"There are places i'll remember, All my life though some have changed, Some forever not for better, Some have gone and some remain, All these places have their moments, With lovers and friends I still can recall, Some are dead and some are living, In my life I've loved them all" — John Lennon

There are certain times in your life when everything just feels perfect. Nothing could be better. Everyday is a new opportunity, a new adventure, another chance to experience. Life is simple and beautiful. Right now, is one of those times.
Everyday, I wake up in Italy. I go to class in Italy. I brush my teeth in Italy. Everything.is.awesome.

Seriously though, I'm so blessed, and I don't acknowledge it enough. So, here's a BIG thank you to my parents for funding my 'study abroad' aka semester vacation/general gallivanting around Europe. I know I don't say it enough, but I am incredibly thankful for your willingness to pay for me to go to TCU and Italy, regardless of the ridiculous cost and distance related transportation fees. Bottom line, I think you're pretty bomb and I love you. Andddd I can't wait for you to come visit!

Two weekends ago, our program took a day trip to Siena, just an hour bus ride away. Siena is a hilltop town rooted deep in Tuscany. Although very small, it has a quaint charm that makes you feel at home. The weather was a sunny, 55 degrees, and it was perfect for relaxing in the city square following our tours of churches and galleries. Siena had AMAZING views. You have to climb up very claustrophobic, winding stairs to see them, but it was so worth it. Even if you have to pass a fat man and his wife in the stairwell that's clearly not large enough for more than one person, it's worth it. Even if those people don't speak english, so the directions you are  attempting to spit out while pressed between the fat man's stomach and the wall are going completely unheard, it's worth it. I promise you, it's worth it.

The first Cathedral we went to. They have St. Catherine's pinky finger here. 

Everywhere you looked was beautiful

This building borders the city square. I can't remember the name, but it's the subject of many of my photos.

Yes, I am a creeper but this girl is too adorable

This is the most beautiful cathedral I've ever seen

They don't skimp on details in Siena

Amazing. 

On top of Siena's Duomo, yes this is after the dreaded stairs

Love this shot

The dome of the cathedral

So much beauty here. 

I'm serious. I had to fit past a fat Italian man in these stairs. I'm shocked I'm not still stuck, actually

The town square

Teal and Veronica relaxing

This adorable little one graced us with his presence multiple times

Teal is gorgeous. also, this was a candid

I absolutely loved Siena. It was incredibly beautiful, and I got to experience it with amazing friends. I also got a major work out walking up insane/treacherous hills disguised as streets, so win win win, I guess. Seriously, I didn't look, but I have to assume the women of Siena all have amazing asses--with every step I was discovering new muscles I never knew existed, but alas, I digress. To offset how lame this post is, I'll attempt to end it with some creativity. A haiku, if you may.

Pretty Siena
A Hilltop escape, you whip
My ass into shape

There you go, my attempt at humor. When I get my act together I promise to write about Carnivale in Venice!  But for now, Ciao, mi amici!

"Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free" -Mumford and Sons

I thought it would be appropriate to title this next post with a quote about love. After all, Verona is the city that inspired Shakespeare to write what many consider the ultimate love story, Romeo and Juliet. It is well known that this famous love story was nothing more than a expression of Shakespeare's creativity, but Verona remains a tourist destination for lovers from all around the world. I would venture to say that Verona, is more appropriately the 'City of Love.' Venice is charming, but Verona is truly a romantic city.

I'm sure my opinion of Verona was affected by the obnoxious love festival going on the weekend we were there. There were red and pink hearts covering the ground throughout the city, there was music, chocolate, and LOVERS EVERYWHERE. Let me tell you, everywhere. And the kind of lovers that make you want to vomit because their PDA is like a bad car crash. You want to look away, but you can't understand how they're not out of oxygen after making out that long. Okay, enough of my cynicism. I'm happy these people are in love, but I'd rather not feel like an awkward onlooker to their steamy public mushfest.

The architecture of Verona is beautiful. It's much more like what people imagine when they think of Italy. Aged buildings, plant covered balconies, clothes hanging from clothes lines, etc. It was a beautiful place, and I'd love to go back.

Ps. some of these pictures were taken by my friend Beth McElhannon as my camera battery died, so kudos, Beth, you're awesome.

Almost all the facades in Verona look like this; worn, ancient and beautiful.

