Good friends = Good times

This blog is dedicated to the lovely ladies that I have lived with for the past month. It has been real. Canto De Nelli for life!!

Emily/ Mama-bear

What is there to say?  You have been my roommate for the past month, I can always count on you to push our beds together so there is virtually only one bed. (I love to cuddle).   It seems like we have been planning this trip for years, when really it was like a 5 months.  We have grown so much closer since that first day we arrived in Florence and I’m glad to say we are “best friends best friends”.  You were the one who was always trying to keep us idiots together and get us back in one piece, for that I thank you.  You were always the person I could vent to and then I would stir you up and we would vent together ( good times, good times). When I think of you I think of Our 500+ date pictures, your German speaking abilities, cartwheels( you are going to hurt yourself), Never taking a good picture, the weird vegetable soups you always order, State of the art directional skills, Diffuser, money belts, falling asleep while typing on your computer after a long night, the market, and your questionable skyping with Flynny.  I hope we remember the fun times forever!!

Kathleen/Snapping turtle

    We just love to take long trips together!  We can now successfully tell your dad that we have not only mastered Florida, but we are European experts as well.  On this trip you have been the life of the party, and I love it.  You help me to rally myself when I want to sit home and read my kindle. Thank god!  You are sweet enough to braid my hair every day ( Please teach me sometime or I’m coming over every morning).  Every time I hear the name Canto De Nelli I will think of you, and the excellent game you invented. I feel like that might make an appearance in College Station every now and then.  Even though we butt heads all the time, we are still the best of friends! When I think of Italy and you I will think of Canto de Nelli, Karaoke at Red Garter, The gypsy song, Your love for olive oil, My bad for spilling my ENTIRE drink on you…,  bumping jams," I think i may leave to throw up now", Your secret love( Don’t worry I won’t mention the name J), drinking on the same page as each other,  and last but not least our two nights from hell…

Katie/ Ketchup

Oh gosh all the things I could mention about you Ketchup.  It is weird  that we actually knew each other before this trip, because now I see you in a totally different light.  You are not the quite person I took you for, instead you are absolutely hilarious and very talkative.  I will never forget your fear of balloons as long as I live.  I also will not forget that little trick you played on me, don’t worry I have got you back, you just don’t know it yet!  I loved the bike tour we did together and your intense biking skills.  You are always the one who is willing to eat with me at a moments notice.  You may be one of the most genuinely nice people I ever met.  Never a bad thought about anyone, you just want us all to be best friends.  Some things that remind me of you :How dare you try to cage me! “ my name is Kari lala, hey guys who sings this song?”, Hufflepuff, sister-in-law, I’ll never forget how you walked me home that night and gave me water, what a saint!  You have now moved up in my books as one of my favorite people, congratulations ketchup.

Ashley/Smashly/ Jersey Shore Stalker

Ash like Ketchup I can’t believe I knew you before this trip.  I have a new appreciation for you and your singing ability.  You were always the one who was happy no matter what was going on.  I think this is what attracted the strange Italian men,   and your lack of ability to have a mean look.  You were always looking for a good time, and were up for anything.  You are a great friend and stayed in Art History just so Wolfgang wouldn’t be alone, I salute you on that one.  You were also one of the only ones to do the bike tour with me, I mean who wouldn’t love biking in the rain?  When I think about that I think about our first biking adventure and how you almost took out that small Civic coming your way.  They were in your way anyway…I also think of ridiculous songs that I can’t get out of my head thanks to you!  Thank you so much for letting my peasant self use your charger. And lastly I think of your amazing ability to make friends with the locals, please teach me your skills one day.  I can’t wait to see you on north gate and creep up on you like a ferret….watch out my friend!

Megan/Wolfgang/ megay

How have I not know you for 20 years?? You have the instant ability to make friends and make people feel easy around you.  Thank god considering I am extremely awkward.  You have been a great addition to the group!  You know how to have a good time, yet still make sure everyone else is having a good time too.  I can see why you and Katie are friends because I liked you immediately too.  When I think of you I will first and foremost think of your rotten luck…  How you were the one to lose your passport and your luggage all in one trip.  But then I will also remembered how you handled with grain of rice.  You just acted like it would all be ok an I admire you for that. I love you even though you can’t finish your shot of tequila…hehe. Thank you so much for introducing me to Spaghetti Carbanara, giant cameras, solo shots, fashionable clothes, a  person from Texas I actually like, and most of all your stellar skills in pairing food and wines.

