Romeo & Juliet...Verona Style

Today (Wednesday) the Tesser (my roomie) and I woke up early to clean before the maids came. Yes, we've turned into those people. Normally, we wouldn't do this, however we had managed to turn our room into a zoo. The kitchen was destroyed. We ate chicken last night with spoons because we didn't have any more clean forks and didn't want to do dishes. It looks like we threw a dinner party...but only for ourselves. Last week, the maids were knocking on our door promptly at 9. It is now 9:45 and they haven't showed up yet. In other news, this is what's been going on here in Verona.

Tesser's mom, Deb, arrives today. It is our second batch of parents, and it is always fun to meet the rents. And by meeting the rents, we learn a little bit more about our friends. Mom, everyone is excited to meet you, too!

The class I'm taking is getting more and more interesting. I don't have much trouble paying attention in class, so I know I'm enjoying it more. I feel bad because those taking the other class are always in their room reading or studying or working on one of their projects. It's just not fair that we are out enjoying the springtime weather in Verona (and by enjoying the springtime weather I really mean eating lots gelato and hanging out around downtown) and they are stuck here at the swanky residence al adige. Hopefully the next block of classes will be a little more even in terms of school work.

Speaking of gelato...We were at Patagonia (ironic that I love the brand Patagonia and the gleateria Patagonia) the other day and I heard a group of American high schoolers with one of their moms (I'm assuming) ask if they should get gelato there. I, having tried a few gelato places, turn to them and say, "This is the best place in town for gelato." They look happy that someone is speaking english. So, they get in line and I ask them, "Where are ya'll from?" I think the ya'll threw them off and they answered, "United States." I think to myselfShocking. You're wearing hollister and abercrombie everything and you don't think I know you're from the states. AND I'm speaking perfect (ok, "southern") english. But, being the patient person I am, I asked them where, they said Maine and I replied saying I'm from Georgia. They looked a little taken aback that there would be an American in Verona other than them. Oh well, they were entertaining to talk to while I waited for my gelato. And made for a funny story...kind of.

While we were out strolling around, with our gelato of course, we stopped by the opera house. And last night, we went to see Romeo & Juliet. I was expecting a traditional (or what one would think of when you hear opera) performance. I couldn't have been more wrong. Everything was Romeo & Juliet go clubbing. Ok, to put it in better terms, it was modern Romeo & Juliet. The costumes were normal 'street' clothes. It was a little difficult to follow, especially since the sub-titles were in Italian, but it was entertaining. It last for three and a half hours! In the last hour, Juliet sang the entire time! Their voices were incredible and everyone that went enjoyed it, including me.

This weekend, I am staying in Verona to experience my hometown. I have never been here on a weekend, and I am definitely looking forward to it. I wish I could say I will be catching up on schoolwork, but schoolwork does not exist right now. It is supposed to be nice weather, so a trip to Lake Garda might be on the list of things to do. Anyway, it will be nice to relax a little before our week and half journey to Florence, Rome, then on to Valencia and Barcelona!

Prague

Oh Prague (or Praha as the Czechs call it). What a perfect weekend! Great weather, good food, and lots of field tripping.


We started our journey Thursday night. And I use the word journey because it is always one just to get to the airport. (I will never take Hartsfield for granted again. It is like the Four Seasons of airports) We figured out a better way to get to the Bergamo airport than going through Milan and it worked out just about perfectly. Oh, I guess I failed to mention our flight was Friday morning. Yes, you read correctly, we left Thursday night. It wasn't going to be possible to get to the airport Friday morning in time for our flight, so we decided to rough it and spend the night in the Bergamo airport. (There is a reason I didn't tell you about this until after, parentals) We got to the airport about 12:30. After a closed McDonalds, I had to eat my fourth meal and found a great kebob stand. So, we snuggled in (all 11 of us) and got our 3 hours of sleep until the kind men at the airport went around to wake everyone up at 3:30. I do not know exactly why this time, but I feel like they wake everyone up 2 hours before the first flight. And the guards are not very nice. If I had been in Atlanta and a police woke me up, I would kindly tell him, "No Way" and go back to sleep. However, this is Italia, and I didn't feel like breaking out my Italian this early in the AM. We went down to our check-in counter and waited out the next few hours until our plane took off.
When we arrived in Prague, it was sunny! This is such a big thing for us. After not seeing the sun in Munich, Salzburg, or Amsterdam, we have determined that good weather can make for a much more enjoyable experience. When we came up from the underground metro, I think we all fell in love with Prague almost immediately. We were in one of the centers of town and there were outdoor markets and tons of people out enjoying the beautiful weather. After going around in a few circles, we found our hostel. We couldn't check in, so we threw our bags in the luggage room, freshened up after our night at hotel Bergamo, and headed out to explore the town. After getting 100% scammed at lunch, we headed for the Jewish Ghetto. Since it would be closed on Saturday, we needed to check it out that day. It was interesting and I was happy that we were finally able to do something other than Churches for the sake of our two Jewish travel buddies. After the Jewish ghetto and exploring Prague, we needed a quick power nap if any of us were going to make it out that night. We caught a snooze and got ready to check out the night life. We found a cantina and had some much appreciated margarittas and mojitos before heading to the club. All in all...successful first day/night in Prague. I knew I was already loving this place. Sidenote: Thank you Athens for outlawing smoking in bars. I can handle the occasional cig in Generals, but waking up smelling like an ash tray is not something I particularly enjoy doing.

