It's that time of year

I've heard of all the fuss Christmas makes in Northern Europe. i.e. Germany, London, Paris, yadayada I get it. But the thing Florence has going for it is its underrated-ness. A couple weeks ago the streets of Florence began to light up... a tree was put in the Duomo Piazza and the Christmas market of Sante Croce came to life. I was half disappointed that I would be missing Christmas in New York City this year, but I take it all back. Florence at Christmas time is nothing short than magical, and it's the perfect send off for me to return home tomorrow.

The Nutcracker, Russian ballet

The Nutcracker, Russian ballet

Sahel :)

and Sam (cultural crew)

Laaaaaaaura :)

The Nutcracker stage!

It's been fun kids, to say the least. I can't believe the semester is over, it literally seems like yesterday that I touched down in Florence for the first time. It's easily been the best time of my life. And so, if you're a student, take my advice: if you have the opportunity, GO ABROAD. Soak it all up, meet new people, try new things, go everywhere you can. As terrified as I am to end this break from real life, I'm ready for it. So thanks Florence, from the bottom of my heart, it's been swell. Mark my words, I'll be back.

the beginning of the end?

With finals, seeing friends and soaking up all of Florence while I still can, this week has been a whirlwind! Since I'm leaving in less than a week I have been eating most of my meals out to eat all the Italian food that I can. Florence lights up around the holidays too! I was worried that I'd miss Christmas in the city, but I have to say, Florence does it better than New York. All the streets are lit up with hanging lights, and there's a Christmas Market in the Plaza in front of Santa Croce church.

On Monday I finally tried a restaurant that Sam told me to go to ages ago, called Osteria Santo Spirito. It's on the other side the river, which is the less touristy side of Florence, and it was delicious! Grace invited us me, Laura and Olivia out with her mom, who so reminded me of Grace. It made me miss my mom and dad too, so I'm glad I'll be seeing them soon! We all got the same pasta dish that came highly recommended, the baked gnocchi with cheese. It was so rich, but so delicious!

Cheesy gnocchi

On Tuesday, we went to our last beer pong tourney. A bar called Red Garter hosts it every Tuesday, and it's become a fun tradition this semester. We got there too late to play officially, so we just hijacked a table and played for fun (and Laura and I won both games, mainly thanks to her mad skills!) I also discovered the magic that is the Secret Bakery. There are these locations in Florence that sell pastries illegally really late at night (we went at 4am). You mainly hear about the location through word of mouth, and the one we went to was in a sketchy alleyway, where we had to knock on the door and whisper our order and wait for them to make them. Sahel, Olivia and I all got nutella filled donuts. Laura had to go home early, but I'll definitely be revisiting with her before we leave!

Celebrating our victory!

On Wednesday, I went to the NYU art show, where student drawings, paintings and photography from classes this semester was featured, to support Laura, who was in a drawing class this semester! Her stuff was all so good, as was a lot of other pieces in the show! I'm so jealous of people with artistic talent. After that, I went to Ethiopian food with my friend Meron, who is Ethiopian, and Sahel, Sam and David. It was delicious! Way better than the Ethiopian I've had in the city. They got a giant platter to share, and I had my own vegan plate.

Laura's artwork!

 On Thursday, La Pietra Dialogues (where I work) hosted a talk with Jim Messina, Obama's 2012 campaign manager! He gave a lecture, and then had a short Q&A with NYU students only. It was such an amazing opportunity. He was captivating and seemed very approachable. I wrote a blog post about the event for my job, which you can read here: http://www.lapietradialogues.org/blog/?p=364


Afterwards, I went to Gusta Pizza with David, Laura, Sahel and Grace, which is easily the best pizza I've ever had. I always get Laura and I's typical salty pizza, which has anchovies and capers. It's delicious! It may be the thing I miss most, food-wise.

SALTY PIZZA

On Friday, Laura and I were feeling lazy so we just made mac n' cheese (compliments of my Mom bringing me Annie's when she visited) and invited some people over to watch Love Actually, my favorite Christmas movie! It was such a homey night, and really got me into the Christmas spirit.

mac n' cheese with peas!

We spent all day Saturday studying, and then to give ourselves a break, we went to the Mexican place here in Florence (called Tijuana's) for dinner and strawberry margaritas! I had nachos with cheese, refried beans, guacamole and mixed veggies. After that, we went to the Christmas markets for dessert and mulled wine, and then went back to my apartment. Everyone stayed for a bit, but not after long Laura and I were back in megabed and watched Away We Go. I forgot how much I loved that movie, it's one of Laura and I's favorites.