Madison/ the Haggler

Andrea will forever be a name of horror in my mind. Thanks for always being there to help me get the prices down on things that I want, you know I would just pay what they asked for. I  will  cherish the name Giovanni for the rest of my life.  I will look back and think of the torturous class, and then I’ll remember the days we would drink every single drop of wine.  Not the best idea in the intense Florence heat, but we did it anyway.  When I think of Italy I will think of: Grab somebody sexy tell them, HEYYYYY. Our crazy moods in hotel rooms, spinal problems?, You slapping an Eiffel Tower trinket man, sleepovers in our living room, “sweet little Madison”, Red Wine bottle, Tequila shots,  TWIX( love those nuggets), black olives, and our coke fixes.

Lindsey/ linds

I am so glad I met you!  You were a perfect addition to our group.  I don’t know how you stuck it out and handled the roommate for those weeks( I salute you for that).  You are hilarious.  I want to thank you for teaching me another way to eat oreos.  You have revolutionized my world!  Another thing I probably should thank you for is telling me to put away my card. Haha.  I can’t wait to hang out with you again in Lubbock!!

Canto de Nelli

Here’s to: never having toilet paper, roof top time, dance parties, bra chandeliers, fish pub, Karaoke, Jersey shore, Italian locals, Panini’s, pizza, wine, Giovanni, 69, awkward API events, that damn rain, never being on time anywhere, ALLORA, oh my god oh my god, unbelievable heat, pepper spray, Twice,  the market, caramel gelato, Bradford, nutella, strange northerners, 7 dwarfs, TOM, absinthe, secret bakery, THM, Peasant, gypsy, rolling in the deep, and most of all Florence Italy.  

Rain is a good thing....only in Texas.

 This upcoming weekend we are all getting excited about our trip to Paris.  I decided that I would stay in Thursday night and get all my packing done, considering we had to be up at 5 the next morning.  Some people in our apartment thought it would be a good idea to go out...that was an excellent idea.  When 5 rolls around the next morning everyone is scrambling around trying to get ready for our cab that is coming at 5:30.  At 5:15 we hear no movement from the room that went out and decide we should wake them up.  I being the warden ( The person who yells at everyone to get ready so we aren't late) go in there and say some encouraging words that sound like " If you aren't ready in 15 minutes I will not hesitate to leave you here. "  After that is was about 5:25 and we were all heading down to get in our cab when we realize one of the girls is still not awake.  I was dead set on leaving.  Luckily for them one of the other girls dragged her out of bed and finally convinced her to get ready.  Lets just say the taxi drivers were less then thrilled having to wait on us. 

Paris Baggage Claim!

 After that whole debacle we made it to the airport in one piece.  Check in went smoothly and we headed to our gate!  Right before we are about to take off i realize that I have to ride a trolley to get to our plane.  That freaked me out, I have never had to walk up stairs to my plane.  Apparently it is common, but it was Greek to me.  On the plane there was this small child that resembled a demon.  She screamed for the entire 3 hour flight and the mother just sat there as if it was cute or something?  It's actually quite annoying.  But what can you do?    When we got to the airport we waited for Megan to get her bag; they made her check it unfortunately.  After we waited for like 20 minutes she realized something must be wrong....poor Megan she seriously has the worst luck. (She is also the one who lost her passport).  The airport tells her that her bag should arrive that night, when in reality it arrived about 13 hours before we left for florence.  Megan had to live like a gypsy until her bag got there, I felt so bad for her!   The hotel Eiffel Kennedy was absolutely wonderful, it was clean, friendly, and very accommodating!  I don't know why they say the French are rude, everyone we met happened to be extremely nice. 

