Author Archives: djo175

Venice Vacation!

Sorry that this post is late, I’ve been real busy with work all week!

So, this past weekend, there was no general consensus on what a great many of students were doing or where anyone was travelling. In past weekends, everyone was headed off to the Amalfi Coast or going on other day trips to Lucca, Pisa, etc. etc. But this weekend, that was not the case. So myself, Tristan, Leslie and Allie decided to book a trip to the wonderful land (well, sort of land) of Venice…

The story starts with the booking: They decided to let me book the hotel and Tristan get the train tickets… bad idea. I went on Orbitz to do the hotel thing, and they started asking me my general information. And while nobody seemed to understand this: they gave me the option to make myself Dr. Daniel O’Connor.. so how could I say no to that? Also, they started asking why I was coming to Venice, etc. Moral of the story: after about 5 minutes, a quaint little tourist trip for 4 to Venice became Dr. O’Connor coming to town on business AND pleasure! Oh yeah. Anyhow, that was just the hotel booking. Next, Tristan and I went to the train station to book our train seats. We decided it would be best for us to leave Saturday on the 9:30 train, and trains leave every hour. Sounds flawless, right? Well, one thing led to another on Friday night, and I don’t want to get into details but Tristan and I had a late night at the beloved Birreria and the girls stayed in and prepared to wake up bright and early for the 9:30 train (after much complaining all week about why we weren’t catching the 10:30 train).

Cut to Saturday morning. 8:55 A.M. I wake up to an angry death stare from Leslie and Allie standing over my bed and I know something has gone terribly wrong. They had been up getting ready for over an hour so that we’d catch the 9:30 train, thinking that Tristan and I were mirroring their efforts, but no that wasn’t happening. Which brings me to the point that it’s probably their fault for trusting us in the first place. One thing led to another, we missed the 9:30 train, the women are extremely unhappy. Anyway, we hopped on the 10:30 train only to find that all seats were reserved for the train to Venice, and not just first come first serve like all the other trains we’d been on. So we stowed ourselves away in between train cars for awhile before the woman came and charged us 8 euro each for being on the wrong train. Better than the 1000 euro threatened on the back of the ticket! Being the gentlemen that Tristan and I are, we paid for the female’s late fees. I later tried to get them to thank us for that.. didn’t pan out so well. The remainder of the train ride went like this for some reason unknown to me: Tristan was completely innocent and not at fault for the train mishap, and it was entirely my fault in the eyes of Leslie and Allie. Maybe it was because I still thought it was funny (and still do to this day) while Tristan sympathized with their discontent. Lesson learned. Hey, we got there safe around 1 P.M.!

Yes, that’s right, Dr. O’Connor was in town. First order of business: buy a sweet captain hat from a vendor right outside the station (see facebook pics). Yes, you heard it, Dr. Captain O’Connor was in town and ready to make waves. Luckily for me, the immediate breathtaking view that the exit of the train station beheld was enough to bring morale back to a peak amongst our crew. Upon descending down the station steps into the daylight, a street opened up with shops on the left, and an incredible waterway on the right. Already I knew that Venice was unlike any place I’d seen before. There were streets, but no cars. There was water, but no swimming. It was like a parallel universe. The highways were canals with boats and gondolas. The sidewalks were full cobblestone streets with stores on both sides. There were countless beautiful bridges connecting streets over waterways. I felt as if I’d been dropped off in a parallel universe.

If there was one success of the morning in regards to planning, it was Tristan’s pre-mapping of the route to the hotel. We trekked about 15 minutes through the beautiful town of Venezia to our hotel. I was crossing my fingers that I’d struck gold with this hotel, in order to hang onto my last straw with the group. Luckily, it worked. The hotel was right in the center of town alongside a small canal, with stores aligning the walk outside the hotel entrance. The room itself was fairly nice too, and the juice at the complimentary breakfast was out of this world. I’d like to take another moment to acknowledge the juice in Italy. I know I’ve done this before, but I swear they just know something that we do not. I want to get to the bottom of it. I want this delicious juice to be apart of my everyday life. Anyway, we all got settled in the hotel and then started the exploration of Venice…

First thing’s first, we got a delicious lunch right away. I had a plate of spaghetti with a white sauce and mixed seafood spread along the top and it was phenomenal. I am almost sure that that seafood came off the boat in Venice a few hours earlier, it was that good. Everyone enjoyed their meals, and we complimented it with a few glasses of white wine to get the ball rolling.

