mumford & sons.

For the second weekend in a row I indulged in a concert... I know how it looks, but this is a fluke!  I never go to concerts.  I just happened to hit the concert jackpot within a week of each other.  I went from the incredible John Mayer to the indescribable talent of Mumford & Sons!  What a crazy awesome concert... rather a fest of concerts; a plethora of indie bands with a very strange yet perfect mix of people.

The music was awesome... all 7-8 bands we heard!  Most I hadn't really heard of, but the best part about not knowing the songs & bands that are playing is that you don't feel compelled to huddle with the other 478538653 sweaty & "personal spaceless bubble" people who are standing as close as possible to the stage, but you just get to dance in the back.  We set up camp with the other rusty dancers & got out of our comfort zone a little.  I can tell you from experience... I am NO dancer, but at a concert it doesn't matter because it's all about letting free your inner spirit (hence the fake glasses... *my inner spirit*). 

On Friday night, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros sang last!  They put on quite the entertaining show because they really interact with the audience.  Edward & Jade would constantly ask for audience stories to add to their songs' conversational portions & they would jump down into the front row of people a few times to hear them speak.  I got so much dance on, especially when "Home" came on... I just let loose.  You know the saying... right?  "Dance like no one's watching."  I DID.  A LOT.  I think Emily may or may not have been embarrassed... but I did catch her sneaking a dance here & there!

The idea of letting out your inner spirit is best described by Edward Sharpe (who is actually really Alexander Ebert).  He created this alternative identity for himself, which he calls his "alter ego," which has practically taken over his life.  Mine is definitely not that strong... my dancing spirit is only visible under low light visibility, at concerts, in the back, with my goofy glasses on. Inclusive.  It's a start.....      

Anyway, after spending a great morning at St. Augustine Beach & stuffing ourselves with delicious BBQ, we returned to the concert stuffed & ready to hear some more bands.  We kept slowly creeping forward because today we came prepared to be packed like sardines.  Everyone & their mom arrived early to get front row seats to see Mumford.  For 5+ hours people camped out to stake a claim on their spot.

I can't tell you how AMAZING it was to see Mumford perform, but I can tell you it was AMAZING to see them perform.  They were perfect & talented; playing banjos & guitars, drums & cellos, mandolins & the microphone... I have never seen a more well-rounded group.  30,000 people were there watching & singing along to every single one of their songs for their FIRST performance in Florida.  They played 6 encore songs & it still wasn't enough!  TAKE ME BACK!!!    

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was the decor all around town... the awesome signs & posters, the flags, the street chalk, & especially the MUSTACHES!!  They were everywhere!  I may or may not have taken one as a souvenir... I like it.

I don't know when mustaches became "in," but all I know is that my good friend Haisley has loved mustaches before I can even remember!  She was above the fad, which I so easily fell into... they are just so cute (not real ones though.......)!

Well... I think that is all!  I mustache you a question, but I'll shave it for later.  (Sorry, I had to).

CIAO!

amalfi coast.

GIORNO TRENTUNO

Pretty much the view from Hotel Spicy

Amalfi Coast today!  I woke up ridiculously early wide awake and ready for a nice run along the Arno!  This morning was beautiful and I loved running because the weather was cool enough.  When I got back I showered and relaxed until class.

Italian class was normal... except for the part where this fifty-six year-old guy named Bobby (already can see the problem... right?) did his oral presentation and told us that he has two kids and a girlfriend.  Wait... then why was the University of Central Florida professor out last night taking pictures with college aged students and taking shots?  WEIRD!  So creepy, and just no.

