Last day in Italy...

'Twas the day before departure

And all through the dorm

Not a student was screaming

Although that was the norm.

All the suitcases packed

Or still strewn across the floor

In anticipation of tomorrow

Which will end our tour.

Okay, I got bored with the rhyming. But it's true, today is our last day in Italia!! It's about 4 pm now. We had our "last lunch" at our beloved Chinese restaurant at 1:00, and then I went with Traci and Katie to the Colosseum to get some final pictures and then to Cavour to see Michelangelo's Moses. If we email Dr. Murphy a selfie with Moses, we will get extra credit! ;) But now we're back. And it's time to blog.

Yesterday I mentioned that we were going to our farewell dinner in Tivoli. It was a fantastic way to end our trip! We visited the Villa D'Este before dinner and it was so spectacularly beautiful I couldn't stand it. Then we had our dinner at Monteripoli at the top of one of the hills in Tivoli and we had a great time singing and dancing with the musicians who were playing for us all throughout our huge meal. Let me describe this for you. We started off with an appetizer with bread, meats, cheese and a tiny salad. Then we got what I guess was an antipasto with alfredo sauce and ham. Then we got some more pasta in red meat sauce, which we thought was the main course. But no, then they brought out some pork topped with olives and mushrooms and potatoes! By then we were so full we felt bad only eating part of it. Then, to top it all off, they brought out the tiramisu and some shots of limoncello, which I can't stand so I gave it to my friend. Throughout the meal we also had both red and white wine, orange Fanta, and water. All in all, it was a huge delicious meal and we were surrounded by friendly people and great authentic Italian music played on guitar and accordion with singing. As we went around our group and gave our final reflections on what our favorite moment of the whole trip was, the sun was setting out the giant windows, creating a beautiful backdrop to the finale of our grand adventure. (Pictures below, of course.)

The view from Villa D'Este!

One of many fountains there

Breathtaking!

The beautiful sunset out the window of Monteripoli :)

In my final reflection, I said that the moment that would stay with me most from the trip, if we could only pick one, would be the moment when we finally reached the top of the Duomo and we saw the aerial view of Florence. That was the first of many breathtaking sights that I saw on this trip, and it was so rewarding to see after the strenuous climb up. But it's really not fair to choose just one thing from the whole trip. For instance, basically every time I have walked into a cathedral, the sight has taken my breath away. Climbing to the top of St. Peter's Dome was up there too. The sights at Capri were so awesome too! And the views from our hotel in Massa Marittima were spectacular. Walking around that corner in Florence and then seeing the Florence Cathedral/Baptistery/Duomo will also be a moment that I will never forget. There are just too many breathtaking moments for me to name! I am excited to go back home and see my friends and family and doggies, but I think once I finally get home and get back to the grind of life, I will miss my time in Italy. I hope I can come back someday, and I'm so glad I was able to come on this trip now at this time in my life!

I have most of my stuff packed away, but I probably won't be totally packed until right before we leave tomorrow morning. We are departing St. John's University at 8 am on a charter bus to get to the Fiumicino airport, where we need to go through security and all that before our flight at 12:15 pm. Boarding begins at 11:20 am for me, I think. I'll have to check again. It's an 11 hour flight to Atlanta, and then I have about a 3 hour layover to go through customs and all that before departing Atlanta at 8:59 pm and getting in to Jacksonville at 10:15 pm. I'll basically lose 6 hours flying over the ocean, so it'll feel like it's 4 am. This should be fun!

I keep telling myself I'll be home tomorrow night, and I'm so excited!! So the next time you'll hear from me I'll be in the United States! Arrivederci, Italia!

~Dani

The Final Countdown

Hi everyone! It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Today is our second to last day in Rome! In about an hour we will be leaving on a bus to travel 45 minutes to Tivoli, where we will have our farewell dinner. It's supposed to be a beautiful place and we will walk through the gardens there and be entertained by some musicians. And I just realized I don't have any coins left over to tip them with besides 5 cent coins. Uh oh.

Yesterday I had a very boring day, but it was much deserved. We hadn't had a day to just chill in about a week, and I need that. After we got back from our walking tour of the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva church and some surrounding monuments, I fell right back asleep. My sleeping habits have been messed up, and all of the walking and the rising temperatures and the people and the bus/metro system wears you out, believe me. When I get home I won't have to deal with that, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. After I woke up, I ventured out of the dorm to find some food, scavenging my options that took credit cards because I strategically used up all my Euros so I wouldn't have to transfer them when I got back home. I settled on the grocery store, where I decided to consume something that wasn't straight carbs and bought a salad and some fruit. WHOA. Those things are hard to come by in Italy. So I ate them back at the dorm and proceeded to be a total hermit for the rest of the day. There was free food in the lobby left over from a meeting so we all swarmed that, but then it was back to being a hermit. I watched so many YouTube videos. So many.

This morning I started packing up my stuff. At first I was worried about everything not fitting, but it looks like everything will fit. I don't even think my suitcase will be overweight... maybe only by a pound or two. It was 47 pounds on the way over. For every souvenir I've bought, I've thrown away something that is probably of equal weight. My carry-on, however, is going to be pretty heavy because of my laptop. But that was the case on the way over too. As long as I can get through the Atlanta airport without cutting off the blood flow to my arm from carrying the bag, I'll be good. :)

I can't believe these 6 weeks are basically over! It's scary how fast time is going. Before I know it, I'll turn 21 and my senior year of college will begin. Make it stop, I want to stay in college Anyway, here's a picture to make the thumbnail more interesting. You may recognize it from my Facebook. But it's artsy and stuff and works for every aspect of my trip. It was taken in Massa Marittima from the edge of the hill that our hotel was on, where the view was incredible. Looking back, I think Massa was my favorite city we visited!

