Ciao amici,
Today my dad and I took a day trip to Siena, a beautiful city in Tuscany. We caught a train and enjoyed a lovely and relxing ride through the country-side, then bussed it up the hills to reach Siena's center. Siena's main piazza, il campo, is super cool because it is shaped like a clam shell and is humungous! They hold a horse race twice a year there called the Pailo, where all of the neighborhoods of Siena (the contrade) race for three laps around the campo. My dad and I walked through maybe 5 or 6 of the 17 neighborhoods, which all have their own flags and museums. We also went to the duomo, which has really cool marble floors that have all sorts of religious images etched in them. We had a lunch at a kind of shady cafe, but afterwards we walked forever and went to the church of San Domenico and saw St. Catherine of Siena's head and finger. We also walked around an old Spanish fortress before heading back to Florence. It was a beautiful day for a mini-trip and I was happy to show my dad another of Italy's great cities.
A presto,
Kate
Perugia
sabato 28 agosto 2010
giovedì 26 agosto 2010
A Firenze
Ciao a tutti!
I arrived in Florence Tuesday morning and my dad and I got to my apartment no problem from the airport. Let me just say, thank you to everyone at UNC who has kept this apartment in the family! I don't think I am ever going to want to leave it. I will post pictures of it soon. Let me just say the apartment is twice the size of my ghetto Chapel Hill one, a billion times nicer, and I have my own garden, with a grape vine and a tree that may grow fruit. The only downside is the mosquitos here are bad, but I can totally deal with that.
The first day here my dad and I pretty much slept the entire day because we really didn't sleep on our flight. My landlord came by to introduce himself, and he is such a nice gentleman, pretty much the complete opposite of Ted, my shady landlord last year. Day two was my first meeting at Lorenzo de'Medici, so I mainly just hung out around the school until it started, seeing as my dad and I didn't wake up until almost noon. The teachers and staff I met were very nice, and I look forward to meeting more people and getting my school life situated. Classes don't start until the 6th of September, but I have to work on my dreaded "permesso di soggiorno" this week, which requires me to register with the Italian police, so that should be fun. Today my dad and I managed to set up internet, order a cell phone, take a 2 hour sight-seeing trip, and eat the most humungous dinner at Trattoria Anita (that was for you Marina, great suggestion!). Got to skype my family for the first time today, and will hopefully skype more people soon.
Will update when more exciting things happen in my life. A presto,
Kate
I arrived in Florence Tuesday morning and my dad and I got to my apartment no problem from the airport. Let me just say, thank you to everyone at UNC who has kept this apartment in the family! I don't think I am ever going to want to leave it. I will post pictures of it soon. Let me just say the apartment is twice the size of my ghetto Chapel Hill one, a billion times nicer, and I have my own garden, with a grape vine and a tree that may grow fruit. The only downside is the mosquitos here are bad, but I can totally deal with that.
The first day here my dad and I pretty much slept the entire day because we really didn't sleep on our flight. My landlord came by to introduce himself, and he is such a nice gentleman, pretty much the complete opposite of Ted, my shady landlord last year. Day two was my first meeting at Lorenzo de'Medici, so I mainly just hung out around the school until it started, seeing as my dad and I didn't wake up until almost noon. The teachers and staff I met were very nice, and I look forward to meeting more people and getting my school life situated. Classes don't start until the 6th of September, but I have to work on my dreaded "permesso di soggiorno" this week, which requires me to register with the Italian police, so that should be fun. Today my dad and I managed to set up internet, order a cell phone, take a 2 hour sight-seeing trip, and eat the most humungous dinner at Trattoria Anita (that was for you Marina, great suggestion!). Got to skype my family for the first time today, and will hopefully skype more people soon.
Will update when more exciting things happen in my life. A presto,
Kate
lunedì 16 agosto 2010
Packing for a year is impossible!
Ciao amici!
So here I sit, attempting to pack for a year of living in Italy. How am I supposed to bring everything I need for a year in two suitcases, I ask you? I'm already having trouble trying to whittle down the amount of clothes I am packing and I've only gone through my t-shirts! I know some wise person once said to pack everything, then remove half of that, but my clothes hold so many fond memories for me. Guess that's what I get for being a bit of a fashionista.
Anyhow, as part of the procrastination process while packing, I have decided to create a blog to chronicle this next school year I will be in Italy. I do this so that I can keep in touch with all of my friends and not leave anyone out of the juicy details of my life. So if you are interested in following my first year living totally alone, nonetheless in a foreign country, and you wish to know how I will cope without having a nervous breakdown, keep reading. I arrive in Florence the 24th of August and will try to update regularly from then on.
If you have any suggestions for how to best pack, or if you want to give me your address so that I can send you a postcard, just post a comment to this post. I'm back to trying to at least fill one suitcase tonight!
A presto,
So here I sit, attempting to pack for a year of living in Italy. How am I supposed to bring everything I need for a year in two suitcases, I ask you? I'm already having trouble trying to whittle down the amount of clothes I am packing and I've only gone through my t-shirts! I know some wise person once said to pack everything, then remove half of that, but my clothes hold so many fond memories for me. Guess that's what I get for being a bit of a fashionista.
Anyhow, as part of the procrastination process while packing, I have decided to create a blog to chronicle this next school year I will be in Italy. I do this so that I can keep in touch with all of my friends and not leave anyone out of the juicy details of my life. So if you are interested in following my first year living totally alone, nonetheless in a foreign country, and you wish to know how I will cope without having a nervous breakdown, keep reading. I arrive in Florence the 24th of August and will try to update regularly from then on.
If you have any suggestions for how to best pack, or if you want to give me your address so that I can send you a postcard, just post a comment to this post. I'm back to trying to at least fill one suitcase tonight!
A presto,
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