After Italian class we had an exciting day in Wine!  We went on a tour of all the places in Firenze that Livia likes to buy a good bottle or just have a glass.  Why didn't we do this weeks ago instead of the last week of our time here?  Oh well... we walked all around and took our pause at Livia's favorite gelato place called Vivoli, which is also apparently one of the oldest in Firenze.  I can't see all 100 pounds of Livia eating gelato let alone anything... We ended our tour right next to my apartment in this little family owned wine shop where we had a wine and balsamic tasting.  The wines were all so good and I especially liked a dessert wine called Moscato D'Asti with only 5.5% alcohol.  My type of wine!!!  The cover was so cute because the daughter designed it herself.  The balsamic was amazing too!  There was one super sweet one that had been aged for forty years!  That is nuts!

After I bought the bottle of dessert wine, I returned to my apartment to pack up the last few things before heading to the train station at six-thirty to go to the AmAlFi CoAsT!  A million hours later (aka 2 am) we tiredly rolled up to Hotel Spicy in Sorrento.

GIORNO TRENTADUE

Today we woke up pretty early in order to get all our tours in order!  We ate breakfast, stole some items off the buffet, and took a forty minute trek down to the Sorrento port.  We walked down the steep stairs and waited by the water until our giant carrier approached, unloaded 468737835 cars, and let us board.  It took about thirty minutes until we arrived at Marina Grande in Capri.  Once we landed, we immediately boarded the smaller ferry that took us on a tour around the island.  We quickly arrived at this tiny cave opening in the side of a rock face with several other boats, waiting our turn to enter.  We got into these tiny row boats with a guide and he paddled us over to the tiny little hole in the rock of an entrance into the Blue Grotto.  The waves would move up and down and we timed our entrance when the waves were low enough.  We still had to lay completely down so we would not hit our heads on the roof of the cave opening.  Once inside the cave was completely black except for the illuminated water in the color of sea glass blue.  It was so beautiful.  We only had a few minutes in there, so we jumped in and took a few pictures in the freezing water before returning to our boat.  Legit.

Once we returned to the ferry, we continued on the tour around the island.  Along the way we saw the Green Cave, which has rocks that appear green from the reflection of the water.  Everyone on the lower level reached out to touch it.  We continued on to what is known as the "lover's arch," where loved ones are supposed to kiss in order to get eternal love.  Some day... right?

So... we kept going, seeing the beautiful completely clear blue water, the "baby factory" beach, the single lady statue sitting on the rock waving, and the bright orange coral on the rocks.  Everything was perfect!

When we arrived back at Marina Grande, we followed the Florence for Fun tour guides to this hidden beach on Marina Piccola, where we ate a quick lunch and laid out on the beach *ahem* I mean rocks by the beautiful, cold water.  On the way there we walked down this steep path along the rock face that is known as "The Wall of Capri," a play on China's Great Wall.  They were basically the same thing except this wall was intact, along the water, and probably about 3465646 times smaller.  But other than that... pretty much the same.  We swam over to this little area on the other side of the restaurant and collected sea glass.  I love sea glass; it is so pretty... I really don't understand why we don't have as much in the US, but they have loads of it here!  There was a nice rock in the middle of the water that kids were jumping off of, so we grabbed Cole's GoPro and took jumping photos.  It was awesome.

Allora, one of my main goals of this summer was to get a great Chaco tan for camp.  I left my shoes on pretty much the entire weekend attempting to get some good tan lines going.  So far so good... you can definitely see where my shoes were!

We stayed at the beach until about four-thirty when we rode a bus up to the city center for our limoncello tasting.  All I have to say is ew.  I didn't like it at all.  It is so strong, and so unsatisfying, and so gross. No... not for me.  We walked around a little longer, until we reached this fruit stand where we bought these amazing drinks called granitas.  They were basically lemon slush with freshly squeezed orange juice mixed together.  I have never drank something so refreshing in my life.  I was  a happy camper, especially because I was outside in the hot sun, looking at a ridiculous view, drinking a citrus drink.  Nothing could have been better!

After the granitas, we caught the cable car back down to the port, where we headed back to Sorrento for dinner, which was average, but eatable.  We were so exhausted from our day in the sun for pretty much the first time in the last six weeks, that we fell asleep immediately after dinner; all five of us in the one small room, with one bathroom, and five little single beds.  It was a tight squeeze.  

