Ciao Firenze!

Well, it's actually here. I have never felt so torn in my life. Now that the realization of leaving this place I have grown to love, (despite my constant banter about how there's not a tree or blade of grass in sight here,) I am feeling very sad to have to depart. I am ecstatic to see my family and friends; time spent with them is long overdue. But Firenze has been a place of memories, learning, loving, and appreciating the differences of another culture and the benefits of ones' own. I have to say that studying abroad was quite an adventure, an adventure that should continue on long after I return home, for there are many places in my own country which I still have yet to visit. Hopefully I will be able to return to Florence some day! For now, Ciao Firenze, è stato reale!

Rome!

Okay so ROME!

So that feels like a while ago, because it basically was. Forgot to do a blog post about it! Woops.

Okay so the weekend was super rainy.

On the first day we visited these really cool / creepy catacombs. We couldn't take pictures, but it was still pretty crazy.
Here's a picture from google just to give you an idea:

Everything was made out of pieces of a skeleton, all bones. Creepy as all get out.

We also went to Saint Peter's Basilica and the colosseum.

Not much else to report!

In other news, the semester is almost over and the reality that I am coming home in a little over than a week is unreal. I cannot believe the things I have seen and done. BUT, it's not over yet, I am going to spend this last week (aside from all the art hw I have..) exploring and getting in some last minute gifts and visiting last minute places :)

I am sure I will write a post before I leave!

Ciao regazzi! A presto!

Croatia!

So this last weekend I had the privilege of traveling to Dubrovnik, Croatia to visit one of my friends, Caitlin, from Champlain who is studying there.

I flew in Thursday night, travel went smoothly, thankfully. That first night I was introduced the ways of all who live in Dubrovnik: stairs.. lots and lots of stairs. It was pretty exhausting. There has to be at least 100 just to get to Caitlin's apartment alone! Crazy!

But anyway, I woke up on Friday to the beauty that is Dubrovnik. The view from Caitlin's apartment was GORGEOUS. I couldn't believe I was actually there.

This first picture is Dubrovnik's "Old Town"

Friday was probably one of my favorite days there because of what we did. Caitlin had heard that they were filming for Game of Thrones Season 4 at some cave.. So we shoved off to find where it was! And we ended up at the tip of the piece of land that comes out into the water on that last picture. We ended u finding an abandoned hotel from the 80's! It was a 5-star hotel that had waterfront property with pools and an elevator and an amphitheater! (They rebuilt the amphitheater for the filming of Game of Thrones Season 4)

wrecked swimming pools:

this is the amphitheater: 

You can see more pictures on my facebook page, I will be loading more on soon! 

As I forgot to mention, when we were walking, trying to find our way there, I said hi to a feline friend and then a bunch just started following me. I kinda became a cat whisperer after that hahaha. (they were kind of everywhere.)

So that was lots of fun, got to see a lot of cool things.

We then went to this super awesome place for lunch that Caitlin and her friends love. It was a sandwich place that serves insanely big sammies! I got a chicken with lettuce, mayo and onion, I think? It was delicious!

Then Friday afternoon, I walked the walls of Old Town which was really cool. I got to see every part of the town and all the little houses. It was pretty cute. I also got a taste of the reason why Croatia as a country isn't doing so hot- they're not very hospitable.. They show their emotions upfront and don't care to be polite really. The ticket woman was a bitch to me so that wasn't cool. But that was the only part of my trip that could have been better haha.

That night I went out with Caitlin and her friends to a place called Sky Bar where we hung out a bit. Had my first "Sex on the Beach," which I split with Caitlin, (it apparently wasn't a very good drink, I didn't particularly enjoy it myself. She said it was the bartender...) But all her friends were there and we were pretty much the only ones and we were trying to figure out why that was.. But 2 of her friends were extremely hammered when we got there at 11 and they were just hilarious. I enjoyed their company so much. One of them called me "big eyes." I love the things that people are comfortable enough to say when they're intoxicated.. Anyway we were hangin out there for a while then people wanted pizza and it was really cold that night so me and Caitlin went back after that because it was somewhere between 12 and 1 and we were pretty much sober.

The next day we hung around then went to the beach later which was really nice. The water was a bit too cold for me to go in but Caitlin didn't have a problem with it haha. I just sat out and enjoyed the lovely rays of sun. Then that night I got to witness not only a water polo game (a first,) but a Croatian water polo game (also a first). It was pretty cool and the team that we were rooting for dominated by like 8 points or something with a score of like 10 to 2. Then that night me and Caitlin went back and hung out with some people and finished watching 16 Candles together.

