Pescara! Yasemin's house 4/24

After much planning, Kate, Yasemin and I decided to go to Yasemin's house in the region Abruzzo.  We took a train to Pescara, which is a town on the Adriatic coast.  The train ride was supposed to take 4 hours and it ended up taking 5 1/2.  We were the only ones in the train car, so we had some fun, took a nap, and did some homework.  Once in Pescara, we went and picked up our rental car and then got some groceries for the weekend.  We noticed that the car's radio didn't work ( the car was super cheap so we weren't complaining) so we bought a little speaker system that we could hook the ipod into.  After all, you can't have a road trip without music!

Her house is only 20 min outside the city so we arrived quickly and unpacked.  Her house is beautiful and it is in the mountains.  All around were wine vineyards and olive tree orchards.  Her cousins have houses around her and other than that, there are not many houses around.  We got a tour of her beautiful house and then headed to her favorite restaurant for dinner.  

The restaurant is even more in the mountains and the roads are really windy.  Abruzzo is the region where the earthquake happened, so a lot of the roads are partially blocked off because there were landslides and debris is on the road.  We had really good homemade pasta and then had arostocini which is lamb on a stick.  Everything was really good. 

The next morning we made our rounds to Yaz's family and of course we had to eat at every place.  At one of her cousin's house, we just happened to walk in as they were having lunch, so we ate with them and then told us about our plan to climb up the mountain.  They told us our little rental car wouldn't make it, so they drove us.  We had planned to park the car and hike, but they were with us so we settled on driving as far up as we could.  The couple was so funny.  They were about in their late 60s or early 70s and they were making fun of each other the whole time.  They played some good country italian music on the way up and it reminded me of my grandpas polka music.  We went to two different mountain tops and walked around for a while.  It was really great to breath some fresh air.  I didn't think the air in Rome was bad, but after being in such fresh air, I realized how different it really is.  

After eating all day, we went back to her house to get ready to go to a big fish dinner in Pescara with another cousin!  Since Pescara is right on the water, the fish was amazing.  Her cousins Walter and Maurizio came with us.  After a great dinner, we went more into the city to have a drink before heading back to the house.

Sunday morning we took one last walk around to the family, had 3 espressos, and then headed back to Rome.  We had a bunch of extra food and Yaz had some old clothes that we were going to try and donate to the earthquake victims.  L'Aquila isn't to far from Pescara, so we made the trip.  As we were getting closer, we saw blue tents everywhere.  They were the camps that the victims were staying at.  We kept driving further to try and go into the city.  L'Aquila is a city that is on top of a hill, so there is only one main road from the direction we were coming.  The road was blocked for residents only, but we did see many buildings half fallen.  We didn't see a lot of things fallen so I think the heart of the city is what was hit the worst.  The firemen were lining the streets, but no one was doing anything.  It was kinda strange.  They told us that we had to bring the donations to the camps.  When we got to the camps we asked where to drop the goods off at, and they said they were not able to take them.  We were a little confused but the guards said that it was their policy.  It somewhat makes sense that they only accept donations from organizations and Italy is not a 3rd world country so they have plenty of supplies, but we were still a little upset.  

We then continued on our final road trip through Italy, and arrived safely in Rome.   I only have 2 more weeks here and I am getting pretty sad.  It has been the best trip and I am not ready to get back to the hustle and bustle of the US.

Venice/ Week in Rome with Sarah and Jaimie 4/18

After mass on Sunday, Sarah, Jaimie, and I headed to Venice.  This was my first time being there as well so I was very excited.  We started on our road trip again and saw some beautiful landscape.  After driving for awhile, we stopped in Ferraro, which is a town in Emilia-Romagna, for lunch.  Because it was Easter, not much was open so we had a couple mini-pizzas for lunch.  

We got into Venice around 6pm but then we needed to find a parking garage.  Luckily, our hotel recommended one.  As we were pulling in, I was on the phone with one of my friends that we were supposed to meet up with.  The garage worker, was giving Sarah directions as to where to park, and she got all mad at me because she couldn't understand what he was saying and I was on the phone.  I quickly hung up the phone, only to realize that the man was speaking to her in English!!  Jaimie and I were laughing for a good while because Sarah couldn't understand English. 

We bought a pass for 24hrs to ride the water taxis and made our way to our hotel.  We met up with my friend Christine, who was staying with us as well.  After getting settled in, we went out for dinner and a walk around.  We had a nice pizza dinner and to our surprise, Venice was pretty empty so we took a nice walk around.  I can't believe how beautiful Venice is.  Having water all around is amazing and everything seems so calm and relaxing.  We walked around for quite a while and then decided to get on a water taxi to take us back to our place.  There are not many cars on Venice because it is very hard to get around with one there.  There are so many islands around and everything is connected by little foot-bridges.  It took us a little longer to get back than we hoped, but at least we were on the water.  The rocking of the boat put me to sleep like a baby, and Jaimie took some embarrassing pictures of me...What a nice sister.  

The next morning we got up early and walked around.  Besides walking around and riding the taxies, there is not much else to do, but it was great for Sarah and Jaimie to see that slow-paced lifestyle.  We visited St. Mark's church, and Sarah and I climbed the bell tower where we could see all around the cities.  It was a great experience.  Venice is known for its glass,( which I didn't know) so we went shopping for some.  We visited the island of Murano, where most of the glass is made.  We weren't able to see any of the glass making, but the showrooms were very cool.  We all made a few purchases and then got lunch.  We bought panini by the Grand Canal, and enjoyed ourselves for a little bit.

We only had the one full day in Venice, because I started up school again on Tuesday, but it was fun while it lasted.  We got ready for our 6 hour drive back to Rome.

I had a full week of activities for Sarah and Jaimie.  We returned the car Tuesday morning and then headed to the Colosseum.  I went in with Sarah and Jaimie, gave them a history lesson, and then went to class.  While I was at class they explored the Roman Forum and Palatine hill.  After class we met back up and went to the Capitoline museum.  I had never been before either so it was a great time.  We spent a couple hours looking at many old Roman sculptures and paintings from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.  

Wednesday we got up early and went to St. Angelo's castle.  This used to be used for Popes as a protective castle.  It had a great view of the city and we explored for a while.  Once again they stayed while I went to class.  The castle is round, odd i know, but it was very interesting.  It was very plain and kind of ugly from the outside, and then somewhat intricate on the inside.  There is a restaurant and cafe inside which was very cool.  

Thursday I brought them to the Vatican.  I knew that it was going to be crowded the whole week so we waited until Thursday.  I went to the basilica with them and then I had class once again, so they went to the catacombs and the Vatican Museum while I was in class.  After class we got some pizza and then wet to climb to the top of the Basilica.  The Cupola was over 500 steps to the top.  They make you take a elevator part of the way and then climb the remaining 300.  It was kinda creepy because the staircase is slanted because the dome is right there.  It was very crowded at the top but we got some good pictures.  

Friday was shopping day.  The main goal was to find Jaimie a prom dress....and we did!  Not many people can say they got their dress from Italy, so she did good.  We did a lot of shopping and looking around before going to our last dinner.  I took them to our favorite club the night that they were leaving.  We had a great time and decided to stay up until they had to leave my house at 4am.  They left and got safely to the airport.

I was so glad to have my sisters visit.  I was so proud and excited to show them "my" city and have them experience part of Italy with me.  I leave in 3 weeks and I am excited to see everyone from home.

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Easter in Florence!! 4/10

Friday morning after getting lost and fighting with the car guy about our GPS system, we heading off for Pisa.  Within 20 min of leaving, Jaimie was asleep in the back seat!  Sarah and I made a couple good CDs before we left so we were having a blast in the car.  The drive to Pisa was about 4 1/2 hours because we decided to take the coast.  I love driving in Italy, and especially in Tuscany.  There are just so many great things to see and besides, who can resist a road trip?  With about and hour left to go, we stopped along the beach in a little town called San Vincenzo for lunch.  Since their tourists haven't come yet, many things were closed down.  We found a really great place that was literally right on the beach, but it was closed at lunch time.  We walked around for a little while and found a cute place were we had three great pastas and cappuccinos.  After we got back into the car and headed to Pisa.  Amanda was meeting us there from Florence with her roommate Erin since they had never been there before either.  

