Firenze Day 32: It's Been a Month!!!

Ciao Ragazzi!

I have been here for 32 days. You know what that means... a little over a month! Wow. Craziness. I have been out of the country for over a month now. I have been in Italy for over a month now. Ahhhhh! (Good "Ahhhhh!" by the way.)


You: Yes, Amanda I think we get your point. You have been gone for a little over a month now... and we are thrilled. 
Me: Thrilled that I am gone? 
You: Yeah, uh, wha--no...? 
Me: Whatever we are moving on now. 


I have some funny things to tell you on this post and my main inspiration for the funniness we are about to embark upon are my Facebook entries. I was just recently looking over them and started cracking up. This week was a rather funny one. So, let's start with my entries I'm still mulling over. 

Dear Delicious Nutella Crepe,
I am going to sing a Kiss song to you. Ready? Ok. "I was made for loving you baby. You were made for loving me."
Love, 
Manders 


Now, remember my little obsession with these delicious nutella infused crepes? Have I even talked about them on these posts. I'm sure I have. I talk about them ALL the time on Facebook. I really am obsessed with these delicious goodies. I am going to miss them so much when I go back home. 
Well, anyhow... the reason I wrote this post on my Facebook was because well... (Tears are going to spring from my eyeballs.) ...our (meaning my roommate and my) favorite crepe place, which is just right across the street from our apartment has been closed for three days in a row.
What is the meaning of this insanity???
Our they closed forever?

We have been going crazy. Thursday night has become our Crepe Night, but that becomes a little difficult when there are no more crepes to supply on Crepe Night. It is the saddest thing in the world. We are literally having withdrawals. We NEED our nutella crepes!!!! 
So I really don't know what we are going to do about this situation. We will just have to find a new place that is open. They have these waffles they sell on the streets that smell ridiculously good and guess what they serve on these delicious looking waffles?
That's right. 
Nutella. 


Ok moving on to my next Facebook entry of the week. (These aren't in order by the way.)


Ok, so I was double checking my homework on Google translator and I totally messed something up. The sentence was supposed to say: Metto le chiavi della sul tavolo. Which means: I put the keys on the table. But instead of writing "chiavi" which means keys I accidentally wrote "chiava" which apparently--according to Google translator--means f**k. So, I basically just said: I put the f**k on the table. Great. And now [my roommate] will never forget this. 


Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha (as you can see off to the left, this gave me a good laugh). Yep, it was late at night, I was just double checking my homework and this came up. The funny thing about it, though, was that I had typed the sentence in, but didn't look down at it for a while because I was discussing something with my roommate, then when I glanced down at my screen I saw a really horrible, nasty, four letter word that rhymes with a ton of other words: firetruck, suck, duck, muck, luck, Chuck, buck, stuck, struck, etc. 

At first I was stunned. Horrified. I could barely breathe. 
I couldn't have possibly written that. What had I done wrong? 
Well, apparently the only thing I did wrong was add an "a" where an "i" should have been. Craziness I tell you. 
My roommate saw that I has a most disturbed look on my face and asked what the matter was. I told her and then we both started cracking up so hard. I literally had tears in my eyes I was laughing that hard. Then my roommate kept posting stuff on my wall to remind me not to switch the "i" and the "a" around at which point I wrote this entry on my Facebook. 


Next Facebook entry.

Ok, so I finished "The Art of Racing in the Rain." One word: FABULOUS! I am in LOVE with this book!!!!


Yes, this really was an absolutely fabulous book and I totally recommend it to EVERYONE, but the main reason I wanted to share this particular post with you was because I read something very interesting on one of my favorite author's 

blog's bio page (good Lord that was a mouth full). Her name is Elizabeth Eulberg and she is a fabulous author by the way. READ HER BOOKS! They are really cute, quick reads. She has written "The Lonely Hearts Club," "Prom and Prejudice," and her third book coming out is called "Take a Bow." 

Anyhow, I was reading the biography section of her blog and I came across an interesting section about her love to travel. Like me, she went on a study abroad trip, except she went to Switzerland for a little bit. She brought a couple of books from home with her and then finished them. Then she had to go to the small English section of the bookstore to buy some more books to read. Well, I though that was funny because I am in the same situation. I am on a study abroad trip. I brought books with me from home and now I am down to one. I will have to buy another book soon. I am friends with her on Facebook and I told her this. She thought that was funny and told me to have a blast. She is so awesome. 


Next Facebook entry.


