Chianti region and Pisa!

Katie, Michelle and I in Pisa! The tower is much smaller than I thought in real life! It is so crazy...it leans SO much and I think it has always been like that. The city of Pisa itself is not that special...we got on a train at 10:30 and got there an hour later and left at about 2:00. thats all the time we needed though. I was so glad we went!
gotta take one of these pictures!
Everyone pays attention to the tower but the Cathedral and the Baptistery are really beautiful> We didn't go inside, but there is a beautiful pulpit in the Baptistery designed by Pisano. He is the same sculptor who designed the one in the Cathedral in Siena.
Last Friday, we did a bike tour of the Chianti region! It was SOOO beautiful! This picture is at the 12th century castle where we got a tour of the wine cellars and got to see how they bottle and wines, how they store them in the barrels, and how they also produce their award-winning olive oil. I bought some! I am so excited to try it when i get home. Actually we did get to try it during a little wine tasting we had of the wine and olive oil at the Castle. This day was complete with a tour of this castle, a 13 mile bike ride, lunch at a little restaurant in the Chianti region and amazing views. It was the PERFECT way to do Chianti!
The tower you see in the distance was the castle we got to tour. There is still a couple who lives there who are descendents from the original people who lived there in the 12th century. pretty cool!
beautiful Chianti
the five of us who went. four of us go to USC and one goes to Syracuse. SO fun!
On our way up to the top of a tower in the castle, we got to see these barrels which store their Vin Santo, which is a dessert wine. It is only produced in this region, and it is stored for a couple years (i think) in these barrels.
view from the castle
our little wine and olive oil tasting :)

5 cities in 2 days. you can do that in Italy :)

Urbino: cute little street in one of my favorite little towns in Italy so far.
walking in Urbino
We were able to climb up to a fortress to see a view of Urbino...we tried to time it right with the cartwheels...didn't quite work out. ha but it was fun!
Mackensey, Kelly and I in Urbino.
It snowed in Arezzo!
Arezzo
our view from our hotel room in Urbino!
snowing in Arezzo!
Aaron and I in Arrezo
Kelly, Mackensey and I in Arezzo about to go into the church of San Francesco with GORGEOUS frescoes by Piero della Francesca. This trip to 5 Italian towns--Arezzo, Monterchi, San Sepulcro, Urbino, and Rimini was essentially a tour of works by Piero della Francesca. He has a chapel in this church in Arezzo, the Madonna del Parto in Monterchi (which is a fresco that expectant mothers visit and pray for their child--beautiful fresco), and one of his later works in a church in Rimini, which is actually called a temple now and was bombed in WWII accidentally by the U.S. (but was restored soon after). Basically the trip was AMAZING!!!

I just realized that I probably have not written about this art history class that I am taking! it is called Masterpieces of Art and basically it is set up so well and is my favorite class. Every monday we have a lecture in the classroom where we look at slides and listen to our professor who is edcated at Harvard and was offered plenty of teaching positions all over the US but turned them all doen to teach at Syracuse University in Florence (basically this guy is huge--all the art history students at Syracuse have either read stuff from him or from this other professor that some of my friends have--my professor and this other guy are HUGE in their field and it is so cool to have him as a teacher--brilliant guy) anyways.... then on tuesdays I have a "site visit" where the TA's lecture -- these TAs are incredible and are so fun and young named Kellin and Sarah -- our site visits have included Santa Croce, Piazza S.S. Annunciata, San Marco, Il Museo del Opera del Duomo--basically ALL of the MOST important areas of artwork in Florence. And we get free admission to all the museums we go to on these site visits! It is so cool because I really feel that I am getting such a great feel for the city and the significance of the city in the Renaissance....I am seriously in the heart of it and I am appreciating every moment of it. Also our "homework assignment" every week is a "looking assignment" where we are assigned to visit some place in the city to write about it--Example this week I went to the Boticelli room at the Uffizi!! others: Giotto pieces in the Uffizi, Santo Spirito, Chapels within Santa Croce, Santa Trinita...seriously so many places! I am learning SO much and would never have taken a class like this had I not come to Florence! Now I actualy am also understanding the true significance of this city in pre-Renaissance and Renaissance art....i love it!
anyway...i could talk about it a lot more...but i will spare you! Nonna is making dinner now and it smells sooooo yummy!!! :)

crepes, some great art, falaffel, dutch pancakes, canals...

