Hello Everybody,

As many of you who frequent this site…well…frequently may have noticed, I haven’t written a thing for nearly three weeks. There are reasons for this: one being that I wanted to experience home again before truly reflecting on Europe. However, the main reason is that I was unable to will myself to finish this experiment of mine. You see, the past four months or so of my life have been the most intriguing I have ever experienced. Thus, writing this final post is me finally acknowledging that it’s over.

I will honestly never forget the things that I experienced in Italy and Europe; truly the most fascinating area on this planet that I have ever been to. I found myself as an habitual learner. Every where that I went, I felt like a child discovering something for the first time. Whether it be learning a new word in Italian to help me in a situation or simply realizing that the train I was one was the wrong one, I was a student 24/7. Everything was so new to me. The way Europeans eat, drink, travel, speak, shop, walk, etc. was completely alien to me.

Being back in America has been strange. I’ve found myself becoming bored with many things that used to give me joy. The food here has been lackluster for the most part and our culture seems so fake compared to the Italians. Of course, I understand that I am probably just going through some stage and that these sentiments will subside, however, I still am a bit underwhelmed by my country.

Do I have any regrets? Of course I do. I wish I had seen more of Europe than I did. There were a few weekends in October that I chose to stay at the Villa and just hang out or go to Florence when other people were traveling the continent. I guess this let me become more accustomed to Sesto and Florence but I still wish I had been a couple more countries. Regardless, I am still very happy with how much of Sesto I got to see and, even better, how much of Florence I saw.

I would write more (I owe it to you guys for reading this for the past months), but I am leaving to go back to Duke tomorrow and I’ve found that my mind is not as clear at this moment as I had originally thought it would be. Maybe this is a good thing that I will leave my Europe journal slightly open-ended. Why, you ask? Because I will always look back at my time abroad as the most unfinished time of my life.

I can only hope that I will return to Florence really soon. I’ve been looking at my pictures from my trip and many of them evoke a lot of emotion in me. Many of them remind me of all the great places that I saw and all of the people that I met. I know I will never have an experience like this again. However, at least I’ve still got the memories.

So where do I go from here? Well, as stated earlier, I head back to Duke tomorrow to continue my life. 2008 holds a lot of promise for me. Hopefully the three things that I set as my New Year’s resolutions will come true. How will you be able to know how this year turns out for me? That’s right. I will be setting up a new site very soon which will be appropriately titled “Greg Does Life”. I will put a link in here whenever I get around to setting up the website.

So there you have it. Greg Does Europe is officially done. All I can say is that I greatly appreciate everybody who read this. You have no idea how much it meant to me when checked the site and saw how many people visited each day (besides my mom). Take care, everybody. Your eyes scanning back and forth on this website made me feel connected to all of you, even though I was 6,000 miles away.

Peace,

Greg

P.S. – Some of you noticed that I put “the meaning of life is located somewhere in this site” at the top of each page. This was not a joke. Tell me what you think my definition of the meaning of life is by emailing me at gadrouny@gmail.com and I’ll write you back if you nailed it (what a reward!).

Hey everybody,

I’m on 2 hours of sleep because we were up pretty late last night just hanging out with everybody for the last time. Breakfast is in 10 minutes and a ton of people are bidding their final goodbyes (including Yours Truly). That should definitely be the scene for many tears from the girls. I get on a plane to Milan at 12 and then another one to London after that.

I am so sad to leave. This place means the world to me.

I will write back later. Take care.

-Greg

Here are a few pictures just to tide you over…

The Villa on a foggy, December morning. Felt like The City.

One last picture in the courtyard.

Nice shot of Sesto during the day.

Hey Everyone,

So today I wrapped up my finals. Yesterday was my Poli Sci final and I think I did pretty well on it (barring any grievances from my professor). Today was my Art History final and, even though my beloved Jodie Mariotti threw us a big curveball, I think I was still able to get some good wood on it and do pretty well on the test. Honestly, though, I’m not too concerned about how I did. I should just let things come as they go.

When I was done with my Art History final, I gave my professor a big hug and, not gonna lie, my eyes were pretty wet. This isn’t the mushy-gushy final post, so I won’t go too much into detail, but I was pretty sad when I realized that I was officially done here.

After the test and lunch, I walked around Sesto Fiorentino for a bit and took some day pictures. Again, I got pretty sad when I realized this would be one of the last times I’d get to do this. I really love this place and I am going to be so sad when I leave.

Now, I just finished up about 80% of my packing. All of my drawers are empty and my clothes are packed away. I’m pretty happy because I have a ton of extra room in my suitcase, so I don’t think I’ll get any overweight charges (it sucks getting overweight charges when you yourself are overweight—I guess God loves irony).

