Just finished packing my bags to head home tomorrow! Looking forward to going home to see family and friends. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed with my dog! It has been a fantastic semester and I have made so many great memories. I am sad to leave my friends but I know I will hang out with them again in the States. I am looking forward to hot showers again! Because that is something scarce here in Italia! I am also looking forward to mom's cooking again. So long Florence! I will be back again someday for sure :)
Its the little things that make my adventure abroad so unique. These small things remind me that I am a world away from home. I am going to miss Florence so much. I love just being abroad and feeling free. I have loved my time over here. I am so glad that I had such great roommates. I am looking forward to reunions and we are going to have a traveling journal between the four of us! Here are the little things I look forward to each day in Firenze:
This past week I went to İstanbul, Turkey. I absoutely loved it and it is up there with Cinque Terre as my favorite trip! The city is just so different from anything I had ever seen before. I went with my roommate, Kelsey, and Emily, a girl from my school.
Day 1: Travel Day. We left Tuesday on a train from Florence to Rome. Then we flew from Rome to İstanbul. Got in to İstanbul that night and checked into our hostel (Sydney İstanbul Hostel). The hostel is pretty nice for only being 12 euros a night! Can't beat that! Oh, and it comes with a free traditional Turkish breakfast in the morning. And it gets better... the location is great! Right in the middle of the historic part of İstanbul. I would totally stay there again if I went back to İstanbul. We stayed in a coed dorm style room in the hostel because it was the cheapest. It was pretty interesting. Met a cute Irish guy who stayed in our room! We were picked up from the airport by our hostel. A guy with the taxi service had a "Rachel Farr" sign held up as we walked out! It was great! Listened to Turkish music as we entered İstanbul and saw the city by night.
Day 2: Touristy Day. We went to Topkapı Palace, Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia), Sultanahmet Camii (Blue Mosque), and the Basilica Cistern (Sunen Palace Cistern). The Palace was really neat with the different types of architecture and seeing the Harem (where all 1,000 of the wives lived). Also really enjoyed the Ayasofya Mosque. The Blue Mosque was neat to go to. You have to take off your shoes, wrap your hair in a scarf and I had to put a skirt on since I was wearing leggings. The Basilica Cistern was so cool!! It is an underground cistern. There are orange lights next to each pillar which makes it really neat to look at. We ended the day with a nice Turkish dinner (side note: they brought out bread for dinner and the bread came out breathing! It was moving up and down, it was nuts!) and some hookah!
Day 3: Shopping & Spa Day. Went to the Grand Bazaar (giant indoor shopping mall with 4,000+ stores). It was so cool. All the things they were selling were so different from the States. Bought a lantern, some pillow cases, Turkish delight, Apple tea & some other goodies! We were even invited into a guy's shop to have Turkish tea with him! It was so neat. After our long shopping day we went to have a traditional Turkish bath at Cemberlitas Hamami. We walked in and there are two sides, men and women's sides. We went to our side and were given a locker and a pair of panties! We stripped down and put on the pair of panties (yes, they were brand new, so don't worry!). Wrapped up in a towel and put on a pair of flip flops the spa gave us. Went to the bath room. Walked in and saw all these women just laying out on a hot stone. I've never seen so many topless women at one time! Lol. You eventually get use to it. We layed out on the stone, then one of the spa women washed us and massaged us which felt sooo good! Then we washed our hair and sat in the jacuzzi to relax. It was my favorite part of İstanbul!
Day 4: Cruise Day. Took a boat cruise up the Bosphorus River to see some of İstanbul's main attractions on the Eastern Europe side and part of the Asia side (İstanbul is half in Europe, half in Asia). We also got to take a tour of the Dolmabahce Palace which was so pretty. We had a Turkish lunch and sipped tea from a cafe on the Asia side of İstanbul. Headed to Takism Square for dinner!
Day 5-6: Mosque & Travel Day. Went to the Suleymaniye Mosque. It was similar to the other mosques. Then we went through the Egyptian Spice Market which was just crazy! It was so crowded and the shop keepers were trying to get you to buy their stuff. We also went to the New Mosque. Left İstanbul and flew back to Rome. Had to spend the night in the airport because our train back to Florence didn't leave til 6:30AM the next day!
Highlights:
"Rachel Farr" sign
The ride into İstanbul with Turkish music
Topakpı Palace
Ayasofya
Apple tea
Basilica Cistern
Breathing bread
Turkish food
Hookah
Grand Bazaar
Drinking tea in a shop in the Grand Bazaar
Grand Bazaar Restaurant
Appple tea & lemon cheesecake in the Bazaar at a tiny table
I can't believe I only have 12 days left in Florence. The semester flew by so fast! I will miss Florence and all the friends I have made. I came over here knowning no one and hardly any Italian. My roomies and I have all become so close. It will be hard to say goodbye. It is hard knowing that never in my life will I be able to have this same experience. I know that if I come back to Florence someday it will feel completely different. There are certain things I will miss once I fly home and so I have made a list of my favorite things. Hope you enjoy :)
Took a cruise from the port of Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia this past weekend for Easter Break. The cruise boat was a lot bigger than I had expected. It was 8 floors tall. EuroAdventures had a couple of airplane style seating rooms reserved for us on the boat. There was a restaurant that I had dinner at on the boat which was actually pretty good. Arrived to Split in the morning. Checked into our sketchy hotel. Had to cross two sets of train tracks & hop a fence to get to our hotel! Then my roomies (Kelsey & Nissa) and I headed to Bacvice Beach. It was about a 10 min walk from our hotel.