Pizza at Gusto Leo tonight! Yumminess is on its way! :)

Ok (Is it just me or do I say "Ok" A LOT?) so if you are planning a trip to Florence GO to Gusto Leo. Their food is delicious, ESPECIALLY their pizza. It is crazy incredible. I love, love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE their food. I've eaten their twice already and almost screamed at the top of my lungs the pizza there was that good. I am not a tomato sauce person, but their tomato sauce is OUT OF THIS WORLD DELICIOUS. I got a salami pizza with bell peppers. Super duper alley ooper delicious people. Give them a try. I went there on Monday (I think... or maybe it was Sunday night) and then again on Wednesday night for a friend's birthday. Actually our whole Oregon group (except for one girl who, unfortunately, was sick that night) went out to dinner to celebrate my friend's birthday. She shares the same b-day as my brother: October 19th. (Happy Birthday Andrew!!!) It was a lot of fun. And the food was, once again, delicious!!! 


Next Facebook Post.

Went to the Brancacci Chapel and personally saw the Expulsion of Adam and Eve. SO cool! :)


So, after I wrote this my mother's friend (you know who you are) thought that if I personally saw the Expulsion of Adam and Eve I must have been on some sort of drugs. Uh, no... I don't do drugs. Let me rephrase my sentence: Went to the Brancacci Chapel and personally saw the PAINTING of the Expulsion of Adam and Eve. So cool! :)
There.
Is that better?
Are you convinced now?

Moving on... this was a neat trip. We didn't actually go with our Art History teacher because we only see her on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We went on Monday because this Chapel is, oddly enough, closed on Tuesdays. This was a very cool Chapel. This section of it, the part that depicts the life of St. Peter, survived a fire. I thought that was absolutely fascinating. St. Peter by the way (just watch my Art History snazziness unfold) was the next follower of Christ. He took over the church after him. AND if you ever see a picture of a saint being crucified upside down it HAS to be St. Peter because Peter WANTED to go this way. He did not want to be crucified the same way as Christ was because he did not feel nearly as worthy as the savior. This is why in Rome it is called St. Peter's Basilica because Peter was buried there. 
Interesting eh? 


Next Facebook post.

This is Cosimo the Elder.  

LOVED learning about the Medici family today. SO fascinating!!! :)


Before I delve into this one I just want to make an interesting note: Boy do I like to leave smiley faces after all my Facebook postings? I just must (that rhymes) be that wonderful optimistic gal who has to leave a smiley face after every entry.
Or maybe I am part Barbie doll...?
No, that is impossible on SO many levels. 
Moving on to my main point. (Remember earlier, about me telling you that I am a gemini and our thoughts like to jump around like chimpanzees on crack? Yep, just had that little moment of crackin' chimpanzeeness.) 
What was my main point anyhow?
OH YES! 
The Medici family. 
Yes, I was absolutely FASCINATED by them. It amazed me how such a small family run banking business ended up being one of the most powerful families in all of Europe. I was also fascinated with the fact that Lorenzo the Magnificent adopted little Michelangelo!!!! Craziness right??? Michelangelo was adopted by the Medici family!!! My mouth literally dropped open when I discovered this news. 

Seriously. 
It dropped open. 
I was that fascinated. Haha. I sound like such a nerd. Oh well, so be it. 
After class that day I walked down to the Duomo and then strolled down the Medici Palace, which was originally drawn up by Brunelleschi (You know, the guy who completed the Dome?), but was then refused, maybe because his ideas could have been too lavish and the Medici didn't really want to be in the public eye. 


I think that is about it for this week. Oh hold on! 
What about yesterday?
Here was my post.


Went to an outlet mall today to go see some spiffy stores like Gucci, Armani, Prada, etc... and practically everything was 50% off. So instead of paying 1,500 euros for a coat you can just pay 750 euros. Hahaha. Craziness! 

Yes, my friends and I took an hour bus ride (which made me SUPER car sick) through the hills of Tuscany for this mall. This mall had some really nice coats, but honestly... 500 euros for a freaking coat? 210 euros for a scarf??? Even if I was a millionaire I wouldn't have paid for that. You can find something that looks just like that coat or scarf for a MUCH cheaper price at Target. It was funny. I kind of looked like bum in the shops. My eyes had a lot of exercise. They kept getting big and small and big and small and BIG!
Would you like to know what I ended up paying for? 
A cappuccino that costed me 1.75 euros. Yep. Haha. 

Ok I'm pretty sure that is about it. I have to study for my midterms this weekend. I feel very confident about my Art History class. 
Alright folks. I will blog to you later.


Arrivederci! 
~Manders