Bologna- or lack there of.

This past Saturday my friends Amanda Kayla and I decided to make a little day trip to a neighboring town Bologna (pronounced bo-loan-yuh).  And what an adventure we had!

We of course started out our day with breakfast at News Cafe! Much to my surprise, the guy working there knew what I wanted! I am now officially a News Cafe Regular.  In case that isn't very significant to you- you can just think of it as Ellen making Italian friends!

After we finished our cappuccinos we made our way over to the train station and bought round trip tickets to Bologna without a single hitch.  Only to find that the tickets we bought were not for the train we thought! So we ended up waiting in line for about twenty minutes, only to find out that the next train we could take with the tickets we had purchased wasn't taking off for about another hour and a half!  We decided to use our time wisely, and went shopping!!! Which really wasn't that great, except I did pick up a much needed wool sweater.  Once we had stopped into enough stores, it was time to get on the train.  Which you might be surprised to hear- we did successfully! We got on the right train, but we missed our stop!

Stuck in Pistoia.  Whaat?

Hahah it was so funny, so we got off at the next stop, then got on another train (which we didn't have a ticket for) and rode back to the staion we were suposed to get off at!  THEN we were finally on the right train and only an hour and ten minutes to Bologna!

A building in Bologna? 

We finally arrived in Bologna 10 minutes to 3! And by this time we were starving. So our first mission was, to eat lunch/dinner.  Mission accomplished.  Unfortunately we didn't have a map, and as strange as this may sound we couldn't find one anywhere! Fearing we wouldn't be able to find the train station again, and worn out and flustered form our earlier train experience.  We decided it would be best if we avoided wandering to much.  After an hour or so of walking around we were basically worn out.  It was sooo busy there and the weather wasn't the best.  So we decided to head back to the train station.

Kayla and Amanda in front of....(clueless without a map)

  Much to our delight the next train to Florence was leaving in merely 9 minutes.  We stamped our tickets and waited on the train to arrive.  Only to discover we were on the wrong platform, we found the right one and ran there.  Luckily the train was still there, but yet again it was the wrong platfrom! The station had 3 platfroms, East Central and West.  We were at the East Platfrom when we found out we needed to be at the West platfrom! Thinking we might be able to make it on time we started running the opposite direction.  Even though it sounds miserable, it was actually a lot of fun!  But we missed the train!

Not a big deal, the next one was leaving in 30 minutes.  We sat on the platform and waited, got on succesfully and made it home around 9:15.  

The Bologna Train Station! Something I DO know. 

Which basically means that we spent around 6 hours in transit, and 3 hours at the actually destination. Overall it was fun a fun day, and we really did learn a lot.  Would I do it again? Yes definitely. 

eye candy

I don't have time to do a full post today (class in an hour).  But I thought I would share some pretty pictures with you.  Allison- these are for you :)

A few bikes locked up- literally a block away from me.

I'm not sure what they call these but they are all over the city.  If I am correct you are supposed to add a
lock with the person you love and it it supposed to "lock your love in"

Open air market in Ravenna

A green gate in Ravenna

Bikes.  I loved the red/white polka-dots they have on their bell and light. 

Art History!

So like I said in my previous post, we have already been on three field trips! And that is what this post is dedicated to!  First we went to the Duomo Baptistery! Wow! That was the first baptistrey I have ever been into (as far as I can remember)! It was absolutely stunning, I was honestly in shock!

Amanda and I waiting in the rain outside of the Duomo before going into the Baptistrey.

Inside of the Baptistery.  Gold. Everywhere. 

Then we walked up to San Miniato- which has the most beautiful view of the city. Get ready to climb some stairs Dad! 

Inside, yet another gorgeous church. 

This time Amanda and I are outside of San Miniato!
 You can get an idea of how pretty it was up there from
the background, but I don't to spoil it for you Dad! 

Then of course Ravenna! I have soo many pictures from this trip, so I tried to pick out a few favorites! 

Inside of one of the 10 cathedrals we went into.  I especially liked this one
 for the pastel colors and beautiful gold adornments.  Of course the
 walls (not shown) were covered in gold mosaics- what else do
you expect from an Early Christian church? 

This is basically a bathtub that a man named Theodoric was buried in.  But unfortunately only for 14 years before
he was broken out. (Look mom and dad, Im learning something!)

Recovered mosaics from the walls of this church- now on display gallery style.  I would easily go bak here just to
 stare at them.  I loved the childlike way they portrayed everything.  I could definitely do a whole post on just these. 

That's it for now! I hope things are swell back in the States! Let me know! Missing everyone. 

Ellen

P.S. Thanks for the sweet emails Paige and Anna! I am missing you guys like crazy! Do you want to come sleep under my bed Anna? And Paige, we have a big pantry, plenty of room for you! Lot's of love. 

yikes!

It's been a whole week since I have blogged! 

My goodness! All is well here in Florence, I am in my second week of classes! We are finally getting started on projects, and I have already been on 3 filed trips for art history! 

We went to Ravenna on Saturday, where we saw probably 10 Early Christian churches.  They were all so gorgeous.  Whenever we got to the last church of the day (the same one my professor had been raving about all day) my memory card stopped working! It said I had to reformat it...nothing I tried worked.  So after that I couldn't take anymore pictures and I couldn't get the 300 pictures I already had on there.  I was pretty bummed but after I left my camera alone for a few days and now it's back to normal!

So instead of trying to tell you everything thats happened over the last week I decided to show you with pictures! 

A street in Florence

Me in front of the Duomo! 

Some central market purchases!
Two nectarines, a free apple! ricotta and spinach stuffed pasta, bread and fresh salami (or something)

Some type of race going on on the Arno! Right behind my apartment! 

A (somewhat random) building (what looked like a vacated school) we happened upon in a garden across the river. 

Thats all for now! Off to check things off my to do list! 

One being make a sketchbook! Yay! 

Have a great day!

Ellen

  

Wednesday.

Wednesday. 

Wednesday morning I had class till noon. 

Wednesday I went to an Italian bakery for lunch. 

Wednesday afternoon I went shopping for class supplies. 

Late Wednesday afternoon I found an upscale grocery. 

On the way home on Wednesday I saw some pretty flowers. 

Wednesday evening I had this for dinner. 

Wednesday night I went out for gelato with some friends. 

I like Wednesday. 

modern day firenze

This is (in my opinion) the perfect picture of Florence. 

In the background you can see the excavation of a building.  With the Medici family monument in the front.  And let's not forget the tourists, then there are the guys on the left selling the paintings.  Over in the middle right there is the vendor cart selling drinks and snacks.  And although you can't really tell, the thing all the way on the right side of the photograph is the leather market! I die! 

Welcome to Florence! Ciao!

daily portrait

A sweet meringue one of my roommates surprised me with.