So many AMAZING things about this spring break! I could go on and on and on....but i will hit the highlights to accompany some of these pictures! :)
First was Paris...
We went to the Louvre twice! Especially because I am taking an art history class here, I have a huge appreciation for the pre-Renaissance and Renaissance art. So cool! Mona is kinda cool, too :)
Also Musee D'orsay (spelling??) which has a huge collection of very famous pieces from Van Gogh and lots of Impressionist pieces, statues...
We spent a lot of time in the Moray (??) district which is the Jewish quarter--the best restaurants and shops. I atae my first falaffel sandwich! It was soo yummy! it was apparently from the most famous falaffel in the world! we also went to some fun restaurants there..one with an Asian flair which was very interesting. We also of course went to the Champs-Elysee and Arc de Triumph, and on one of the nights we grabbed food to go and ate it under the Eiffel Tower! We got there in perfect timing because it lights up every hour on the hour for about 5 minutes...so beautiful! Also, even though I have been eating ALL Italian food, which is HEAVEN, it was pretty nice to have a huge stack of chocolate chip pancakes. We went to this place on the Rue di Rivoli called "An American Breakfast" which had chocolate chip pancakes, fried eggs, and watered down, good ol' American coffee (with free refills which is such an American thing)! it tasted so good! We also had time to walk around Montmarte area and Sacre Coure, and also through Ile San Louis which is a cute little island behind the little island Notre Dame is on. Oh and duh--Notre Dame as well! We ended up wakling by there quite a bit and got to go inside. Also we definitely all had our share of crepes with Nutella! :) it wouldn't be Paris without it! And my FAVORITE afternoon of all Paris afternoons was when I got to do a little picnic in the park with ALEXINE!!! She didn't have class till late on Tuesday so she met me in the city and we got wine, a baguette, and cheese, and sat in a park looking at Notre Dame! We went to this fabulous cheese shop where we found heart-shaped chevre cheese (which is just aged goat cheese) and also a sliver of brie--we had to get brie in France! It was so fun to catch up with her and chat, like we would if we saw each other every day...it was so nice :) It is so amazing to see such an amazing, close, and old friend in Europe! really a cool experience..i feel so fortunate to be able to do that. Miss you already love!! but i think she is coming to visit me over Easter weekend so i cannot WAIT for that!!!
speaking of other great friends...i stayed with ALLISON Long in AMSTERDAM! Note to all of you reading this...Allison should be recognized for her incredibely generous and accommodating hostess ability. During your stay, you will be pampered by Allison's mad skills in the kitchen, wine-bottle opening skills, picture-taking abilities, and itinerary-planning that should be published! (forget Rick Steves--all you need to see Amsterdam in 4 days is Allison Long! there is a future there...) When I got there on Wednesday, she had this entire list of things to do while we were together! And amizingly, we got almost all of them done! While Allison was in class Thursday, I went to the Anne Frank house, Van Gogh Museum, and just wandered around the cuty enjoying the beautiful canals and buildings. The first night we went to a T-Pain concert--yes TPAIN--ha soo fun! We also got to go to two different open-air markets which are some of my favorite things to do in cities--that is where we had the amazing Stroopwaffel and wonderful dried fruit and pesto cheese. Yes. Then we also on Friday, had the whole day open and went to the Reiks Museum, got French fries from a store that ONLY sells fries to go on Dam Street (I forget the Dutch?) ha Then on Saturday--after missing one train, and getting two more, then missing a bus, then getting the right one, then walking a bit--we arrived at the former palace of the royal family in another part of the Netherlands! it was so beautiful...and also very fun to see another part of the country. the countryside is so beautiful...and the people are so nice!
SO...I hope you can see that spring break was packed full of fun, cultural, and relaxing moments--filled with new friends and old friends (Alexine and Allison :) ... and it could not have been more perfect!

Amsterdam with Allison!!!

The Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. This was incredible to see. I only had to wait about 10 minutes in the line, while I had heard to prepare to wait for hours. So I got very lucky! It was very moving the way it was set up...some quotes from her diary were on the walls...she had incredible insight for a girl of 14 years old. It was amazing to actually go through the bookcase that she went through to go up to the "annex". It was a very memorable experience especially after reading her diary years ago.
i thought this building was awesome! just one of many on a main street....
love the shutters on this one...there are several buildings like this. I really felt as I walked around the city that is was so beautiful it almost didn't feel real. I loved it that way though! Such a beuatiful and colorful city.
Allison and I near Dam square...the main square in the city. So fun! :)
A beautiful canal. I loved the canals because I never saw a modern boat--they all looked so antique. And they made the city feel so fresh and open--and I miss the water so it was nice to be near that, too! :)
Loved the architecture on these buildings--especially the red one!
If you look closely...I am in the "M"!
Allison and me on near a canal! The canals are SO beautiful in this city. I really felt like everything was not real, it was so beautiful and colorful. I LOVED this city! And Allison was the MOST amazing hostess! We cooked dinner two out of the four nights and went to an AMAZING Thai food place and another pub with really good hamburgers and fries. Oh my gosh...another amazing dessert--the Stroopwaffel--basically it is two very thin waffles with a thin layer of caramel in the middle...amazing! We got one at an open air market called "Dappermark" which also had the best dried fruit I have ever had. At that same market, we also bought some pesto cheese--the guy explained to us that it was a type of cheese that was mixed with pesto sauce and stored for 6 months before being sold. We had it for lunch on sandwiches the next day! We actually went to two open air markets which were SO beautiful and fun to stroll around in.
Beautiful buildings....I loved how they were all so different and colorful

even more!!!

more....

One of my favorite memories of Spring break... :) Alexine and I got to have a little picnic in a park directly across from Notre Dame! We found heart shaped "chevre" cheese (which is aged goat cheese...my FAV) and a little sliver of brie, a baguette, and a bottle of lovely wine! We got to catch up and hang out...it was SO AMAZING to see her! A perfect afternoon!
The Britannique!
on Monday night, my friends and I got dinner and sat under the Eiffel Tower. Every hour on the hour it sparkles for about 5 minutes so I caught that moment! :) Laura and I missed Italian food so much, we actually got pizza and ate it under the Eiffel Tower! so yummy....
This wall is by Montmarte in Paris. It says "I love you" in every language. It is soo beautiful. It reminds us that the world is so small...LOVE :)
A view on the way up to Montmarte....so beautiful!

more paris....

I thought this statue was AWESOME. On my life list: go to Easter Island and see these huge faces in real life! Can you see the resemblance? ha
I thought this was so cute and they were all over the city... "Marley and Moi" :)
Laura and me in the most famous bookstore in Paris...It is the Shakespeare bookshop. A lot of famous writers frequented this place...it was cute :)
umm...thats the Eiffel Tower! :)
Beautiful picture from the Louvre courtyard!