Hotel Eiffel Kennedy

Once we got settled in we started to roam around the town. The first thing we did was find a place to eat because of course we were starving.  We stumbled upon a place with great food with a traditional feel.  Perfect for our first meal!  

Croque Madame!

After we walked around and got a feel for everything we headed back to the hotel to get ready for Moulin Rouge.

Gryffindor and Slytherin

We had our cab driver pick us up at 9:50 because our show started at 11 and we wanted to be there early!  We were so excited to get there, we didn't realize how freaking cold it would be.  All of us were wearing nice dresses and were completely freezing.  When we finally got into the show and were seated Madison demanded we have better seats because we were there early.  Naturally the French men were scared of her and moved us immediately!  My expectations for this show was somewhere between a broadway show and a play.  It was nothing like I expected.  It reminded me more of Cirque du Solei show.  It was a topless show with lots of dancing and strange puppet shows.  Overall it was a great/ interesting show, i'm glad we went.  Once we finally got back to the hotel we passed out immediately, we had been up for almost 24 hours!

Moulin Rouge

The next morning we had a bike tour scheduled.  Of course it would be horrible weather with rain.  Not only was there rain, but we were all poorly dressed.  While we stuck out the freezing rain in cardigans and sandals, the locals had heavy jackets and boots.  Yes, we looked like idiots.  Everyone but Ashley, Ketchup, and I decided to bail on the bike tour.  I believe they went on a bus tour that got to see some of the same sites we saw.  Our bike tour was amazing.  It was a leisurely ride through Paris, that told us all the history we could ever want to know.  I highly recommend the Fat Tire Bike Tour to anyone, the staff was great, knowledgeable, and fun.  Not to mention it was started by an Aggie (Whoop!).  

Ketchup just using some mad biking skills...

That night we decided to try to find some real French food.  Thanks to Rick Steves we found a cozy little place tucked away in the middle of Paris.  I went out on a limb and tried to the Duck!  It was outstanding!  It tasted like chicken, but a million times better.  The restaurant was such a great experience, the couple that was next to us gave us their wine when they got up to leave.  I think they were fascinated by the Americans. haha.  That night we were able to see the Eiffel Tower light show.  It was majestic and worth the wait.

Yummy Duck!

Sunday morning we were going to climb the tower.  Then we suddenly realized it would be a 3 hour wait to get up the thing.  We decided to nix that idea and go shopping instead!  The shops in Paris were so large, I felt out of place for sure.  The coolest shop we went into would definitely be the Louis Vuitton.  It was massive, equipped with so many purses it could make your head explode.  After looking around we of course became hungry, again.  We thought oh hey lets catch a bus and get some food.  That was an awful idea.  We ended up somewhere in Paris with nothing familiar around us.  Did I mention we had 45 minutes to get back to our hotel for are van to the airport?  Yeah, that stressful.  I love Paris and all, but the thought of sleeping on the street is not appealing to me.  Luckily the bus came just in time and we caught our bus.  After a 3 hour wait at the airport it was Au Revoir Paris, Ciao Italy!

Ciao Ciao Paris!

“The road goes on forever and the party never ends”

I knew today was going to be a wonderful day from the start when we went to the market and the locals were actually nice to us.  They treated us like friends, we even got to try all the fruit they had for free!  The reason I was excited for the day was because that night we had a 4 course meal for pairing foods and wines.  It was at a really nice restaurant ( the waiters  even wore bow-ties).

The first dish that was brought out was Prosciutto and Mozzarella.  At first I was hesitant about eating it, considering it looked like raw bacon.  I some how mustered up the strength to try it, talk about delicious!  With each course we had a wine accompany the meal.  Next came the Pasta al forno con polpette ( Spaghetti and Meatballs).  I would say that was interesting haha.  The meat balls were very different…. But it was okay because we were all feeling the excellent wine!  The third course was Tagliata Di manzo con rucola e grana. In English that means barely cooked steak, which was surprisingly good.  Then I started thinking about it and realized I was eating a raw cow.  I immediately sat down my fork and waited for dessert! The dessert was Torta Mimosa, it was almost like a lemon tiramisu or sponge cake.  It was so delicious, and I didn’t want the meal to end.  But  then it did.

