over St. Patricks Day weekend i traveled to Chicago, Illinois for a networking trip that i planned for the hospitality management student organization that i am currently president of, Mizzou Special Events Society, for a networking trip. we drove to St. Louis to catch the amtrak to Chicago Union Station and arrived in Chicago early Friday morning to our hotel for the weekend, Kimpton Allegro. i chose to stay at the Kimpton Allegro for its obvious old-world Gatsby charm, location, and its many meeting and event spaces. we checked into the hotel (what an amazing place. amazing staff, hospitality, amenities.), went to our rooms to freshen up before we had an appointment with Kimpton's sales manager to tour their property and event spaces. Marissa and Mariah (pictured) were amazing to work with coordinating the tour along with being our tour guides - we also ran into their GM, Marco, who is also a Mizzou alum! how neat to hear from him. after our tour of the hotel we walked to lunch, we all agreed on Portillo's (my first time!) - i had a classic Chicago hot dog and cheese fries. after lunch we went to SmithBucklin in order to visit with the International Live Events Association representatives there. we got to speak about ILEA and what all they do for those in the events industry and how we can make the most as students from our ILEA student memberships. once our meeting with ILEA HQ was over we had to go to the Hard Rock to assist in setting up for the Here's Chicago St. Pat's Hospitality Bash that would take place later that night, we also volunteered with registration/check-in for the event along with partaking in the networking the event provided. Jim Grillo was an amazing host and is greatly noted with his work at Here's Chicago - it was a great event for networking and getting into the St. Pat's Chicago spirit! after the event we went to Sugar Factory for fancy, over the top desserts before we headed back to the hotel for the night.
saturday morning we started early, we most do on St. Patrick's Day in Chicago. we went to the river to watch the river dying take place and went to breakfast at Goddess and the Baker. we all had shopping we wanted to do and places we wanted to go to, so we walked a lot to hit up all of the shops and eateries. we spent a lot of time walking the morning and afternoon away seeing the sights. after taking a break at the hotel we went out to Sprinkles for cupcakes and then walked around the town some more to find a quick dinner to end the night. on sunday we slept in, packed our bags and checked out of the Kimpton Allegro. we went to brunch at Seven Lions which was so tasty! i got the biscuits and gravy and shared a mimosa pitcher with friends - yum. after brunch we walked over the see the bean (millennium park was closed on Saturday) and take obligatory pictures and then walked around the park and to Lake Michigan before we had to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage before we headed to the train station to go back to St. Louis. Chicago was good to us. we had a great time networking, seeing the sights, and being in the city during such an iconic weekend in the windy city. -britney
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tuesday we got breakfast from Vecchio Forno on the way to italian class, i got a nutella brioche. it was our last day of learning in italian class! wednesday is presentations and thursday is finals for both of my classes. after italian class we grabbed lunch at SandwiChic, of course. and then went back to the apartment to finish our homework and prepare for our presentations. we left the apartment a little early so that we could get gelato before our afternoon class. we went to leonardos, near our apartment (the best gelato we've found!) were i got blueberry and kiwi banana - so very delicious. we went to wines class where we had food pairing day! we tasted Ceccante Maremma Toscana and a sweet wine, Granello. we paired the wines with a fennel salami, pecorino, and almond biscotti. i definitely did not care for the sweet wine, much too sweet! after class we went to the Duomo ticket office to purchase tickets to tour the church and the bell tower on Friday (the soonest date available, attractions and restaurants fill up fast!). i went back to the apartment to get ready to go to dinner while a couple of my roommates went to the uffizi gallery, we met outside the museum to go to dinner together. while waiting outside uffizi we ran into our professor who is here with our program. we asked him to join us for dinner and he took us to his favorite spot near his apartment. it was a great little local restaurant where we ordered lasagna, bruschetta, salad, and wine. the food was great and the red wine was delicious. after dinner our professor recommended a gelato shop not too far from the restaurant. i got nutella and caffe - their gelato was good, but we definitely prefer leonardo's the most. after gelato we walked back to the apartment to study for our italian presentation for wednesday morning. i can't say my italian is very great...
