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Articles Tagged ‘Italy’

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Leaving Florence

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Hi everybody!Here I sit in the “computer hallway” in our hostel, Ostello Archi Rossi (you can friend them on facebook!) Its a pretty cool hostel, actually. Its painted all over the walls by local art students, they feed you, and have free guided tours, and a very friendly staff. I give it 2 thumbs up.Today is our last day in Florence. We really love this city, and although Im sad to leave it, I am excited for the next chapter in our little adventure!We roamed the city today, saying “goodbye” to all of our fave places. I went to Vivoli (best gelato in Florence) one last time, we strolled along the Arno, circumambulated (dont you love that word?) the Duomo, ate lunch at Za Za (awesome gnocchi) walked thru our fave piazzas (Signoria, Santa Croce, Repubblica, etc) and generally enjoyed ambling around.We also looked for Croatian/English phrase books, but no luck there. Oh, boy. Yep, in about an hour we catch a train to Zagreb. Im not sure why I picked Zagreb, so dont ask! We have an hour layover in Venice, just long enough to step outside the station and take a big whiff of the river. I hear its extra ripe in the summer!I am so freaking hot! They dont use much A/C over here, so Ive become a big blonde sweat monster.  I try to mix in some sightseeing but pretty much all I do is sweat. I carry around a bandana all the time (my “sweatdana”) for mopping up my face. I look around and I see that some other people seem hot, just some of them, mind you, but none of them, save a few old chubby bald guys, none of them are producing sweat like I am! What is up with that?Anyway, on to more pleasant topics. We are going to spend a lot of our time, I hope, on the water. Croatioa is said to have truly outstanding beaches and gorgeous clear waters. So, I cant wait to explore the sea there, and rinse off some of this sweat residue! Im hoping there will be lots of men without shirts on. There havent been many of those around here…Oh, time to hop over to the train station! I shall blog again from exciting, exotic Zagreb!

Posted in Europe, Italy | 3 Comments »

Live from Firenze! It’s Thursday night!

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Hi everybody!

We are still in Firenze, aka Florence. Its been a fun, busy day! We spent most of the afternoon in the Uffizi, one of the best art museums in the whole wide world. We saw many masterpieces, including one of my all time faves – Birth of Venus. Also, there was a special exhibition which included several paintings by Artemesia, which was a dream come true for me b/c I’ve always wanted to see some of her work in person. After a museum full of work by men, it was refreshing to see her creations, especially the one where two pissed off women were beheading a guy. Hamsa and I wondered what he’d done to get them so upset!

And I bought some paper. You know how I LOVE paper.

I found an internet joint with headphones, so I’m jammin out to the Dead whilst typing to you. Fire on the mountain – awesome song!

I was gonna load some pics, but I forgot to reformat them smaller, so that’ll have to wait.

You know, we’ve been here for 5 days, and we’ll be here 4 more. But I could use another month here, its so endlessly beautiful. And there is gelato, like, everywhere!

When I’m back in the States, if any of you want to come over here, just let me know, and I’ll come with you! There is pizza, pasta, sexy Italian men, gelato, top-notch shopping, SHOES!, sexy Italian men, more shoes, and oh yeah GELATO! So, yeah, I’m game for a return trip anytime.

Oh, I stumbled upon a shop/museum of an artist jeweler musician man – Alessandro Dari. I love him. He has inspired me; he was so good it made me cry. I spent forever perusing, studying, admiring his creations, meanwhile he was in his studio in the back room making yet another masterpiece. After a while he came out and starting playing this beautiful song on his guitar. I want to marry him.

The family arrives tomorrow for Stephen and Joyce’s wedding. Our little party of 2 will become a party of 9 for a while. Should be interesting. It’ll be nice to have some gals around for shopping! Hamsa is no help in that department. “Hamsa, do you think these shoes will look good with my dress?” “Uh, sure. I mean ‘no’. I don’t know. Ask someone else.” I actually told the saleslady I would return tomorrow with my mama. She understood completely.

I’m getting hungry, so I guess we better go find a restaurant. Hmmmm, what shall we eat tonight? Maybe some delectable Italian food? Then we’ll gaze at the Duomo for a while. Its a lovely, lovely thing.

Oh, here’s my super secret hint – in the Ludwig quiz down below, try to read the names on the column behind Ludwig. The were the king and queen who sent you-know-who to the Americas! Also, there is an artform you see over here, where people dress up with costumes and body paint and then don’t move, like a statue. They’re sometimes called

(and here is where i interrupt after i was checking my blog (this is hamsa) she told you the answer but i erased it hahahaha! nice try! but there is no cheating. anyone who cheats does not get the MOTHER OF PEARL , WHICH IS THE GRAND PRIZE) i found a shell that is made by the same material as a pearl and i found it on the beach at the end of our camino and it was 2 inches big and intact imagine a shell made of a pearl… that is the grand prize… ok i am done back to my moms post after this row of dots)……………

 (Dont tell Hamsa I told you!)

Bye everybody!

Posted in 1, Italy | 4 Comments »

Dispatch from the Road

Monday, June 14th, 2010
Hi everybody! Well, I just wrote a brilliant, funny post, and this darn computer ate it! GRRRR! I want my MacBook! So, feeling a bit disgruntled, here is a shorter, less brilliant, and less funny post: Ahem Well, its been a whirlwind few days. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in 1, Europe, Italy | 1 Comment »

I MISS YOU ALL (hamsa)

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
I MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH let everyone know to get on the blog or ludwig will cry

Posted in Missing You | No Comments »

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS LUDWIG? read [Ludwig the traveling hedgehog] before this (by Hamsa)

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
The farther we go into the quiz the harder it gets.. we are starting out easy. the ludwig quiz is called WHERE IN THE WORLD IS LUDWIG.... QUIZ #1 question 1...what country is Ludwig in? question 2... what city is Ludwig in? bonus ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Europe, Greece, Hamsa, Iceland, Italy, LUDWIG QUIZ IS HERE, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, WHERE IN THE WORLD IS LUDWIG | 2 Comments »

Ludwig the traveling hedgehog (by Hamsa)

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Ludwig (pronounced lood-vig) is a hedgehog. He likes orange Fanta, pizza, and getting his picture taken. He loves to fly on airplanes even though he hides in the bag when he does. He hates with all his heart Scrabble because ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Europe, Greece, Hamsa, Hiking, Iceland, Italy, Ludwig the traveling hedgehog, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland | 1 Comment »