Sunday I was able to do some souvenir shopping.. Got myself a cool Dubrovnik mug (on sale for 3 euro- what a bargain!) I also got myself some lavender face lotion. And I also did some christmas shopping.. shh ;) Then we had lunch, had myself some awesome chicken nuggets and fries from a local joint then we just waited for the bus to pick me up!

Overall it was a great trip and I am so happy that I got to see Caitlin :) I have missed her a lot, as well as my other GDD friends. It was cool also because I realized that we have a lot more in common than just our name ;) We got to do some deep talks and that was really refreshing for me after not being around anyone from home for a while.

So that's pretty much it for this post, I should be posting one about Roma sometime next week, hopefully! ;)

Rimanete formale regazzi!
Ciao
Kaitlin

Amici Italiano!

I just met some cool Italian peeps that were hangin out downstairs, I traded numbers with one of the 2 girls that live in the apartment!

They were all SO nice and we played this funny little drawing game that they like! (They're all animation majors so they are all about drawing and movies and stuff). They were so funny too. They were attempting to Irish step dance which was a sight to see. There were 2 people that spoke English which is good because otherwise I don't know if I would be able to communicate with them otherwise.

But the girl who's number I got speaks only a little English and we want to help each other out. I want to learn more Italian so we are going to try to teach each other :)

I am so excited to see them again! I want to hang out wit them and watch Disney movies and play more silly drawing games! This is so exciting!

I don't know if I will post any more before Budapest, so if I don't I'll be back later posting pictures from the trip this weekend!

Ciao!
~

Dublin

Sorry these are taking so long!

This is Dublin post here we go!

So I was supposed to go to Dublin on the first Friday of break but instead I had my first bad travel experience abroad. I took the wrong train into Rome and was late and totally missed my flight. Luckily, though, it was a learning process and mom and dad were able to give me the money towards a new flight the next weekend. So I cancelled the flight coming back, but there wasn't anything I could do about the train tickets. :(

So I spent some time in Florence hanging out and visiting places. I got to go to the Uffizi Museum and see "The Birth of Venus" and the "Primavera" which was definitely pretty cool and the highlight of the Uffizi for me.

I did a little exploring and took lots of film pictures which was cool too.

Then when the weekend finally came, I went to Dublin. (This time I took a bus to Pisa which went straight to the airport and all was well)

My first night in Dublin (Thursday), I met up with Laura from the Aircoach bus stop and we walked back to her apartment together. Then we went out to an Irish pub to get some food. I had the best sea chowder of my life there and heard some great live Irish music.

Then on Friday, we spent the day exploring Dublin a little. We went to the college with the Book of Kells, we did not go in to see it though. We just walked around and it was still gorgeous. (I've never seen the grass so green!) She showed me the mall which was beautiful with so many windows and great architecture. (Those pictures are on my film camera, so I will have to wait until I get home to post them). I got to have my pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks too! Then that night, I went to my first burger place there and got one of the best burgers ever!

and a milkshake :)

Then on Saturday, we went to a town 2 hours from Dublin called Kilkenny. It was a cute little town with some graffiti and nice little shops. It was a bit cold and rainy that day, but we managed. We got to see some very interesting things while we were there. 

Those were just a few of my favorite pictures I got from that trip! 

( Then me and Laura had some awesome bonding conversations on the ride back that we missed oh so very much. We also made a list of things we HAVE to do when we get back to Burly! :) Can't wait! )

Then when we got back from Kilkenny Laura let me take a different route back to the apartment so I go around taking some pictures! It was the perfect timing just after the sun had set-

That night me and Laura went to Porterhouse to get some sweet ass burgers (more burgers, new place!). We had to wait a little because this place is super popular and was super crowded. But it was definitely worth the wait. We also got a little taste of some live Irish music there too! And I tried some Bulmer's! (Me and Laura split it). 

The next morning, I already had to catch my flight back to Florence and I did not want to go. It was beautiful in Dublin and I definitely want to go back sometime when I can. The city was just amazing and there was so much art. I could wander and take pictures for days. So maybe someday when I go back, I just might. 

~

Corri La Vita

Hey everyone! I realized I forgot to post pictures from Corri La Vita, so I am going to cover that one first! (Some of these will go up on facebook as well..)

That's Angel Rose - easily one of the coolest people I have met thus far! 

* this is a really bad picture of us though, we shall have to get more together ;) *

It was super fun to dodge all the walkers while we attempted to run but it ended up a fail run but it was still great fun! (hey i rhymed!)

Dublin post is up next :D

Venice/Verona

I am sorry that I don't post as much as I mean to on here. We have midterms coming up next week and I am just going to be crazy getting everything done in time.

