Hi Everyone! :)

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind! Friday night was a very fun night... we all stayed in for dinner and made dinner ourselves! Our apartment and the apartment across from us made dinner together and had spaghetti with tomato sauce. We also had a big salad with and antipasta platter mixed in with it. We also had some fresh bread and, of course, some Vino! Dinner was great! Later that night, we all got ready and went out to the Fish Pub again. (It's beginning to be our local place!) We had a lot of fun there again. We met so many new people! One of the girls we met there is named Nicolina. She is actually from Redding, California and is living here temporarily because her husband is in the military and is stationed here.

--WARNING: YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS: Redding, California is where Ashley Parker Angel (the hottie singer from O-Town) is from... Naturally, when I heard she was from there I IMMEDIATELY remembered that it was his home town too. So I asked her about it... and it ends up that her mom was his dance teacher and she grew up with him and is his FRIEND. I know, I couldn't believe it myself but its true. I knew somehow Ashley and I would cross paths someday! haha :) --

So back to where I was... She was a lot of fun and we spent most of the night hanging out with her and some of her friends that were in visiting her! We also met many Italian boys that night. I think I got my picture taken with most of them! Two of the boys in the bar seemed to be about 13 years old! It's very odd seeing kids that young in a bar drinking a beer. I asked to take a picture with them because I thought it was funny and I think they thought that it meant I had a crush on them. They were wrong. haha. Another boy we met that night was veryyyy cute! He is the one in my pictures that is very tan and is wearing the Blue V-neck sweater. He couldn't speak any english and after trying to find people to translate for us for about 20 minutes we gave up and said goodbye! haha... I guess that's what happens sometimes when you live in a foreign country! That night was a lot of fun and because we have been going there so often we have gotten to know the bar owner. He is really nice and knows many of the study abroad students in the area because they frequent his bar so often. He opened up the upstairs of the bar for us and gave us complimentary champagne to celebrate the beginning of our stay in florence! We ended up staying at the bar until it closed again and all walked home together! On the down side, I ended up misplacing my cell phone that night and realized the next morning that it was stolen. When Jill and I called the number a creepy man answered and told me he wouldn't give it back to me. So ya, I have to get a new one, sorry Mom and Dad about the expense!

The following morning we slept in and began getting ready to depart to Verona, Italy for the Opera Festival. The entire fashion group went together in a large Charter bus and arrived in Verona around 6 PM. It's about a 3 hour bus ride. Once in the city we had three hours to explore and get something to eat.

Because we were short on time, we decided to see some sights first and then get dinner before the Opera began. Verona is the city that the writer of Romeo and Juliet found his inspiration from. The balcony from Romeo and Juliet is one of the main sights of the area. Before entering the courtyard, where the balcony is located, there is a walkway that you walk under that is filled with love letters and notes from lovers that is attached to the wall. Some use permanent pen or even carve their names/initials into the wall. It is supposed to bring good luck and everlasting love to those who adorn the walls with their notes. (I didn't put anything on the wall, because I had no reason to- HA.) Once in the courtyard where the balcony is located there is a Bronze statue of Juliet that visitors stand in line to take pictures with. It is said that if you rub Juliet's boob then you will have luck in love forever. (I made sure that I did this, because I could use it! HA.) Some of the girls we were with took a tour of the building that leads to the balcony of Romeo and Juliet, but I opted not to.

After visiting this sight, we headed back towards the Colosseum ampitheater and ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant. I ordered the Gnocchi with tomato sauce and eggplant. It was very good! We had a little bit of time to kill before the Opera began so we stopped and got some gellato to take into the ampitheater with us. I got one scoop of Chocolate and one scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip. It was fabulous!

The Opera itself was somewhat boring. It was interesting to take in the culture and actually sit in the colosseum and take it all in, but it was very hard to understand the singing and the story line. The Colosseum was built in 20 AD and not many changes have been made to it since. That part was pretty cool. The opera wasn't finished until after midnight, therefore we didn't get home until very late. It was a nice trip and I'm glad we got to experience it. Be sure to checkout my pictures from it! I'm also trying to upload a video of the opera but im having some technical difficulties with it. That's all for now! Hope all is well back in the states! School starts tomorrow, so i'll have some more updates about my classes!

Miss you all!

Ciao for Now!

Carrie <3