Saturday morning we wanted to do a walking tour of Prague. Our tour guide was a little boring, too soft spoken, but all-in-all I'm glad I saw the sights and heard the stories of Prague. We went to the Old Town, the New Town, the most well preserved castle in Europe, and the St. Charles Bridge. I loved St. Charles bridge. It had been a little cold and windy up on the hill where the castle was, but when we got down to the bridge, the sun decided to come out! Burak, Jonathan, and I were the only ones to last the entire 4 hours of the tour. And afterwards, we weren't done doing the field tripping. We went to the top of the astrological clock for a birdseye view of Prague. The astrological clock is one of a kind. And back in the day when it was first made, the ruler of Prague knew this, too. So, in order to make sure he was the only one with a clock like this, he sent his people to kill the maker of the clock. They were unsuccessful and only managed to blind him, however. So, the clock maker plotted his revenge. Right before he was going to die, he went to the clock and managed to break it. Since no one knew how to fix it, it stayed broken until just a couple of years ago. Atop the clock tower, we had a beautiful view of Prague. In the Old Town Square that is seen from above, there was Prague's Easter festival going on. This could be seen all over Prague with ribbons and eggs in just about every store window. With the sunny weather, Burak, Jonathan and I just strolled around the open markets. I got a delicious pretzel thing and thoroughly enjoyed every minute being in the square. Sorry Paris, move over, Prague has the potential to be my favorite city thus far.


Saturday night, we made reservations at the Beer Factory. Here is where you pour your own beer at the table from one of four taps. We shared some giggles and talked about how much we all had enjoyed our time in Prague. The next part is where we got most of the laughs we had today on our travels home. Jonathan had heard about this black light theatre that was doing a Beatles show. We thought, 'Cool. A light show to Beatles music. This will be a perfect ending to a perfect weekend. Wrong. We get there just in time to discover this is not a bar with a light show and some Beatles music. It is a full-on theatrical theatre. We sat through the first half until intermission when we decided to bail. We all ragged on Jonathan for finding this bust of a place, but it was all in good fun. We went to have (a much needed after that experience) beer at a bar close to our (awesome) hostel before calling it a night.

Sunday morning. Or should I say late Saturday night. Did you know the clocks change in Europe. Thankfully we knew this, otherwise we would have been an hour late to our flight. We had to take a cab to the airport because public transportation was not running at this hour. It was 3:45 in the morning, but because of the time change, it felt like 2:45. Sean Feeney specials run in Europe too, and we boarded our 6 AM flight. It was nice to get back to Verona today to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather we've been having. All in all, I had one of the best weekends in Prague. Wish you all could have seen it with me, but after taking a picture hiatus in Amsterdam, I return to Verona with TONS of pictures of Prague. There are tons more on my facebook, but here is little taste of Praha.

Sunny Week in Verona!

Not a very eventful week here in Verona, but a much needed relaxing one. We have started our second block of classes. Some people are taking the 8 am or the 11 am or (in very unfortunate cases) both...I'm enjoying my 11 am easy class. Well, easy thus far. The other class has already had a test and some have had a presentation. Our teacher is 32 years old, drives a porche, and is a self-declared 'ladies man.' Call me crazy, but I have a hard time thinking this class is going to be anything but a joke. In other news, it has been beautiful all week in Verona. Yesterday (Wednesday) we went for a stroll around downtown. Tess was looking for a little side bag and the rest of us were looking for gelato. Tuesday night, Brooke's parents were in town and took us girls out to eat. My 'go-to' dish has become ham/mushroom pizza. Yes, I know, this iscrazy. (I still refuse to eat onions so don't think I've completely lost my mind). I enjoyed meeting them and especially loved talking to her mom, an Alpha Gam! She lived in Engagement, the same room I lived in! She told me that when she lived there, she had 5 girls in her room! I couldn't imagine that; team enGAGment would have been crowded! She also told me how close she remains with her sorority sisters. Barb cracked me up when she asked if we should do the handshake...which obviously we did! We are headed to Prague this weekend. I have heard lots of good things about the city. Our flight times are crazy early, so it's going to be weekend without much sleep, but bring it on! After a week of resting, I'm ready for Prague!

Since I don't have any new photos, I'll entertain you with a few from around Verona.

This is the whole group in the arena:


This is the bridge leading from CastleVecchio (Old Castle). In case Verona was ever attacked, the king could run across the bridge and burn it...


