So, I think we have bed bugs...

Well, maybe not bed bugs per se- but something that makes me suuuuper itchy in the night, and causes me (and all da roomies) to wake up with red dots and mosquito bites all over ourselves. Just to give you some forewarning- I will be complaining quite a bit in the next few sententes. Yes, I realize this is bratty, as I am in Europe and shouldn't whine, but I don't care. Other things about the apartment- the floors are sick, as in gross not awesome. Because we have to leave to windows and balcony dors open at all times in order to not die of heat stroke, a lot of dirt and leaves get in. My feet were getting so narsty that I bought Paige and I some really chic flip flops from the 99 cent store to wear around the house. The shower is also very small and i'm convinced that the washing machine dies not make my clothes completely clean. Finally, there is a lingering odor, which we cannot discern the source of. And now on to my health complaints. I have cold. In July. Is absolutely not cold here. Ever. So, I don't know where it came from. My illness is complete with a super sore throat (which has thankfully gotten better), constant runny nose and a hacking smokers cough that is oh so lady like. Finally, my feet. All of this walking around I have been doing in sandals has not been kind to my poor feetsies. This is really gross, sorry, but it has gotten to the point where the skin is cracking-making every step painful. Never in my life have I been in suh need of a pedicure. Ok, enough complaining- on to other things. As I said in my previous post, we went to a restaurant on Tuesday for lunch called la giostra. Both Paige and I had been told by numerous people that we needed to go there and get pear ravioli, so of course we did. We or Brie ravioli too and both were super yummy. The Resturant was so nice- they give you complimentary champagne and hors d'oevres when you sit down. It also wasn't too crowded since we went al lunch,which was nice. I'm not really a pasta person at all, but it's do crazy how much better pasta is here. You can taste that it is authentic and homemade. Nom. Oh yeah, and on the way to lunch, Kelly was trying to get money out of an ATM machine and it ate her card! When I went in the bank to tell them, they were super unhelpful and just said we had to wait and it would eventually come out. It didn't. Kelly had to o in there two more times before they were like, oh yeah it's broken, you need to bring us your passport and we'll open it up and get it out. They were jerks. But she got her card back- yay! Also, to get into the bank, you can't just walk in- you have to press this button and a semi-circular door opens to this use that looks like a time travel portal from star trek. You then have to stand in the tube, wait for the door to close and then wait for the other door, which opens to the inside of the bank, to open. It's a very time consuming and claustrophobic process. The rest of the week, we did a lot of walking around, got some more gelato, I almost finished getting all my gifts together for my fam, studied for my test that was yesterday, spent an entire afternoon watching old Olympic footage to get pumped up for the games, had a yummy lunch at 'the oil shop' (only open for lunch and has tasty salads and sanwhiches), and watched the entire Olympic opening ceremony- couldn't hear anything though/all the comentary was in Italian so I don't think we got the full effect. Paige and I spend all day today on a tour of Tuscany and a vineyard. Very cool. I'll tell y'all more about it later. Ciao bellas! Olivia

Going to see David

Paige, Victoria (another girl in our program) and I went and saw the David last night. My professor told me that on Tuesdays after 6 students get in for free- so, of course we wanted to do that. However, after standing in line for 20 minutes (which is actually probably a lot less time than we would have had to wait of we had gone earlier) we get to the ticket window and the lady, very curtly, told me no- only Italian students at public universities could get in for free....so, we had to pay 11 euro each. Oh well, it was worth it. We had to walk through a couple of rooms displaying more modern art and installations (including one that was just a chubby like red headed girl sitting on the grund sketching something very loudly) before we got to him. I had heard that he is way bigger than you expect, but I was still taken aback by just how massive the sculptoure was. He is kind of set back in an alcove that has a Low ceiling than the rest of the room, so I guess that helps give him a larger than life impression. Regardless, it was amazing to see and sooo beautiful. I wish I could go back in time and watch Michaelangelo carve it. Went and got marge-a-ree-tas at a place called tequila mexican restaurant afterwards...nom! I was unoriginal and just got a regular on the rocks, but Paige got a peach one that came with some sort of weird, small orange fruit on the rim. Def not a peach, but cute regardless. Also, her rim at had sugar instead of salt...a little odd. Random observation-the salt in Italy is .ess saltly than everywhere else. Does amyme else agree? So today in class my prof gave us our tests back. Well, that's not true, he gave us our grades....and not like written on a piece of paper or anything. He was just like- Stephanie (the only other person in my class) I gave you an A-, but you deserved a B+. then, to me, Olivia- I gave you a B+, even though it was really a B....can you say awkward! He then proceeded to tell each of us what we did wromg on the test. Why am I not surprised this happened to me. Another note about my prof, he keeps giving us random, very personal details about his life- including his divorce, mid-life crisis relocation to Tahiti and his girl friend. He's at least 63. Enough said. Besides that,not too much happened today. Just got back from a really tasty dinner- chicken catch-a-torry. And tomorrow, pear ravioli....yummmmm! Also, I have a cold. In July. It's miserable. Xo, Olivia

