Benvenuto D&M! Welcome!

     Hello blogosphere, a new place where I can share my amazing travel experiences in Italy! I’m currently attending Accademia Italiana (AI), a design school in Florence and will begin to blog about my life here as a student. It is currently my fourth week living in Florence, and it has been absolutely incredible so far. I have traveled to beautiful places, eaten my weight in pizza, and continue to learn about different cultures. I anticipate my posts will mostly contain stories of my travel, blogs about fashion, and lots and lots of food. But for now I will give an overview of my most recent trips and experiences!

Siena and San Gimignano

     I am so lucky to attend AI because there are several weekend trips provided through the university. At the end of our orientation week we took a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano, two beautiful Tuscan towns just a few hours away from Florence. 

     Our day started in Siena in a torrential downpour. But even the rain could not take away from the gorgeous views of the hills and town. We met a tour guide who led us through St. Catherine’s Cathedral and then Duomo di Siena. Learning about St. Catherine of Siena was interesting because they have the head and finger of St. Catherine on display, and apparently other parts of her body are in other churches across Italy. 

     The Duomo is a must see, featuring intricate mosaic tile floors depicting scenes from the bible as well as important symbols of Siena and Italy. One of my favorite parts of the Duomo was the “Library” room which holds beautifully hand bound song books and scriptures. The frescoes in the room are massive and all of the artifacts appear in excellent condition. The saturated colors, gold leaf details, and ornate designs place you back in time.

View of Siena

     After a few hours in Siena we were on our way to San Gimignano, a medieval town that is nestled high up in the Tuscan hills. The views on the bus ride of ripe vineyards ready for the harvest. We stopped in “The World’s Best Ice Cream” shop and their sign proved true. The chocolate and coffee flavors were my favorite, but you can’t go wrong when it comes to gelato. I wish we had more time to enjoy the views and the sunset but we had to be on our way back to Florence.

View from the top of San Gimignano

     I will also include a link to a video I made of my first week adventures, including this trip here and below! I hope you will enjoy the video and post! Ciao!

   

The Most Beautiful Place on Earth

I have been extremely lucky to be able to travel as much as I have during this abroad trip.  Although I am getting a lot out of my classes during the week, I am getting an incredible experience exploring and discovering new cities and places in Europe during the weekends.  This past weekend, and my favorite so far, Julia and I ventured to the Amalfi Coast of Italy.  We left Florence Thursday night, and spent Friday-Sunday on our trip.  

Capri, Italy

This place is pure bliss - I've never seen anything like it.  The houses and shops are quaint, little colorful buildings all connected together.  Almost every shop owner creates their product by hand from start to finish, whether it's handmade Italian leather sandals or bottles of limoncello.  We had a great time just wandering and getting lost amongst the shops, and conversing with the locals in Italian, as many residents of the Amalfi Coast don't speak much English.

Our first adventure Friday morning was a boat tour around the island of Capri, which would end up at the Blue Grotto.  Our tour guides on the boat were several post-graduates who had studied abroad in Florence or Rome during their college years, and came back to guide current abroad students on adventures such as this one.  They pointed out to us many of Capri's most beautiful sites, including the rocks where the Dolce & Gabbana ads are shot.  We saw Gucci's house, Versace's house, and much more as we soaked up the sun on the boat.  The tour ended at the Blue Grotto, which is a small cave off of Capri where the water is royal blue.  The entire Mediterranean sea surrounding the Amalfi Coast is absolutely gorgeous, crystal clear water, but the Blue Grotto is the most beautiful royal blue I've ever seen.  It gets it's color from the sun shining into the small entrance to the cave, which illuminates royal blue once inside the cave.  We got off the boat in groups of 4 into much smaller row boats, operated by old Italian men that serenaded us the entire journey into the cave.  We were pulled into the cave by metal chain, and had to lie down flat on the boat in order to not get our heads smashed by the cave entrance.  This is what the cave looks like on the inside:

Blue Grotto - Capri, Italy

On Saturday, we spent the day on the beautiful island of Positano.  I didn't think it could get any more beautiful than Capri, but Positano is a close contender.  I would love to have my honeymoon and own property here someday.

Positano, Italy

We got onto a boat on the shore of the island, and went to cliffs about 15 minutes away.  Our guides told us we were going cliff jumping, and I got extremely excited and also slightly nervous.  The cliffs weren't nearly as big as I imagined, but still tall enough to get the adrenaline pumping.  It was probably as high as jumping off of a 3-story house in the suburbs.  The water we jumped into was a beautiful light blue, and was so salty that it really took no effort to keep afloat.  It felt as though I was jumping into the water with a lifejacket on, because the salt water propelled me back up to the surface so quickly.

Positano, Italy

Cliff jumping was definitely a highlight of the weekend.  If and when I return to the Amalfi Coast, I plan on doing it again.  The weekend ended with a tour of Pompeii on Sunday, which was really cool to see and a little educational piece of the trip.  We were unsure of what we were looking at most of the time, since most of the ruins look the same, but we had fun exploring and taking pictures.

Pompeii, Italy

This weekend was absolutely unforgettable, and I can't wait to return to the Amalfi Coast.  It is hands down the most beautiful place I've ever seen, and could easily spend the rest of my life there.  I hope that many of you get the chance to visit during your travels!

Arrivaderci,

Adrienne