Annoying Americans

I get it now why Europeans hate American tourists. We are loud, are disrespectful, aren't knowledgable about the world around us, and are complete space-cases. And you know what? Every one of those is true.

Everywhere we go we get stared and glared at, mostly because of our noise level. I blame the six New Yorkers we have on this trip! Haha! But really, if you get 35 people in a group, they will always be loud. But I'm starting to understand just how hard it is to try to blend in here.

Besides that though, I kind of secretly love the negative attention we draw, because then there are people like me and a girl named Georgie who can suddenly break into conversation with the locals and enjoy the impressed looks we get. It makes me feel like I'm helping America's reputation, even just a little bit. So you're welcome America! :)

Probably my most proud moment thus far has been when I ordered gelato completely in Italian. The very stern-looking owner of the shop gave me a big grin and told me my accent wasn't too bad. Look at me go being all impressive!

Last night, there was a super fancy restaurant that had a big dinner for us! We each got two free drink vouchers where we could order anything we wanted, so I took advantage of it and got some wine! Then about 7 of us decided to go afterward. Yes, on a Monday night. Great decision-making, right? But anyway, our casual night out at a bar turned into a crazy night at a club. Let's just say I wasn't exactly thrilled when my alarm went off at 6:30 am, but the shot of espresso really helped me get to class! And honestly, funny nights like that make the best memories.

First glass of wine at dinner. Guess what? I still don't like it! Sorry mom.

Day two of class was today. Four and a half hours of Italian a day. And cramming a semester's worth of Italian in two weeks. You can imagine the fast pace. Our teachers don't do any of the class in English, which is very different than the language classes I have taken before, but I really like it.

Today, I went on an awesome tour of secret passageways around Florence. I didn't really understand why any of it was significant, but it was still cool to see. Pictures below.

Dante's death mask, or what he looked like moments after death. I thought that was pretty cool.

Such strange weather here but I love this picture!

People here are TERRIBLE parkers! This picture just cracked us all up. I mean, the car in back is covered with newspapers! What were they thinking?!