I'm king of the world!

So Friday was quite the day.

Like I said, I was heading off to the Duomo and other touristy things for the day. I met up with Jacque, Tori, and Catherine and we went into the Duomo and climbed the Cupola. The painting inside the Duomo is intense. We got to see it right up close. I put pictures on Facebook. The view was breath taking from up there. There is no other way to explain it. We spent a good half hour just standing up there staring out and proclaiming that we were "The King of the World!" to mock Jack from Titanic.

We then decided to get some lunch and head to the Uffizi to see the David, specifically. So we get halfway through the Uffizi, run into Rach who then proceeds to inform us that the David is in fact in the Academia and not the Uffizi. It was a really, really, intense moment. I wanted to fall to the ground laughing but I probably would have been kicked out.

Anyhow, Jacque and I still decided to make a try for it at the Academia and failed because it was closed already. Oh well, I live here - I can go whenever.

Went home, had another great dinner then Skyped with mom and Mickey.

Went to Ravenna today. It was okay. I wasn't honestly that impressed. Just a lot of old mosaics. Is it bad that I'm so desensitized to old stuff now?

Well, I'm waiting for the first years to get back from Siena then I'm doing dinner with them.

Corri di Vita Breast Cancer Walk tomorrow and then a wine tasting festival!

Spero che tutti a posto!

"Come se dice Swine Flu?"

I said it should be "l'influenze della porca" but my Italian professor thought otherwise.

At any rate, I went and bought the bike. It is glorious. Forum was the Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll talk. Amy asked me to speak about AIDS, so I did. Heavy stuff. Soccer practice was intense. I really can't believe we have four games next week - yikes. I went to bed right after dinner Wednesday night because I was so exhausted.

Classes yesterday went very well. Just a good time overall. Went to the chiropractor with Maggie to get adjusted. Man, was I hurting. Got home for dinner and then went out to Savonarola for the night with Jenna, Maggie, Tori, Rachel, Liza, Jacque and Catherine. Good times. Hung out at the Duomo for a bit and then came home.

Been doing housekeeping stuff this morning like laundry and returning e-mails. I'm going to see the Duomo and the Statue of David today with Jacque and Tori.

Ravenna tomorrow.

A domani.

Ein Prosit!!

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit!

That was the most common sound ringing in my ears at Oktoberfest this weekend and I'll explain why later. I'm going to go ahead and start from the beginning - I'm a smart one.

So, departure was at 11:30 pm Thursday night from Santa Maria Novella train station. Aviva got lost on her way there and Rosa's attempts to find her were quite entertaining. On the bus I sat next to a girl named Casey from NYU. She was cool and we talked a lot of the way. Sleeping was beyond uncomfortable and henceforth didn't really happen.

Arrival in Munich was around 9 am and we went promptly to Marienplatz which is essentially the center of Munich. We met up with this guy Andy who was going to give us a bike tour. The tour was awesome and Andy was really enthusiastic about everything. He took us to the palaces, major churches and monuments, through the public park which is a third bigger than Central Park in NYC, and also to the largest street in the city. One thing to note about the park - there was river that was literally white water. So naturally, people decided to surf on it. From underneath the mouth of the bridge, rapids were forming across the span of a twenty foot wide river. It was the craziest thing to see. The city is absolutely gorgeous and I fell in love for sure.

After the bike tour, a bunch of us went to Dachau. Dachau is the first concentration camp used by the Nazis during World War II. It was the heaviest experience I have ever had. I really can't describe it here. I had a creepy feeling all over the entire time I was there. Being there in person is something that is an unfathomable experience and is unique for each person.

Later on Friday night we went to the Hauf Brau Haus which is essentially a year round beer hall. It was such an awesome experience. I got my first liter. The beer was so smooth and delicious. The atmosphere there was off the hook. People dancing, singing, going crazy - ALL IN LEIDERHOSEN! It was fantabulous. The food was great and it was an overall good time.

Saturday was awesome. It started out by me dressing as a clearly American tourist that wanted to be German. I bought suspenders, semi-high socks, a German hat, and a neck scarf. I wore my khaki shorts and my Mayfest/Euclid shirt in honor of everyone back home! I looked obscene but it was totally worth it.