Tonight the men of the Villa Corsi-Salviati are going to the one, the only, Trattoria Antico Frontoio to see our boy Stefano.  He’s promised us spicy pasta and Bistecca Fiorentina (Florentine Steak). Also, he told us to bring “clear heads for the grappa”. Good man, that Stefano. After dinner we’ll be heading to Florence for one last hurrah at night. Tomorrow, I plan to head into Florence again just to see that beautiful town once more during the day (and with a level head…sorry Mom).

Saturday is the day I leave. I’m getting up pretty early to head to the Florence Airport where I’ll fly to Milan and then London. Arsenal is playing the b@stards from Chelsea about an hour after I get in, so hopefully I can get to my hotel on time to watch the match.

I’ll poke in and say “hi” again on Saturday night.  Take care, everybody. I can’t wait to see you all soon.

Peace,

Greg

Here ya go (remember to click on horizontal pics for a better view):

Palazzo Vecchio towers over Florence.

The hall of the Cinquecento. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

Really sweet view of the Bell Tower and the Duomo from Palazzo Vecchio (that’s a lot of buildings in one sentence).

Sesto Fiorentino at dusk. I’m really gonna miss this quiet town.

One of the Villa towers taken from the roof.

Can you blame me when I say I’m going to miss Italy?

Whatsup Everybody,

So I’ve only got six more nights here in Sesto/Florence and I’m started to get pretty bummed that I’ve got to leave. Regardless, I did a couple cool things last week that are worth sharing.

Thursday was a pretty eventful day for me. In the morning, my art history class had its last site visit at Palazzo Vecchio. There, we toured the hall of the Cinquecento which was the equivalent of Congress back in the day. We saw some pretty sweet art, duh, and toured a really famous building.

After the Palazzo, Robby, Matt and I went to this tie store. There I bought two really nice ties for myself that were 20 Euros (30 bucks) each. Honestly, I didn’t need to get them but I realized that I’ve got almost nothing from Florence and I wanted to bring some nice things back for myself.

Later that day, when I was back at the Villa, Helen (the lady in charge of the Villa) took me on the roof. It was at around 4:15 so the sun was just going down. It was really cool because I could see a decent amount into the Tuscan valley that Florence is situated in. When I was up there, I got really sad because I knew this was one of the last sunsets I’ll see here.

Last night, Jaffe, Matt and I went into Florence to see Goodman. We got dinner at this really good restaurant called Acqua al 2 (due). It was pretty delicious but not as amazing as Jaffe had made it out to be. After that, we hung out at Goodman’s apartment and made fun of his lame roommates.

Besides that, things have been pretty stale. I’ve been doing so much freaking work and it’s really ruining my last weeks here. It’s okay, though. I’m done with my papers and all I have left is a Poli Sci final on Wednesday and Art History on Thursday. After that, I leave on Saturday and spend one night in London. Then, I officially leave Europe next Sunday.

God I’m going to miss this place.

Peace,

Greg

Yo,

So this was a pretty uneventful weekend. Two fraternity brothers of mine (Tom and Jeremy) were in town and came to visit on Friday night. Jaffe, Carlos, Goodman and I took them to Trattoria Antico Frontoio for some delicious food. Unfortunately, Stefano wasn’t there to recommend anything awesome so we actually had to use the menu. After dinner, we caught a bus into Florence and hit the town. We went to Goodman’s apartment, hung out there for a while, and then went to a bar by the Duomo. It wasn’t that eventful except for two things. First, Goodman and I decided to do some WWF in front of San Lorenzo Church. I beat him much to the delight of the random Italian dudes watching and cheering. Second, I saw Joey for the last time. It was his last night in Florence and I could tell he was pretty bummed he was leaving. Anyway, I came back late whereas Jaffe was staying at Goodman’s apartment (I love my own bed).

Yesterday, I literally sat on the computer all day finishing up a paper on St. Francis of Assisi. I’ve been reading a lot of old manuscripts that are written in very biblical styles, so that’s fun. The one cool thing is that I find myself using this style, unintentionally, in my paper.

Today was a day I’ve been looking forward to for a while. Fiorentina was playing Internazionale (Inter Milan) in a pretty huge match. Unfortunately for La Viola, they lost 2-0 in a game where they should’ve scored a couple. Regardless, it was sick going back to the stadium, which was packed to the brim this time, and really hear the Fiorentina faithful at their finest (see the video at the end). Jaffe and I were sad they didn’t score, though, because the stadium would’ve blown up.

Now I’m done with the fun stuff and I have so much more work to do. I have a paper due tomorrow and a presentation. Then, I have another paper due Wednesday. Finally, I have my Art History paper due next Monday. Of course, that leads me right into finals. I’ve been doing so much more work here than I expected. Apparently, and unbeknownst to us Dukies, this program has become an Honors program at Michigan and Wisconsin but not one for us. Sweet is all I have to say. I didn’t come to Florence to work!!!