GIORNO TRENTATRE: "The Naked Truth"
Today we woke up a little later and stole a little bit more from the buffet for our lunches and beautiful day in Positano.  We took the bus forty minutes to Positano, where we entered the city and walked around until we arrived at the beach.  Along the way we passed all these shops that started to look very familiar to me.  It all started with this stairwell with these giant lemons hanging from the railings, a restaurant above that said, "Delikatessen," and the bougainvillea hanging from the roof.  I had this gut feeling that there would be a store around the corner with my name on it and guess what?  I was right!  My name was everywhere!  I thought my name was French, but I have seen it twice now in Italy, so I am starting to think that it is Italian.  They call me "Rah-kelle."  It has a nice ring to it.   

 

When we reached the beach, we walked to this cover-up store, where I found the most beautiful homemade white lace vest ever!  It was so perfect and Ihad to get it.  Everyone else bought super cute cover-ups and it was already a good day!

Allora... we REALLY wanted to go cliff jumping because we heard that the best place to do it was in Positano, so we rented a boat for an hour and drove on over to a thirty(ish) foot cliff to jump into the water.  It was so awesome!  The water felt perfect and we met up with some other Florence for Fun people along the way who told us about this cave where you could swim.  We followed them and wound up at this awesome cave that you could enter on one side and exit on the other. We found some fun nooks and crannies, and afterward left for the beach feeling refeshed and satisfied that the day was already perfect.

 At the beach I relaxed with Erika, Cole, Savannah, Danielle, Tarah, and Christina for a few hours, bought fresh roasted/candied hazelnuts, ate my lunch that I stole from breakfast, and swam in the refreshing water until about three when we decided to meet back up to look at the homemade sandals.  They were beautiful, but far too expensive, so we ended up just walking around the tiny city and admiring all its cute qualities.  I could have totally stayed there forever...  

Positano... you can see the 1999 hotel in the background

At the meeting time, we all walked back to the bus and returned to Hotel Spicy for showers and dinner.  Dinner was way better tonight!  We decided after that we would walk over to Sorrento "beach," which was just a short walk down to this cliffside to watch the sunset.  IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!  I practically, meaning I totally sprinted, to the cliffside to make the sunset in time.  It turned out I didn't need to run, but I got a few solo sunset shots in the mean time and stared at how wonderful this weekend already was.  I was in a state of pure perfection.  So happy.

As we were walking back down to leave the cliffside, we noticed this small cover of turquoise water below.  In the corner we saw the sketchy staircase leading to the small beach, so we went down there and there was a tiny cave opening at the other end.  It was sompletely surrounded by cliffs with teh small beach and crystal clear water.  It wasn't real.  It felt like a mirage.  But it didn't feel like one... we decided to jump in.  And yes, we were wearing clothes, so of course, the "Naked Truth..." we went skinny dipping.  We only had one scare when we heard a man's voice yell something.  We all literally freezed and just stood there for a few moments unable to do anything.  The coast was clear.  It was so worth it!  It was so much fun, and it was too funny.  This had to be one of the most fun days of the trip so far... I just didn't know how it could get much better.  We thought about how it would be funny if we heard that there is some ridiculous fine for skinny dipping.  Leave it to Italy to have the strangest fines... we haven't heard anything yet.

So... it was now time for shower number two since I got wet at the cove.  Per usual, the second we hit the pillows we fell asleep since we were outside in the sun all day.  Another perfect ending for the day.  It marked the "one week left" of our trip... it is a scary thing, but hey, it will be nice to be home and see my family, have a dryer for my crunchy clothes, and go hiking in Colorado.  Summer isn't over yet!