I wish for a pony...failing that, a bottle of glue

My heel hurts. It feels like a needle every time I take a step. Maybe it's sympathy pains for the afore-mentioned ponies. Besides that, Paige and I went to Venezia this weekend! Annnnnndddddd the best part- we didn't have any problems traveling for the first time on our entire adventure! A big pat on the back to us for getting on all the right trains, having the right tickets, not worrying about luggage and all travels being at normal hours of the day! Wahoo! Neither of us knew much about Venice, so we did a lot of walking around, but that was okay because it's succccchhhhhh a pretttayyy city. On Friday, I think we accidentally walked a very long way into a residential area....there was no one anywhere. I was super confused because I had thought there would be people everywhere. However, after getting our bearings (sort of. Venice is the least navigable city I have ever encountered) it was much better. We got drinks (2 for 1 bellini's. Can I get a woo hoo?!) at a place whose ceiling was littered with bras in every shape, color, design, motif mad size imaginable. ON Saturday, we found our way to st Marco's square, which has a really big church and the Doge's palace (an important old family, I believe). I would have liked to go in, but the lines were redonkulous. Instead, we went to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (museum) and it was great. The museum features all contemporary art and has. A really nice sculpture garden on the outside. Peggy herself is buried there, along with her 16 dogs... Next to the grave is a wishing tree. You write a wish o. A slip of paper and then hang it on one of the branches. While perusing the other wishes, I saw a particularly funny one which inspired the title of this post. The inside of the museum is great as well, with works by Dali, Kandinsky, Picasso and Polluck among others. There was a great outdoor patio that was on the water and had an amazing view. I sat out there for a good 20 minutes just watching the boats go buy and enjoying the scenery. A final not by the museum, it was the perfect size- lots of works but very manageable and not overwhelming, which is always a plus for me. Besides that, we mostly did a ton of walking in Venice and saw a lot of homeless old women. A word about the homeless in Venice because they are unlike any others I've ever seen. First of all, they are nearly all women, and super old women at that. They are all covered head to toe in all black robes/rags/shawls and 99% of them appear to just have collsed where they are and are legitimately just lying on the ground. Also, I never saw one of their faces....they keep them covered/facing the ground/on the ground at all times. It was all very weird and confusing. Well, that's about all from Venice. Today,I went to the ferragamo museum, which was really cool and had a good exhibit about Marilyn Monroe, and Paige and I went on a run along the river. Ooooooooook, peace playas! Olivia

