the last days... :(

Nonna and Nonno go on a walk every day at about 6:00 together with our dog, Bianca. I have often run into them as I am leaving for a run but always without my camera. So as they left a couple days ago, I snuck a picture of them outside of our window. They are just too cute! Nonna's 86th birthday is today! 86th!!! She is so adoreable and she didn't actually tell us it was her birthday...she told us last week that it would be a suprise because there would be a "festa" or a party. In turns out that tonight, there was a party at the school for host families (which the pictures below are from) and so we couldn't have the dinner, but we will have one tomorrow night. Aren't they the most adoreable couple? They always hold hands when they walk...nonno walks Bianca every morning at about 10:00 to get a newspaper and they walk together at this time, and Nonna takes out Bianca at about midnight every night--like clockwork. They are so cute. My roommate and I spent about an hour the other night talking about how wonderful Nonna is...she truly is an angel and does so much for other people. She takes care of Nonno and all her family--she is such a rock. Maria Pia Brini is an angel :)
This is a picture of us at the little party at school tonight. Nonna is next to me and that is actually John Carlo, who is Nonno's cousin. He comes over often to have dinner. He is funny becuase he speaks some English but not very well. He says things like... " nonno is my sister", when he means to say "brother". its funny...he just started an English class this week so he will be taking English twice a week. But he just loves Nonna--he really recognizes how much she does for Nonno and for her family. I just love this picture...and Nonna makes everyone look so big! ha she is probably 4 feet 10 ish...if that. But she is a little ball of energy!
Nonna and me! She got all dressed up today becuase it was her birthday. Doesn't she look pretty? :) A bunch of my friends met her today and everyone LOVED her and just told me how AMAZING she is. It is really hard not to fall in love with her the second you meet her--she is just so gentle and she has been hosting students for about 15 or so years. All my friends who met her tonight could not get over how cute she was....she was the life of the party! :)

I got tickets to the soccer game on Saturday against Rome! It is going to be a HUGE game so I am so excited! A bunch of my friends are going so it should be really fun. Tomorrow is my last day at the Enoteca :( I am going to take my camera so I can show you all who I have been working with the past semester. It has been such an amazing experience and I am so sad it is almost over.
I cannot believe I am almost done studying abroad--you know it is coming when you see your last day in the 10 day forecast of the weather :( sad, but true. I seriously can't believe it and I do not want to leave. I have been having the best semester of my life and everything about it has been a dream. I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful and unique experience.

Enoteca Bonatti

So I want to give you a link to the website for my Enoteca...

http://www.enotecabonatti.it/home_page.htm

I keep forgetting to bring my camera to the Enoteca so this will give you a little picture of it! Even though it is in Italian, you can search for pictures and stuff. I cannot believe that Thursday is my last day working there...I don't even want to think about it! I have had the most amazing time working there...it truly is a dream to work there. Truly...working in a wine shop in Italy is a memory that I feel so fortunate to have...and I will take my kids there one day! On May 7, the day before I leave for the U.S. I am going to get to take my parents to a wine tasting! I am so excited.
Just as a little recap--wines we have had at the wine tastings are wines from Montalcino (Vino Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino), a white and a red from Abruzzo (the white was called Pecorino--like the cheese! ha), 2 reds from Lombardia, two from Bordeaux, France (the Enoteca also sells French wines), and this week we are having wine from Borgogna, France. Every wine tasting, they always want to make sure I have tasted all the wines and the cheese, meat, or whatever type of food that it pairs best with. It is so amazing! Cheers! :)

Easter, Lucca, and Cinque Terre

Katie and I in Vernazza (Cinque Terre) where we had dinner.
Via dell'Amore. This hike, "The street of Love" links all the little towns together...we walked to three of the five towns. It was so beautiful and so fun to be near the water.
Riomaggiore
Vernazza--mom and dad...remember this?? Our restaurant where we had dinner was right where those umbrellas are behind me! We almost ate there, but instead ate right on the water at a little pizzaria.
Monterosso--I found the street where our hotel was when we stayed there 4 years ago! So cute!
Monterosso
yummy pizza in monterosso :)
Lucca
Piazza Amphiteatro in Lucca
Lucca
so Italy :)
Lucca
Lucca
This is at the little place that Alexine and I found in our weekend in Florence. We went there ever day--4 times! Each time, we got a glass of wine and a sandwich--schiacciata bread, stacchino cheese, balsamic vinegar, sundried tomatoes, and argula...so yummy!!! The guy in there is so nice and he remembered us each time. Such a fun memory....
Lucca
Alexine and I at the top of Fiesole
Fiesole on Easter Monday :)
Scopiero del Caro--SO many fireworks! I couldn't believe that they did this so close to the Duomo! It was so fun to be there...we got there at 9:30 and it didn't start until a little after 11...but there were so many people there we were glad we got there early. The display went on for about 30 minutes....so crazy!
Alexine and I on our last day! :)
The adoreable little wine shop we found across from Ponte Vecchio! We just sat and had a glass of Vernaccia wine from San Gimignano. It is so fun because this shop had all Tuscan wines...and becasue of my internship, I know about a bunch of them! I knew that the Vernaccia would be good...its a dry wine, not fruity--just perfect for an afternoon glass :) But I just am drawn to places lik this because I know I will know about most of the wines!

