Beginning of Marina di Pietrasanta

Well it’s the end of day two in this beautiful coastal town of Marina di Pietrasanta. It was a long day yesterday with the early flight and then over a five-hour bus ride, but we made it! And man was it worth it, it’s beautiful. We’re staying at Hotel Eden Park. There are mountains behind us and the sea in front of us. Most of us have balconies and that’s probably the best part of the rooms. They’re small and not too great but the location is totally worth it, and honestly I don’t think I’ll be spending much time in there anyways. I’m living with two girls that are going to be in my apartment in Florence (which has 9 girls…) but one of them I hit it off with and she’s cool. My other roomier is 29, so there’s quite the age barrier there and not much in common, but she’s nice.

This view and this roomie (excuse the squintyness of the eyes)

Yesterday when we arrived we hung out and walked a little but the only thing I had on my mind was a nap, I was exhausted. I unpacked a little and then took a nap. Then it was time for dinner and I was not prepared for it. The woman who cooks is the owner of the hotel and she personally does all the cooking with a little help. She wakes up and goes and picks the fruits, veggies and everything else that she should need. She’s amazing; I’ve never had food like this. Last night we had bread, pesto pasta, then some type of veggie dish, salad, followed by stuffed zucchini and pork wrapped in bacon…UNREAL All my friends and family who know me know I’m a picky eater, but I’m trying everything, and even liking it!! After we went out for some gelato near the pier as a huge group, we stuck out to say the least. Walking in such a big group causes so much attention on us. I had nutella gelato and bochi (not sure how to spell it), which was hazelnut and little bits. After that we came back to the hotel and got ready to go out. We had some white wine on the balcony a bunch of us girls. Wine is so cheap here and it’s not even “cheap wine”, it’s good wine but just cheap. It’s awesome. We then went out to the bar next to our hotel and it was so much fun. I went on a walk around the town with a friend in the rain… ;) That night we had a HUGE storm, I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard thunder as loud last night, it was CRAZY.

THIS

This morning we woke up and had orientation and for almost two hours, it was miserable and a lot of info at once. We then had a little time off before we went to the beach club on the water for lunch, which was soo good, and there were more courses. I don’t know if I’ll get used to it all, whom am I kidding, I love it! After that we went to the beach which was nice but it didn’t last too long because we had to register with the police. After that we had free time to do whatever, Gabby, Alyssa and me walked down to the pier and went out on it and watched some people surf. I guess since the sea is a sea and not an ocean there typically aren’t waves, but they were pretty big today and the red flags were up, meaning that you can’t swim. Then came dinner! Tonight we had gnocchi, pasta with a tomato sauce, then a dish I’m not sure what it was, but it was delicious, spinach, corn, and a salad, ALSO some type of meat, which was very thin, and the best pizza I’ve ever had. I can’t even begin to tell you all how hard it is not to stuff my face each course because there’s always more coming.

Just a lil taste of my life right now :)

We’re just hanging out for the rest of the night and I’m going to bed super early because we have our Italian class tomorrow from 9 to 1, I don’t think I can sit that long but I know we have a break or two. I can’t believe that summer is technically over because we start classes tomorrow but it’s exciting. I really only know how to say hello and thank you so it will be nice to finally learn some Italian.