For the entire span of our last week we all agreed to eat out for both lunch and dinner every single day. Needless to say, I was about to explode by the end but it was soooo worth it!! We got the opportunity to go back to all of our favorite places and even hit a few that we never got the chance to go to. Alyssa got super lucky that Tuesday night was her 21st birthday. For dinner we decided to go to this restaurant that we were told was really expensive. It is called "Aqua al 2." Their "blueberry steaks" were on every single one of our recommendation lists. Of course, each and every one of us ordered them. Although the idea of them sounds kinda weird, they were actually amazing! We were glad that we fit it in. Later on we celebrated at one of our favorite bars, "The Stove."

It worked out perfectly that Santa Maria Novella was having an outdoor market for the whole week. We would all hangout there during the day instead of studying for our finals. 

"Notte Bianca" or the "White Night" just so happened to land on our final night. It is considered a holiday for the city. Everything was open throughout the entire night. Nothing shut down. The streets were filled with people everywhere. At every piazza there were concerts being played. It was one of the most amazing things that I had ever experienced. I wish that we had something like that in America. When the sun was finally rising our entire program walked to the top of Piazzale Michelangelo and watched it together.  

By the time we finally woke up on our last day we had a lot of last minute packing and cleaning to do. Afterwards, we spent the rest of our time just walking around the city to take it all in and enjoy it. We stopped at both the Ponte Vecchio and Piazzale Michelangelo one last time. 

Having to say goodbye to Florence was very bittersweet. I was ready to go back to the United States to see my friends and family. Yet, I wasn't ready to end the best four months of my life. I made countless memories that I will never forget. Going into this experience I didn't realize how much I was actually going to fall in love with the city and really feel like I could call it home. I know for a fact that that was not the last time that I will be there. I'll be back for ya Firenze!!!!

We spent our very last trip and weekend abroad in Munich, Germany at Springfest! As soon as we woke up Friday morning we went on a walking tour of the city that just so happened to have two huge kegs following us. No where else in the world except the beer drinking capital would this be acceptable. We didn't get a single judging glare the entire time which, was awesome. Our guide was hysterical and had us doing all different kinds of embarrassing things. I even got down and did 10 pushups in front of everyone. In my opinion the coolest part was seeing the steps that Hitler used to stand on to give his speeches to the tons of people crowding around listening. Our tour ended at the largest beerhouse in the city. We all agreed that it was by far the best tour we had been on all semester. After the tour was over we headed straight to get our little German dresses for the beerfest. It took a decent amount of time to find the perfect ones. Not gonna lie, they were pretty expensive but so worth the time and money. It wasn't long before we realized that they really gave the experience the full effect. We put them on right away and headed straight for the tents. We weren't wasting any time. After a little while we even ran into Ashley at one point! We were so happy that we got to hangout with her for a while. Me and Jaclyn ended up leaving a little bit earlier than everyone else because we wanted to make time to go on all of the rides. We were legit running around holding hands like little girls. We had sooo much fun!!!! My favorite ride was the swings that were up really high and gave you an amazing view over the entire carnival which, was all lit up.

The next morning we got ready quick and headed straight back to the tents. We actually ended up being the first ones in line. The enormous tent was completely empty when we walked in so we were the first ones to choose whatever table we wanted. We claimed the perfect spot right in the center. We spent the next 12 hours or so hanging out in there. The beers were the best that I had ever had before. They were extremely light and tasted amazing. The steins were so big that I had to hold them with two hands. Each one cost 10 Euros so they really added up. Every once and a while this song would come on in German and after a few times we all eventually caught onto the words. We were singing: "Cheers to a good time!" At the end everyone would raise their big mugs and clink them together. To entertain ourselves all of my friends and I would play the game zoomie zoomie which, I loved. Of course I made time at some point during the day to make it back onto the swings!

