Tuscany

Last weekend was spent "under the Tuscan sun" and it was fantastico!

We took the train to Florence Thursday afternoon and got there pretty smoothly (we only almost missed our second train :) ), then wandered around in search of our hostel. For awhile we couldn't find any street signs and were getting so frustrated! We had no clue what road we were on or anything, and we knew the hostel was just a couple blocks from the train station but we didn't see any road signs! Finally we realized that they were all carved into the stone on the buildings at the street corners. Haha... once we had that figured out it went much more smoothly! :)
When we found the "street" our hostel was on we realized it was actually just an alley, and we got pretty nervous. It was our first hostel experience and we were expecting the worst. Well we've found that low expectations, when traveling anyways, are really the way to go, because most often you'll be pleasantly surprised. Our hostel was clean enough and we felt safe; plus, we got free breakfast, free dinner on weeknights, a free walking tour, and they had snacks and drinks for much much cheaper than they were out and about in Florence. All that for 20 euro per night per person!! Our room was a four person mixed room with a private bathroom; we slept in twin bunkbeds (I got top, Brad got bottom, haha!) and our roommates were two other American guys, who thankfully weren't scary or creepy (although it was very very weird to be sleeping in the same room as total strangers, especially ones of the opposite sex!).

After we dropped our things off at the hostel we met up with Matt and Becca, some friends of our's from college who happened to be on vacation as well. They had been in Florence for a couple days already so they picked out a place for dinner and we had a wonderful time visiting with them and then walking around Florence after dinner.

Saturday morning we got up early to beat the line for the Statue of David, and we were happy to get in after only waiting for 5 minutes or so. I wasn't able to get any pictures of the original, but they wouldn't have done it justice if I had. It is just so perfect. Every muscle, every proportion. It was also so cool to see "the prisoners," a couple rows of statues started but never finished by Michelangelo. We took it all in, but there wasn't really much to see in the gallery besides those statues. We went back to our hostel for breakfast and then went out on the free walking tour through the city. It was such a great tour because we learned so much that we wouldn't have known just walking around by ourselves. It lasted a couple hours, and afterwards we walked around some more on our own. We grabbed sandwiches from a little shop and had a picnic on the stairs of the Duomo, which was really fun to people watch! And then we made our way through the streets where the daily market of leather goods, textiles, etc are set up. We went on back to the hostel to plan out our next day and all, then grabbed a free and pretty tasty dinner while we were there. It was so nice to only have to buy one cheap meal all day long!!

Saturday morning we hopped on a bus down to Siena, one of the larger Tuscan hilltowns. We hung out and did some sight-seeing around there until 2, at which time we met our tour guides for a tour of some other hilltowns, specifically ones in the Chianti region, which is known for its wine so the fields are full of pretty vineyards. We went first to the tiny town of Vagliagli to take pictures from its 360 degree views. It was so beautiful! Unfortunately, because it was so bright outside I couldn't see really see how the pictures were coming out- turns out they were all a little overexposed. :( Oh well, I'll just have to rely on my memory for those views! From there we stopped in Radda, a town of about 1500 people and took a tour of the little town. I loved it!! It was a perfect little town completely unspoiled by tourism. After that we drove on down to an even smaller town - one with a population of only 14!! It too, though, was straight from a novel set back in the medieval times. Aaah we loved it! From there we went up to a vineyard for a winery tour. It was interesting to learn how the wine is made and all, but obviously Brad and I are not and will likely never be wine connoisseurs! We got back to Sienna after 7, and by the time we were able to get on the next bus and get back to Florence it was after 10. Long day! But we got to see so much so it was well worth it.

Sunday morning we decided we'd head back up near Asolo and see Verona, one of the cool smaller cities in the Veneto region (the same region as Asolo and Venice). We had a good time exploring it without feeling like we had to rush from sight to sight; it was much more relaxed traveling for sure!

Our weekend was great and our week is flying by!! We fly out to Paris tomorrow evening!!!

Hope you all are doing well; you're in our thoughts and prayers!

Florence

a day in the life

Here is what a typical week day looks like for us:

Wake up at 7:30, head to breakfast (provided to us, in that room with the amazing views) around 8 or a little after. Brad has class from 9-12, then at 12:30 we have lunch (again, provided on campus) and then hang out until he goes back to class from 2-5. Dinner varies, and is also provided, but we go to different places in town and get served a standard meal there. For instance, Monday night we were all served grilled chicken and sliced baked potatoes. It's so nice to never have to worry about meals, and it's fun to be able to try different ristarontes in town without paying anything! After dinner we typically walk around, get gelato, and hang out until we head to bed.

And what do I do while Brad is in class? You'd be surprised at how fast the time flies... this morning, for instance, after breakfast I found a bench outside and read for an hour or so, then went up and did some laundry (more on that in a moment!), then worked out and showered, and all of a sudden it was noon and Brad was in the room! After lunch we went on a different hike with a friend in the hill country behind campus. Again, it was amazing, and I'll definitely be taking my camera out with me and snapping some more pics of it another day! After that Brad had to go back to class, and I went to work doing some more laundry, straightening up the room, checking email, researching things for this weekend's trip, and then it was five and Brad was back from class. We're getting ready to head out on another walk around town with friends until we have dinner at a pizzeria at 7.

