Winding Down.

How fast time flies is actually frightening.

11 May, we moved out of our house.  The girls and pretty much everyone went back to the states and some people are continuing to travel for a week or two more, like Tara and me.

Our house, 84 via Ghibellina, gave us some unreal memories these last 4 or so months...
Sleepovers after nights out.
The best tasting meals eaten together in the kitchen.
Drinking wine, sitting around, talking about our lives.
Homework sessions at the kitchen table.
Blasting music while getting ready for a night out.
Attempting to do laundry, and setting up all the drying racks, taking over our entire living room area.
Being locked out for almost 20 hours.

All of these, many others, and most importantly; Bonds of friendship that will last for a very long time.

Literally feels like 2 days ago Lauren, Tara, Austin and me stepped off the plane into the Florence airport... Running into Gianna, knowing she was our roommate, but not actually knowing her, outside waiting to be driven to our apartment; her suitcases almost the size of her, if not bigger.

Arriving to our house, lugging up our heavier than 50lb suitcases, we met our fourth roommate, Amanda, and started to get situated.
I remember my exact feelings. Flustered, overwhelmed, extremely tired, way too excited.  I remember feeling like I was not living a real life. Like the first few weeks were fake.

Making new friends, meeting each others' friends from home who were studying here, building new relationships and checking out every bar and club near us... We eventually became very comfortable.

Traveling to 11 different countries, and multiple cities in each of those and throughout Italy;
Interlaken, Switzerland
Madrid, Barcelona, and Ibiza, Spain
Lake Bled, Slovenia
Prague, Czech Republic
Berlin, Germany
Paris, Versailles, Nice and Cannes, France
Montecarlo, Monoco
Brussels, Belgium
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Almafi Coast, Italy
Corfu, Greece

We accomplished A LOT this semester.  By traveling so much, I've experienced so many situations that have taught me so much more responsibility and independence than I would have learned at home.

Waking up late and sprinting to the train station.
Forgetting to print out a boarding pass and attempting to talk our way out of paying 70euro at the airport.
Purchasing a 2nd class train ticket and ending up on first class, taking advantage of the free food and drink... Then getting caught and kicked out. Twice.
Hopping on the wrong train, driving right through Florence and to Milan instead. 50euro and 4 hours later, finally returning back home to Florence.
Experiencing broken showers and heat in hostel rooms.
Communicating through multiple language barriers all across Europe.
Volunteering and transporting myself to teach at a local Italian elementary school in the outskirts of Florence.
Conquering and becoming pros at directions and using maps.
Using and learning the public transportation in all the countries we visited.
Becoming so much better at the Italian language.
...and so much more.

Unforgettable Experiences
Celebrating my 21st birthday in Italy.
Meeting family in other cities in Tuscany I never knew I had, and having dinner with them.
Went on an Italian wine tasting in the most authentic Chianti region.
Took a bus to a panoramic overlook of all of Florence, and watched the sunset.
Watched the sunrise in Plaza Cataluyna in Barcelona.
Ate a heart-shaped pizza on Valentine's Day on the Ponte Vecchio.
Joined a gym and became friends with the trainers and took workout classes with all the local Italians.
Drank wine and watched the sunset multiple times at Piazzale Michelangelo.
Experienced Notte Bianca Firenze.
Swam in the waters of Capri, while on a private boat tour around the island.
Bungy-jumped into a canyon of the Swiss Alps.
Cliff jumped in Corfu, Greece.
Ate a real Gyro while in Greece.
Ate a real Belgium waffle while in Belgium.
Ate  real French onion soup in Paris and Versailles.
...okay I'm done with the food part...
Went to the famous Montecarlo Casino.
Went to the biggest night club in the world (maximum capacity is 17,000 people); Privilege in Ibiza, Spain.
Went to 5 different countries in 10 days.
...The list goes on, and on.

Fully out of our apartment; Lauren and Gianna have been home the past few days. We're already planning a road trip to the East coast this summer to visit G, Cathy, and our other friends from New York and New Jersey.

I can't wrap my mind around how unreal this semester abroad was. I'll never understand how those who are able to study abroad don't do it. They definitely missed out on the best time of their lives.