Good B Italy...

Damn, all that stands between me and the summer is an open-note test on the Holocaust, daunting. As I sit here typing for the final time in Florence, I am finally speechless, or is there too much to say? I can start by saying that I have given a new definition to the term broke. So, thanks to Mom and Dad and Grandma and Papa for helping me out this semester, I really appreciate it, as it has been a semester that I will never forget.

I'm not going to lie, I might not have shown it (or said it), but the first week in Rome was damn tough. I have such a comfort zone at home and at school and I was completely taken out of it in Italy. It wasn't until the second week in Florence, when I had a routine and a core group of friends, that this semester really took off. And from there, damn it has flown by. After 4 months, thousands of dollars, hundreds of glasses of wine, pounds of pasta and 11 countries, it's all over. I'm coming home with new friends from new places, new words and maybe, just maybe, a sense of style. Classes have been pretty easy, and I am really glad that I took the two Jewish classes that I am in, because learning about the material where it actually occurred is a whole different learning experience. I am sad to say that my italian is less then mediocre, but can't win them all. Now let's move on to the 'Best of's' section.

Best Restaurant: La Giostra
Best City for Touring: Berlin
Most Beautiful Trip: Cinque Terre
Best Night Life: Barcelona
Favorite Trip: Prague
Most Expensive City (outside of Firenze): Paris
Best Airline: Lufthansa
Worst Airline: RyanAir
Worst Hostel: Funny Farm
Best Hostel: second night in Granada (something with the color blue)
Best Beds: Marriots in Amsterdam and Marbella
Best Purchase: new sunglasses
Worst Purchase: fake Rolex
Best Guest: Lisa
Best Host: Aaron Miller

Aight, thats enough awards for now, gotta save somethin to tell you fools when I get home. 4 more nights in Florence, then Israel, then NYC and I am finally home on May 29th. If this is the end of the road for this blog, then I hope that you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Look forward to seeing and tlking to all of you very soon. And, Unitl Next Time...


A Presto,

JK

Say it aint so, I will not go. Turn the lights off, carry me home

As I sit on my balcony writing a paper, and his blog, I realized that I will never spend another Sunday on this balcony ever again. The sun is shining on a beautiful Mother's Day (Happy Mothers day Mom, Grandma, Bubby, and everyone else to who it applies) and cannot believe that I will be in Israel a week from today. My second-to-last week in Florence was definitely a fun one, highlighted with a trip to Cinque Terre on Friday and my grandparents being here from Tuesday-Saturday. Lets start with Tuesday...After a brutal morning of class and a quick nap, I met my grandparents at their hotel and we proceeded to walk over the river for lunch at Quattro Liones. After a nice meal of pasta, we waled through the Bobili Gardens, which are incredibly beautiful, but unfortunately there were a few too many steps for my grandparents to truly enjoy the full view of the gardens. For dinner Tuesday, my grandparents took me and all of my roommates to La Giostra, which I have to say is the best restaurant in Firenze. After a huge meal and a good amount of wine, it was off to bed, as we were leaving around 930AM for a day trip in Tuscany. After a breakfast of fresh-squeezed orange juice and corn flakes, our first stop was a glass-blowing factory about an hour outside of Florence. It is incredible to watch the maestor's at work and see how talented they are. After gawking at them for a few minutes, it was off to the beautiful Tuscan city of San Gimignano, highlighted by their 500 year old towers and beautiful views. After walking around the city, we went to lunch in a small town before heading to the Antinori vineyard for a wine tasting. At lunch, which our driver insisted was a phenomenal restuarant where the same two ladies have been making the pasta for the past 40 years, I had a phenomenal bowl of ribolitta soup (really going to miss that dish). Touring a winery really makes you appreciate all the hard work and time that goes into the bottles of wine that we drink. After walking through the vineyards and the cellar, we were lucky enough to try 5 different glasses of wine (one of which was from a 200 euro bottle). After a long afternoon, it was back to Firenze for nap time before dinner at Golden View. The name of the restaurant says it all with a few lucky tables (our included) sitting on the window looking out at the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio. Thursday I met up with my grandparents after lunch (couldn't miss the second-to-last Chinese thursday) and walked with them through the San Lorenzo leather markey and we made a stop at the Medici Chappel before calling it an afternoon. For dinner, I took my first cab ride in Firenze to go to Tres Panches (or 3 benches). A small restaurant with just three tables (about 25 people can eat there at once) the food was superb, and after dinner it was off to bed as Cinque Terre was going to be quite a day. The train to Cinque Terre departs from Florence at 7:51, to at 7:20 me and my roommates walked over to the train station, and went back to bed on the 2 hour ride over there. Getting off of the train in Monterosso (the last of the 5 lands) offered me one of the most incredible views that I have had since I have been abroad. After a long day of hiking, and relaxing on the mediteranean it was back to Florence, and we were all wiped out. Getting off the train, we realized that it was the last time we would make the walk back to our apartment, and the semester truly was coming to an end. Saturday morning, I met my grandparents at their hotel for breakfast and to say goodbye, yet I will be seeing them in just three weeks, weird. Well, I have two finals tomorrow, so I better get to studying. I really can't say enough how scary it is that this semester is coming to an end. I'll give my semester wrap up post sometime later this week. Until next time...