Throughout the day, we just rode all the carnival rides and ate a crazy amount of German bratwurst, wienerschnitzel, pretzels, ice cream and popcorn. Glory of glory. It was amazing. I don't know how to really describe the people there other than that they were primarily in Leiderhosen and drunk - very, very drunk. It was comical because I was sober and just kind of taking everything in.

I did the really high and fast swings to get the best view of Munich possible. Other people did the big drop ride, the intense loop rollercoaster and all that but I just can't stomach those.

We walked around til about 7:30 and then Aviva, Rosa, and I went to a pizzeria outside of Oktoberfest to eat because there was NO WAY we were getting into the beer halls because they were just so packed and we didn't have a reservation for a table.

We ended up sitting with this guy named Lars who was eventually joined by his buddy Marcel. A little bit later on in the evening we made friends with the English guys sitting at the table next to us. James, Jason, and David bought us a round of beers and the seven of us were goofing off dancing and singing - just having a good old time. A little bit later on we were joined by these other two guys, Steven and Tomas. Great people - good times.

We got back to the hostel around 2 or something like that.

Sunday morning we headed back to Oktoberfest and did the same thing essentially. We were only there for five hours on Sunday so we decided to head to the Hippodrom Biergarten (Beer Garden) around 12:30 ish. We just hung out there til 2:30 when we had to get back on the bus.

Great weekend overall.

Monday was super busy and I was exhausted.

Yesterday was super busy and I was exhausted.

Today is going to be much better. I'm watching a movie in Italian right now and only had one other class this morning.

I'm going to buy a bike this afternoon and then I have the Freshman Forum. To finish out the night I have soccer practice which I'm really excited for. We have four games next week but I can only play in three so we have to find an alternate goalie for our first game.

Ahhhh, well. That's about it.

For those of you who want to ask me questions about certain stuff, my e-mail is em.e.allen@gmail.com.

Also, many of you had asked for my address over here.

It is as follows:

Syracuse University in Florence

Emily Allen, Student

Piazza Savonarola, 15

50132 Florence

Italy

Prost!

Das boot.

You win if you can tell me what the title is from.

Long and short of it - I will update next Monday probably due to the fact that...

I am going to Oktoberfest tonight in Munich, Germany.

Peace out homies.

"Maggie, they don't understand moo-lah!"

Haha - oh brother.

Alrightey, so Tuesday was quite the day. Classes were long as always and rather painful actually. I had my comedy workshop right after comedy class and then headed out to soccer practice. I have decided to join the soccer team here at school to compete in the international school tournament that takes place throughout the semester. I am the SU goalie. Holler. Anyway, soccer was tons-o-fun and went til 7:45 ish. Then I literally ran from Campo back home, which took me a good twenty minutes. Not to mention I had my backpack on with my laptop and essentially all my books. My shin splints were killing me and I am incredibly out of shape. Ugh.

Anyhow, got home just in time for dinner. I showered incredibly fast and ate dinner with the family. It was yet another fantastic dinner. After dinner I got ready to go surprise Maggie for her birthday. Rosa and Mary had set up a surprise party ish thing before we went out for the night. It went really well. Aviva and I headed over to the Savonorola hut for a drink before heading down to the Centro to meet up with Maggie's Italian friends.

They wanted to take us to this discoteca that was 20 euros to get in and none of us really wanted to pay that. Maggie tried telling them that we didn't have the "moo-lah" for that and then I got quite rowdy and assured her that they wouldn't have understood her. It was really funny at the time - one of those you had to be there things I suppose.

Regardless, as the evening went on, people began to go home and eventually it was just Maggie, Aviva, Rosa and me. We went to a club called Twice and just danced and had a good time for a while. We all eventually got home around 3ish.

I had class at 9 that I was up and on time for. Despite me being tired, I made it through the day. Went to San Ambroggia for Italian culture class and Rachel, Tori and I got cheeseburgers and french fries for lunch!! Delicious. The best part about it was that we were in a fresh food market and all that and the burger was awesome but instead of using good cheese for the burger they whipped out a Kraft Single - no lie. It was hysterical.

The rest of the day went well. Hung out with Beth in Student Life and then was off to Freshman Forum. Good talk about adapting today, guys. Went to Universo Sport after that to get some new socks and knee braces for soccer. Came home and had dinner and have been in the room since.

I got to vid chat with Mickey tonight!! Highlight of the day for sure. We're starting to plan fall break which is HONESTLY, REALLY, going to be FANTASTIC (hope you appreciate the subtle jokes, McC). Rachel came in at the end which was super cool as well!

