Have a seat, let's play catch up

I’m sorry it has taken us so long to put up a new post, but hopefully Tiff and I can catch you guys up on what’s been going on in our lives…. Spring Break was great, and you will have to scroll down to read what all we did because Tiff wrote about that week and I don’t want to take away from her post…
But in order to tell you what all is going on, I’m going to tell you guys about what everything before and after SB. My friend Mallory from PCA/Baylor came to visit us and we all went down to Roma to pick her up. I’m pretty sure Mal set a world record for the shortest amount of time passed between landing in Italy and getting kissed by an Italian. I’m being totally serious here. We picked up Mal earlier in the morning and at dinner—she had our waiter drooling over her. I wish I could give more details but Mal would kill me… Anyways here are some pics from after we picked her up and then after dinner.

Since Tiff and I had been to Roma before, we spent the next day relaxing in the local parks and visiting a few places we haven’t been yet. One of the places we went to was the San Clemente Basilica across the road from the Coliseum. I had been there before, but it was so cool that I made Tiff come see it again with me. This Church has two levels underneath it that date back to the first century… To give you a little insight on Rome—there was no room to build sideways so they built upwards… this led to the many ruins in Rome and recent excavations of even newer ruins. San Clemente is one of those places.
Quick History: On the ground level, there is a Basilica built to remember Pope Clement XI. You follow the dark stairways down to the “first basilica” which was built in the 3rd century. Below the first basilica level was a Pagan Monastery which has vaulted ceilings and cave-like structures.
In one of these rooms cave-like, there was about a waits high, flat, cement bulge from the wall that had a hole in it. It stretched from one corner to the other and you could hear water flowing. The first time I came here, I had a tour and the guy told us it was tradition to reach down the hole and touch the fresh water from the rock before it hits the river below. I know I’m describing this badly, but just bear with me. Well, I tried to show Tiff how to do it by leaning into the hole and reaching to touch the flow, and my sunglasses fell off into the river bed. I stand up, told Tiff what happened and then decided to go get them. My first try was rough—remember, this hole was waist high already and to even tough the water, you had to bend into the hole… trying to stretch to touch the river bed was going to require my feet to be off the ground. After one failed attempt, another tour group comes in and we (me with soaking hair on one side because of the river flow and Tiff laughing uncontrollably from the sight of my lower body flailing around) sit in the corner of the room until the group leaves. Then we get a plan… I was going to hold Tiff’s legs while she reached as far down as she could. She was basically doing a hand stand, except that Tiff’s arms are about half as long as mine so she only got as far down as I did the first try… She then tells me that I have to go down again. I get kind-of a running start and Tiff holds my legs stable in the air---I wish we got a pick of this, but with people coming in and out of the room, we had to be quick to avoid trouble. But anyways, I dove in, legs straight up in the air, Tiff holding onto them and finally I grabbed a pair of sunglasses. But guess what—they weren’t mine. I had felt an umbrella while I was felling around in the water so I knew I wasn’t the only stupid tourist in Roma… Tiff decided to try again and she ended up grabbing the umbrella because it was all she could grab. Another group came in and when they left I dove in again. Finally I grabbed another pair of sunglasses and they were mine!! I think this whole adventure in the 1st century monastery room took about 15 minutes total, but with our adrenaline pumping it felt like an ETERNITY! Here is a pick of Tiff’s new pair of sunglasses and my rescued pair :)

Here are some pics from our afternoon at the famous Gianicolo Park (this is where a friend of mine proposed). Tiff made a crown of florwers for me and said that she's never before seen me in such a "perfect atmosphere" haha.

During the week of Mal’s visit, we took her to Piazza Michelangelo to participate in a Florentine tradition of eating cheese and crackers on the hill while watching the sunset. This is one of the many things my roommates and I participate in to help us orientate ourselves with Italian culture.
Here's Mal, Tiff, Meg and Mary Beth and the beautiful sunset!

Anytime during our week, or weekend—really whenever we get a chance, we will go sit by the Arno River and relax, read, and study in the sun. It is probably my favorite way to spend our free-time. Below you can see Tiff reading and Mal taking a nap.