I have to admit, I thought the tower would be bigger.  It was pretty amazing to see though.  The history behind it is that it was originally supposed to be the bell tower for Pisa's Cathedral.  They started building it and when they got to the third level, it started to sink on one side.  They tried to fix it but it just didn't work so their theory was to make the floor on the sinking side thicker so that it would be level.  This only made it worse since the extra weight made it sink more.  They still continued to build it and we have the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Great story I know,  I should be a historian.  In 2000 they restored the angle of the lean to where it was 300 years ago because it was continuing to sink.  They say that it is secure now and that it won't sink any further but I guess only time will tell.  

Since the only thing really to do in Pisa was take pictures of holding the tower up, we did that and then went for a drink at a restaurant.  Jaimie discovered her new love.....Orange Fanta.  They make pop different here and the Fanta tastes a lot more like orange juice than like pop.  The entire rest of her trip in Italy she was trying to find Fanta at every store and trying to figure out how she could get some home in her suitcase without it exploding.  

We then headed to Florence to stay with Amanda.  Saturday we got up early and walked around.  It was very crowded so we weren't able to get in to see the David but we saw the replica in the town square.  We did a lot of shopping in the leather markets and scarf stands.  It was a very relaxing day, which was good because it would be our only relaxing day while they were here.  That night we went up to Michelangelo's piazza and watched the sunset except it was cloudy.  We still got to see Florence from up above which was very cool.  

Sunday was Easter so we made a big breakfast and then attempted to go to mass at the Duomo.  Florence had put on an annual fireworks show with white oxen leading the cart of fireworks and they had a ton of bands playing as well.  It was super crowded and a little frustrating because we were too short to see anything (well I was too short).  Mass was supposed to start at 11 but they never opened the main doors and it took us until 11:30 just to move from where we were.  We finally figured out that they were letting people in on the sides and went that way but by the time we got into the Duomo, there were no seats.  We stood for a little while but they were letting people in just to look at the Duomo and it took away from the feeling of being at mass ( and besides, it was all in Italian so I was the only one understanding anything) so we went to get Sarah and Jaimie their first taste of gelato.  Once the gelato touched Jaimie's tongue, she couldn't get enough of it.  (No hard feelings Jaimie, the same happened for me, hence why I need a treadmill for my birthday...cough cough Mom)  We went back to Amanda's place and packed up because we were headed to Venice for the rest of Sunday and Monday!  

I was a little sad leaving because that was my 3rd and last time in Florence (this year anyways).  I loved lots of things about Florence, like how much slower the pace of life was than Rome, and how "Italian" it was.  I'm glad that I was able to show it to Sarah and Jaimie.

Sarah and Jaimie arrive! 4/7

The day after Sam left, Sarah arrived from South Africa!  I have been quite the entertainer lately but I love visitors because then I can show off my city to them.  Since I had class at the time Sarah was getting in, I gave her directions on how to get to my house.  As usual, things didn't quite go as planned with the transportation but she is a smart girl and she figured out how to get to me.  I was so excited to see my big sister!  She had lots of stories from South Africa so my roommates and I made some dinner and listened to a lot of them.  Jaimie didn't get in until Thursday so Sarah slept in the next morning to catch up on sleep and then I showed her around Trastevere, which is where my school is at.  We grabbed a book at found a great cafe to have a cappuccino and snacks at.  That night I took her to Campo dei Fiori, which is a big square that is lined with bars and restaurants.  She was a little bit in culture shock there because in South Africa there are many more rules about when you can go out and who you must go out with, for safety reasons.  For the first time in Italy, I got food poisoning that night.  Sarah was used to that kind of thing in South Africa and I was really upset because it is not like that here and she got a bad first impression of Italian food.  

The next morning we went to pick up Jaimie (our little sis) from the airport.  We got there smoothly and waited around for her for a while.  Sarah had described to her the airport and told here where to meet us, only there was one problem, Sarah didn't actually exit the airport before getting on the train and she told Jaimie to meet us at a place we weren't allowed to go.  Good thing Jaimie doesn't listen very well because she walked right out.  My mom was really worried about Jaimie coming to visit.  The night Jaimie took off my mom sent me a message saying " You call me the SECOND you see her face.  This is a big step for her....and me too."  So naturally I had to make fun of my mother so I called when we got Jaimie, which was 4am Michigan time, and asked her if Jaimie was getting in today because we had been waiting for a couple hours and we hadn't seen her.  (If you know my mother you will be laughing right about now.)  She started getting really worried saying that Jaimie should have been in by now, and trying to remember the flight number.  I couldn't let her get too upset so I told her that I was just joking and that we had Jaimie safe and sound.  She said some very kind words to me and then I told her we would call when it was later in Michigan.  

I had class right after we got Jaimerz and she was exhausted so Sarah and Jaimie took a nap while I went to class and then met me at my school afterwards.  Friday, the next day, we were leaving for a little weekend adventure so I wanted to get some site seeing in before we left.  I took them right away to see the Pantheon.  They were both amazed at how huge it was and I actually got to go inside for the first time.  Tourist season had started and Sunday was Easter so Rome was getting a little packed.  I soon found myself frustrated with tourists and then brought myself back to reality because I was basically a long-stay tourist myself.  We walked to Piazza Navona from there and saw all of the merchants with their paintings, toys and such.  We had all afternoon so we did a lot of walking on side streets to avoid the people, and see some new things.  We made our way to the Trevi Fountain and then the Spanish Steps.  We sat on the steps for a while and relaxed.  Afterwards I wanted to take them to a typical Italian dinner so we went back to Piazza Navona for a great meal.  Surprisingly neither of them wanted gelato and it was still Lent(so I was out of luck), so we headed back to my apartment to get some sleep because the next morning we were picking up our car and heading to Pisa!

Ps..

Mom- Don't get too mad at this...we thought all your instructions for Jaimie, and all the food you sent her with was great.  Thanks a ton for the Easter baskets!  I love my new shirt.

Dad- I'm sure you were laughing just as hard as we were when mom was doing all of this.

Uncle Ed- I hope you finally figured out how to work this.  My mom told me you were having difficulties.  Love you all and I hope you are doing well.

Kathy- Thanks again for everything you have done for me while I'm away.  Hopefully reading this gives you a little break from the chaos.  

Sam comes to visit/Palm Sunday at the Vatican/EARTHQUAKES!! 4/3

The weekend after spring break, Sam came to visit with his friend Danny from Prague.  They came on Friday morning and I knew there was a lot to show them, so we started right away on the site seeing.  I brought them to the Vatican first and showed them the Basilica.  Since Easter was the next weekend, it was starting to get busy.  After seeing the Basilica and the Catacombs, we went to the Vatican Museum.  I had never been either, so I was excited to see the Sistine Chapel.  The Museum is HUGE.  I couldn't believe how much stuff was in there.  They have a really cool Egyptian exhibit and many things from ancient Rome.  The ceilings were all decorated lavishly and the walls were full of paintings and frescos.  They put the Sistine Chapel at the end so that you have to go through the whole thing before seeing it.  I must admit, I thought it was going to look a lot different.  I thought it was a brightly lit long hallway but it is a dark rectangular room.  It was still very amazing to see though.  Michelangelo must have had a stiff neck for years after painting it!  

I kept the boys moving and we made our way over to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain.  We walked over to the Pantheon but mass was going on so we couldn't see the inside.  After a full day of sites, we headed back to rest up for the next day.  

Saturday morning I showed them the Colosseum and Palatine hill.  We spent quite a few hours in there because there is so much to see.  I brought them to see my school and to my favorite pizza place for lunch.  After lunch, we were all pretty tired so we headed back to take a nap.  I decided to cook for the boys after they were done napping and I think we had enough food to feed 10 so they were stuffed. 

