Tuesday started off with a tour of the city by Pietro Paolo, a local resident of Castiglion Fiorentino. It was bitterly cold as we walked around the perimeter of the walls around the town. We stopped in a few churches and were able to go inside and look around.  Little did we know, the winds and cold temperatures were precursors to the snow that began to fall that afternoon. During the afternoon, Carissa and I walked around the town. I was able to buy postcards, stamps and a small pocket sketch book.  It was very entertaining to look around the shops and see how different each store is from the next.  A group of us decided to go to Roggi’s that evening. While there Chloe and I thought we would order a ‘moscato’ wine (the sweet white wine found in the US).  We attempted to ask the lady if it was vino bianco just to be sure and she said yes. The ‘moscato’ we ordered turned out to be a shot of distilled wine and vodka mixture (very very strong). After attempting to take with a Sprite, I gave the remaining away to a friend.   This was our first real language barrier mess-up but definitely humorous to us. When we left Roggi’s it was a winter wonderland outside and had to slide down the very hilly alleys home. The snowstorm wiped out the internet access for a few days.

Post lunch we went for a walk before our next class, after a dog almost jumped out of a gate at us we ran away and got lost. Luckily, we found our way home in time.

Later, a group of about 30 of us went to find the co-op to buy things like shampoo, food, and other things we couldn't bring with us. After an hour of hiking through the town in a single file line alongside roadways and getting some interesting looks and angry honks we found the co-op. Shopping where every product is in Italian was a bit confusing and we did not receive plastic bags for our items, making for an interesting trip home with a lot of products and a bottle of Snuggle detergent.

pesto pasta for dinner

seafood with onion rings, covered zuchini, and potatoes

things from the co-op

a brioche with a generous helping of blackberry jelly inside..YUMMY!

After a long day or two of traveling, we arrived in Rome and were greeted by the scariest men in customs we eventually found our bus to Castiglion Fiorentino. Here are some pics so far...

our humble home

first italian food

dinner at the study center

little blurry but best chicken ive ever had

view from our window

My Biggest Dilemma: one suitcase for four months

After two weeks of packing and re-packing and one trip to the UPS store to weight it all, I have finally managed to squeeze everything for the semester into one suitcase weighing 49.4 lbs and two carry-on bags. The 50 lb weight limit proved to be my biggest enemy when deciding how many clothes to bring among other necessities (hopefully Italy will have some decent shampoo + conditioner since it was just too heavy, or else I am going to have some craaazy hair while I am there). Italy does have weather similar to ours here in the Midwest so I had to pack plenty of warm winter clothes as well as the lighter springtime clothes. I have probably made at least 10 checklists to make sure I don't forget anything important. My next problem will be carrying it all at once...haha. I will let you know how that one goes!

My Destination: Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy





Friends + Family,

In the next 24 hours I will be on my way to Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. It is a small walled city located in the eastern portion of Tuscany. As a hilltown in the countryside of Italy, the city of Castiglion Fiorentino overlooks the Val di Chiana and the foothills of the Appennine mountains. I am not sure what really means but I guess I will find out :)