The next weekend, my culture class went to Montalcino, Montepulcino, and Pienza. These three cities are located in the Tuscany Valley and are famous for their vineyards, historic guard towers and castles. Here are a few pictures from that trip. Isn’t Italy such a beautiful place?

During this trip, we were able to tour Basilica in Pienza, learn about wine at a vineyard situated in the Valley, eat at a world renowned restaurant in Montalcino, and tour a guard castle in Montepulcino.
I also was able to catch up with my friend Janie (from Ole Miss) who is also studying abroad in Firenze… here is a picture of us in Pienza overlooking the Valley.

Two weekends ago, I was able to go visit my friend from K-2 named Stacy. She is studying in Perugia, Italy, through the same program that I will hopefully be doing next semester. It was such a peaceful and blessed trip because I was able to fall in love with the small city of Perugia and meet a few people who will be there in the fall. Perugia is the capital of the Umbra region, tucked away in the heart of Italy. It is across the valley from Assisi, and unique for the chocolate it produces. One interesting fact about the chocolate factories is that they stop producing chocolate after Easter because of the heat. They produce all of the chocolate before Easter that they think will last purchases until late fall. So—if you want good chocolate, get it ASAP!
Here is a pic of Stacy and then a glimpse of Perugia.

These past three weeks have been a little hectic—we’ve had LOTS of visitors and of course… school work. Our first visitor (Cole, Meg’s BF) came about four weeks ago, traveled with us on our Spring Break trip, and then stayed with us in Firenze for the rest of his time off from work. He left earlier this past week—but before he left, we had two guys from Baylor stay with us while they toured Firenze. Their names are Trevis and Rus and their program in the Netherlands just ended and they are touring southern Europe before heading back home. Also that weekend, my friend Stacy, Adam and Jim from Perugia had a train layover in Firenze before their trip to the Isle of Elba.. That night was probably the most packed our apartment has ever been, but it was a blast to have a large sleepover. I think there was someone sleeping in and on anything that was available. Since then, we’ve only had one visitor who slept on our couch for two nights. Her name was Jill from the University of Tulsa who was studying in Barcelona… Other than visitors staying with us, Meg’s, Mary Beths’s, and Tiff’s parents have all come to visit us. Playing tour guide for all of these people has really kept us busy—but still, it’s always nice to see a familiar face.
With all of our friends now gone, we have been given a chance to catch up on things that have been up aside for another day (like blogging) but also homework and projects.. Easter weekend was the first weekend we have been actually been able to take a breath and get situated since Spring Break.
The night before Easter, Tiff wanted to work on her project of perspectives where she had to paint three pictures at different times, but of the same thing. She decided to do the river, so Mary Beth, Tiff and I got our stuff together and went out to the river after sunset. Tiff was painting fast with many dark colors and it was almost starting to look like Van Gogh’s Starry night… we played some worship music and Tiff started to get a little audience. One guy about our age says something in Italian and then calls her Monet. He hops over the wall and joins us on the cement block below. Mary Beth and I are caught in our own world of worship when he does this and hands Tiff a coke—they quickly become friends and continues to call her Monet. This guy, whoever he was, just became Tiff’s little admirer as she painted and he would shoo any other men who wanted to come and watch… Don’t you love protectors! Anyways, Tiff painting turned out beautifully and she gained a new nickname.
For Easter, Tiff and Mary Beth went to the Florentine tradition of “Lo Scoppio del carro,” but returned sad because they couldn’t see any of the ceremony due to the turnout. We later went to an Easter dinner hosted by a few Apicius students, but it still wasn’t the same as home.
This past weekend, Meg, Tiff and our friend Kyle Bonney ran in a half marathon.. I’m sure she’s going to want to tell you guys about it, so I’m going to save that for her…
I love you guys and I hope that we haven’t let everyone down because it’s taken us so long to put up a new post
Much love,
Elizabeth
P.S. Here are just some fun shots that we’ve captured.