after a much needed night of sleep, Florence University of the Arts orientation was in the morning. on our way to campus we stopped by Vecchio Forno (via Guelfa/via San Gallo), a bakery, to pick up pastries for breakfast - i got the pane con cioccolato, the best pastry i've had thus far in my life (i'm sure i will pick up several tasty treats during my journey). after grabbing breakfast orientation was held in one of the beautiful FUA buildings scattered around Florence a couple blocks away from the pastry shop. part of our orientation was a walking tour of the FUA buildings in Florence, we ended up close to the Fiume Arno (river Arno) and decided to grab lunch before we walked much farther. we stumbled upon a restaurant called Oinos, where i ordered a primavera pizza and cappuccino. after lunch we went back to the Fiume Arno, which was a marvelous view and picture perfect spot, from there we walked to the other side of Florence across the river. we walked across the Ponte Vecchio (a bridge notorious for the high end jewelry shops sprawled up and down the bridge). once we crossed back over to the northern part of Florence we stopped at one of the many gelato shops to cool down with the sweet treat, i had strawberry gelato!
after taking a quick afternoon break we went back out exploring. we wanted a cheaper, lighter dinner and scouted out Pane E Toscana (Borgo Albizi), known for their inexpensive and delicious paninis (panini here only means sandwich, not a specific type of sandwich!) i ordered a panini with salami, truffle cheese, truffle butter, and spinach - it was so good. we sat outside the tiny shop to eat our sandwiches and watch the street hustle and bustle. for dessert we stopped by Vestri, a chocolate shop filled to the brim with hand crafted chocolates, gelato, and candy. to end the day we went to a nearby Conad supermarket to pick up a few groceries since we have a kitchen in our apartment. i grabbed mozzarella, salami, a baguette, tomatoes, water, and chocolate. i loved getting to experience an italian supermarket! the supermarket's produce and deli were so fresh and authentic unlike USA's common grocery stores - i also found the shopping experience to be very personable, meaning that you could easily pick up as much food as you wanted without having to purchase more than you had intended to buy, the prices were very reasonable as well, and did i mention it was so fresh(?). tomorrow classes begin! more to come! britney
0 Comments
i made it to Florence, Italy after traveling to St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Madrid in order to get here!
after walking around Florence for awhile seeing the sights, eating gelato, eating pasta, and drinking wine - i am ready to catch up on much needed sleep. tomorrow starts three weeks attending the Florence University of the Arts where i will be taking Italian and wines classes. much more to come! britney i love living in columbia, mo and love my college. any given weekend there is plenty to do, eat, and see. the first weekend of March was the True False Film Fest in columbia and it is a big deal in the documentary films world. it was an overall busy and exciting weekend.
i started my saturday off shopping at Kelly Fields Boutique, i had been eying this shop on social media and every time i drove by (this shop is right by my favorite bagel shop in como, B&B Bagel). Kelly Fields provides such a pleasurable shopping experience and ensures you will leave with unique clothing and accessories unlike items you might find at your day to day clothing stores. i scored the racks twice before i left with a blouse, sweater, dress, bralette, and necklace - i love the pieces i found and a bonus is that this shop is not overpriced! at Kelly Fields Boutique you can shop in store and online - i highly recommend this place, definitely my new go to clothing store in como. after visiting Kelly Fields Boutique i went to the Columbia Mall to find some black flats for the Hospitality Career Fair that was during the upcoming week. i have had the worst luck with black flats, or flats in general. i ended up getting a scrunchy black pair of Lucky Brand flats. so far, they have been as good as a flat can be on my feet (no blisters or scabs!)! since it was True False weekend i had to attend at least one film! my top film to see was Miss Kiet's Children but it was sold out when i showed up, i had to move on to my second pick which was Casting JonBenet. i picked up my ticket to the show and headed to get some dinner before the film started. i went to Main Squeeze and got the works bowl, my go to at this eatery. by the time i was done eating it was time for the movie to start. Casting JonBenet was an interesting documentary highlighting the murder of JonBenet Ramsey by individuals being cast for the roles in her case (mom, dad, brother, other individuals involved in the case). even if documentaries aren't your thing, attending this film fest is such an amazing opportunity! sunday morning i started a recipe in my crock pot, chicken tortilla soup - it was so nice to get my meal prep done so fast and leave it to cook all day! that afternoon i went with some friends on a team building adventure at Venture Out here at Mizzou. we did the Odyssey high ropes course - it was stressful, exciting, and scary. this was my first time doing a ropes course, it is simply balance, strength, and focus. i fell once! but falling was fun and made me more determined to finish the course full focus and full balance. the leaders at Venture Out really made the course a team effort, each obstacle was completed with either two members of the group working together or the whole group working together. it was terrifying at times, but so worth it. i was so sore for about three days following, but i definitely look forward to completing another Venture Out course during my time at Mizzou. i got to come back to my apartment sore, but my chicken tortilla soup was ready when i got back. i had worked up an appetite and it was delicious! 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. lately i have been really into the color green, when i was a little girl for a period of time green was my favorite color and then purple has long stood the test of time as my favorite color. i find myself drawn to green! maybe it's this time of the year that gets me every time? i want to start celebrating this day (especially since next year i will be 21 for it!) and i think i want to spend it as a travel holiday - there are so many places to go with spectacular traditions for this day (and any other special day). obviously i want to get to Chicago (the green river) and Dublin (Ireland, obvi) but what else should i add to my St. Patricks Day travel bucket-list? tell me! anyway, i'm spending this St. Patty's day studying religiously for my midterm later today and currently sipping on an "Irish Creme Latte." i need all the luck i can get for this midterm!! wishing you a sham-rocking day, britney |
Let's be friends!Connect with me below. Archives
June 2018
Categories
All
|