What's This Webcam Thingy Do?

Ok, I have a video ready for tonight but it won't load until later this evening. So I'll post this and you can expect the video to be up in the morning (my time).

I can't decide if I want to do this again while I'm abroad. It's a lot of work trying to figure out what you're going to say... especially when you don't write it down. It's also quite difficult when I don't have the tools in order to edit it properly... so my apologies in advance for any technical hiccups/crappyness. Maybe I'm just not cut out to do vlogs? Who knows. I'll try again after Spring Break I think. Perhaps I'll write a script for that one...

God Bless!

Buonasera

Aren't you guys lucky. You get to hear from me twice in one day. You don't think so? Well that's unfortunate, because you're going to be graced with my wit and cleverness.

Sweet, no?

Notre Dame law professor Paulo Carozzo came to speak to us tonight for C&L and it was really cool. He was a great speaker and he told us about his introduction to the movement and what it meant to him. It was a pleasure to meet such an affluent and charming person.

Nothing much happened today other than relaxing and reading. I finally was able to catch up on some things I had been meaning to read since I got here. I've started Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy in honor of being in his city. It has been awesome so far. That's about the extent of what has happened since I last checked in.

Think this was unnecessary? So do I. But I wanted to do it anyway.

God bless!

Thoughts

Finally I was able to get an adequate amount of sleep so I decided to post a bit here and I'll post again later tonight, I'm sure. It's amazing how good it feels to wake up in your own bed after a long weekend trip.

This trip is going by way too fast for my liking. I was just thinking about it last night on the bus ride from San Marco to Settignano and I realized that I have one week of class then Spring Break, another week of class then Umbria and Perugia, then two weeks and we're off to Rome. Where did all the time go?! I'm finally comfortable in Florence and then I have to leave. It just doesn't seem fair, does it? It's funny, though, because I don't really feel out of place in Italy. Yes, there is the language barrier, but everything seems local to me. It's almost as if I was born to be here but that I was chosen to have the awe of this experience instead. I've met SO many awesome people, both from the US and Europe, that I hope to keep in contact with even when I'm back in Kansas City.

There is still so much for me to do here and I'm starting to think I won't get to see all of Florence as I intended to when I originally decided to study here. I'm starting to do exactly what I said I wouldn't. I'm over-planning myself so I can see a bunch of some things instead of all of everything.

It's still pretty cold here, as you can probably tell from the stocking cap in my most recent picture, but I wish it would warm up just a little so that I wouldn't have to constantly be messing with my sweatshirts and coats. But what can you do? On the bright side, it has kept most of the cities relatively empty because no one wants to travel when it's this cold. I'm also glad I brought that Royals' stocking cap with me because it's warm and it gets attention. Yesterday I ran into a few Americans because one of them was shocked and yelled KANSAS CITY. It was great fun.

I've added a poll section to my blog in the top right (sorry you have to be logged in to vote... I can't change it!)

Love you guys. Thank you for reading my stuff even if it has been a little bit... interesting sometimes. We've reached a special place... spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.

God bless!

The Italian Job... I mean... my trip to Venice...

Venezia!

So I'm quite sleep deprived from my venture to Venice, but I really enjoyed the city. There will be a link to all my photos in the top right, per usual, so have a look.

Kind of felt like I was in the Italian Job all day. Venice is a great town, especially during Carnivale, but it was absolutely crazy! It was funny because even in all those people I was able to find the students from Rome that I had met last night. Did I mention there were pigeons everywhere?

I spent most of the day by myself and it was really fun. I got lost completely in Venice and was able to see things that I doubt I would've seen with the group. After I had sufficiently explored, I headed back to Florence early. I was planning on leaving Sunday morning, but I realized how stupid that was about half way through my day when my feet started to hurt and I was getting tired of lugging around my bag.

No idea what this is called, so I'll come up with my own name for it.
Really Big Dome on the Other Side of the Canal That I Couldn't Reach.

Every mode of transportation I used was utterly packed the entire weekend. When I go back to Venice later in my life, I need to remember how crazy it was during Carnivale and either rent a car or go another time.

I really liked this entire statue. It had four sides plus the main one on top. Fantastic.

I had so much to say inside my head on the four hour train ride back to Florence, but now most of it has vanished. I'm SO glad I decided to come back early instead of staying until 3:30 tomorrow morning... holy cow am I glad I did it my way.

Every time I see a mask like this I think of the Carnivale scene from The Count of Monte Cristo.

I'm going to sleep in tomorrow. Woo! One more week then Spring Break to Germany, Austria, and Milan. This semester is going by WAY too fast. I'm already half way through (more or less) the entirety of my studies here. Sad...

God bless! Love you guys :)

Venice!

This has been a LONG day, but a very good one. We arrived in Venice around 9:30 and walked around for a bit before taking a trek across the main bridge to our hotel. That was an interesting experience since they misunderstood our booking; fortunately, I was able to figure out a particulalry easy remedy to the problem. We ended up hanging out until about seven o’clock (all ten of us) before heading into Venice for the night.

