Our Own Mountain Day!

As you may have heard, we had our own equivalent to Mountain Day yesterday! The AIFS staff cancelled our class for the day to let us enjoy it fully. However, instead of tie-dying and hiking up a mountain, we took a bus ride up to Fiesole, a small town up above Florence. We got to see the town, a very small but wealthy place, and then went into the archaeological site of an ancient Etruscan town. The theater was still intact and is still used for some performances over the summer. beside the theater are the remains of the temple (of which I am uploading a video in lieu of my regular video) and the bath houses. It was an amazing trip! The museum that accompanies the site had some of the statues and objects that were found with the Etruscans, as well as an Etruscan skeleton! We then went to a gelateria for some gelato (compliments of Marta and AIFS), signed our equivalent Mountain Day flag (pictures on my facebook!), and returned to Florence, at which point Yulia and I went to the Boboli Gardens to enjoy the peaceful environment. All said, it was a great day.

here's the temple! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35mVh8h6lE0

One Week In

well, it's been an exciting week! after getting used to classes I'm finally back in the school schedule -- I even did my homework on a Saturday! Even though that isn't a good thing, it still means I'm not on a particularly bad track for the semester. We've spent a lot of time wandering the streets here -- from the ottr'Arno (the south side, below the river Arno, where life is more traditionally Italian) to the touristy South Centro (where the girls live) to the Piazza Salvemini (where is located our apartment, a nice gelateria, a great cafe, and a fairly navigable grocery store nearby) to the North Centro (where we went to the tram station and where Yulia and I almost got mugged... long story) to the East (outside the center of the city where things are more modern). Last night we visited the Fish Pub and had a great time meeting new people and getting plenty of free shots! That, of course, led to a lot of fun times, but everyone is safe and alive, so it can't be too bad, can it?

Also, Video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xZVBgtADNw

Hello from Florence!

Hi everyone,
I have a few minutes before our next meeting begins, so I decided to give you an update on how things are going. I made it to Florence safely after an extremely long set of flights! we were very glad to be on solid ground and out of our seats. That led to our trip to our apartments. Since I didn't explain much in the videos, I will tell you, I love these places! they look so gorgeous! Old and stylish. We have a two-story apartment with my room on the 3rd floor (that's the 4th floor for you Americans!) and the other two on the next floor up. The girls have a nice apartment too -- very spacious and very friendly looking. I expect we will spend a lot of time there.
For those of you who are interested, I have another video up on YouTube -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpjxYUo-xmg . I'm off to the walking tour now, so have a great day!

Welcome

Hello everybody! This is the blog where I'll post updates regarding my trip to Florence. I'll be leaving Friday, so make sure you keep an eye out for updates starting fairly regularly after that. For now, I'm packing (something I have yet to start) and saying goodbye to everyone I get a chance to see before I leave, so be sure to check back soon!

For anyone who is interested, here's the first link to my (hopefully regular) video updates about my travels:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61igmpfzD8s