Italia

Barb, Al and I in Lucca


My king size bed! It was nice for a change!


All my stuff


My bathroom. They were all jealous because apparently they didn't have showers!


The city of Lucca


This is the Cathedral in town. The history on this is that the church part was built around the tower(on the right)...and if you will notice, they didn't measure equally because the arch on the far right is significantly smaller!


At our wine tasting, cheering with our pretend wine.


A small portion of the wine in this little Bodega


The Wine and information pamphlet on the wine samples tonight!


The Leaning Tower of Pisa


Holly and I trying to hold it up, well actually just me! She has the umbrella for me!


A better view with the flat ground


The Dome in Florence


The replica of the David Statue


Look how detailed this is!


So this past weekend was my last BIG trip that I planned on my own for the semester...and I am quite okay with that. I am ready to be able to stick around Sevilla and go Christmas present shopping! This weekend the school has their last trip that starts Friday morning until Saturday night to Granada, Spain, so that will be one last trip with lots of students at the center. It is crazy to think that ONLY ONE MONTH FROM TODAY I will be back in Minnesota. Weird how the time goes by so fast, and I assume it will continue with all the big papers I have due and final exams coming up!

Anyway, for my weekend, I flew to Italy to meet my boss Barb, Al, and their family! It was so great because their were no expectations for the weekend and I was just able to enjoy myself and relax! Barb met me at the airport last Wednesday night and then she got to experience a bit of the "fly by the seat of your pants" method as we literally ran trying to catch the next train into Lucca. Just as we got there, the train was pulling away. How tragic! Well I got my ticket switched and we and we waited for the next train. The trick with this one is that the train only took us to Florence and then we hopped on a sketchy bus to the city of Lucca. It was already like 11 at night and rainy. When we got to Florence, the language barrier was an issue because everyone led us in different directions and we were certain that we missed the bus! Luckily we didn´t! For the next hour and a half we were having a great time catching up and sharing stories! It was just so good to see someone from my hometown! We finally got to Lucca, the city where our hotel was. We knew we were there because there was a big brick wall. This city was secluded and surrounded by a wall! So awesome and very cozy. Instead of taking a taxi we decided to walk the 10 minutes to the hotel and save the money! When we got to the hotel I found out they had got me my own room, so we said hello to Al and then parted ways until the morning. It was quite interesting to have my own room because it was quiet and I didn´t really have much to do. Good thing I was exhausted and fell right asleep!

In the morning I got ready and joined everyone for breakfast in the hotel! They were all so welcoming and enjoyed asking me about my studies in Spain. This was really going to be a fun trip with a fun group of people. This first day we decided to just walk around Lucca. It was a small town and we could cover a lot of ground in a little time. I would definitely visit this city again because it is so intimate and has lots of cute shops and little restaurants. We went around to some of the big churches and monuments in town and got to look at the old architecture and structure. For lunch, we went to this cute little wine bar that soon became the place to go frequently. It was owned by and English couple from London who wanted to open a bar with all the wines from Italy. The husband published a huge book about all the vineyards and their owners in Italy. They also feature wines from every vineyard in the area! Lets just say that I drank so much wine while in Italy, and mom you will LOVE this... I am now taking a liking for some red wines! I might have to get you hooked to the good stuff! Anyway, like I said there were no expectations for the weekend, and though I would have like to tour around a bit more, we all kinda stopped as Al´s grandson needed to nap. It was okay though because my purpose of going was to visit with Barb and Al and I definitely got to do plenty of that! I just really loved being with this group, it was like I was part of their family. I didn't expect it at all, but for all the meals we sort of did family style so we could try lots of types of food and then at the end, one of them pitched in to pay for the whole table! So unexpectedly. They would never let me buy, so I input-ed tip or bought something whenever I had the chance! I really appreciated all that they gave me this weekend!

The weather this weekend wasn't the best, but we enjoyed our time. Maybe that also added to why I was okay not touring around a lot. It was cold and rainy, especially when we went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa! And let me tell you, it was leaning! There wan´t much else to do in Pisa, but we got to go inside a few churches and take lots of pictures of the tower. Amazing how it is slowly leaning and continues to sink in the ground even today! Dad you would just love this concept! We ended up taking a bus to Pisa because it was so close and much easier than the train. The worst part about this day is that Marilyn, Al´s first wife, had her wallet stolen right out of her bag. It had everything in it. Its one of those things you know always happens, but you never think it will happen to you. When we look back on it we feel like it was when there was a huge mob getting on the bus to go home, some bystanders must have schemed a way to steal it. How terrible. So we then had to deal with that the rest of the time. It made me even more paranoid for the rest of the trip! That night, back at our favorite little restaurant, we went for a wine tasting after dinner! The owners are planning to feature one vineyard for the next six weeks on Thursday nights where the vineyards will bring all their wine and talk about it! It was the best night. For 5Euro, we got to try 4 extremely delicious wines accompanied with bread, and then a cake and coffee at the end. Man I am really trying lots of new stuff, first coffee (and lately without cream!) and now red wine. What am I turning into! It really was a lot of fun!

On Saturday we were sort of slow to get moving, but around noon we got on the train and headed to Florence. We didn't really have a lot of time to tour around, but we did get to go see the big dome cathedral and the replica David Statue. We also went shopping around this little town, but due to my lack of luggage space I couldn´t buy much. I already had a full suitcase because my mom sent some more warm clothes for me! Just for the record it was 40 degrees today (Tuesday) when I woke up! I am not looking forward to Minnesota weather! Today we also had some really good pasta dishes and then went out for pastries to celebrate Al´s daughters upcoming birthday! How fun! Tonight was the last night and I just slept on Barb and Al´s floor because we all had to get up early and leave. Travel went just fine and I got back to Sevilla on Sunday evening. I am so glad to be done with trips flying on RyanAir! One more flight and I will be back in the states and one more after that I will be in Minneapolis...hopefully with snow on the ground!

Hope you all have been living vicariously through my adventures and I cant wait to share all my stories with you all in person!