Piazza Bra from the top of the arena:

Amsterdam

Well, after having some difficulties with my flight (let's just say the dumb-ness continued), I made it to Amsterdam. Kari and I had booked through KLM (don't worry Dad, I got the miles), so we were on a totally different flight, in a different terminal than the rest of the group. Kari and I had a great flight experience. We got to the airport with plenty of time to grab a fantastic little sandwich and browse the designer shops. Only in Milan will you find Armani, Longchamp, Gucci, etc. in the airport. Definitely not in the other terminal where our friends were. We were even able to change our seats and sit next to each other. KLM fed us lunch. and we each had a Heinekin (free of charge, thank you KLM)...we were on our way to Amsterdam! After landing, we were worried we weren't going to be able to meet up with our friends. Amsterdam's airport is HUGE and just about every international flight goes through there. Lucky for us, we are good at finding each other in situations like that.


We made it to our hotel. Yes, we splurged in Amsterdam on a hotel and not a hostel. It being Amsterdam and all, we didn't want to end up in some sketchy place. The boys, being boys, didn't splurge and went to check into their place. We won in this city, for they only had two bathrooms in their entire building. HA. We ventured out to find some grub before heading to bed. I thought it was easy to get around, but trying to find MyBurito was difficult and we had to settle for TacoMundo. Mexican food...yuuum!

The next morning we had plans of taking a walking tour of Amsterdam. It was raining and cold, so we changed our itinerary (compliments of yours truly...logistics never fades), and headed towards Anne Frank's house. I truly enjoyed this tour. It was so interesting and shed a whole new light on the history of the Halocaust. I was only 13 when I read her diary and will definitely be reading it once I return home. The Pancake Bakery was our next stop. I was feeling a little saucy and decided on the banana and...wait for it...bacon pancake. And, it was delicious!


After walking around Dam Square, we headed up toward the Heinekin Brewery to do the Heinekin experience. And what an experience it was. The tour was super interactive and I really enjoyed it. I did not realize that Heinekin had horses and they were neat to see. GUUS who would have been my favorite had he been in his pen, had to fall second to Karel. I also liked the commercials section. I want to tour Budweiser now!

That night, after stumbling upon a Saloon, I had the best hamburger I have ever eaten. Yes, sorry Deer Valley, but you have been beaten. After that, we wanted to go back and get ready to go out. But somehow, David convinced us all (with his gypsy powers) to do a pub crawl that was about to start. Merrills went downtown. Yikes. But, it ended up being a really fun time and we met a lot of people!


The next morning, we grabbed a bite to eat really quick before heading to the dum dum dum...VAN GOGH museum. If you don't already know, I love Van Gogh and I was most looking forward to this. And it definitely held up to my expectations. It was a great to hear all about Van Gogh and his difficult life. The only thing I didn't like was that a majority of his most famous pieces, like Stary Night, were not there. Still fascinating to me, nonetheless.

After having a late lunch, we took a stroll through the Red Light District. I know this is what makes Amsterdam famous, but I was not looking forward to seeing it. I found it to be quite sad that people can live like that. I was happy when we left. We strolled around a little until we experienced our first pick-pocket of Europe. Carla, one of the girls traveling with us, had her wallet (passport included) stolen from her purse. I like to think I pretty street smart and very cautious, but this put me on even higher alert. After being at the police station (to report the pick-pocket) and seeing some of the craziness of Amsterdam, I was ready to head home to Verona.

I really enjoyed Amsterdam and the city as a whole. I think the canals were beautiful and like the idea of everyone riding bikes to get around. There were definitely parts of it that I also did not enjoy, like the Red Light District. It was good to see though. After seeing all of these places in the winter time, I have made a promise to myself to come in the summer time and see all the beauty that has to offer.

Sorry for the lack of photos. I've gotten lazy! Next weekend we are headed to Prague! I will try and update before we head out. I started a new class today and am very excited about it!

The Hills Are Alive...With the Sound of Music!

On the way to Salzburg, Austria, we stopped at the Salt Mines. Salz=Salt. Salzburg. Get it? Good. After hearing stories from the Mama, I knew what to expect. However, Martin told us to dress warmly. Thinking it was going to be freezing in there, I piled on the layers. I was wrong. And as soon as I put on my jump suit (think Michelin Man in a blue jump suit), I knew I needed to drop a few layers. (Seriously, what was I thinking...it's always the same temperature underground...duh) I got situated and then the little tram came. It was a fun ride into the mountain and reminded me of a ride at Six Flags or something. When we stopped, we got to go down a big wooden slide to continue our tour. Our guide did not speak English and there were other German speaking people on the tour. The tour man would speak in German, get some laughs out of the crowd, and then turn on the speakers for us. Our explanation we always half as long as what the man said, and nothing about it was funny. I'm really curious as to what was said. The tour itself was interesting, I wouldn't call it exciting, but still a fun touristy thing to do. My favorite part of it was 'mirror lake.' I was one of the first people to come down the slide and get to the lake. At first, I did not realize it was a lake. Because it was mirroring the ceiling, I thought it was just an open space of dirt. Nope, I saw a ripple and realized I was just having one of those days...a dumb-day if you will.