 

 

On our last day we took a train to go to the Dachau Concentration Camp. It ended up being a pretty emotional day. It was by far one of the most moving things I had seen over the entire four month span. Each of us was quiet for the most part and just kept to ourselves as we walked around and saw the horrific sights. We got to see everything from the open area where they had role call every day, twice a day to the prisoners' sleeping quarters to the gas chambers. It was crazy to picture these things actually happening on the very land that I was walking on. I am glad that I got the chance to go because it definitely changed my perspective on a lot of things.

Germany/Springfest definitely made it into my top three trips! It was the perfect ending in my opinion. Overall I liked the city a lot more than I expected to.

We chose the following weekend to stay in Florence. We felt it was necessary because we were leaving so soon. We spent a majority of each day walking around the entire city and shopping. We also got all of the souvenirs that we still needed. It was also one of our craziest weekends in my opinion. We stayed out the latest we had pretty much all semester these few nights. We had soo much fun!! When Monday came along our entire group of friends got tickets to go to the Fiorentina soccer game! We had a huge pregame at the boys apartment beforehand and hungout on the terrace. Everyone brought food and we made it into a bbq. Once we got there the stadium was pretty rowdy. I was a lot more into the game than I expected to be. I was glad I finally got to make it to one because I didn't want to leave without getting the chance to.

Next came what would end up being my absolute favorite trip of them all: Amalfi Coast! The hotel that bus2alps put us in was located in Sorrento. Although we slept and ate there I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the actual city a little more. My mom's boyfriend, Anthony, has a house there so I would have liked to have gotten to walk around the town a little bit. We didn't arrive until very late Thursday night so we went straight to bed. The next morning we took a bus over to Positano!! It dropped us off at the very top of the cliffs to let us walk the rest of the way down. The view from up there was breathtaking. The walk down was pretty long but I did not mind it one bit. We spent the entire day hanging out on the black sand beach. It was amazing to look around you and be surrounded by colorful houses built right into the sides of these huge cliffs. Although the water was not too warm I went in it a few times! This was after intensely checking for fish of course lol. What I had heard multiple times was 100% true: the Mediterranean is salty enough that you float automatically a little bit without even meaning to. This was by far the best day I had had abroad all semester. I really did not want to leave to get back on that bus when it was time to go. Later on that night we went to this beer garden that the company had recommended to us which, was pretty cool.

The next morning we had to be up super early to head over to Capri. We took a ferry this time. Once we got there they split us all up onto smaller boats and we got to go on a tour of the island. The first thing that they showed us was the White Grotto. At one point we drove straight through this small hole in a cliff that is randomly placed in the middle of the water. It was an extremely tight squeeze I was so nervous that we were going to crash. Also, we passed a light house that they told us is the second most important one in the world because Capri tends to get very, very foggy. Our last stop on the tour was the Blue Grotto. They informed us that this was one of the seven wonders of the world!!!! We got lucky that the weather and the tide were perfect so we were given the opportunity to go inside of it. Most people don't get the chance to do so. The opening to get inside was literally a small hole at the bottom of the cliff where it meets the water. Me, Natalie, Taylor and Elyssa all got on a little row boat (you were only allowed up to 4 people at a time). When it was our turn to go in the man guiding our boat told us to lay down in order to fit. My heart was racing. He grabbed this rope, pulled it hard and then laid down on top of us. Once we were inside he told us we could sit up again. As I did I saw one of the most spectacular things ever. I was inside a cave echoing with the sounds of the guides singing in Italian. Our guide told us to look back at the hole that we came in. When you did the way that the light reflects makes the entire cave look like it is shining neon blue. The water looks as if it is glowing. It is indescribable. It was definitely a great end to the tour. The Amalfi Coast is known for their lemons and oranges. You can see trees growing them everywhere. So once we were back on land we got one of their famous drinks which, is a lemon slushy combined with an orange slushy and some alcohol of course. It was sooo good and refreshing. Once we were all finished we took a chair lift to the very top of the island. The sights on the way up were beautiful and apparently we were told that they were even better once you reached the top. Of course once we did it became so cloudy that we couldn't see a single thing! We were all pissed. I could literally see the clouds moving past me as I was standing up there. When it was time to leave we took a convertible taxi back down which, was awesome! By far the coolest cab I have ever been in.

