TREDICI!

A moment of silence for ... our heater.

He tried to last throughout the winter, but at a ripe old age of 30 years he decided it was time to go. The girls of MC17 would like to thank our heater, from the bottom of our hearts, for quitting on us during the coldest week of the year. Thank you heater, for not only taking warm air, but also for taking the hot water too. Believe us when we say that there is NO amount of blankets, sweatshirts, jackets, scarves, mittens, or hats that could EVER replace you. We miss you.


Goodbye heater.


The mess you made.

I would say that he could NEVER be replaced, but that would be a lie.
We love our NEW heater more. :)

Buon Natale!
-<3- Jordan

DUEDICI!

Megan's sister and her friends came to Florence for the week! They flew out of Milan to head back home so of course Megan (my shopping partner in crime) & I just HAD to see them off in the fashion capital of the world!

Top 4 reasons why this trip was perfect:
1. The train ride there was BEAUTIFUL! All the mountains were covered in snow.
2. The hotel we were booked to stay at overbooked & UPGRADED us to another hotel.
3. We visited a park which was building an ICE SKATING RINK!!!
4. I got to eat at my favorite Itlian restaurant again! (Funny how I have no clue what the name of it is.)


I FOUND SNOW!

Swinging! :)

Park!

Metro!

My favorite Cathedral!

Lemon's at Milano's largest market!

Market!

ciao <3 - jordan

DODICI!

A few weekends ago I packed by bags & boarded a plane to London! Cheers!

It was my FAVORITE place I've seen since I've been here. Most likely because the people there speak my native lanuage & they have really cool places like STARBUCKS & SUBWAY & VEGEBURGERS! There's nothing like watchign a James Bond movie in James Bond's hometown! (p.s. if you saw Quantum of Solace the Italian town of Siena is in it too! I've totally been there.)

I spent an ENTIRE day at the National Gallery & Tate. National Gallery trumped any museum I've ever been to. It was so overwhelming! Every room I walked in there was a painting I've been DYING to see for the past 3 years. Tate was really weird (that's modern art for you ..) but I really loved the Pollock's & Klein's & Lichtenstein's. And there were a couple of Warhol's :)

It rained! I was really happy to experience "that thing" London is famous for. & I got to take the Tube! SO much cooler than all the metros I've been on!

Here's some pictures from the trip:

Superman style phone booth!
Cars driving on the wrong side of the road in action! Check out the old school taxi cabs!

Buckingham Palace: What's that in my hand? STARBUCKS. A lady offered to take my picture? KINDNESS. How could I understand when she asked? ENGLISH.

Guards. Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen totally harrassed them for laughs in their movie London Calling.

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben! (Not to be confused with Ben Moffatt)

National Gallery!

The Square outside the National Gallery

Cheesin' because I am so happy! I LOVE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!

National Gallery Square!

There is nothing like NOT having to stop for two minutes composing a simple question in your head. I kept having to remind myself that I CAN communicate with these people. Pure bliss.

cheers! -<3->

UNDICI!

Thanksgiving Memories from the MC17 Family:

Preparations:

Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Muffins! MMM!

Pumpkin Pie in the making!!

Megan showing us exactly where that food will end up!

Decorations from the UNITED STATES! yesss.

We don't have a can opener, so Samantha made do.

Dinner Time:

Green Bean Casserole!!!

Pumpkin Pie Complete!
Decor: Thanks to the Euro store


My place card! We went around the table & said what we were thankful for :)

Most of my MC17 family -- Megan is obviously preoccupied with food ..

Samantha cutting the chicken since these Italians don't like turkey.

Samantha Glitter's Moment:

Background Story: We walk by booths that sell random stuff everyday, because we live in a piazza by the market. There's one booth in particular that sells clothing items that appeal to a very specific demographic .. the "less is more" crowd.

The morning of Thanksgiving, Samantha was saying how she was sad she didn't have any really cool going out tops. Seeing as it was Thanksgiving & all, I was in a "giving" mood. I stopped by the Less-is-More booth & made a purchase for my wonderful roomie.

At dinner, I made the announcement that I bought her a going out shirt because I love her oh so much! She was so excited until ...