A chilly welcome to Venice. Beautiful city!

I ended up buying a mask while I was in Venice tonight. When I get back to the Villa I will begin to upload pictures of said mask and from the weekend itself. Ran into quite a few Americans tonight and actually hung out with a few students who are in Rome for the semester from the University of Maryland. They were really awesome so I ended up going to a bar with them where they were playing live jazz music. It was a perfect way to end my night.

Yes, there are random drunk people in this picture... no idea... but the ones in masks are the ones I know.

God bless everyone! I’ll try and update some time tomorrow.

Well... This day was more interesting than I had originally figured...

I didn't think that today would be quite as... colorful... as it ended up becoming -- thus why I had chosen to update for the most part yesterday.

The inside of the dome at the Duomo. Say that ten times fast.

We had a quiz today, which I did really well on, in Italiano. Then after Father Meinrad's class a group of us, including myself, cooked dinner for the night. We made chicken and shrimp alfredo with a pork roll thing. Then for dessert, we made tiramisu. It was all spectacular. I have a LONG night ahead of me. Our train for Venice leaves @ 4 am. So we're going down to Florence tonight and will spend a few hours in the station waiting to board. At nine o'clock, though, I have a wine tasting. It should be fantastic. But that's about it guys.

I miss you guys. Say hi to your respective state for me. God bless!

We Open in Venice!

Since I doubt I'll be able to post anything significant tomorrow, I'll give you the break down tonight.

Today was pretty good, if I say so myself... which I do... just in case you were wondering. We ventured into town again for our culture class with Francesco. We went to a few more churches including Santa Maria Novella, which is a Dominican (go St. Dominic!) church.

Santa Maria Novella

After dinner a few of us went into town. I ended up buying a messenger bag and a zip up Italia hoodie. This has led the way to how I'm going to commemorate my trip in Italy. In Ireland I had decks of cards. In Italy, I will be buying patches from every city I go to so I can sow them onto this jacked/hoodie. I think it'll turn out well :)

So I'm going to Venice tomorrow (or at least I'll be leaving tomorrow to wait for the train for Venice) so I thought that this would be fitting. This is from one of my favorite musicals, Kiss Me Kate.

It's kind of fitting since I'll probably hit Padua on Saturday as well. But I think that's it for today. I'm freaking exhausted.

God bless, everyone. I'll hopefully post tomorrow sometime before I got. Love you all!

Oh and comment!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

First: there is no real reason for the post to be named as such. Just couldn't think of anything better to use, and that was the first thing to pop into my head.

So what did I do today... classes... basketball again... wine... more wine...
Then... the group ended up watching the Italian Job. The 'Job' takes place in Venice, so I got a sneak peek, so to speak, of the city I'm going to be visiting this weekend.

I really won't have anything fun or interesting to say until Friday. I'm sorry guys! On the bright side, I've made it super simple to comment on my posts: all you need to do is hit the "Comment" button and then type away.

Part of me wants to go into a psychological discussion with myself about things that have been going on around the Villa, but I can't find myself in the right state of mind to be able to do it clearly. I'd really love to hear from you guys, even if it's a friendly reminder or some advice. I always like to hear from familiar people.

Tomorrow I have another trip into town for class -- so I might actually have some interesting stories and pictures tomorrow. Anywho...

God bless!

Hmmmmmm

Just another random image. I sometimes wish I were a pirate... or at least a pirate like Captain Jack...

As you can probably tell, nothing really interesting happened today. Another five hours of Italiano. And basketball. So I guess my original statement was kind of a lie. Got eight guys (including me) to play. Kind of wish I had followed through with it into high school, but you live and you learn. I got my jump hook going and I played considerably well since I haven't played for over a month. Did I mention that the rim is bent? And the ball we used was a few sizes too small? Made the game interesting, that's for sure. My team ended up winning two of three very close games. Other results were a blister on my left foot and a jammed left pinky finger. Something so small shouldn't be able to hurt as badly as it does.

Came back, took a shower, went to dinner. Fun fact: I had stuffed peppers for dinner tonight and they tasted exactly like Nani's. Benissimo. I guess what they say is true, home cooking is the best cooking. Miss my family's Italian food-- kind of seems like blasphemy since I'm living in Italy, doesn't it?

I have never heard a better description of myself...

So as you can tell, I'm just relaxing now. Probably should be planning for Venice.

Like how I did that?
Combined Pirates of the Caribbean and How I Met Your Mother.
I can hear your applause.
*bows*

But that'd be productive.

Uhm. Yea...

To some, this chain of photos/video will not make any sense.
Others who know me will get a good laugh from it.

So...

I think this is where I say: And that's how it was.

O wait. Wrong sign off.

God bless!

She Turned Me Into a Newt! ... I Got Better...

I watched/am still watching this. Classic!