Afterwards, we spent the remainder of the day exploring the various famous locations in Venice. Piazza San Marco, famous for its plethora of pidgeons and vast open space surrounded by gorgeous buildings, was incredible (see opening scene of the Mark Wahlberg movie Italian Job). A man gave us some bread to feed the pidgeons and they flocked to us in masses. Tristan and Allie even got pictures of the pidgeons on their arms eating bread out of their hands as they stood with the beautiful cathedral in the backdrop. After that, the four of us made our way over to the ever so famous Harry’s Bar. Apparently, this is where famous authors and artists like Hemingway used to pass the time, and they are famous for their signature drink, the Bellini. So if you’re ever in Venice and have 15 euro to spare on a small drink on top of a 2 euro sitting fee, Harry’s is your spot! But hey, they say it’s one of those things you have to do, and we did it. Afterwards, we ran into a parade of drunk Italian guys that I think were on a bachelor party, and Leslie and Allie were talked into signing the bachelor’s body so that his friends could one by one smack the poor guy afterwards. What a lucky lucky man. Those signatures will be worth something some day.  

 

So we carried onto a local jazz bar to catch the 8:30 showing of the USA vs. England World Cup match. What a fantastic decision. Followed by an interesting (for lack of better word) decision by Tristan that we should each buy a round one by one of whatever drink we so chose. That lasted us throughout the game, and after a few choice drink selections we were having ourselves a lively time at this local bar. The place was sweet, too. They had flat screen tv’s in every direction and a good amount of food choices. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, and it was really cool to see how appreciative the Italians are for a good soccer match. At the end, everyone stood up and applauded both teams efforts. Compare that with a local Philly bar when you see a tie football game (Eagles-Bengals 2 seasons ago), and you’ll see quite a cultural difference. After that, everyone was pretty beat from the long day, and I was dragged back to the hotel for a little shuteye.

Sunday! Wake up! Get breakfast! You already know how I feel about the juice! Check out of the hotel! By the way, the hotel Palazzo Rosa is a great choice if ever in Venice. The staff was very nice and let us keep our bags in their lobby after check out so that we wouldn’t have to carry them around until the train ride back. They even offered without our asking. Score! Catch a water taxi to Murano, island home of the famous glassblowing industry of the Venice area! We caught a demonstration of a man creating a glass horse, and it was mind blowing. He started out with a ball of scorching hot melted glass on a stick that he’d pulled out of a furnace. From there, he spent about a minute twirling the pole about in a seemingly arbitrary fashion, until it started drying off in the shape of a horse. After another 30 seconds of poking it with a smaller metal stick, we were looking at a small glass horse sculpted to the finest, smallest detail. The man was truly a master of his craft. I was amazed. After that, we spent some time walking around the island of Murano and checking out some glass products in shops. I kept feeling really uncomfortable because there were so many expensive, fragile things around me, but they were really sweet to look at. So we caught the water taxi back to Venice, and experienced yet another beautiful day there. Of course, our obvious next move was to catch an awesome gondola ride around the best waterways in town. So we approached this man in the blue and white striped gondola uniform and started talking business. Apparently, for the communal price of 80 euro, he could give us a gondola ride that would last anywhere from 20-60 minutes? What do you think happened? We got about a 20 minute gondola ride, but it was the coolest 20 minutes ever! First of all, it was a trendy black gondola with golden ornament all around it, and what was more or less a throne for us to sit on. Then we gondola’d past a bunch of sweet historical sites, like the Grand Canal, Marco Polo’s house, Casanova’s house, and the ONLY church with its entrance on water in all of Venice. Apparently, it is tradition during weddings there for the bride to arrive on gondola, which I thought was really cool. The building itself was incredible too. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll get married there… You’ll all make the trip, right? Anyhow, I got a TON of great pictures which you can either find on facebook or just ask me to show you when I get home, and I’ll be more than happy to share!

