Italy Recap

Hello to all! I have been in Italy for almost a month now and seeing as how this is my first post, I thought I would let you all know what I have done so far. I got to Italy on January 24 with my mom and we went to Parma which is where the whole family is. There, we ate a fabulous meal at my grandma's house and then went off to get last minute things that I needed for Florence. We hung out in Parma for a few days and we were able to go out and eat Torta Fritta which is my favorite food by far! My mom and I then left and took the train to Florence because I was moving in that day. My apartment in Florence is located right by Santa Croce which is this beautiful church near the Duomo. In the apartment, I have my own room but I share the apartment with 5 other girls, Jodi, Rachel, Amy, Leanne, and Allison. Thankfully, we all hit it off right away and we all get along so that worked out really well. We got our apartment set up and then, I spent the rest of the week with my mom and walking around Florence seeing the sights. My mom and I went back to Parma and then I came back to Florence and my mom went home. I am taking hotel management classes here in Florence and I love them! They are all very interesting and hopefully I will learn a lot. I am also taking an Italian class and I really like it because I am learning verbs and grammar and how to write it better so I like that class as well. My school schedule permits me to travel almost every weekend but so far, I've only been back to Parma which is fine with me because I love it! In Florence, there is so much to see and that works out well for me because my classes are mainly from 12-2:30p Monday through Thursday so I have lots of time in Florence to see the city. I went to the Uffizi with my mom and it was amazing! There is so much stuff there to see and it is all amazing! I went and saw the David as well and that was so cool that I think I'm going to go back. So far though, my favorite thing has been the Palazzo Pitti and seeing the Giardini dei Boboli. The Gardini look out over the entire city and it is a very relaxing walk and just a very nice place to go in the late afternoon and read a book. Yesterday, I went to the BIT in Milan. BIT stands for Borsa Internazionale del Turismo which means International Trade Fair/Show. I had so much fun there that I wanted to go back today, but it didn't work out. I walked around and saw all the different countries and got so much information from so many different places that I could open my own travel agency! It was very interesting though seeing how a tourism fair works and is set up and hopefully I'll get the chance to go to another one in the future. As of now, I am loving Italy and being here. Life here is so different but in a good way. I love cooking dinner for myself at night and exploring the city during the day. Florence is so touristy that coming to Parma is a nice change from the tourists. I took Allison and her boyfriend Jack to Parma for the day and it was fun showing them around the city that I know so well. I can't wait for Jeff to come and to show him around Italy as he's never been so I'm really looking forward to that. My dad is coming as well in March and with him I think we are going to go to Lake Como as I've never been and it's fairly close to Parma so I'm also excited about that. My uncle has a house in Vipiteno which is in the mountains and my cousin and I are going to try to go there in April I think. She's coming to visit me next weekend and I'm excited to show her around Florence, or rather for her to show me around. The weekend after that I think I'm going to Rome to see family friends, so as you can see, I'm just traveling all the time! Ciao!!
Ciao a tutti! Sono in Italia gia' da un mesa e visto che questo e' il mio primo post, pensavo di dirvi tutto quello che ho gia' fatto. Sono arrivata in Italia il 24 di gennaio con la mia mamma e siamo andate subito a Parma dove c'e' tutta la famiglia. Gli, abbiamo mangiato un pasto buonissimo da la nonna e poi siamo andate in giro a prendere tutto che mi mancava per andare a Firenze. Siamo stati a Parma ancora un paio di giorni e abbiamo anche mangiato la torta fritta. Poi, io e la mamma siamo partite per Firenze. A Firenze sono andata a vedere e a spostarmi nel apartamento dove vivro' fino a maggio. L'apartamento e' vicino a Santa Croce che e' una chiesa bellissima vicino al Duomo. Nell'apartamento io ho una camera singola ma ci sono altre cinque ragazze, Jodi, Rachel, Amy, Leanne, e Allison. Menomale che sono tutte molto simpatiche e andiamo tutte molto d'accordo. Dopo che ho messo tutto in ordine nell'apartamento sono andata a girare a Firenze con mia mamma. Poi noi due siamo tornate a Parma per due giorni e dopo io sono tornata a Firenze e la mamma e' andata a casa. A Firenze sto faccendo delle lezioni per gestire un albergho e mi piacciono tantissimo. Sono tutte molto interesante e spero di imparare molto. Sto anche' faccendo una lezione d'italiano dove spero di imparare a scrivere, la grammatica, e i verbi meglio che non adesso. Le mie lezioni sono fatte a un modo che mi lascia molto tempo di andare a vedere Firenze ma' anche' l'italia. Fin ora sono solo andata a Parma pero' a me va bene perche' mi piace tanto. Mi piace essere in Italia perche' la vita e' diversa pero' e' bella. Mi piace farmi da mangiare tutte le sera e' andare a vedere la citta' durante il giorno. Spero di pottere andare a vedere parte d'italia che non ho mai visto. Per ora, tutto va bene e' non vedo l'ora di andare in giro! Ciao!