Chocolate Overload (edited with photos)

I just arrived back in Florence from a weekend adventure to Brussels, Belgium. I am sad to say that I am home in Florence because I had such a wonderful time in Belgium. It is officially my new favorite place. It started to feel like home even though I was only there from Friday- today (Monday afternoon). There were so many things that made me feel comfortable.

Starting off with-- entering the hotel. Let's just say I know how to pick out a hotel pretty well. We ended up at a 5star hotel in Brussels. We walked in and checked in and they welcomed us with tons of chocolate and a glass of champagne. How classy is that?! We clinked glasses and entered our hotel room which was just beautiful. We got in on Friday later than we had expected, it was around 4pm and we were exhausted from the travel. For breakfast food we figured we better go to a grocery store and grab some snacks so that we do not have to spend too much money on our trip. I found C'ote Dor (my favorite chocolate in all of the world) and bought tons and tons to start off with! We also tasted a new beer, Hoegaarden. Which was alright but there were many that tasted better. We decided that it was necessary to have moules e frite (mussels and French fries). The concierge recommended us to go to a place called in english Old Brussels. They were the best mussels I have ever tasted in my entire life. They were drenched in garlic and salt and I just wanted to keep eating more. Emily and I shared a bucket of them and then ate some fries. We tried a lighter beer of Hoegaarden, not the fruity ones we tried from the market. We ended up going to sleep really early to wake up early the next morning!

Saturday was a day of exploration. We started by walking to Grand Place and seeing the square and the buildings and of course it was raining which really ruined a lot of things but that is okay. We ended up soaked by the end of the day. After grand place we went over to the brewery that was across town. We got a little lost but we made it! The beer was sooo good. The brewery was called Cantillon. It is one of the only family owned breweries still left in Brussels. They make their own kind of beer that you cannot buy in most restaurants or the grocery store. You start with a regular beer, which is not that regular. It is extremely sour but it is one of the best beers that I have ever tasted. We then worked our way back home and saw Manneken Pis. Who was dressed up in a costume! They say he changes costumes pretty frequently so at least we got to see that it was true! We stopped for fast food at the local chain called "Quick." Quick is only quick to make you sick. Because in Italy there are no preservatives everything has been making me sick while on vacation. It is so nice to be eating healthy food most of the time here in Italy. For dinner we decided it would be important to go somewhere with food much like Italian style. So we went to a restaurant called Porto Fino which is Italian style pastas and breads. It was delicious. I got ravioli with truffle sauce and enjoyed a nice coca cola light to settle my belly. We went to bed pretty early again.

The Royal Palace, it was not open when we went there but it is beautiful from the exterior.

This is the Sablon Cathedral in Sablon Square which is a really nice park and this gorgeous old cathedral that you can just freely walk into which is always a nice perk!

The sour beer that we tried first at the brewery, so tasty! 

and now the fruit beer, raspberry flavored. YUM!


Manneken Pis in his one of hundreds of outfits that he has!

Sunday which was our last full day in Brussels was an action packed one as well. We started early, around 9:30am and we headed towards the Court House to go in an elevator to the top of this structure that saw over the city. Overall it wasn't super impressive. It was an enclosed box with scratches all over the plastic so taking a picture was very difficult. We then headed to the metro to take a train to the Atomium. The atomium is a structure that was created in 1958 that has 9 spheres. 5 of which are open to the public, the strange part is actually getting from one sphere to the next. We stood in line and took the lift all of the way to the top to look out and see the view of the city which was a lot better than what we had seen earlier in the day. We then went into each of the other spheres to see the exhibits. After we were done we went down to the ground level and grabbed some lunch. I had a really good soup that was just mainly broth but warmed my bones since it was a very chilly weekend. We went back to Grand Place and into a chocolate museum. It was not that great of a museum but we got to see a chocolate making session and tried some of the chocolate that was just freshly made. Who could complain about lots of chocolate?! After that, we tried to go to the fine arts museum (Margaritte) but it was sold out for the day, go figure. So we went into a pub and tried a new beer, Jupiler which I really enjoyed. We had a couple of beers and then headed to venture out and see what else we could find. We ran upon a Jewish Synagogue and Saint Michael cathedral. Both of which are impressive from the outside but we were not allowed into the interiors (BOO). Dinner consisted of a bar right around the corner from our hotel. It was called Fat Boys and had a lot of different kinds of beer and foods like tacos, and wings. I of course got chicken wings because thats all I could think about after seeing Pizza Hut all over the city. Another reallllly early night because we had to check out of the hotel and be at the metro by 7:30am this morning.