Fortunately for us we had heard about a Beatles cover band playing that night.  Of course I’m down for that, what the guys failed to mention was it was in a really creepy basement bar.  When we got there I actually considered the possibilities of me getting taken by going down in the basement.  It’s okay though, I made it!  It was actually a great bar with a ton of people, in fact you could barely move around. I just love tight spaces!  It was all worth it when the band came out.  They were amazing, not to mention looked pretty similar to the Beatles.  The only thing that was strange was an Italian man head banging to their music,  I guess the music just really moved him?

·      When we just couldn’t handle the crowd anymore we decided to try another bar called Astor.  It is your typical club with strobe lights and Italians!  Luckily there were a ton of our API friends in there,  this made it safe to dance around.  What I mean by that is you can get your grove on without some creepy, handsy, unfortunate looking Italian coming up behind you.  After being in there for awhile, we all decided to go get some air outside.  Immediately a man with a rose came up to us and tried to sell one to us.  Can I just say how obnoxious these people are.  Why would I ever want a rose for myself?  And why would I want one while inside a night club?  Anyway Joseph felt bad for the guy and actually bought a rose (Sucker).

·       

While we were standing around a girl named Allie G approached us.  She told us she was big promoter for Twice, and that she could hook us up if we wanted to go.  There was no convincing needed for this offer.  We all start walking with this girl listening to her life story.  Apparently she came here to study abroad and never left.  Her boyfriend is in Rome and has “swagga” whatever that means?  Upon Arriving in Twice we did get some special treatment which was awesome!  Once there Katie and I had to go to the bathroom. ( usually I would scoff at this idea, but I sucked it up)  In  the entry way of the bathroom I met this girl and we immediately became friends.  She told me how she was on a date with a guy and couldn’t decide  if he was gay or not?  She asked me and Katie to meet him, pretend to be her American friends so she would look cool.  Then tell her if he was straight( thumbs up for yes and thumbs down for no)…hahah.  I gave him a thumbs up! He was a nice guy, good luck girl!

After we left twice we were determined to find the secret bakery.  The secret bakery is one of the only places that is open late and apparently it’s illegal to bake after a certain hour.  This is why it remains a secret.  We set of in search of it, when we got close someone used their nose and literally came right up to the bakery. Wooohooo!! It was so good, home-made doughnuts for the taking.

All of us were fully satisfied and headed home.  On the way home Emily the kind-hearted saw a reallyyyyyy drunk girl and was determined to get the poor girl home.  This girl is the one we saw early dancing with Jersey Shore (Super Classy).  Her friends were of absolutely no help, just as we were about to call a cab for her we look back and she is asleep on the street.  Great.  Then at that very second her sister comes out of nowhere and rudely takes her away, without so much as a thank you. So glad we stopped for her.  Finally we really could go home now.  What a successful night,  I can’t wait to see what Paris has in store for us!

As a side note I just would like to say what happened in our class the next day.  An oven-mit caught on fire and our cake pan bottom fell out.  Coincidence? Possibly….

Puppy Ciao!

Ever since I arrived in Florence I have began to notice quite a lot of cultural differences.  The one that gets me the most is how they interact and treat their dogs here.  In Texas you hardly ever see dogs out in public, and when you do it is usually at a local dog park.  That is not the case here.  Dogs are everywhere, in the streets, at stores, I have even seen them in restaurants.   

                                                Just your average dog in a glass shop

You can't go 10 feet without seeing a dog walking on the street.  Another thing that weirds me out is they are so calm and tame.  When another dog goes by they hardly even notice each other.  I know if those were my dogs they would turn into raging maniacs and throw their bodies with full force at the other dog.  Not to mention the loud annoying barking that would come with it.  

I love seeing Weenie dogs in backpacks

The weirdest encounter I've had happened was at H&M.  I had just waited in a ridiculously long line to try on my clothes.  When I was about to go in the changing room out came a lady and her dog?  Everyone just acted like that was a natural everyday occurrence.  I was actually kind of disgusted.  I mean don't get me wrong I love dogs and all, but I need my people time too.

