Only a few days until the one month mark of living in Florence. It's unbelievable to me that it's been a whole month, but at the same time it feels like I've been here at least three. Without having to worry about work, or all my other commitments while at Chapman, I have an amazing amount of free time to live.

Recent activities include: long walks by the Arno River, delicious bowls of pasta, seeing the various replicas of Michelangelo's "David," a fake George Clooney spotting (with paparazzi and all), trying different gelaterias around town, getting stared at by creepy old Italian men, reading, laughing, shopping, dancing, etc. etc. etc.....

My favorite activity so far: exploring.

A couple weekends ago, a few friends and I put on our running shoes and decided to go walking with no destination in mind. We first made our way across the river, and then through the city, neighborhoods, and finally hit the countryside. It had been weeks since any of us had seen greenery, so that was obviously exciting. Winding our way through the little streets, we came across a giant fort that was boarded and fenced off with signs saying "NON ENTRARE" (but with a convenient English translation underneath). We then noticed another set of signs explaining why the fort was closed. The signs, sponsored by some organization, said that a 30-something-year-old Italian woman had recently died within the fort, along with a history of other deaths in the area. So, mysterious deaths= some weird paranormal activity right? That's what I thought they were claiming. We continued to roam around the outside of the fort, and I swear, there was a creepy vibe about that place. The various wild cats hiding around it and flock of pigeons staring down at us didn't help. Well, after doing some research when I got home, I guess the woman fell to her death because of the old, eroding pathways, and the fort was being condemned as unsafe. I think paranormal activity as an explanation is more exciting.

Fort Belvedere

Away and away from civilization we walked, until we came across a little town away from anything, with no name, because we had walked off the map. Although completely lost, we eventually found our way back to familiarity and back into Florence. More adventures to come.

On another note...traveling is way too expensive, but I finally have spring break almost figured out. IRELAND and LONDON. I can check that off my bucket list.

Time for siesta.