GIORNO TRENTAQUATRO

Today we visited Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius.  We woke up and checked out of the hotel to drive the forty-five minutes north to Pompeii.  It was a sweltering kind of day in the ruins of Pompeii, but it is definitely a really cool place because this town, which is about ten miles from the volcano, was competely destroyed by the explosion.  There were places in the rocky streets where you could still see the remnants of where hot objects left impressions in the rock.  There were human bodies still twisted as if writhing in pain from the heat of the lava displayed in glass cases.  You could even see the bone fibers in teh foot.  It is crazy how quickly these people lost everything, but it is equally amazing how they were able to create this town in such an ancient town.  It never ceases to amaze me how much humans can do...

We walked along with the tour group... unfortunately.  I would rather walk around myself because I just fail to listen.  I just want to explore, not stand around.  I mean I love history, but when I'm in it... all I want to do is see it for myself.

After the tour, we had about an hour to hang out and get lunch before we left for Vesuvius.  I bought another delicious granita and ate my stolen breakfast sandwiches again until we walked around at all the crappy souvenirs in the desert-like heat.

We then drove about thirty minutes almost to the top of Mt. Vesuvius, where we exited the bus, got our tickets, and started hiking up the trail to the top of the active volcano.  It only took about fifteen minutes to get to the top, but once there the views were absolutely gorgeous.  You could look down into the deep crater and out into the distance across Pompeii and the ocean. 

After the climb, we headed back down to the bus for our six hour adventure back to Firenze (home) with the dirtiest feet ever.  The ash from the volcano was caked onto my feet because I was only wearing my Chacos and it was so hot, so I was covered in sweat (yay).  Not my preferred choice of travel conditions...  We were about halfway there when the bus stopped and we coasted to the edge of the highway. Dead.  The bus ran out of gas... what?  That doesn't just happen.  In fact that isn't even allowed to happen.  But it did.  And we sat there for (luckily) only an hour before one of the other buses came to our rescue with gallons of gas for us to make it to the next rest stop.  We were only five kilometers away... -___- *sigh*

Anyway... at least it was only the gas and not anything else.  After stopping at the MOST EXPENSIVE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE ENTIRE WORLD rest stop for a quick dinner, we continued on and arrived in Firenze before midnight.

I was never so excited to shower off my ashy Mt. Vesuvius feet and go to sleep!

Ciao-Ciao!

the calm before the storm.

GIORNO VENTUNO
I like to call today the "Calm Before the Storm" because it was truly exactly that.  This morning was beautiful!  I woke up around eight thirty and Danielle and I went for a great run toward the western side of Firenze that we had not seen yet.  Along the Arno, we passed the American Embassy (good to know) and some new Piazzas before crossing the bridge to a nice running path under some trees.  Today we got a "bravo" instead awkward glances!

The day was completely blue, barely any clouds in the sky and warm!  After showering and putting clean clothes on, Danielle, Christina, and I went out to San Lorenzo Market to look at all the leather goods and hopefully make a good purchase!  First we stopped at this sandwich place called Antico Vinaio for lunch.  The best sandwich ever!  I put a sweet pepper sauce on it with arugula fresh mozzarella and spicy salami!  It was huge and delicious!  I love food way too much... Allora, I was on the search for a black leather jacket because I had always wanted one and Italy is the perfect place to find good leather.  We checked out some of the stores behind the tented goods and different vendors who told us students get 50% off.  Now I know you usually don't listen to those type ploys, but this was legit!

My new best friend.

I finally walked into a leather shop, called Palletteria Zip, and tried on a few jackets until I put one of that spoke to me.  You know when it feels right.  The vendor told me he would sell it to me for 50% off the original price, which was two hundred euro.  NO!  Who has that kind of cash lying around anyway?  We worked out a deal with him until he continued lowering the price until it was a good deal.  He wasn't happy, but I was!  The thing about a leather jacket is that you aren't buying it to last a couple of years... it is an investment that you have to love and want for a long time.  My jacket was a great investment!

