Fried Bologna and other things

I know, I know. I've been pretty much the slowest blogger ever. I just have to say though, in my defense 1. I am living in ITALY and 2. Blogger takes the greater part of a century to load my photos. In any case, here I am.

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to a local wine tasting. The restaurant and the wine was all great, but the room downstairs that housed all the wine was pretty stunning. It seemed they had every type, color and shape of bottle possible for wine making. We tried both a white and red wine, followed by a desert wine which is usually used for dunking cookies (a classier version of oreos and milk). Here are some pictures from that

Last weekend was spent in Bologna, Italy with 7 of us from the program. Besides transportation, the trip was pretty much unplanned. We all ended up having a great time, no thanks to Bologna. Don't get me wrong, it is still a place in Italy of which I am glad I went but it only made me appreciate Siena so much more. The city is dirty and huge and seemingly Americanized. By the end of the trip we all felt as though we had gone back to America for a short trip rather than spent the weekend in an Italian city. We did see a few cool things, and climbed to the top of the leaning tower right in the middle of downtown. We ate some awe-some gelato and had a delicious margarita (or 2).

Monday started our last week of intensive italian. PHEW! We took the final today and it wasn't the most confident I have ever felt on a test. I am making progress, slowly but surely. I will be very excited to start the remainder of my classes on monday.

The weather has been rather gloomy lately and being from Arizona, I don't too much care for overcast days. My first venture out into the rain I was in complete shock and awe of just how many people have umbrellas! Even if it is merely sprinkling,  every person you see will be umbrella covered. So note to self, if you ever come to Italy in February, bring an umbrella.

This afternoon we went on a hike up to Monteriggioni which is this very cool town on top of a hill, small, quaint and quiet. The hike was absolutely beautiful. Monteriggioni does not offer much, but their views are to die for.

We are also moving to a new apartment next week because the one we are currently in will be undergoing some construction that is predicted to be rather intrusive. Our new apartment is much closer to the campo, but the change is still weird. This apartment has already become comfortable, but I like change. I will post pictures once we move.

Tonight some of the girls are coming over to play a good ol game of UNO, drink some wine, and unwind from the week.

All is well.

Ciao,

Liz