BELLA LUCCA!

Friday was a long day with some overly talkative students and a frustrating Italian lesson way too early in the morning (seriously - my brain is not meant to speak this language)..so I was determined to get out of Florence and see more of Tuscany..especially since the weather has been so beautiful and it's so AUTUMN here.  So Saturday Meaghan and I went to Lucca.  For once, the fact that the buses here are perpetually late ran in our favor, and we were treated to a beautiful drive throught the Tuscan countryside.  It was GORGEOUS!!  Amazing Fall colors and the quaintest little towns I have seen yet.  I think it might just beat Florence for beauty, especially this time of year, as Lucca is covered with trees.  It's an old medieval town with the original walls still surrounding the city.  You can bike or stroll on top of the walls, and every path is bordered by trees and parks and grass and a forest and playgrounds - all on top of 17th century stone.  We reveled in the beautiful weather and stunning scenery with the rest of the town for our passeggiata della mura (stroll along the wall).  
We also found a local culinary show, where we got to try some of the most amazing honey, olive oil, bread and jams made in Lucca - who knew that acacia honey is my favorite.  I also learned not to try anything from the meat stands because I always end up tasting things like lard on bread and having to spit it back out.  We had pizza for lunch and my favorite cannella gelato for dessert topped off a wonderful day!

 Autumn leaves and city walls

Beautiful architecture everywhere

I think every town should be required to have at least one carousel

I'm sorry - but I just can't get enough of Fall!!

 

Meaghan riding her bike - we rented some and rode on top of the wall for the 4 km loop - my bike skills are not what they used to be but it's also not such a good idea to try and take pictures while riding..but it just kept getting prettier around every turn..

 

 

Some pics of the city walls and the town inside and outside of the walls.

And a stunning sunset, or course..perfect end to a perfect day! 


Random things: I saw my first Christmas lights turned on at a cafe this week!  They're going up all over town and I am so excited to see them finally get lit one day.  Christmas decorations are going up all over.. I made myself a pretty good burrito with chili beans and pecorino cheese, the quesadillas were even better - but I can't wait until I get a taste of some real refried and black beans.  I saw my first movie since I've been here - New Moon (popular with all the young girls here as well) - it was a little overly dramatic but the scenery was great and I understood most of the Italian.

BELLA L'AUTUNNO!!!

Autumn is definitely here!  Although it is very quickly disappearing.  While I was running Saturday morning, I was amazed by all the fall colors in the parks by my house.  I even found the street that I want to live on - at least this time of year!  It was beautiful!!  I had to go back and take some pictures of Fall before it left us here.  It's been mostly raining and chilly but I think I can last until I get home to buy some warmer clothes..although I did buy some boots so everyone can stop asking me if my feet are cold.  Other than that, it's been mostly teaching and lesson planning and trying to learn some Italian so I can one day have a real conversation...I love my business english class that I teach at the business school.  I have 15 students that are 18-22 years old.  They are a challenge to entertain for 2 hours but I think we find each other mutually entertaining for the most part.  Teaching English really is fun - as well as teaching math for the SAT and GMAT and such (which I am so glad I don't have to take).  It will be even better when I am better at it.  And I have my first private student - a professor here that wants to know English for a project.  He just quizzes me for an hour and tests my Italian skills, since he speaks almost zero English.  It should be interesting to see where we hit the point at which I can no longer understand his questions..So things are good!  I would love to hear how all of you are doing!!


FALL PICTURES FOR YOU!  Sorry there are so many but they are all my favorites!

 

These pictures are from the Stibbert Park by my house.  It is a beautiful strange little park even without the fall colors.  Lots of Egyptian artifacts everywhere for some reason.

What a perfect fall day to be sitting on a park bench.

 

 

A different park by my house - the Botanical Gardens

I think this one is my favorite!  Look at those colors!

 

My favorite street in Florence at the moment - this street was absolutely stunning with all the fall colors - and the point at which my perfect fall day turned into lots of rain and a wet walk back home..

Protests, Boboli Gardens and more..