Sunday was the big day.  My roommate Lindsay has connections at the Vatican so she got us tickets to go to Palm Sunday at the Vatican and Pope Bennedetto was saying mass!  Sam and I went and bought some Rosaries so that we could have them blessed and we got some olive branches because they use those instead of palms here.  The mass was 2 hours long but we loved it because it was so beautiful out and we were at the Vatican!  The entire mass was in Italian so poor Sam didn't have a clue what was going on.  I also was lost at times because they were using many words that weren't in my vocabulary.  

After mass we rushed back to the apartment and got ready to go to the Roma soccer game!  I had never been to a game before and I knew  I wouldn't feel immersed in the culture enough if I didn't attend at least one game.  We of course were extremely late for the game, but it turns out that we had the wrong time for the game and we were right on time.  The game was extremely fun and entertaining.  We came back and made a great dinner.  Sam and Danny had to leave my house around 4:30 am so they went to bed early.  I stayed up until about 2:30am studying for an exam and then went to bed.  At 3:30am the earthquake happened.  It woke us up from our sleep and lasted around 30 seconds.  We weren't sure what was going on because none of us had been in an earthquake before.  Most people in my apartment building were running out on the streets, but we weren't sure what to do so we just went to bed because we had to be up in a half hour for Sam to leave.  

The next few days were one earthquake after another.  The next few were a little scarier because I actually knew what was happening.  Sarah got here on Tuesday and she has felt two so far.  I feel so terrible for all those people in L'Aquila who have lost their homes and their lives.  Our school collected a ton of canned goods and blankets for the homeless there.  We should all keep them in our prayers.

Pescara/Perugia 3/27

Pescara is right on the Adriatic coast and it was much warmer there.  We planned on laying on the beach, but it wasn’t quite that warm so we walked up and down the beach.  We couldn’t seem to find any of the churches that were the main attractions, but we thought that the beaches would do lol.  My roommate Yasemin has a house near Pescara and we are going there in a couple weeks so we decided to head to our next, and last destination, Perugia.  We had a beautiful drive up the coast and the drive was very quick. The town of Perugia, is right at the top of a hill, and the whole town has outdoor escalators connecting the walking paths.  Something I didn’t know about Perugia is that its Cathedral has the Virgin Mary’s wedding ring housed in a safe.  The safe has 15 locks and is only opened twice a year.  July 30^th and the second week in December.  Perugians stole the ring from a nearby town and now they have it guarded heavily.  July 30^th is the date that the ring was stolen and December is the believed wedding date of Mary and Joseph.  Another thing is that the town is a “College Town”.  There are over 30,000 students there, but the town is really small compared to Rome.  I really liked Perugia because it is a small town and their main streets aren’t allowed to be driven on by cars so everyone walks around in the evening.  It was a very peaceful evening and we had our own “passeggiatta” or evening walk, around the town.  We stopped off at a couple points to take pictures because the view from the edge of town is amazing.  We saw the end of the sunset and were able to see the city lights below.  Our hotel offered a special with a local restaurant where we could get wine, pasta, meat, vegetables, and bread, all for 15 euro so we took up the offer and had a great “last” meal.  Somehow we scheduled the return of the car to be at 10am on Saturday morning, so we had to get up at 6am in order to get it back to Florence in time!  This was the first time that we didn’t have our cappuccino in the morning and I was a little worried about how it was going to work out.  It turns out we aren’t as addicted as we thought and we waited until we returned the car to have our necessary coffee.  I am spending tonight in Florence with Amanda and I will head back to Rome on Sunday. 

 

Needless to say, we didn’t have your typical college “spring break”, but I would not trade it for the world.  We managed to see more of Italy than most Italians have seen.  I wish I could have spent more time in each city, but we hit the main attractions in each city.  I loved having a car and being able to go where we wanted, when we wanted, so much, that I rented a car for when Jaimie and Sarah come and we are going to explore Tuscany over Easter weekend.

Sorrento/Campochiaro/Boiano/San Salvo 3/26

Today was the most “filling” day we have had yet.  We slept in a little while today for our first time, which is good because we have been doing a lot of traveling and not getting much sleep.  We walked around Sorrento for an hour or so and had a coffee.  The coastline here is beautiful but it is all up on a cliff so we didn’t get a chance to stick our feet in.  We were anxious to get going so we hopped in the car and headed off for Champochiaro, which is a very small town where my family, the Rano’s, are from.  I had contacted a few of the family members, but they ONLY spoke Italian so I wasn’t sure how the day was going to go.  We arrived at Campochiaro, which is a small, small, town of 600 on the side of a large hill.  We drove up into the town hoping to find someone who knew where I could find the cemetery and anyone who was left in the town who was a Rano.  I found the office of public records and it said it was only open from 10am-12pm.  It was around 2pm so it was closed, but the door was cracked open so I went in.  There was a women inside doing some paperwork in this tiny little room.  I explained to her that my family was from Campochiaro and that I was hoping to look up some old records, but she said that they were closed.  I told her that we were from the US and that we were only there from the afternoon.  She asked what the last name was, and then laughed when I told her because there are too many Rano’s there to look up anything.  She said that because they have no software, it would take a long time to try and compile.  If I have a weekend left before I leave, I think I will try and go look at the records.  We then drove down and asked another women who was getting out of her car, to tell us where the cemetery was at, and she ended up driving in front of us to show us where it was.  We walked around and took pictures of all the Rano gravesites.  Mind you, there were a lot, but it is still a tiny town, so there weren’t too many.  After looking around for a while, we headed to Boiano where my contacts were.  My cousin Melisa had gotten me in contact with people in Italy who were related to us by marriage and also were related to us.  Amanda and I had planned to meet Filomena Pittarelli in one of the towns 3 piazzas.  After she found us, she brought us back to her house and asked if we were hungry.  We didn’t want to be rude so we said we would eat something.  Her husband was having a conversation with me because poor Amanda doesn’t speak Italian.  I don’t know a ton, so I was just asking a lot of questions so that he would do most of the talking.  He had to go to work so Amanda and I were invited into the kitchen as Filomena was finishing cooking.  We sat down at the table and she served us pasta with meatballs, bread, and wine.  We were very surprised by this because we said we were only a little bit hungry.  She had already eaten lunch but she sat with us and I tried to explain to her how we were, but weren’t related and how I knew her family members.  After the pasta, she brought out cottoletto (which is thin slices of steak breaded) with cauliflower and tomatoes!  We looked at each other like, how are we going to eat this!  So we ate the cottoletto and she started making more while we were eating so that she could make panini for us to take with us!  We were sooo full at this point but after that she put a bowl of fruit on the table and told us to eat some.  This whole respect issues was starting to make my stomach uncomfortable.  Amanda and I split at orange and thought we would call it good.  Nope, we had to have an apple each because they are really good at this time of year.  After the fruit, she made us each an espresso, and gave us chocolates to have with it.  I thought that I was going to explode!  During this whole time, Filomena was telling us that we had to come back on Sunday because her children were coming for dinner and they could speak English.  We explained that we were traveling and had to be back on Sunday.  She also said that she was sorry that she couldn’t get any of the Rano’s to come that day since it was during the middle of the day and I called on such short notice.  Her daughter called while we were having “lunch” and asked to talk to us. Rossella spoke broken English so I talked to her for a little while.  She lives in San Salvo, which is a beach town on the Adriatic sea.  That night, Amanda and I had booked a B&B in Pescara, which is a beach town just half-hour north of San Salvo.  Rossella had felt bad that she wasn’t at our lunch, so naturally, she invited us to dinner with her.  Amanda and I looked at each other with disgusted faces because we had just STUFFED ourselves, and Rossella wanted us to have dinner in 2 hours!  Her boyfriend, whom we later figured out was her husband, was in Campochiaro visiting his parents.  He was driving back to San Salvo that evening, so he came over and we followed him home.  When we got to their apartment (which was 200 meters from the ocean!) she showed us around, and then we drove into town to walk along the boardwalk.  They spoke little English and I speak little Italian so the conversations were limited.  They brought us to dinner at a very cute restaurant. Amanda and I decided to split a pizza because we were SOOO full, but Rossella ordered 4 different appetizers for us!  I still hadn’t digested from lunch, but we once again, forced the food down.  We had a great and “filling” day with my family/not family.  They both offered for us to come back and stay with them and I told them that they needed to visit me in the States.  We hadn’t planned on staying all-day in this area, but it was definitely worth it.  At 9pm we took off to Pescara, but called it a night early.  

