kenna

CHOCOLATE and Shopping!

2009-11-03T04:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-13T02:01:00.000-07:00

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!"

Good old homemade chocolate chip cookies

2009-10-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

One night at dinner McKelle and I discovered that Manjola (our host "mom") and Barbara (the other Italian student living with us) had never had a homemade chocolate chip cookie! They just don't make cookies at home like we do in America. We realized what a tragedy this was and decided to make them cookies. Manjola loved the idea so she bought us all of the ingredients and everything. It was so fun cooking in our little kitchen and they turned out great!

It was quite the adventure trying to convert the recipe without access to the internet or any kind of encyclopedia but we did it!

They don't sell chocolate chips so we had to get chocolate bars and crush them up

Zucchero- sugar

McKelle, Manjola and Barbara waiting for the cookies to cook

We burnt the bottom of the first batch but eventually we got the hang of it

They were delicious!

They loved their cookies

We were so happy that they liked our "American" treat

Evening Stroll

2009-10-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

The other night McKelle I went for a walk and found the most amazing view right by this quaint little vineyard. We loved it so much that we hung out there and watched the sunset. It was so fun and so incredible. I really don't think I've ever seen anything quite as beautiful. This is just a little taste of how my everyday life is here.... I LOVE LIVING IN ITALY!!!

The leaning tower

2009-10-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

The Next Adventure was visiting the city of Pisa and of course the leaning tower. I really thought it was so cool and we had the opportunity to climb up to the top. Walking up the staircase was so weird! It sounds so dumb but you really can feel yourself leaning to one side as you walk up. Not to mention that the stairs are really steep and slippery and I totally fell on our way down- but don't worry no serious injuries occurred. The area around the tower is pretty much the only cool place in Pisa though so McKelle and I had plenty of time to take cool touristy pictures. We did all of the classic poses and then got a little creative...

On the top of the tower

Leaning over ON the leaning tower of Pisa

hanging out at the bottom

The duomo next to the tower

Classic pose

I think the tower looks really fake in this one

Thank goodness for Drill

This one is my personal favorite

Calcio!

2009-10-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

For one of our activities as a group we went to a Calcio (soccer) match in Siena. It was so much fun! McKelle and I got really into it and were cheering really loud the whole time. Unfortunately the final score was zero to zero... but hey, at least we didn't lose.

San Gimignano and Volterra

2009-10-06T01:53:00.000-07:00

For our next weekend day trip we traveled as a group to the cities of San Gimignano and Volterra. They were both really beautiful places and had a lot to see. We visited San Gimignano first. It is the city of towers and we saw the most beautiful view from the top of one of the highest towers. Volterra is where that the second Twilight book takes place so that was kind of cool. The second movie wasn't actually filmed there (we plan to visit that city another weekend) but it is the name of the city that the author actually used. Surprisingly my favorite part of the day was the bus ride to both the cities. The country side was amazing and it was fun to just relax and look out the window at Tuscany.

San Gimignano

View from the top of one of the towers in San Gimignano

They have these little one-person trucks everywhere! They are so cool. My friends and I are trying to figure out how we can get one back to Provo.

McKelle, Lizzi and I

On the top of a tower

In San Gimignano they have a Gelateria that has won the "Gelato World Championship" multiple years in a row. Needless to say it was delicious! I got mixed berry, mango and lemon :)

We saw the most amazing rainbow on the way home, this picture doesn't really show how bright and big it was but it really was incredible!

My favorite shoes

McKelle, Julia, Brooke, Me and Lizzi in Volterra

Buon Appetito

2009-09-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

I am taking a cooking class and it is absolutely my favorite class EVER!!! It is so fun and we make a delicious four course meal every time. We have class once a week, which is probably a good thing because I eat SO much food!

Spinach ravioli made from scratch

Tiramisu... we made it with orzo instead of coffee and it was so good

I wasn't a very good cook before but I have a feeling that I will be pro by the time I come back!

Off to Florence

2009-09-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our first day trip after getting settled in Siena was to Florence. I think that it might be my favorite city thus far! (not including the coast) It is so beautiful! We went to the famous Duomo and climbed to the top of the bell tower where there was the most incredible view!

Another advantage of Florence.... TONS of cheap markets! (Thats why it's my mom's favorite) We are going back two more times as a group and I can't wait to get a lot of cheap stuff!