After the salt mine, the Michelin Man and the rest of the group loaded back on the bus to head to our hotel in Salzburg. By this time it was snowing pretty good. And by the time we arrived to our hotel, it was snowing harder than I have ever seen it snow before. I don't know how this snow compares to Attica snow, but it was a pretty heavy snow and the flakes were almost as big as my hand! We checked in and were let loose to find some lunch. At 4 o'clock we met Martin for our city tour and a break down of our itinerary. We saw all of Salzburg and he pointed out all of the things we would be doing the next day. At the end of our tour, Martin informed us that the hotel would be streaming "The Sound of Music" in all of our rooms at 9 o'clock. So it was settled, no going out on the town...we were staying in to sing along with Maria.

Tuesday was packed full. We had to get an early start and had to fight off the Italian 16-year olds for breakfast. Man, they can be rude. The funny thing is, I've started to be able to understand a little of what they're saying. They were making fun of us Americans, saying that the kitchen was on fire, talking about the dead cow in their hotel room, and about the tornado that was coming through Salzburg that day. Yup, my Italian is really coming along...

We started out at 8:30. It was about a 30 minute walk to the Fortress. The Fortress sits atop Salzburg and was built to be able to see out over everything and make sure Salzburg was safe from invasions. Each new Arch Bishop would build onto it, so it has very interesting architecture. We took a little car up to the top and got our audio guide. The audio guide took us through the torture room (no one was actually tortured in here, it just housed the equipment...it looked rough), up a winding staircase to the top (where I have never been colder in my life; it felt like the wind was blowing through to my bones, but great pictures were achieved), and through all these secret passages. It was interesting to see and had one of the best views of Salzburg. Martin said he usually takes his group there in the afternoon because there is a great little restaurant at the top to grab a beer in...however, this trip it was too cold (and too early) for a beer. Martin also informed us that due to the Snow, Ice, Sleet, Rain, Frigid temps, that he will never bring another group to Austria and Germany in March again. He also was kind enough to inform us that this time last year they were in short sleeves...



After we left the fortress, Martin let us have a hot chocolate break at the Mozart cafe. Overpriced hot chocolate was just what my body needed to gear up for our next touristy attraction, Mozart's house. It was interesting to see, but I have to admit, not terribly exciting. It didn't take us very long and I was craving some McDonald's french fries for lunch. So we went and I discovered one of the best things McDonald's Austria has to offer: curly fries with a SOUR CREAM sauce. Anyone who knows me knows my love of some good sour cream, so this was PERFECT. Enough about food...now onto the BEST part of the entire trip.



Do. A Deer. A Female Deer. Rae. A Drop of Golden Sun. Me. A Name. I Call Myself. You get the idea. THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR! Not only did Martin arrange this for us. He had the bus come pick us up from the hotel. Pretty sweet deal. The bus has Maria and the children painted on the sign and I knew I was in for the best 4 hours of my day. I remember getting the Sound of Music for my birthday from Aunt Marg. (Thank you for sharing with me one of the greatest movies ever!) We got to see so much! The pond where Maria and the children fall out of the boat, the gazebo (where our tour guide said we were not allowed to go in anymore due to an 80 year-old woman trying to run around and jump from bench to bench singing "I am sixteen going on seventeen." true statement), the house, the road where the children are hanging out of the tree, even the church where Maria got married. Not only was it enjoyable for all The Sound of Music enthusiasts like myself, but it was a great tour of Salzburg and the surrounding lake towns. GREAT end to a GREAT trip.

That night, while my own family was enjoying an ATL birthday celebration (Happy 42nd birthday, dad. HA.HA.), we had our own 'family' dinner in Salzburg. Martin arranged a traditional Austrian meal for us at the hotel. We got all dressed up (dressed up by our standards, or whatever was still clean in our suitcases) We had salad, warm bread, a stuffing/pasta dish, and fantastic mashed potatoes with chicken and rice. I was stuffed! It was so fun to again have the entire group together, including Martin. Also on our trip was his future-daughter in law. She speaks German so she was our translator for the trip. She is super nice, and us girls enjoy asking her questions like, where to get our hair cut in verona, or where to shop, etc. Back to the dinner. Stories were shared, toasts were made, jokes were told, and all in all it was the perfect way to spend our final evening on our first group trip together.

The next morning (St. Patrick's Day), I had one of those forgetful days again and left one of my coats in the closet in Salzburg. Do not fret, for Martin has already arranged for it to be picked up and brought back to Verona! Again, Martin is the best. It was an easy trip home. We stopped in Innsbruck to drop off six girls who were going to go skiing there (Katie Hardaway included) and ate lunch at the most beautiful McDonald's I've ever seen. The view as incredible! And like every McDonalds should, they had wifi...We made it home to go out and have a green beer for St. Patrick's day before heading to Amsterdam in the morning! Are you tired yet, because I sure was!