Pompei, Mt. Vesuvius, Naples 3/25

Once again, thanks to Roseann we decided to take the train into Pompeii and Naples instead of trying to drive.  We took an early train and arrived at Pompeii around 10am.  Amanda had never been to any ancient ruins before so I was excited to talk to her about them.  In one of my classes, we have been learning about the style of the houses and what each room is called.  The pamphlet said that if you were to do Pompeii correctly, it would take 5-6 hours!  We didn’t know what we were looking at half the time, so it only took us around 2.5 hours.  A lot of the exhibits were closed so we weren’t able to see some of the main things.  I’m not sure what year the volcano exploded, but the city was founded in the 7^th century BC.  When Mt. Vesuvius erupted, all the ash came down on the city and because it was so hot it hit the people and preserved them in place.  They have some of the people on display and it’s a little disturbing because they all have their mouths open from when they were screaming from the pain.  The city was covered in ash, and it is the most well-preserved cities of the ancient world.  If the ash had never covered the city, they would have never seen all of the artwork or have the buildings still in place.  They had an amphitheater that held 20,000 people and was used for gladiator battles.  They also had a small theater, large courtyards, and very large houses for the wealthy.  Because we didn’t get a map, we missed two of the main things, the bath houses, and the house with  a lot of preserved people in it.  We were there for a while, but it was a city, so we need a little credit because we covered a lot of ground in 2.5 hours.  Also, on the way out, we managed to get lost somehow and that’s what took up most of our 2.5 hours.  If we wouldn’t have gotten lost though, we wouldn’t have seen so much, so it was a good thing.  After seeing all the bodies and preserved city, we decided to go see what caused all of it to be preserved….Mt. Vesuvius! 

 

We hopped on the train onto the next stop…Ercolano.  This is the town where the volcano is located.  For $10 Euro, there was a bus service that brought us to the top ( or so we thought).  The bus held 7 and we fit 9!  I didn’t have a seatbelt and I was only halfway on the seat and I was right next to the sliding door, that wasn’t shut all the way!  Amanda was trying to hang onto me because the road on the way up was really windy and bumpy.  So with no seatbelt, and nothing to brace myself on, we began our journey to the top of Mt. Vesuvius.  They stopped a couple times along the way so that we could take pictures and after about a half hour, we reached a parking lot.  We got out and then they informed us that we only had a half-hour hike left!  Amanda and I had not dressed for hiking, but we were there so of course we did it.  Once again we stopped many times along the way to “take pictures”  Once we got to the top, the view was BELLISSIMA!  It overlooked the Bay of Naples and we could see both the small town of Sorrento, and the chaotic city of Naples.  It was a little chilly up top with the wind, but the view was so beautiful that we didn’t care.  We looked into the top of the still active volcano, but all that is left is a closed crater. The last eruption was in 1944 and it destroyed 2 towns.  For some reason, people have built their homes, restaurants, and hotels on the side of the volcano.   I guess they don’t think the insurance coverage is too expensive.  Amanda had thought that we were going to see lava when we looked down into it LOL!!  I informed her that we probably wouldn’t be allowed to look into it if that was the case.  We did see all the steaming rock though and that was cool.  We were following some tour guides around and eves-dropping on their conversations.  They were saying that before the last eruption, you could see the open volcano with lava inside.  We were intrigued for a while but then we got too cold so we headed down the mountain and into Napoli for some exploring.  When we first got into Napoli we went and saw its Duomo.  It was very pretty and it had the biggest confessional that I have ever seen!  We were joking about how Naples needed a big confessional because of all the crime committed there.  We walked around the city for a while and tried going down by the water but it was all industrial where we were so we opted out of watching the sunset.  Naples is the birthplace of pizza as we know it today!  A local cook wanted to make something special for the new Italian Queen (Queen Margherita) who was visiting Naples at the time.  The cook took flat bread and placed a sauce on top with mozzarella cheese and basil.  He used these toppings because they were the colors of the Italian flag…and viola PIZZA!!  Naples is said to have the best pizza, so we of course got a bottle of wine and a classic Margherita Pizza to split.  The pizza was really good, but I think that most other Italian cities have caught on to the recipe because it tasted like the pizza I have in Rome.  We couldn’t find much else to do in Napoli and since we weren’t staying there for the night any more, we took the train back to Sorrento.  

Vietri/Amalfi/Minori/Sorrento The Amalfi Coast!! 3/24

Today was our most exciting day so far.  I had gotten in touch with a family friend of the Rea’s who lives around Salerno, and Amanda and I met up with her and her friends for lunch.  Matera was warm when we left but by the time we got to Vietri to meet up with Roseann, it was cold and rainy so we once again stood out as Americans because we were optimistic and had dressed for warm weather.  We had coffee with Roseann and her friends and then they walked with us around Vietri.  Roseann’s friends have shops in Vietri so we visited them and bought a few ceramics because that’s what the area is known for.  Her one friend Cinzia, rented an apartment out in the town and the renters left that day so we went with them to see how they left the place.  The apartment overlooked the water and had balconies on both sides.  Cinzia offered for us to stay there for a couple nights but we had already made reservations at other hotels.  Amanda and I were so surprised at how much more hospitable people in the south were.  We had an amazing fresh seafood lunch where the chef just prepared what they thought we would like.  Roseann had convinced us not to stay in Naples for the night because for one, we were driving a Mercedes and Napoli is the crime capital in Italy, two, there is not much to see in Napoli, and three, Sorrento is much prettier.  So we called and cancelled the reservation for one night and made reservations to stay in Sorrento one night.  After lunch we headed to the Amalfi Coast to begin our beautiful drive.  The first town we came to was called Minori and one of the pastry shops there has its own show on an Italian cooking show.  Roseann told us we had to stop for one of their lemon pastries because the Amalfi is known for its lemons and the shop was known for its pastries. All along the drive were lemon trees up and down the mountains.  It was really cool to see.  Most of the lemons were the size of melons!  They were huge.  The next town we stopped at was Amalfi itself.  We actually parked and got out to explore the town.  Every store was selling some type of ceramic or forms of lemons like limoncello, gelato, pastries etc.  We went and checked out the church there and continued.  Amanda was driving the whole time so that I could take pictures, but it was a good thing she was driving because she gets carsick easily.  I have never gotten carsick before and I was feeling a little queezy.  The roads barely fit two cars and they are SOOO windy.  When you aren’t controlling the way you move and while trying to take pictures, your stomach gets a little upset.  I didn’t get sick but I had to open the window a few times for fresh air.    We were about half-hour from our hotel in Sorrento, when we noticed a road block.  They were working on the only tunnel that connects the towns together.  The only way to get through is a bus that comes every 3 hours.  We had to back track and go up the mountains instead of around.  It took us 2.5 hours instead of just half hour, to get to our place.  We are so thankful for the navigation system because we would not have known how to get to Sorrento from there.  Entering Sorrento was a task in and of itself because they were getting ready for their summer tourists and they had construction as well.  We were in stopped traffic for a while and then we inched the rest of the way.  At one point, our navigation system told us to turn left into a tunnel.  We thought it was closed but a chartered bus headed into it so we followed.  As we were driving through, Amanda said “It’s weird that no one is in her right now and that everything is so dusty.”  I thought that they just didn’t have the tunnel fans on.  Well…..when we got to the end, we noticed the bus was stopped because there was a gate in front of it.  Turns out, the tunnel was closed!!!  A man in a truck let the bus through and gave us the look of death.  He closed the gate behind us and glared at us until we were out of sight!