A Presto,

JK

Au Revoir to my Travels

May 4th? Really? I can't believe that this is my last week of classes...this semester has truly flown by. I couldn't have thought of a better way to close out my travels then this past weekend's trip to Paris. Thursday night Marc and I left Florence, with two girls on our program (Kelsey and Liz), for the final time. After two flights (we had a connecting flight in Frankfurt) and a long metro ride, we were finally in the heart of Paris where we met Marc's good friend Aaron Miller, who was our host for the weekend. After grabbing a crepe (how else could you start a trip in Paris???) we dropped off the girls at their hostel and went to Aaron's apartment to get some sleep, because it was going to be a crazy few days. We woke up around 10 on Friday morning, with the plan of going to the Pompiduo (a really cool modern art museum), Jewish Quarter, Eifel Tower and the Louvre all before dinner. Unfortunately, May 1st happens to be Labor Day in France so all the museums (and most of the stores for that matter) were closed. Quickly, we audibled and decided to start the day off with lunch. After all, we had heard so much about the falafel in the Jewish Quarter and were excited to try it. Our first meal in Paris was definitely a success as the rumors of the falafel were true, and I am now even more excited for Israel! After lunch our day continued with a nice walk through the heart of Paris where we walked along the Seine River and walked by the Notre Dame, Pantheon, and through the Luxembourg Gardens before we finally needed to sit down and relax. I am not sure there are many better places in Europe to sit and relax than in the Luxembourg Gardens, as they were absoulutely beautiful. After getting our legs back and giving our feet a rest it was time for the main attractions. First stop, Eifel Tower. Not to say that I wasn't expecting to be in awe of the structure, but it absolutely floored me. Talk about something you need to see to believe, it was incredible to be right next to it and see just how dominant it is in comparison to the rest of the Paris skyline. After a good amount of time spent gawking at the massive structure, it was off to the Arc de Triumphe, which was just as massive and beautfiul as the Eifel Tower. By now, it was almost 6:30 and we were all spent, so we went back to our respective places to get ready for dinner. I have had a lot of really fun meals since I have been abroad, and this Foundue place definitely was up there. The restaurant was small and lively, with two long tables where you better like the people sitting next to you because they are practically sharing your meal and conversation with you. After enough bread, cheese, oils, meats and wine to feed an army, it was time to go experience the Paris nightlife. Aaron took us to one of his favorite bars, which was situated on a docked boat on the Seine, for a fun night. Since all of the museums were closed on Friday, we started early again on Saturday with the plan of seeing both the Louvre and an Andy Worhol exhibit before climbing the Arc de Triumphe. We got to the Louvre early, and again I was astounded by the utter size of the place. It used to be the King's castle, and he must have gotten lost daily because this place was gigantic. After waiting in a little bit of a line and walking through the new (as my mom put it, but its actually close to 20 years old) pyramid enterance we really only wanted to see three things; the Mona Lisa, the Nike of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo. Luckily for us, the Louvre was free for students that day so we didn't feel guilty peacing after seeing the above mentioned trio (by the way, the Mona Lisa is the most over-hyped piece of art in the world, it is tiny and way too crowded to get a good view of...sorry). After getting a great sandwich for lunch, we walked through the Royal garden on the way to the Andy Warhol exhibit. Althogh the exhibit was missing some of his more well-known paintings (i.e. the Campbell's Soup Can) the hundreds of portraits were really cool and he definitely was a crazy man. After two museums in one day, it was safe to say that the Pompiduo will have to be saved for another trip to paris, as all I wanted to do was clumb the Arc de Triumphe and pass out. The view from the top of the Arc de Triumphe was incredible, although we didnt climb the eifel tower, this view (which includes the Eifel tower) was incredible and left me pretty satisfied. Before dinner we enjoyed a nice little wine and cheese tasting at Aaron's place before heading around the corner for some authentic French Cuisine. After a great dinner (I'm pretty sure i had briskett, but definitely not complaining) we decided we needed to see the Eifel Tower at night and it is quite a spectacle. Nothing is more incredible then watching it sparkle for about 5 minutes, and we got a good amount of pictures (although its just not the same). Well, that's that. 3 months and 11 countries later, I now have 12 days left abroad, and I will be only leaving Firenze for a day trip to cinque terre sometime this upcoming weekend. It has been a phenomenal semester and I am both physically and financially beat. I will try to get these Paris pictures up sometime in the next few days, and I will give a few closing posts between now and Israel. You know the drill. Until Next time...