So, about this whole laundry thing... most people here handwash their laundry. There aren't laundrymats in town, either. So we can either pay ten euro to have someone wash our clothes, in which case they get picked up Monday morning and are back to us Thursday, or we just handwash it ourselves in our room. We obviously have gone with the latter... not only is it cheaper, but we also didn't pack enough clothes to send off the dirty ones for three days! So Monday night as a group we went to the mall, which had a store similar to Wal-Mart in it, and picked up some essentials and laundry soap that is specifically for hand-washing. I had my first go at it yesterday... I just filled up the sink with a few shirts at a time and we strung up a clothesline in our room to hang them. It really wasn't all that bad, except for wringing them out. My hands were definitely rubbed raw!! But at least I got so much knocked out then, and now I just stay on top of it washing clothes as they get dirty a little at a time.

I would try to explain what Brad is learning in his class, but I wouldn't do it very well. All I really know is right now they're going over some method of decision-making in businesses. It seems to be going alright- he has a little bit of homework tonight, and they all nearly fall asleep in class in the afternoons, but they don't have any tests over the material they're going over now thankfully.

Tomorrow after Brad gets out of class at noon we get served sack lunches and sent out the door to travel! We'll be taking a train to Florence, and will hopefully be meeting up with Matt and Becca for dinner (they are on a vacation as well!). Friday we'll tour the city, Saturday we'll explore some Tuscan hilltowns, and Sunday we're not quite sure yet what we're doing. All we know is that we'll need to be back to the train station at 8 to catch the bus back to campus!

Hopefully I'll get a chance to put a few pics of our room and all up here before we go, but if not they'll have to wait until Monday.

Hope you all are doing well! Ciao!

Asolo

Sunday was quite a long day for us. We woke up and caught a bus from Menaggio to Como, which was fun because it took us through all the towns and we were able to see a bit more of them. From there we hopped on a train to Milan, after almost taking the wrong one, but were finally on our way. In Milan, we had to wait about 30 minutes to see which platform our next train would be assigned to... when we finally found out we made our way in that direction. A huge group of us were huddled close together for what seemed like forever while people got off of our train, and once we were able to we took off down the platform because we had quite a hike to make to get to the 7th car that we were assigned to. We finally got to our car and started to look for our seats, when some Italian jibberish was coming over the speakers and the other few people in our car started to grab the stuff and rush off. What was going on?!!? We grabbed our things and I asked one lady if she could translate for us, she said we had just been assigned to a different train! So we had to rush back down the platform and over to the other one and back down to car 7. We made it in time, but the whole thing caused a 20 minute delay, which made us miss our next train in Mestre (Venice) to Castelfranco, the closest town with a train station to Asolo. We had to take a later train once we got there, and when we finally arrived in Castelfranco we had to wait forever for a cab! At this point we were cutting it way too close to being there in time for orientation. A cab finally arrived, though, and rushed us over to Asolo with 8 minutes to spare!!!

It was such a long day... took us 8 hours total to get from Menaggio to Asolo! But it was so well worth it. It is so beautiful!! Yesterday we went for a hike on the trails back behind our "campus," and today I took my camera with me for an hour or two while Brad was in class and snapped away. These are the pictures from in and around Asolo!

Asolo

http://picasaweb.google.com/AldenAdventures/Asolo?feat=directlink

3 flights, 5 trains, 4 ferries, 1 bus, 1 taxi...

... and we made it!

Buongiorno from Asolo, the breath-taking village we are so blessed to call home for the next four weeks. Before we get to our village, though, we have to back-track and fill you in on our incredible weekend!

After three long flights and a five hour layover, we made it to Milan/Malpensa airport Friday morning (Italy time, which is central time + 7 hours). We were so thankful that all of our flights were smooth, there were no delays, no screaming babies or otherwise loud passengers, and our luggage made it there! Speaking of luggage, we got everything that we need for five weeks in two travel backpacks!! Are we good or what?! Anyways, back to Milan...

From there we decided to take a train to Lake Como, which actually involved taking a train to one small station and then hopping onto a different one to get the rest of the way. When we got to Como it was rainy and chilly, and we were exhausted, cold, and hungry, not to mention we were hit hard with the realization that we knew no Italian and they knew very little English!!

We decided to recharge and grab lunch, which was also overwhelming because there were pizzerias and ristorantes galore! How to decide?! We finally got in out of the rain, got the load off our backs, and had our first authentic Italian meal - five-cheese pizza and lasanga. I know, I know, how adventurous of us, right? Well at this point we were so hungy we wanted something we knew we'd like! And boy was it good!