After exiting the gondola, we retraced our steps to San Marco Square and got some great pictures there. Following that, we walked around a little more and helped Leslie do some gift shopping for her family. I learned that day that Leslie’s family doesn’t wear anything round, bright, bracelets, heart-related, etc. It came down to the fact that there were only three glass pieces of jewelry that worked out for her tastes in all of Venice, and we found all three! After that, we worked our way back to the hotel to get our bags and headed to the train…

The RIGHT train! With our own seats! With real cushions! And real headrests! What a relief! The terrific way to end one of the best weekends of my life. If ever in Italy, Venice is an absolute must-see. There is no other place quite like it in the world.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got, I’m headed off to the French Riviera in a few short hours. Gotta shower, pack, and get ready to rock n roll. Been studying my blackjack all day long, hope my prosperity is in the cards in Monte Carlo. Captain Dan, signing off.


Location: Venice, Italy

My Life in a Painting

Before this weekend, I had only imagined places as beautiful as those on the Amalfi Coast. In my imagination, the water was an incredible clear-blue, the beaches were quaint and quiet, and there wasn’t a care in the world. Usually imagination stretches reality to an unattainable ideal, but not this weekend. Everything was as I’d dreamed.

On Thursday, I finished class at 12:30, packed my things, and departed with my friends to the bus station at 6:30. We had prepaid for an all-inclusive trip through a company called Florence for Fun that facilitated all of the booking process for us. They had a coach bus waiting for us at the station, that we packed onto with a few bottles of wine and high expectations. The bus ride lasted about 6 or 7 hours, and we arrived at our hotel in Sorrento around 2 a.m.  The hotel room was small, but it didn’t matter because we spent most of our time exploring the sights and sounds of the beautiful surrounding areas.

Friday: wake up at 7 a.m, free breakfast at the hotel, trek it down 7 million stairs to the docks by 9, load onto a ferry that led us to the island of Capri and all of its wonders. At this point, everyone was still in zombie sleep mode from the long bus ride and little recovery time, so the ferry ride there was characterized by a hundred American students drooling all over each other. Arrive in Capri. Hop on a smaller boat with about 50 others. This is where the fun begins. As the sun finally peaked out from behind the clouds after a morning of rain, we leaned over the side of our vessel, absorbing the panorama of the beautiful island complimented perfectly by the rocky coast, with our hands stretched out running through the refreshing coolness of the Mediterranean. It was breathtaking. I felt like I could take that boat ride 100 times and never get tired of the feeling.  For the remainder of the boat ride, we cruised along the coast and breathed it all in one by one. Also, at one point we hopped off the boat in 4’s onto rowboats in order to explore a cave along the coast called the “Blue Grotto”, which was really cool but we only were in there for a minute or so. Our rower was a big Italian guy who belted out what sounded like Italian opera the entire time, which was sweet. Afterward, we headed on back to the dock. It was time to get out and discover the island of Capri on our own terms. This led to a delicious meal on a deck overlooking the wonders of the Mediterranean. The best part: while we waited for our meal, me and a few friends walked down to the beach and spent some time skipping rocks into the sea. Just one incredible moment after the other. Oh, and by the way, at this point we’ve developed a solid core of friends who do pretty much everything together when we travel. It consists of myself, fellow Penn Staters Tristan and Steve, and our new friends from UConn: Edwin, Leslie, Allie and Nicole. I’m so happy that I’ve met such great people on this trip that I can travel and spend time with. It kind of makes you think how so many small chance decisions and actions throughout life have led to each and every one of us ultimately being here, skipping rocks together on the Mediterranean, as if it was intended. After lunch, the seven of us scaled the island and spent some time checking out the various shops in the center of Capri. I didn’t buy much, but I did get my little sister a present. That’s right Gert, if you’re reading this, you’re in for a treat..
After capping off the day with some delicious gelato, we again loaded onto the ferry to travel back to Sorrento. As we drifted back across the Mediterranean, we watched the beautiful island of Capri slowly disappear into the horizon. It was a moment I know I’ll never forget.