As much as I'm going to miss Italy, I think I'm missing America more. Here's my tentative itinerary of what I'll do when I get home. At least food-wise.

Monday, June 20th
5:30 pm - Land in Atlanta (hopefully, if everything goes to plan). Go through customs, do all that nonsense, and then RUN to Starbucks. Purchase an iced coffee with cream, 3 pumps of classic and 3 pumps of white mocha. Savor and cry tears of happiness.
10:15 pm - Land in Jax (hopefully). Exhaustedly reunite with my family and then probably pass out on the drive home.
Tuesday, June 21st
Whenever I wake up - Get in my own car and drive to Firehouse Subs and get an Engineer with extra pickles.
For dinner - Go to Moe's and get a stack. Eat it messily.
After dinner - Andi promised me she'd take me to Yobe. So, go to Yobe and eat frozen yogurt :)
Wednesday, June 22nd
Daytime meal - PANERA. Oh Lordy, Panera.
Nighttime meal - Something with steak. I miss steak so much.
Thursday, June 23rd
Daytime meal - PDQ CHICKEN TENDERS AHHHH
Nighttime meal - Something healthy. Not pizza or pasta. Maybe my mom's meatloaf... hint hint.
Friday, June 24th
Daytime meal - A PUB SUB OMG
Nighttime meal -  I don't know. That's all I've got planned so far. Maybe I should have just organized this as foods I must eat when I get home.

I've clearly thought about this too much. But anyway, it's close to time to go. So CIAO! I'll be home really soon!!
~Dani

Three more days??

Buona serra a tutti! (At least here. Buon giorno for everyone back home.)

I'm happy because I'm officially done with my two presentations for my two art history classes! This morning our Art History on Site class presented St. John Lateran to the rest of our group and basically acted as guides through the church and the surrounding monuments, such as the Baptistery, the Obelisk, and the Holy Staircase. It was really cool! That doesn't mean I'm done though... when I get home I have until the end of July to complete my final exam for the Ancient Roman Art and Architecture class and I have to create a travel journal/scrapbook for the Art History on Site class.

The east facade of St. John Lateran!

The basilica of St. John Lateran

We only have three days left! Tomorrow the Art and Culture of Italy class is doing their presentations and our morning meeting place is at a church near the Pantheon and the name is escaping me right now. After that, we are basically done with actual "classes"! On Saturday we are going to Tivoli for our farewell dinner, and then on Sunday we have a free day for packing and farewells. We may also have a "last lunch" on Sunday. It feels like the last 6 weeks have gone slowly and quickly at the same time. The day we landed in Rome and traveled to Ostia feels like it was ages ago, but every day has been so full that the weeks have flown by.

We will take off from the Rome Fiumicino airport at 12:15 pm on Monday, and by the time we land back in Jax, it will feel like it is 4 am on Tuesday but it will really only be 10 pm on Monday. If I've learned anything on this, it's that time is a relative concept. But I have decided as soon as we touch down at the Atlanta airport for our connecting flight, I am bolting to the nearest Starbucks and getting the biggest iced coffee I can. I am so ready for that. :D

Today we also visited Centrale Montemartini, a power plant that was converted into a museum. It was cool seeing the industrial backdrop of the plant with the ancient Roman sculptures. So yeah, that was cool.

Centrale Montemartini

The floor mosaic in Centrale Montemartini

After tonight, I only have three more showers in these dorm showers! Huzzah!!

Hmm... Speaking of showers, I have made a definitive ranking of all of the showers I have encountered during my time here, and I feel like I should share them with you innocent bystanders. I've written them out below, #1 being the worst and #5 being the best (which may be backwards but I don't care, I run this). They've been real weird.

#1) The worst was probably the sit-down shower in the hotel in Massa Marittima. The "shower" itself was a small tub with a built-in slope that made it impossible to stand in, so you were forced to sit. And even if you could stand, the shower head couldn't attach to the wall in any way, so you had to hold it and deal with showering that way. The shower curtain was also too long, but you had to keep it inside the tub so the water wouldn't go everywhere, so you were essentially sitting on the shower curtain. The rod holding the shower curtain wasn't the sturdiest either, and I almost pulled it down multiple times. However, the water pressure was good and the water was pretty warm except for one especially cold night. The hotel didn't have the radiators turned on and the whole place was tile so I was already freezing cold, and the water just could not get warm enough for me. That night I slept with my jacket on. All in all, 4 out of 10, would not recommend. It was hard choosing the worst, but I think Massa won.

#2) If Massa was the worst, the second worst was definitely the shower in the Naples hotel. The shower itself was large and you could actually stand up in it, and the shower head was actually attached to the wall. The water pressure was okay, not great. It actually would have been fine, except the light in the bathroom was automatic (which was odd to begin with) and the shower was closed off in such a way in the bathroom so no motion was detected and the light kept turning off. So half of my shower consisted of me sticking my hands outside the glass shower door and waving them around to turn the light back on. It definitely could have been worse, but the whole thing was really strange.

#3) From here on out the showers are okay but still not the best. The next would probably be the Florence hotel shower, solely because of the water pressure and the position of the shower head. The shower head was on the wall, but it was on a pole on the wall so every position put it at a weird angle and made the pressure weak. The tub was large enough to stand in, so that was a win. All in all, not bad, but it could have been better. 6 out of 10.

