Sienna, San Gimignano, and Assisi

Last Saturday and Sunday we went to Sienn San Gimignano and Assisi...if you didn't read the title of the post. They were all gorgeous. They had wonderful architecture and great history.History that I was really interested in! In Sienna we saw the actual body of the most famous patron saint. They had a mask over her skull but it was her actual body. They also had her actual thumb in a separate case. A little strange but interesting. Also I would say Sienna's church was hands down the most beautiful I've seen in all of Italy. It was insane how pretty it was inside. In San Gimignano we ate at a place known to be the BEST gelato in the WORLD. Ehhh it was okay. I still like the one near my apartamento better.

In Assisi we saw The St. Francis basilica.We also saw the hair of St. Clare that she had cut off for religious purposes.Again a little strange...but interesting. All of these places were amazing!I really suggest everyone visit them! But until then, just enjoy the pictures.

Cinque Terre-A fall that was worth it...Kinda.

Hello there friends! I know it's been a while since I've updated, so I wanted to tell you about a few trips I've taken recently. Let's start with the infamous Cinque Terre!! It is said by some to be the most beautiful place in Italy. It is the place that we were originally supposed to go to for an overnight trip with our program, but was changed to Verona due to weather conditions. They claimed it was to dangerous to go to while it was raining, apparently it's not the safest place to go to in beautiful weather either. Now, Cinque Terre means five towns. These towns are con

nected by four trails. People go, not just to enjoy the beautiful beach water, but also to hike. Yes, I said HIKE. Now if you know Roni, you know Roni is not a HIKER. Roni can barely go up a hill without wanting to turn around. Roni is a full blown LA city girl, that has never even embraced nature until I came here. Now that you know that, I'll tell my story. We wake up early Friday morning excited to go to the lovely Cinque Terre. I originally plan to put on a dress, but I see everyone in shorts and decide to change. One of my roommates comes in and asks why I'm wearing sandals. I reply, "Isn't it like the beach?" She says yes, but we're hiking. I felt like she was speaking in Italian to me, because I didn't understand. "Welll I was just planning to lay out at the beach, but I guess I can go with you guys" I think to change my shoes, but somehow I forget. Once we arrive, the place is realllly as amazing as everyone says it is. We sit down on the beach and eat our lunches we brought. "This is my kind of day," I thought. One of my roommate suggests we start the hike. Ianne tells me we'll just go for a while, and come back to the water. Talking myself into trying something new, I agree to go. We start walking. We go up several steps, and of course I take several pauses. I think more than once to turn around, but I keep pushing. We pass sooo much beauty on the trail, I begin to get excited. We stop at a waterfall, and I indulge in it. I put my feet in, and take some pictures. I was really having a good time. We continue walking, but somehow we get off the path. The path we're on is very narrow. I tell Ianne "Oh my gosh, my friends wouldn't believe I'm doing this!" I also say, "Did I mention how bad my balance is?" This is when I start looking at how high up we are. We keep walking and realized the path is closed off. We turn around, and as we head back, my foot slips down off the side of the cliff, and my body follows it. Now don't ask me why there was not a rail or anything between us and the edge, because guess what, I DON'T KNOW! Before I knew it, I was grabbing onto Ianne's hand trying to hold on for dear life! All I could think was if I let go, my life is over! No my life didn't flash before my eyes, because I knew it wasn't my time. All that went on in my head was I have to get up from here, NOW! I kept looking up at my roommates who were screaming for someone to get help. I then realized I was in excruciating pain! I was stuck in a thornbush! I begin to scream, "I'm in pain, I'm in pain"! Ianne, who is my hero, jumped down and pulled me up! Little did I know, there was some leveled ground beneath me, and I wasn't about to roll down the hill. I wiped my legs that were covered and blood , and finally found a way back up. We rushed to this booth that wasn't that far to get help. When we got there, the lady saw my legs and instantly began shaking her head in anger. She was Brazilian, and she had a little feisty attitude. My legs hurt so bad, I snapped and said, "I don't need your attitude, I need your help!" She ended up being very nice, and gave me disinfectant for my legs. My roommates picked thorns out of my cuts, and my legs looked pretty awful. They're currently still healing. I was ready to just head home, but they talked me into just going to the next town which "wasn't that far away", to just relax there. I reluctantly agreed, and after about TWO hours, we finally made it to that town. I have to admit that I'm glad I continued on the path, it was really a wonderful place. It would have been better if that didn't happen, but no sense of crying over spilt milk. It was really a great place, and I still suggest you go BUT Moral of the story: When hiking, wear PROPER shoes.

In case anyone is wondering about the STUDY part of Study Abroad, I have received two papers and one quiz back since I've been here...all A's! Leggoo.

Lucca

So Saturday we took a train a couple ours away to another famous city in Tuscany. (The region of Italy I'm in) It was such a peaceful trip. The city is soo quiet and green. There's not many tourists, which makes it much more relaxed. We walked around the city walls, and observed the beauty surrounding us. The people there rode bikes and walked a lot. It wasn't as much crazy traffic as it is in Florence. There was even a family sitting in the park talking and enjoying wine together. There were also a lot of young lovers sitting in different areas of the park. We watched all of this as we sat on the swings. Loved it.

Secret Bakery

So there's this secret bakery....that is sooo good! Not many Americans know about it. It's more of an Italian thing. They start selling at 1am, and end at about 3am. They're not supposed to be because it's right beneath a residence, and they have a quiet police, so I hope no Italian Police look at my page hehe. Anyways, when you get there it's like a drug deal. There are signs on the door in English and Italian telling you to be quiet. You lightly tap on the door, and this guy comes out and whispers what do you want? Me and my friends all said something chocolate. You hand him ONLY one euro, and he brings out an amazingg croissant. When I first bit into it, I didn't think it was that good....but the warm chocolate filling in the middle made it sooo much better. Another one of my favorite things about Italy. :)