That night, I had dinner with a family friend who lives in Sorrento. It’s amazing to know that your network extends to places you’d never imagined. A woman who I hadn’t known existed until a few months ago, who was once married to a relative of mine who I haven’t seen in years, was willing to take me out to a delicious dinner in her town. I couldn’t have been more grateful. It really made me understand the value of kindness between people, because you never know who will be able to make your night next. Later in the night, all of the students on our trip went to a bar in downtown Sorrento that was pretty sweet, but we were all pretty tired, so we didn’t stay entirely too long.

As amazing as Friday was, Saturday was right there with it. We went to a beautiful town along the beach called Positano. As famous and picturesque as it was, it wasn’t even very crowded. That was maybe the best part. I would try to describe the town of Positano rising into the hills along the sea, but it would be a wasted effort, because no words can justify it’s beauty. You truly have to see it to believe it. We spent most of our time on the beach, but also took a fantastic boat ride around the area. First stop, and definitely the best stop, was at the cliffs about a 5 minute boat ride away. It’s too bad I forgot my camera, because what happened next involved me scaling a rocky cliff about 40 feet up to a ledge and cliff jumping into the sea. It was an unbelievable feeling of freedom. A year ago, I couldn’t have even told you that I’d ever be mid-air 30 feet in the air coming down hard on the Mediterranean Sea. Who knows what I’ll be doing next summer, I hear the moon is nice. Anyway, I made it out okay, I think I have a bruise on my thigh, but some chick broke her wrist. Of course, I was the next person to go right after her, which made it even more of a rush. Hey, I’m alive! We spent the rest of the day chilling on the beach Under the Tuscan Sun (apparently the male character in that movie is from Positano.. I’ve never seen it, sorry Mom). The day ended with all of the students on our trip taking the bus back up to the mountain tops to catch our coach bus. But oh no, that’s not how me and Tristan roll. We scaled those 12 million stairs and long stretches of 110 degree angle road like champions of our trade, with no directions. We were like masters of the unknown road. Not a big deal. The bus shuttle to the top arrived only to Tristan and I awaiting their arrival with victory beers. Because we got there first. Think about that.

Sunday, we got on the bus to go home, but stopped first at the ruins of Pompeii. We checked them out for awhile, and they were sweet, but I was dead tired and it was early, so I was happy to get on the bus and get going. However, we did also stop at Mount Vesuvius to climb that (the volcano that destroyed Pompeii in 79 A.D.) They gave us walking sticks to climb with, which led to several sword fights breaking out at the top (see pictures on Facebook). As beat as I was, I gained a little adrenaline at the top of Mount Vesuvius. It’s a great feeling of manliness to scale a mountain, and of course I had to let out a deep echoing battle cry at the top (what kind of man would I be if I didn’t??). After that, we took the 6 hour bus ride back to Florence, home sweet home. The bus ride didn’t seem so long this time, and I got a little bit of sleep.

So that was it, my favorite weekend of the trip. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I hope you enjoyed reading about it, and certainly get to take it all in for yourself sometime.  

 


Location: Sorrento, Italy

Gettin’ my travel on

Amongst the many memorable, roller coaster ride events of the previous few days, some more blog-worthy than others, I’ve got a lot to share. We planned on going to the beach Friday, but due to unforeseen events on Thursday into Friday, it had to be postponed until Sunday. However, Saturday went 100%, entirely and totally as planned, and I had one of the best days I can remember.