Lucca and Cinque Terre!!!

This weekend I went to Lucca and to Cinque Terre! Two of the most beautiful cities! Pictures to come tomorrow....Even though I had been to both of these places before, it really didn't matter. I went to all 5 of the towns in Cinque Terre and hiked to a couple of them on the "Villa d'Amore" (Walk of Love :) and then took the train to a few...it was so nice to be near the water...I miss it so much!
....and also last weekend I stayed in Florence when Alexine visited! One of the best weekends of the semester! It was so fun because I actually got to be a tourist in Florence...something I haven't really done since the first weekend. We discovered two amazing places...one is right by Dante's house and next to the church where Dante's wife is buried. We got these amazing schiaccata sandwiches with this cheese called stacchino, drizzeled with balsamic vinegar, some argula and sun dried tomatoes, and a class of the house wine and some pecorino cheese--all for like 5 Euro! Such a fun little find! We hiked up to Fiesole and found a little market there which was so fun...sampled some honey from local areas which was so fun. We went to my favoriet restaurant so far called Coquinarious--I am taking my parents there when they come! It is soo yummy (i went last night again with a friend who is in town!).
pictures to comeee!!! Love and miss you!!

dinner tonight!!!

ok so i have to work on a little presentation...but before i do that and before i tell you ALL about Easter weekend in Florence with ALEXINE (which was amazing!!!) I have to tell you about dinner tonight....so we had a very long dinner tonight and it was just so fun..nonna showed us pictures from her wedding in 1949! she was (and is) such a beautiful little woman :) she showed us three pictures...one duringhte ceremony and two outside of the church. she got married in a church near the Piazza del Duomo, right in the center of Florence. she was 25 years old when she and nonno were married. and on May 4 they will have been married for 60 years! it was just so cute the way she was describing it...she is so happy. and she totally came out of her little shell tonight ... we were talking about the differnet churches in Florence, their different styles..she has these books which are essentially like the Encyclopedia about all of Florence art. and we couldn't remember the style of one of the churches, so she whipped one of those out and started reading out of the book. i really wanted to take a picture...she is so little, she has a little bit of a hard time leaning over the table to read the book that is way too big for her, and she had on these cute little reading glasses on, and she was mumbling to herself in Italian--she was determined to find out what style Santa Maria Novella was built in! She is jsut so cute and sharp as a tack....later she also told us that she is 85 and her birthday is coming up... "fra poco"...but she did not tell us when it is! she said it would be a surprise and there will be a "festa"! she is so cute...
anyway...dinner tonight was just so fun and memorable and i could have talked with her for hours. i cannot believe i am leaving so soon...i dont want to think about it. i am gonna miss nonna!!!! ( and her cooking ... :)

Earthquake

At this point I know most have you have heard about the earthquake in central Italy, in a town called L'Aquila. Florence is ok...we are all ok. We thank God for that. A couple of my friends woke up in the middle of the night to a little bit of shaking, but nothing huge.But as of now, about 100 people have lost their lives. This is so sad that this devastation occurred to a place so close to where we are.
I just wanted to let you all know that we are all safe, but are praying for the people who lost their lives early this morning.
I love you all so much and I am so thankful for each and every one of you :)

Running, Orvieto, and Todi

this is one of the many gorgeous villas that i often pass by on my runs. real Italian villas! ha
This is the beginning of the road that I often take when I run...isn't it beautiful? I seriously cannot believe the scenery every time I go on a run. I always take new paths so it is never the same route. I found a church the other day! It was fun....today was fun because I took these pictures while I walked my usual running route. It was fun because I got to spend even more time looking around....and today is Palm Sunday. so I noticed a lot of families in cars together, coming home from church...I loved it.
This is when I was approaching the little town of San Domenico. I pass through this town every time I run. Toward the end of the town, there are two roads up to Fiesole, which is the small Etruscan town above Florence. It is so beautiful up there. All that is in this town is a little cafe/bar, Edicola (which is a newspaper stand), a church, and there is also a road that leads to the European University.
More of the roads I run on...
That little stop light is for that little, itty bitty road to the left. Only one car's width can go through at a time...it is so fun. The walls are lined with vines and moss and there are a couple doors to a couple of homes.
The view of the town of Todi that we went to on Saturday. We went to Todi to see specifically the centralized church that is there, supposedly designed by Leonardo da Vinci, but they are not sure. Other than that, this town was just really cute.
Todi
The centralized church in Todi. It was very rare to have a centralized church like this, because normally it was a Pagan shape of building. It was beautiful inside also, mainly because of the placement of the windows so high up on the building.
The AMAZING cathedral in Orvieto. I have never seen anything like it. It is one of the best examples of GOthic architecture, only second to Chartes Cathedral in France. the mosaics on the fiscade were not placed there until later (i think the 18th century) but the rest of it was built in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Katie and I in Orvieto.
Little street in Orvieto with a cute old man who had just walked out of his door with his cane. perfect.
This well is in Orvieto...I believe it was built for a Pope. It is soo deep!