Reggio Calabria/ Matera 3/23

This morning we took the 20 minute ferry over to Reggio Calabria where we picked up our rental car.  We weren’t sure what to expect when picking up the car because they never told us what type we were to have.  The man pulled up our car and it was a Mercedes-Benz!  Of course it is not a really big one or anything and it is a lower class one, but it is sill a Benz lol.  We hopped in the car and headed off…..in the wrong direction of course!  We turned around quickly and decided that using the navigation system would be a good choice.  It has really come in handy so far.  We drove for about 2 hours up the west coast of the “toe” and stopped for lunch in a small town.  We found a local market where we stocked up on bread, fruit, and water so that we could have lunch in the car most days and eat out for dinner.  We didn’t stop again for an hour or so until we found the east coast!  We actually pulled over to the side of the road this time to go down by the water.  I could not believe how blue the water was!  The place we stopped at was very rocky but it was still nice to see the water and feel the breeze.  Matera was around 2 hours longer so we headed off again.  When we got to Matera, the owner of our bed and breakfast wasn’t at the place, so we parked the car and walked into town.  The city was more modern than any I have seen so far.  We were a little confused because we went to Matera to see the Sassi which are old caveman houses carved into the rock.  We asked a man where they were at and he brought us all the way there.  The Sassi are built into the cliff that is over a large valley.  On the side of the valley that Matera is on, the caves are more like actual houses but they are still made of stone and people actually live in them.  On the other side of the valley, the caves are just holes in the cliff.  The film The Passion of the Christ with Mel Gibson was filmed in the town of the Sassi.  We did lots of exploring through the Sassi and looked at many churches.  The city was interesting because it was complete opposites with a Paleolithic city on one end of town and a modern city on the other end of town.  The driving we did today is the most we will do in one day but we haven’t been in a car in a long time, or driven in a long time, so it was fine.  Not to mention, we were driving along the coast so there was no complaining.  

Messina 3/22

Sunday morning we hopped on a bus from Palermo’s central station and headed to Messina.  We have been finding that the chartered busses are cheaper and more reliable than the trains.  The drive was about 2 hours and it was beautiful because it was mostly along the coast the entire time.  When we arrived we headed to our 4 star hotel that was right by the station.  We were excited to be in an actual hotel and maybe get internet, but when we walked into our room, we found that our interpretation of a 4 star hotel is much different than in Italy.  The room looked like it was last remodeled in the 1970s.  It was nice to have our own room and be right in the city so that we could come and go as we pleased.  We decided to have lunch in the city, and went out to explore.  As we walked outside, we found that Messina looked like a ghost town.  We knew that most of the cities in the south are supported by tourists, but everything was closed and we didn’t see very many cars on the road.  After walking around for a little while, we realized that it was Sunday and everything was closed because of that.  In the southern part of Italy, things are run very differently than in the north.  We also were walking around during lunch time and things close then also.  Messina was very pretty but it is a port town.  We couldn’t find any beaches and most of the harbor was taken up by large ships.  The weird part about Messina was that none of the Churches were open to look inside and it was Sunday.  Their cathedral had a clock attached to it that is known in Italy because at 12:30pm it plays music and different objects pop out.  It is one of the largest and most complex mechanical clocks in the world.  The strange thing about it though was that on the side of it was a clock with the signs of the zodiac representing the numbers.  Something interesting about Messina is that in 1908 it was struck by a large earthquake and tidal wave that killed 80,000 out of the 120,000 that lived there.  A ton was destroyed and this affected how the city is right now.  We walked around for a couple of hours taking pictures and then headed to the hotel before dinner.  That night for dinner was interesting because we had to walk around for a long time to find something open.  We finally found a small restaurant that only had the owner working on paperwork in it.  He made us a good pasta and a meat dish that were traditional for Sicily on Sundays.  The boat to Reggio Calabria left at 8am the next morning so we headed in for an early night.

Palermo 3/20

Palermo- start of Spring Break

 