#4) I think I need to put the St. John's University showers here. The water pressure is good, and they are definitely the most normal showers out of all of them, but they're communal showers, which makes everything awkward. Carrying all my shower stuff from my room to the bathroom every day is no bueno. Also, the shower stalls are just small enough to make changing in them really not okay. Long story short, I would not have lasted in a dorm with communal showers for an entire year.

#5) This decision for the best shower may have been influenced by the fact that the one and only time I used this shower I was just so happy to be taking a shower and I was so sleep-deprived I was delusional. This shower iiiiiis.... the shower in the Ostia Antica hotel. Coming in after a 9+ hour red eye flight and trudging around the dusty ancient ruins in Ostia Antica, that shower was the best shower of my entire life. It was a small stand-up shower stall, no tub. And the drain was partially clogged. But the Lord knows that shower and I formed a loving bond that will stay with me all my life. Congratulations.

ANYWAY... that was weird. But don't even get me started on European toilets. O_O

Okay, enough of that. Talk to you all soon! Buona notte!
~Dani

Free weekend?

Howdy y'all!

Welcome to our free weekend in Rome! You know what I'll be spending it doing? Sleeping, working on my projects for my two art history classes, and attending a Liszt concert and the La Traviata opera. And that's what separates me from a lot of other people... haha.

A lot of people are traveling this weekend. Their destinations include Venice, Milan, Sorrento, and probably others I'm unaware of. It would have been awesome to travel, but knowing who I am as a person and knowing how much my wallet is screaming at me, I decided to stay in Rome for these three days. I'll live vicariously through my peers' pictures and stories. I think there's seven of us out who opted to stay in Rome out of the 22 of us.

Here's a few thoughts I'm having today as I'm killing time before I walk over to Piazza Navona for my concert:
1) At this point, almost the five week mark of our trip, I'm actually pretty excited to go home and see my family, my friends, and my dogs. We have done so many things and I have already made memories that I will never forget. I've been saying since we got back from Naples that I would not be disappointed if we were leaving the next day. But on the other hand, I hate to rush the last ten days we have here, because I know as soon as I get back home I'll get back to the grind of work and life. At least I decided not to take the Summer B physics class, because if I did, I would be hating myself right now.
2) I'm a bit worried about stuffing all of my items back into my suitcase to take back to the US. I've bought souvenirs from every city we've visited, and I've gotten some gifts for my family (even my dogs). Bringing everything over here was a bit of a squeeze, so we'll have to see how I pull off packing for the trip back. It looks like it's $100 for an overweight bag... O_O we shall see.
3) Next time I travel, I'm bringing some BFFs. Everyone I have met on this trip has been super nice, but I feel like I would enjoy everything so much more if I had some of my good friends with me. But hey, that's what the future is for :) Dr. Murphy keeps saying, "When you come back..." and I hope to make that a reality!
4) I am going to be so glad to just get in my car and drive places when I get home. Walking and using the metro are fine, but I'll be glad when I'll be able to drive 15 miles to go a significant distance instead of walk 15 minutes to go a mile.
5) I miss Target and Publix. That is all.

So yeah, that's my life. I should probably begin the process of looking presentable and prepping myself for the 20 minute walk to this church. TTYL!

~ Dani

Alive and well!

Buon giorno!

I knew this would happen. It's been almost two weeks since my last post... and since then a lot has happened! I have been posting an excessive amount of pictures on Facebook and almost all of them have captions so if you follow me on there you're in the know, but obviously my poor blog has been neglected. So let's break it down into the important parts, both so you all can know and so I can remember later.

On May 27th we had an optional visit to the Castel Sant'Angelo, which I went to, and it was cool to see the magnificent half ancient-half modern fortress and all the rooms with the beautiful frescoes. The view from the top of the Castel was awesome as well! After we were done at the Castel, Dr. Murphy walked us over to Piazza Navona and showed us the fountain and the obelisk in the piazza. This part of Rome was very pretty, and I am actually going back to the church in Piazza Navona, Sant'Agnese in Agone, to see a chamber concert this Friday night! I'm very excited about it! After the piazza we walked to a nearby church that housed some Caravaggios, and what was interesting about it was it was free to get in, but you had to insert coins into a box to turn on the lights to see the actual paintings. Then we went to the Pantheon, which I think was the highlight of my day. It was beautiful to see in person and it was great to experience the artistic importance that the building holds. It was a very full day, followed by a delicious group potluck taco night at the kitchen in the dorm.

The view from the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo

The Pantheon! So awesome!

After a few relaxing less-full days, on May 30th we met at the base of the Capitoline Hill at 9:30 am for a tour of the surrounding area, including the Teatro Marcellus, some temples, a church, (I'm sorry the names are escaping me), the Circus Maximus, the keyhole at the Knights of Malta headquarters atop the Aventine hill, and the Rose Garden. It was another full and very tiring day, mostly because of the commute there. Our dorm is more in the Vatican City area, a couple blocks away from the Lepanto metro stop, and we had to get all the way to the Colosseum area. So we braved the metro ourselves and walked a good distance but we finally made it there in one piece! And I ended the day with some beautiful rose pictures, and I bought some neckties for my doggies. :)

My attempted picture of the view through the keyhole at the Knights of Malta headquarters. You can see St. Peter's Dome from it, trust me!

One of the many beautiful roses in the Rose Garden.

June 1st was a big day and my favorite day in Rome so far, because on that day we went to the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Roman Forum! Honestly, they speak for themselves. The Colosseum was incredible to see, being one of the most well-known monuments in Rome, and it was awesome to walk through the ruins of the renowned Roman Forum. I was having a lot of flashbacks to my Latin classes at Bolles. So here's some pictures!