Anyway I thought everyone needed to know what I'm seeing over here....

"I am always afraid my students will get drunk and fall in the canals"

Venice: This weekend we were all getting pumped for our excursion to Venice, the only down side to this was we had to get up at 5 in the morning.  Which resembles torture considering we didn’t even go to bed until like 1! Once we got there we filed in like ants and picked our seats, we needed to get pretty comfortable considering it was a 4 hour bus ride.  Lucky for me moving vehicles rocks me to sleep, Emily on the other hand has problems going to sleep.  I feel for her as I go into deep slumber.  When I finally wake up we have arrived!! The first thing we do is take a ferry into Venice from Mezre.

Venice is absolutely beautiful.  It really is all it is cracked up to be, no cars, just boats peacefully going up and down the canals. Gondala rides everywhere you look, along with art work of every kind.  We started off the trip with a 2 hour tour where I got to see the beautiful city through the locals eyes.  Throughout this whole tour Megan had to go to the bathroom, when she finally asked if she could go she was denied by the guide...hahah.  At the end she finally was able to go and we were a little bit more familiar with Venice.  The one thing people know about Venice is it is the city of canals.  What they don't tell you is they are notorious for expensive mediocre food.  We definitely fell into that trap for lunch.  We knew it was going to be questionable when they brought packets of mayo out with our spaghetti.  Why would I ever want that on my spaghetti?  Anyway  after that we just explored the city and it was beautiful! 

 That night we decided we needed to take a Gondola ride. It was just like the movies, a sassy man singing to us, and more pictures than anyone could need.  I think it was at that moment I finally realized I was in Italy on a once in a lifetime trip.  The Gondola man dropped us off at a really nice restaurant, of course we immediately left and found a good local place. Our hotel was awesome, it even had air conditioning!  I was happy to get a good nights sleep.  Waking up the next morning I was expecting another breakfast with luke warm milk and bread.  To my surprise it was a fully equipped breakfast with everything you could ever want!  Everyone welcomed the expresso machine with open arms.

Today we got the opportunity to go to the islands around Venice,  Murano and Burano.  

Murano is the island of glass, where they blow there own glass to sell.  It was so awesome!  We got to see a live glass blowing and then got to shop around the island.  When we had about 10 minutes to get back to our ferry I see Ketchup running towards me. Immediately I get the urge to start running with her, I have no idea why it just seems like a good idea.  Apparently she thought she was going to get left, luckily we had plenty of time to make it back and head to Burano!

In Burano it is known for their specialty with lace.  Personally it reminded me of my grandmother, but still a cool place to see.  Each house was a different color and signified a different family.  I definitely enjoyed both islands and their lack of tourist.  I would go back any day.

For dinner we actually found a really good place (thanks for Rick Steves) and I got Crab Pasta, yummmyy.  The place we ate had an amazing house wine, that went great with my dinner. After finishing dinner we headed back to the train station that would take us to our hotel.

Verona: The next day we took a 2 hour bus ride to Verona.  I was expecting a small little town with just the Romeo and Juliet balcony.  Why am I always wrong?  It was almost like a little Rome, with major sites around every corner.  I loved Verona and all the great places you could see within it.  My favorite part was how they had a giant river that the city was basically built around. After we got done in town we were off to a special Veneto wine tasting!  We were going to taste the famous Amarone wine along with a couple others.  They started off  by taking us on a tour of the vineyard and explaining a little bit about the process of the grapes.  They also had cherry trees growing in the vineyard, which they let us eat off.  I absolutely detest cherries, but these actually tasted like plums!  Very good.  Getting to taste the wines was awesome.  The wines they had chosen for us were all delicious in their own way.  After each tasting they said if we couldn't finish the wine we could pour it in a black bucket.  Of course no one wanted to be the first person to do it.  After basically having to chug my first glass of wine I couldn't muster up the strength to finish the second one.  I had to be "that person"  that poured out the expensive red wine, great.  Oh well after that everyone was merry and we set off back to Florence!

