20 things I'm looking forward to and 36 things I'm going to miss

I only have approximately 3 weeks left on my study abroad experience, and in preparation I have been doing some reflecting. I decided that I wanted to compile a list of everything I'm going to miss and everything I'm looking forward to. This is what I've compiled: 

20 Things I'm looking forward to: 

1. Seeing all of you wonderful friends and family, and maybe most importantly, Coco Bambina. 
2. Having a working washer and a dryer. 
3. My car. (I'm going to be such a bad driver)
4. Driving to get groceries (and being able to pack the cart!!)
5. Not getting hissed at when I walk down the street alone. 
6. Lake Michigan and all it entails (sailing, beach, swimming, Lake Shore Drive)
7. Chicago/Evanston/Bloomington
8. Summer
9. Baseball (well all American sports really, basically not soccer) 
10. STARBUCKS
11. CHIPOTLE
12. Being able to wear stilettos (No cobblestone). 
13. No longer having to study art. 
14. Trees (Florence lacks foliage)
15. Not having neighbors that yell at you in Italian. (I swear were innocent!)
16. Losing my new found gelato weight. 
17. Being able to walk down the street without being bombarded by gypsies and tourists. 
18. Being free of the Euro. 
19. Being free of cigarette smoke.
20. Getting carded!!

36 Things I am going to miss about Florence/my study abroad experience:

1. Doing things solely for my pleasure. 
2. Freedom
3. Gelato
4. Being surrounded by amazing art all of the time. 
5. The "Grazie Lady" every morning on the Ponte Vecchio
6. My incredible apartment
7. Laying out on my terrace of said incredible apartment
8. Having time to read
9. Having the ability to pick up and go to another place in Europe any weekend I wanted. 
10. The prevalence of vino over beer. 
11. The Tuscan hills
12. Looking at the duomo while brushing my teeth
13. My new found friends and roomies
14. Kebab
15. Italian television
16. Speaking Italian out of the classroom
17. Lockness Club
18. The old man that inches down my street every day. 
19. The fresh produce
20. The fantastico shopping 
21. The class of Europeans in general (and no I'm not referring to the skeezy Italians who hang out where the American girls are...)
22. Karaoke at Michael Collins 
23. Beatles cover band every Tuesday at Bebop
24. My teacher Franco's odd humor
25. Vespas
26. Relaxing at the Boboli Gardens on a sunny day
27. Terracotta rooftops 
28. The jazz musicians that play in the square near my house
29. The best cappucino. As well as getting cappucino 5 times a day. 
30. The charm that Florence carries
31. Football (soccer) fans- and being able to hear the screams of the games from my window. 
32. The church bells on Sundays (as well as the churches)
33. Being able to walk everywhere
34. Festivals at Santa Croce and the San Lorenzo market
35. The "Va Bene" (It's good) mentality
36. Having absolutely NOTHING to complain about. 

Just some pics from Conor's visit and Greece

Conor's Visit, Spring Break in Greece and My Birthday!

I have been tremendously negligent of the blog. So I have a lot to catch up on. 

6 days after I went to the Chianti region (3/8/08) Conor came to visit! We had a great time. I took him all over Florence. We saw the David, went to the Boboli Gardens, climbed the duomo and the Michelangelo hill, and got amazing gelato. We also went to a jazz concert at the theater across the street from my house. That week wasssss midterms, however. AND, on top of all that it was Kelsey's 21st birthday. It was one of the best weeks I've had here nonetheless. 

The week after that was spring break, and my birthday!! We traveled all the way to Greece. Trisha and I led went ahead of everyone else. It was a long stressful trip (like missing a train, almost missing a second, and then not being able to find our hostel at 1 in the morning...) but it was all worth it. We stayed the night in Athens then took an 8 hour ferry to the island of Ios where we were welcomed by a man named Petros, who owned our hotel. The next day, the rest of our 11 person group joined us. Our hotel was on the beach and the island was basically deserted. It was incredibly beautiful. Petros took care of us and was so sad to see us leave. 

There was only a couple restaurants open. There was a family restaurant (or shall I say "house") we went to every day for lunch. They would make us these amazing meals while we hung out for hours. They had a little son named Orphaeus. He was our primary form of entertainment. The family was so nice and thoughtful. They knew it was my birthday a few days in advance, and we told them we would come. The woman made me a cake! It was delicious. 

We celebrated my birthday at the one bar that was open on top of the mountain. We basically took over the place. A good time was had by all. The day of my birthday we left for the island of Naxos. We went out to dinner on the marina. We had the owner bring us his favorites on the menu. It was the most spectacular seafood I've ever had. Then Trish and I left on a ferry back to Athens. It was an overnight ferry back, and we fell asleep watching American television (Prison Break) with the lights on. Needless to say, it was not the most satisfying sleep.  

We arrived in Athens at 5:30 in the morning. When the sun finally rose, it was a gray spring day. We made friends with a metro employee (he will remain anonymous for his protection) who took our bags (after getting turned down by our previous hostel- yuck). He was more than helpful. A perfect example of Greek friendliness. In fact, every Greek person I met was super duper friendly. They put the Italians to shame. They also start speaking Greek to me whenever I walk in anywhere. Way more than the Italians actually. Sorry tangent. So Trish and I traveled around Athens. We found this adorable little neighborhood where this little old lady, literally stuck half of her body out of the window to give us directions, which were translated by a Greek man standing on the street. This is where we found STARBUCKS. It was a very happy moment. We sat and discussed the rest of our day outside, while drinking an Iced Grande Skim Vanilla Latte. Heaven. We then went and climbed the Acropolis.  

The Acropolis was as cool as I remembered. Unfortunately, they were doing some type of restoration on it while we there. Still, it had the most magnificent view of the city. While Trisha and I were standing there looking out, it slowly started to rain. I couldn't help think how appropriate, as it was Good Friday. So we walked down (slipping quite a bit) and explored the city. When we were too tired to walk anymore (around 2) we went to the airport to catch our flight. 

When we arrived in Florence, I walked across the street from the train station to the Hotel Baglioni, and my family was there! It was a great end to the best spring break ever.