The Colosseum and all its glory!

Dr. Murphy leading us in to the Roman Forum

June 2nd was a national holiday in Rome: the Festa della Repubblica, or Republic Day. It was the day that the people of Italy opted for a Republic in 1946 after 85 years of monarchy. We went to the parade that morning, which featured all of the military branches, military bands, horses, and a flyover with the Italian flag colors. It was great to be a part of the experience this year!

On June 3rd, we departed for Naples. Dr. Murphy warned us that Naples is a bit more "sketchy" than Rome and we needed to be extra aware of pick pocketers, and when we got to Naples we saw why. I honestly got a downtown Jacksonville vibe from the buildings. They were run down, covered in graffiti, and the town just looked poorer than Rome or Florence. We stayed in a nicer part of town, the Spanish Quarter, at the Hotel Toledo. We met up with our tour guide, Santiago, and he gave us a 3 hour walking tour of the city. The next day, we visited Pompeii, Oplantis, and Herculaneum, three sites that were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24th, 79 AD. Santiago gave us a tour of all three sites, and it was amazing to see how everything was perfectly preserved. The technology that these ancient peoples used was amazing to see as well. After a long ancient excursion, the next day we had a free day. On that day, my roommate Trish and I took a ferry to the Island of Capri in the Bay of Naples and I had the best day ever. The water was so blue, the cliffs were magnificent, the people were so friendly, and the scenery was beautiful. Honestly, Capri has been the most beautiful place I have been to on this trip. I hope I'll be able to go back and visit someday. :)

Overlooking Pompeii!

Capri. Just Capri. It's so beautiful!

Yesterday was essentially a free day. It felt so great to sleep in, and I spent most of my day watching Netflix and not doing anything was GREAT. We went to the Zen Sushi place again for dinner. Today we are going to see the Ara Pacis, which I actually need to leave for right now. So for now I'll say CIAO, and I'll try to keep this up a bit better! 12 more days until iced coffee!! :)

~Dani

ROMA!

Buona serra a tutti!

We've been in Rome since Monday! I haven't posted in a while... it's been a little crazy between settling into our dorms at St. John's University and visiting St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums. Also, I just got the WiFi to work on my laptop (thanks Windows 8) so I can finally post things. There are so many people in this city, it is crazy. Both St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums were SO CROWDED with PEOPLE EVERYWHERE but the works and the buildings themselves were incredible! I went to the Vatican Museums with the group yesterday, so today I had a free day while the other group went. I mailed out some postcards at the Vatican post office (you have to lick the stamps here, I thought that was funny) and bought some things at the grocery store near our dorm (they were playing Dancing Queen very loudly and I was singing along, no shame), but for the rest of the day I didn't really do much besides exercise my very mediocre ability to heat up mushroom tortellini and red sauce on a stove and share it with my roommates. :)

But anyway, ROME. The Eternal City. On our first night here we ate as a group at a local Chinese restaurant (yes, Chinese in Italy, but it was actually really good!) and we got a walking orientation tour of St. Peter's Square. The next day, we went to St. Peter's Basilica, where we stood in the security line for like 45 minutes, got yelled at for not using the "authorized" listening devices (aka, the ones they make you pay for), and pushed our way through hordes of people who were apparently dying to take pictures of the beautiful art. (Side note: People, just enjoy the art. Do NOT push and shove to get pictures of the art. You will get them. You're just making everyone else angry.) But really, the basilica itself was beautiful. It literally took my breath away when I walked inside, it was so magnificent.

The facade of St. Peter's Basilica feat. members of my group looking derp

The interior of St. Peter's with the Baldacchino at the end

After we toured St. Peter's and even went underground to see the tombs of the saints, I climbed the St. Peter's Dome with two of my group-mates Christina and Katie. It's on top of the building, but you can't see it in the picture of the facade because of where it was built; it disappears as you move closer to the front of the building. It was not nearly as bad as the Duomo in Florence, but the stairs were not flat and the walls curved along with the shape of the dome, making the whole experience very claustrophobic. But the view was definitely worth it when we got to the top!

The view from the top of the St. Peter's Dome! We were just down there in the square (which is really an ellipse but ok)

The next day, we went to the Vatican Museums. That involved a lot of walking, a lot of people trying to sell you tours on the street on your way in, and a lot of people. We went into some of the less popular rooms, for example the Rafael rooms and the room with the only Leonardo in Rome, so those weren't as bad. But when it came to making our way to the Sistine Chapel, holy Moses there was literally a sea ten people wide moving down that hallway. I hardly looked up because I was so zoned in on not letting Dr. Murphy and the rest of my group leave my sight. Once we got in, of course we were not allowed to take pictures, but I must say it was a lot smaller and a lot less shiny and grandiose than I thought it would be. Nonetheless, the colors were so vibrant and it was incredible to see the Last Judgement on the front wall of the chapel and the Creation of Adam panel on the magnificent ceiling above me in person! Later that night after our crazy Vatican adventure we took the metro (with New York chorus trip subway ride flashbacks) to Spagna, where we saw the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. You're supposed to sit on the ledge of the fountain with your back to it, toss a coin over your shoulder, and make a wish. So of course I did that, and then we did some much-needed souvenir shopping in that part of the city on our way back since it wasn't so populated with tourists and no one was heckling me to buy their things. Then I went with Traci to Zen Sushi less than a block away from our dorm and had the best Japanese food ever. It was a full, eventful day!

The Trevi Fountain!

