Bologna and Some

First non program sponsored trip took me to Bologna. So crazy seeing people you know in foreign countries, met up with Josh

Bologna was awesome and I loved the college town vibe the city gave off. Not at all like the touristy vibe you get in Florence. Right as we got off the train there was an old Roman Aqueduct

Walking around the city was a pleasure as Bologna is famous for porticos which line the majority of the cities sidewalks

After a lovely night on the town I had to get up early as Josh was going on a field trip with his program and wandered around alone as my Friends were still sleeping. I found a store that sold Arcteryx, so I had to go in and try everything on. After that I wondered up the Asinelli Tower,

the tallest in Bologna and took some pictures of the great views. The Weather in Bologna is generally clear in the early morning and then overcast the rest of the day. Thankfully I was up there early enough to get some clear shots.

Back home saturday afternoon. One night of traveling is tiring enough, the longer weekends and 3 weeks after the program ends are going to be so exhausting.

The following weekend, Jan 28 - 30 I just stayed in Florence as I will be on the road the next 5 in a row. Torino, Rome, Malta, and then spring break Barcelona, Seville and Madrid

Dates

There were many requests to put up dates so here goes,
Jan 14-16 Sienna
Jan 21-23 Bologna
Jan- 28-29
Feb 4-6 Turino
Feb 11-13 Rome
Feb 18-20 Malta
Feb 24-27 Barcelona
Feb 27- Mar2 Seville
March 3-6 Madrid
March 11-13 Poggio a Caino
March 18-20 Copenhagen
March 25-27 Venice
April 1-3 Amsterdam

Future Plans

Last Night and today my semester has really filled up. I bought train tickets this weekend to Bologna,

and to Turino

two weeks after that. Hopefully I can work out skiing that Saturday, but the resorts are a significant distance from the city.

The Next weekend our Program has a trip to Rome,

and hopefully I will be able to rendezvous with some Friends from from Wisconsin and Wilson. A week later, Feb 18-20 I am going to Malta with 5 friends from the Villa.

After that is spring break where I will fly into Barcelona,

stay there for 3 or 4 nights, and then head to Seville

for 3 nights and then on to Madrid.

Places to stay in Barcelona and Madrid will help keep costs down. I will stay in Italy the week after break, and we have a planned day trip to Poggio a Caiano.

March 18 I plan on returning to my old home in Denmark,

and spend a weekend in Copenhagen.

Back for a week then to the Canals of Venice again with the Villa.

From there I should be spending a realxing weekend in bed, but what could be farther from that than 3 nights in Amsterdam

with the same Malta crew. I hope to make it back to Rome one of the next two weeks but I will be staying in Italy as our program comes to a close and already that line up might be better than the 1927 Yankees. After my parents come I plan on hitting London, Normandy, Berlin and or Frankfurt, Auschwitz and Krakow and maybe some Koczela's In poland, then wrap up Europe with Prague and Vienna. (Pictures of these will be posted when the trip is official.)

Sesto Fiorentino

Some of the grounds of Our Villa

Villa Corsi Salviati

My Bedroom, with my bed on the right

To our surprise one of the Staff has a Golden puppy we get to help Raise

First Week

I should have gotten to this earlier, but enjoying exploring here and settling in got me here a week late.

After 4 days in California for the Rose Bowl and two quick days at home I left DC on Thursday January 6. The trip to the airport had plenty of excitement as my Family and I saw Alex Ovechkin and Semyon Varlamov in the International terminal of Dulles. On top of that there was a "suspicious package" found in the airport resulting in one terminal being completely evacuated and my flight being delayed about 2 hours, meaning I would miss my connecting flight. To make the traveling even worse when I made it to Florence one of my checked bags was lost, which I didn't get for 4 days. I arrived at our villa and Could hardly believe I was going to be living there for the next four months. The First night we went out in Sesto Fiorentino and found an Irish pub called Drunk, which was perfect but I wish there was a drink cheaper than 5 euro. After getting Oriented at the Villa all day we headed to Florence for the night and these Kids we started talking to on the bus told us to go to the Club Space. The next day we had our first walking tour of Florence which was great, our Art History Professor knows everything. Went to bed early that night to catch up on lost sleep over the past week and a half.

First week of classes, and they all seem much more laid back than Madison as the professors understand classes are not the reason we came to Florence. Italian will be the most difficult. Went into Florence on Wednesday night, and then again for class on Thursday, as we have onsite Art History visits each Week. Saw the Medici Palace and Cathedral, and tagged along with the other art history class to the Duomo. Friday we had a scheduled day trip to Siena and San Gimignano. Siena was a major Italian city until the Plague, and was never able to recover and compete in the Italian Political economical and military realm the way like its pre Plague days. San Gimignano is an medieval town famous for its many towers and home to the worlds best Gelato, which was closed when were there. Went out in Florence the next two nights, and on Saturday had a phenomenal meal at Buca Mario.