September Babies

21 in the City of Lights!

Saturday at the Flower Market

Blogger does not like me, my computer, or my pictures. So we are uploading one by one. Let's see how this goes.

Update: It's not going well. In fact, it's not going at all. Miriam, help!

Where are we? What are we doing?

So.... this weekend. Ellen and I along with two busloads of SAI kids (and when we say kids, we mean about seventy girls and 5 guys) all headed down to... at this point of the blog, I have to pause and search through my email to see where we went again (this was the theme of the whole weekend), Fonteblande? Eh, the name of the town is not so important, the hotel was Hotel Cala di Forno (or as I like to call/sing it, Hotel California), it smelled like old people and apple sauce and came equipped with a fold out toilet, an air conditioner that sounded like a spaceship, and sheets that were not up to Ellen's particular standards (granted I don't think the sheets at the Plaza would hold up to Ellen's standards).

Friday: Busride to see a fort? (Ellen comments, "Is that what it was?") And dinner at the hotel with some of the best gelato we've had in Italy- there was a nutella flavor... need I say more?

Saturday: Busride to see Etruscan tombs. Ellen's passion leans more towards the Romans, but seeing as how I am a total nerd and had spent the day before at the archeological museum in Florence unknowingly preparing for the trip, I enjoyed seeing the outside of the tombs ("Oh, please you wouldn't even go inside"- Ellen) Then a lovely five hours spent on the beach and then a five course meal in the mountains (which of course included another busride).

Sunday: Busride to an organic farm and vineyard where we got to learn a little bit about winemaking and a lot about Italian cattle wrangling (or as our California friends put it- animal cruelty, and as we put- just another day in the life of a Mississippian). Then a great meal with the best bread I've tasted in this country, and some excellent wine made from the vineyard and another busride (complete with our busdriver's playlist of seventies R&B and Italian pop) back to Florence and a delicious meal at ZaZa with our new girlfriends we made on the trip. And now it's back to business and back to school.

"Hotel California."

Seriously- it folds out?!

The infamous sheets.

Etruscan tombs!

This is Mary Haley, we love her.

Srat pose!

Headed to dinner!

Tuscan countryside.

Twins! (I swear this was unplanned)

Such models!

Rooms!

Cutest. Dog. Ever.

Ellen catching some rays.

The church at the vineyard. Could so get married here.

Up on the Mountain

Ciao! So I'm not sure if Ellen and I have mentioned our Italian teachers to you yet, but in one word they are: amazing! For the first week of class (instead of plugging our brains full of grammar lessons and vocabulary words) they took us around Florence to show us "il loro Firenze". From shopping in the open air markets to grabbing "un cappuccino" at the best cafes we wandered around exploring Florence from a local's point of view (which is the best way to see it, of course!). Our last class consisted of loading into a Florentine bus (our first!) and heading to the Tuscan countryside to see the mountain town of Fiesole. It might have been a bit of a hike to see the monastery at the top, but the view of Florence from its grounds was well worth it. It was funny looking down over the sprawling countryside to see the city (our city) extending its buildings around the river and into the hills. They truly know beautiful architecture here. Instead of having the city force its way into the Tuscan greenery, it integrates itself naturally into the mountains so that the countryside and the city become one whole beautiful landscape.

After a a short venture into the monastery to see its miniature museum (full of relics from China and Egypt, oddly enough) we headed back down to the sleepy little town to order a cioccolato, then it was on to the bus and back to Florence. (Though we've both promised ourselves a trip back to Fiosole to get some more of that delicious chocolate!)

Fiosole!

Ellen and Mary Haley.

Making the hike to the top.

Ellen with our new friend Brett

Ellen at the top!

Spiaggia Adventures!