After a lovely weekend exploring the Venice area we had to come back to reality.  Despite what most people might think you actually have to study for your Wines of Italy midterm.  I'm off for now, time to hit the books!

Cabin Fever

     This weekend we all decided we should go back to Cinque Terre to get some sun.  We started looking up times when we could catch the train and how long it would take etc etc.  Then our internet goes down.  Surely it has to just be a glitch and it will turn right back on, wrong.  I'd say it stayed out for a good 4 days, talk about torture ha-ha. Anyway we decided we would just chance it and try to make a train around 9:30.  Waking up we were in a mad rush to find the train station and get our tickets.  Of course the train doesn't even leave to 9:53.  Our train ride was 2 hours of constant starts and stop, not great for my motion sickness. Luckily for everyone Ketchup and I took meds and were sedated.   When we got to La Spezia we suddenly realized we had absolutely no idea how to get to Cinque Terre.  Our last trip there API had arranged everything and we just followed behind like cattle.  Thankfully Italian's realize that American's need constant help.  They put a nice little blue "i" everywhere, which stands for information.  We went there got a map and realized we had a 20 minute walk to our ferry. Onward!

   Upon arriving at the boat deck we learned the next one doesn't leave for another 2 hours.  We all come to a consensus that we are all hungry.  Eating in La Spezia is literally one of the most awkward experiences.  The first place we walked in  they starred at us and said nothing.  The same goes for the second place.  The third place we went into, I pointed at a sandwich and just starred at it until she got it for me.  After that we went and ate in the park discussing how extremely awkward that was.  Finally it was time to get on the ferry that took us to the island.
  Immediately we all ran to get the delicious pesto we had the first time. Still as awesome as I remember!  I had heard this beach was a rocky beach, naturally I assumed that meant sand with pebbles in them.  What it actually meant was giant boulders that people lay on.  Thats not weird?  We finally found 6 rocks that were all together and started to lay out.  Of course it starts to get cloudy, and we decide to try to catch a ferry back.  On the way we all wanted a picture.  We asked a loner lady who was sitting on bench, to our surprise she says no.  Thanks?  Lucky for us a nice lady took it for us.  Trying to catch a train back is when it started to get interesting.  We realize the next train leaves in 6 minutes, crap.  We have to try to buy our tickets, find the train, then get on it.  To our surprise we actually made it on the train, then we started to look around and realized that no one was on the train?  As it is about to leave we all literally jump off the train because it is heading to Montoroso....

  Now we have to wait 30 minutes to take the next train.  Everything was pleasant with this train, until some really obnoxious teenagers got on the train.  Our cabin was sleeping peacefully when we are awoken by Golim impersonations. What. The. Hell.  Can't these creatures understand I am sleeping?  For the remaining hour of our trip we all stare at them with disgust.  Then if that is not enough a strange man is sitting across the way from us and will not quit starring.  I know we are adorable, but really?  I had the urge to turn to him and shout BOO, but I controlled myself.  I have never wanted to get home more in my life.  After that awful day we decided to go out to Red Garter and relax.

Cabin Fever:  Sunday I went to the David, which is absolutely amazing.  I pictured a statue the size of me. Of course I was wrong.  It was enormous, I literally had to look up to see it.  Everyone should definitely try to see it!!  After grabbing some lunch I came home right in time.  It started raining, then it even began to hail.  I would like to remind everyone that we have no TV, no internet, and now we are immobile.  This ought to be fun.  We all congregate in the living room to talk about how bored we are, how hungry we are, and what the heck we are going to do if it continues to rain. Talk to each other?  That would be out of the question.  We got so desperate we even looked for board games....no such luck.  We resorted to a jug of wine that we had kept around for a rainy day, what luck!  After that we played the life story game.  Everyone went around the circle and told their life stories, quite entertaining. Then when we were bored of that one we played the first impression game.  This was my favorite.  We just told each other what we thought when we first met them.  Most of our first impression we absolutely wrong.  This added some flavor to the game! The night ended up with a dance party in the living room.   Not a bad night I suppose....

