"Life is too short, and I'm Italian. I'd much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0."

I had a lot to check off my to-do list before packing up and leaving this morning. One of those things, for both Alicia and I, was to find one of these "secret bakeries" we had heard about. Apparently there are bakeries around Florence that open in the middle of the night and bake everything for the cafes and restaurants for the day. Our plan was to wake up at 3:30 and go on the hunt for the best pastry we would hope to eat.

Being four in the morning, I was not quite awake enough to think much about taking picture, but Alicia had her Bloggie to document almost the entire experience... and what an experience it was. Italian boys + Italian personalities + Italian pastries --  it's bound to be a great time.

The videos are a little shaky, and they're not all the same direction. I don't know how to change those things, so you just kind of have to deal with it.. sorry!

Finding the right street, since it's hidden... as well

as giving some guys a firm "no."

We weren't the only ones waiting

Mmmm... but we had no idea what to say,

so our new friend took care of us!

The best.

So that was great, and if I weren't stressed about packing/getting sleep, I totally would have done it again.

The rest of the week went by so quickly. Monday we had exams, Tuesday we had our student show, and Wednesday was my last day.

And now I'm in Zurich. Heading to Chicago. I get in around 4, Chicago time. Then my mom and I will take a flight together to Flint. While in Chicago, hopefully I'll be able to write another blog. I don't have too much time until I board my next flight, but I have so much more to talk about!

This has been such an amazing summer, and it's still almost surreal that I was living in Italy for two months. It's even more strange to think that it's over and I'm finally on my way home.

“In Paris, you learn wit, in London you learn to crush your social rivals, and in Florence you learn poise.”

On my way back from Paris, my internet USB got crushed! So I'm been short on internet time, and have yet to write about my weekend!

So like I had said before, Paris was one of those places that had been calling my name for a few years. I needed to go there. And I'm so lucky I my uncle set me up with his cousin who lives there so I had a place to stay. I got into Paris a little before noon, and had plenty of time to explore and sightsee. The family I stayed with has a daughter around my age, so it was nice to have someone to hangout with!

Laura and I at the Arc de Triomphe

My favorite!

My friend Kate, who cam to visit me in Florence a few weekends back, was also in Paris! She had told me that the Louvre is free on Friday nights for people under 26, so we thought that'd be a good Friday-night activity. Laura and I headed out to meet Kate, and hopefully avoid lines. And, luckily, there weren't any lines to avoid! We were so lucky and so excited. As soon as we were in, we headed straight for the Monna Lisa. 

The Louvre

I may be familiar to art museums after this summer, but the Louvre is huge. So we had to plan out what we wanted to see, but honestly, after seeing the Monna Lisa, we were almost Louvre'd out. So we made a few laps and saw some great things, but quickly made our way to the very bottom of the pyramids.

There she is!

Botticelli - one of my favorites!

It was GREAT to see Kate again!

 After the Louvre we decided to casually make our way over to the Eiffel Tower, lingering at some spots, resting our feet at others, and it was a beautiful night to do so!

Notre Dame in the distance

Nice life :)

 It was such a great night!

The next day Kate and I went to Versailles! It was a little bit of a trek, but not too bad, and totally worth it!

Louis XVI

Lovely

Palace chapel

So beautiful!

Hall of mirrors!

The king's bed

The queen's bed

So amazing!

On Saturday night we went out to eat and I tried snails! Yes... that is right. So all of you out there that would call me "picky," you may want to reconsider! Then on Sunday morning Kate and I went to Notre Dame and to explore that area of Paris.

It was a wonderful weekend, and I feel like I need to go back for longer than just one weekend. It was beautiful and there is so much that I wish I could have explored! French is definitely my next language to learn.

Tonight I am packing up all of my things, cramming it all into my suitcases, praying that they don't go over 50 pounds. I did lots of last minute shopping and went out for a wonderful dinner by the Duomo with Alicia and Ally, another girl that was at SRISA in July. I'm feeling very anxious and I just wish I could fast forward to 10 tomorrow morning so that I'm on the plane and everything is running smoothly. I really can't wait to see my family, and this weekend I'll be seeing a bunch of my friends! It will be so nice to get there, but I will miss this city very dearly.

I'll probably be updating this with a new blog tomorrow during my layover in Zurich, and it should be a good one :)

I hope you're all having a good night... and see you soon!

xoxo