House Hunters International

Earlier this summer, on the days I wasn't working, I spent my mornings (and sometimes afternoons) alternating between reading game of thrones and watching copious amounts of house hunters, and the by far superior version, house hunters international. I lovE seeing all the different countries and cities that people are moving to, and have always had a weird desire to see the inside of nearly every house i encounter. Thus, this show is perfect for fulfilling my wanderlust and interest in home tours- all while I remain firmly planted on the couch. It's also really funny how the people are always surprised by the size of the space and the lack of dishwashers...I find this so weird because I feel like someone moving to Europe should already know that nothing over there is near the size of their American counterparts. Now that I have stayed in three different apartments in Europe, I thought I would rate them and pick the one I would buy- like they do in the show. The first, a 5th floor walk up on posh rue st honore in Paris had a great location. Located in the first arrondisment, there was A cute bakery next door, chic stores lining the streets, two metro stations that were each a two minute walk away, and very quick access to the louvre, seine and the place du Concorde. For tourists, looking to be near lots of attractions, the location couldn't have been better. Regarding the actual apartment, it was a climb to get up the and I would for sure have amazing legs if I actually lived there, but the space was nice....if nt a bit cramped. One small bedroom, diving from the living room, dinig room, kitchen by only a curtain- the apartment was definitely not meant for 2 people at the most. It was a cute space, and clean, but there was always noise from the interior courtyard...and someone was constantly drilling the entire time, which was obnoxious. Overall, I liked the place but the drawbacks would have to be the stairs and the noise. The pros would be location and how safer felt over there. Next, Barcelona. The apartment I rented was located in the historic Gothic quarter. A pretty cool area, with tons of narrow, winding streets and lots of leery people trolling them. There were also lots of shops and restaurants- they were good, but mostly catered to tourists. The apartment was a 4th floor walk-up, so not as much of a hike as the first. However, all of the stairs were different heights and widths, so it was very unnerving-confusing to your feet walking up. The actual apartment was a good size, with one real bedroom that had an actual door. Bathroom and shower were nicely sized as well. There was also a little balcony, which was an added bonus. The main drawback was the kind of weird smell it had. Overall, I would say it was a bit nicer than the first, but I felt much less safe there...and in Barcelona in he general. Finally, our home here in Florence. It definitely the largest of the three- with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (which are directly next to each other...kinda odd. There is also a nice living area/kitchen in the middle. It is on the first floor (second floor in America), so not too many steps. However, there is no airconditioning, making it super hot, and the floors are also disgustingly dirty. The latter we could do something about...but haven't. We are in a great location- a quiet street, but really close lots of sights and school is only about a 15 minute walk, as is the Arno. There is a nice grocery right down the street, and a couple of cute markets as well. The biggest issue with this apartment is that there is a restaurant directly next door to my balcony, so we hear them allllll day long. So, in conclusion: there is apartment 1- pros- great location, feels safe. Cons- 5 thfloor walk up, small, a little noisy. Apartment 2- pros- not as many stairs, cool area, more space. Cons- doesnt seem too safe, the stairs are not uniform, smells weird. Apartment 3- pros- big, 2 bathrooms, not too many stairs, good location, safe. Cons- ridiculously hot (the Paris apt didn't have ac but was still way cooler), gross floors, I never feel completely clean here. Which did I pick? Dun duh da dunnnnnnn- apartment #1. Did you think it would be that one? My decision relied mostly on how safe I felt there, and the fact that the street was never deserted nor full of lots of shady individuals. The stairs were annoying, but a pretty good workout, and the size is fine as long as I'm not having guests. I hope you enjoyed! Have a great weekend! Paige and I are off to Venice! xo, Olivia Ps- the other person in my class was sick today, so it was just me....a bit awk.

