San....Refried Beans.....San Ruffillo?

Ciao Bella! This last weekend marked the first of our many out of country trips of the semester. On Thursday February 24, Mackenzie and I set off on our Italian adventure. In typical Rachel and Mackenzie style, we were quite frantic getting everything together the day of our departure; but we actually arrived at the airport over 3 hours early (you can never be too careful with Ryanair). We flew from Sevilla to Pisa and then took a train to the Florence airport. We made friends along the way and decided to make an awkward video with people we just met. We actually made over 30 videos the whole time that we were in Italy...video highlights to come. 

We arrived in one piece and Katherine and Alli met us at the train station and we went to Dante´s for dinner. I ordered my favorite dish of the whole trip...a bowtie pasta with tomatoe sauce, pesto, and chili powder...yum. Mackenzie and I were instantly overwhelmed by the difference in Italian food from what we are used to. Food is such an art in Florence, and every meal was a different experience. Katherine and Alli have their own (adorable) apartment and cook all their own meals so we got to go to the market with Alli to pick out the ingredients for dinner. She made a WONDERFUL risoto with stuffed potatoes as an apetizer. Such the little homemaker.

Little Alli the Cook picking out groceries for dinner.

The Market where Katherine and Alli shop. So Italian.

We could have spent all day here. 

Some of the best dried fruit I have ever eaten. 

 We spent the first two days eating, walking around, shopping, and eating some more. We were blessed with such beautiful weather. Good thing we brought our running clothes....right Mackenzie?? We staying with some of our family friends, the Runns, for two nights while we were there. They live in a small town called Fiesole that is 4 miles outside of Florence. One morning, we woke up early and went on a hike around the town. That was probably one of my favorite things we did. Fiesole felt so authentically Italian. 

Katherine likes to sip on cough medicine. (Poor Kitty was sick most of the weekend) 

Bestiezzz in front of the Duomo

Ponte Veccio 

It wouldn't be Italy without a few solo shots. 

The third day in Florence, the weather was less than desirable and that interfered with our plans to go to Michaelangelo´s Piazza and the Duomo. This was my second time to Florence and I have YET to go to the top of the Duomo...what a joke. That rainy cold day was also such a joke. We tried to be as optimistic as possible, but the circumstances were a bit overwhelming. That night we left Florence and hopped (more like frantically raced to get on) our train to Bologna. We were going to stay with some of our other family friends, who are also on staff with Crusade, for two nights. We ended up missing our stop (San Ruffillo...I will never forget the name now) to get off by their house. We were stranded with no phone, no contact numbers, no address...nothing. I may or may not have had a hysterical laughing/crying break down on the train while sitting next to two Italian men. We asked a random lady at the train station to use her phone and we finally got in touch with the people picking us up and we arrived safely at their house after one of the longest, wettest days of my life. We were greeted by great conversation, warm hugs, homemade tortilla soup with sliced avacados, and chips and salsa. The Marcos´ said they knew they were having a Culwell in the house so they had to make Mexican food. They know the way to my heart. It was the best Mexican food I have ever had....Oh Chipotle, how I miss you.

Jesse and Tricia Marcos, our wonderful hosts! 

The next day was also miserably cold, but we were better equiped with umbrellas and a good night´s sleep. We walked around, ate a great lunch, did some shopping and had another delicious dinner at the Marcos´ house that night. It was so great to be with them and catch up; they remind me of my parents so much and that made me a tad homesick.


We lit candles in one of the churches we visited. 

We had a long day of travel back to Sevilla the next day, which included a 5 hour layover in the Pisa airport without seeing the leaning tower. When we got home we went for a nice long run to counteract the food we ate over the weekend and talked about what we thought of our first trip overall. Here is what we decided: We both absolutely loved Italy. It was so great being with Katherine and Alli (and Jordan!) and getting to see their world and spend good time with them. I had missed them both so much and the reunion was sweet.We were so thankful that we can speak spanish and communicate with people in Spain. There were many times when we just stood there like idiots when we couldn't communicate what we were trying to say with hand motions and broken English. The food, wine, and scenery were absolutely to die for. But we both found ourselves missing Spain, specifically Sevilla, the whole time we were there. I couldn´t help but compare in my head and think, "Oh but in Sevilla we do this...or in Spain we have that..." I realized while I was in Florence and Bologna that I wasn´t missing Austin or Texas; I was missing Sevilla. On those cold and rainy days I was so looking forward to coming back. I have officially begun to think of Sevilla as my pseudo home. Being in Italy just caused my appreciation/love for Spain and my experience abroad to grow exponentially. I have no doubt in my mind that God brought me to Sevilla for a reason and I am living with the family I am living with, have the friends I have, am taking the classes I am taking, and am learning the language I am learning for reason. God has a specific plan for me this semester and I can already list the ways He has grown me and provided for me. I know that I am in Sevilla during the spring of 2011 for a reason, and I wouldn´t trade it for anything.