Every wall around Juliet's balcony was covered with scribbles and love letters

Beth wrote a note for Juliet

Check the shadows from the plants

This looks adorable, but after 10 solid minutes of this, I promise you it wasn't

We stumbled upon this park randomly, so pretty

The arches mark the entrance to old towne Verona (Yes, I added and extra e after town, it just feels right)

Gorgeous fountain in front of an ancient Roman ampitheatre

Verona is home to one of the largest standing Roman ampitheatres

I felt like I was back at the Rose bowl, only this was a little bit older an slightly more impressive. Also, some might say the competition was a bit more brutal

The inner tunnels

This is my artsy side, I'm not going to lie, this picture was a total accident

The view from the top

Sepia tone seemed fitting with the old towne theme

A typical street in Verona

Alright, that's all I've got energy for today. Verona has a romantic charm that can pull even the most negative nancies out of their cynical cocoons. Then again, that lovefest could make a hopeless romantic want to vomit all over the streets. Regardless, Verona was a pretty awesome city. I can't say I'd be able to spend more than a few days there, but I definitely enjoyed myself.

“It is only after time has been given for a cool and deliberate reflection that the real voice of the people can be known” -George Washington

These past few weeks have flown by. I've been living in Florence for over a month now, and I can't believe it's already March. When I arrived, I was incredibly comfortable with the amount of time I have here. But now, time feels like it is slowly slipping away, and I can no longer say that I am confident that I will accomplish everything I want to while here. It may have been a bit ignorant for me to assume I'd leave feeling like I'd seen everything I wanted to see, after all, there's always something new to see, however, it's much more blissful to think that this whole semester will be a perfect fairytale.

I've done quite a bit of traveling since arriving. I realize I haven't really shared any details of my trips yet. Every time I sit down to blog I find myself listing out seemingly aimless details of our activities, and then promptly erasing everything because it lacks life or I just don't feel like continuing. I believe I've come to some sort of minor realization that the reason I can't think of what to write is because I haven't taken any of my incredibly prevalent free time to reflect on what I experienced. I haven't thought about what each place means to me, I've just used my travel exhaustion as an excuse to sleep and delay any activity that takes slight effort. So, this is my attempt to untangle all of the thoughts and emotions that I've experienced in the places I've visited so far (Bologna, Verona, Siena, and Venice) and compile them into semi coherent sentences that will convey what's in my brain to all of you faithful readers. ;)

I could list out details of our itinerary and names of who went, but that all seems a bit unnecessary and besides the point to me. I'm going to let my pictures do most of the talking, and I'll interject with words where I feel necessary. After all, a picture's worth 1000 words, right? Cliche, I know, but I can't even attempt to describe the beauty I've seen in some of these places, and frankly, I don't want to try.

First off, Bologna.

The main Piazza in Bologna

I couldn't help but take a picture of this adorable doggy drinking out of an incredibly old fountain

This little guy got so much enjoyment out of chasing the pigeons. If only we all could embrace things like this more often. 

So cute.

The thing I liked most about Bologna was the open air market. 

Some of the freshest, most colorful foods can be found here. 

These are replicas of famous paintings that I can't remember the name of. Regardless, they were cool to see.

This cathedral was so beautiful. The sun shone in and split the darkness like a knife. It's amazing how every inch is so incredibly detailed. 

This is an example of typical architecture in Bologna. I love the oversized mahogany doors, they create such a contrast against the weathered stone facade. 

This is one of my best memories in Bologna. CREPES. they were amazing. The woman who made them possesses some sort of magical skill that I can only wish to obtain someday. 

This crepe was like a wonderful explosion of strawberries, sugar and mascarpone that ended in the the most flavorful fireworks you've ever tasted. 

We visited this Modern Art Museum, which was really interesting at parts, and really creepy at parts. Needless to say, Teal and I got bored, and started experimenting with the slow shutter speed on my camera. This is the result.

Bologna, in a nutshell, is a very cool city. It's more modernized that Florence, so it felt more like home. It is also home to the largest University in Italy, so that meant that our taste buds were treated to amazing food that our wallets appreciated as well. The architecture is very interesting and there are plenty of museums to see. Overall I liked Bologna a lot, but I realize the reason why  I liked it so much is because I got to experience it with people I love. Playing around with my camera in a museum would not have been anywhere near as fun by myself as it was with Teal. Staying in a hostel for the first time was far less intimidating when I was surrounded by seven girls I have begun to know and love. Traveling is about seeing and experiencing, but if you have no one to share it with, it's far less meaningful. I'm so appreciative that the people I have gotten to know here are so warm and welcoming, it's made every experience here much more exciting and interesting.

So, there you have it. My first travel experience. I was going to try and combine all of my excursions into one post, but I quickly realized that would be one monstrous, never-ending post. So, I'll write more soon, I promise.
Arrividerci!