It has been another lazy day in Settignano and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's nice to just relax and think about everything that has occurred in the past month (not even!). These past three and a half weeks have felt like an eternity, but I have loved it. I spent most of the morning organizing my room and yes, my half is finally clean.

This evening I was able to call my brother Anthony for his birthday and they were out for his birthday brunch, so I was able to talk to my entire family. It was awesome. Hearing their voices again makes me miss them, but I'm glad to know that they'll be there when I get back. I've got to keep moving on, like I have been, and experience this with an open mind. Rarely have I been at a lack for words, but it is becoming more difficult, as I've mentioned in one of my Ireland posts, to really put my experiences and thoughts into words. Really it comes down to the gentle reminders for myself to help me remember what was going on each of these days. Hopefully future Dominic thinks present Dominic did a good job.

One more week. Venice. Two more weeks. Germany & Austria. Four more weeks. AS Roma v Fiorentina then Umbria/Perugia. Six weeks. Rome! This entire trip is going to fly by before I even realize that it's gone, but that'll also mean that I've enjoyed my trip. To amend a popular quote, the reward of a good (life) trip, is a good (life) trip.

Although, I must say, I'm kind of hurt I'm not getting any comments. Don't you guys love me?! Hah anyway...

I have an N64 Emulator on my computer... so I can kind of play some of my favorite games...
Anyone remember Harvest Moon 64? Freaking awesome!

I'm about to get dinner here in an hour, so maybe I"ll update again after if something interesting happens. Otherwise... God bless!

Under the Stars of Firenze

My titles are becoming more 'floofy' I think. I don't know if I like that or not.

A picture of the Florence skyline tonight.

Today was a pretty lazy day. I woke up and went for a walk, came back and watched a movie, and then Dan randomly showed up so we went to the English mass at the Duomo. This was a good choice for multiple reasons, but it was a great decision because I was asked to the second reading. Talk about a once in a lifetime experience. The whole place echoed with my voice and I could hardly believe that I was doing a reading inside the Duomo in Florence, Italy. We stayed after a little while to talk to Don Mario and Dylan, but after that we picked up some dinner (I had a delicious sandwich with ham and cheese and eggplant and mmmmmmm) and now I'm about to go outside to drink wine and smoke cigars with Dan and Bridget. This has turned into a quite relaxing weekend and I'll be wanting more of these after the next two weekends that I have in store.

Until next time, mi amici, God bless!

Saw this on Facebook tonight and really liked it:

Everyone longs to give their self completely to someone,

to have a deep soul relationship with another,

to be loved thoroughly and exclusively.

But God, to a Christian says,

“No, not until you are satisfied with living loved by Me alone.

I love you, My child,

and until you discover that only in Me is your satisfaction,

you will not be capable of the perfect love that I have planned for you.

I want you to stop planning, stop wanting,

and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing—

one that you cannot imagine.

I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you.

Just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things.

Keep experiencing that satisfaction knowing that I AM.

Keep learning and listening to the things I tell you.

You must wait.

Don't be anxious. Don't worry! Don't look at the things you want.

Don't look around at the things others have gotten or that I have given them.

Just keep looking to Me, or you'll miss what I want to show you.

And then, when you are ready, I'll surprise you

with a love far more wonderful than any you would ever dream of.

You see, until you are ready

—and even to the minute, to have both of you ready at the same time—

until you are both satisfied with Me and the life I prepared for you,

you won't be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me

and is thus, perfect love.

And dear one, I want you to have this wonderful love.

I want you to see in the flesh, a picture of your relationship with Me

and to enjoy the everlasting union of beauty and love.

I am God.

Believe and be satisfied.

- St. Anthony of Padua, 1247 -

An Untitled Post from Your Gracious Host

It has been a slow, relaxing, day, as you can probably tell by the 'rhyme' in my title. I went into Florence today and ended up taking a wrong turn somewhere as I've found myself liable to do lately, but I really enjoyed just wandering. I was finally able to catch up on some reading and skype a few people I had meaning to get in touch with since I've arrived. That's about all. Sorry to disappoint.

God bless!

A Quick Update

Hey guys! Just a check in before the weekend. Not really much going on. More than half of the group is going to Milan for the weekend, but I'm staying in because of the play. I had actually planned on Verona and Padua this weekend, but that isn't going to work out.

Insert witty comment here.

Not a whole lot happened today. I had shin of pig (and it was delicious) for lunch, but that really sums up my afternoon. I went for a run in the rain a little later (got lost) and ended up going a few more miles than I had intended, but that was okay. Came back, showered, and went to a mass commemorating Monsignor Luigi Giussani. It was a beautiful mass, even if I didn't understand most of it. Anywho... I'm off for the night.

God bless, guys! Much love!

The Second Class Trip Into Town

Almost forgot to post again. That would've been a shame. I've gone quite a few days in a row without missing to lose my streak over sheer ignorance. :)

Hey look! New photos! This was from the courtyard @ San Lorenzo.

