CHOCOLATE and Shopping!

For the semester break we had a Friday off of school so some girls and I decided to go to a world famous CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL that was going on in a near by Tuscan city.  It was awesome! They had every kind of chocolate you can imagine.  We spent all day there just walking around and trying all of the different treats they had. 

The next day we went to Florence for a shopping day.  It was a really cold day but I had so much fun! 

They even had a chocolate rock wall 

There was a yeti walking around all of the stands

They had every kind of hot chocolate that you can think of 

More nutella! 

Taking a break from all the chocolate to eat lunch 

Riding home on the bus with all of our chocolate 

The other girls and I piled up all of the stuff that we bought on the back seat of the bus... this wasn't even half of it! 

In Florence we went to McDonalds for lunch, it was nice to have some good old American fast food! 

There is A TON of shopping in Florence 

We piled up all of our stuff again... this time it didn't fit in just the back seat! 

Arezzo and the food festival

Yet another weekend trip... This time to a small city called Arezzo.  We traveled there as a group to visit some churches and other art sights but when we got there we discovered that there was an international food festival going on that day.  What are the chances? So of course I spent most of the day walking around and trying all of the different kinds of food and treats.  It was so much fun! 

We found a hamburger phone like the one from Juno

Nutella is my new favorite thing in the world 

Waffle + Nuttela= DELICIOUS 

There were loafs of bread that were bigger then me

The Gulasch was so good! 

Yummy dried fruit

After the food festival we were walking around and found the Piazza where "Life is Beautiful" was filmed 

It was really pretty so we hung out there for a while 

Buster statue 

Another wonderful day in Tuscany 

Cinque Terre

This past weekend we went on our first overnight weekend trip to Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre is a group of five little cities on the western coast of Italy.  IT WAS AMAZING!!!! I had heard so much about it but it really exceeded every expectation that I had!  The perfect weekend just renewed the fact that the coast of Italy is my favorite and is seriously the most beautiful place in the world.  

We arrived there on Friday by train and settled into the apartment that we rented for the weekend.  We found the apartment for pretty cheap so we didn't know what to expect but it ended up being perfect!  AND it had an INCREDIBLE view!  The next day we went on a hike that connects all five cities.  The weather was overcast which ended up being perfect.  I think if the sun had been out we would have roasted.  The hike was 9 kilometers long, a bit more challenging then I expected but was worth every single second.  I cannot describe how awesome it was hiking on these mountains sides over looking the ocean.  It is something that I will never forget!  On Sunday the sun finally came out and it was really hot so we spent the day at the beach before heading back home to Siena. 

I could not have imagined a more perfect weekend!  I had so much fun and of course took A TON of pictures...

The view from our balcony 

Inside our apartment looking out the window 

Our Italian/German roommate Barbara came along and we had so much fun with her! 

Our balcony view at night (It was MUCH cooler in person) 

AMAZING gelato

The water was crystal clear! 

This was the pass we had to buy for the hike 

Hanging out at the beach 

Enjoying the long hike

They have the coolest flowers here

Stopping to stretch

We did it! 

At the very end of the hike there is a tunnel called the "Via Dell'Amore" which means "way of Love"  It is this cool tunnel where couples put a lock on this fence then throw the key into the ocean showing that they will always be together.  Mckelle and I made a promise that we will come back here with our husbands some day!  

At the entrance of the Via Dell' Amore

There was a wedding going on right by the tunnel with music and dancing so we had a little dance party of our own... it was awesome! 

This is the bench in front of the key fence where the "lovers" are supposed to kiss... we didn't have anyone to kiss... so we just pretended 

Everyone writes their name and the name of the one they love in a heart on the wall. People get really creative and there was really cool graffiti all over the tunnel 

McKelle and I did a heart of our own :) 

 

We had so much fun watching the amazing sunset at the beach  

Dancing at the beach 

The view was indescribable 

Hanging out at the docks on our last day there 

Eating nutella sandwiches on the train

The weekend was perfect!  Barbara said it perfectly in her broken english and cute German accent "This I will never forget, my whole life!"