Set scene in the hills of the Chianti wine region, just a 50 minute bus ride outside of Florence. Cue four male and three female characters, and 4 fast scooters basically just handed over to them no questions asked. You can see where this is going. For the low price of 40 euro each, we were able to rent Italian motor bike/scooter/mopeds all afternoon and cruise. I don’t think there is any manlier feeling in the world than flying through the Italian countryside on a motorcycle with a cute girl on your back that actually trusts you won’t kill her.. and that’s what I learned on Saturday. We started in Greve in Chianti and rode all the way out to Siena and back. It was a beautiful day, and there was no traffic. In my opinion, a day doesn’t get much more flawless. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that feeling.

Sunday, we got up and took a train to a beach called Viareggio. It was about an hour and a half train ride, and I learned first hand that I do not like the Italian train system. After having the auto ticket issuer machine refuse to take my debit card, I had to wait in a long line and then race onto the train about 2 minutes before departure, just to learn that I had to “validate” my ticket in a special machine. I thought the fact that I clearly just purchased it from the stand made it valid, and I don’t mean to rant, but I then had to sprint around the station and just made the train in time. I don’t even want to go into the issues I encountered at the station on the way back. However, the beach was very nice. We paid about 5 euro each to rent out an umbrella and a few chairs for the day. The weather was fairly nice as well. As far as the water goes, I think it was a great escape from the beating sun and all it accompanied at my towel. We got back around 8, and I spent the night in pain from sunburn for one of the first times in my life. I guess you don’t realize how bad you can get burnt until you don’t put on lotion. But that’s certainly my fault.. and that’s what I learned on Sunday. 

It’s Monday now, and I’ve got a week of class ahead of me, and then headed to the Amalfi Coast. I’m really excited about it, it should be incredible. 


Location: Greve, Italy

Sorry!

Sorry, but due to my incompetence in blog keeping and the spotty internet at my apartment, I accidentally wrote my previous two blogs describing pretty much the same exact thing. I thought that the first one has been deleted so I wrote the second one as pretty much the same thing… No need to read both!

Thanks!!

Who needs an alarm clock?

When the birds are as psychotic as the fifty or so living directly above our balcony, they make it their living duty to serve as our 7:30 wake up call. And if that isn’t enough, how about waking up on Sunday to “Here Comes the Bride” and a wedding going on in the garden that our balcony overlooks. Needless to say, it beats the high pitched shriek of my cell phone that woke me up daily at Penn State.

On Thursday, I moved into my apartment in Florence. There are 5 of us in here, and we scored big time on the apartment draw. If the third floor balcony overlooking one of the most picturesque gardens I’ve ever seen isn’t enough, how about the abundance of food that the school left for us in our kitchen, the spacious bedrooms and bathrooms, or the awesome friends we’ve made around our building? As far as the apartment goes, there isn’t much to complain about. But oh man, I have a 15-20 minute walk to and from school every day, which is an awful chore when the weather is constantly beautiful and I get to walk by the most breathtaking building I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Like I said, not much to complain about.

I’d also like to take a minute to give a shout out to the high quality orange juice in Florence. If it weren’t worth noting, I wouldn’t, but I drink 5-10 glasses a day because it is tenfold better than the OJ at home. Think about that!

On Friday, the school took us to orientation in a town called Fiesole, which is on top of a hill overlooking Florence about a 15 minute bus ride away. The view from the highest point in Fiesole provided hands down, undoubtedly, the most amazing view I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I tried posting a picture to the blog about a half an hour ago of the view, but it ended up erasing my entire post so I can’t provide that, but you can find it on Facebook!! Regardless, it is simply impossible to put into words the feeling of standing in Fiesole overlooking Florence and its surrounding hills.

My new friends and I have also had a great time going out at night this weekend. We searched out some fun local bars and had ourselves a nice time. Get this: I caught the end of the Flyers game at a local bar on Saturday.. Awesome!! I’ve gotten extremely lucky from the aspect of friendship in Florence. All of my roomates are awesome, and everyone I’ve met is extremely friendly. We all get along really well. Not to mention, and I could go on for awhile about this, but my apartment has taken serious steps to achieve the real Italian feel for home cooked meals. Every day, we go out and buy fresh groceries for that night’s meal, and we cook from scratch. My one roomate is an awesome chef, so he leads the charge, but we have been cooking some high quality Italian meals up in here. For example, on Sunday night, we made penne with like three different cheeses, topped with meatballs made from scratch, and self-constructed garlic bread on the side. And of course, we had ourselves some 2 euro red wine, which is all too delicious for any occasion. Since then, we’ve had some other awesome meals, and we might be making steaks tonight. Ohhh yeah.