Hooray we've made it through our first week of classes, and survived our second weekend in Firenze! So what do Italians do to kick off the school year? Hang on to summer as long as possible by heading to the beach of course! Yesterday, we decided we were ready for our first adventure out from Florence (bold, right?) and joined in on this mass exodus from our still sweltering hot, stone paved city (temps are hitting 90 right now--hotter even than Mississippi!). Bathing suits on and ready to go, we figured out the ticket machines with only a few minor setbacks, and hopped the next (well we think it was the next...pretty good chance we missed a few in between) train to Viareggio. Less than two hours later, we were exploring an adorable seaside town with awesome shopping (luckily for our bank accounts, all closed on Sunday), the BEST gelato we've had so far (yes, we got it twice), and snoozing and girl-chatting on a beautiful Tuscan beach (ocean to my left, mountains to my right--yes please!). Capped it off with some delicious seafood pasta and a late night train back to Florence (probably could have done without the creepy Italian men...really what about us screams please harass me?), and we called it a very successful, very spontaneous and fun day!

first Italian train ride!

made it!

but we never said we really knew where we were going...

train rides are exhausting

so happy!

perfect lazy Sunday

european tres chic!

last ones on the beach

such a great day

David and the not-so-friendly Boulder

So while we wait for Ellen and/or the IT guys at our school to figure out why our video won't upload I figured I should tell you about David. (remember he's the tall one from North Dakota who talks funny) While Ellen and I enjoyed a much needed and much deserved 16 hour sleep in on Friday, David, Conner and 48 other students from our school went on a small yacht tour of the Italian Archipelagos. They went cliff diving, island hopping and enjoyed seafood while Ellen and I slept, did laundry, and enjoyed some Heinz 57 on our burgers and chicken tenders at the Hard Rock. (we were missing protein and fried foods- please no jabs!)

Notice the name of the chicken tenders. How could we not get them?

Yes! Regular tasting ketchup!

During our rather delectable dinner, we receive a text message from our pal David.

David: Could you make me soup, sometime?

Us {rather bewildered}: Um, sure, any particular reason?

David: .... I might've had an incident with a boulder today.

Us {slowly going into mom mode}: Incident? What did you do?

David: Tell you about it when I get back.

We (getting slightly more panicked at this point) then call David to hear a fun story of a trip in an ambulance to the ER filled with Italian nurses and a Russian doctor who kept joking about cutting his leg off.

Come Saturday we zoomed over to the boys to make soup (fully embracing mom mode at this point) and see if this injury was really as "gnarly" as people (Candace) made it sound.

It was worse.

While Ellen squeezed her eyes shut and turned aside, my hands got covered in red iodine as I changed David's bandages. However we got to take some memorable photos and videos (yeah, we'll see if the video of poor David hobbling through Florence ever makes it up here) and David has a nice little souvenir scar to always remind him of his time in Italy.

Bloody hand, soooo attractive right?

The red is the iodine not the blood, so don't panic too much.

His lovely "covered in stitches and still oozing blood" leg.

The Musical Stylings of Florence

Those of you that actually know us (considering our reader count probably numbers in the single digits, that should be about everybody), know that we are both music fanatics. In fact, we can't be certain, but we strongly suspect our own friendship blossomed in a Preparatory School choral hall way back when we were just discovering what the world had in store for us. Since those middle school days, music has consumed us. Ellen diligently tried her voice in choirs and Miriam, well, at least she tried... But seriously, all tone deaf jokes aside, we both have found such emotion, inspiration, and relationships in music. As we casually strolled through the Piazza del Signoria last night, admiring the beautifully lit Uffizi, the comforting strains of a full orchestra and 4-part choir gradually reached our ears. The sound was so natural that it blended into this magical scene flawlessly. What's more, the sound somehow reassured us that we belonged to this scene. Nothing like a beautiful rendition of Italy's national anthem Fratelli d'Italia (my Italian's not quite up to par, but I'm pretty sure they are singing about heads and death?) to make you feel that much closer to home.

Sightseeing (or a Day Spent in Ikea)

In preparation for our next blog post on what our apartment actually looks like we're going to have to get down business (to defeat the huns) and tidy up a bit. So to tide you over until then we have to tell you and/or show you about a Sunday spent in Ikea. (On a side note) Neither of us had ever been to an Ikea but after spending eight hours lost among its many floors and gadgetrys we feel like pros: did you know you can eat all three meals here, have a glass of wine and get a free shuttle back to the "citta centrale"- seriously we might just move in, after all the beds are already made.

Ready for Ikea!

Our new friends East Coast Annaclaire and West Coast Candace.

Rooms!

French fries and wine, a perfectly balanced meal.

A toast to new friends and new bedding.

Candace likes pizza, if you can't tell.