If I come across as being a little negative when it comes to the crowds, it's because I am. (#realtalk) That's the only thing I don't like about this city: all of the people. It's like Disney, the Atlanta airport, and New York had a baby multiplied by ten, but without the expert crowd control of a Disney park. I'm really enjoying myself and it's awesome that I'm here, but there's just too many people in this city for my taste, especially coming directly here from a small Tuscan hill town like Massa Marittima. I could live in Massa, I could not live here. You basically almost get hit by a Smart car every day trying to cross busy streets to get to your destination, and you are constantly haggled by street vendors trying to sell you selfie sticks or a pack of 20 postcards for one Euro. Today I'm pretty sure one of the vendors was talking smack about us "touristas" in Italian after we rejected his Vatican tour offer. But honestly buddy, if you're spending your time and energy hating on the tourists, you're in the wrong city. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Tomorrow starts our first "free weekend" in Rome with optional activities. Some people have already left to travel to Ravenna this weekend. But traveling within Italy on trains and buses that I am unfamiliar with doesn't really appeal to me and I don't know if I want to spend money doing that, so I'm definitely going on the optional tour of Castel Sant' Angelo tomorrow. :)

Ciao! Buona notte! TTYL
~ Dani

Visiting Marco Zeno's Home and Studio

Buona sera! Good evening! (Or still buon giorno to all of you in the States.)

Okay, before I start I have to say that there's a little old Italian woman who helps run the hotel and she is the most adorable thing ever. She only talks to us in Italian but she is so cute (molto carina!) and one of the girls on our trip just brought her a bouquet of roses. That was great.

Today we visited an Italian contemporary sculptor named Marco Zeno (and I really hope I'm spelling his name right). He lives in Grotto, about half an hour outside of Massa Marittima at his home/studio literally on the side of a hill. He makes sculptures out of wood from the olive trees on his land, and he has a fascination with the contortion of the wood and the designs created within the wood once it is carved. His work is displayed all around his home, and it is spectacular.

Marco talking to us about his sculptures

He makes the most interesting heads!

Before we had lunch, we all went into Marco's studio and he gave us each a slab of clay. He taught us how to sculpt heads and faces out of the clay like he does, and we all tried our hardest to follow his lead. A lot of our heads ended up looking alien-like... but watching him create a face out of the clay was so mesmerizing. In the end, drawing on my memories from my 8th grade sculpture and ceramics class, I came up with a sort of self portrait that I think truly captures how tired I am and how knotted my hair was from the wind on the side of the hill. (See below.)

After we made our sculptures, we had a delicious lunch prepared by Marco's wife. There was pasta, bread, sliced meats, delicious cake, pastries, coffee and homemade sweet tea (yessss) and lemonade. After lunch Marco brought us on a tour of the land next to his house and showed us all of the olive trees from which he drew his inspiration. He told us that he often goes up the hill on his land and sketches the olive trees, and some are better to sketch than others.

We had a wonderful time visiting this very talented artist, and it was fun to see the contrast between Marco's art and the classic Renaissance art that we were exposed to in Florence. Marco was fabulous, as were his wife and his son Akhenaton (like the pharaoh), and I am so glad we were able to meet them today! Also, there were two dogs, a cat, goats, chickens and roosters on their land so I was able to get my animal fix for the day. :)

One of the dogs chilling on the property!

I'm super excited because tomorrow I'll be able to sleep in! We won't be leaving until 2 pm to go see another contemporary artist's sculpture gardens. I'm excited! More to come after that!

Arrivederci!
Dani

We're in Massa Marittima!

Salve!

We made it to Massa Marittima this afternoon! We had possibly the most terrifying bus ride ever getting here from Florence, between the traffic, our savage bus driver passing every vehicle on the highway, and the skinny winding uphill roads getting up to Massa. The ride was beautiful though once we got into the more remote areas, and we were able to see the sea from the highway.

The view of the sea from the bus window!

We're staying in a restored monastery called the Domus Bernardiniana, and it is so quiet and beautiful! We're on the side of a hill, and the view is incredible. It's definitely a stark contrast from the hustle and bustle of Florence and the constant noise, and that was the point of coming here. I actually like it a lot better. I find that I am more aware of sounds and our presence in the city, and I am trying hard to hide my American-ness. It's a quaint little town, almost like a village, and we get to stay here for five nights. The only issue is I hardly get any wifi or even cell signal in my room, so I either have to stand at the open window holding my phone up like Simba, or come down to the small lobby where there are a few couches, which is what I'm doing now along with about seven other people.

We arrived around 2:00, and we walked around a bit and got ourselves oriented, and now we are waiting until dinner at 8:00. Two important couples will be joining us for dinner at the hotel, I forget who they are... haha. Massa is so different from Florence, but both are fantastic in their own way. Tomorrow we are going to meet a contemporary artist for a workshop, and I am super excited. I'll take plenty of pictures, and I am excited to be in a new place. I'll probably feel the same way by the time it's time to travel to Rome.

Massa is still important enough to have its own cathedral...

However, none of this changes the fact that I really miss iced coffee, Firehouse subs, and driving my car. #fiveweeks #icedcoffeecountdown (I'm making that a thing.)

Ciao!
Dani

Last Day in Florence

Ciao! Hello!

Today is our last day in Firenze! We spent our morning at the Museo di San Marco (which reminded me of Jacksonville's San Marco :c) where we saw a bunch of paintings and frescoes, and then we toured the monastery where the monks stayed at the church. Then we went to the Florence Cathedral (the giant building we've been admiring the whole time we've been here) and saw the interior of the Duomo. After a break that was too short, we went to the Bargello museum and we saw some more of Michelangelo's sculptures. This has been the majority of our days here in Florence, museum after museum, church after church, fresco after fresco. Hours of standing and taking pictures and writing notes. But it has been fantastic.