I love how Samantha tries to be so thankful for the skank top regardless. Needless to say, she didn't wear it out last night & I doubt the sparkle shirt will ever leave its bag again.

All in all it was a WONDERFUL thanksgiving! Definitely different, but definitely wonderful.

HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY! =D
Megan & I did some damage at the H&M opening today to celebrate.

Miss you & Love you.
<33>

DIECI!

Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving but that doesn't mean the girls of Mercato Centrale 17 won't. :)

10 Things I'm Thankful For:

10. Brittany Spears' Comeback
9. Nutella
8. My gym membership to burn off the Nutella calories
7. Perezhilton.com (keeps me in touch with the current events in the USA)
6. Daddy L & Fish Pub
5. People who speak English
4. NO Smoking Sections
3. My Alpha Gam teddybear, Margarete
2. (In no specific order ... well, maybe Maurine really does deserve to come first!) Maurine, Mom, Daddy, Ashley, Katie, Carson, Kitty, Papa, Anne, Cappie, Gordon, Jennings, Kelli, Ashlyn, Howard, Dana, Austin, Richard, Shelia, Austin, Nathan, Celia, Landon, Natalie, Mellissa, Big Ben, J-Breezy, K-Weezy, V-Mizzle, Leigh Ann, Amanda, My babe, My Grand-babe, all my ALPHA GAM sisters, & everyone else who has been SO supportive of me taking this journey-I have never been happier. Thank you so much for keeping in touch!
1. The oh-so-dysfunctional yet FABULOUS Mercato Centrale 17 (MC17) Family

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I MISS YOU & I LOVE YOU!

pictures & videos of thanksgiving coming soon. :)

NOVE!

When in Rome ... Part Deux

I had to go back to Rome 1. because I LOVED it and 2. because I wanted to see the Borghese Gallery. I got lost on the way the first time so I figured I'd try again.

The first night I stayed in my FIRST hostel with Megan, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's sister, Lauren. We ended up with a room and bathroom all to ourselves! YAY!

Megan and I walked around & revisted all the basics: Spanish steps & Trevi fountain. Then once Liz and Lauren arrived we had ourselves a hardcore four course dinner. It was delish! We visited the Coliseum, walked the Roman Forum, and ate at the largest McDonald's in the world ... that wasn't really my idea but I won't deny the fact that Megan & I shared the most AMAZING McFlurry ever. :)

The three of them went off to see the Sistine Chapel and headed back to Florence. I had reservations for the Borghese gallery the following day so I stayed in Rome an extra night at the oh-so-exclusive Hotel Nardizzi. Every single employee remembered me from when my mom & I had stayed there over my fall break. They even remembered that I was spending my birthday in Paris. I felt super special/a little creeped out.

Either way! It was so nice to sleep in a double bed!! MMM!!! My twin bed in the MC17 is on its last leg. There's probably a permanent indention of my body because it's that JANK!

I went to dinner and out for a little bit with our friends Tyler and Cameron. They're studying in Rome for the semester. The night life in Rome is totally different than Florence. Florence has more trendy music & dance places while Rome was just dirty bars. Ew.

The next day I woke up super early to gie myself an hour to find the Borghese Gallery. Guess what? Couldn't find it. I don't think it exists. I searched FOREVER! But I did end up walking around the Borghese Villas. It's this HUGE park of happiness! SO CUTE! There was even this little pond where you could rent row boats and row.

After visiting the park I headed back to Hotel Nardizzi and passed out! I didn't realise how tired I was. One minute it's 2:30 and the next minute it's 9:00! My TV (which I've been without since Sept 1) had an English channel and they played the MTV Europe Music Awards. So I skipped out on dinner with Tyler & Cameron and watched ENGLISH tv! It was great.

As a side note: I now have a small addiction to cappuccinos. They taste totally different here than in America (so I'm told) so I'm getting my daily dose of them while I'm here! It's a lovely thing to start your day off with or finish a meal with! :)

I can't believe I only have twenty something days left! Time has passed so fast! I hope you all have a FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING!

MISS & LOVE YOU!

OTTO!