ciao! britney our last monday of study abroad! the time has flown by, unfortunately. i started my day with the pane au chocolat at Vecchio Forno for breakfast before italian class. we finished the movie we started in italian on thursday, such a cute movie. for lunch we went to SandwiChic where i got the most popular sandwich, salami, mozzarella, and pepper spread - it was so good! that shop never fails. we were so tired after class that we got our sandwich and went back to the apartment, ate, did homework, and napped until our afternoon class. in wines class we tasted a morellino di scansano and a sauvignon blanc. after class we made a reservation to a restaurant across the Arno river - an area we hadn't explored much at all. we walked to the restaurant and found our table. i ordered the house red wine, bruschetta, and a spaghetti with tomatoes and basil. it was all so good! they even served bread and olive paste - so so so good. they offered half portions of most main course dishes, which is a miracle and a rarity here. i hope to take my family here when they join me in Florence later this week! it was an all around great experience. after dinner we walked to a lookout point at piazza michaelangelo, which was a major uphill hike. but seeing the sunset over Florence was breathtakingly beautiful. i'm so glad we made the trip up there. after we watched the scenery and took pictures we made our way back down the hill. we found a gelato spot where i ordered watermelon gelato. i love watermelon. this gelato was so refreshing and tasted just like fresh watermelon. i was really curious because i hadn't seen watermelon offered at any other gelato shop we had tried. after getting gelato we walked back to the apartment where it was already pretty late at night. it's so sad that our time here is coming to an end!!!
ciao! britney today was my 10th day in Florence, the time is flying by! of course on the way to italian class i stopped by Vecchio Forno and tried a new pastry for breakfast, today i had the nutella brioche and it was so good! i love that bakery, i'll definitely miss it when i'm gone! then it was off to italian, i really find italian class enjoyable and i am learning a lot. after italian a lot of us were wanting to go to the Brandy Melville 50% off sale, so we went to the store which was in a part of Florence we hadn't walked around yet. i got a cute pair of shorts during the sale! once we were all done shopping we were hungry for lunch, i just ended up eating some of my salami, cheese, and bread at the apartment. we did our homework and then it was time for wines class. today in class we tasted a Trebbiano and a Poggio De' Paoli - i can't say i was much of a fan of either of these wines... this is my first day i just haven't love the wines we've tasted! hopefully tomorrows picks will be better... we also had a project to finish for wines class so after class we knocked out that group project of writing an article for the FUA magazine, Blending, about our Sunday trip to Montalcino and Pienza. for dinner we went to SandwiChic which was just a couple blocks away from our apartment. i had seen the shop several times when looking on the internet for good places to eat in Florence. i don't honestly even know what i ordered but it was some sort of ham, tomato, lettuce, and warm, toasty bread - but it was sooooo good and a generous portion with a water all for 3.50€ which is the best deal we have got on a meal this entire trip. the menu was so big, the options were endless - we are definitely going to be going back to that sandwich shop! it was right beside Vecchio Forno and on the street that our italian class is on... i just love that little area! i also stopped in a farmacia (pharmacy) to get some neosporin... i had googled what neosporin is called in Italy beforehand and the pharmacist seemed to know what i was talking about... so hopefully i got what i needed (i got some mosquito bite medicine last week from a farmacia and it works better than anything i've ever used in the US, so i have hope in this Italian neosporin. after we visited the farmacia we went to get gelato (shocker) a couple of doors down from our apartment. i got cherry gelato (my first time seeing cherry gelato!) and it was SO GOOD. absolutely my favorite fruit flavored gelato so far.
ciao! britney before italian class we went to Vecchio Forno where i got my favorite pain au chocolat. we had a quiz in italian today, it wasn't very bad! after italian we went to Fedora, the student ran bakery at FUA, and got a light lunch. they had small pizzas which were okay - Fedora is very hit or miss, as we've noticed. we took the pizzas back to the apartment to eat and do our italian homework. after lunch we went walking around town and did some shopping. we stumbled upon a really awesome gelato shop called, My Sugar, where i got a rose gelato - it was so different but so good! after gelato was italian class where we talked and tasted chianti and chianti classico. i loved the chianti classico we tasted. after wines class we went to the apartment before going to dinner. for dinner we went to a very local place for pizzas - i ordered a pizza with mozzarella, basil, olives, and spicy salami. it was so good! it doesn't seem like today was as action packed, but somehow i clocked in the most steps today.