But while I am taking a break from my linoleum, I will take a few moments to explain what I did on my weekend away :)

API took us to Venice and Verona this weekend and it was a lot of fun even though it was really rainy and cold. I really liked both places. Venice was gorgeous but I do think it would have been so much prettier while it was sunny. I saw a lot of places with masks and glass figures. A lot of great architecture too. Verona I liked because I got to see Juliet's house and put my letter in Juliet's mailbox! I am going to get a response at some point from her secretaries! I am so excited! If you are unaware of the story, confront the movie "Letters to Juliet" with Amanda Seyfried - which we did watch the night before we left ;) I want to make it my mission to buy a lock before I leave Florence and come back to Juliet's house and put my lock there with the one I am going to marry! <3

So that's about it for now, we are going to Bologna this Saturday and then me and some friends are doing "Corri La Vita" which is a marathon for breast cancer (apparently it's not much of a marathon and more of a walk) But I am excited regardless! I will definitely be posting pictures!

I am just counting down the days until next Friday when I get to leave for Dublin! :)

until next time, xoxox

Oh yeah.. blogging.

So I don't think I have posted about anything for a bit, not too much has been going on. I've been to some cool places though of which you will have seen pictures on facebook for sure. (Climbed the Duomo, went to Boboli Gardens, Pisa, etc) I got sick this past week and only recently got visited by a doctor. I just got my meds and have only taken two doses but it's amazing what that and a good night's sleep will do. I had the best night of sleep last night that I probably have had in the last week so that's good. I just want to get through this week so I can go on the API trip to Venice and Verona! I am so excited!

Almafi Coast in Full

Thursday Night:
7 PM -We pack up and head out for the bus that was waiting for us at the train station, which is about a 7 min or so walk from our apartment. Myself, Diana (my room mate,) Kristina and Aubrey (my suite mates) begin the adventure to the Almafi Coast. We meet up with the trip leaders who work for Bus2Alps, the program we booked the trip through. We get some teal wristbands to represent our accommodations for the weekend. Me, Diana and Kristina booked a place called Hostel Seven. We get on the bus after a little bit and are given the rundown. 3ish hours into the bus ride we will stop for food etc then continue until we get to the destination. The bus ride is around 7 hours or so.

Friday:
We get in around 3 AM. They want us up at 6:30 AM. Needless to say we were not very enthused with this news but we were able to get a couple hours of sleep before waking up for breakfast. The hostel is set up so we have huge rooms of around 10 to 12 people per room. Then the floor has a shared bathroom, one for women and one for men. I basically felt like I was back at camp or in a dorm again. Waiting in line for the sink or the toilet.. ANYWAY.

So we leave for the island of Capri. We get on a ferry style boat with tons of seating in the cabin and above the boat. We take the cabin. This ride had to be one of the bumpiest ferry rides I have ever experienced in my life. Picture Port Jeff ferry but a tiny bit smaller catching air on the water... Yeah, it was not good, we had tons of people getting sick and everything.

We finally make it to the island of Capri. My suite mate Kristina had to stay off the tour boat of Capri because she was still feeling very bad. (she doesn't do well with boats or buses..)  So me, my room mate and my other gal friends take the boat tour of Capri which was just amazing. We didn't get to see Blue Gratto because the tide was way too high and choppy. There was little of the cave that was actually visible. Twas a bummer  but not the end of the world.

We get off the boat and walk a lot of stairs to mid-mountain. We hang out, look around, snap a few photos and are bussed up to the next part of the mountain (Ana Capri). Here we were able to eat lunch, buy some souvenirs and go on the famous single chairlift ride to the tippy top of the mountain which had some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen in my entire life. We were basically in the sky. We couldn't tell where the sea ended and the sky began. Just incredible.

When we were finished in Ana Capri we had to walk alllllll the way back down the entire mountain basically. Here is a picture of the mountain we walked down. Yeah good times. It was all stairs too so our legs were noodles by the time we finished. 

So, after a long day at Capri, we finally made it back down to the ferry ride to get back to our hostel. That was also a better ride, not as choppy. Going on as little sleep as I was, I passed out to the back and forth motion of the boat and awoke as passengers were getting off about 40 min later. 

That night we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner, where they had all of the bus2alps kids go, so it was a little hectic. It was pretty good. I got pasta with broccoli and sausage. Then we followed directions on a map that we were given to another place called the Beer Garden. It was okay. Not my scene. People were drinking and dancing and what not. But I was having trouble staying awake because of what little sleep I was going on. So me and my suite mate Kristina left early to go back to the hostel. Mind you we had to find our way back with the crappy map that they gave us. It was about a 20/30 min walk... Yeah. nuff said. 