My plans for the weekend got shot because Juan came down with the flu. So - if by some remote chance they let me, I will be accompanying the Florence For Fun company, Aviva, Rosa, Rachel, and Tori to Oktoberfest this weekend! I hope I do!

Stay well and swine flu free!

I survived a natural disaster.

There was an earthquake here last night. No - legitimately, it was a 4.8.

I had a good day yesterday. Classes went well and I met with Amy and Beth for a while. Went home, had a great walk with some great tunes on the iPod and then did some math homework with Tori. I remember now why I'm an English major. I couldn't divide 1005632 by 179...

Moving on. Dinner was fantastic and I had a lot of fun with the game and the food and conversation. I did my homework at the kitchen table with Franco. While we were sitting there everything started to shake and he told me to quit shaking the table. When I told him I wasn't and I thought that he was, we both recognized that the whole house was shaking as well. EARTHQUAKE!!! It was crazy. I had a headache for the rest of the night. Well we resolved all of that and I got ready for bed. Skyped with Mom and Dad for the first time which was cool.

Great morning this morning. Classes went fine. Lunch was fine. Weather is great. Happy 21st Birthday Maggie Gleason!! I'm off to soccer practice with Aviva now and then home for dinner.

Ciao Ciao!

Oh p.s. I think I might be acting the Festivale della Creativita in Florence...it's a big international thing. Google it.

I had Switzerland in my sandwich.

Buon(a) giorno/sera a tutti.

Eventful. That can really encompass this weekend. So originally the plan was to go to Cinque Terre and all that and then at the last minute, the oh so fantastic Beth DeFelici in the student life office, came to the aid of the first - years and I and set us up with a hotel in Chiavari. The cool thing about Chiavari is that it is where my family originates from and still lives today.

We got a cheap train and it left at 8:30 from Santa Maria Novella station. We booked it to the train and made the trek to Chiavari. We made it there around midnight after an eventful train trip of goofy pictures, fast food, and overall chaos. When we arrived at the hotel, the woman was really sketchy and informed us that the price to stay had doubled for two nights. We therefore decided that it would be economically best to leave Saturday night. Anyhow, to close out the night we watched Young Frankenstein in mine, Alaina, Emily, and Chandini's room. Most of us passed out until we were so rudely awakened by the multiple trains that came through - since it was right next to the station. Rough night.

Anyhow, we stayed in bed til probably ten. I decided to take a really big leap and call my relatives, Filippo and Clara, who live in Chiavari. They don't speak a word of English. It was very interesting to call them up and essentially say, "Yo. I'm your cousin. I'm in Chiavari. Let's chill." It worked. They came and got me and took me around Chiavari for the afternoon. I got to see this market that only happens once a month. It was pretty cool. They had friends who run a table at the market and I got to help them sell stuff! I walked around with Filippo a bit and he showed me some of the cool sites while Clara bought the bread and pasta for lunch.

We went back to the house and I got to see all pictures of my family and stuff it was really cool. Oh, and as a side note to all of this, they don't speak English. At all. Good stuff, huh? At any rate, Clara made pesto pasta for lunch - delish. It was accompanied by some meat thing that I really couldn't name, salad, fruit, and ice cream. Way too much. She gave me more pasta than her and Filippo combined. Slightly absurd. They took me back to the hotel after a great afternoon.

I met up with everyone else on the beach and hung out there for a little while. It was really nice and the water was the perfect temperature. Some of us got gelato and others just chilled. We sat on the boardwalk and watched the sunset. Caught the train and headed home to Florence. Good trip.

Sunday I stayed home all day and did homework, laundry, and read Watchmen, which Rach gave me before I left. I recommend it if you haven't read it already.

Today was long with class and stuff. Meetings and what not. Went to Masaccio with Aviva for lunch. It was funny because we were trying to figure out what to order and there was an option, number 19, that said that there was (basically) ham, lettuce, and Switzerland. It was just goofy - we were both scared to try it but who knows, maybe a future endeavor. After lunch, we went to the Supermarket which was a fun little adventure.

I skipped out on the comedy work shop today because I was doing a bunch of other things. Got some homework to do tonight. Not too much though. Just wanna take it easy. It's pouring here. Yippy kye ay for getting soaked on the way home.

Odio piove.

( I hate rain. )