Amanda and I have been planning spring break for a while now.  We found flights to Trapani, Sicily for 4 euro but with taxes it came out to around 20 euro.  This is still really good though.  The only catch was that my flight left the Ciampino airport at 7:15am.  This meant that I needed to leave my house by around 4:15 am to get there!  My neighbor Sally, was worried about getting to the central train station by herself so she came along with me.  There is a bus that takes you from the central station to the airport since the airports are all outside the city.  They start running at 3:30 am and usually come every half hour.  Sally ended up sleeping a little too long and we didn’t leave my house until 4:30.  I knew we had to wait for a night bus because we were leaving so early so I was a little concerned about getting to the station on time, but a night bus came right away.  We got to the station around ten till 5.  I walked over to the ticket area and asked for the next bus.  The woman said that the bus left 5 minutes ago and that the next one wasn’t until 6:30!  Well that wasn’t going to work because my flight left soon after and it took 40 minutes to get to the airport.  Sally was going to stay and wait for her friend that she was traveling with so I said my goodbyes to her and went to find a cab.  The cab ride cost me a flat rate of 30 euros!  So much for my cheap flight!  The flight itself went great.  It was a sunrise flight and it landed early!  I got into Trapani at 8:15 and only had to wait 5 min for my luggage.  Amanda and I had booked a bed and breakfast in Palermo so we needed to take a bus into the city which was about 2 hours away.  The night before we left, we realized that our flights were way apart from one another.  I got in at 8:15 and she didn’t get in until 3:30pm.  When I got to the airport and realized there was nothing to do around there, and not to mention that I was really tired from getting up so early, I decided to take the bus right away.  In Italy, if you take a bus from town to town, it is a big chartered bus.  There was one leaving at 9 so it couldn’t have worked out better.  It turns out I was the only one on the bus so the driver and I had some great conversations with my little Italian and his little English.  I arrived in Palermo around 11 at a stop that was in the middle of the city but not at the central station like I had thought.  I called the bed and breakfast and they told me to take a bus to the main station and then take the Metro to the Tomasso Natale stop.  Well it turns out I was in the middle of the city so I figured I could just find a metro stop around there and take it to Tomasso Natale.  It looked like rain but it was pretty warm out so I figured I would just walk around and find one.  I couldn’t find one around there after about 10 minutes of searching so I decided to ask someone.  I went up to a little old couple and asked in Italian where the nearest Metro stop was.  They looked at me SO confused and asked if I was speaking Italian.  I replied yes and tried to explain in a different way.  They told me something that I didn’t understand at all so naturally I thanked them and walked away.  I had forgotten that in Sicily the dialect is so strong that most Italians can’t understand the Sicilians and vice versa.  So my Italian wasn’t going to do much good.  I saw a ticket booth and decided to ask there.  I got a little further in that they told me to got to the central station and take the metro from there.  They told me which bus and pointed to the stop.  I made it to the central station and got off to start my search for the Metro stop.  I searched all along the outside of the building and saw nothing.  I went inside to but a ticket and ask for directions.  The man at the booth pointed me inside the building.  I thought, that seems odd for the subway stop to be inside the station, but I went in and searched all around.  15-20 minutes later I was convinced that there wasn’t a metro stop so I went outside to the busses and asked for directions to the metro and to Tomasso Natale.  Mind you, NO ONE speaks English in Sicily.  They are very far away from the business of Italy and other English speaking countries so they just stick to Sicilian.  I finally to one bus driver to tell me that I could get on his bus and that he would tell me where to get off.  The stereotypical personalities and behaviors of Italians definitely hold try in Sicily.  Everyone was screaming at each other and flailing their hands at the bus driver, each other, and cars outside the bus.  I stayed on the bus until the last stop and the driver told me to get off but he didn’t know which other bus took me to Tomasso Natale.  I figured it out on the signs and went from there.  I got off at the Tomasso Natale stop and called the owners of the bed and breakfast to come pick me up.  It took me 3 hours to get here from where the chartered bus dropped me off!   It turns out that Tomasso Natale was a train stop!  There is a train that goes from the central station to the Palermo airport and they call it the Metro!  It all made sense now why everyone was confused and why they were all pointing me inside to the trains.  Marizio was the father of the girl I had been speaking with and he picked me up.  It was about 5 min to the B&B, except we were going up one of the Mountains! The B&B was outside the city and the only way for me to get into the city was to repeat my path and have Marizio drive me down the hill!  I walked in and two women were sitting in a common room.  They showed me to my room and bathroom, which was down the hall.  I thought that there would be other guests there and that it would be bigger.  I set my stuff down and the two women came into my room asking what I needed.  I said that I would just get settled in and then maybe take a hot shower since it had been raining the second half of my trip.  Ten minutes later the older women comes into my room unannounced and said that she made pasta for me and that I had to come eat.  I was a little confused but knew that if I didn’t eat it was going to be disrespectful.  I ate the AMAZING pasta and then asked them if they lived near there.  The mother said “Of course, this is our house and we rent out this ONE room to people”  So it was a bed and breakfast that consisted of ONE room.  The father, daughter and mother spoke NO English so I was getting a lot of practice in.  The room was very small and had only one double bed for Amanda and I to share.  I had a lot of time until Amanda got there and I wanted to go into town to explore but I knew Marizio had to drive me down and I didn’t want to make him after he had just picked me up.  The mother (Elena) and daughter (Manuela) motioned me to come sit in between them on the couch even though there was an open couch.  We watched some Italian TV and I told them a little about myself.  After about an hour of TV, I decided to shower and as I was getting out I heard children.  Manuela, had two daughters of her own, and her husband (Fabrizio) brought them over.  I was a little intimidated because I felt like an unknown guest and not a customer.  I really wanted to got into town but because I wasn’t going to, I took a nap.  Amanda had called me many times on the way in and I explained to her how to get to Tomasso Natale.  Unfortunately for her, she speaks NO Italian so it was difficult for her as well but it only took her 1 hour because I had already made all the mistakes.  We picked her up from Tomasso and got her settled in.  We sat with the family for a little while and then they dropped us off at the bottom of the hill at a pizzeria for dinner.  We had great pizza and  thought that we would go into the city for a drink, but knew that they had to come pick us up still and we didn’t want to be out too late for them so we just went back.  I’m not sure if I have ever gone to bed as early as 10pm in Italy yet.  We got up early the next morning and Elena had gotten many pastries and coffee for breakfast.  They were going into the city themselves that morning so they took us most of the way in by car.  It was pouring rain when we got into the city.  We walked around and saw many sights but Amanda was already sick, and my 12 euro flats weren’t holding up in the rain.  We saw many things like the Teatro Massimo, which is the largest theatre in Italy.  We did a tour and they were performing the next night so we were able to listen to them practice.  We saw their cathedral which was very cool because it had Arab influences unlike most cathedrals I have seen in Italy.  Also we went to a could of their markets which were very very big.  Mind you, this whole time it was down pouring and cold.  There weren’t many people outside at all because Palermo usually has really good weather.  My friend Elena from the US had been in a city just outside Palermo with her family because her brother was doing some performances as a singer in Sicily and because that is were her family is from.  She didn’t have a phone so I had been communicating through email.  Amanda and I went to a café to get internet and try and meet up with her.  She was coming into Palermo for the day to do some shopping and then her brother was performing at a club that night.  She told us the name of the club so that we could meet up later.  Amanda and I tried looking up the club online and could not find anything.  I asked a couple young girls at one of the stores and they had told me that the club was outside the city but it was only about 15-20 min by cab.  I was excited  that we were going to be able to meet up! Around 6pm Amanda and I were very cold and wet so we decided to go back to the B&B.  Amanda took a nap while Elena, Marizio and I tried searching for the address of the club.  We could not find it anywhere, and the operator didn’t think the club existed.  Elena thought that since we didn’t know where it was that we shouldn’t go because the south was different than the north and it is more dangerous.  I woke Amanda up so that we could go to dinner and maybe ask around some more about the club.  As we were getting ready for dinner, Elena came in and said that her daughter had found the club but it was outside the city in the opposite direction and that it would take an hour to get there.  We decided that it would be too far and just went to dinner.  I knew Sicily was known for their seafood so I asked Marizio to drop us at a good seafood place.  He pointed to two or three in one area and said something along the lines of “you don’t order, let them do it for you” I had heard of this before because the waiters will normally bring you the specialty of the restaurant.  Amanda said “This one looks cute” and we walked in.  We sat down and the server brought us each two classes for wine.  I thought oh great, we will choose our dinner and then choose red or white wine.  The next thing he brought was a bottle of water and a bottle of white wine that was open.  We were a little confused, and got even more confused when they started bringing dishes to the table.  We thought “ what have we gotten ourselves into, and more importantly, how much is this going to cost?”  Our waiter came over and saw that we were confused and that we spoke English so he explained to us in English that we get a bottle of wine, water, 8 seafood appetizers, 3 seafood pastas, lobster, and whitefish for our dinner.  He said that this is how they serve everyone here.  We were both really scared because it sounded extremely expensive. Finally he told us that it was 25 euro a person.  Whew, even though we weren’t planning on spending that much, it was much less than we thought it would be and we got SOOO much fresh seafood.  The night wasn’t a total bummer!  We went to bed around 11 because we had figured out that we needed to take the “metro” from Tomasso to the central station at 7:52 am so that we could catch a 9 am bus to Messina, Sicily, our next destination.  Of course, it was sunny and blue skies when we got up.  We got to the station with 10 min to spare and the controller came out to ask us where we wanted to go.  We said to the central station and he said the next one was at 9:10am.  I asked why not at the time that it says on the board and he said because.  Apparently, the trains can just come whenever they want on Sundays.  We made our way to the bus stop and took the long route to the central station.  We made it on time, thank goodness, to the chartered bus stop and we are now on our way to Messina.  We hope the rain doesn’t follow us.

 

Prague 3/12

Prague with Sam and Meaghan!

 

After many months of planning, it was finally time for me to go visit my friend from home, Sam, in Prague.  Sam and I went to high school together, college together, and he worked up north like me this summer, trying to make as much money for this trip.  His girlfriend and my best friend, Meaghan, was also coming that weekend to visit.  It was very hard for me to find a flight to Prague that wasn’t too expensive and had the times that were good for me.  Flying somewhere is always a long trip because you have to leave 3 hours before the flight to make sure that you get there in time and that they have the right bus/train times for us.  I decided to take Thursday off of school so that I could get a flight that got to Prague earlier Thursday and returned late on Sunday.  My flight connected in Zurich and then I headed to Prague where Sam picked me up from the airport.  Unfortunately it was dark by that time but we took the scenic route home anyways so that I could see some things at night.  Meaghan wasn’t coming in until Friday afternoon so Sam and I got up early to explore a little before we went to pick her up at the airport.  I was a little disappointed because it was finally 60 and sunny in Rome, but it was 40 and rainy in Prague.  I told Sam that he had better show me a good time to make up for the weather.  We went and saw Sam’s school which is in the heart of Prague.  He brought me to a place to have an American breakfast!!!  You don’t understand how great this is.  Italy doesn’t do breakfast like we do.  I of course got my favorite breakfast food…French toast and a cappuccino. We then walked over the Charles Bridge, which is the most famous thing in Prague.  There is construction going on on the bridge and Sam says its been a year or so in the making.  I asked what was taking so long and he said “I don’t know.  All I know is that an Italian construction company won the bid.”  I laughed and said…well, that explains it all.  As we walked by, there was a man tightening a bolt while looking at the people walking past, and another man watching him tighten the bolt.  They didn’t seem to be getting much done.  We had a good laugh watching them. 