As far as school goes, I’ve been to the first of both of my classes. Yesterday, I had “The Villa and the Garden” from 9-12:15. We sat in a class for like an hour and then went walking to some awesome buildings around town. In front of the Palazzo Strozzi, we witnessed like a 30 car motorcade roll up with a bunch of dudes in black suits and glasses, all unfolding within about 20 seconds. I’ve never seen anything like that at home, but it seemed as if some important political figure was hangin out in Florence. More about the class though: From now on, all of our remaining Villa/Garden classes will take place on site at sweet country villas and gardens. One of my roomates, a fellow Penn Stater, is in my class with me, so we are gonna be getting our field trip on every Monday and Wednesday for the next 6 weeks. The school pays for transportation to every day’s lecture site too, so Dan doesn’t need to drop any extra euros….
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have my Management course, the first of which was this morning. By the way, it’s 4:00 here. That course is taught by the Dean of Penn State’s business school, which is awesome because it’s only a 22 person class. He seems really cool, and uses a lot of real life scenarios and hands on cases that allow us to interact in a more conversational style than a lecture. A 3 hour formal lecture would put me to sleep, regardless of who is teaching, so I’m glad it worked out this way.

Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got for now, thanks for reading. And if anyone needs and kind of reminder or alarm at 1:30 your time, I’ll gladly put the birds on speaker. Ciao!

And remember to check out my pics on Facebook, because they load a whole lot easier on there! 

 


Location: Florence, Italy

Who needs an alarm clock?

When the birds are as psychotic as the ones living above my balcony, they are much more trustworthy of an alarm clock than any 1992 Nokia cell phone I can buy for 40 euro. And if that doesn’t work, apparently on Sundays you can be woken up to the tune of “Here Comes the Bride” playing during a wedding taking place in the garden below our balcony. But hey, I wake up to the same cell phone noise every day at Penn State, and this way is already a great improvement.

Last week, I moved into my humble abode of the next 6 weeks of my life. It is so much cooler than I’d imagined. There are 5 of us living here, and we have a sweeeeet apartment. If the balcony overlooking one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever witnessed isn’t enough, how about the large bedrooms, the spread of food the school left out for us, and not to mention all of the awesome friends I’ve made in this building. And I’d also like to take the time to give a shout out to how incredible the orange juice is here. When we moved in, they’d left two gallons in the fridge for us, and I think I’ve had like 5-10 glasses a day since. It is some seriously fresh squeezed quality product. Sorry, I had to fit that in here somewhere.

Anyway, my first days here have been nothing short of amazing. The school took all of us up to a town called Fiesole on a hill overlooking Florence about a 20 minute bus ride away. The view from Fiesole overlooking Florence and its surrounding hills was hands down the most incredible view I’d ever seen in my life. It would be an impossible feat to accurately put into words how it felt to stand where we stood and see what we saw in Fiesole on Friday. If this Internet connection allows me to, I think I’ve posted a picture of me in Fiesole with Florence in the backdrop.

Sorry if the picture at the bottom is enormous, I didn’t know how to reformat the size.

Anyway, I had a great weekend. Caught the end of the Flyers game at a bar on Saturday, which was a magnificent personal victory for me. So pumped that they are in the Cup Finals. But Florence is really cool at night. The bars are fun although the drinks are relatively expensive, but it’s always a great time going out in a group of friends.

I have been to the first class of both of my classes so far this week. Monday I had my “villa and the garden” class which is going to be awesome. Every class for the rest of the semester takes place on site at some country villa or garden. Imagine going on a field trip every class, and that’s what I have to look forward to. Today, I had my first Management class taught by the Dean of Penn State’s business school. It was interesting, and he seems like a really interesting professor. He uses a lot of fun stories and real life scenarios to illustrate the application of the material, and keeps the whole class involved with a conversational style. So far, it seems like I’ve got a terrific 6 weeks ahead of me, from an academic, social, emotional, and almost any other perspective you can name.

