So this morning 7 of us woke up bright and early to catch the 7:45 train to Monterosso in Cinque Terra. Can I just say 3 hours on a train packed with sweaty beach-goers is not ideal. Amtrak anyone? The mediterranean sun is HOT and the beach was rocky. Mountains surrounded a clear blue sea. We decided to be adventurous and hike some trails we'd heard about. Oh boy.... We headed up the hills on the trail... or what we thought was the trail. Oh no, that was just ...

I think I'm finally caught up... We trekked to the Pontevecchio Bridge over the Arno River this afternoon. Ponte Vecchio means "old bridge" in Italian. Its the oldest of Florence's 6 bridges and was the only bridge in Florence the Germans didn't destroy during WWII. Now for the fun part... the entire bridge is lined with shops that overhang the river. And not just any shops... jewelry shops... expensive jewelry shops. The most intriguing thing to me...

Basically I just typed a book and it got deleted. Spark Notes version: wine tasting at the villa: wine aged since 1999, 2000, 2003, 2008. late tour guide to the terra cotta 'farm:' Cristy - "OMG why aren't Italians ever on time?" Time is a concept Americans take for granted. slow waiters: 2+ hour lunches, no one knows who is bringing the checks, separate checks are a no-go. Separate checks are also an American concept taken for granted. personal sp...

I'm a little bit behind. We're supposed to be keeping a 'field journal' of sorts for my Intercultural Communication class and as always I've procrastinated. We've been go, go, go since we here. i've had a hard time reminding myself that I'm in Europe. Florence is a lot like Charleston, but with crazier drivers. (Remind me to never complain about the streets of Charleston again). Its still all cobblestones and historic buildings. Maybe I was expecting the air to...