4 Countries. 1 Week.

*The pictures are from the Carriage house, Dachau, Marienplatz Clock, and the Roman Bath House in Verona.




Free falling just came on my iPod while flying home to Verona (Well, first to Milan, but home to Italy nonetheless)> Funny song to come on during a flight, but thanks to KLM (who puts RyanAir to shame), I'm not worried one bit sitting here eating my inflight meal. Free falling made me think of some camp friends, who I can't wait to see once I get back in the states! I am excited to see one of them, Jenna, in Rome in a couple of weeks. Now, onto the life update. (I know every one of you reading this has been checking at least 14 times a day to see when I would actually update this silly thing). Whelp, here it goes. I've got to back up a lot. Let's see if I can remember it all.

My first final went well and I"m anxiously awaiting my grade. Wouldn't it be nice to get an A for three weeks of work! I asked Martin when we usually get our grades and he said Tony (our professor) gets them in by May...hmmm a long time to wait. I'm not wasting any time thinking about it though; I've got too many things to see and do. After our final exam, Martin took us around Verona again. I look forward to anything Martin wants to show us because it is NEVER boring. This time on the tour, he took us to the Duomo of Verona. It actually isn't THE largest church in Verona, but because it was for so long, it still gets the title. Before going inside, in true Martin fashion, we got our history on. He took us to the first Christian church (I can't remember if it was the first Christian church ever, or just the first in the HRE {Holy Roman Empire}, but I'm guessing the later). He also showed us an old Roman bath house. It is now a nunnery. And judging by the wine bottles in the windows, these nuns like to booze. The courtyard of the nunnery was the bathhouse. It still has all the columns surrounding it and the tile is there as well. There are actually quite a lot of Roman artifacts let by the empire in Verona, something I had no idea about until I got here. Martin, he's the best. After our tour of the Duomo, which also included more Roman artifacts (a few tombs, some tile, the usual), Martin treated us to pizza. It was a nice little celebration to the end of our first painstakingly difficult course (enter sarcastic tone here). After a stop to Patagonia, my favorite gelato place in town, we were headed back home to pack for our next trip.

Friday morning we all piled in the limo (charter bus) and headed through the Alps to Munich. What a beautiful drive! It was quite an incredible sight those Alps! Two stops and one kit-kat mcflurry later, we arrived at the North Pole. Just jokes, it only felt like the North Pole, but H-E-L-L-O chilly Munich. Martin took us on a quick walking tour so we could get a feel for the city we were in. One thing I really like about Martin is that he is very good about making sure we know where we are and how to get home to where we're staying. At the end of our little tour, he showed us the Hofbrauhaus. This world famous beer hall in Munich was a unique experience. Let me set it up for you. A huge open space filled with large tables (and even bigger beers) and german music playing by a band dressed up as yodlers. We got our beer, our dinners, had our laughs, and headed home for the night. Did I mention the ground was covered in snow? Yup. I'm not complaining however; anytime I get to break out the bean boots, it's a good (and comfy) day.

Saturday morning in Munich: We ate our breakfast in the hotel, a perk of traveling with Martin, and headed out to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp. It was a very interesting experience. I can't believe that people are capable of doing such horrible things to other people. I think it was good to see and made everyone in our group think about what had happened, especially because it didn't happen THAT long ago. After leaving Dachau, we grabbed lunch on our own and I treated myself to my first Starbucks of the trip. Haven't found one with crumb cake yet, but the hunt continues. We met back up with Martin and because of the balmy 18 degrees and snowy weather, we did our city tour from the bus. Munich was a lot more modern than I expected. I like it, and like many European cities, easy to get around. I especially like the large open "walking streets' that only pedestrians are allowed on. American, get with the program. That night we ventured to another beer hall for dinner. This one was a little smaller but just as much fun! Afterward, we decided it was finally time to test out our first European discotecta, or club. Without going into all the details (you're welcome, mother), tequilla was a flowing and so were the dance moves. I totally abided by all sorot rules...

The next morning, which was extremely too early for our discotecta butts to be out of bed, we headed to the Nymphenburg palace and park. It was built as a present from the king to his wife as a thank you for giving him a son. What ever happened to a hug and a kis and I'll tell ya I love you? Anyway, it was grand and the carriages these people had were nuts. After the palace, it was time for a kebob. These are very popular all around Europe, but especially in Munich. We learned that this is because of the huge Turkish population in Munich. (Athens folk: Think Pita Pit but waaaay better) And then to Marienplatz to watch the clock...? Yes, this is THE thing to see in Munich. It is in the middle of the 'walking street.' We weren't sure the clock was going to do it's thing being a Sunday, but with the number of people around, we knew we were in the right place. That night it was time to really emerge ourselves in German culture. Party of 27 at the Hard Rock Cafe. Absolutely. It was a nice touch of home. Except for the ice cream. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I've ever eaten bad chocolate ice cream, but damn you Italia and your gelato. Others just don't compare any more. Dinner was great fun, and having the entire group together is always nice. The next morning we were leaving for Salzburg and someone needed to pack up her suitcase. (and by pack I mean sit on it my suitcase and pray that it zips). My suitcase zipped (barely) and it was off to Salzburg!