Take care everybody, I can’t wait to see you all in two weeks.

Peace,

Greg

Here’s the video:

Yo,

Guido came to Sesto tonight (finally) and we had some delicious dinner at the world (by world I mean Sesto) famous “Trattoria Antico Frontoi”. My boy Stefano (check “people”) works there and prepared another delicious dinner for us. It started with my favorite Spaghetti alla Carbonara and then some Sausage and Beans (unreal in terms of deliciousness). Stuffed, Joey and I then proceeded to walk around Sesto and took some cool pics.

Tonight was probably the last time I’ll see him until I get back to the Bay Area. It’s been good having my boy from home out here with me in Florence.
Enjoy the pictures,

Greg

The front my villa, Villa Corsi-Salviati, at night time.

Via Antonio Gramsci (this is sort of the main street in Sesto)

In front of some businesses in Sesto.

This is from Guido’s camera. Actin’ tough to scare off some of these Italian panzies that gave us some dirty looks on the street.

Also off Guido’s camera. You won’t be seein’ this for a while.

Yo, remember that you have to click on all horizontal pictures because the right portion of them gets cut off on this website.

The legendary Joseph Guido Garibaldi enters the Oil Shoppe.

Sick view of Palazzo Vecchio from a small window in the Duomo during the brutal hike to the top.

Your boy in front of the Bell Tower after scaling Brunelleschi’s masterpiece.

Epic men, epic city, epic picture.

Bell Tower at about 4:50.

Bell Tower at about 5:05. It got dark pretty damn fast.

Yo yo yo!

Alright, so I spent the night with Joey in Florence and it was pretty awesome. My buddy Eric from Duke was in town (he’s studying in London) and I got to meet up with him and my freshman year roommate, James, as well. All of us went out on the town and had a blast. It was cool because a lot of fellow American students were out and we were all giving each other Thanksgiving pats on the back. It’s nice how on one of our biggest national holidays, we all come together regardless of where in the world we are (I know, that was corny). While I was out, I ran into a lot of people I know from Duke and even a girl from my old high school. It was great because I was in a bar and suddenly I hear a girl scream “Greg Adrouny, is that you?” Needless to say, it was awesome catching up with someone from my past. Oh, how small this world is!

Anyway, Guido and I finally got ourselves up today at around 12 and then we hit Florence. We first went by this huge, indoor meat market that is definitely locals only.  I must admit, I was tempted to by a Sheep’s liver, but then I realized that I would probably throw it up once it hit my tongue. After the market, our stomachs were grumbling pretty bad. Thus, we went to this sandwich place called “The Oil Shoppe” that is a cult location amongst American students. I got this ridiculous meatball sandwich that was so good I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience after every bite.

After Oil Shoppe, the Guido had to peace out for an hour to go to class (nerd). So I walked around the famous San Lorenzo market and got some gifts for my friends and family. It was cool because I refused to speak English to the vendors who, after seeing I was obviously an American, wanted to speak English to me. Three different vendors complimented me on my Italian. I must say, I’ve gotten pretty good at speaking Italian since being here. That alone has been such a great by-product of my abroad experience.

Finally, Guido was done with class and we headed for the Duomo. I’ve been here three months and today was the first day I went in that freaking cathedral! It was pretty vanilla inside; I thought it would be more extravagant inside considering how immense the Duomo is. After being inside, we took the steps to the top; all 462 of them! It was a hike, but, much like Cinque Terre, the struggle was oh-so definitely worth it because of the view at the end. It was awesome looking over Florence at dusk.

While looking over my home for the past 3 months, I couldn’t help but get sad knowing that I will be gone in 3 weeks. I love it here so much. I love the Italians and their way of life and I have loved trying to assimilate with them since being here. There is so much more that I could say but I will save the mushy gushy sentimental post for when I get home. Regardless, I love Italy.

When we were done with Il Duomo, Guido and I said our goodbyes and I headed back to Sesto for dinner at the villa. This was such a great time. I must admit, things have gotten pretty stuffy in the villa and it was wonderful to get out and just breath fresh air with my old friends. I’ve truly come to realize that they, along with family (obviously), are the most important people you have.

The last time I saw my Grandpa before he died, I remember him asking me if I had a lot of good friends. I basically told him “yes” (how arrogant of me) and he simply replied: “then you are a very rich man”. Confused, I asked him how a person could be rich if they had no money. In a very grandfatherly way, he told me that, in due time, I would understand what he meant.

It’s days like this that make me feel like the richest man on Earth.

Take care, everybody.

Peace,

Greg