This morning we got up around 645am and packed up our stuff, got dressed and ready, and went to check out of the hotel. We made it to the metro and got to the mid-central station that we needed to get our bus that took us to the airport at. So we finally found the bus after circling the entire station. The bus took about an hour and some minutes because of terrible traffic on the highway. We made it with less than an hour before our flight. The flight was not bad at all, I mean there were a lot of clouds so I did get a little motion sick but when do I not on these flights. Then when we got off the plane we got our bags and headed to another bus that took us to Florence train station. That bus made me even more sick to my stomach, go figure. And then we had to walk 10 minutes to our apartment. Today will consist of homework and projects so that this week isn't completely stressful. It would be weird to have a stress filled week when there has not been any stress here so far!

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I can see myself going back to Belgium and spending more time exploring the city. I was so intrigued and it felt a lot like home which made everything all better! Enjoy the pictures and keep reading.. I hope to keep you updated as much as possible.

Check back tomorrow evening (your time) for pictures so that I can add them while I am on the school internet rather than the internet in the apartment which does not work!

Roma Day 2-4 (EDITED)

What a weekend, the rest of the weekend as you can only imagine was action packed. We did not stop moving the entire time. My feet were killing me, everything hurt and was swollen and sore. Oh well, so worth it!

This is a pyramid that we saw that was built by the Ancient Romans.

The MACRO museum. It was pretty much a huge waste of time. The museum contained these really weird contemporary arts pieces that just were not that interesting and too strange for me to understand.

This is inside the Centrale Montemarti museum that contains the coal burning machinery versus the ancient Roman statues that are placed against them. Really interesting museum, at first I was not sure if this was going to be worth my time but overall I was very satisfied.

This is in the park Villa Borghese. Beautiful gardens and structures and fountains.

Villa Borghese park

This is the Villa Borghese museum. It was originally a home and has now been created as an art museum that holds a million paintings, I swear it never ended.

This is an amphitheater park that contains 3 structures similar to this one and then an open area for musical performances directly in front of it which is where you can see the seating leading down to. 

These are the ruins behind the park, parks are created a lot in Rome, but never ruining the ancient ruins that once stood.

This is the MAXXI museum. The structure is so cool, even inside. It had a couple of exhibits that were based on how this building was made, an architecture exhibit and some exhibit upstairs that I was not really sure what the heck it was about. This building was just opened in 2010 so it is a new museum to Rome which makes it really special. Also, its unlike anything else in the area.

This is the inside of the MAXXI looking up at the stairwells. Each are lit from underneath and create a really cool pattern in the ceiling.

The fountain outside of the Spanish steps.

The Spanish steps.

Looking down from the Spanish steps.

The Colosseum at night!

The Arch of Constantine at night

A building that is no longer used. It once stood as a palace to a king but now just has small exhibits at the bottom floor.

The Colosseum during the day!

The gardens in the Roman Forum

The marble that still exists in the Roman Forum

Some more ruins

Arch of Titus

Doors to Caesars palace

Ruins

Me in front of the Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

Roma!

Today is day two of being in Rome, we arrived Thursday around 945am. We had an entire day and boy did we ever take advantage of that. We started with walking around the Piazza Navola. It is right near our hotel which is called Hotel Navona. We then walked to our first museum, Palazzo Farnese which we could not get in right away so we walked back to Piazza Navona and then it was closed until 4pm. This is how the rest of our trip has been with bad luck. We went back to the Palazzo Farnese and then to an additional Church that was closed as well, so we went into the courtyard and then to the Pantheon.

This is the sign that was above the palace that we went into. It captures what is inside the musem.

One of the Cathedrals that was closed for restoration.

Palazzo Navona

Fountain in Palazzo Navona

The Pantheon is more of a sight than you could ever imagine. It is breathtaking in ever aspect of life. \

Inside of the Pantheon is just the most fascinating structure. The ceiling, the walls, everything is so beautiful and makes you realize how amazing everything is.

Outside of St. Peter's in Vatican City! Sunset time.

Daytime before going in.

More elaboration at a later point. Here is just a taste of what I have enjoyed while being here.