After lunch we hopped on a ferry from Como to Menaggio, where we'd be staying the next two nights. The ferry ride was unbelievable (this is according to Brad; I was out even though I tried so hard to stay awake!)... the towns along the lake there are so picturesque and really unlike anything we've ever seen. The pictures we have don't come close to doing it justice, it was just so amazing.

We were so happy to finally get to our hotel. It's location was absolutely perfect- it overlooked a little square that had gelaterias and cafes with lots of outdoor seating. So picturesque! Now some of you may be wondering what a gelateria is- ooooh are you missing out! It is a little shop full of different flavors of gelato, Italy's version of ice cream I guess is the best way to describe it. You all know how much Brad and I love ice cream!! One scoop on a cone is only one euro- it's pretty much the cheapest thing you can buy there! (which of course is how we justified eating so much of it!) Anyways, for now, back to our hotel- the location was perfect, but the hotel itself was pretty interesting. The check-in desk is actually in a different sister hotel, and to get to our rooms you had to walk through a little alley, use a key to unlock a wrought-iron gate that opens up to the back of a little Italian flower/decor shop, turn the corner to go up a flight of winding stairs that then led you outside this tiny square you walked around
until you reached yet another flight of winding stairs that led to the main door of our hotel's rooms (there were only 5 total!). Our room was pretty basic- everything we needed without any frills, and we shared a bathroom in the hall with another room. Once we figured out how to flush the toilet and lock our door (we had on old-fashioned skeleton key!) we were good. We were way too exhausted at the moment to get out and do anything, so we thought we'd take a short nap. haha... five hours later (8pm there) we managed to get up and see the town. We treated ourself to our first scoops of gelato for dinner and walked around for awhile. It was a wonderful ending to our long travels!!

Saturday morning we got up and searched for breakfast. We didn't want to get a big meal at a restaurant, so we found a local market and bought some fresh fruit and a carton of milk. Yum! We decided to go and check out the other little towns along the lake so we bought a day ferry pass and hopped on to Tremezzo. There we toured this beautiful mansion that was full of old artwork and sculptures and was well-known for its immaculate gardens. After the gardens we grabbed a burger, chips, and lemon slushie thing from a snack stand next door to split for a late lunch. We sat on a bench and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful views! We then walked around the town for awhile and then caught another ferry to Bellagio, one of the most perfect little towns we've ever seen! It was full of narrow streets lined with shops that climbed the hills and weaved all around. Again, there were so many gelaterias I just had to stop for some! I think it was at this time that I decided that every travel day we'd have to have gelato!

Not being quite sure of when the last ferry left, we headed back to Menaggio for the evening. We went on another stroll of the town, and we just relaxed - Brad sat on a bench and read while I went around taking pictures. It was so neat because there were people all over doing the same thing- just relaxing. The next morning we set out for another day of travel to Asolo, but considering how long this blog is, that'll just have to wait until next time.

This calm weekend was definitely what we needed after the crazy end to our semester and our long travels! Thanks for all of your prayers for our safety and travels. We wish you were here with us now!

It was easiest for us to put all of our pics on Picasa, so if you click on the picture below it will take you to them. If that doesn't work, the link is below.

Lake Como

http://picasaweb.google.com/AldenAdventures/LakeComo?feat=directlink

ready or not... HERE WE COME!!

After months of dreaming and planning and waiting, tomorrow morning we fly out to Italy!!

For those of you who don't know, Brad is taking a 4-week course in Asolo, a small town about 45 miles northwest of Venice. We'll be in Europe a total of 5 weeks, and every weekend we'll be trekking to a new place (Paris, Florence, Austrian Alps) with a final week-long blitz of the western coast of Italy, starting in Sorrento and heading up to the Cinque Terre and Milan.

We are so so thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity, and are excited to share it with you all as we go. We may not be able to post pics on here, but we will definitely be blogging our adventures!

Now we're off to bed...

Until next time, ciao!

The Great Flood

... well, not quite THE great flood, but a crazy one anyways.

Two Wednesdays ago it started raining, rained all night, and then stopped Thursday morning. I didn't think anything about it, until I drove to nanny Thursday and one of the main roads was closed. I had to turn around and go a different way, which took me by the gym I also work at. The parking lot was under probably 10 feet of water!! Later that evening Brad and I went back to take pics of it. Thankfully the water never reached the gym, but it did get within a couple feet.

Royals Game

A couple weeks ago we went to a Royal's game with all our KC friends. The game was great (we won!), the weather was perfect, but it wasn't the best experience ever... a couple of the people in our group waited in line for dollar hotdogs the ENTIRE game!!! We got in line right as the game started and didn't get seated until the third inning. We thought that was bad, until they got in line sometime during the first inning and never even made it to their seats! Then the fireworks show was cancelled due to the excessive winds. Oh well, at least we got to see the Meyers, Keiths, and Nunnallys!

The stadium looks awesome!




Our reaction to the fireworks show cancellation:


A great one of the guys:

Fun in Chillicothe...

... only 3 weeks later!