snow!

Snow! 

It snowed in Florence!  In fact- it was the first time in ten years!  Of course, being the Texan I am, I was pretty ecstatic and had a great time.  Within a few hours there were at least 6 inches on the ground, and  then it kept snowing! 

Before and after the snow. 

Amanda and I.

Hot chocolate at Riviore.  (In Palazzo Vecchio) 

Sara, Colleen, Amanda and I in the SACI garden.  

The snow was great fun.  Although the slush the next day wasn't.  I still quite enjoyed myself. 

P.S. I'm back in Texas! 

the ways of procrastination

Christmas in Florence! 

multiple trips to the central market

sewing book instead of reading them

reading cookbooks instead of art history books

Dad!!!!! The candy is back! And there is even more this time!  (In other words- rewarding myself with candy for pretending to study. )

Watching the sun set instead of learning about all the artists that painted them. 

Overall- it's going great.  I've got tons of new recipe's, a belly full of candy and gelato.  And great memories :)

Happy Procrastinating! 

Ellen

things ill miss. part one

Watching these birds from my kitchen window. 

Tuscan Bread.  Something I have truly come to love. 

Views like this. 

And this.  (Taken from my terrace)

Hugs from her. 

Everyday. 

Umbria.  (Mom!  This is like Tuscany- only prettier in my opinion.)

Although I am looking forward to going home.  I know I am really going to miss it here.  So I have started a series of things I'll miss-  not to be sad.  But to appreciate them for at least one more week :)

Ellen

round three

Remember this guy? 

Summer 2010

Well I must be the luckiest girl in the world because he came all the way out to florence for Thanksgiving!

We had a grand time, did all the touristy things and more.

I think our favorite, was the morning spent in the Boboli Gardens.  Definitely one of my favorite spots in Florence.  

We also went on lot's of romantic dates, it was pretty cute. 

a view from the top

Before I left for Italy everyone told me that I couldn't leave without climbing to the top of the Duomo.  Well don't worry, I've climbed those 463 steps to the top four times.  And have a fifth trip planned this weekend.  Here are pictures from three of the occasions (I lost the pictures from the third time)

September

October

November

3 weeks in pictures

Hello!  I realize it's been a long time since I've blogged.  And instead of trying to give you a recap of everything that's happened, I opted to just show you :)

Amanda and I in Sienna!

A view of San Gimignano from one of the towers.

Some good eats made by yours truly. 

Riding bike in Lucca with Sara Abad!

One word.  Midterms. 

My mom and I at Vatican City!

Trevi Fountian! 

Changing of the guards in Athens! 

My mom and I at the Acropolis with a view of Athens in the background.

A view of Florence from the Boboli Gardens. 

Mom and I in TUSCANY!

So basically I did a lot of traveling, studied for finals, cooked new things, had the most amazing trip with my mom, and saw 'cool stuff.'  It has been a great 3 weeks, and it's soon to be another great 3 weeks plus more! 

I would like to apologize to Paige and Anna for not being a good blogger.  And I am asking for forgiveness in the form of Kinder chocolate. What do you say?  Am I forgiven?

Have a great day y'all! 

Ellen

Saturday and Sunday!

 I am obviously going a little slow!  But here we go, Saturday morning started early where we met my art history class in Pisa for a day trip to Pisa and Lucca.  We of course started off our day with cappuccino number 7 and 8.  Where I saw my first sighting of latte art!!!!  I of course photographed it to share with y'all.

The closest thing I've seen to latte art! Pisa- Italy

In front of the leaning tower with Dad

We then went into every. single. museum.  Pisa had to offer.  In about 3 hours.  It was pretty intense, but cool at the same time.  I am really glad I got to see the Leaning Tower with my dad, it was the first time both of us had seen it, and really cool that we got to do it together.  After a quick lunch break we got on the train for Lucca! 

On the train headed for Lucca! 