Split, Croatia
Spent all day on the beach which was so relaxing! The next day we took a boat cruise to the islands of Brac and Solta. It was about a 3 hr cruise to Brac then an hour or two over to Solta then about 3 hrs back to Split. It was a long trip! But so much fun. Went to the Golden Triangle Beach on Brac. Visited the town of Bol on Brac Island. Stopped at Solta but there wasn't much to see in the tiny town.
On Easter I went white water rafting in Omis which is about an hour drive from Split. There were 8 people in each raft with a guide. The water was teal! It was so pretty. It looked like a fairy tale. There were beautiful waterfalls and greenery surrounding. Whenever the river narrowed and there wasn't enough space to use the paddles, our guide would yell BOMBA! Which meant get in the middle of the boat and duck down! We had a couple of "bomba" moments on the trip which was a lot of fun. I also got the chance to cliff jump off a 20 ft cliff which was a blast! Overall a great experience!! Took the cruise boat back to Italy overnight. Had a great time in Split and would love to go back someday to Brac Island and spend more time in Bol.
I am lucky that I have places like Florence for Fun and EuroAdventures that plan trips around Europe specifically for study abroad students. I have gone on several trips with Florence for Fun and just one with EuroAdventures. I hope to take 2 more trips with EuroAdventures later this month and next.
Florence for Fun trips:
Interlaken, Switzerland: Skiing in the Swiss Alps was probably one of the coolest/scariest things I have done in my life. I was so glad I went and it was probably one of the best things I did on my time in Europe. Highly recommend going even if you have never skiied. They offer other activities such as sledding, hang-gliding, ice skating & sky-diving.
Milan, Italy: Fashion week in Milan was very neat. I got to see a fashion show and got to see models walking around the city. The duomo there is very beautiful and I would love to go back someday!
Venice, Italy: I had been to Venice once before with my family but not for Carnevale. Carnevale is a huge festival thrown the week before Fat Tuesday. It was so much fun to see all the costumes and masks. A great experience!
Florence Soccer Game: Went to the Firenze vs Milano soccer or "futball" game. Had great seats and it was a neat experience. They know how to get into a game!
EuroAdventures trips:
Prague, Czech Republic: You would never think of going to Prague but it is actually a really neat city. It was hardly crowded when we were there and everything is dirt cheap with the exchange rate. Loved the John Lennon Wall and the Dancing House.
Split, Croatia: Heading here this weekend for Easter break! I am taking a cruise boat from Italy to Croatia overnight. We are staying on the coastal town of Split. Hope to work on my tan and possibly go white water rafting!
Amalfi Coast, Italy: This will be my last trip! :( This trip is going to Capri, Sorrento, Positano, and Pompei. I am looking forward to going to the Blue Grotto and cliff jumping!
Usually I dred Mondays because they are my longest. I have class from 9:15am to 7pm with only a 15 min & 30 min break in between the three classes. Well today started off great. My first class which is photography, took a class trip to Rignano Sull'Arno, which is about a 30 min train ride from Florence. We left at 9am and were there til 12pm. Rignano is a very small town. You can walk the entire town in about 30 min.
We spent about 2 hours walking around by ourselves taking pictures. It was so peaceful out. The Arno River runs right through the middle of the town. I loved just going around taking pictures in such nice weather in the middle of Tuscany! Taking pictures is one of my favorite things to do and it was just so beautiful out! I stopped at a little bakery in Rignano and bought a chocolate brownie. I asked the store clerk if I could take her picture because we have to have 10 portraits of Italians for an assignment. She was more than happy to have her picture taken. I loved Rignano because it was so quiet and a pretty Tuscan town!
In Italian class today we learned new prepositions. Our Italian teacher then asked us if we had made any Italian friends. We went around the room and spoke in Italian about our new friends. I talked about the friends I have made while studying abroad. It was fun just going around the room and talking. Our class got out a few minutes early which was nice.
After Italian was painting. Our class went up to Michelangelo's platform and went back into the woods behind the platform and the church. It was so nice out. The woods opens up to the Tuscan hillside. We brought our canvases, paint, stools & easels with us. We set up our easels around the woods and began to paint. I set up my easel with a perfect view of the hillside in front of me. I painted the hillside in shades of green and blue. It was so fun to just sit in the middle of the hillside painting and hearing the birds sing. After painting class my friend and I stopped to get some gelato :) I got fruti di basco and stratecella gelato. It was molto bene! Came home to the apartment and my roomies and I made calzones for dinner. They were very good! We had some tiramisu for dessert! Never underestimate your Mondays!