After the Bargello, we were free to roam and do whatever for the rest of the day because the majority of our days here have been pretty full. Another girl and I were going to go to the Museo Galileo (the science museum), but Tuesdays are the only days that the museum closed at 1. So, deciding we were exhausted, we schlepped back to the hotel and I immediately fell asleep. I feel a little bit like I'm not taking advantage of the city around me, but honestly, we have seen so much over the past five days that just chilling and sleeping seemed like a great option. Right now I'm lying in my bed eating Pringles like they're going out of style, but maybe I'll get up and do some shopping in a bit.

I didn't post yesterday, but after a full day of museums I went to go see a chamber orchestra concert at the Orsanmichele last night! It was awesome. The concert featured two oboists that sounded great, and the acoustics were amazing. Check out my Facebook for pictures, because once again the pictures won't load. It was awesome hearing the small orchestra play, and I didn't even need to understand any Italian to appreciate the music. Because, you know, music does that. :)

Tomorrow at 9:30 am we will depart for Massa Marittima, and I am excited to finally be in a small hill town without all these tourists and annoying street vendors. We will take a bus there and it is about a two-and-a-half hour trip. You know what that means? SLEEP.

So far this trip has been amazing, and I still have 5 more weeks to go. (And 5 more weeks before I can get iced coffee again.) And I think I'm getting a single room when we get to Rome next week, so that's like a dream come true for me! I'll let you know how Massa is when we get there.

Adios! (Ha.)
Dani

Amo Firenze!

Buon giorno! (I've been getting a little better at these basic greetings, but not really)

It feels like an entire week has passed since my last blog post. This is only Day 3 in Florence and we have already done so much!! I've already taken so many pictures. I'm sorry that the pictures didn't show up in the last post, I was trying to post them on the Blogger app that I had to pay $4.99 for and then it derped with the crappy wifi on the way to Florence. And it looks like the same thing is happening now just on my laptop, so I'm sorry you're going to have to look through the pictures on Facebook :/ boo.

Yesterday we went to the San Lorenzo complex, which was commissioned by the Medici family, as was a lot of the art here in Florence. Among all of the things we saw were the beautiful Biblioteca in the complex, the Basilica of St. Laurence, the Chapel of the Princes, the Academia (we saw the David!) and the Florence Baptistery. You can see all of these pictures on my Facebook page or even on my Instagram (*cough cough* follow me @dani_zentz). Our hotel is literally two blocks away from the Duomo and the Florence Baptistery, Cathedral and Bell Tower complex. We can hear the bells from the bell tower in our hotel room!

Yesterday we also had a bit of free time after we visited the Academia and made friends with the statue of David, so we went and got pizza for dinner with my three roommates at a little place near our hotel and wandered a bit. We are staying at the Hotel Maxim, which is very centrally located and not a far walk from anything, really. We found a bookstore called RED, which stands for Read, Eat, Dream, and it was a cafe/bookstore that reminded me of a more modern Barnes and Noble that was three stories high. I got some really cool pens and a little journal! My suitcase will definitely be overweight on my way home... haha!

This morning we went to the Uffizi Gallery, where there are a LOT of famous works. We saw works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Rafael, Caravaggio, and Leonardo da Vinci. We saw the Birth of Venus and the Primavera, as well as the Portrait of the Dukes of Urbino and multiple Enunciation paintings. At the top of the Uffizi there is a cute cafe out on a terrace with an awesome view of the Duomo complex. As we walk through the museums, I've been taking notes on my iPhone because I can write notes and insert pictures into the note for reference. It's so much information with so many works and artists to recognize and remember! I remember a lot of things from my AP Art History class, but that was three years ago now. 

After the Uffizi, we got in line to climb the Duomo! We waited in the line for an hour or an hour and a half, and then we climbed what seemed like a million small, steep, spiral stairs to the top. It was tiring, and my roommate had a couple asthma attacks on the way up, but when we finally made it, the view was incredible and the pictures speak for themselves. Unfortunately, the pictures are not loading for some reason... so look through my Italia 2016 album on Facebook! :) Ah, technology has been trying here in IT.

Florence is awesome and I love it (Amo Firenze!), but I'm starting to find that there are too many people here. It is a very touristy city, with street vendors selling bags and shirts that look like the same ones they sell in New York City except they say "Florence." The art and architecture of the city is beautiful, and the culture is awesome, but there are too many people here for me. There are tourists from all over the world. That's what was cool about climbing the dome; we were expressing our struggles climbing as well as our awe and amazement at the top with random strangers who did not even speak English. That kind of stuff is universal, as is music. I've heard "Time to Say Goodbye" played on the streets multiple times already... it's a beautiful Italian song that I sang in chorus at Bolles so it is special to me, and I'm sure it is special to everyone else in the city too. These common experiences across cultures are what is so cool about being over here in Italy. I'm sure I'll have more experiences as we continue our adventure. However, the introvert in me is really looking forward to Massa Marittima, a quiet hill town that will not have millions of tourists sharing the streets with us. We'll depart for Massa on Wednesday, so we still have 4 more days in Florence.

Tomorrow we have another packed day in store for us, and I'm sure Dr. Murphy has lots more amazing things to show us. Right now we're going to find food and cold/fever medicine for my roommate, who coming down with something. I just hope I don't catch it...

Ciao a tutti!
Dani

Thoughts as we head to Florence

Buon giornio a tutti! (I hope that means good morning everyone!)