 This was actually one of my favorite parts of the day.  It was so cool to jsut hop on the train with my dad and buzz over to another little town.  Once in Lucca we walked around for a bit before we met up with my class.  We then toured the beautiful, quaint city of Lucca.  Where I personally left a little piece of my heart,  it has definitely been one of my favorite places in Italy.  If not my favorite all together.  It just had a charm to it that is hard to find in a big city like Florence.

Lucca

During our afternoon trip we took advantage of the break to enjoy cappuccino 9 and 10 and scope out some good places for dinner.  Once we finished our tour we headed to a tasty fish place for dinner, and headed home.  Which actually ended up being pretty crazy because our train wasn't running so we had to take a bus to another train station.  It ended up working out even though I was little scared! 

Dad at the top of San Miniato- enjoying the view of Florence.

Sunday was a bit of a slower day, I mean what else do you expect after a full day with Helen? We started off the day with breakfast and cappuccino 11 and 12 then hiked up to San Miniato, a church up on a hill in Florence.  It has a great view of the city and I personally enjoy the hike.  

Festival de Gelato!  The oldest gelato place in Florence! 

After we relaxed a little and took in the gorgeous view we had a deeelightful brunch at the bottom of the hill.  This could possibly be one of my favorite meals I have had all of 2010.  It was sooo good, and of course it was a lot of fun!  I can't wait to go back!  After lunch we were pretty full and spent the afternoon walking around popping in and out of shops and just enjoying the city.

Cappuccino and swan cream puffs.  So good! 

We continued to enjoy cappuccino 13 and 14 spent time in Piazza Duomo, did some people watching. We even went back to the international festival to get round two of smurf gummies! Overall I had an excellent weekend with my dad and made so many memories that I will have forever.  Thanks for coming Dad, it really means a lot to me, I really enjoyed seeing the city with you.
Ellen

Thursday and Friday!

Starting with Thursday night.

My dad arrived Thursday night around 9:15, after walking to his hotel (yes, we walk EVERYWHERE- speaking of, I have only been in a car three times in the last four weeks, two of which happened this weekend) we went out for some good eats! Although I don’t have any pictures, this was my favorite meal of the whole weekend, and the best I have had in Florence!  We had a five-course pasta sampler followed by chicken curry for me, and fresh (raw) fish for my dad!  Then we of course finished the night with tiramisu! I mean what else would you expect in Italy?  This meal ended pretty late, so afterwards we headed home. 

Friday morning I met my dad at the hotel and had a delicious breakfast!  Muesli with yogurt and peaches, accompanied by a cappuccino (number 1 and 2).  Afterwards we put on our comfortable shoes and climbed to the top of the Duomo!  I forget the exact number but somewhere around 450 steps to the top.  Think about it this way- if it’s 25 steps to the second floor of a building we walked up 18 floors.  It was sooo worth it.  It was truly a great way to start out the day.

Inside of my favorite room in the Palazzo Vecchio. 

After that we walked through the famous leather market, and then of course the central market!  One of my favorite parts of Florence!  I then went on to take my dad to see my schools campus, and to News Cafe to have cappuccino number 3 and 4.  Once we refilled on caffiene we walked through the Palazzo Vecchio, it was so beautiful!  I found it really interesting because in most of the rooms the walls were bare and white washed, but the ceilings were magnificent!  We then made our way across the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge that is full of jewelry!

The famous Ponte Vecchio!

We then had lunch at Mama Gina where we enjoyed some delicious ribollita!  A tuscan specialty! Of course followed by espresso number 5 and 6.  After lunch we walked around, did a little shopping, and just hung around the city.  We had dinner at a place called yellow, went out for some gelato and called it a night!  Overall we had a great day in Florence.

And for today I am making chicken noodle soup for dinner.  (Mom I didn't even use a recipe, and it's completely homemade, plus it's my first time to make it!)  All of my roommates are sitting in the kitchen drooling over the lovely aroma filling the air.  I just might have to share! 

Have a great day friends and family! 

I miss y'all! 

Ellen