Limoncello!

It was our first weekend here in Florence and what a memory!
Allyson, Betsy and myself decided to go into town where we stopped at this store that had amazing boots and purses. I got a a 80 euro pair of boots for 30 euro. I was in heaven!! We decided to stop and have some lunch and we noticed a man giving out free wine and shot cards for international students and since we scream "American" from our accents, hair, and clothes we took advantage of this great opportunity. The place was called Dell Agnolo Osteria and it had fabulous food! We got free wine and after our lunch we got shots of Limoncello! This was Allyson's first shot so it was pretty special day! We were happy campers at that point so we continued to walk and decided to so see the inside of the Duomo! It was absolutely beautiful but freezing inside! We talked with a security guard and he suggested we go to the Piazza di Michelangelo! So we walked 50 minutes from downtown and crawled with sweat and tears and got to the top and sat there in absolute "Awh!" It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! The sky was crisp clean of any fog or clouds and we could see Fiesole on the top of the hill! After we looked at the awful replica of Michelangelo we sat at the bus stop for 30 minutes because it was awful traffic at this time.

During our wait there a strange old women would talk to us in Italian and we would just nod our heads saying, "Si""Si" with NO regulation to what she was saying. Then she went away and we were sitting on the curb of this really busy road and all these Italian men old, young, and deformed would drive past us and slow down and STARE at all. One guy pulled over I guess to ask us if we wanted a ride and we walked away, us. Another pulled out his CAMERA and started taking pictures of us, others slammed on their brakes to look at us. It was the funniest experience ever! I started crying I was laughing so hard. We then got on the bus and took us almost 2 hours to get back because we stopped to pick and drop hundreds of people off and because it was traffic. Allyson and I were sitting and the bus was crammed galore! People were squeezing and the bus door was shutting on their faces and they didn't care. So, at this point I am stunned that people are that inpatient here in Italy and because it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Allyson and I were laughing so hard. We then got off the 12 bus to hop onto the 7 bus which brings us to Fiesole. While we were waiting for it three Italian boys about our age or older were trying to talk to us and asked us to get on the bus with them and Betsy screams " NO CAPISCO!" The bus door closed and they were STILL staring at us! So, we get on the 7 bus and once again people are crammed left to right! Some strange guys start talking to us in Italian again and some Egytion guy asked Betsy if he could look her over after they got off the bus. He spoke very little English so Betsy replied loudly "NO!"!!! Allyson and I were crying with laughter at this time!

We ran up the street once the bus stopped and join Bob, our program director, for dinner! Two hours after the whole group decided to go to JJHill Pub, a Irish Bar in Fiesole! This was the best night and day so far in Italy! The students from Saint Mary's University are absolutely hilarious and thank god for the wine or none of this would be possible!

I will update you with more days like these!
Ciao!