lazy sunday afternoon walk

so i though i'd be a good blogger and actually post something the day i do it.

today was the first day in a while that i was able to sleep in and it felt sooo good after a fun night at an irish pub with chelsey and melissa. (yes, irish pub with live irish music here in florence!)

david told me that while i'm here, i should go somewhere or do something new everyday. today i went up to piazzale michelangelo.

the piazza is on a hill overlooking the city,

so there were some steps i needed to climb to get up.

some words along the way up... and by "S.L." i think that person meant "E.C." ;)

some things i found while finally on the piazza

and the best part? well, have a look yourself:

i'm planning on going back, of course. perhaps during sunset?

happy sunday

the tevere at night & a little award

just a photo i'm pretty happy about from rome.

evening light on the tevere with vatican city's saint peter's basilica in the back.

lovelove.

also, jodi over at if you never did, you should, has a truly amazing blog that i've fallen in love with. she posts all about things to try and gives little tips on how to go about doing them. examples: playing on waterfalls, taking underwater pictures, skydiving... to name a few.

she also recently gave me an award that i'm so thankful for!

in turn, i would like to pass this on to madeline elle. her blog is very sweet and sincere, and i have loved reading it for the past few weeks.

finally, the weekend!

roman holiday

sort of.

i flew into rome before i came to florence, so i had seen a little bit of it already. i returned this past weekend because my school sponsored a trip to rome and although i wasn't too excited to go back to begin with, i'm glad that i did because i got to see a lot of things that i missed the first time:

going INSIDE the colosseum.

walking through the roman forum

(ps- these last two are pretty much a classicist's dream, even if i am a hellenist)

and last but not least...

our school organized a private tour of the vatican museum.

when i found out about this, i thought we were just going to

have a private tour guide and walk around with other little groups.

nope.

completely private.

as in after the museum is closed.

and we are the only ones there.

amazing.

these ceilings were to die for

the halls of the vatican museum

rafael's school of athens (!)

and la capella sistina,

or the sistine chapel

(these sistine chapel photos weren't allowed. i'm terrible, but i couldn't help myself)

the whole time i was in rome,

i wanted to take photos at

the spanish steps,

in front of castel sant' angelo

and

the mouth of truth

but i needed someone to play the

gregory peck to my audrey hepburn.

maybe if i come back with david?

:)

thanks, rome.

the roman sky

after a series of unfortunate events, i am back a little early.

orvieto, i WILL see you before i leave italia.

after exploring the coliseum and roman forum,

wandering the city streets,

and touring the vatican museum...

photos to come, of course.

i hope your weekend is treating you well (:

ps- thank you nicole for featuring

my love story on my teacups in peony!

i think it's a wonderful project.

you can read more stories

and learn more about the project here.

and hello to my new friends!

i can't wait to get to know you.

while walking home

the arno at night.

tomorrow morning, back to rome for the weekend.

seven

i was tagged to share 7 things about myself but

to keep up with the theme of travel,

here are my 7* photos of places i love.

{*thank you to the lovely madi rose for tagging me :)}

7.

amherst, massachusetts

i only visited for a few days back in 2006,

but that fall foliage was to die for.

6.

florence, italy

i know that i just got here, and maybe it's too soon to say, but i think i love being here. maybe it's just the newness and the wonder of being somewhere so rich with history, but every morning when i cross this bridge going to school, i smile.

5.

englischer garten

munich, germany

it was so beautiful and green and calm when i went to visit. i wish i had had more time to get lost in it but i guess that's just another reason to go back again :)

4.

santa cruz, california

so i know it isn't exotic or anything,

but being surrounded by redwoods yet being so close to the ocean

is a wonderful feeling.

3.

nauplion, greece

my first city out of dirty, busy athens.

this little town warmed my heart with my first glimpse of greece's real beauty.

2.

inside churches, anywhere

{this one taken in delphi, greece <3}

maybe it was my upbringing,

but sitting in an empty, quiet church fills me with awe.

1.

pacifica/the bay area, california

as much as i love to travel and explore,

nothing feels better than knowing that i have a place

to call and return to as home.

i would like to tag

1. elizabeth at simply bee

2. julia at color me green

3. ashley at have heart

4. grace of ethan & grace

5. allison of a bite of allison

6. johanna of whirly bird

of course you can just share 7 things about yourselves :)

(i would tag more but i think i'm one of the last people in the universe to do this.

my letter blog was also tagged, so i did a more personal list there)

antique(s in) lucca

yesterday i took a day trip to the little town of lucca. lucca is extremely old (founded by the etruscans) and still has a defensive wall that has surrounded it for 2000 years (it has three layers because it started with the roman, then added the medieval, then the renaissance).

the train was a little less than 2 hours and really inexpensive so i thought it would make a good place to visit for my first day trip from florence. upon arrival, we were greeted with a GIGANTIC antique fair throughout the town. they have antique markets every 3rd weekend of the month and we just happened to pick that weekend!

i really want a typewriter and a record player...

it would have been hard to lug these all over europe, though

badminton rackets!

antiques galore!

these photos are just a tiny glimpse.

carousel in piazza napoleone

(napoleon gave lucca to his sister as a present in 1805)

the top of basilica san frediano

san martino

beautiful houses in the residential area

my travel partner for the day, alessandra <3

the path along the town's ancient walls

twilight on the arno

the ponte vecchio

<3

and lucca tomorrow :)