 

It’s a good thing that there were 2 of us going to pick up Meg because when she came out of the gates, she had more luggage for one week than I did for 4 months lol.  I was so glad to see her and Sam.  I haven’t been homesick yet but it was really nice to share stories with them and see what they have been up to. We again took the scenic route home and Meg was exhausted so we all took a nap lol.  We woke up hungry from our nap and asked Sam where a good place to eat Czech food was.  He named a bunch of places but then we realized it was Friday and we couldn’t have meat.  This wouldn’t be a problem in Italy because most dishes can be made without meat, but in Prague they would ask us to leave if we asked for a vegetarian dish.  Their food is really really heavy, and it is best with a really heavy beer.  So we opted out of Czech food, and went to a Thai restaurant.  Sam and I weren’t home for Meg’s birthday so we decided this would be her birthday dinner from the both of us.  I had never had Thai food before so I was interested to see how it turned out.  Meg and I were happy with the place we chose because we could get girly drinks without glares from both Sam and the waiter.  The food was really spicy, but really good. 

 

Saturday we got up early again to get some sightseeing in.  We went up to the Prague Castle, which is the biggest castle in Europe, and did some exploring.   Meg and I shot cross-bows from the old times, and we saw the church which is what the castle is centered around.  We also walked up to the top of a HUGE hill/park to see the Little Eiffel Tower.  People normally take a tram up but the line was really long and we knew we didn’t have much time at each place so we opted to walk.  We laughed so hard the whole way up because we couldn’t talk from being out of breath.  Sam was nice enough to let us stop and take “Picture” breaks on the way up.  We climbed the tower and took a bunch of pictures.  After the tower and castle, we went back down to Charles bridge to show Meg.  Something I didn’t know about Prague was that it is known for its crystal and glass.  Bohemia is the region in Czech where Prague is located and Bohemian crystal is very popular.  All the souvenir shops sold crystal like they were postcards.  We did some looking around and Sam took us down some side streets that weren’t as touristy so that we could find something crystal.  Another great thing about Prague is that our money is worth much more than theirs.   I have been so used to the Euro and my money not being worth anything.  I decided to buy a crystal vase.  It was 2300 cr, which is like 70 US dollars. 

 

All that shopping and exploring got us hungry for some Czech food.  We went to one of Sam’s favorite restaurants.  Meg and I got different kinds of goulash with a beer of course, and Sam got pork with potatoes.  What I consider goulash is definitely different that what they consider it.  I think the translation has something to do with just throwing things together into a stew.  It was lots of vegetables and pork in a really heavy brown sauce, and you got potato dumplings on the side.

 

Sunday we went back up to the Castle to do a few more museums and then we went and had lunch at another Czech restaurant.  This time we got switzkova, which is totally not how you spell it but I have no clue.  This was another pork dish with bread dumplings and a heavy sauce.  I really liked the food but I definitely couldn’t eat it every day because it is too heavy.  We then went to the John Lennon wall which is a tribute to John Lennon and his views on world peace and the fall of communism.  As many of you know, the Czech has been taken over many times and was previously a communist country.  They are democratic now but the culture hasn’t completely switched over.  Anyways, the John Lennon wall is just a random wall in Prague that someone painted sayings by John Lennon, and parts of his songs.  The government painted over it time and time again but it kept getting written on.  They finally have given up and now people have written all over it in all different languages.  Some things are very inspirational but others are things like “Hi Mom”.  I unfortunately had to go home soon after this so we headed back and got my things to leave. 

 

I didn’t like saying goodbye to them.  Sam is coming to Rome in a few weeks to see me, but I miss seeing and talking to Meg.  I am so happy that it worked out where I could go see them.  Meg is staying a week longer and she is a little nervous about getting around but Sam and I kept telling her that once you get thrown into it, you will do just fine.  I can’t wait to see them again soon!

FLORENCE 2/30

Hello all!  I know…..I know….  It’s been forever since I’ve posted.  I have been very busy traveling, exploring, and o ya…midterms L.  Rough life I know.  I visited my friend Amanda in Florence Feb 27-30.  I took the train for the first time and Amanda picked me up at the central station.  The train was very peaceful but unfortunately it was dark when I was traveling.  Thursday night we planned out our spring break trip, which is where I am going right now, and Amanda put to use her newly acquired cooking skills and cooked me an amazing Italian meal.  We headed to bed early Thursday so that we could do some sightseeing on Friday morning. 

 

I guess I didn’t realize how small Florence is.  All of the main attractions are very close together.  I am used to Rome where you spend 45 min on a bus going from place to place.  Amanda and I walked around in the morning.  She showed me her school, some different piazzas, and a couple markets.  She attends a culinary school in Florence and it is very well known.  I got to see the kitchens that they cook in and their tiny classrooms since food is a priority there.  We walked to an indoor market that Amanda loves.  It is 3 floors of fish, vegetables, meat, fruit, and pasta.  It smelled a little funky because the meat and fish were the first floor, but it was a cool sight to see.  This market was a lot less intimidating than the one in Barcelona.  There were a lot less people and a lot more room in between the  stands.  I took this opportunity to try something different, and I got a bag full of different dried fruits.  I have discovered that banana chips are my favorite. 

 

After the fresh market, we ventured over to the leather markets.  This was another thing that I wasn’t aware of about Florence, it is known for its good, but cheap, leather.  In Rome there is a huge market but only early on Sunday mornings, so we don’t go very often lol.  We walked around for a while just gazing at possible items to purchase, and I bought a few cashmere scarves that are made in Italy.  We made our way over to the Museo D’Academia which is where Michelangelo’s famous statue “The David” is housed.  The museum is really tiny, and really the only thing to see is the David.  It is 17 feet tall, and is famous because it was the first statue of the Biblical David, to portray him as a strong man instead of a scrawny boy.  The statue was originally supposed to be placed on top of a building and that is why it is so large.  It was placed outside for a few years and then was seen as too beautiful to be outdoors and was moved inside.  Leonardo DaVinci said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  Of course, like many beautiful things in Italy, we weren’t allowed to take pictures.  There were guards everywhere telling children to be quiet and confiscating camera cards. 

 

Florence is like what I initially pictured Italy to be like.  The streets were very small, with few cars, and the lifestyle is even slower. ( Yes, I know….hard to believe)  We went up to Michelangelo’s piazza to watch the sunset.  It is a LONG hike up to the top of the hill.  The piazza overlooks the entire city on one side, and the other side shows the hills of Tuscany.  We saw a beautiful sunset with a couple of Amanda’s new friends, and headed home to cook some dinner. 

 

Saturday morning Amanda’s friend Katherine was coming in from the States to visit.  She went to pick her up at the airport, and I got up to explore.  I made my way over to Ponte Vecchio, which means “old bridge”.  It is a very famous bridge because it was constructed by the Medici family who was in rule for a long time.  The Medici family was so powerful during its time that the Popes would avoid Tuscany all together when they were traveling north.  The family was nervous of attack and sabotage that it created an above ground tunnel from their palace to other parts of town.  The bridge has a tunnel overtop and cars are not allowed on the bridge.  Jewelry stores now line the bridge along with a few gelato shops.  I then went two streets over to the Duomo, which is their famous church.  I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when I walked in.  I have been spoiled by seeing the Vatican before other churches.  I then slapped myself and said, Hello this church is better than any church in the States.  I have to often remind myself where I am and how lucky I am to see sights like these.  I opted out of climbing to the top because I wanted to save some things for when Sarah and Jaimie get here. 

 

Afterwards, I walked back through the leather markets and narrowed my selection of purses down so that I could make a purchase later.  I loved walking around Florence by myself.  It was very relaxing and I was not rushed to do anything.  I made my way back to the river, and sat for awhile.  Amanda and Katherine had arrived, and they met up with me to show Katherine around.  We looked at some shops, and made Katherine taste her first gelato.  We showed her the streets and markets.  I finally made a purchase, well two purchases.  I bought a large black leather purse, and a white leather purse for the summer.  I also bought a few more scarves because they are just so pretty, and they will be great gifts ;-)

 

We had to have pizza for dinner to have Katherine try it, and then went back to Amanda’s place.  Katherine was exhausted so we took a nap before heading out for the night.  Sunday morning I left early because midterms were the next week and I decided to finally look at my material.