 

On our last day in this gorgeous place we went to Pompeii. We got a tour around the ruins. I didn't  even need it because I already knew all about the history of this city. We had learned a lot about it in my Ancient Rome class. It was awesome to get to see everything in real life though. I was glad we made a stop here.

We didn't have any classes on the Monday of Easter so we had an extra long weekend! We decided to use it to go to Split, Croatia which, was a 12 hour bus ride...Once we arrived Friday morning and dropped our stuff off at our hostel (the nastiest one we had to stay in so far) we headed straight for the beach. We chose to go to the one that was all sand while the rest of them were rocks. It was absolutely beautiful!! It was really cool to look out into the water and see mountains all the way in the distance which, obviously never happens at home. The water was completely see through and very shallow. You could walk out so far and it still wouldn't pass your knees. We laid out listening to music and tanning all day. It worked out perfectly that there was a bar right behind us too. Even though it was freezing me and Alyssa even went into the water a few times. I was pretty proud of myself. At night we did the bar crawl that bus2alps set up. It was awesome because most of the bars were along the coast. I had sooo much fun! It was ten times better than the one that we did in Prague in my opinion.

The next morning we had to meet early for the booze cruise that we signed up for. Although the weather wasn't great we all still made the best of it. We stopped at two different islands throughout the day and got to explore around them for a little while. Once we got back to Split we were starving. We went to this restaurant near our hostel and I ordered a steak with rice that was probably one of the best steaks I have ever had in my life. 

We decided to go to mass on Easter Sunday even though it was pouring rain. There were plenty of churches all over so we just randomly chose one. It was packed. Somehow we all managed to still grab seats near the front. It was completely different compared to home. They literally had an electric guitar that would play each song. We all agreed that we felt like we were in a rock concert with the way everyone was singing and dancing. Even though it was in a different language we were still able to get the general idea of what was happening. I was really glad we went and tried something that was out of our comfort zone. After that we went to Diocletian's Palace where scenes from the show "Game of Thrones" were apparently shot. 

On our very last day we got to visit Krka National Park for a few hours before heading back to Florence. I honestly think that it was the first waterfall I have ever seen in my life. It was gorgeous!! 

On the very last Friday of the month of March we had a scheduled field trip with my Food Culture class to go back to Chianti. Other than that I kept the rest of the weekend free to just stay in Florence. It worked out perfectly because Nicole, Allie and Paige all ended up being able to visit!! Paige got here first on Saturday afternoon. We were clearly off to a great start because while we were dropping her stuff off in my room I somehow managed to drop my keys out my window....We watched them drop all the way down and this random man pick them up. We went rushing down searching for them and eventually found them on the floor in this random store nearby..After that situation we headed straight to get paninis at Antico. The line was the longest that I had ever seen it of course. Paige was freaking out the entire time because there were tons of birds everywhere that were getting so close to us haha. It wasn't long until Nicole and Allie's train was getting in. Nicole, Allie and I decided to surprise Paige so she had no idea. She thought that they weren't coming until later on in the week after she already left. I convinced her that I needed to go to the train station to pick up Jaclyn's friend for her because Jac was on a day trip. I guess I did a good job because she literally didn't realize until the moment she saw the two of them right in front of her and her jaw dropped. I was pretty proud of myself. Unfortunately, only Paige could stay in my apartment with me though because we only have two couches and Alyssa also had a friend who already had plans to stay with us. It wasn't a big deal though because Nicole and Allie were able to get a hotel room. I brought them to Santo Spirito for dinner and we sat outside to eat. I wasn't shocked when Nicole and Allie said they were "on their way" and showed up a half hour late to our reservation! They all ended up loving the food which, I was positive was going to be the case. Once we were full it was time to go out!!! We pregamed at this apartment with a bunch of my friends and then ended up at Naima. Nicole was really sick so she went home a little early but at least she made it for a little while. Afterwards Allie, Paige and I went on a hunt for the famous secret bakery that I had yet to go to. We searched for probably a solid hour and a half before finally giving up which, was pretty disappointing. We got just a little lost trying to find our way back but eventually got home around 4am, still hungry.. 

