Not real life

There’s always an adventure here in Italy! I guess I’ll go backwards. Today started with a wonderful run through Cascine Park. The sky was fairly cloudy but I hoped the rain would hold off. It sprinkled but I made it home dry this time… Sewing class was amazing today! We learned the blind hand stitching and using the serger or as Guido called it “the surgery machine” haha! I made it to the Italian conversation class at noon they offer at API and was the only one there! Private lesson! I headed to the market for some fresh produce, olive bread, and lunch at a tiny place we discovered on the first day! Kirby and I made it back from illustration through the pouring rain which involved me trying to barter with the Indian man for an umbrella he was trying to sell me for 5 euro…wasn’t gonna happen.

Yesterday, Kirby and I went to the fashion department for class at 9 am and besides 15 minutes for lunch we were there until 7 pm… butttt we were working on collages for our illustration class on customer profiles which was stressful at times but fun in the end! Of course on our way to find something to eat we get attacked by Snookie...hola! I mean Ciao Italia! Soooooo annoying. She’s a complete idiot. Anywaysss, during illustration, we ventured to the Salvadore Ferregamo museum. Where we took a tour and then sketched a bunch of the shoes that will be inspiration for our midterm dress sketches! The craftsmanship and inspiration behind each shoe is truly remarkable.

After class, we went on a boat ride down the Arno river that runs through Florence on a tiny gondola-type boat. It was unbelievable and the sunset was breathtaking. My roomies and I were loving it and feeling very Italian so we splurged and went to an amazzzzzing restaurant that overlooked the river. While we were waiting on the benches when we first arrived, they brought us each a glass of champagne to pass the time. Ok what? VIP? Then for dinner, I chose the spaghetti with lobster.. need I say more? We ordered a bottle of their house red and it was probably the best red I’ve ever had. So we ordered a second bottle and tiramisu for dessert…. Unreal. We loved our server and our server loved us. Throughout the night he brought us a pan of focaccia bread, lemoncello, and a bottle of the house white= FREE. As you can tell we did it big.

This weekend was our bus to alps trip to the Amalfi Coast! IT WAS GREAT. (well besides the super-annoying, immature, disrespectful girl who were also on the trip…can you tell we liked them?) Friday, we took a ferry to Capri and switched to small boats to take a 2 hour tour around the island. During the tour, we experienced the Blue Grotto. The four girls of my apartment loaded the tiniest little boat with the biggest boatman. The boat could only fit the four of us and we had to sit on the floor….and then laydown as he pulled us through an opening the size of a backboard of a bball hoop into a tiny cave. The way the sun reflected off the water made it electric/neon blue. It was truly beautiful. (its one of the natural wonders of the world). Afterwards, we trekked up to the center of Capri town and then up to AnniCapri (aka the very top of Capri) and into Augustus’s Garden which looked, not only out into the remarkably blue sea, but to the entirety of Capri town as well. It was, again, breathtaking. The four of us walked from the top to the very bottom with beautiful views and shaky legs (ha). Once we made it to the bottom, we enjoyed just an hour or so of time on the beach! That night we had an amazing dinner and ventured to an outdoor beer garden that was really cool and fun.

Saturday, we took the bus to Positano. Positano is a tiny town on the Amalfi Coast with black sand beaches. It was gorrrrrgeous! Not real life. We were tanning and swimming of the shore of Italy. What? Side note: we went to this tiny Panini place for lunch and had the best sandwich I think I’ve had in my entire life. About half way through the day, we boarded a boat to go CLIFF JUMPING AND CAVE SWIMMING. I know right. Not real life. IT WAS AMAZING! I jumped off an 8 foot and…are you ready…. A 35 FOOT CLIFF! So cool! We swam through a cave where we could see straight to the bottom through the sparkling blue waters of course. After those minor adventures, we passed out on the beach J

Sunday, we visited the only preserved Roman city that still is in pretty legit condition today: Pompeii. Unfortunately, it was raining but the architecture, thought, layout, everything of that city was remarkable. Before the bus ride back to Florence I had the pizza I’ve been waiting for. It was delish!!

Gotta go. pics later :)