Saturday:

We woke up and took the bus to Positano, which by the way, was a gorgeous ride! The scenery was amazing! We were up really high on a windy road and had multiple insanely beautiful views along the way. 

We had to get dropped off a lot higher up because of the complicated roads and non-vehicle friendly places so we walked all the way down to the beach in Positano where we hung out for a bit. Me, Kristina and one of my friends named Angel Rose signed up for the earliest cliff jumping time. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos to prove it because no one I knew was on the boat to take a picture of the 3 of us. :( But maybe if I do it again, I will have someone ready with a camera haha. Anyway, that was amazing and scary at the same time, truly awesome. Then we kinda just took the rest of the day as a beach day. We went swimming, hung out, got lunch and bought some souvenirs. I got some delicious nutella and kinder chocolate gelato on the way out. ;) 

That night they had a buffet style thing going on at the hostel for 10 euro, unlimited food. The food was alright, some stuff better than others, but there were french fries which made us all very happy indeed. After that, we were literally zombies, all extremely tired, so we all just hung out and talked in another group of girls' room that was quite nice. 

Sunday: 

We took a bus to Pompei where we got a guided tour of the ruins. It was a bit long but it was kind of interesting to learn about what had been there. As some of you may know, I am not big on history. haha. Our tour guide was really funny and exciting so he kinda kept my attention through the whole thing for the most part. Then after we went to get some awesome pizza and I bought 2 necklaces from a woman vending on the street. She said I look Italiana and I told her my recently gained knowledge of where my grandparents were from in Italy and she gave me a huge discount! That's how I roll. 

Sorry this took so long! I am going to try to update this more often so I don't feel so lazy to write everything out! Ciao! 

A tid bit about Almafi Coast

This isn't goin to be a full fledged blog post since I am posting from my phone, but I just wanted to update everyone on some recent activities!

This weekend we (me and a bunch of my friends) took a bus2alps trip to the Almafi Coast of Italy. The first day, Friday, consisted of taking a boat ride to the island of Capri and spending the entire day there. The views were AMAZING. Today, we went to Positano. I am still getting over the facts that A) I visited the place that a restaurant back home near me is named after and B) I jumped off a cliff into the Medditteranean (def spelled that wrong..) Tomorrow consists of a short visit to Pompei and then back to Florence. Let me just say this is probanly the best $345 ever spent! (thanks to grandma and papa for leaving me with travel money for this amazing experience)

More details and pictures coming soon! Just thought you guys would enjoy the update :)

Ciao!

Weekend Excursion: Pisa and Cinque Terre

So it's late, but I need to remember to keep this thing updated!
This is going to be short, sweet and to the point but a summary of my weekend none the less.

This weekend was one of API's excursions that is included in our program. We went to Pisa and Cinque Terre this weekend and they were both phenomenal. I will start with Pisa, which we visited first. We took a bus to Pisa and got a tour (that lasted a little too long.. so we ended up ditching and getting pizza, hah!) We got the obligatory picture next to the building itself as well.

Fun Fact: (One of the only facts I retained from the tour...) the leaning tower of Pisa was made by like 3 or 4 ..or 5? architects over a span of like 200 years (or something like that). Isn't that just cray? Yeah, it's cray.

ANYWAY.

Next we went to one of the nearby beaches where the free beach was literally a sliver of area compared to the gigantic mass that was the beach. Most of API was hangin in the water having fun. An italian man proceeds to get some American chicks by pulling 2 dead jellyfish out of the water. I, however, was not falling for this tactic. I did not want to get near those things, even if they were dead. And let's be real here folks, these were not some east coast jellies here. Let's just get an idea of what it looks like...

Yeah. 

SO moving on...

We leave the beach and head to the hotel close by, have a pretty decent dinner and then go into the town of Lucca. It is the cutest little thing you have ever seen in your life. There are pretty much no tourists which was so nice. All locals and it was just beautiful. The whole town is engulfed by walls that were built a really long time ago, and they've made the top of the walls into a park now where people can go and walk around. We wandered around the town from 9 until 11 at night and had a quite grand stroll.

Also, I got to ride an ostrich:

As you can see, I was pretty happy about that. 

The next day we explored the five lands, known as "Cinque Terre" (pronounced cheen-kway ter-ray) Make sure you roll them R's ! ;) We unfortunately landed quite a cloudy day but the scenery refused to be anything but breathtaking. We went on a hike, then proceeded to visit each (except for one) of the five lands via various means of transportation. One of the lands, we stopped to eat and got a lot of time to hang out. I saw my first Italian boy and just died right there, he was so beautiful. :P (oh yeah, the food was pretty good too)  

The boat ride ended the day as we strolled off, exhausted from our adventures of the weekend and proceeded to board the bus back home to Firenze.