If you hadn't noticed, I was able to take new photos from our class trip into town for our Culture class. It was awesome. Of course, I had to wake up obscenely early (in comparison) to start my day, but in the end I think it was worth it. We visited two churches to see how art had grown in Italy. It was another educational day.

After coming back to the Villa for a late lunch, we went back into class for our history lesson. Francesco was fantastic today and it made me want to read biographies of the Ninja Turtles. (I know it's lame to make the same reference within a week or so). Donatello, the oldest of the bunch, was the Father of Renaissance sculpting in Italy. The next century followed with the rest of the turtles: Michelangelo, Raffaello, and Leonardo. I don't know what it was about the second half of class, but he made their lives seem so awesome that I'd love to learn more about them. Add onto the fact that I love the Medici family (who built most of Florence) and I have quite a list of people to read about. In retrospect I shouldn't have left my pleasure book at home (Wizard's First Rule) because I really want to read it now... ugh!

Before you get up in arms about this being random, it's not. This is the TV Show based off of the Sword of Truth Series.

Anywho, (I think I like that word too much...) after class I went to my first St. Thomas Moore Society Bible Study. I was appointed the liaison between the main group in Florence and the BC students at the Villa. It was awesome to meet the others who showed up who lived and studied in Florence. We had students from Texas, Vienna, and Tennessee, to name a few. We studied John 6:1-15 and we had some very insightful discussion.

What else... what else... I'm not really sure if there is anything else to say. We're going to Monsignor Luigi Giussani's mass for the sixth anniversary of his death. I'm kind of surprised how much I like reading his writing. It is dense at times, but it is extremely easy to relate to and makes perfect sense. If you ever get the opportunity, don't hesitate to pick up the Religious Sense (the first of a trilogy).

Beyond that? I've got the Glass Menagerie this weekend. Other than that I'll just be hanging out at the Villa. Venice next weekend. Germany/Austria the weekend after that.

Oh but now I want to go on a rant because I miss some of the technology from the States. I've been a Google beta tester for over four years now and they just released their new operating system: Chrome OS. This OS is meant for netbooks and will run every process through the Chrome browser. This means that there is virtually no boot up time and that everything you do on the computer will be accessible from the "cloud."

Yes, I'm kind of a geek. Get over it.

The beta testers are sent one of these 12.1 inch netbooks to use. Sounds perfect for travel, right? Of course. Want to know when I got mine? The 26th of January. Two days after I left for Ireland. My very on Chrome book is waiting for me when I get back to the states. Kind of a good welcome home, I think.

I think that's enough of my rant for now. It might happen again sometime.

There really isn't a reason for this picture. At all.

God bless!

La Vita è Bella

I ate rabbit today.

That is all.

Enjoy the video.

God bless.

:)

Lazy Monday

I have hit the lull in the semester. Classes are into their repetitive nature that just wears at me. I'm still enjoying it, but the length of these classes is almost too much sometimes. Aside from school, nothing really has happened today. I decided to not attend the soccer game on Wednesday and wait until March 20th to see AS Roma play.

Well, I guess something new or interesting happened today. Last week Giovanni asked if anyone would be interested in being an extra in a play in Florence. So I'm an extra in a Florentine production of The Glass Menagerie. This makes me laugh because BC will be doing the same exact play at the same exact time. So instead of going to Verona and Padua this weekend, I'll be in Florence yet again. Both Nathan and Dan will be gone for the weekend, so that'll be interesting to be the only one in the room for yet another weekend.

I'm sorry I haven't taken any new pictures recently, so I'm posting older ones. As soon as I go on another trip that warrants bringing my camera, I will post more recent pics.

The amphitheater in Lucca.

This trip has been both taxing and exhilarating at the same time. I miss all my friends back at BC terribly (especially after some great news from Gus) but I know I'm called to be here.

Until we meet again, God bless!

Machinations

It has been awesome to get adequate amounts of sleep the past two days. I got out of bed around ten this morning and came out to the lounge to relax. This turned into me planning a trip to Venice for the first week of Festival. I can find no words for how awesome I think this trip will turn out. We leave on February 25th and will return on the 26th after a full day in Venice.

This led to me further planning (and finally booking) the rest of my Spring Break. We will be in Hamburg for one night, as I said earlier, and then on to Berlin for two nights to see the Berlin Wall, Potsdam, and the Brandenburg Gate, among other things. From there we will take a bus to Munich, stopping in Nuremberg for a few hours, and spend another two nights in Munich. Then we're off to Vienna, Austria, to spend a few nights with Doro's parents. Our flight back to Italy will be on the 12th to Milan, so we will spend one more night in Milan, before we head back to good old Settignano. Now the only thing left to do is figure out what we want to do in each city that we visit.

Finally, I was able to take a run through Settignano. It was liberating and felt nice to get out and do something athletic again. The hills of this town are beautiful, even if they wear me out. I'll update later with further exploits of my night because I have to head to Mass and dinner.