A Presto,

JK

Slow Sunday...

It is almost 2PM here Sunday afternoon, and as I sit down to write one of my 3 eight page papers left to do before I leave, I figured I would procrastinate a little bit and update everyone on the past week (actually, not a whole lot happened but I really don't want to start this paper). This weekend, I stayed in Florence for the first time since early March (the Czech Republic, Spain, Germany (twice), UK, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary have all been crossed off my list since then). It was weird waking up Friday and not having to see a brand-new city, but it was also nice and relaxing at the same time. After sleeping in, a few of my roommates and I went to a breakfast place that we had heard good things about and enjoyed an omelet and orange juice while sitting outside (not a bad start to the day). After a long breakfast, it was off to the library to get some work done since I am leaving for Paris on Friday and my grandparents will be in Firenze next week, which I am really looking forward to. After wasting the afternoon in the library, I went home for a phenomenal spaghetti with sausage and peppers dinner prepared by my roommate Jon. We all do a good amount of cooking and make pretty good food, but I think this is the best dish that any of us make. Before I came to Florence, I had heard from a few of my friends who had studied here before that this place is a ghost town on weekends, and going out on Friday we saw that this was definitely the case. Even the bars that during the week are almost entirely American have quite an Italian flavor during the weekend. The reason that we stayed in Florence for the weekend (besides the fact that it was nice to get a break from traveling and relax a little) was for the Fiorentina vs. Roma soccer game that our program took us to last night. Everyone hears about how crazy soccer games are across the pond, and last nights game was no exception. Even though Fiorentina is not a very good team in Europe, they put on quite a show last night scoring their first of 4 goals only 8 minutes into the game. After 90 minutes of cheering and singing, Fiorentina was victorious 4-1, and we headed home pretty content. So that was my relaxing weekend in Florence, I know I said it last time, but I can't get over the fact that my time here is running out, a few of my friends in other cities are already done and it just boggles me that I will be home in a month. Alright, time to go write this paper.

A Presto,

JK

It's Hard to Believe that in 1 Month...

I will be in Israel on birthright. I feel like I have been away from the United States and it's culture forever, but also feel as if I arrived to Florence yesterday. I booked my flight back to Chicago (from NYC where I am going to spend a few days after Israel with two of my roommates as well as catch up with Andy Stafman who will be working there this summer) for May 29, and I can't believe that it is less then 2 months away. Being here has truly been an incredible experience and one that I recommend to anyone who has the chance. I am sorry that I have been bad with my posting recently, but now I am completely caught up, and actually really only have one trip left for the semester. Crazy. Well I hope you enjoy your reading and that everyone is doing well...Keep in tougch until June.


JK

Fruhlingsfest

Finally caught up...It has been a while and I've been working hard but the past 10 days (which was spent in 5 countries) have really drained me, so I hope I don't pass out before I get this post done.