After walking out of the shop, feeling like a champ, we headed toward the shoes so Danielle could see which style she preferred when out of no where the calm dissipated and some storm swept in.  Every day the weather apps have been lying about the weather... it usually says 90% chance of rain and it NEVER does.  Today was the first time it told the truth.  Not only did it rain, it poured, and there was a great deal of thunder and lightning too!  The main difference between Italian rain and Florida rain is that in Italy, the rain is freezing!  How could it go from beautiful to rainy so fast?

Christina forgot her umbrella because we aren't used to the weather being right, so I let her use mine since she had to meet her dad's friend for lunch and I had to take off my shoes because I was wearing my white lace TOMs.  Rookie mistake.  So there was the three of us... running through Firenze.  Me shoeless hanging between Christina and Danielle's umbrellas to stay dry as we searched for the restaurant she had to meet the man at.  We got lost.  Of course.  After finding the restaurant, Danielle and I headed back to the apartment.  I have never been so drenched.  I looked like a wet cat...

The sunset looking over the Arno

   

When we got back, we drank some warm drinks and relaxed for a while before Danielle and I went to Conad to pick up some stuff for dinner!  We wanted to make more of those homemade pizzas with the balsamic caramelized onions and salami!  Again, it was a success!  After dinner we decided to hike up to Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunset!  It was harder today to hike up tehre because it is finally getting hot here in Firenze and we were for once dressed warmly... usually we are freezing over here!

A man was playing classic acoustic songs that us Americans could actually sing to and the night was perfect... except for the flies that seemed to just attack Christina.  They seriously were swarming here.  As you can see, even all the way in Italy, everyone is still cheering for the Florida Gators with an orange and blue sunset!  Forza Gators!

When we got back Danielle made us a banana and Nutella tort!  I don't know what I did to get so lucky, but she is da bomb and she is the best!  Anyway, now we are going to Kikuya (of course) to meet Tarah and Savannah's parents!  Tomorrow... another school day, meh!  At least we are in Italy!

So grateful... how can you not be when you look at a perfect sky like that?

Ciao-Ciao!    

ciao bella!

DAY TEN

View from il Duomo across Firenze 

Last night ended being a lot of fun.  After we left the pub, we went to another bar next door and danced!  It is strange because on the UF in Florence program, only about seven guys were signed up, but it seems like every guy who decided to go backpacking this summer ended up in Firenze at that bar last night.  The place was a madhouse and an interesting mix of diversity; Australians, Spanish, Italian, American, you name it, they were there!

This morning I woke up pretty early and read for a while until my stomach called me into the kitchen for some breakfast.  I made an egg sandwich with salami... I am starting to feel like Frances from the children's book "Bread and Jam for Frances."  That is all I eat these days!  I was really excited all morning because today we decided to climb il Duomo!  First, Tarah and I got dressed really quick to fill up the water bottles at the fresh water fountain at the Piazza di Signorina and exchange money at this really sketchy place on the way.  I know that sounds promising... but it was actually legit!  GO THERE is you come to Firenze and you need to exchange American dollars into euro!

Poi, we went back to the Central Market to buy more fruits because they are so delicious and fresh here and they are CHEAP!  Apples and cherries and pineapple, oh my!  I am beginning to fall in love with the little, old Italian vendors who smile at you and speak little to no English, but try so hard to understand our lacking speech as we point to all the different fruits we want to taste.  They are all just so sweet.  What I can do without are the young Italian men... again they are just too "friendly."  It's funny because all the young men here say "Ciao Bella," trying to get your attention (ew gross), but last night, Cole, Erika's boyfriend left our apartment and said, "Ciao Bella!" to her.  It was so cute because we all knew what he was referring to.

