La Vita e Meravigliosa!

This week I had my first Italian quiz, hence the "la vita e mervigliosa" which means It's a wonderful life. I am trying to speak as much Italian as I can! Very different than Spanish I must say but it isn't too horrible. Some people in my class have God awful pronunciation from the East Coast so I don't sound too bad. This is a short post but I thought I would mention a few fun things I did this week!

First, my art history professor took us to Santa Croce Church which was beautiful. Michelangelo and Galileo are both buried there. We are learning about frescos, which are layers of paint that even though many have been chipped and distressed over the years you can still see how much work went into them. They remind me of textural wall murals--very pretty. I am excited to get out into the city for this class! The class is 3 hours long and my professor can talk the whole time and can still hold our attention.

We ate at restaurant called Il gatto e la volpe which means the cat and the fox. It is from the story of Pinocchio, which was written by an Italian author. When reading that back in the day I definitely didn't connect the dots to that one. Anyways, it was delicious! The balsamic was chunky, different than usual but sooo good. I order the Spaghetti Nonna Rosa which is made with green tomatoes, a bit of cream, spicy, and little pieces of ham. It was so delicious. Anyone who visits me I am taking you there! Besides, the waiter was soo nice and looked like Ray Romano which I loved. He even gave us a 10 percent discount card! I also tried white chocolate gelato with nutella in it, so delish!

I finally met up with a friend from high school, Elizabeth Mountain. We got lunch, well I ate she watched because she is fed at her school and it was great to catch up. I got margherita pizza and the lady was not liking me because I asked for tap water and if I could pay with a credit card. If you want something to drink here, you have to pay for a huge thing of water or order something else. So everyone savor your free water! And basically everywhere you go you need cash, definitely going to take some getting used to. Elizabeth and I are planning a trip to Prague at the end of March. I have heard only great things about it! If you have any suggestions please let me know. Can't wait!

 Elizabeth and I at lunch

Classic Italian Park Job

I haven't bought anything yet except for a sweater which involves a long story but I was in need of one. And it was cheap! Coin is a great place to shop, cheap and a department store. Plus sale season is ending soon so if I want anything I need to buy anything in stores I need to do it soon. I have a very limited wardrobe being one of the very few people who brought only 1 suitcase. But I am still resisting the temptation and have not bought anything yet! Still need to make it to San Lorenzo market to barter.

I am going to Rome this weekend! Hopefully I will be able to meet up with both friends and family. I am in contact with my dad's cousin named Fernando. His wife speaks a little English but I am mainly going to try to speak to his daughter in law who is Canadian and will help me communicate. I heard Fernando has a fever so hopefully he will feel well enough to give me a tour or get a bite to eat. Looking forward to this crazy city. It will be interesting to compare it to Florence since I contemplated going there earlier...but I think I will be happy with my decision anyways!


Lately everyone has been stressing and talking about traveling. I, too have been struggling with trying to decide where to travel outside of Italy! I have ruled out Paris recently because it's difficult to fly there cheaply and will be pricey once I am there. I also ruled out London even though I'd love to go but again, its a lot for a weekend trip. So anyone who wants to travel to those two places before I am an old lady please tell me!

Here is my list and I would love to hear input: Spain, Prague, Switzerland (maybe next weekend), Greece for Spring Break, and possibly the French Riviera. I would love all advice! I know a lot of mothers who I am sure who have traveled the world are reading this so please e-mail me : ) And my main focus is traveling ALL over Italy! My room mates and I want to do Cinque Terre for my birthday and French Riviera at the very end in April! You can e-mail me suggestions at march154@umn.edu


p.s. people don't pick the dog poop up on the cobblestone streets ever. and italians do not know how to drive! I will post a picture explaining the driving next time because again, the internet won't let me!
 In the meantime enjoy this link my cross cultural psych teacher gave me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkInkNMpI1Q

That's all for now...can you guess what the next post will be titled? 

WHEN IN ROME!