Remember that time it snowed in Verona...

Well, it's Wednesday here, and our final part un is this afternoon. I'm feeling pretty good about it, so I figured I'd update my blog a little bit. It is currently snowing in Verona and it is supposed to continue all day and all night. If we get a lot of accumulation, it is going to be really difficult to not go play in it. This snow has the potential to make our lunch date with Martin tomorrow a little difficult. If only we were in Athens, school would most definitely be cancelled. Inspired by Katie's random letters, I've decided to post a few random thoughts I have of Italian/European/American culture and about my experiences here thus far:

1. Italy-I don't understand why you have free healthcare but make people pay to use the bathroom. Obama, please don't adopt this crazy phenomenon. Also, thank you for putting most of your signs in English. Presh....

2. Italian Peanut Butter-You could run, but could not hide from the wrath of Tess and Allison. Sorry I'm not sorry, Migros, for the spike in peanut butter sales.

3. To the French Gypsy's-Please don't try and set us on fire. We're smarter than to give you money. And when you ask us, "Do you speak English..." If we didn't, then why we would answer you with a firm NO. C'mon now...

4. Paris-Until we meet again. I will be back.

5. America-Take a hint from Paris and design your cities as well as Paris did. It makes so much sense. Marta, you are not smart-a. Also, please adopt public transportation. I can get around without a car just fine...(Mom and Dad, that does not mean I do not want my CRV) On a side note, thank you, Georgia, for Chick-fil-A. I miss you.

6. Tess, Katie, Kari, Brooke, Cameron, David, Sammy, Burak: Thanks for being such fun travel buddies. If our hostel is gross and we don't shower for days, at least I have ya'll to laugh with.

That's all the random thoughts for now. I will take pictures of the snow and post later. We are leaving for Munich on Friday and will be there until Monday when we head to Salzburg, Austria. It is going to be very cold/snowy/rainy the whole time. That will not stop my frolicking and singing, "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE, WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC." (i apologize in advance for any of you who have to witness this)

Remember that time I fell in love with Paris...

You know that our travels went well, so here's the rest about our fabulous trip to Paris. We arrived Thursday night and met tons of Americans on the bus to the center of town. We took a taxi to our hostel, The Three Ducks, and checked in. We knew it was too late and we were too tired to try and figure out the metro station and a taxi was way easier. There were nine of us and we had a 'dorm' style room for 10 people. There was not a random 10th person, thank goodness. We knew it wasn't going to be a spectacular hostel, but the location was great, and the price was great (even for Paris). But it was a little worse than we expected. Never let the boys do the research again...So, I bought my sheets (a sometimes common thing among hostels) and sucked it up. There was a bar in the hostel that doubled as the reception desk and we decided to have a much needed drink. The next day we were headed out to explore Paris!

We woke up, didn't shower (how about didn't shower the entire weekend), and headed to Angelina. Brooke, one of the girls in our travel group, had a friend who had spent a lot of time in Paris who wrote out a bunch of things we should do/see/eat/etc. Angelina is where Coco Channel drank this hot chocolate drink every day. I had a ham, cheese, and mushroom omlet. It was delicious. When I went to college I started eating eggs, and now I've started eating mushrooms in Italy...Back to the hot chocolate. It was delicious!


After our extremely filling meal, we walked around to see what we would find. We headed towards the Louvre (knowing we were going there that night) and headed down to the Arc to Triumph. We stumbled upon the DIOR fashion show that was just letting out. It was something like fashion week in Paris...? Some of the best people watching ever. It was a great walk down the Champs Elysees (one of the most famous streets in the world) and very windy and cold. The Arc was incredible and so big! Some of the group headed off to shop, and the rest of us grabbed a snack and headed back towards the Louvre.


The Louvre was incredible. What a fantastic place. I bought my headset and started the journey. I enjoyed every minute of it. Seeing the Mona Lisa and all of the other famous things there was a really great experience. We grabbed a quick bite and headed back to the Three Ducks. We got ourselves ready to see what Paris night life had to offer. And Frog and Princess was the happening place. It was fun, almost as many Americans as French people, and they played American music.


Saturday, we got ourselves ready for THE Eiffel Tower. Sink shower once again and then we were off! I really liked going to the top. It was like looking out the window of an airplane. I was very happy the highest we could go was enclosed-it was freezing and windy. From the top we were able to see everything; even some of the 'other' statues of liberty. We were practically frozen afterwards, so a cup of coffee (tea for me) and some crepes were next up on the list of things to do.