Half way up the Bell tower

At the top, over looking the whole city

So Happy to be there

We took a break going down the forever long staircase and took pictures in these tiny window holes

view of the tower from the bottom

awesome souvenirs

Walking around the market

Home sweet home

2009-09-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

I am now living in the amazing city of Siena!! I absolutely love it here. I still can't believe that I'm actually living in such a beautiful place. McKelle (my roommate) and I live in a cute little house with a 35 year old woman named Manjola and another Italian student named Barbara... she is 17 years old and going to high school here. Manjola is so cute and is an amazing cook. McKelle and I feel like we got very lucky with the whole host family situation, I couldn't have asked for anything better! Here are some pictures of our first day. I don't have any of Barbara or Manjola yet but I'll put some up later.

Right after we got off the bus in Siena

Saying goodbye to the group (it really wasn't that bad... we still see them everyday)

This is our cute room. McKelle and I have since pushed our beds together and thrown all of our stuff everywhere ... it doesn't look as clean anymore

Our window with cute green shutters that over looks the street

Piazza del Campo... the main square in the city

Seriously the BIGGEST piece of pizza I have seen and yes, I did eat the whole thing by myself

The bell tower in the Campo

There was some kind of parade when we were there. We didn't really know what was going on but there were a lot of men in tights walking around waving flags... it was awesome

My first gelato in Siena... sooooo good!

I still can't believe I'm here!!

McKelle's Blog

2009-09-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

I added a link to my roommate McKelle's blog. We are always together and doing the same things so check hers out too... just click on the link on the right side bar.

Back to the coast!

2009-09-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

The next place we visited was a small city on the coast called Minori. I was so happy to be back on the coast! It is seriously the most beautiful place I have ever been. We were there for two days and spent most of our time hanging out at the beach. It was so nice to relax after our hectic weekend in Rome.

photo cred to McKelle

Dancing on the pier

The duomo in Amalfi

Titanic pose... on the ferri going to Amalfi (a neighboring city of Minori)

We met these cute girls while jumping off of the pier. They asked us to play a game with them so we learned all of their names and had fun practicing our Italian

We ran into them while walking around at night

The pier that we jumped off of

We're not even really sure what this means but we think its funny

I LOVE the coast of Italy!!! but our next stop is SIENA... I can't wait to see my new home!

Herculaneum and Pompeii

2009-09-28T01:26:00.000-07:00

On our way out to the coast we stopped and spent the day in Herculaneum and Pompeii. These two cities were covered by pyroclastic material when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. The ruins were really interesting and it was amazing to see how much of the city they have been able to restore. My parents visited Popeii a couple of years ago so I couldn't wait to see it for myself.

Being statues..

It was SO hot and we were SO thirsty

Mt. Vesuvius

taken by McKelle

meditating on the ruins

This is a mold of an actual person that was killed during the eruption... it was really fascinating but sad at the same time

I love Pompeii

We had some extra time so we had fun taking pictures with McKelle umbrella

Walking in the streets

It was a very HOT day but really fun and I learned a ton!

When In Rome

2009-09-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

My study abroad program began in Rome . We spent about four days exploring the city and saw just about everything there is to see. It is such an amazing city and there is so much history. I gained an entirely new appreciation for art and architecture after visiting some the world's most famous museums and sites. The first few days of our program were packed full with things to do. Visiting everything in such a short time was exciting and exhausting but definitely worth it!

At the vatican museum

I have already made great friends in the group

In St.Peters Basilica

All of the cool pictures are taken by McKelle my roomate. She has an awesome camera and is a great photographer

Hanging out at the Vatican

The view from our hotel room

McKelle and I exploring the city

So happy to be in Italy!

Our favorite place to hang out in Rome was at the Piazza Navona

Having fun in the Piazza

Drinking water from the public fountains

In front of the pantheon there was a sweet band playing music so my friends and I started to dance! Needless to say we attracted a lot of attention and all of the Italians around the fountain and eating in the cafe across the street were laughing at us... it was so fun!

At the BEAUTIFUL Trevi Fountain

Making a wish...

and throwing a coin!

Mermaid pose at the Trevi fountain

Walking around at night

The Colosseum at night

Visiting the Colosseum during the day

It was amazing!

In the Colosseum looking down at the arch

Across the street from the Colosseum

Me, McKelle, Alyssa and Lizzi

The Colosseum in my glasses... I love this picture! compliments of McKelle

We went to church in Rome and it was so amazing! I didn't understand a word of it but the spirit was still there and the members were so great and welcoming. Definitely one of the highlights of the week

The Pantheon

A random pyramid in Rome

One night while walking around we stumbled upon the set of "Eat, Pray, Love" (a movie staring Julia Roberts that is being filmed in Italy right now) unfortunately Julia Roberts wasn't there but we can at least say that we were watching while they filmed one of the scenes

Eating delicious Gelato in Piazza Navona! I think my favorite flavors so far are lemon and mango or caramel!