Cafe Astor

Currently sitting at a place called cafe Astor that our roommates told us about because they come here to study a lot. One of them, Kelly, actually just got a job here for the fall. She decided after she got here that she loved it so much she wanted to stay here first semester. Jeallly vanellllly. Paige is writing a paper, so I think I'll write a little posty-post and then maybe read some game of thrones pt deux. So, on Monday night we had a welcome dinner with the other people in our program, which was nice. They all seem pretty cool. Afterwards, we went out with Kelly and Becca and met up with some girls they met on a trip to croatia last weekend. We then went to a bar called the lion's fountain. It was a lot of fun, but I think we were all a little over served...I woke up feeling not so hawt. Oh well. Yesterday was our first day of class. I'm taking a management class that only has one other person in it...kinda awk. I guess I won't be skipping any classes. The prof is an Italian man, probably about 55, who spent the first 30 mins telling us his life story- he was an executive for fiat, but quit after 20 years because he was having a midlife crisis. He then moved to Tahiti for three years, but had to move home and find a job after he ran out of money. Now, he teaches at the London School of Economics and in Florence. Honestly, the class isn't that interesting, but hopefully it will get better. Two good things though- he has let us out super early the past 2 days and he can't find a. Lot of the books we're supposed to be reading in the lib, so no homework tonight! We do have a test on Friday though, so that should be interesting. Also, At some point we are going to go to some fancy restaurant, so that should be cool. I'll keep y'all updated. After class I had wanted to go to this market down the street from us, but felt so terrible that I was sure I would be sick if I didn't go straight home. Of course being me though, I got lost and it took me an extra 20 minutes to get home. We relaxed at the apt for a while and ate lunch, the went to get gelato at a place that ine of Paiges's friends who studied abroad here last year told her about, and to continue our search for notebooks for class and towels- once again. We for gelato at a place called something neri. They had soooo many flavors, but I decided on rice while Paige got 2 that her fiend had recommended her. The rice was pretty tasty- kind of tasted like vanilla with a little hint in lemon and pieces of rice in it. Mmmmmm. Sme girls we had met the night before had told us about a place callen coin that they bought towels at, and they weren't super expensive. Soooo, we went there and it is a department store,which actually has pretty cute stuff. After days of searching we FINALLY found towels!!! It was amazing. The only thing is that the only ones we could find on sale are an awkward size- bigger than a hand towel but smaller than a regular one. Oh well, no more drying off with paper towels. For Paige's class, fashion marketing, she has tomgo into a nice italian clothing store and write about her experience there. So, we walked by all the nice stores near ponte vecchio (sp?). It was Biut 7 by then though, so they were already closed...some of them still had people in them though so we tried to go in and looked suuuper awk when we realized the doors were locked... On the wy home We also went back to the Conad and bought some chicken and barley (yummmmmm) to make for dinner. After we ate, i finallt showered for what felt like the first time in forever- it was . Did a little reading for class and then passed out. I think we might go check out the gym at the school nw, so peace playas! Olivia

Firenze!

Greetings from Firenze!! Been in Florence for two days now and I love it sooo much! It definitely makes up for the horribleness of getting here. After we checked in(finally)on Sunday, Paige and I were FINALLY able to unpack our stuff which was really nice because I feel like I've been living out of a suitcase for two weeks now. We have three other roommates, but they weren't home when we arrived. After unpacking, we tried (unsuccessfully) to start the weird euro washing machine for about 20 minutes, but eventually gave up after hitting every single button without anything happening. We were suuuuper hungry at this point and in desperate need of a VERY large drink, some walked down the street towards the grocery store (Conad) and stopped at a suuuuuper cute pizzeria called Mr. Pizza. We got a margharita (I know this is spelled wrong) pizza and big glasses o wine. Paige's came out of a tap, which was cool/I had never seen before. We both felt sooo much better after eating and headed over to the grocery. It's by far the biggest one I've seen yet in Europe. And is right down the street, which is nice. It was about 8 when we got back and we were so tired that we both just showered and pretty much passed out when we got back. Oh yeah, we both had to throw away all of towels when we left Paris, so I had to use my one hand towel and Paige had to rely on paper towels. It was great.... Woke up in the morning and went out of he room to walk to the bathroom and I see two girls asleep on the like loves seat couches in the common room area. I thought they were friends of our roommates or something, but when they woke up I found out they were 2 of our roomies. They just sleep I there be try say their rooms are too it. Tehe. It does not look comfy at all. But, it's not like our beds are really that much better. Think camp bunk beds without the top bunk, plus lots of springs and wires in the inside. Or roommates are really cool! We def lucked out! They have already been in Florence for 9 weeks, so they know what's up and all the cook places to go, so that's great. They (Becca, Kelly and Jordan) told me that they had been in Croatia all weekend and got back in the middle of the night. Jelly. We had orientation at noon. Thankfully it didn't last too, long, but did make me upper nervous about clogging the shower drain, breaking my key off in the door, looking my keys in the apt, having overnight guests (not that I was planning on having any- I am a lady after all), or messing up the washing machine because apparently it is crazy expensive to fix those things. It costs 259€ just to CALL the locks smith! Need,ess to say, we are both now very scared every time we use a key. Also, there is some Italian las that says you have to register overnight guests with the police. Not really sure why, but if you have someone stay at all you immediately get kicked out of the program. After orientation, we walked around a bunch- went to this really cool leather school, where you can get purses made (I only wish I had enough money for that) and walked over ponte vecchio. We were walking pastfabric store and staring in the inside when an old man waved at us and told us to come in. It was such a beautiful store- make suits and sell like Chanel and Valentino fabric. We were talking to the one old man when another started talking to us. We got to talking and he ended up sitting us Dow. And giving us a lesson about why Florence is the most important city in Europe- it was. The seat of the renaissance, the home of the medici's and the origin of perfume and all the high fashions that became popular in Paris after catherine de Medici moved there to marry. He also took our map and marked all the important city center we need to go to- the political, religious and art centers. He was soooo nice and it was a crazy/awesome/completely unexpected experience. Before we left he showed us pictures of all the royal families they have made clothing for and some celebs like Venus williams, Cher and Sophia Loren while we signed their guest book. Mehhhh, kind of getting tired of writing on this iPad and I need to go read- will continue tomorrow!! xo, Olivia

