Ciao Ciao

I will post pictures tomorrow I promise but I will leave you with just a couple to hold you over!



Oh my loyal followers! I am so sorry I have not been as attentive to my blog these past couple weeks, as I should have! It has been insane and I have not wanted to sit down at a computer and process everything I have done! But I guess I will just for you! :)
So after leaving London we hop on a train to Paris just for a day so we can drop off our heavy winter clothes in our art studio. (Which is so amazing by the way and our teacher is such a free spirit and I love her!) We stayed in this little hostel called "Aloha" hostel I believe and it was great. We got to explore a little bit and Eugene took us all out to dinner and I tried escargot (not for the first time surprisingly) and some other foreign dish. They both were delicious and I am really trying to expand my horizon. So after leaving Paris, feeling about a huge suitcase lighter we head to Venice, which was absolutely unbelievable. Everyday was like art overload and even on our day off me and a couple friends just went and consumed more art, along with sitting in a local square for a hour and watching people and just talking about life. A few highlights from Venice included listening to dueling orchestras in St. Marks square at night, The Biennale (all 3 full days we went), swimming and exploring at the Lido, Listening to some live music as some random rallies, endless amounts of gelato, Family dinners where we all cooked for each other to save money, girls night in which included dessert and a good movie, and my absolute favorite part was being led by our lit prof and his wife on our last night to a secluded dock overlooking the canal. Scott, john, and Aubrey and I played music there and met some interesting people and a couple of us just stayed playing music and talking until like 2 or 3. Venice is a really amazing place and I was so thankful and blessed to have shared it with the wonderful people I am with. So after a week in Venice we left and arrived in Florence (which may be one of my favorite places. just maybe). For such a small place it has been surprisingly hard to get around and remember where we live but it has been an adventure! We have been walking non-stop and it feels so good to rely on something other than cars. In Florence we have been to the Uffizi gallery, the Academia, and have seen countless beautiful churches and the ever-breathtaking Duemo. There is so much history everywhere you look here and it is absolutely breathtaking. Class this week has been in my room because we have the biggest one with 6 girls and it has been great to basically just sit in bed during it. :) I am learning to really appreciate poetry and literature and see the correlation between that and art. My favorite night in Florence thus far was last night where after walking up to a beautiful overlook called Shakesphere's hill I believe, a few friends stayed and watched the sunset on these massive steps and listened to some amazing music. Even after more left a few of us just stayed and watched the city light up and talk and just all grow together in life and love and friendship as cheesy as it sounds and it was pretty wonderful. Yesterday was kind of a weird day for me, so just being able to experience something so breathtaking and God inspired in my opinion really turned it around. After I got home we finalized plans for today, which was a day off. We decided to sleep in just a tad and then head to Pisa and Chinqueterra. Now I know you are probably saying what the heck is that?! I know, I know, I was too! But it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Located right on the Mediterranean or something of that nature is an Italian City called Chinqueterra. This consists of 5 different towns, which you can hike through. Me, gabby, Rachel, john, aubs, and scott decided to do one 2 hour hike which was pretty hard but incredibly worth it and it lead us to this breathtaking city with colorful buildings and crystal blue water. It was basically a fairy tale land. (I will try and post pictures tomorrow!) We went swimming and talked and relaxed and just enjoyed each other’s presence and it was pretty much the perfect day. A little later our friends Sean and Scott joined us and we had dinner at the beautiful restaurant right on the cliff (where almost all of us got something with pesto in it because they are famous for it) and we got gelato and started our long train adventure back to Florence. I gave you a very condensed version of my last two weeks but I hope it will suffice especially because will try and post a bunch of pictures tomorrow when I am not entirely exhausted! Tomorrow morning I will be attending church right outside the city, which my old babysitter and her husband started apparently. I am pretty stoked and I hope and pray that I will continue to open my heart and my mind to all the wonderful things God is revealing to me through this trip and these outstanding people I am with.

ps. If you have any questions about any of this please ask away! I would love to tell you about it!

pss. me and my friend scott are learning about a bizzillion songs on his guitar so maybe we will post some kind of video alluding to that soonish if you are lucky...


love always,
Dana beth