Siena

Just a few weeks ago, a few LONG weeks ago (where has the time gone??), I was confronted with a cancelled Italian class, a homework-free Thursday, and a gloriously long weekend. Miriam, sadly, was not so fortunate, and so I was left to my own devices. What's a girl to do? Explore Tuscany of course! I recruited our friend Mary Haley, headed to the BUS station (add that to my list of Italian transportation!), and hopped aboard a double-decker bus (how cool, right?) headed to Siena.

Il Campo, the most popular square in all the land according to my good friend Little Ricky.

Thanks for the advice Rick!

Duomas are quite the rage in Tuscany. Have to admit this one was particularly stunning!

Thanks for the adventure, MH!

Buon Compleanno al mio Papà

Goodness are we behind! November hit, and badda-bing, badda-boom we were traveling and paper writing and making new friends and keeping up with old friends. Somewhere in that mess, our blog got lost. We promise to update y'all soon, but until then.... Happy belated birthday to il mio papa! I hope you liked your Italian Chi Omega, UVA-colored Owl tie!

A French tribute to mon pere from my birthday!

Miriam Cooks and Ellen Takes Artsy Photos

Don't worry the post on Madrid is headed your way soon, but in the meantime here's a fun little story about a random Monday night! So while Ellen and I both might have dropped out of our cooking classes at the beginning of the semester (whoops) it doesn't mean we haven't picked up a thing or two about the culinary arts from our time in Italy, I mean after all I'm pretty sure this entire culture revolves around food (and with good reason!). Come Monday night and due to inspirations from my friend Kassi (who is a culinary genius, check out her blog ciaodownbella.blogspot.com) and in hopes of saving a few euros I called up Ellen with the announcement that I would be making dinner that night and to get excited! Her response? "You make it, I'll eat it." So I racked my brain to think of what ingredients we already had in the apartment, pasta and.... well nothing. So one trip to the fresh market, a stop at Meta (with a frantic call to Kait and Kassi to find out what the word for heavy cream was), 103 stairs, two pots, one pan and a slightly burnt wrist later, voila! Pasta with a vodka cream sauce (made from scratch!) and green beans (fagioli verdi) with garlic and pine nuts (pinoli)! Who knew?

The Halloween Party

We know, we know! We've been a bit neglectful about the blog lately, but can you blame us? First it was fall break, then Halloween, a holiday from school and then Madrid this past weekend, but no worries you will hear all very soon! Starting with the Halloween party. So, while we sadly won't be in Italy for Carnival (seriously, I'm racking my brain for a way to return just for that week, totally feasible right?), we figured that Halloween would be just as big a celebration in Italy right? Wrong. While Italians are quite festive people, Halloween is not quite their thing (you can't exactly trick-or-treat when everyone lives in hundreds-of-years-old apartments) so instead we decided to have a very merry Halloween party, American style! A quick trip to the 99 cent store and Billa and we were set for decorations, candy, and three different kinds of homemade punch. Needless to say, the night was quite a howling success!

The Sex and the City ladies: Charlotte, Carrie, Samantha and Miranda (of course)

This would be one of my roommates... should I be afraid?

Fiorintina soccer player!

1950's housewife

Phantom of the Opera and Justin Bieber (he actually wasn't dressed up, talk about an awkward moment)

The Moroccan gets clever!

I thought she was an Afghan blanket, nope... "I'm a Scottish jail person." (Oh, Anna Claire!)

Charlotte, Carrie, Rosie the Riveter and the Southern Belle

Candace as the cutest cat ever!

Audrey Hepburn and the Moroccan

"I'm from Jackson, Mississippi, y'all!"