until tomorrow, ciao! britney i started my day out by getting breakfast at my favorite little bakery i've discovered here in Florence, Vecchio Forno. i got a brioche au cereal, it was more on the wheat/grain side but still very good (i love that place!). we went to italian class, we have a field trip this coming saturday that i am so excited about it! i got another vending machine cappuccino... so freaking cool. after class we went to the FUA ran bakery for lunch where i got a prosciutto sandwich, cappuccino, and pastry. the sandwich and cappuccino were good, but the pastry not so much.... we went back to the apartment to recharge and then had wines class. we also have a field trip for wines class this coming sunday which i am also excited about - we tasted two wines today: a rosso di montalcino and a nobile di montepulciano (i LOVED this wine!). the two wines we tasted are from a tuscany region we will be visiting on sunday, so i'm definitely going to have to find some montepulciano to take back with me! after wines class we went back to the apartment and snacked on mozzarella and salami before we made plans to go to dinner. yesterday when we went to pizza napoli we saw a line for a panini shop that took up a majority of the street, so it was bound to be worth trying out... and we were spot on. All'Antico Vinaio was a great spot for sandwiches! they only have five sandwiches on their menu, but i'm positive they are all worth while - i had the summer sandwich with prosciutto, mozzarella, basil, and tomato. the sandwich was made right in front of you while you were in line, the ingredients all cut freshly for each sandwich, and the bread fresh and hot out of the oven. so so so so good. of course gelato followed dinner, we found Venchi where i got a strawberry gelato on a cone, this gelato was by far my favorite consistency thus far. we had some time to kill before we wanted to go to a bar so we walked around town and reached the Duomo where there were tons of people standing around the front steps. the florence philharmonic orchestra was set up and playing on the front steps of the Duomo! that was especially neat to stumble upon, such a pretty experience listening to classical music at dusk in front of the Duomo. after listening to the orchestra play we went to the Lion's Fountain, a bar known for their american college scene. the bar has college shirts on the ceiling and shots for many universities in america, the mizzou shot consisted of tequila, red bull, and pineapple - it was good! we of course had to do a round of mizzou shots and then partake in their mojito night specials going on. the music was great too, better constant american hits than any bar i've been to in the US...! tomorrow we do not have class so we are hanging around Florence to do some sightseeing.
ciao! britney my friend and i have made a tradition out of attending the St. Louis Art Museum's annual Art in Bloom exhibit, where local St. Louis florists create floral interpretations of pieces of art on display in the museum. it is truly a unique and exciting show, the museum is always packed with excited art appreciators! my friend and i love all things art and museums.
we left Columbia, Missouri for St. Louis bright and early that Saturday morning. we stopped in Clayton, Missouri for an early lunch. exploring the streets of Clayton we stumbled upon a neat salad shop (my friend is vegetarian, so we needed a place with good veggie options!) called Wicked Greenz. this spot offered several salads, salad toppings, and the option to keep your salad in a bowl or wrapped into a wrap! i ordered the mexi-cali salad with chicken as a wrap - it was super fresh and delicious, in addition to the trendy atmosphere the salad shop provides. Wicked Greenz was a great sit down, healthy fast food choice! after lunch we went to the museum, parking was crazy (long story, but i had a person 100% take a parallel parking spot from me while i was reversing into the parking spot!) - Art in Bloom has definitely grown in popularity since attending last year! this year my friend and i were able to order the event's signature cocktail, the fleur de lis - it was so good (i believe it was sprite, rose water, vodka, and some other ingredient! so worth it). we walked around the museum looking at new installations and pieces that had a corresponding floral arrangement. some of this year's arrangements were not hits with us, my friend and i agreed that several arrangements too closely mimicked the piece of art being portrayed and weren't creative interpretations by the florist. we were also displeased that several works of art that were selected to have accompanying floral arrangements were pieces of art that depicted flowers (such as still life paintings of flowers in vases), in that case the floral interpretation was almost identical to what was shown in the artwork. we hope that next year will include more creative approaches by florists and that also works of art with flowers already depicted will not be selected as pieces for florists to interpret. overall the show was beautiful as usual (i had several favorites, you can check them out in the above image gallery!) and we can't wait to attend Art in Bloom 2018! before we headed back to Columbia we sat down for coffee at a place i found on apple maps (and it was a complete score of a find!) called Comet Coffee, i've actually passed this place several times while on the interstate and always wondered if it was good. Comet Coffee has quite the bizarre parking situation going on at the building it is located at... i have certainly never had to partake in a back-in only parking spot... but a little known fact about myself is that i love parallel parking so i was more than eager for the parking challenge! my friend and i got our traditional coffee house orders: me a vanilla latte and her a chai latte. i really hate chai, but evidently her chai latte was delicious and so was my vanilla latte. Comet Coffee was your typical hipster coffee shop, so the interior and vibes were just the fuel we needed to make our way back to Columbia. so happy to have a friend who enjoys art museums, travel, and coffee shops just as much as i do! until next year, Art in Bloom 2018. |
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