We are the tasters, the very bad tasters!

My camp in Milan just ended which is really sad. I know the kids could drive me up a wall sometimes but I love them so much and could see they learned a lot. I am truly sad that I will be leaving tomorrow for Bologna and Monday for America after what 6 months?! AHH!

Last night, the other tutors and I went to this place in Sesto called Carroponte (spelled wrong...) which used to be an industrial hanger and has been converted into an outside stage. It was so incredibly cool! People just hung around in hammocks and drank and listened to music. It was so cool. We stayed literally until they kicked us out, shared some laughs, did some handstands in skirts, and just literally got to know each other better. It was seriously the coolest hang out place I have seen in Italy.

One of the other nights, which is now fuzzy in my head as it has been a while, we went to this diner style bar called Blow. We played Taboo and drank delicious banana coconut drinks. We were so obviously not Italian haha. Luckily this place was in Sesto and much easier to get to and from. I miss those tutors. I see Tania sometimes around campus but we haven't really caught up lately :( Oh well, it'll happen eventually.

Oh! So we did this play with the kids (hence the title of this post) that we wrote about chefs, tasters, and princesses. Davide's dad made me a copy of it which is great because whenever I want to see my kids I can just pop it in my computer and watch. Ask me to show you it. Because it is so cute.

This post was meant to be posted/finished months ago but I guess late is better than never!

As it draws towards a close...

I was so hating on Bologna for a while. That one post I had where I listed why I hate cities... yeah well I guess because it's now beautiful out and fun to wander around the city, I have decided I am actually going to miss it here. I mean, it can never replace how much I love grass and nature and whatnot but there is a culture and a freedom that I will absolutely miss. I wanted to write a post reflecting on my experience here. Things I have learned about the world, about Europe, about people, about America, about myself... but I feel like that's more of a conversation. I might touch on some of it but we will see. I apologize for the incoherent babble that is about to take place... welcome to the wonderful world of Heather's brain...

May 25- Literally I am sitting on my couch with the windows open and there is an accordion playing and a random trumpet jumping in occasionally... what is my life?! I will miss this. The city finally gains some life and we are leaving? How is that fair? Granted I shouldn't complain... I am in Europe for another month... but still! I am not ready to say goodbye to this place, this food, these people! All I know is that I want to come back. To Europe at the very least, but there is just something infectious about the Italians. Their passion and their love of life is beautiful. It isn't just them though. I mean I found that in the Croatians, Belgians, and Irish as well.

June 16- I left Bologna a little over 2 weeks ago and have spent the time since in Belgium, Amsterdam, and Milan. Being in Milan has been a strange experience because I only speak English with the kids but they speak Italian to me so my understanding continues to grow while my speaking stays the same, or even decreases a little. I don't want to leave but this job is so tiring. In a good way though. And I may even be staying a little longer as I might Au Pair... :)

June 19- Okay scratch the Au pair thing... I decided I wanted to see people and play soccer for the summer. Plus the family I wanted needs me the end of July which means I wouldn't go home... sad. Maybe I could come back? I haven't even left and I am talking about coming back... think I am hooked? Yes.

July 1- Back in America, spent one day in Jersey, headed to Creation, back to Jersey today and tomorrow to Cape Cod... it's so weird to be back. Surrounded by English, not having to translate in my head before asking something (which I keep doing...), and not actually being home yet... so tired. Time to finally post this one!

We are Sesto, Mighty Mighty Sesto!

I am currently working in Milan at an Alice in Citta English Summer Camp.

Oh my gosh, I am so incredibly lucky. The family I live with is so unbelievably sweet and helpful. They gave me the sons room, offer me EVERYTHING, and want me to do my own thing. The mom's only request was that I speak English with the kids, which of course I can do being that I speak english :P

The mom, Elisabetta, not only picked me up from the train in her car, but she waited 2 hours for me there because I messed up the times. I felt awful but she didn't care and just went window shopping or something. Then she told me about her epic life. She was a photographer for musical artists and music magazines. She has been to some amazing concerts. After she retired from that, she got super involved in her husband's law business (he is a lawyer...duh), runs a household with two kids, and literally does everything she can to make Sesto San Giovanni a better town, especially the schools. You should hear the things she and the other moms have accomplished. Seriously amazing.

The dad, Andrea, is a lawyer for building contracts, I think that's what it was although I don't really understand the kinds of lawyers so I could be completely off. Anyway, he also loves music. He has like 5 different guitars and plays SOOOO well. Also, he runs... and we went running in this massive park by the house and I got completely lost... so we ran an extra 15 minutes, me trying to find where we parked, and him trying to find me.... fail. I felt SO bad, but it was ok in the end.

Anita :)

The kids are too adorable for words I can't even express it. Anita, the one in my group for the camp, is 8 and such an artist in every way. From a creative mind and free spirit, to a spacey demeanor and hyperactive personality. I love her. She does drive me crazy at the camp though because she does her own thing and NEVER listens but kids are kids right? She is so talented, although she takes forever to finish any art project, she is really talented, which makes sense because her grandmother was a fashion designer, her aunt is a famous sculpture and apparently her dad can draw too. In regards to English, she is really good at it, when she wants to be. Otherwise, she can't understand a word. Again, that artsy side of her comes through :P

Francesco is the son and is only 6 so no English camp for him :( BUT he is tooo cute. I will definitely get a picture of him eventually. Woah that sounded not the way I meant it to... awkward. He doesn't know much English but he is so cute and loves to ask me how to say things and when in doubt he just says hello or makes faces. My italian continues to get better the more I listen to the kids in the house and in the camp but I am not allowed to act like I understand with the kids in the camp... although they suspect I know what they say, or at least mostly. Also, the building my family lives in has a bunch of the other kids from the camp as well as some extra kids and two of the other tutors live their as well. We tend to play soccer in the garden out back or just hang out and listen as Tom (another tutor) plays his ukulele. 