Ciao!
 Today I felt like I was back in San Francisco.  There was a bus strike this afternoon so I got to walk home from work (and my first official Italian lesson" I can pronounce Firenze and gelato properly now - it's harder than you would think)..  Anyways, there was a big protest against or for something with lots of marchers walking down the streets..just like the countless marches in good old SF.  The unfortunate part for me was that it's been raining all day AND I got lost - so it made a 35-40 minute walk take over an hour.  Ah well..guess I don't need to go run today.  And I'll probably be walking back to the centro later to meet up with some friends for dinner.  The week has been good and gone by fast - I made it to IKEA (felt just like being home) to buy a quilt, lamp, towels, a new plant, etc.. Even though it looks like it's walking distance on google maps, after about an hour we figured out that it really wasn't and went back to the station to take the bus.  Good thing my friend Liz speaks Italian so we can ask random Italians where we are all the time..
   I got a couple new students at work and my business English class starts up next week so my days are filling up.  I've been trying to study Italian at least an hour a day and keep up with the BofM for institute (I swear the Italian version is twice as long).  But I understood almost all of class last night and that was great!!
I also thought I'd put up some pictures of the amazing Boboli Gardens I visited a couple weeks ago...

First, though, the lizard that was hanging out in our bathroom yesterday (not something I expected to see in Italy)

And my kitchen, in case you were curious - but I think it's cute!

 

The Boboli Gardens behind the old Medici Pitti Palace, with Florence in the background.  The gardens are Huge with lots of trees, fountains, and amazing sculptures.

The "grotto" - an indoor courtyard with statues carved out of the walls. It was Really cool, and I'm sure someone famous did most of the work (art history is not my forte).

If you look closely, you can see the red people coming out of the walls.  The details and intricacy are amazing.  The grotto originally housed Michelangelo's Prisoners.

Have a great weekend!  My goal is to buy some boots for my cold legs and maybe go up to Fiesole to see some Tuscan countryside.

A New Home!

So - I moved again for the third time in six weeks - so much fun!  But I think I am here to stay (until June at least).  It's a cute little apartment and I have my own room with two girls from the branch at church for roommates.  They are really nice, although my Italian is going to have to improve very quickly or there won't be a whole lot of conversing going on.  Here are a couple of pics of my new place for your enjoyment..I am on the third floor and this is the courtyard..the first floor apts have yards and trees...I bet they never move!

Also some pics from last week when Laura came to visit.  We had a great time!  We saw the Uffizi, Duomo, the David, Piazzale Michaelangelo, La Traviata and ate lots of good food and gelato.  We also went up to Cinque Terre for the day to enjoy the last sun of the year!  It's great to have friends come to visit!

Me and Laura with Florence in the background.

It was a beautiful weekend!

Manarola - where we stayed in the Cinque Terre

Another beautiful sunset!

I GOT A JOB!!!

So - I am officially employed as a TEFL teacher in Florence!! (although an illegal one but hey..they have better things to do over here than kick out English teachers - and I will still be paying taxes so it's a win-win situation really).  I'm not sure what my schedule will be like yet but I'll have a few English classes to teach and actually some math tutoring (way to use my science skills).  I'm excited!!  AND now I'll have some free time to actually see Florence and Italy!  Plus Laura is coming to visit this weekend so that should be tons of fun..
I took a few pictures today to celebrate..

Me, Marina and Shannon having drinks to celebrate our new jobs (we were all in the same CTEFL course) Don't worry - mine is only soda.

My new casa - for the next two weeks at least..



























This whole concept of free time is taking a little getting used to..

I Survived!

So - I survived my four week TEFL course.  It was crazy!  I don't think I even studied or worked that hard in college!!  But it's finally over now and I've caught up on my sleep - mostly.  I enjoyed watching conference this weekend and having a little free time.  I moved yesterday to a new place with some girls from school as well..for at least the next two weeks.  Now it's on to the job search..cross your fingers that I can find something! 
Here are some old pictures for you to peruse:

This is the tower by the Uffizi as seen from my window in my apartment.  Who does that look like climbing the tower?

Same tower - taken from the Uffizi.
Looks less like King Kong here - maybe a lion?

My TEFL class on our school balcony (though not the best picture) - they were awesome and we had a great time!  I will miss them a lot - spending 50 hours a week together in a tiny classroom helps you get to know people really well!  Good thing a few of us are sticking around..

The Uffizi and more..

CIAO!
  Still busy as usual - I have a take home grammar test to finish, a personal project report on memory and learning, a 5 page teaching assessment, and a video analysis, AND a lesson to prepare for tomorrow.  Needless to say, I haven't been outside my house much this weekend...Thought I'd put up some old pictures from last weekend for you though. (Can you tell I'm avoiding finishing my test).

THE BEAUTFUL ARNO!

We went to the Uffizi gallery and it had some pretty impressive artwork.

I really like these statues in the Piazza della Signoria

The fake statue putting on his makeup!

Piazza della Repubblica!!  I love this carousel.  This is where my school is and I wander around here a lot at lunch and during the day..