God bless!

The building on the left is where the governmental functions occur in Florence.

So after dinner and mass, I went to my first C&L (Communion and Liberation) meeting with Father Meinrad. It was absolutely amazing. We read Luigi Giussani and discussed everything that we were feeling. After, we had our 'graduate studies' with a few of the group which consisted of drinking and smoking. It was a great way to end the night. Right now I'm researching things to visit in Germany and Austria. If you have any ideas PLEASE leave it in a comment or send me a message!

Wandering

Do you know what time it is?

Tool Time!

Sorry... got distracted... at least I waited a few days for another 90s reference. That makes it better, right?

Today was pretty chill. It was a great change of pace. Most of my group went to Siena for the day, so I decided to take my alone time and explore Florence in a more intimate way. It was awesome just marveling at the great things around Firenze. I was looking for a place to find a Mahjongg set, but I have been fruitless so far. On top of my freedom, I was finally able to sleep in!!

As I was getting back on the bus for Settignano, I ran into Father Meinrad so we were able to catch up on our adventures of the day. People started rolling back in from their trip around three or four, so I went to the lounge to hang out with them. It was just a relaxing day in general as we talked about classes, soccer, and trips that we are planning. Talked to Will, and we'll probably make it to Sicily and Calabria the first weekend of April. I'm really excited for that.

Now I'm watching AS Roma v. Napoli. I can't believe I'll be going to my first international calcio (soccer) game on Wednesday. That game will be Fiorentina v. Internazional (Inter Milan). I will be seeing Roma play on the 20th of March.

God bless!

Felt bad for almost posting without a picture from Italy. As great as Home Improvement is...

Mountain Biking. No. Really. MOUNTAIN Biking.

Today has been very, very, interesting. Woke up early and walked twenty minutes to rent mountain bikes for the day. When Pietro had told me we were going mountain biking I assumed trail biking, like I had done in the states... man was I wrong. Hills and peaks like I've never ridden before. It was awesome, but incredibly difficult.

Countryside I was riding through.

So after all of that working, we made it back to the Villa where we were late for lunch, so Pietro called ahead and they more or less made a feast for us. It was incredible. After all of that, I went to dinner, which, as usual, was absolutely delicious. I probably had more wine than I should've, which I got great wine at the supermarket for under €3. After dinner, Bridget and I went outside to have a cigar and drink more wine and we invited Father Meinrad to join us after he had finished with confessions. One thing led to another and we ended up going into Settignano to drink with him and Pietro. It was a fantastic night and a great overall day.

Tomorrow I plan on resting my tired bones and sleep in. A lot of the group is going to Siena, but I'm planning on going there later this semester. Hope everything is going well in the midwest (even if it's cold). Oh, and a shout out to all my St. James Academy peeps: Thanks for reading and following my travels -- I really appreciate it and I'll try to make it up to SJA before you guys get out of school.

Salute di Settignano, Firenze, Italia!

My Blue Suede Shoes

I'm sure plenty of you are confused or concerned about the title of this post. That's ok. For those of you following along at home, I've been in a search for athletic shoes since I arrived in Italy. I ventured into Florence again today with Lauren and as it were, I found a store where I found moderately priced shoes. They are blue. And they resemble suede. There you have it. They're made by a company called Lotto, which I've never heard of, but I'll give you a review when they fall apart on me, because in all likelihood, they will.

We went out to drink tonight after dinner. FUN. Ran into Dylan (the leader of the St. Thomas Moore Society) and got free shots. They were lemon shots with an actual lemon sitting on top that was lit on fire. It was quite enjoyable. So I really didn't pay for anything the entire night. I'm really not in the greatest of moods right now. It's hard to explain. You'd think being here I'd find distractions for myself, but even that hasn't been enough. Know that I am praying for you as well.

Anywho! On to brighter things. Tomorrow, Pietro, Adam, and I, are going mountain biking through Tuscany tomorrow. It is going to be awesome!

God bless!

This is a picture I took yesterday in front of the Duomo.

A Trip to Remember

Have no fear! I almost forgot to update tonight, but, alas, I have remembered. Lucky you.

The tomb of Dante Alighieri. Sadly, his body isn't there because of a political fallout while he was alive.

So what did I do today? That's a very good question. For the first time since I've arrived, I didn't have Italian.  Both a good and a bad thing. Instead, we had a class on Italian culture and history. We had a theoretical background of what we were going to do in the afternoon -- a two part class. Venturing down into Florence, we visited the Duomo and the Baptistery. Francesco, our guide, was fantastic and gave us the incredible history of Florence. The picture above is from the Cathedral of Santa Croce (Holy Cross). It houses some of the greatest minds Florence had the honor of birthing. Galileo Galilee, Niccolo Machiavelli, Michaelangelo, and, as pictured above, Dante Alighieri. It's hard to fathom how many great minds came from this one city, but it's absolutely awesome at the same time.