I'm not really sure when I'll be able to post this, considering we've only been able to get wifi in the lobby of our hotel and now we're on the road again... But it will get posted eventually!

We got to the Ostia Antica Park Hotel without a hitch! Besides, you know, having to plow through the streets of Ostia in a bus. What everyone says is true: driving is ridiculous in Italy. It's a free-for-all and everyone drives their tiny Smart cars and goes wherever they want and parks wherever they can. I think the biggest car I've seen so far was a GMC SUV, and it even looked out of place. It's kind of funny because all the street signs say "fermata" to mean "stop" and the musician in me is geeking out. But anyway, we spent last night in the Ostia hotel after visiting the ancient Roman ruins at the Ostia archaeological park. I got some beautiful pictures, and we met a couple of cute cats there. 

 

 

 

Our hotel was very cute; I was in a triple and it was pretty small but it was good for one night. My two roommates were fascinated by the bidet but I haven't tried it yet... Haha! Oh, side note: European toilets are weird. The beds were small and not too fluffy but really, I was so tired I think I would have slept on a slab of concrete if I had to. I wasn't really able to sleep on the plane; I maybe got an hour of half-sleep collectively. So after being awake for basically 24 hours, last night's sleep was amazing and I took one of the top five best showers of my life in the tiny European shower.

 

We're currently on a really nice Mercedes Benz charter bus heading to Florence, where we'll check in to the Hotel Maxim. It's a three hour bus ride to get there, but that beats the crap out of that 9 hour flight we took over here. We're driving on a freeway and we're passing by these beautiful rolling hills. Cypress pines are abundant here, and they're beautiful. Everything is just BEAUTIFUL. It's a bit overcast today and it's probably in the 60's outside. Everything is in Celsius and kilometers and grams and I'm over here like "Help me, I'm American." I brought my rain jacket to wear today, so of course, it probably won't rain. Once we check in we'll get our orientation and walking tour, then we'll go to a grocery store, and then we're having a nice dinner tonight at 7:30.

It's really hard to believe that I'm in Italy right now... It's all kind of surreal, and the sleep deprivation and jet lag hasn't been helping. Everyone's using their fancy DSLR cameras but I've been taking pictures with my iPhone 6 and they're turning out really well, nice job Apple! Maybe I didn't need to buy a digital camera after all. But we shall see.

Update: Dr. Murphy just told us that we have been driving though Lazio (the region where Rome is) and now we're driving through Umbria. These views are breathtaking and my camera is not doing them justice, but here are a few of the pictures I've taken.

 

 

 

Ciao for now! See you in Florence!

Dani

Greetings from Atlanta!

Hello from the Atlanta airport! I'm in the middle of the three-hour layover before our international flight that departs at 6:27 pm. The flight from JAX to ATL was not bad at all, and it was over before we even knew it! It even looks like there are some good movies to watch on the plane... for $6 a movie... but that should keep me entertained on this upcoming 10-hour flight. I'm sitting at concourse F charging various electronics with the three UNF professors and about seven other UNF students. Everyone got some food and we're all happily taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi (or as they say in Italy, Wee-Fee).

This airport is so BIG! I've been in here a few times before from our Bolles chorus trips, but I guess I was never on the international side. Riding the train over to our concourse, I remembered running through this airport to catch our flight with the rest of the Bolles chorus, and then a kid got left behind when the train doors closed! I have made sure that I am not that kid, and I basically stayed glued to Professor Malcolm until we got to our gate.

Sorry, whoa, a midget couple just walked by me. That was interesting. Oh, and there was a guy on our earlier flight with a FANTASTIC mustache! I tried to get a picture, but it was a little too creepy even for me. But I appreciated that.

Landing in Atlanta!

So anyway, it's been pretty smooth so far, besides a bit of "rough air" on the landing in Atlanta. I was worried about major delays or inclement weather, but that's looking good. I got some iced coffee from Starbucks in the Jacksonville airport since there won't be iced coffee for six weeks, but I might get some more here in the Atlanta airport. Life is good, and it's about to get better!

Stay tuned for more scattered and random blog posts from me from ITALIA!

~Dani~

Ostia in One Week!! (Plus Packing Tips)

Lol, I just figured out that these posts can have titles. You're talking to a professional blogger over here. #nailedit

We're one week away from our departure!! I think I should be nervous, but I'm not yet. After seeing all the flight delays that the music students had to deal with on their trip to France a few days ago, I just hope everything goes smoothly with the planes. And I hope I won't get lost in Atlanta. And I have yet to start my pre-departure assignment... but I still have time between work and hanging out with friends I won't see for a while! And Mother's Day is Sunday too, so we'll have some family fun time before I leave.

My professor has posted some things about Ostia Antica on our Blackboard site. Here is a map of the city, and I'm kind of squealing just looking at it. It's so ancient and stuff! I'm not really sure what we are seeing in Ostia, I just know it's an "archeological site." My professor also gave us a weather update; the weather for next Wednesday in Ostia is supposed to be highs in the low-70's and lows in the mid-50's. Perfect! Considering it was 90 today in Jacksonville, I'm so ready for that.