We wanted to hit one more museum, the Musee de Orsy. But, when we got there, it was closed. I was a little bummed out, but decided I'll just have to come back to Paris one day. For dinner, we went to the Moulin Rouge district to try a foundu restaurant. They served wine in baby bottles and we had a great evening there! I really, really, really enjoyed my weekend in Paris. I like how organized the city it. It just makes sense to me. The metro station is practical and easy to use, there is so much to do, and the people are quite friendly (surprisingly).

Today (Monday), we started reviewing for our final that starts on Wednesday. It is a two-part exam that starts Wednesday afternoon and then the essay is Thursday morning. (Yes, we actually do take classes over here...) I definitely have some studying to do, but I'm not terribly worried about this exam. Katie Hardaway and I had gone to different places this weekend (she went to Belgium) so we decided to grab lunch. It was great to catch up!

Remember that time I didn't update my blog in FOREVER...

Well, it's Sunday now and it's been almost a week since my last update. And for good reason. Last week was super busy. We only had 3 days of school, but we had other things on our schedule.
First being the city tour of Verona. We were supposed to do this when we first arrived, but it had been such yucky weather that we waited. Martin, our trip coordinator, is full of knowledge. He led us around and we got a better feel of the history of our home. We went inside the arena and to the top of the belltower. We also went to Juliet's house. (From Romeo and Juliet) If you a leave a note to Juliet on her wall, rumor has it that she will write you back. It was interesting to see all the letters on the wall. After Martin left us, we had lunch at a great little Bar, I think my new regular hangout, and got gelato from the best place in town, Patagonia. I went with the double scoop and it was well worth it!
Wednesday we finished class early and headed to Venice for the day. It was cold and there was a chance of rain. But we trecked there anyway. I'm sure if it had been a nicer day, I would have enjoyed Venice much more. However, it didn't live up to my expections or the hype that everyone puts on it. We toured the Doge palace and almost got kicked out. The Doge was the governmnet leader of Venice and his palace is incredible. There is a very lengthly selection process to the Doge and once he is elected, he has to live by himself in the palace and cannot communicate with anyone expect for at state affairs. This was to make sure every decision he made came from him. Martin was giving us the history lesson and pointing out interesting things to us when the trouble started. First, we got yelled at because we were taking pictures. Fine, no big deal, cameras put away. Then, in the next room we came to, the 'security' said Martin could not explain things to us. Whatever, we got away from her and entered the next part of the palace. Just as Martin was begining to talk, 'head of security' started yelling at him to stop. There were some words exchanged in Italian and I think it was best that we didn't know what was being said. Anyway, from then on we had security following us. It was like we were VIPs...
After Martin left us with money to get back to Verona with, we had a girls dinner. I've come to the conclusion that meal times are most difficult for us. It usually includes soem wandering, some "I don't want to eat here." or "It looks too fancy" before we finally settle on a place. The boys are the most difficult. They eat about 5 sandwiches a day and could care less where we eat meals. So, us girls have started looking for places on our own, while the boys grab a sandwhich and eat standing up. Then, they usually come to our restaurant and hang around our table finishing the leftovers. In Venice we found a great little place for some pasta and pizza before heading for the train.
The train took a little longer than expected and we were worried about being able to get ready to go out for "Crazy Wednesday" at our local bar, Campus Bar. After sprinting through the rain and then having our train 'cancelled' it was getting late. Once we finally did get back to Verona, we jumped on the wrong bus. FAIL. So, we get off at a random stop (don't worry parentals, Verona isn't THAT big and it is not dangerous) and try to call for a taxi. We find some young folk on the street and ask for their help. They said that taxis will only come to the next street over. So we follow the dudes and where do we end up. Campus Bar. We die in laughter. Some of the group decided to bail and head for home, but Tess had plans to meet up with her new Italian friends and some of decided to stay too. After being in Venice all day and getting stuck in the rain, we looked a hot mess. It was a fun evening and we had the next day to sleep in.
On Thursday, we headed to Paris at around 2 in the afternoon. I played travel agent and had all of our logistics figured out and was very thankful that it all worked out and things went very smoothly. I am going to have to update on Paris tomorrow. Too tired after such an awesome weekend! Let me just say though, I LOVE PARIS.

Remember that time we got off at the wrong train station...

We woke up kind of late on Saturday so Katie, Tess, and I met up with the boys in Il Campo, just a short walk from our hotel. We ate some cold pizza and really bad, flat soda. All was good...we were sitting in the middle of Campo, so it couldn't be that bad. It was also a nice 55 or 60 degrees. Il Campo is the center of town. I would describe it as the center park, except the grass is in the form of bricks. There were families around and everyone was just hanging out, doing a whole lot of nothing. We hung out there for a little while until the boys came to meet us. We decided on the Duomo and headed that way. I was impressed just on the outside and could not even imagine what the inside was going to be like. There was a violin player outside and she was playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." We all stopped and had a listen. It made us miss America for a few minutes.

