They call it the Honeymoon stage...

I am finally to Italy and so much has already happened.  Lets start with about 4 days ago.  After saying goodbye to my sister at home and then my mom, dad, and Eric at the airport it was I on my own in the huge international airport terminal.  I quickly introduced myself to the other girls flying out of LAX.  About 13 hours later we were in London!!! We were greeted by someone from the staff of our program and loaded us in the “coach” (bus) and we were at our hotel in Kensington shortly after.  Honestly, after that it is a blur of adventure.  Driving on the opposite side of the road, meeting new friends from all over the United States, eating in a Pub, the National History museum, and adventurous night in Piccadilly Circus.  Piccadilly Circus was one of the most amazing sights in London, a lot like New York. There was tons of nightlife, lots of people from all over Europe (I even made a friend on the tube from Italy!)

and lots of British accents! I conquered two of my goals by the second day; understand the tube system and foreign currency.  The next day a huge bus took us all around London. We went to the Tower Bridge, the London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, etc.   After that we were basically dropped of in London to fend for ourselves and I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see our confused American faces. Don’t worry we figured it out and it turned out to be an awesome experience.  That night my new friends and I went to the Ice Bar! It was so awesome. The cups, chairs, and tables were made of ice! (Sort 

of pricey though).  The next day I roamed around in the morning and then it was off to the airport.  The flight was about 2 hours to Pisa.  After going through customs and waiting around for my bag…. No luck, both my suitcases were gone.  I knew they would get there eventually and like my mom said I gave some people candy because it cheers them up…because a lot of people had at least one bag missing.  When we got to the hotel we had a delicious Italian buffet and walking around the streets.  Our hotel is a 3-minute walk from the beach; it was so fun to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!! Orientation, delicious pizza, me trying to speak Italian, and walking through the market streets, and a 3-hour dinner.  I love it here already!! I love you all and miss your faces J