Living like a Gypsy

After a tiring day of class we decided to go out on the town.  We ended up at the Red Garter again.  It has gradually become one of my favorite places.  I think this happened as soon as we discovered the karaoke room in the back of the bar.  Talk about entertainment.  We started the night by making fun of people who were singing, then of course we got signed up to sing.  Whoever did this to me picked the song "Do you believe" by Cher.  We are all really good singers, at least that's what we kept telling ourselves.  The locals even started singing the chorus with us, we were a hit.  Then as ketchup and I got off stage to roam around we hear the beginning sounds of "my heart will go on" aka the Titanic song.  Apparently Katie had convinced the man that they had to do one more song....it was hilarious.  All the locals started doing the signature Titanic pose.  All of the sudden a strange man came behind Ketchup and started to do the pose with her. PRICELESS!  When we finally realized we were the only people there we headed home and all wished we had some Whataburger, sigh.

Oh hey awkward girl in the back.

Thursday was the founding of the republic day in Italy.  It was their 150 year anniversary and there were various musicians all over the town. During the day we went on a hunt for a good grocery story.   The first bus we tried to get on, we had the doors slammed in our faces.  We waited forever for the next bus to come around and aggressively got on. Yeah, that failed miserably and we ended up on the outskirts of Florence where absolutely no one spoke English. Lucky for a us a guy managed to point us in the direction of a bus stop.  After we waiting for about 15-20 minutes I decided to go check down the street for a bus.  Of course when I get to the end of the street the bus is approaching the stop and I have to run back to catch it.  I have never been so grateful to see a mode of public transportation in my entire life.

On Friday We arrived at the bike tour at about 9:00 and got all paid and checked in.  We anxiously awaited all the members to get there, so our Tuscany adventure could begin!  When we finally got a moving we got put in a white van.  The tour required that we travel 40 minutes away to get the best bike riding experience.  When we arrived at our destination the guide took us on a tour through the Poppiano Castle.  It was an old medieval castle turned into a small brewery, it was pretty awesome.  We concluded a tour with a wine tasting, after tasting the delicious wine we all bought bottles to take home.  No shame here!  The time had come.  We were all given bikes and ridiculous looking helmets. My bikes name was Minnie mouse, I was extremely jealous of Kathleen who got Harry Potter!  

I love wine.

You know the phrase it’s like riding a bike?  What that phrase fails to explain is that it takes a little while to get used to something again.  Our group of 7 could have definitely been described has a hazard to society for those first 20 minutes.  Ashley was out of control whenever a car came by…then Madison caused a collision which resulted in all of us walking our bikes up the hill has 70 year woman passed us. Greattttt.  Once we all finally got the hang of riding it was a blast!! The scenery was beautiful; there was so much to take in.  Every time you turned your head there was another scenic mountain starring at you from a distance.  In the middle of our ride we stopped at a place for lunch.  I had some really good Pesto pasta and wine.  I had the opportunity to get to know one of the older ladies from our group. She was fascinating.  She had traveled all other the world and was from New York, where she worked in a archeological museum.  

  As we were saddling up ready to leave a huge ominous rain cloud starts to form above us.  The guide assured us that it hasn’t rained in that region for weeks, and we had nothing to worry about.  Such jokes.  About 15 minutes into our bike ride (which was now kind of hard)  I feel the first drop of rain.  At first I’m thinking oh it will be okay, it  actually feels pretty good.  Then comes more drops that are bigger and colder.  Here we all are biking in the pouring rain up some slanted surfaces through Tuscany.  Ketchup and Ashley are hauling butt trying to make it to cover.  Naturally I am in the back cursing up a storm saying how much I love biking in the rain.  I finally decided to pull over when Emily, Megan, Madison  and the two older ladies pull over too.  By this point it is raining extremely hard and I am wearing a white shirt, awesome.  We make it to some cover and wait until someone can pick us up and take us over the gigantic hill.  

 When everyone was finally picked up and taken back we were all soaked and just ready for some warmth.  We got in the vans and started our ride home, what a lovely day!  I absolutely loved the tour and would recommend it to anyone, minus the downpour of course…