A Wonderful Visit from my Wonderful Family

Had the best weekend with my parents. We did so much walking that mom could not feel her feet anymore and lots of blisters. So incredibly worth it. We were able to see so much and took lots of pictures together! Here are a few that Dad took on his camera and I uploaded onto my blog for everyone to see. 

This was right after my parents got to Florence. They walked me to school after we had a quick bite so that I could go to class. Dad wanted a picture of me in front of the Kent State sign when you first enter the building.

This was the first night in Florence with mom and dad. We took Hannah out to La Martinicca for a real Tuscan dinner. I enjoyed a bisteca florentine. It was ginormous. Managed to finish the whole thing. Mom got a mushroom and spaghetti meal, Dad got a seabass (I think it was seabass) and Hannah got a tortellini with lemon sauce that was a house favorite and recommended by our waitor. It was a great meal and a great find for a real authentic restaurant.

Dad and I on our second night together at Aqua Al 2. It was a delicious restaurant geared towards teenagers. We got there around I think it was 7:30. Dad got a blueberry steak (recommended to us by many), I got some sort of penne pasta but it was not called that with alla vodka sauce, Mom got a cannelloni with ricotta and spinach. Then we of course had wine and the dessert sampler. The sampler included a fruit tart, cheesecake with a strawberry sauce, a chocolate cake and tiramisu. We seemed to have plenty of room for all of that after our large meals!

Mom and Dad in the hotel lobby on the second day together. They are just too cute :)

Mom and Dad again I think this was at a restaurant but I cannot remember where this was taken exactly.

We decided to go up to the designer outlet mall about a half hour outside of Florence. BIIIIG mistake. Everything was so overpriced still and with the conversion rate lately, everything was so far too expensive. We managed to get a little cranky but I got a gorgeous Burberry little coat. I also found a nice scarf the next day in the open market that matches it perfectly. I cannot wait to wear it!

Mom and I in front of the Aqua Al 2 after our delicious dinner.

Mom and I in front of the courthouse of Florence. It is quite a massive building and did not realize what it was until we got close enough to read the sign.

Mom and I in front of the Duomo on our second day in Florence together. 

Mom and I in the hotel lobby on our second day together. We loved the furniture so much we had to take lots of pictures of us on it and it by itself.

Mom and I on the pontevecchio yesterday. We went across it to look at the gorgeous jewelry. I had been looking for Mom's favorite designer the entire time I have been  here and have had no luck. Go figure that as soon as I walk onto the pontevecchio with them I find the designer in the first window. What are the chances! I was excited though, and happy that they got to see the jewelery. 

Mom looking beautiful on the pontevecchio the first day they were here. This was while I was in class and they were roaming the city alone! 

This is the inside of the studio space. I sit on the right hand side the third desk down. It is pretty hard to see it in this photograph but it gives you the general idea.

Yesterday was our big shopping day. We went down to the open market near San Lorenzo. I ended up buying some scarves for my friends back home and a couple of other small things. Mom got a great journal and we haggled down a purse for her. I think I am starting to get good at this! As we were leaving the open market there was this really nice mens store. We decided to stop in because Dad noticed a sports jacket that he really liked. Well he did not end up getting the one we saw in the window but one in the store that I picked out for him. It is such a great jacket I love it! (He is wearing it today on his way to Paris with Mom)

Last night we went to a restaurant (another that the hotel recommended and made reservations for us) called Conte Mascetti. It is a brand new restaurant to Florence. We walked in and it was absolutely stunning. We were so intrigued by everything we saw. The menu was a bit difficult being that it was 100% in Italian and it was really hard to remember everything our waitor was saying in English. We each ended up getting delicious meals. I got a butter cream and cheese sauce with spaghetti. The spaghetti was a lot larger in roundness than the typical kind we eat at home. Mom got spaghetti as well with red sauce and dad got ravioli with boar sauce. We enjoyed a nice bottle of wine and some orange creme brullee. So yummy.

Today right before they left we went to the synagogue to visit and tour the museum. It is gorgeous from the outside and even more beautiful on the inside. We were not allowed to take any photographs so that was a bummer but that is okay. We got mom and dad a mezuzah for the new house once it is built from the synagogue which was super exciting and it is gorgeous. It is made from all of the stones that are known in Florence. What a great token to come home with.