Last week was fall break & the mother jetted over for a week fun filled week of constant walking (most likely in the wrong direction), dirty metros, & excessie amounts of pasta!

ROME!

We stayed in Rome the longest. At first I didn't really like it because it's so much larger than Florence, but once we figured out the metro it was great! I saw all the hot spots featured in Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's Hollywood classic When in Rome--Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Colleseum, Pantheon, & Vatican City.

The Colleseum was by far my favorite! It was SO beautiful! I loved how there was a piece of ancient Rome sitting in the middle of a modern city. We went on a night time bus tour of Rome (Mom's idea...) and it was pretty strange. Nothing is illuminated at night so we couldn't see any of the monuments, and it was raining heavily. The bus made a stop a few blocks from the Trevi Fountain & allowed the passengers to walk to it for photo ops. It was only sprinkling when the bus stopped for the Trevi fountain so I figured I'd go check it out. By the time I walked one block it was POURING. Since the wind was blowing, my umbrella was a lost cause. There was NO ONE at the fountain by the time I got there & it was raining to hard to take a picture. Basically, I arrived back at the bus with soaking wet pants (that still smell like mildew) and soaking wet shoes (my all time favorite pair...which have since been disposed of).

One of my favorite Rome moments was when Mom & I ate lunch at a restaurant (props to Mrs. Janet for the suggestion!) a bird pooped on the corner of our table. I looked at the waiter and shook my finger in disapointment. He got really excited and started telling me that it was good luck! A close second favorite Rome moment was when our hotel desk man, Samy, got super excited about my blackberry and tried to talk to me about how great blackberrys are for 20 minutes. I couldn't understand a SINGLE word he was saying.

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon



Colleseum

View of Roman Forum

POMPEII!

We took a day trip to Pompeii which was gorgeous. It was bigger than we anticipated and we were lost the ENTIRE time thanks to their not so helpful map. But everything was so beautiful and everywhere you turned there was a picture perfect setting. The best part about Pompeii was the people. They were SO sweet. We ate lunch at a little sandwhich stand & they gave my mom & I free oranges! :)

Pompeii

Me & Mom

VATICAN CITY!

We went to Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel and all the other wonderful Michelangelo pieces there. It was cool to be visit two separate countries in one day. I love how it's this cute little fenced in uptopia complete with its own post office and costumed guards. The Pope invited Mom & I to dinner but due to scheduling conflicts we weren't able to make it. Next time though.

MILAN!

We spent a night in Milan so that I could see Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper. I had been looking forward to this the most & it was my favorite thing I saw over the break. They only let you stand in front of the painting for 15 minutes (which seems like 5 when you're there...) but it was SO beautiful. I really liked the city of Milan. It was raining both days we were there so I'm hoping I'll get a chance to go back & enjoy the city a little more. We also ate the BEST Italian meal EVER! I'm pretty sure the owner has some ties in the mafia, but then again, what Italian doesn't? =D

VENICE!

I didn't take my camera to Venice but it was the cutest city. I couldn't help but think I was destined to retire and grow old there...but then I reminded myself how impractical it would be. Thanks to Rick Steves we got VIP entrance access to the Duomo and ate some delish pasta.

PISA!

Pisa was ... well, Pisa. I was excited to see the leaning tower but as for the city...it didn't have all too much to offer. It was hillarious walking towards the tower and seeing people stopped in the middle of the street morphing their bodies into really awkward poses to get THE picture that every tourist who goes to Pisa takes. That's right, I took one too. No shame.

THAT picture

All in all it was a great fall break and I'm glad I got to see the mother! Maurine is coming here in a month and a half so I'm excited to be able to show her around too.

WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT! YAY! It's been really interesting following the election in Italy. I've gotten to see a different perspective on both political parties. I didn't vote ... whoopsies, but I am excited about the outcome. It was very comforting to be living in Italy and feeling like Italians are rooting for our country to succeed and be happy. The day after the elections was my most enjoyable day here. Instead of the "Ciao Bella!" "Hi Sweetie!" "Excuse me! You dropped something ... My heart" cat calls, I heard "Congratulations! Obama!" It just warms my heart!

I miss you all & love you all tons!

Molti Baci (many kisses)

- jordan