Audrey Hepburn would be proud!

Ciao!!!

Ok, I have to apologize for a few things right off the bat. First of all, I am sorry it has taken me so long to write on my bog. It was finals week this week and as much as I tried to procrastinate (and succeeded in some cases) I just never got enough time to sit and write a good blog post!

I also must apologize because I have been promising to tell you all about Lake Guarda, Venice and Verona and I am afraid I won't be able to. Why? Well, I don’t exactly know, except that every time I sit down to and start writing about it I get annoyed and stop. The trip was great, don't get me wrong, and to be honest I have no idea why writing about it is so impossible but I guess, since it is, I'll just have to tell you about it in person when I get back! So be sure to ask about it if you’re interested! They were all three beautiful places, and Venice is probably one of my favorite cities so far. I have pictures up on the new slide show so you'll get to see them and I'll write some captions here in a minute!

Ok- So about this week. Actually it was a pretty funny week despite the stress and annoying exams! I'll just go through the week and if I remember a funny story I'll write it out! Deal!? Deal!

Monday: On Monday my Art History class (did I ever tell you I was taking Art History? No? Well I am!) went to the Palazzo Vecchio which is a really old palace built in the 13th century. During the 15th century it was renovated, so to speak, by an artist named Vassari (that's his last name). Vassari created several major masterpieces for the ceiling of the Palazzo, along with tons of minor paintings and frescos all over the place. Of course we went to take a tour, however, this was no ordinary tour. Oh no...on this tour we were going to be walking and talking with Vassari HIMSELF....how can this be you ask?? Well, basically a 20 something Italian man is paid to dress up like Vassari, know everything about him and the time period he lives in and gives us "his" thoughts on all of the paintings and frescoes we see as if it was the 1500's and he was Vassari. At first I thought this was a pretty great idea, but soon after we began things just got awkward. First of all, our dear sweet sweet tour guide, Alberto....I mean, Vassari, didn't speak English very well. He got several words mixed up during the tour making for some pretty great quotes. My favorite "Vassari-ism" went something like this:

Vassari to a girl in my class: Why do you wear pants and not a dress, YOU ARE NAKED!
Girl: It's too hot to wear a dress! Why did they wear them during the summer anyway?
Vassari: Because, you see...a woman's body is full of...of...PEACH.
All of us: Peach?
Vassari: Si! Peach...peach!!
All of us: *Blank stare*
Vassari to my teacher: Come se Dice 'peccato' in inglese? *teacher answers*
Vassari: OOOO, SIN! a woman's body is full of SIN therefore she must wear the dresses!!

....Peaches...Sin...sure I can see how they sound the same. I am no longer going to feel bad for mixing up my Italian words haha. I loved Alberto- he was a great sport!

Tuesday: Ok....I admit it. I crumbled, I gave in to my cravings and I caved and I ....I went to McDonalds! I KNOW! I KNOW! I am in ITLAY, HOOWWW could I possibly have gone to MCDONALDS! Here's how. First of all, the McD's in Italy smell better than the ones in the US. I think it's because they use sunflower seed oil instead of what the US uses. Second of all, all of my roomies and I decided latish Wednesday night that we were craving some chocolate cake, so we headed out in search for some! unfortunately its not possible in Italy to eat just dessert at a restaurant so no one would let us sit down and order cake. We didn't feel like gelato though, and the only American bakery in Florence closed three hours before we set out. So we just started walking, hoping we would happen upon a sweet little trattoria that would let us have some cake. And then we saw the golden arches. We all looked at each other and said....Meh...Why not! They all got Mcflurries but as soon as I stepped inside the craving for their fries I had been fighting for the last 5 weeks came rushing back and I had to order some. They were delicious. I do not regret it haha.

Wednesday: Wednesday was spent cramming for the exam I had in Art History on Thursday
Thursday: I took an exam, it was fine! It was one of my roommate's (Olivia) last night in Florence so all my roomies and I took her out to dinner at a really cute place called Trattatoria Nerone. In case you are wondering a Trattatoria is a little family owned restaurant, they are pretty much the norm here and you are guaranteed a wonderful meal and a friendly smile. Emma came along (it was her last night too) and we had dinner, went to Grome, our favorite gelato place and finally ended up in Piazza Della Signoria were we listened to a guy play some Simon and Garfunkel on his guitar for about an hour. It was amazing!!!

Friday: Today....today I accomplished one of my goals! I got my haircut in Italy! It was so scary!!! I printed off a picture or two of what I wanted and I took to the hair salon a friend of mine had recommended. The girl who cut my hair didn't speak English or understand my weak Italian- eek!- but her friend did so he made sure she knew what I was looking for. And then she had me stand up...and took an electric razor...and chopped off three inches in one foul swoop. I nearly cried but then I remembered it was just hair! She took about two hours to shape and style it, the whole time using an electric and then an old school blade barbars use on men’s beards. I was pretty freaked out by the end of it. I walked out convinced I looked like a boy until I got home and all of my roommates freaked out with a round of "OOO MY GOSH IT LOOKS GREATTTT!!!!!"...I love them. I have played with it some and I really love it. Its EXTREMELY thinned out and short so its a lot easier to deal with, I think I’m going to really love it as soon as it gets really hot here. I put a picture up there so you can kind of get a feel for it, but I have it half up in the picture so it looks a little different than normal.




Well, I have to run because a train's leaving for Rome in 30 minutes and I've got to be on it! My mom and Grandparents made it safely to Rome and have been touring around for the day. I will meet up with them around 6 pm and then it's on to a super fun week in Napoli, Pompeii, Capri and Sicily and back to Florence! I will be posting about it the week after next and I'll be sure to put up some fun pictures!

I hope everyone has a fantastic week, I love you all!!
Mary K.