Me, David, Grace and Sahel

my pipin' hot cinnamon pastry dessert

Easily the best line from Away We Go

I spent all day studying and getting ready for my finals tomorrow. I have an in-class test for my politics class, my Italian Oral exam, and then a paper due for the Etruscans, and then on Tuesday my Politics paper is due and my final project for Metropolitan studies is due. In other words I have a busy week ahead of me, but then on Friday I'm home free (literally). I can't believe how fast this semester has gone, but I have to admit I'm excited to get home and see everyone and celebrate Christmas, Indiana style.

New thing: secret bakery

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This weekend I went on my last European adventure before I leave, and I met up with Rachel in Vienna!

Rachel! (somehow we didn't manage a picture together, whoops)

Vienna was a bit of a random choice. Rachel and I had been trying to find a place to meet up all semester, we bounced around the ideas of Ireland or London or Budapest, but none of the flight times seemed to work out. I had heard about the famous Christmas markets in Vienna, and the flights worked out for both of us, and voila!

I got to Vienna on Friday in the late afternoon and had to make myself busy for a couple hours because Rachel wasn't getting in until a bit later. So I ventured into the Vienna city center to find the Christmas markets I had heard so much about! I ended up going to 2- the biggest one at Rauthausplatz, and then another in the plaza area between 2 of Vienna's museums. I didn't end up finding anything I fell in love with, but it was a lot of fun to just browse around and eat all the delicious food! I had a fried dough thing with garlic on it, corn on the cob, candied almonds and mulled red wine! It was all delicious.

mulled red wine!

They had so many flavors of pretzals!

I went back to the hostel and hung out until Rachel got in around midnight, and then we just sat in the hostel lobby for a couple hours catching up. It was so great to finally see her!

On Saturday we got up decently early and went in search of breakfast. We found a bagel place and they had avocado! I haven't had avocado since I came to Europe, so I was quite pleased with the meal. After that we went to the Shonbrunn Palace, which is where Emperor Franz Josef lived. It reminded me of the Versailles Palace in Paris, but it was quite smaller. There were grounds surrounding the Palace, and another Christmas market in the area in front of the it. Europe's oldest zoo is at the Shonbrunn Palace too, but we didn't have time to go.

The gardens behind the palace

The Shonbrunn Palace

Europe's oldest zoo

After that we ventured into the city center in search of an exhibit Rachel had heard about, all of naked men at the Leopoldo museum. According to the exhibit, females are featured nude in art more often than men, but beginning in the 20th and 21st centuries there are more male representations, and that is what this exhibit was devoted to: "Nackte Manner" or "Nude Men" in German.

In the museum there was also an exhibit of Leopold's private art collection and a showing of Japanese art, which I really enjoyed. After the museum we ventured back out into the cold and went back to the Christmas market at the museum square I went to the night before. Rachel got a present for her family, and we shared some roasted chestnuts. Then we just walked around the city a bit before ending up back at our hostel to regroup before dinner.

We couldn't decide what we wanted to eat so we ended up at an Indian place, but it was delicious! I've missed any sort of Asian cuisine here in Europe. Then we got ready to go out, had a few drinks at the hostel bar and then went to this famous club called flex, which was in a renovated subway station right on the canal. The music was purely a techno beat, which is nothing like I've ever had at clubs in New York or Florence, but Rachel said that's super typical of Germany/Eastern Europe. You totally get lost in the beat and time flies. It was a great night!

Inside Flex

Rachel and I sadly had to part ways at the airport before checking in because we were in different terminals. But I was such a great weekend and I'm so glad we got to see each other, even if it was for such a short time. The last happy surprise of the trip was, when I was sitting at my gate I looked out the window and it was snowing! It's the first time I've seen snow this season, so I spent the rest of the time in the airport listening to Christmas music and feeling very festive. Needless to say it was a great last trip, and I'm ready to make the most of my last two weeks in Florence and get home in time for Christmas!

You can't see the snow really, but it's there!

New thing: Eastern European techno club

Amsterdam!

Amsterdam was absolutely my favorite city so far. I haven't felt more immediately comfortable in a  city since I went to New York the first time. The city is built around rivers and canals, so you're constantly walking down wide streets and sidewalks bordered by water (which I did not know before going there). The houses and buildings look straight out of a dollhouse. And, the best part, everyone bikes there! I could totally see myself going there for an extended period of time when I'm older. It was totally freezing, but I like to think I'm adaptable.