We saw beautiful art all afternoon, even if it was a little bit chilly.

The crucifix made by Donatello.

I felt honored to be in the presence of two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles today.

Heroes in a half-shell... TURTLE POWER!

Ok, now that I've got my geekdom out of the way, we can continue to the rest of my night. No, really, no more 90s references. At least I don't think I'll have anymore. *shrug*

Anywho! We came back to Settignano through the Chocolate Festival, where they were giving out free samples of various chocolate liquors. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in town today. Of course, there's still a lot for me to do in Florence, since I still have yet to find a shoe store that will actually sell me shoes for less than €90.

This is the Cathedral I was talking about earlier with all the paintings and tombs. The Chocolate Festival are the tens to the right.

Oh! But my Spring Break has officially been booked. Or at least the first part of it. We fly out of Pisa on Saturday March, 5, to Hamburg, Germany. We will spend one night there since it will be quite late when our plane finally lands. In the morning we will take a bus to Berlin and spend two nights there. From that juncture, our group will split into two. Three will go int Poland, and David and I will head further South into Germany. We will hit Nuremberg and Munich before we take a train across Austria to Vienna. I'm really looking forward to it and glad that I will be able to see a country I have always wanted to visit.

One more thing! My Florence album in the top right will be updated with all the pictures I have taken in Florence. So you might want to check that album every now and again to see if I've added anything. In the past few days I've added seventy or more photos.

I think that's all for tonight, though. God bless!

An Adventure into Florence

Well... today was interesting... again. I really don't want to talk about classes again, so I won't.

Part of our group at the St. Thomas Moore Society.

So we went into town to do a St. Thomas Moore Society, a local Catholic group in Florence, meeting. It was great eating dinner with fellow Americans studying abroad who were encountering the same kind of issues that we were. I absolutely loved hanging out tonight. Dinner. Wine. Good company. Gellato. Bellissima! Oh, but I also got some Italian pharmacist's number -- she was kind of hitting on me at the bus stop. It was very interesting... anywho...

God bless!

La Vita è Bella

Spending the last two weeks in Europe has taught me quite a few things. Whether it be about myself or the world I live in, it has been quite enlightening.

It is becoming much harder to get up everyday. The excitement isn't quite at the levels from my prior trip to Ireland, so motivation to get out of bed is back to normal. But that also means I'm getting enough sleep, now. It's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't, situations.

If you can't read it, this is a statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi.
If you don't know who he is, don't feel bad. I don't know either.

So yea... Today I had five hours of Italiano. There are limits to how much language I can absorb in one day -- and we got dangerously close to that limit today. After all of my classes today, a group of us headed into Florence. I had intended on getting running shoes in town, but that quest continues to elude me. So I'll try again at a later date. On the bright side, I got two soccer jerseys for 8 euro. They are replicas from the World Cup, but I think they are still really cool and quite well made.

We're about to watch Life is Beautiful at nine, but that's all I've got planned for now. Although, I have to reshuffle my entire Spring Break now... grrr.... let's hope I keep my sanity through the entire thing. I love you guys! Keep reading and commenting! I want to hear from everyone!

God bless!

For most of my evening I have reflected upon Life is Beautiful. There is so much in this movie that entire novels could be written about. Subjects so diverse that it would put my blog to shame. What struck me as I watched tonight was the selflessness of Guido. I'm trying not to ruin the movie for anyone, but if you haven't seen it, you have something to do this weekend. There is more to selflessness than simply putting someone else's needs in front of your own. As Guido showed so clearly throughout the entirety of the movie. His love of his son and his wife shattered worlds that couldn't even fathom the way in which this small man approached his life. It was hard for me to see the humor or react to any that was present in the WWII segment of the film, but therein lies the beauty of this masterpiece. Even in the bleakest of times, life can truly be beautiful. Whether the charade Guido performed for Joshua is realistic is null. Guido is the image of our inner childhood. A childhood so vibrant and alive: an inner child that all of us wish to hold on to -- at least for moments. It's films like this that make you consider your life in new light. Count the blessings you have, regardless of where you are, what situation you are in, or what hardships you face. Dance when everyone is crying, sing when the world tries to silence you. We only have one life: make it beautiful.

Recuperating

I finally got to sleep in after more than a week of "go, go, go!" I woke up at ten, took a shower, then headed out to our lounge area to hang out. Spring break and travels was brought up, so I decided it would be good to at least get started on my plans for Austria and Germany. This project completely consumed my morning, but I finished all of the itinerary for this nine day trip. I set a budget for my spring break as a third of my budget for Europe, and I pretty much nailed it as far as my price estimates are concerned. We're going to fly into Frankfurt on the Friday of break and make our way down through Nuremberg and Munich before terminating our break in Vienna, Austria. I'm really looking forward to it. Now I just have to find two other people to fill out my group, and we should be golden.

This is the back of the Cathedral in Lucca.

