Thursday, February 23, 2012

5 Things I Heart

1. A: an Italian magazine I like to get here. I love it because it is only a euro and has just as much fashion, italian news, and gossip articles as the next women's magazine.


2. Elegant Drinks: While in Venice I stopped by a bar for a warm drink since it was a bit nippy outside. This elegant hot chocolate warmed me right up  .


3. Trains: trains are a fast and inexpensive way to get from city to city.  Plus, look at the pretty graffiti on it. 

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4. Mask for Carnevale: Green is not a color I usually go for but as soon as I saw this lovely mask I decided I simply could not do without it. This mask was perfect for Carnevale. Wearing it made me lower my inhibitions. No one knew who I was, I could do whatever I pleased. And you bet that I did just that. 



5. Long Italian Names For Small Towns: Italy has the strangest names sometimes. Well, they are strange to foreigners. For example, on the way to Venice we stopped at a small town called Pontelagoscuro which translates to, dark lake bridge. Hehe, oooohhh Italy.   



Mia♡

My Bike Ride in Lucca


Since I've been here in Italy I have been working on making myself a more active person. So when I read in my Italy travel guide that Lucca had this beautiful park that rented bikes to tourists I was sold. My roommate Laura headed to Lucca a day after the Siena trip. At first the weather was horrible. We went early so the first hour was cloudy and cold. Luckily, by the time we got our bikes the sun was out and everything was well. I enjoyed my day in Lucca. The park was full of runners, bikers, and families going out for strolls. 
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This was something like I had not seen before.
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Laura loves to take pictures. :)
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I hadn't been on a bike since Yeni came to Napa for that bike ride in the Spring. The feeling I got while on this bike was like no other it felt so good. 
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Laura was just as happy about our bike ride. 
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I felt so free.
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This is at the train station. I am getting so used to being on trains all the time. It will take awhile to get used to not being on them when I go back home. 
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We biked around the town twice and walked another half of the way. :) I will definitely be back when the weather gets better. 


Mia♡

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A Day in Siena

A few weeks ago Laura, Vicky and I planned a trip to Lucca. The morning of the trip we went to the train station to buy our tickets only to find out there was scoperaa strike, going on that day. We then quickly changed our plans and hopped on a train to Siena. This was a lovely unexpected trip. :) Here are the pics:
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Me and Vicky <3 
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Il Duomo di Siena
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Me and Laura at Fonte Gaia, the "Fountain of Joy".

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Please let me in, I swear I've been good!

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Isn't Siena beautiful?

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These are must in Italy...of course I don't have the funds or the lady balls to ride one of these.

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I thank the Lord and my parents every single day because I truly feel blessed to be here.

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Tried out Chinese food for a change and I'm glad we did because it was delicious!!

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Needed a break from the pasta overload.

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Being surrounded by all this beauty made me feel beautiful.

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My two lovely friends.

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Gorgeous Siena 

 Mia♡

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

5 Things I Love This Week.

1. Klab: If you are my friend on Facebook then you have seen me mention Klab a few times. It is the gym that I go to at least 4 days a week. It is literally 2 minutes walking distance from my house and I love it! Sure, it is super expensive, I registered when I had a pretty good income. Now it is my escape where I love to go to to let loose.

 2. FACE: Florentine Association for Culture Exchange, aka FACE is a group that puts events together for foreign students. The club is also open to anyone who wants to meet people from other countries and practice different languages. It's pretty cool cuz my roomie and I go to practice our Italian, sing at karaoke and have met some pretty nice people. It's nice to make some new friends since I lost pretty much all of my Via Lingua crew, except for Vicky. Everytime we get together it is a good time for sure. :)  

3. Adriana: is my new roomie that I've had now for about 3 weeks. She is here from Mexico studying architecture and likes to have a good time. Like no seriously, last week we went out 5 days in a row.  Well, she went out with me 4 out of the 5 times. lol. I'm glad she is our new roomie.  
 

4. Bag Tax: Anytime you go to the supermarket here you have to take a reusable bag. If not you are charged for every bag that you need. It's not much but of course everyone is trying to save some cents so we try to take our bags everytime. This is a nice way to be eco-friendly and is something we should consider doing back home.

5. Clean Streets: You would be surprised how clean Italy is. The streets are washed every night by these big machines, men go around picking up any trash seen around. It is beautiful. Italians know that they get most of their money from tourists and tourists like clean streets. More than that, they like having a clean home. Every night, without fail the streets are cleaned. I love it!

Mia

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Piazzale Michelangelo

Two weekends ago my roommates and I finally had the chance to visit Piazzale Michelangelo here in Florence. Piazzale Michelangelo has the best view of Florence. Here are our pics from this lovely afternoon.

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This place is named after Michelangelo Buonarroti who created the David.
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Me and my homie David
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Laura, the artist. 

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Il Palazzo Vecchio
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Il Ponte Vecchio
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A pic with the Basilica di Santa Maria Del Fiore aka the Duomo. 
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A pic with the Ponte Vecchio "Old Bridge"
                                                                               Mia