Nice to Be Home

The past few weeks have been a blur.  Classes are starting to pick up and I’ve been traveling every weekend.  I can not believe it is already half way through February…that means I’ve been in Florence for over a month!

A few weeks ago our program took us through Tuscany on a weekend trip.  Our first stop was Assisi, a small city on a hill surrounded by walls.  We saw and toured St. Francis’ Church which was definitely the highlight for me considering I work at the St. Francis House soup kitchen in Boston.  Seeing the actual place was unreal and reinforced the meaning behind St. Francis’ teachings of helping others.  I also found out that he created the first nativity scene!

Next stop was Perugia.  Amazing view at the top of the city but even better chocolate.  I was surprised to find out that a lot of students study there too.  The next day we traveled to Siena.  Siena is unique because the city is broken up into sub sections.  For example, you could be a goose, dragon, or even a caterpillar!  It’s these smaller communities that compete in the huge horse race held twice a year in the main square. 

Finally we went to San Gimignano.  This smaller city is famous for its taller towers and beautiful vineyard views.  I hope to come back to all of these cities one day and explore them more in depth!

The following weekend Joe and I headed to Germany.  We rented a car and covered 6 towns and over 600 miles in two days.  It was amazing.  Highlights included the adorable town of Rothenburg, climbing the church steeple in Norlindgen, the beautiful church in Weinshiche, and of course the Neuschwanstein castle.  The views and towns we saw were breathtaking. 

This past weekend I traveled to Prague with all of my roommates and met up with Taylor.  Prague was a fun older city with a modern feel.  We saw the John Lennon wall and walked up to the castle.  It was colder than Florence (I felt like I was in Boston!) so we ended up getting delicious hot chocolate.  Saturday night we went on a fun pub crawl after a wonderful dinner at a vegetarian restaurant called Radost.  Only negatives were that the first hostel we stayed in had bed bugs (eww!) but luckily they moved us to a nicer one.

After all of that traveling it is good to be back in Florence!  We are all staying here this weekend which will be very relaxing and fun (it is my birthday after all!).  Skyped with a lot of my family last night which made me miss them a lot.  I know I’m so blessed to be able to have this experience but sometimes I do miss the comforts and familiarity of home.  Counting down the days until my family comes!

More to come soon!