The next morning I brought them straight to Gusta Pizza for breakfast/lunch. Even though the man messed up and didn't make our pizzas in heart shapes, they all still said that it was the best pizza that they had ever had in their lives. Afterwards we walked to Piazzale Michelangelo which, was quite the hike, as usual. On our way back we stopped to get gelato at Neri. We were true Italians and sat on the sidewalk as we all enjoyed it. Once we were finished we went to see the inside of the Duomo quickly. Next it was time to shop!! We spent probably just a little bit too much money buying things in the central market whether it was scarves or leather bags. We literally walked through the entire thing which, is really long. Even though we all had no room left in our stomachs we were still able to fit in happy hour margaritas at Tijuana. They couldn't leave without going! We didn't go out again this night because they had to leave early the next morning and I had class. It was so nice to get to finally all be together in Europe. It sucked having to say goodbye to them but I know I will get to see them again soooo soon :) 

P.S. I would just like to point out that I took more taxis in the time that they were here than I ever have in Florence before... (Nicole and Alll)  

We had a field trip to Rome not this past weekend but the weekend before that. We stayed just from Saturday to Sunday. It sure was nothing like any other field trip I have ever been on in my life! It was just Alyssa, Nate, Chris and I because we are the only ones in this particular class. As soon as we got there we went to the Roman Forum. It was amazing to know that everything I was looking at was created and placed there tons of years ago. The entire time I tried to picture it the way it was all the way back then. At one point we even got to see an entire view over the city which, was beautiful. My favorite part of the Roman Forum was seeing the place where they believe Julius Caesar was buried. It still had flowers placed all around it. We stopped for lunch afterwards and I got a pizza. Of course we managed to save some room for gelato afterwards too. Once everyone met back up we headed to the Colosseum which, was the part I was the most excited about. As soon as we got inside and I got a full view I was shocked with how amazing it was. It is difficult to put it into words because it is the type of thing that you need to go and see yourself to truly understand. We spent an entire hour just roaming around it and exploring. I didn't want to leave! From that point on we were all free to do as we wished for the rest of the day. The four of us decided to head back to our hotel rooms for a little while first. By the time we relaxed a little bit and got ready it was dark outside. We headed straight to the Spanish Steps. They were packed with people. We chose to eat at one of the many restaurants nearby. Once we were done we went to this area called Trastevere which, is apparently a very popular spot with a whole strip of bars. We picked one and just hangout and had a few drinks for a while.

Unfortunately, it was pouring the next morning. On top of that, the Roman marathon (which only happens twice a year) just so happened to fall on this day. This made the plans that our teacher had made a little difficult. While we waited for the mass at the Pantheon to end we all went into a nearby cafe to get some coffee to wake us up. It was adorable and my cappuccino was excellent! After we were finally able to go inside the Pantheon we headed to see the ara pacis. We had learned about this in class multiple times. It was cool to actually get to see it in person. I was glad we got to see it because this is something that I normally wouldn't have made time for if our teacher didn't have it in our itinerary. We didn't have the entire day to spend so we had to leave after that. We passed the Spanish Steps on our way to the train station and I was happy I got to see them in the daylight as well. 

Overall, I was very impressed with Rome. The city is much bigger than I had imagined. As a result, we didn't have enough time to make it over to the Vatican. I was only able to see it from a distance. This was the only thing that makes me upset looking back at the weekend. Yet, I guess it is the perfect excuse to go back to visit again!!!