I feel like I need to start packing. All of the adorable travel-sized items I have gathered for the trip have made their way into a pile on my bedroom floor. Once I get everything organized and packed I think I'll feel a whole lot better. I've also been asking about tips for the international flight, and so far I've gotten:

• SLEEP! The flight will be super boring, and it's overnight, so duh.
• Don't freak out about flying over the ocean. You won't be able to see it. But it will be able to see you.
• They'll have movies to watch on the plane! Watch those.
• If you don't have much faith in Delta's movie choices, download all of the music you want to listen to and movies you want to watch BEFORE the flight, because the in-flight WiFi is more expensive than you think.
• You will end up having to use the bathroom on the plane. With this in mind, do not go for the extra sriracha extra hot toppings on your extra not-stomach-friendly enchilada. Do yourself and everyone else a favor. Actually, just don't eat at all, you'll be fine.
• Ask for an extra blanket. That way you can burrito your legs and your torso and not be sad that you're lacking one or the other.
• Do not make conversation with the person next to you. It will be fine and friendly at first, but after a few hours if they keep talking to you, you will regret it. Don't feel bad that you don't know the person you're sitting next to... it's actually a huge plus.

Also, some equally amusing general tips:

• Assume your luggage will be lost. Pack two changes of clothes in your carry on, and some kind of sleepwear that is pretty normal, in case you end up standing outside your hotel in the middle of the night wondering how that caught on fire so fast.
• Wear your heaviest things on the plane so your bags weigh a little less. Even if it means holding up the line in security when you have to take your shoes off... it's a small price to pay.
• You must eat gelato every day. I will have multiple people expecting daily gelato selfies and a list of all the different types I tried.
• The jury is still out on this one, but I've been told I don't need a sun hat, but definitely sunscreen. I don't know... I think I need a fancy European sun hat.
• Pack things that are hand-washable and won't take long to dry. You don't want that one thing that you couldn't dry to get packed back in your suitcase and make everything else wet and gross by the time you get it back in Jacksonville.

So yeah. Maybe this advice will help you or other random blog browsers in the future. And if you have any other tips, let me know! I'm super stoked!!

Ciao for now!
Dani

And with my last reflection paper submission, my Spring 2016 semester is officially done!! Yay! Now it's time to freak out about Italy!

Well, it looks like there is no rest for the weary, because I have about 2 hours of videos to watch and a short book on Italian culture to read and write about for my pre-departure assignment for my art history class. But at least it will be exciting to learn about!

I suppose I'll give a rundown of our itinerary, since so many people have asked me and I have provided them with lame answers. As soon as we land in Rome on May 11th, we will take a bus to Ostia Antica, where we will visit an archeological site and I will probably be half asleep and have no idea what time it is. That night we will stay in the Ostia Antica Park Hotel and then we will depart the next morning by bus for Florence, where we will stay for six nights in the Hotel Maxim, which is right down the road from the Cathedral, Baptistery and Museo dell' Opera del Duomo (aka, the giant dome in the middle of Florence that I definitely learned in AP Art History but forgot everything about, sorry Mrs. Meatte). Picture for reference...

Brunelleschi's the name, climbing the dome is the game.

After six nights, we will leave Florence and travel by bus to Massa Marittima, which is a small hill town. While we are there, we will stay in a restored monastery for five nights. We will visit two artists, both sculptors, and tour their art gardens and have a sculpting master class. I am so excited for this! Once we leave Massa, we will be Rome bound! We'll stay in Rome in the St. John's University dorm facilities for 28 nights. Apparently for our first dinner in Rome we will be taken to a Chinese restaurant because we'll be sick of pasta and pizza, but I'm not sure if that's possible. We'll see everything: the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums, the Roman Forum, St. Peter's Basilica, and anything else you can think of. We'll also go to the Porta Portese Flea Market, and I'm super excited to buy some Italian trinkets! After 28 nights in Rome, we will have a short excursion to Naples, where we will stay for three nights in the Hotel Toledo. There we will see Pompeii, Oplontis and Herculaneum. After those three nights, we will travel back to Rome, see even more sites, present our reports about certain art pieces in front of the actual art pieces, and before we know it our time in Italy will be over. We'll have a big farewell dinner on the last night, and then we'll be back on a plane heading home. I am so excited, but also pretty nervous. I only have 11 more days!

So that's the general rundown. I'm hoping I'll have time to regularly post on here throughout the trip, but if not, I'll probably be posting millions of pictures on Facebook. Stay tuned!

Dani

Hi friends!

I am a mere thirteen days away from my departure date for my summer study abroad trip to Italy! I will be over there for six weeks, and I will be studying Roman Art and Architecture as well as Art History on Site with twenty-four other students and faculty members from the University of North Florida Department of Art and Design. Throughout our trip, we will visit the port city of Ostia Antica, Florence, Naples, the hill town of Massa Marittima, and of course, Rome. My art history professor has hooked us up with tickets to literally every museum or art site in each city, and I cannot wait to begin this adventure!

Of course, I am also a bit anxious about this trip because it will be my first time out of the country, not to mention the first time away from my family for that amount of time, but I know I will love it once I get there. The 10-hour overnight international flight is scaring me a little, but I have decided that I will pass the time watching movies from a very long list of movies that I still have not seen and my friends have told me I must see. That is, if I'm not able to fall asleep! Oh, and packing is a thing... And foreign currency and international cell phone plans... but it's okay, I still have time for those things.

The idea to start a blog for my trip struck me a couple weeks ago, but of course since I REALLY should be studying for my TESOL final right now, why not create the blog RIGHT NOW? It's finals week and my brain is fried. I am SO looking forward to spending these six weeks taking a break from the busyness of the school year and studying art history, a subject that I have always loved.

Well, that's the intro to my blog. Stay tuned for more posts and follow me on my journey to Italy! I'll have so many pictures and fun things to share. I wish I could take everyone with me!

Ciao! (I really should also learn some basic Italian... This should be fun!)
Dani