This past weekend Marc, Jeremy, Aaron Miller (one of Marc's best friends from home) and myself went to Munich. Since we took a bus, we left Florence around 6 PM and arrived in Munich around 2:30 in the morning and passed out. We woke up around 10 friday morning (I had to register for classes for the fall, all went well) and were greeted by the first rain drops that we had seen in weeks. With the rain, the free bike tour offered was out of the question so we decided to head to Dachau for quite a moving day. The trip there was just 45 minutes by train, but once there it was like being in a whole different world. The camp has kept its form since its opening in the early 1930's and walking through it was very disturbing. Everything was still there from the roll-call sqaure to one of the barracks, and even the gas chamber (completely built but never actually used at Dachau) and finally the crematorium. After spending three cold, rainy hours there it was time to head over to the fairgrounds for fruhlingsfest. Fruhlingsfest is held on the same grounds as Oktoberfest, but is about 1/10th of the size, but it was still quite an experience. The tents hold over 5,000 people all drinking huge beers, singing and dancing on the tables while listening to live music. The next morning, we took a long bike tour of the city of Munich, a really great way to see a city. After the tour was over we went back to the tents to enjoy the lively festivities one last time before heading to a sushi dinner for Marc's 21st birthday. After hanging out somemore in our hostel it was time for bed and the end to another incredible weekend abroad.

Parents and Eurotrip

After arriving back in Firenze Sunday afternoon, I met up with my parents who had arrived in Florence the previous day. After having a drink outside their hotel (which was right across teh street from Piazza Republica, a block from the Duomo) and relaxing for a little bit it was time for dinner at La Giostra. After a phenomenal meal of Ravioli, appatizers, Veal and Red Wine, it was time for bed after the end to an extremely long weekend.

I took off class Monday morning to walk around Firenze with my parents. Despite waking up earlier than usual on Mondays, there was no complaining to be done as the breakfast at the Hotel was my first in a long time. Since my parents had been to Florence before and had toured all of Saturday and Sunday, we took it easy on Museums and Churches and just walked around the city. The first stop was the San Lorenzo leather market where my Mom had a field day (new jacket and gloves, Jon got a wallet) before heading to Piazza Michelangelo for my favorite view of the city. Before I went off to class we went for lunch to a pizza place right down the street from me and had a nice quite meal outside. Dinner was another phenomenal meal at a restautrant that someone had reccomended to my parents where we had ribolita soup(a tuscan vegetable soup, very good) fried artichoke, and great chicken for dinner.

Tuesday morning after I had a presentation in my 9 am class we left Florence on noon with a tour guide (great reccomendation by the Marder family) for an afternoon driving through the hills of the Chianti region and other Tuscan towns. It was the first time that I had been out into that region, and I am really dissapointed I forgot my camera as this was some of the more beautiful land I have ever seen. After a great lunch at a famous vineyard, stops at 2 other small Tuscan towns, and a beautiful drive it was back to Florence where we went out to dinner with my roommates. We went to a restuarant called Il Latini, where you have to come starving or you will not get your moneys worth. After plates of ham, salami, mozzarella, tomatoes, pasta, and soup, they brought out the largest platter of meat we had ever seen. The plate was filled with Veal, Lamb, and steak and was accomponied by some brisket-esque meat on the side. After a great meal, it was time to say Ciao to my parents after a wonderful three days.

After getting a little rest on Wednesday, Marc and I left Florence at 6am Thursday to meet up with a bunch of our school friends who were on their spring break. The trip, which was organized phenomenally by Josh Feiger and Matt Kogan, started in Prague or Rome, then they all went to Munich and Salsburg before we met them Thursday in Vienna. After a long travel day, it was great to get to Vienna and walk around before finding a park to relax in for a while. After a great Austrian dinner and night on the town, we left Friday around noon for Bratislava (Slovakia). Now most of yu onloy know Bratislava from Eurotrip, and I was kind of hoping that a dollar would buy me the city, but that wasn't the case. Fortunately, neither was their depiction of the city, as it was one of the more beautiful cities I have visited. The city's square has streets of beautiful, trendy cafes and no cars can drive through the streets. After touring around and having a nice dinner at the cafe, we were happy to see that all these nice cafes turned into nice bars at nice. After a making it to quite a few of them, it was off to bed as we were leaving for Budapest early the next morning. After my first true European train experience with the 6 person cramped cars, we finally arrived to Budapest, where we would spend the final two days of our trip. Saturday, we explored the city and loved what we found. For lunch we found a little wine tasting and local food and music festival that kept us entertained for a few hours before we continued walking the city. After walking for a while we arrived to the Terror Museum, which dealt with the Nazi and Soviet impact on Budapest. After the interesting tour we returned to the hostel to clean up for a great authentic Hungarian dinner complete with matzah ball soup. Sunday, after taking a walking tour of the city, we hit up a great Budapest Bath house where we relaxed in their 12 different pools at different temperatures. After another good dinner and hanging out with my Illinois friends for the last time in Europe, it was off to bed and back home the next morning...What a crazy week!