Instant coffee

Our new roommates, who are here all summer thus already know whats up in Florence, took us out last night, and i woke up feeling pretty icky this morning. and all I can think about is how in Europe instant coffee is the norm and a brewing it in a pot at home is the exception. Kind of bad for my coffee addiction. but, more about our Florentine experience later- I am now going to recount the horror of getting here. This a play by play I had written on my phone that I'm going to repat here: - woke up at 2:20 am to walk to the night bus to the airport. Nasty teenagers were making out up against me for 45 minutes...eww. - got to the airport and were dropped off at the wrong terminal. Almost freaked out. - arrived at rando airport in the outskirts of Rome that Ryanair flies into (once again, I don't recommend) and took a bus to the train station. - checked our bags at the train station and tried to explore Rome for a bit. - conclusion- romeis hot, deserted and kinda blows - we were super tired and tried to take the metro to the Trevi Fountain but couldn't find a metro map...so we just kinda guessed. - got gross breakfast - bought a map - made it to Trevi fountain and walked to pantheon. - both were pretty and loaded with American tourists. - walked to a cafe behind the pantheon- San eustache, I think, that Paige had read about on the interweb, and got coffee. - walked around a little more, had sandwiches, saw Spanish steps and headed back to the train station. - this is when the real terror began. -I tried to go to customer service when we got there, some could get my Wirral validated, which you have to do before you can start using it. - they have the most idiotic system ever where instead of standing in a line, there is just a huge mass of people and you take a number and wait for it to show up on the screen. - after 30 minutes of waiting, I was getting annoyed/worried by our train was leaving pretty soon. Went up and tried to talk to a guy, n,y to find out I had take. The wrong kind of number. - I the. Went and grabbed the right kind, but was like 200 away from being helped. No lie. - I tried to get help from a guy who was just sitting there not doing anything, but he yelled at means said no. - meanwhile, Paige, who had forgotten her eurrail pass at home and had had to buy a whole new ticket was having about as much luck as me trying to get her confirmation number. - finally decided I didn't have time to wait and would just buy a ticket. - some rando comes up to me and tries to help, then tells me I don't need to get a ticket, I can use my eurrail without it being stamped. I was very frazzled, so I believed him. - once we got to the train, some nasty rando grabs all our bags and puts them on the train. It wasn't until he made me pay him 20 euro that I realized he was just some creep who scams peopl and so was the guy at The ticket kiosk. - so,then I started freaking out that they were going to kick me off the train because I had the wrong kind of ticket, however I am currently (real time) still on the train and haven't seen anyone's tickets get checked. I though maybe they were doing it when people get off, but haven't seen anyone doing that either. I am super confused. - also, Paige and I were supposed to be taking a fast train that would get us to Florence in an hour and 25 minutes. We were supposed to be there at 2:46, it is now 3:54 and we are still super far away. - we def got on the wrong train. I'm 99% sure we are still going to Florence, it's just going to take 3.5 hours....oops. We've already missed our check-in - I'm feeling super anxious and worried and just want to hurry up and get to Florence. - thus far, Italy has left a very bad taste in my mouth. I just hope we get there soon and Florence is so amazing that it makes up for tis bad day. - Paige does it seem nearlyS freaked out and is sleeping. - I very thirsty too, but am too scared to go in search of a drink because I think someone might realize I don't have a ticket and kick me off. - Rome in a maxi skirt was a bad decision. So hot. - lady finally came by and checked our tickets. We are on the wrong train. We are dumb. She was going to make me pay for another ticket but I showed her my eurrail and she didn't. - Paige only had a confirmation number so she had to lay for another. That's all for now. Will recount the rest lat. now off to our first class!