I am alive.

Just so everyone knows I am alive and I am in the most beautious city ever!
Still eating my way through Florence, one gelato a day...
Went on a little adventure this past weekend to Orvieto, a city in between Rome and Florence. Very cool place.
Time is flying by with a little more than a month to go! Gotta go! Ciao!
Here are some pics of the square that I live next to.

The Motherland

This spring break was probably the best one i've ever had. I went to belgium this past thursday for a crazy weekend of food family and carnaval! I ate everything belgian that I had missed.. here goes: french fries with mayonnaise, waffles (no brainer), chocolate, homemade jam, loaves of bread, beer, and so much more. I also got to see almost all of my family (cousins, aunts, uncles, babies everywhere) aaaaaaand on saturday my family had a little get together, out of nowhere my dad walks through the door! I was flipping out and I'm pretty sure everyone in the room was crying.
Carnaval was hilarious, people paraded down the streets in groups some dressed up as blow up santas, some michael jacksons. I'm so glad I finally got to experience the carnaval of Welkenraedt with my family :) vive la belgique!

Solo adventure.

So today I went on a solo adventure and it was beyond awesome. I started off at this little hole in the wall panini place to grab a sandwich, one of my favorites salami and artichokes. Popped that in my bag o' books (yes, I can read) and I was on my way to the top. My goal was Palazzo Michelangelo.... eventually I made it there, but it was my last stop. I started walking up this steep and narrow road lined with old colorful apartments, one of them was Galileo's house COOL! Once I got to the top I turned around just to see how high I had walked and I could see the snow capped mountains on the outskirts of florence. I was speechless and snapping pictures like a crazy woman.
Approximately 10 minutes later I continued on my journey into the unknown, eventually coming across a museum, a Medici fortress and a garden. All within feet of each other. The views kept getting better the farther up I got. The smaller roads that took me to a main road and all of the bright apartments made me seriously consider living in Italy (But don't worry i'll come home first) Everything has so much character I love it. Next I found a homeless man sleeping behind a wall that looked like a door in the woods (scared the crap out of me), a baroque church with really interesting frescos inside, and Palazzo Michelangelo. I ended my day with a cappuccino from my favorite coffee shop and a funny book. Well, I'm off to the jazz club. This is one WILD spring break.

Roma.

Rome was such a strange experience, there were ruins everywhere we went. We would be walking and then boom ancient ruins, no biggie, just a couple thousand years old. We crammed everything into one big day, the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Trevi fountain, the Sistine Chapel, Rafael's frescos (including the School of Athens!!), Religious works by Marc Chagral and Dali, Vatican City, we even stopped into a small church to see a famous Caravaggio painting, and managed to squeeze in gelato of course. Belgium in 2 days!

I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS CITY

Hi. So i really love it here and i think i'll stay. Forever. Everyone except for Lindsay and I left on spring break. They're all going to Spain, Paris, Prague, etc etc. I am more than happy to be staying in Florence and exploring every square inch of it! Today we discovered where to get some of the absolute best (and most expensive.. we realized after) chocolate I have ever had. I got these pistachio squares and little chocolate covered hazelnuts, I swear I went weak at the knees. Then he gave us a sample of the gelato. I'm drooling, I have to change the subject. So after that we went to a couple of really cool shops, one had a ton of mod dresses with funky patterns and all of it looked like it had been made with love.
I think one of the reasons why I love it so much here is because everything from the clothes to the buildings revolves around quality and detail. This revelation hit me yesterday when walking back from dinner around 10pm. We were passing the duomo, like we do everyday, but last night it looked so beautiful. Maybe it was the wine at dinner, who knows, but I literally stopped in front of it and just stared for a good 20 minutes. The detail on that building is incredible and the closer I got the more I saw. Its just amazing to think that people actually created something that beautiful with their hands.
Well, I must go, my chocolate awaits.
Ciao!