What else did I do with my day? Not much else. I'm sitting down now to watch my favorite team (Roma) play calcio with Pietro whose favorite team is their opponent Inter Milan. Let's hope Roma pulls this one out for me. I always enjoy bragging rights. I've also considered watching the Super Bowl tonight, which will start at midnight here. We'll see though. If anything interesting comes up today or if I have anything worthwhile to say, I will update later tonight.

God bless!

Daniele De Rossi -- my favorite player on my favorite team. Go Roma!

Ok, so here's the update: I watched Roma v. Inter Milan and it was a bella partita (beautiful game). Roma ended up losing a player on a bogus call, but it was still a great game. Final score 3-5. The most amazing part is that I will be able to see Roma play Fiorentina the day before we leave for Umbria! It was a magnificent stroke of luck.

I'm thinking about watching the Super Bowl, so hopefully I can stay up long enough. Honestly, I don't care who wins between the two teams, but I have the opportunity to watch, so why not? Buona sera!

Pisa & Lucca

Wow. Today has been awesome. Long. But awesome. The Villa put together a trip for us to Pisa and Lucca. We left around nine o'clock this morning, jumping on the #10 bus into San Marco so that we could get to Santa Maria Novella for our train to Pisa. Surprisingly, 33 out of 40 people decided to venture out with the group. After an hour train ride, we arrived in Pisa where we would hop onto another bus to get to the only real reason you'd visit Pisa in the first place: the Leaning Tower.

The Square in Pisa. Beautiful, no?

Anyway! Pisa aside from the three buildings you see here (a baptistry, a cathedral, and a tower) there really wasn't much to keep my attention. I ate lunch on the stairs you may or may not see to your left from a bag lunch provided by the Villa. After getting my fill of the tower, I wandered around the square looking in various merchant's shops to see what they had for sale. I wasn't particularly impressed by the selection and passed on everything. Disappointing, right? After we left Pisa was when the real fun began. We jumped back onto the bus that had brought us to the Tower and headed straight back to the train station so that we could hit yet another train to Lucca, Italy.

You should be happy that I didn't post or take a picture of myself "holding up" the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Lucca was a great, great, town. The part we visited was inside a giant wall. Pietro was telling us that we could rent bikes and ride them around the wall and the city itself. I love riding, so I decided to walk the ten or so kilometers to rent a bicycle.

Hey look! I'm on a bike!

Biking was absolutely fantastic. The views were amazing and the activity was revitalizing and made me realize just how much I missed biking back home on a regular basis. Only downside ended up being that I couldn't take many pictures of the city... because I was riding a bike... Well.. I guess I got a few from my bike, but it wasn't my camera. Kay had asked me to get a picture of her riding. I'm experienced enough, so I figured it wouldn't be too hard. Of course, I hadn't anticipated or taken into account the fact that there were about a million pedestrians in our way. So after about fifteen minutes of dodging, weaving, and balancing, I finally got a good picture. Luckily I didn't crash, either.

After four hours in Lucca (and gelato half way through) we hopped on our train back to Florence. After an hour and a half we arrived and headed back to Settignano to get pizza. It was some of the best pizza I have ever had. My days just keep getting better, and the people keep becoming more awesome. Love it!

God bless!

Trip Into Florence

Ciao! Having Friday off is a great way to make study abroad an enlightening experience. I spent the day in town with our entire group. It was epic! We walked around for over four hours just exploring. We saw great views of the Florence and had a great tour guide in Pietro. We got gelato and got up close and personal with the city. We came back around 7 and ate in the Cantina. I always thought that the group would fraction off with so many, but we have quickly become a homogeneous unit. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be in Italy.

I really don't know what else to say. It seems like more and more I lack words that can encompass and mean all the thoughts that are flying through my head. We're all sitting in our lounge area just hanging out now (before we head into Florence again) and it's totally chill. I wish everyone could be here with me. We're going into Pisa and Lucca tomorrow. I'm really excited.

Maybe I'll be able to write more in retrospect, but I'm completely overwhelmed with things to say and images and memories. Love you guys! God bless!

Beautiful landscape!

I decided to update this post so that I don't forget what happened. Kay, Maria, Maddie, Maggie, Bridget, David, Matt, and I, went into Florence to grab some drinks. Earlier in the day we had received a few fliers from people in the square and decided to check at least one of them out. Amadeus was the bar we ended up choosing and it was a great decision in retrospect. We were able to get three mixed drinks for ten euro, so David and I split that bill and I ended up getting Rum and Coke (my favorite) and a Long Island Ice Tea. They were both very well done. There was American music, so Maggie was joking that we should all get up and dance. An Italian group beside us agreed, so after a few minutes of discussion we all got up to dance. Of course, we wouldn't have done this had we known the bus schedule better. We were under the impression that the last bus left San Marco at 1:20, when in actuality, the bus left at 12:20. This forced us to call a taxi... either way it was a fantastic night and I wouldn't trade it for anything! :)

Italy: Day 2

These days have been absolutely incredible. Whether it is hanging out with my new friends or just exploring the beautiful countryside, I really couldn't ask for anything more.

