a lot of catch-up!

Where to start...:-) hmmm, well the other weekend we joined of group of people and took a train a little outside of Bologna for a wine-tasting. This turned into one of the coolest things i've done so far. It was so unbelievably italian! We got off at this little station and followed our guide up a hill and then he had us climb over a fence and we wandered through the vineyards until eventually an old rustic stone house came into view. It was owned by a small family, they made their own wine there and the mama of the family seated us all in her backyard under the trees so that we could look out into the vineyards. It was beautiful. We just relaxed in sun for the whole afternoon...for about 4hrs the family brought out course after course after course of local dishes fresh from the kitchen and with each plate was a different type of wine to try. They've discovered the right way to live these italians:-) And after, of course, the papa gave us the run-down on what grapes they grew, how they made the wine and some history.
This last week was mostly full of school work:-( Both my orientation classes were wrapping up so I had two oral presentations to prepare and an exam to study for. Not the most exciting week;-) But the end was pretty great:-) Thursday night at exactly midnight Krissy sang me happy birthday and two minutes later I got a call from lyds and bree!!YAY!!! Friday morning I woke up a little bummed that I wouldn't be able to celebrate with anyone from home, but determined to have a good day...I didn't want to make that big a deal out of it cause, well I don't know, it's just not done over here. So krissy and I hit up the market in the morning...it literally downpoured the whole time, I mean water up to our ankles in some parts, but it was pretty entertaining too:-)
That night I got ready for dinner...the plan was to meet a couple of people for dinner and then hang out at one of the pubs. I walked into the restuarant though and went into total shock cause Krissy had arranged for almost 20 of our friends to be there! It was crazy! I had no idea...none. So it was a huge dinner and everyone was so thoughtful... Definitely the second best way to celebrate without actually being home:-)
We've been hanging out with our sicilian neighbors a lot lately...they're pretty funny when I can understand them:-) We were down there the other night and one of them was complaining that his throat hurt and he said he needed to buy this special medicine at the supermarket...we asked him what it was and he said that it was a medicine that cured everything. Uh huh. We asked him to describe it and I guess it was hard to describe so we were trying to make suggestions as to what it could be...is it food, do you drink it, etc. By the end of the conversation we'd established that you didn't eat it, you didn't drink it, it wasn't a pill and it wasn't an herb...right...somewhere in here somehting was lost in translation and this magical medicine is still a mystery. We've decided that the italians just throw out ideas and, instead of thinking about what they say, they jsut put on a confident air and run with it...or else they're just crazy.
This weekend I took the train over to Florence and met up with my grandma, aunt, uncle and their HUGE tour group. It was a hilarious two days...
grandma was the oldest member of the group and i was the youngest so everyone took us under their wing and let me tag along with the tour...the first night we checked out this restaurant owned by one of the biggest wine names in the business. One of grm's friends shared this little insight with me that night: Heaven is where the French are the chefs, the Italians are the lovers, the English are the police and the Germans keep everything in order...in Hell the English are the chefs, the Germans are the lovers, the French are the police and the Italians are in charge:-) And i've learned more about wine in the past 48 hrs than I can handle (dad you're gonna love me!)...one of the men on the tour had written up pages and pages about wines in italy-the making, the choosing, the tasting, etc. so I felt fully prepared for the wine tasting they'd scheduled. I know I talked about how amazing the last wine tasting was (this is weird talking about it like it's a regular thing:-)...) but it can't even compare to this one. We were outside San Gimignano, tucked into the Tuscan hills, and the guests of a small family-run vineyard. It was unbelievable. The italian guiding us through the tasting was full of witty comments and information and this tour group was adamant that they were going to enjoy (to the fullest meaning of the word) these wines...we had a great time:-) And I got to see Siena and San Gimignano...it's getting repetative and probably boring to hear the word amazing but these towns were...searching my vocabulary...breath-taking/incredible. Narrow streets, archways, stairs,stairs and more stairs all leading to the top, to the piazza.