Dopo il Mercato, we returned to our apartment to fix our own lunch!  We made pancetta pasta with vegetables and pineapple on the side!  It was so good I almost confused us with real Italian chefs!  I am proud at how we have been dividing up tasks in the kitchen and buying food items for shared meals.  We REALLY live here!  The main difference between travel and study abroad, besides actually getting a chance to relax and spread out the adventures, is that you need to create a system of living.  You have to get into a groove that is economically feasible over the weeks you are living there.  As amazing as eating the Italian cuisine out every night sounds, YOU CAN'T do that...

Anyway, we finally left for il Duomo and I was so excited!!  We first checked out the interior of the chapel, but decided to zoom through that and join the line for the hike up to the top.  When we saw the line we were a little discouraged, but then we remembered that we get to skip the lines with our university museum passes!  Even though I felt like a jerk cutting in front of those hundred(ish) people who had probably been waiting for over an hour, I was just too excited and too impatient to wait in line.  That museum pass... I don't even know, it's incredible.  So... I know Rick Steves says that there are 463 steps to the top, but I counted 458.  Awkward.  Usually is Rick says it, it's true, but I definitely counted them ALL!  I even sang "Halfway There" at step 231!  The steps were very cool though; all different sizes and heights, some spiraling, some so caved in you almost have to duck.  It all only added to my excitement!!  The view from the top is MOST DEFINITELY worth the eight euro it costs.  It was truly fantastic.

The top was gorgeous!  The weather was perfect for the top of il Duomo... it was windy, but the temperature was fabulous!  You could see across all of Firenze; our apartment building, the Santa Croce, the Ponte Vecchio, the Arno, all the hills in the countryside, and all our unmarked territory in the city.  I can't describe how satisfying it felt to be up there staring all the terracotta-colored roofs, tiny streets, and Gothic style churches of "our" Italian city!

One of my favorite parts about being in Italy is experiencing it with some amazing friends.  After blindly signing up for this program, I was so excited to find out how many beautiful people would be joining me!  Being able to share this trip some great friends has, not only improved my friendships with them, but has enhanced our ability to travel to other cities across Italy together!
              

So after taking a million pictures atop il Duomo and soaking up all its perfection, we started down the 463, (scratch that), 458 steps to the bottom, where we felt somewhat accomplished and my legs were involuntarily shaking.  After relaxing a bit in the apartment, we left for this cocktail bar called Art Bar near the Arno.  I got this drink that supposedly was pineapple (ananas), but truly tasted like limeade.  The atmosphere of the joint was cute, but they didn't offer any food other than snacky items--chips and some rice crackers (of course bland shades of starch).  The best part of the drink; however, was the succulent piece of pineapple that was hanging on the lip of the glass.  It was so flavorful.  The pineapple in Italy is beyond delicious.  Today at lunch we all finished an entire pineapple... we will need to buy more of that.

For dinner we went to this pizza place called Gusta Pizza that EVERYONE raves about on oltrarno.  They make personal pizzas with only a few select choices of pizzas.  I picked a salame piccante pizza (duh) and it was awesome!  One of the best pizzas I have had in a long time; fresh mozzarella and basil, spicy salame, some delicious tomato sauce, and great dough all cooked in a wood stove!  SO DELICIOUS!  By the time we finished eating, the sun was about to set across the Arno, so we ran over to the bridge after the Ponte Vecchio and watched the sun set.  It was beautiful and as we watched this street band play.  This atmosphere is so awesome.     

Gah!  It is going to be so hard to leave Italy!  Luckily I still have over a month left to enjoy myself.  Our Italy bucket list is slowly getting marked off as we visit museums and gardens, carry the "Leaning Tower of Pisa," eat gelato (and lots of it), have many moments with David, watch an Italian sunset, become friends with the "Forno man," try to talk in Italian, and climb il Duomo.  There are so many more things we have planned over the course of our study abroad!  Oh right... I am STUDYING abroad, not just eating/laughing/having the time of my life/smiling abroad!!!  I have to go finish writing a paper for my wine class about the landscape of Pisa and how it affects the production of wine there!  Ci vediamo domani!

"Ciao Bella!"