I went to Amsterdam with Hannah, Olivia, Grace and Laura and it was a really nicely sized group. The weekend ended up being super chill. We spent a lot of time just walking around the city, which was pretty easy because Amsterdam is actually pretty small. We drank a lot of tea as we sheltered from the cold in coffeeshops, and, most notably in my opinion, I found speculoos! First time this semester, and obviously it was a hit with everyone else. For those who don't know, it's a gingerbread/graham cracker/cookie in a jar, and it is wonderful. Go buy some.

Citrus tea

SPECULOOS ("Biscoff Spread" in the States)

On Saturday we got a bit of a slow start so obviously we ended up being really on top of our schedule, and we missed both the Van Gogh museum and Heinekein experience closing by approximately 10 minutes each, whoops! But we ended up going to both of those on Sunday, so it was okay. The Van Gogh Museum was amazing, he's an amazing artist and I learned a lot about him. (For instance, did you know he was really interested in Japanese art?) Then the Heinekein Experience was a lot of fun too– it was a self-guided tour through the factory and the beer making process, and we got 2 and a half beers for free.

The Heinekein Experience

Laura with her Heiney

Hannah and Grace

It ended up being just the weekend I needed, and it was a great final trip with NYU Florence people! Next weekend I'm off to Vienna to meet up with Rachel and spend some time with her finally, which I am beyond excited for. Until then, I'll be sequestering myself in the library studying for finals and writing papers, because even though I forget most the time, I'm actually here for school? Crazy. Also, 17 days til I come home? Wut? Say it ain't so, I'm not ready to get back to reality just yet.


Too many new things to count

Thanksgiving– home away from home

Thanksgiving 2012 was the second Thanksgiving in a row that I haven't spent at home, since last year I was visiting my cousin Ellen in Ireland where she was studying abroad. But, despite being away from home again, this was definitely one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had.

The Thanksgiving dinner crew! (sans Hannah)

Laura and I spent the whole week prepping for the feast on Thursday. We figured out what each of us was making (I was assigned stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, and gravy; Laura was making the chickens, mac n cheese and green beans) and then we went grocery shopping on Monday for all our supplies. We spent Wednesday night prepping some of the food and making my personal favorite addition to the meal– our cookie turkey army. Laura had found a picture of them online and we substituted ingredients according, and I think they turned out pretty well!

We also made place mats for everyone. They were hand turkeys dressed like each person, and they were so much fun to make. Laura made mine, and it's painfully accurate.

On Thursday we were ready to make Thanksgiving happen! Laura was even so excited that when she jumped out of bed in the morning she fractured/hurt her foot. We both had class during the day, so I came home right afterwards and got to work. Laura came home soon afterwards and we spent 5+ hours cooking, drinking wine, skyping with our families and friends, etc. Then all our friends came over for dinner, and they we ate our body weights in food. Sahel and Sam came over post dinner too to hang out for a bit. It was a fantastic night :)

The Feast!

New thing: gravy!

Buon Ringraziamento!

Buon Ringraziamento! That's Happy Thanksgiving to you non-Italian speakers.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's time for the college students to return home, families to come together, for everyone to give thanks for the things and people in their lives, and to, most importantly, eat an absurd amount of food. And then I'm here, comforting myself in the false closeness of my Facebook feed, and feeling truly homesick for the first time since arriving in Florence. But this also prompted me to realize that what I am truly most thankful for is all the amazing people in my life. So, in an effort to express my gratitude and love to all my people at home, this is a post dedicated to all of you. I miss you with all my heart, and while leaving here will be bittersweet, I'm so excited to see you all when I do.

The greatest pair in the whole wide world

So much cousin love

Douville clan!

Thanks to this girl for the best 21st birthday ever

The Coffman clan!

THIS GIRL, LOOK AT HER CUTE LIL FACE

Love mah roommate/friendmate/roomfriend? :)

Mah boy Shammy, and all our ridiculous times, all the way from stinky Rubin

The 4UGU5T 2ND C1UB 4 LYF3

always always always

Just can't get rid of this one, nor would I ever want to

This picture encompasses everything I adore about this boy to a T

"I swear I have friends" says us, always

These boys, and Oktoberfest of course

53C0ND 5TR33T

Mah girls, and LOST

Ghana, and all the amazing people I met there

Last summer

Last summer

Two summers ago

Sure, high school too. Especially Jersey Shore Day.

Fort Wayne love <3

3 weeks from Friday I fly home. I literally cannot believe how fast the time has flown here, but I have plenty to look forward to in the next 3 weeks, including AMSTERDAM ON FRIDAY. And our very own Thanksgiving celebrations tomorrow! Laura and I are cooking up a feast for our friends here, and I'm making the mashed taters, gravy and stuffing. Cross your fingers!

New thing: Doing homework/projects legitimately here, and cooking Thanksgiving dinner with just one other person!