Once we stepped inside, I think we were all speechless. Just the size of the building is incredible. As with a lot of buildings that have been here for so long, I wonder how long it must haven taken to build these enormous creations. A little bit of history about this Duomo for ya: It was finished in two stages, one at the end of the 13th century and on at the end of the 14th. The Duomo is most famous for it's marble floors. They are almost all roped off and the places where you can walk, is usually covered. It's stained glass is the oldest in Italy, finished in 1288. The Sienese people wanted to make it even bigger and they had the plans to go with it. Unfortunately, the Black Death struck, and what would have been the largest church in the world was not completed. What they started is still there in the form of a few walls that are now worked into other buildings.

After the Duomo, Tess got her card stuck in an ATM, we dealt with that situation, and then the obvious choice was to get some Gelato. I tried the mint chocolate chip...not too shabby, Siena, not too shabby. Then, we set off to find the Botanical Gardens and see some views. We found the gardens, but they were closed (we think) and ran into the other group. On the way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, Katie, Tess, and I decided to get a little appetizer in the form of cheese and crackers. The woman in the cheese shop knew zero english so it was interesting to say the least, but she did pick out some fantastic cheese for us.

For dinner, we ate in Il Campo. I had the calzone pizza and it was huge and delicious. As always, giggles were all around and we decided to find a bar to hang out in. We found one, hung for a little bit, ventured to another one, and then called it a night. In the morning, Tess, Katie, and I climbed the Bell Tower. It was fun (the 400 stairs were nothing) and a great view at the top. It was pretty windy so it scared me a little bit, but it was so fun and so worth it.

We took off to the train station once we came down because we knew there would be a full day of getting back to Verona ahead of us. Some of us were going to risk getting on the bus without a ticket because they rarely check. But we're glad we didn't because for the first time, they did come around and check our tickets. At the train station I treated myself to chocolate croissant. (yeah right, this is no treat, it is the norm for me now) We were on our way and this is where the adventures start.

In Empolia (aka...the worst train station ever), we missed our train to Pisa. Oops. However, the nice man from the first train, who even kindly (or not so kindly) asked us not to put our feet on the chairs, told us how to get back on track. (get it..track/train/ehh whatever) He joked with us about Americans and gave us a hard time in good fun. Because of this little setback, we were going to have to book it to get our tickets in Lucca to get us back to Verona. We had about 10 minutes for all 10 of us to get tickets and get on the train. However, this little setback allowed us a longer time in Pisa. So, naturally, we went to see the tower...just jokes, we didn't have that long, so we went to McDonalds. It was great and just what we all needed. We were sitting there, some us eating the McItaly, and we see some college-age Americans walk by. And who do I see, Meredith Streppa, a girl I went to high school with. CRAZY. Shout to Marg...I think I now rival you for knowing and seeing people everywhere. Meredith is studying in Switzerland and had spent the weekend in Florence. I was shocked to see someone I knew in Pisa, Italy.

So on to the next train station to switch trains. We were headed for Porta. As the first four of us were getting off of the train, the doors shut, leaving the other six still on the train. So there we were, Cameron, Kari, David, and I at the train station while the others were stuck on the train. At first, I thought we were at the correct place and the others were going to have to come back to us. But little did we know, that we were at the wrong place. Katie called me and we started to figure it all out. The station that we were supposed to be at was the next one down and it takes about two minutes to get there. So we looked up when the next train was and Katie looked up when our train was leaving the correct station. The next train that would take us to the correct Porta was about 10 minutes away and would get us there at 3:40. 3:40 was also the time our next train was leaving. STRESSFUL. So, we boarded the train, hoping we would get in any bit early. We didn't even sit down. As we were pulling in to the station, we saw the rest of the 10 on the completely opposite side of the platforms. (Typical Sammy had his camera out to catch us running for our lives while Tess and Katie were frantic) We contemplated running on the tracks, but decided to take the underground route as directed. I've never run so fast in my life. And we all made it! As the last person was getting on, the doors were shutting. The reunion between the two groups was like we hadn't seen each other in years. And, we captured it all on video.

After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing home to Verona. After a long weekend of walking, seeing the sights, and laughing the whole way, it was awesome to be back in the 704. What really hit me was when we got off the train in Verona, almost all of us said, "We're Home!" Yes, Verona, Italia is my home for right now and we confidently knew what bus to get on and how to get 'home' to the residence.

This week, we are taking a city tour of our 'home,' Verona and then Venice. Oh, and class is mixed in there as well. I'm excited to see Juliet's house and the wall of letters to Juliet. (Shout-out to Claire...see if you can find the book that is about all the letters that are written to Juliet. I want to read it when I get home!)

This morning Katie S. and I had quite the adventure at the dry cleaners. A zipper on a pair of jeans of mine broke and I wanted to see if the dry cleaners could fix it. HUGE language barrier. I'm still not sure if she is fixing it or not, but I know whatever she does to it, it will be ready on Thursday. We'll just have to see how that works out. Then we ventured to Migros, the other grocery store that I had not been to yet. It is so much better than the other grocery store and I picked up some essentials for the week.

Thanks everyone for following! Wish you all could be here with me.