Rome was so amazing! At the end of our program we get another chance to visit and I can't wait to go back!

Finally here!!!

2009-09-18T07:26:00.001-07:00

I'm finally in Siena!! I absolutely love it here! Our group arrived in the city last Saturday and it has been a crazy week. So much has been happening that I don't even know where to start. I'm going to try and backtrack and go in order starting with Rome but here is a sneak peak of Siena. This is the view I have looking out the window of my school. It almost makes me sad because there is no way to capture the beauty of the city with a camera. The pictures are amazing but the scene in person is indescribable! I'm really going to try and keep up with the blog but the internet is not very reliable and I am always crazy doing other things. I'll do my best though!

Arrivederci

2009-09-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

My parents left me this weekend and flew back home. I am so excited to be with my study abroad group but I was really sad to see them go. It has been so much fun traveling around with them! I feel so lucky to have such amazing parents. I will never forget the amazing times that we have had on this trip!

Love you Mom and Dad, thank you for the amazing adventure!

Out on the Coast

2009-09-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

After leaving Milan we made our way out to the coast of Italy to a small city called Rapallo. It was seriously the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life!! There was an amazing ocean side mixed this charming little Italian city. Our hotel was up on a mountain side and had a view over looking the ocean that words cannot describe. It is by far my favorite place on our trip!

While we were there we rented vespas to drive around the neighboring cities. It was sooo much fun!! I highly recommend this to anyone that visits the coast of Italy. I have to warn you though, it can be dangerous! While I was driving one of them I almost crashed going into a round about and caught my foot on the curb. I included pictures of my bloody toe because I'm sure that everyone wants to see it ;) No serious injuries though and I still had the time of my life! We drove around Rapallo and then made our way around to another city called Portofino... and you'll never guess who we met there! As we were walking around we saw Jerry Seinfeld eating lunch with Bono!! Bono walked out right then so we asked for a picture and he said yes. Then we went up to Seinfeld and his wife and asked them for a picture but they said no. That was a little disappointing but we just walked away and took one of them from far away. Meeting Bono was so cool though! We didn't really get a chance to talk to him but he seemed very nice and was very willing to stop and take a picture with us.

Rapallo was so amazing and I was really sad to leave! One day I want to come back and live here. Now starts the real adventure though. After Rapallo my parents and I are driving down to Rome where they will drop me off and I'll hook up with my study abroad group. I can't wait!!

Watching the sun set on a hill side over looking the ocean

The view from our hotel balcony

All of the houses are built right into the mountain side

In front of a huge yacht in Portofino

Vespa adventure!

Riding on the back while my dad drove

My advice... don't drive a vespa in sandals

It looked really bad but didn't hurt at all

The whole city was so beautiful!

Meeting BONO

He was really nice!

It looks like she is shielding her face from us but I promise she isn't... after they shot us down for a picture we walked across the square and took one from really far away with my mom's nifty camera. Seinfeld was nothing compared to Bono though!

I LOVED the coast of Italy!! By far my favorite place yet and I can't wait to go back!

Milano- like the cookie

2009-09-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

I'm finally in Italy!

On Tuesday morning we flew into the city of Milan and stayed in a great hotel right in the center of the city. We only stayed there for one day so of course in the fashion capitol of the world we spent most of our time SHOPPING! (although most of it was window shopping at all of the top designer stores) Aside from shopping we also saw the HUGE Duomo in the center of Milan and the Galleria.

The Duomo in Milan, it is the 3rd largest cathedral in the world

The square in front of the Duomo

Having my first Gelato in Italy... It was amazing!

The fountain just outside of our hotel

The Galeria across from the Duomo

Inside the Galeria in front of a few designer stores

All of the streets looked like a painting

There were these random fake plastic cars with trees coming out of them lining the streets... we're not really sure why they were there

On our way out of Milan we stopped by the mission office to drop off a package for Anziano Wallace. It was so fun and the senior missionaries in the office were so cute! We stayed and visited with them for almost an hour

In front of the mission home across the street from the mission office

Now we're off to the coast of Italy.

Paris, Paris, Paris

2009-09-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

The next stop on our European Adventure was Paris...

This city was also amazingly beautiful. I can see why they call it the city of love! There are people kissing all over the place. Makes it a bit uncomfortable but is really entertaining and definitely adds to the Paris atmosphere.