And if anyone needs any sort of reminder or alarm at 1 a.m. your time, 7 a.m. mine, I’ll put the birds on speaker. Ciao!  
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Location: Florence, Italy

Ciao, Florence!

Here I am, in a hotel in the center of a city full of life, history, and beauty. It is strange to finally personally encounter something that I’ve imagined for many months now, but Florence is every bit as beautiful as I’d foreseen. I am here a day early, because I was careless enough to book my flight a day before the scheduled arrival, making my first international experience all the more interesting. Because of my early arrival, I wasn’t picked up at the airport, and my apartment is not available until tomorrow. So, after never leaving the state of Pennsylvania without friends or family by my side, today I navigated a foreign language speaking country on my own in order to find my hotel for the night, and I made myself proud.

But first, I had to take an airplane from Philly to Frankfurt to Florence, which was an experience in itself. I must say, I was pretty nervous to travel alone, but after getting on my first flight in Philly, I loosened up and was able to relax a bit. The flight was long and I didn’t get to sleep, but the food wasn’t bad and they had a good selection of movies. I really enjoyed my second flight from Frankfurt to Florence, and I recommend that if you take that trip you get a window seat! I got to see several small towns along the way, but the best part was flying over the Alps, where there was still snow all over and it was amazing how they jutted up through the clouds! Upon landing in Florence, it was extremely easy to get my bags and go, and then the fun began. I grabbed a taxi with an older Italian driver who was very helpful. I was in total shock by the way people drive here though: I was anticipating an accident at literally every turn. After the roller coaster to my hotel, I became even more confused. You see, in America, all hotels front desks are located on the first floor. My hotel wanted to mess with me, so the first 3 floors of the building is comprised of a stairwell and a few signless wooden doors. I’m pretty sure the man at the front desk saw a dude with luggage being confused on camera though so he came down and told me that the hotel was on the 4th floor. This was about 5 minutes after I paid a man outside 5 euro for an umbrella in hopes that he would help me find the hotel, but I’m pretty sure the only english he knew was “yes”.

However, once I found my hotel, I was in the clear. I got to walk around the Piazza della Repubblica and its surrounding areas, all of which are beautiful. A few hours ago, I treated myself to an incredible dinner. I had a few glasses or red wine, AWESOME lasagna (like seriously awesome), roast beef and potatoes, a salad, and some bread. Afterwards, I came back up to my hotel, and here I am. It was certainly an exciting first day, but I am excited for tomorrow. I have an appointment at my hotel at 10:30 and then after that I’m going to do some more exploring.

Thanks for reading and wish me luck! 


Location: Piazza della Repubblica, Florence, Italy

Dan’s Introductory Blog!

Hey everyone,

My name is Dan O’Connor. I’m a sophomore studying Accounting here at Penn State. This summer (starting less than one month from now), I’ll be studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Between now and then, the one thing I am dreading the most is packing.. as exciting as it will be to know that I’m drawing nearer to going abroad, I can guarantee you that I will be frantically scouring my bedroom for last minute items about 6 hours before my flight. At the moment, however, I am participating in an orientation telling me and my fellow students how exactly to work this GeoBlog program. It seems like a great way to get my thoughts down, and reflect so that I don’t let my experiences pass me by while I’m abroad. What I really hope to take from this project is the ability to form a lasting documentation of my thoughts, experiences, and feelings while I’m abroad. I hope to someday, years down the road, be able to look back at my blog and relive some of my experiences. Also, keeping my family at home updated via blog is MUCH less expensive than making outgoing calls on a rented cell phone ( I guess that’s the accountant in me). Anyhow, stay posted, and I’m sure I’ll have a lot more exciting stuff to fill this space with in about a month’s time! Until then, enjoy the rest of your semester and the terrific weather!
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Location: State College, PA