Capri Island, and Pompei. It was a six hour bus ride from Florence to Sorrento, but definitely worth the wait. Driving along the tall and windy cliffs was gorgeous (even though buses often got stuck on the tiny roads and had to do this awkward back-up and re-try thing). The buildings are so pretty with their pastel colors against the bright blue Mediterannean water. There were purple flowers (my favorite!) everywhere. Since they have so many lemons in this part of Italy, and this is where Limoncello is made, there were so many lemon things everywhere. Lemon dish towels, lemon-shaped soap, etc. A lot of the gelato was also homemade.

We stayed at Seven Hostel in Sorrento. It is such a nice hostel. Definitely the best one I've stayed in. Other than not having shampoo and towels provided, it was basically a hotel. I shared my room with four other girls where we had this little private room overlooking the balcony, conveniently located right next to the rooftop bar. :)

The beach was definitely one of my favorite parts of being in Positano. I loved my weekends in Ireland and London, but I was ready to be somewhere tropical and warm and be on the beach. It was so nice to go swimming and get a little tan. Yep, the water was actually this blue:

Speaking of swimming, I also got to go swimming in the Blue Grotto. It was AMAZING. Such a cool thing. Apparently it's one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. I loved it, and swimming in it made it even better.

And again, the water inside the cave was actually this gorgeous color blue! No editing whatsoever. Amazing.

We also did this chair lift ride that gave a really pretty view of the island in Capri. It went so high up, that we were in the clouds.

Our last morning was spent in Pompei, and we got to see the ruins. Back in ancient times, there was a huge volcanic eruption that killed many people and covered the city in ash. But when the city was uncovered much later, they found that the ash actually preserved the area pretty well. It was crazy to see mummified people with the bones sticking out and the emotion on their faces when they died in the eruption.

Ah, I love Italy. I don't want to leave. Unfortunately, I'm leaving tomorrow :(

This has been a great experience, I don't want it to end just yet!

xo

LONDON



**So, this was supposed to go up a while ago, but the internet hasn't really been working. Anyways...!

Currently I am in Sorrento, Italy on the Amalfi Coast, but now I'm going to write about my trip to London last weekend!

London was definitely one of my favorite trips so far. We got there the day their 2 1/2 month rain drought ended...of course. But it was so great that the rain didn't bother me too much! I loved the city atmosphere, the people were so nice, and there was so much to do. I didn't make it to Topshop (so sad!) but I did get to see Buckingham Palace, Greenwich, Big Ben, and all that main stuff.

We also went to go see Wicked. It was so well-done. People were saying it was better in London than on Broadway. The only show I've seen on Broadway was Jersey Boys (which was amazing), but I thought Wicked was so good. The girl who played Elfaba had a fantastic voice, as well as everyone else. And of course, I loved the dancing in the background.

The next night we went to go see the London Eye, a huge ferris wheel that looks over the entire city. It started with a 4D intro video which reminded me of Disneyland and then we went into a "bubble" and got to see the city that way.

After that, we went out to dinner and some clubs to see the city nightlife. I'm not totally sure what music everyone is listening to in the US, but in the UK all I'm hearing is Adele, Florence and the Machine, and new party favorites like Party Rock Anthem and Give Me Everything. Everywhere we go, we hear this music.

On the way to the airport, Nicole and I stopped at Abbey Road. I was so. so. excited. I walked across the same crosswalk as The Beatles, right?

Now I'm sitting in the sun next to our rooftop cabana in Sorrento, Italy. And loving it. After a day in Capri and the Mediterannean Sea, we're going to Pompei tomorrow. More on that later :)

xo

New College Fashion Post!

My latest College Fashion post went up this weekend!

I interviewed Laura about European fashion, her favorite trends, and what inspires her style.

See the interview and more photos here, or go here to see an archive of my previous posts!

Top o' the morning, to ye



Green and Guinness....definitely describe Ireland well! Well, there actually is more to Ireland than just green and Guinness, like beautiful Blarney's Castle in Cork:

...and the English Market:

...well, Guinness is actually a pretty big deal:

We did plenty of other fun things. Tried soda bread, shepherd's pie, and had a lot of salmon (never got around to an Irish breakfast or black pudding, though), got served free icewater at restaurants, and met some awesome Irish people. One of my favorite weekends in Europe yet.

It was a great weekend in Ireland and a fun few days back in Florence, Tomorrow I'm off to London!

ciao, belle

xo