Ciao for now :)

First day of classes!

So! I started my classes today. I had Intro to Classic Photography ( my film camera class ) which was a little long because it was mostly review. But it happens! I also had my Italian class as well. I learned how to introduce myself in Italian ! :)

Ciao! Io mi chiamo Kaitlin. Sono Americana di Connecticut. Abito a Firenze in Via de Ginori. Ho venti anni. Sono una estudentessa di graphic design.

WOO!

We also went to a fancy welcome dinner tonight at a beautiful hotel. I took a lovely picture with some of my room mates and fellow API students.

Good food and good people

I just have to say, I am really excited to get to know all these girls that I have recently met. They are absolutely lovely and so fun to hang out with! Cheers to a good semester, ladies! :)

A little outing

I just went out to explore Firenze and had the best time with my flatmates! We had delicious pizza slices and explored a little and ended the night with some amazing gelato! I spoke all italian to the woman serving me in the gelato place and I'm so proud! I love it! I took some film pictures tonight so you won't see em til later! But let me just say those bridges were fantastic!

Cooking Class!

Today, we had a cooking class and learned how to make several delicious things! My family at home wouldn't believe what I ate today. (So unlike me). We had... *drumroll please*

Appetizer of eggplant, tomato and mozzarella cheese sprinkled with salt and pepper cooked in the oven.
Next we made spaghetti from scratch! Made the dough and everything! My group made a pasta with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and tomatoes but we tried another pasta too that had carrots, celery, thyme, sage, rosemary, brandy, chicken, veal and turkey in it and it was SO good!
Last not but not least, for dessert we had tiramisu!
Overall, it was an amazing cooking experience! Expect some photos on facebook! :)

As a side note, I am really starting to get the hang of things around here and I am really looking forward to starting classes. Everyone here is wonderful and so nice! I am so happy I chose to study abroad here.

Ciao!

Day One

After getting to Florence, we were picked up by API and brought to the Hotel Astoria where we got to our rooms and were able to meet our room mates. We wandered around and explored a little bit (I had barely any energy to do anything though). At 6:30 we had an orientation and then at 7:30 we ate dinner atop the Hotel Astoria and the view was amazing.

Finally here!

After the long and weary hours of flight, I finally made it. I am running on maybe one hour of sleep in 24 hours so we shall see how long i can last until tonight. I feel that sleep deprived headache setting in but i am too excited to be tired or weary. I just know tonight's sleep will be amazing, as well as everything else that will be happening. So far all the girls i have met are super nice including travel buddy liz. (there seem to be an overwhelming of gals vs guys on this trip for some reason) ah well! Ill post some photos as soon as possible :) ciao!

Please Stay in Touch!

Hey everyone!
I would love to send and get any kinds of letters/goodies/whatever when I am away. I wouldn't suggest sending anything too big (that mostly goes out to the family!) because I would worry about it making to Italy okay and shipping to Europe is pricey! But for the occasional letter or what have you, please send to the following address:

Kaitlin Muro

c/o Scuola Lorenzo de'Medici

Via del Melarancio, 6/r

50123 Firenze Italy

ALSO

I will NOT be able to send texts or make calls while in Italy via my normal cell phone number! If you want to stay in touch with me, Facebook messages will always be a good way to keep in touch or if you have a Skype and I don't already have you added, add me! I will be able to make video and voice calls via Skype on my laptop or phone! :)

My skype name is Kaitlin.m. 

I don't think I have forgotten anything... If I remember anything that has to do with keeping in touch, I shall update this post! 

Ciao! 

Before

So here I am, two days in counting until I enter a whole new world. A place where nothing is the same; the language, the culture, the people, the food, the architecture... the list goes on. It's finally all settling in. It never really ever fully sinks in until the final hour I find. I admit, I am a little scared. I don't want to leave everything and everyone so far behind in the US. Half of me wishes that I could be going back to Champlain this semester and be included in the excitement of being with everyone after the summer. But then I remember, I'M GOING TO ITALY. Everyone (mostly) is going to be there when I get back in December. I am going to have so many great memories and stories to share and it's going to be a trip of a lifetime.
I am going to use this blog to post on a regular basis about the adventures that I partake in and all the wonders my eyes behold that day. I am most excited to start this trip.

And with that, I say Ciao bellos e bellas! (I hope I said that right) See you on the flip side! ;)