Lauren In Italy: Pull-ups On The Metro

Buon Giorno! This week has been so great! Such great events include:

- Shopping on Via Roma (first picture in my previous post) before class and discovering "Busters" - a coffee shop that serves American coffee. (As in, 8 ounces or more of liquid. In Italy, the main drink is a 'caffé' - one shot of espresso. While there are tons of great drinks like cappuccinos and lattes, it was nice to have something that takes longer than three minutes to drink.) Plus there was free wifi and couches.

Buster's Coffee

- We also found an H & M on Via Roma, with cute European clothes. (Or maybe they're exactly the same and I just feel more European shopping there.)

Happy day

- Successfully navigating an Italian grocery store, coming to terms with the fact that I cannot read a single thing on any labels, and learning how to use a gas stove. (Side-note: I was craving french toast a few days ago since breakfast foods are nonexistent and I've been eating way too much fruit lately, so with the help of my nifty translator app I was able to track down cinnamon, vanilla, etc. It was totally a highlight.)

- Having my other business classes start up this week. I really like my schedule; I'm taking Operations Management, Political and Economic Institutions of the EU, and an Italian film class (starting up in a few weeks), two Italian language courses, and Italian cuisine! For our cooking class, we go to our professor's house to cook, get to eat all the food we cook, and learn which wines are best to pair with each dishes. Win. Also, during my EU class, our professor talked about our optional class trip to Brussels, Belgium for a few days to visit the Parliament, EU Headquarters, etc. I'm really stoked because a) we are going to Belgium, and b) I secretly really like politics/current events. :-)

- Becoming a pro with the metro system. Luckily it's such a synch and so convenient.

- Discovering an unbelievably cool park to run in with Natalie and Kelsey. We've been wondering why we haven't seen a single person working out.. I have yet to see one person wear athletic shorts or yoga pants, and yet all of these Italians are so tiny and fit! (Someone asked our Italian teacher about it and she just laughed and said it's just an irony that totally doesn't make sense.) I wish I had brought my iPhone on the run to stop and snap pictures (and have an excuse to walk.. Nat and Kelsey are quite the athletes.) Even though it was a bit of a trek, (walking + a bus) I want to go back all the time!

- Going to a "disco" called Cacao before it closes in a few weeks (because it's a summer season outdoor type of club.) It was fun to finally see so many people our age. We all dressed up a bit and starting keeping a tally of how many looks/whistles we got from guys on our way to the metro. Seriously, it was the craziest thing. We probably just drew so much attention from being in a big group of girls with so many blondes. Haha. Anyway, fun night!

Tonight we're heading to Elba Island for the weekend, right off the coast of Tuscany. (Nerd moment: where Napolean was exiled!) We have a three hour later in the dead of night, so wish us luck. (But we got super cheap tickets, so it will be a blast, right?) Have a great weekend!

P.S. Here are some shots of the week.