 

Some of the things I didn’t like about Florence however, were all the Americans there, how small the actual city was, and the fact that Lent started that week and I gave up gelato!!  I felt like I heard a ton more English in Florence and when I tried to speak Italian, they would respond in English.  I didn’t like this very much. But overall it was a great weekend and I can’t wait to go back with Sarah and Jaimie.

Barcelona/Sitges 2/22

Our trip to Spain was incredible. I wasn't planning on going to Spain while in Europe but I am glad I did. We left Thursday afternoon and had a direct flight to Barcelona (well sort of). We flew into a town called Girona which is an hour and a half outside Barcelona. We were unaware of this of course, but we were able to take a bus into the city. Lindsay, Emily and I went ahead of Yasemin, Kate and Zoe who came on a later flight. I thought we would be ok finding our hostel because I am getting better at Italian....but then I realized we were in Spain, and they speak spanish. In Italy, most people speak a little English but in Spain, no one speaks English. We decided this was because so many countries speak spanish that they don't need to learn another language. I used my newly developed hand gesture language (Thanks to the Italians) and got directions to our hostel. It was much warmer in Barcelona than in Rome. Barcelona is north of Rome, but as Yaz explained to me,(and to my disappointment) the currents of the ocean make up the temperature difference, not the latitude. We decided to walk and find our hostel. While we were looking online to find a hostel for Barcelona, we picked the cheapest one, but it ended up being in the best spot. We only paid 12 euro a night, and the hostel was on the main street in Barcelona! Our room the first night was really big and it had a bay window over looking the street!

After we got settled in, we went and had dinner at a place that made tapas. These are little dishes, almost like appetizers, that you pick a few different ones for your meal. Everyone chooses a few and then you all share to get a taste of many things. I unfortuantely burned the roof of my mouth on a type of potato and couldn't eat anymore. After dinner, Emily's friend who is studying in Barcelona, brought us to a Sangria bar. Sangria is a specialty of Spain. It is wine mixed with fruit juices and is very good. The place we went to was in the basement of a building and looked like a rustic cove. There were big wooden barrells as cocktail tables, and many other picnic tables around. It was very loud and packed but it is said to have the best Sangria in Barcelona. The Sangria is drank so much there, that it is on tap. We didn't stay out too late because we wanted to get a good start the next morning at the city.



Barcelona is known for many of Gaudi's works. He has many houses around the city. We visited the Sagrada Family Temple, which is the temple that has been being built for over 200 years. It is not even close to being done either. Gaudi started this temple and drew out the blueprints for the entire builidng. He knew he would die before it was finished so he made sure to leave very detailed instructions. Today the construction is founded entirely by private donors (and our entrance fees). We were able to take an elevator to the top, and see the enire city around us! Barcelona is right on the water and it was beautiful out, so we were glad we waited the hour and a half to get to the top.



After the Gaudi temple, we walked around the city for a while. There is a big market in the center of Barcelona. I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by it. Everything was so fresh that most of it was still alive!! The colors were amazing. There were all sorts of candies, fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, and wines. Each type had a different stand. The place smelled rather bad but it was a great thing to see. They had stands in the back of the market for authentic Spanish meals. We got to taste spicy paella which is like risotto, and also potato tortillas which were very thick.

Kate's friend from home was also studying in Barcelona and she told us about a fountain light show on Friday nights. We made our way over to the fountain which was huge and had many different jet streams on it. They play loud music and have many different lights going all at once. We sat for about an hour, not even saying a word. Something about it was very soothing.

Later that night Kate's friend took us to a club that allowed over 10,000 people in. There are 5 different rooms/clubs all in one and each one plays its own type of music. Most of the music was techno or spanish. It was a lot of fun but we are thankful for our small clubs in Rome!

Saturday morning was very warm. It almost hit 70 degrees! We walked over to Gaudi's park on top of a large hill looking over the city. We were walking around for a while and realized that one of the tunnels he created, was the spot where America's Next Top Model filmed a show. We pretended to be models for a little while and got some great looks. The park and the weather were so nice that we layed our coats down on the grass and took a nap. After about an hour or so of relaxing, we decided we were hungry and walked down the hill. We went to check out of our hostel and grab our bags so that we could head off to the next stop....Sitges for Carnevale. On the way to the station, we got lunch at Dunnkin Coffee, yes Dunnkin Coffee, not Doughnuts. It is the same logo and everything, but they call it something different.

We took a half hour train ride to Sitges and another 2 hour walk to find our hostel. When we walked up to the hostel, we realized that it was actually a resort! We had once again searched for the cheapest place, and came up with a great room. There were 6 of us but 3 in each room. The rooms were very large and each had their own bathroom, balcony, kitchen, and two bedrooms. Mind you, we have been roughing it lately in our hostels. We weren't even afraid to sleep on the sheets lol. Sitges is right on the water and it is a very little town. It is known for its Carnevale festival and reminds me of pictures I have seen of Greece. The buildings were all white with some blue accents and the streets all seemed to wind together and lead to the ocean. We were going to try and take a nap, but we were so excited that we rushed back to the hotel and started to get ready. During Carnevale, people dress up in masks and other costumes. In Venice, most of the costumes are very 18th century and elaborate. Sitges was a little different story. We had boughten masks and wigs to wear for the festivals, thinking that we would fit right in. We headed out of the hotel and into town. We found a restaurant right on the water and treated ourselves to some Sangria and dinner. We all decided to get paella since it is their specialty. I really wanted seafood since I knew it would be fresh, but I also wanted to taste the paella, so naturally I got paella with seafood in it. I was a little skeptical about my decision because I really wanted to try some fresh fish, but after seeing the waiter bring out the whole fish to the customer and cut off the head right in front of them, I knew i made the right decision. When the waiter brought out our dishes, our eyes all got really big. The platters were HUGE!! We probably could have split two between the 6 of us! My seafood platter was a little surprising. I thought that they would cut up all of the different types of seafood and mix it in, but the chef must have known how much I love to cut up my own fish (NOT) and put it all on my platter. There were whole crayfish, eyes and all, on the dish. The squid was looking at me while I was trying to cut it up and the muscles were hidden throughout the dish. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I didn't gag. I actually did a really good job of cutting everything up and eating it. The crayfish were a little hard because they didn't have much meat on them and they have so many little legs, but I managed. After our great meal, we decided to go experience the festivities.

The streets were all blocked off, and there were police everywhere. It turns out, that our costumes were made for the wrong country. In Spain, everyone dressed up in costumes like we do for Halloween. The difference though is that they dress up in groups. They get 5 to 10 people together and dress in themes or all the same. We saw groups like the Simpsons, Adams Family, Bumble Bees, Geishas, Cave men, mop heads, Sangria bottles, and many more. Also their costumes were very intricate. Nothing was cheaply made and they all stuck together the whole night. I loved this concept. It made everything so much more fun. The streets were so packed that you could barely get through, but the beach was very open. They had a DJ playing on a stage, and the beach was the dance floor. We had no clue what any of the songs were or what they were saying, but they were all great to dance to. The water kept creeping up as the night went along, so we always made sure we weren't getting close getting wet. Barcelona is the pickpocketing capital of Europe, and of course Sitges was a prime target since people from the city go there for Carnevale. Unfortunately, Emily got her camera, money, and credit card stolen from her wristlet. She had her wristlet on her the whole time, and didn't feel that someone was taking it from her!

The next day we headed back to Barcelona and explored some more. We went to the Port and sat on the docks for a few hours. People watching is very calming. We were very content watching people, birds, and fish, until some guys came and sat right next to us with bags of bread. They started feeding the birds and they swarmed around us. The birds are so used to people that they were actually flying right up to the guys and grabbing the bread as soon as they let it go from their hands. We were all a little uncomfortable by this because our peaceful moment was interrupted. Of course my bag was the only one that didn't escape the bird poop. I had a big spot right in the center of my bag. We were resting our heads on our bag, so the poop missed my head by an inch! The girls made fun of me the rest of the day. We had a late flight out of Barcelona and didn't get back to Rome until after midnight, but overall the trip was the best weekend we have had yet!