Hey y’all I know I have already done my 6 blogs but i was thinking about this and decided to do one more. I wanted to ask each of you what your favorite gelato place was and why? Was it the location, the name, the flavors, etc? My favorite place was La Strega Nocciola because I was able to try Lavanda which was recommended to me! Alright now let’s see your favorite places! Dr. Permenter and Dr. O Connor you can way in on this too!

Even though we literally only spent a day in this city , I had a great time! I was able to eat a panzoretti and go to the catherdral as well as shop at h&m for the first time ever! And I was able to see the sunset from my hotel window 🙂 We didn’t do to much so there isn’t much to write about. I will say though that I am sad to say goodbye to this beautiful country but maybe one day I will be back :).

So there is a lot to say about this city! It was cool to stay in a nunery even though the beds were a little hard lol. It was great seeing two different castles. Climbing up the hill was really tough for me but I eventually got there! It took a few minutes for my heart to stop beating like a base drum and then i was able to enjoy my experience at the castle! Poppi was beautiful all the way around and i even took pictures of the sunset on the bus from poppi to bologna! Such an enjoyable experience!

So being in Bologna even though it was only one day was amazing! I walked around by myself for a while but then I got to the tower. “Man is this thing massive and really high up” is what I thought to myself when I first approached it. At first I looked at a paper on the wall and was so confused because I thought it was 18,40 to climb! I went around to find someone to tell me but when I came back around I heard two girls talking about going up or not. We all spoke English and so I begin to talk to them and then took the treacherous climb to the top of the tower. On the way up i found out the they were flight attendants who flew in from Dubai. In my picture the girl on my right is from England and the other girl is from China. When we got to the first landing I saw people from my group which was great. Once we got to top my heart was pounding so hard and I was so out of breath but the view was incredible! It was only 3 euros and it was so worth it! Thanks Bologna for a wonderful day! I hope to be back! The flight attendant girls 🙂

When we had our free day in florence I decided to just stay in Florence. Since I stayed I did my walk in Florence assignment. I walked to the Ponte Vecchio and then went and got lost on purpose. While I got lost I found my way to the Boboli gardens. I paid 10 euros to get in but oh my was it so worth it! I was able to take lovely pictures in Florence and I even drew the top of a tower. I loved being in Florence and I already miss it! If any of y’all come to florence go to the gardens because it is so worth it!

We have only been in Florence for a few days but it already feels like home. I’ve been comfortable enough to walk down the street and then come back to the apartment because I know where I’m going. Once I see landmarks I know, then it makes it easier for me. We haven’t seen too many things so far but my favorite thing that we have seen is the David sculpture. I have seen other people saying about pictures “words cannot describe what this looks like in person” and that’s totally true. When I came around that corner and saw David in the background my jaw had dropped. I never realized how massive this sculpture was until I saw it in person! I just studied him for a while and even tried to draw his body but I couldnt do it. I ended up drawing the dome above him instead 🙂 being here is great and like my title says ” can I just live here?”

Well first of all, all I can say about this trip is wow! I have never been out of the country before and so I did not know what to expect. I was a little afraid of flying over the ocean for the first time because I’ve never done that before, but thankfully I was in the middle seat so I didn’t see out the window so I didn’t have to worry about that , but still I was a little nervous about everything. I have been flying since I was 11 so flying was no big deal for me but flying out of the country was kind of a big deal. When we got to Rome, I just took it all in because it it is just so amazing. A lot of the stuff here does not look like it does back home. I remember reading a sentence from one of our readings that said “a tourist would say nothing is like it is back home.” Well that’s so true because no culture is the same. Everything we do back home l people here in Italy do it differently, they don’t do it like anyonebelse. If you’ve noticed people are more quieter and yeah there’s more craziness about getting around and always bumping into people but you’re still in somebody else’s home and so you have to learn how to  understand their culture and see things from their point of view of how they see the world. I have come to realize that being here is wonderful and a few of us including me have said “can we just live here?” So far going to Rome and being in Florence I have just had a great time so far. Most of y’all know I struggled with my feet hurting everyday especially  around the last full day where I was crying because I was in so much pain. I think it’s because I’m not used to walking this much so that’s probably what happened. But seeing the different kinds of sites in Rome, I have no words for it. the Colosseum, the Pantheon, everything was just amazing and I have to agree that everything we’ve read in our books that we read in school has all come to life since we’ve been here. I’m so glad I’m having this experience because it is an experience of a lifetime. Who knows, I may come back again but I’m taking everything in now while I can because I don’t know when I’ll ever come back. I’m looking forward to many more opportunities while we’re here especially in Bologna where I’m able to see somebody I know. It’s been wonderful so far.