Our favorite place to be was on the Champs-Elysees. It leads right up to the Arc de Triomphe and has great shopping, restaurants and interesting people. The city over all had more of a calm feeling then London I thought. Before visiting France I never really liked the french language but after being around it for three days I now find it really pretty and eloquent. The people were generally nice and because we were right in the city it was fairly easy to get around using just english. Although my mom thinks she has a really convincing French accents... trust me, she doesn't.

Besides shopping and eating A LOT we visited the Arch de Triomphe, Eiffel tower, Notre-Dame, and the Orsay and Louvre museums. There was so much to see it was almost overwhelming but really fun at the same time.

Our very cute hotel room. It looked like a little apartment!

View of the upstairs where my parents slept

In front of the Arc de Triomphe

The other side of the Arc de Triomphe

On the very top of the Eiffel Tower. We were lucky enough to be on the top while the sun was setting. The view was incredible!

After coming down from the top

There are pigeons everywhere! I always tried to get a picture with them but every time they flew away... I finally succeeded

In front of the Louvre

The famous Mona Lisa. It is blocked off so the closest you can get to it is like 10 feet away and it is covered by a protective glass. I'll be honest, it wasn't quite as exciting as I was expecting. Still very cool though

Got a little bored on our audio tour...

The statue of Venus de Milo. This was definitely my favorite piece at the Louve, it's beautiful up close

On the tour in the room with the Mona Lisa, the painting behind us was HUGE

Pretty sunset in Paris

Notre-Dame

Pretending to be Quasimoto. We were laughing really hard and a lot of French people were laughing at us!

In front of the Orsay

Me and my friend Van Gogh

This is my absolute favorite sculpture. I was so excited to see it in person. Ever since my parents saw it in Paris a couple of years ago I have wanted to go to the Orsay just to see this. It is Degas' "Tiny Dancer" and is so cute. It is a bronze sculpture with a real fabric skirt and a real ribbon tied around her bronze hair.

In front of the palace of Versailles. It just happened to be closed the day that we went so unfortunately we weren't able to go inside but we took a tour of the grounds

Right behind the main palace

Our last night in Paris at a restaurant on the Champs-Elysees

We had an amazing time in Paris!

London Calling

2009-08-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

And the Adventure Begins...

My Parents and I arrived in London last Wednesday and stayed there until Friday. I loved it there. I felt like I was stuck in a Harry Potter movie the whole time. Our beautiful hotel was right behind the "London Eye" and around the corner from Big Ben. We spent the short three days visiting famous places, seeing shows, taking tours and just walking the streets of London.

One of my favorite things was just listening to people talk. I am obsessed with their accents and totally wish I had one. London over all had a busy and exciting atmosphere... I hope I'll be back one day soon!

Special thanks to Melanie who gave us advice on where and what to visit while in London!

My Dad and Me at the play "Sister Act"

Big Ben at Night

Mom and Me in front of our hotel and the London Eye

We took a tour on an open top double decker bus

Our tour guide mentioned something about the movie Mary Poppins which resulted in my Mom breaking out in song. Everyone around us avoided eye contact after that... Sorry it is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to flip it but I think you still get the affect. Basically the jet-lag was setting in!

A cold, rainy day in London. We didn't mind the rain though.. It

seemed to add to London's charm.

After the play "Jersey Boys"

Having hot chocolate and a shake at a corner cafe... a really good

people watching spot!

A sweet ferrari parked outside of our hotel (this ones for Dalt)

Visiting the Tower of London

In front of Westminster Abbey

Our walk back to the hotel along the Thames

On a walk through the park

In front of Buckingham Palace

Coming out of the subway

I do not recommend this play... just for the record

Our taxi leaving London

I loved London! Now on to Paris...

All Packed Up and Ready To Go!

2009-08-25T00:31:00.000-07:00

Hey its Kenna.

So I'm starting this blog to document my Study Abroad to Italy... Who knows if anyone will look at this but I figure its a good way to record memories and pictures of my trip. I leave tomorrow on the biggest adventure of my life. I'll be spending the next three months in Italy with a group of student from BYU. We are starting out in Rome, working our way up to Siena (where we will be living for the majority of the semester), then spending the last week or so in Venice. Not to mention the many weekend trips that we will make to various sites around Italy.

On TOP of all that my parents are taking me over early to visit London and Paris. I have never been to Europe before so I'm thrilled to be able to have this experience with my parents. Once we have traveled around a bit they will drop me off in Rome to fly solo, basically for the first time in my life. Kind of nerve racking but extremely exciting at the same time.

I can't believe I'm leaving already. I guess ready or not... here I go!