Day Seven

Best day ever and one i will never forget! We woke up and went to a local market in Florence that had everything!!!! Every color shape and kind of purse, souvenirs, art, you name it they had it. We shopped for a long time getting presents for everyone back home and things to decorate our apartments at school. At the market we ran into two fellow Hokies and made plans to meet up later that night. Such a small world!!!! After the market we shopped in actual stores and bought some clothes at H&M after realizing none of us packed enough!
After shopping we went back to the hostel to regroup and shower before the night began. For dinner we found a tourist trap pizza and sandwich place located in our plaza and filled up on carbs! We went back to the hostel to get wifi to talk to Bee's friend Angela who has been living in Florence for the past year. We met Angela, Alex and Tyler at the Florence version of El Rods, Tijuana, for margaritas and lots of tequila. From here we went to the Shot Bar for more! After running up a $100 bar tab in the cheapest bar in Florence we went to a club and continued to party the night away!

Day Six-YAY FLORENCE

This morning we only had class until 10:45 then Kori, Bee, and I left to begin our journey to Florence. After the three hour train ride we arrived at our hostel to start the weekend we will never forget!
We settled in and made plans with Bee's friend Angela who has been living in Florence for a year. With both Angela who had been here for a year and me who has been to Florence five times, we knew all the places to see! We met up with her at the Duomo and went to explore the sights of florence!
For dinner we went to a cafe on a small side street and enjoyed a nice Italian meal! After dinner we met Angela and her friends at a bar and met lots of new people from all over the world. What a great cultural experience!

Day 4

On Tuesday we did the normal routine of breakfast, class, lunch, and more class but we were let out a little early so we could have the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted! A few of us took the train to Lugano to shop and visit a new town. After an afternoon of shopping we were starving and found this delicious cafe where we had a feast complete with two pizzas, pasta, and french fries. 

 

After dinner we headed back to Riva and on our walk back from the train station we ran into some friends at a local bar, Bar Ticino, and had some drinks and hung out for a little. We got back to the apartment around 9:00 and passed out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Day 3

Today was the first day of class! The first class, International Communiction, started at 9:30 and we went over the syllabus and what we would be doing during our time here. The second class, Advertising Campaigns, started at 11:15 and we talked through our projects and basic advertising principals. We took a lunch break and finished class around 2:30. After class Carlos, Kori, and I all went to the lake to work on homework and try to get a tan. We later got kicked out by a family of ducks

After the lake we went back to the villa, had dinner, and spent the rest of the night working on our projects and being lazy.

Day 2

I slept like a rock until 8 am when the concert of church bells rang for five straight minutes. I walked down to the villa to get some breakfast and start the day!
Mid afternoon we went to a winery as a group and got to drink wine all afternoon for free! The winery is only open one day a year and it happened to be when we were here! Even though i hate wine i tried like 7 different kinds and it was a great time sitting in the sun drinking wine with everyone!
When we decided that we had done our fair share of pissing off everyone there we ventured down the hill to catch the bus back only to find out we had just missed a bus and the next one didn't come for another hour!! So the long trek back to the villa along a highway in Switzerland seemed like the next best option. The amazing views made the single file 40 minute walk totally worth it!
When we finally reached the villa we all quickly changed into bathing suits and headed to Lake Lugano! It's crazy to look up at the Swiss Alps covered in snow and be in a bathing suit getting tan, but nonetheless it was beautiful! When the sun started to set we headed back to the villa for dinner. Since veal (yuck!) was on the menu, Kori, Bee, and I decided to go to a local pizza place right down the street from the villa. Trying to communicate with the people there was near impossible-- a lot of pointing and "non capisco" (I don't understand). We managed to get half cheese and half ham even though we wanted all cheese it was still delicious! After some delicious gelato we went back to the villa to hang out for a little before heading out to the bars! Great time with great people :)

 

 

 

Travel Day and Day 1 of the Journey

Today was freaking miserable! I officially HATE traveling but Icelandair was actually a really really good airline. The first flight sucked because I couldn't get comfortable in my seat so I didn't even get to sleep like everyone else. Then when we got to Iceland we got some gross food that I later found was $30. Needless to say I was mad and all I wanted was Starbucks. Then everyone fell asleep on some airport benches during our five hour layover except for me of course so i just read my book. Then our second flight was awesome because I was somehow upgraded to first class and had those big comfy seats and no one next to me so that part was awesome. Once we arrived in Switzerland we found our professor and took the shuttle to CESA.
After our long day of traveling we arrived at CESA at 6:15 then got our room assignments and unpacked. I got placed in the apartment instead of the villa (the main building where class/food/offices are) and share it with six other girls. There's three bedrooms and two baths and I'm sharing a room with two of my friends. The furniture is all IKEA in the apartment it's so funny! But it's cool because we have our own kitchen and laundry room.
So after getting settled in last night it was time for dinner. The soup was really good and the bread was delicious. The main course was turkey and steamed carrots. After dinner we had a house meeting to go over the rules and such and then some people went out but we were all too jet lagged to even think so we went back to the apartment to go to sleep on our two inch, thick hard mattresses.