I really don't know what to say about today. I had two hours of Italiano, then we had lunch, followed by two hours of Reform in the Church. I relaxed for a few hours after before going to dinner. The students here have the opportunity to cook for everyone with the help of the chef here at the villa and tonight was absolutely amazing. We had a LOT of pasta and it was some of the best I had ever had.

Dony MacManus, a sculptor from Dublin, came and presented around nine and he was awesome. We followed this with a trip up to the Communist Bar. You'll probably hear more about this later because I'm terribly tired and need to get some sleep.

The entrance to Villa Morghen.

God bless!

First Day of Classes

School has officially started in Florence. After an hour of orientation, we were immediately immersed into our first Italian class. They split us into two groups (since there are forty of us). It was a lot easier than I expected it to be. I think that my solid background in Spanish is helping me immensely understand what is going on in that class. Honestly, I don't think I've enjoyed my first day of classes as much as I did today. Daniel and Giovanni are our two instructors in Italiano, and their philosophy was total immersion from the start. They didn't use English unless it was absolutely necessary because no one understood. Absolutely fascinating.

Florence from the Villa. You can see the Duomo in the back.

So after Italiano we broke for lunch and preparation for Father Meinrad's class on Reformations in the Church. We used my computer to show the videos we saw -- so I immediately became the A/V man for the Villa. Luigi Giussani (the founder of the Liberation and Theology) was the subject of our first class. He had an awesome point of view on how the world works and the happiness inherent if you are just willing to see it. It might get a little taxing having every class for two hours, but for once I think I can enjoy it.

After our final class a group of us got together to play soccer up the road a few kilometers. It was awesome playing soccer with everyone. We had originally played on a grass field, but it ended up being too wet. The game moved to a parking lot. This was good and bad. One of the guys ended up kicking the ball well over the walls we were playing around and into a cemetery. I ended up climbing onto the roof of one of the mausoleums in order to find where the ball had wandered off. It ended up resting under a movable steel staircase. After THAT adventure we headed back to the Villa for mass and dinner.

Overall, even after only a few days, this has been incredible. It will only get better from here and that makes me really excited. We have a beginning of the semester party at nine, so that'll be awesome.

The statue in the square outside the Villa.
I couldn't make out who it was... sorry!

Verdict for the party? Awesome. A local guitarist came in and played Italian and American songs and we all sang and danced (most did hesitantly). It was like a gay tarantella, to steal a verse. But it is getting late here and I"m starting to tire out. I have no idea what tomorrow has in store for me, but hopefully I'm able to make it into Florence tomorrow and get a little shopping done...

Oh! But if you guys hadn't noticed, there are links in the top right to my photos (at least some of them) from Ireland. Just click on the links and enjoy! God bless!

Settignano & Villa Morghen

We have made it! It was a beautiful day in Florence, Italy, when I awoke this morning. Fathoming an unpleasant day is almost impossible for me. The whole town has me in awe. Europe finally seems real to me; I will be immersed in this culture longer than I had ever imagined and it has me excited to experience everything this wonderful country has to offer. I just got here and part of me doesn't want to have to leave, even though I know that it isn't for another three months. So we hopped on the number 10 bus out of San Marco square and took the forty minute bus drive up the hills into Settignano. We checked in (Room 33) and relaxed, showered, and unpacked.

Florence from Settignano

Nathan and I walked around the Villa exploring our new home. Around one we had lunch. I was expecting a simple lunch with just pasta or something similar. Boy was I mistaken. We had a four course meal complete with pasta, chicken, fish, wine, and bread. It was absolutely awesome. There was a lull between lunch and the second wave of arrivals, so we relaxed in the room since we didn't really have anything else to do. Lauren arrived around four, so we caught up on travels and set out to explore Settignano and Florence. We walked for about an hour and a half. It was an amazing walk through a beautiful town. We just got out of mass at six and will soon be eating dinner at seven fifteen. Classes start tomorrow. It seems like it has taken forever for us to finally get here, but I'm glad to be onto Italiano and such. I have all of my photos up online, if you'd like to look through them I can send you the link.

I was looking through my pictures and I was surprised at how many instant memories and good feelings sprung from those pictures. My pictures from Connemara and Cong are now my shuffling background. I feel like in some of my posts, especially recently, I'm leaving things out. As much as I try, the inner monologue in my head is always saying more than my fingers can put into the keyboard -- especially after I'm done with the post. I'd love to go off on tangents about the buses, and the buildings, and the people, but it's just difficult to get it concisely done inside my head. Anyway... you might see some of my posts that are done earlier in the night updated with new information. So scroll down a little, see if something has changed, you might be surprised how much I edit these in one night.

Blessings from Settignano, Florence, Italy!