SPRING BREAK

I forgot to mention yesterday that I made my plans for spring break last week. I'll be going to Cork, Ireland from March 6-10 with my friend Meg. She has some friends from school that are studying abroad there so we'll have a place to stay and people to take us around. I was thinking that maybe it wasn't such a happening place but I looked it up and it actually seems like a cool place. I think it's a pretty big college town with a bunch of fun bars and clubs...should be fun!

From Cork I'll be flying solo to Barcelona and staying there from March 11-14 with Maxie. CAN'T EFFING WAIT. Seriously though, I can't. I'm going to stay with her in her apartment and we're going to have the best time ever AND she said there is a good burrito place she goes to...thank god! Soooo excited, just got to get through midterms the first week of March and I'm set. 

Oh ya, and like I said yesterday, tonight is the big Fiorentina vs. Ajax soccer game. Yes we got purple eyeliner to write on our faces, yes we got purple hair spray (not so sure about it though) and yes i'm still looking for some purple glitter. We're going all out and it's going to be sooo insane. Supposedly there was an article in the paper today about how it could get violent...great haha. I'll post pictures ASAP.

xoxo

Visuals III

Alright, so this just took me a year to do. The internet has been HORRIBLE here the past week and a half which is why I haven't updated in so long. In fact, I just did this whole thing, went to post it and it wouldn't load...lost connection. I really almost cried.

Annyyywayyyy, things have been so great here. I'm still really enjoying myself and even more so now that I'm becoming more familiar with the city. On the home front, my host mama is still the cutest little thing in the world minus her love for the devil cat. This past Sunday, Sarah and I were eating dinner in the kitchen and she comes in and shows us her finger nails. Then proceeds to explain that while cleaning our room she came across my nail polish on my side table and decided to use it. Just for a good mental picture, my nail polish is such a dark navy blue that it looks black. So now my mama, 60-something years old, has navy blue nails like Sarah and I. Adorable.

In the past few weeks I've gone on day trips to Assisi and Ravenna, both were amazing. Sadly, in the St.Francis of Assisi Church they don't let you take pictures. Infact, the monks that work inside will throw out your entire group if they catch someone trying to snap one, serious business. Other than the church, Assisi was very mellow and very cold. The them of the day was "Assisi e' chiuso" which means "Assisi was closed" cause literally 75% of the town was closed and it wasn't even a Sunday. Ravenna was just gorgeous, a really cool place. The mosaics there were absolutely unbelievable. I had seen all of them in textbooks before but in person the color/technique is just awesome on a whole other level. I was really just so speechless and taking a million pictures of the same thing a million times haha. With both Assisi and Ravenna, going to all the churches, I really began to understand how one would have been a believer back then. Even for me, the images were just so powerful and awe inspiring. Don't worry though, I still retain my cynicism.

This Thursday, tomorrow, a bunch of us are going to a real Fiorentina soccer game. They're playing Ajax which I guess is Amsterdam's team. It's going to be sooooo nuts, I can't wait. Then this Friday I'm off to Arezzo, Monterchi, and San Sepulchro for the day with my 15th Century Art class. And then Sunday I'm taking a day trip with Sarah and Marah to Viareggio where they have their own little festival for Carnivale. Supposedly they work on their floats all year for each upcoming Carnivale so it should be pretty intense. I'll be sure to take a bunch of photos. Speaking of which, here are a bunch below from the trips I took to Assisi and Ravenna.

Assisi:

St.Francis of Assisi Church


















This guy is outside of the Church on the grass. He's having a hard day haha.














A little cheese shop that was actually open in Assisi...so much Pecorino...














Ravenna:

I could kick myself for not remembering the name of this church, it's right oustide Ravenna and textbook staple...














Outside of San Vitale...


















Inside ceiling of San Vitale...














Apse mosaic, it was unbelievable.














More from apse...


















Even more from apse...














And even more from apse...haha, it was just so amazing.


















Outside of Galla Placidia...














Self explanatory...














Inside of Galla Placidia...this looked so modern to me and the colors were gorgeous.














Another from the inside, we couldn't use flash so it's kinda shitty quality but cool none the less.


















Snapped this running to the bus, no clue what it is but I thought the feet hanging over were great.


















Marah with what looks like condoms shaking hands. Va bene, allora.














The pictures above don't do the any of the mosaics justice but I thought I would share anyway. Miss you all, send burritos please.

Visuals II

so i spent the weekend in Rome and it was great. the weather was beautiful and for the first time since i've been in Italy i wasn't freezing. i got there friday morning and spent the day at the vatican. we went into the museum and st.peter's basilica and even though i'd already been, i think it had even more of an effect on me. just so ridiculous, so beautiful and decadent. that night we went out to a really fun dinner at some random restaurant. the food was soooo yummy, really legit italian. they gave us limoncello on the house (shit is strong) and then we went out to some bar called the drunken ship which was super fun. the next morning, saturday, we went to the colosseum and the pantheon which was also pretty great for the second time. then we all decided to stay an extra night so we booked a hotel and did it. we went out that night and then woke up sunday morning to take a train back to Florence...some pictures:

the Laocoon was beautiful.

detail of the foot...seriously?

Belvedere torso. not gonna lie, i got choked up. it was just too insane seeing it in person.

my friend Annie taking a picture in a hall with a bunch of random sculptures.

i love this. it looks like these guys are just having a casual convo about something in the paper.

a detail of the above...

school of athens, no biggie.

st.peter's basilica. it's so huge, look at how tiny the people are in the background.

outside st.peter's basilica.

the outside of the colosseum...

inside of the colosseum...

annie and i inside the colosseum...

coffee granita with fresh whipped cream, kinda dorky but i'm thrilled.

outside the pantheon...

this was in a church, forgot the name, but i thought it was so beautiful the way she's holding her head.

this one's for all you santa cruz beezies...

sarah being silly, annie and alex before going out saturday night...

me and sarah a couple drinks later that night...


very fun weekend. having an effing blast. miss you all.