Now for the camp. I SURVIVED A WEEK! I have 9 kids I am in charge of and about two of them are really strong in English for their age, maybe not always speaking but they understand everything. Now I have learned that kids are kids everywhere, but the whole language barrier makes it a little more difficult to teach them. I mean they are so intelligent when they understand and I can really see a lot of talent in them. A quick rundown of the camp and the campers:

The day starts with a welcome of games and songs, then a lesson (story, art, games, whatever- the point is to teach some new words), then a break, then drama and "my kitchen" where they write and draw new words on these cards and put them in a box they made, the lunch, break (for us as well thank God), then art, sport and home for the kids, but meeting for the tutors.

Our group is called Pizza, because the camp theme is Sesto's Magical Kitchen.

We have all of these chants and motions to teach the kids some new words. It is actually really fun and randomly they start singing them which is fun :)  and sometimes annoying :P

Kids: (Mine)

Anita- host family's daughter. She is so talented. I wish I could show you some of the things she has done. She is wayyy better than me... awkwards

Filippo- he hosts one of the other tutors, Macy, and is solid in English. the other kids always ask him to translate stuff to me or from me. he is too sweet and has the best heart. Probably one of my favorite kids :)

Davide- he is a trouble maker but I can't help but adore him. he has a secret gift in art and i hope he continues because he is pretty good and enjoys painting a lot. the reason i say secret is because he is more of an athlete, and one of the "cool" kids. he never shuts up tho...

Luca- Davide's partner in crime when it comes to trouble making. i want to slap him so often... but he is a good kid. He lives in my building and hosts Maira (an Irish girl who is a tutor) and is a total soccer freak. which means we get along in that respect. the thing is he doesn't know a lot of english... or understand much. but as the week has gone on he has seriously learned a lot. he even tries to speak in English to me now! :)

the kids! minus valerio

Norah- this girl is too cute. She is so little and always sits a certain way. her dad is from New Zealand so she understands a lot, but she is super shy and quiet so she doesn't speak a lot, but she loves to be first in line and hold my hand. She makes me smile.

Noa- Also a cutie, she is best friends with Olivia (soon to be mentioned) and always has Olivia's shoes on, sometimes only one... they like to switch. her english is really good as well and she is just one of those kids you wish you were friends with... if that makes sense being that I am much older... i don't know she is just great. Always smiling.

Olivia- curly hair and the cutest head bands in the world. This one makes me laugh SO much. Her english is also the next best after Filippo. I guess I associate Olivia and Noa as those girls always jumping around, hugging, jump roping, skipping, etc. I can't really capture them in words which is sad, but I adore them so much.

Valerio- so quiet. He is adorable with his glasses and fashionable, but nerdy clothing. It's so great. I think he has a crush on Anita :P He is either super involved in the activities or kind of reserved. Another shy one but super smart. I think he needs more confidence but when he tries he is so great in English. Not the most athletic or artistic, maybe a musician? who knows.

Maria Sofia- I don't know how to explain her. Kind of loud but also quiet sometimes. She has a little bit of an attitude when she is unhappy but honestly who doesn't? She apparently has a thing with this kid Lorenzo... which i learned today in a park during lunch after a visit to the museum of natural history in milan.

The kids are so cute. They always show me their plate when they are done eating to make sure it is ok they didn't eat everything or to show that they ate it all. They get two course and a desert, as do i, and it's pretty good. Also, they love art. I don't know what it is, but painting and collaging, and coloring, are all things they can't resist. 

As for my other tutors, Tom is from outside London, Maira is from Ireland, Tania if from NYC/Dickinson (weird I know), and Macy is from Houston, Texas. With only five of us we have spent a ton of time together and gotten pretty close. :) We are also guided by two Italians, our Coordinator Federica and our assistant Francesca. They literally rock. So helpful and creative. Federica is super strong in Drama and Francesca in games/sports. Which is perfect because it helps us in the two areas we struggle in. 

Anyway, this is super long... so I will leave it at that. They have started to show that they are learning which is encouraging and we only have one more week! WOOO

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was surprisingly cool. Maybe it was because I went with a friend who knows the city (Wouter, yeah I know I saw him AGAIN?! crazy.) or maybe it is because Amsterdam is just an awesome place to go. It's beautiful even in the rain and has several canals. I don't know. I just liked it a lot.

So, after Bologna ended (sad) I headed to Belgium to stay with Andrej until I had to go to Milan for training for the English Camp I am currently working at. I had decided earlier to see if Wouter wanted to go to Amsterdam with me (otherwise I wasn't going to go because it wasn't one of my top choices) and when he (surprisingly) said he wanted to go I got super excited! The first day we were there we just walked around the city and it was absolutely beautiful out. I couldn't believe it.

Beautiful right?

We hung out in a park, took some pictures, saw some famous woman and her daughter, ate fish and chips (which rocked), saw the famous sign, went to the famous grocery store, and Wouter showed me all the fun facts about Amsterdam. Then we went to his friends house where we were staying and I met some of her friends. And I also got to see some old familiar faces :) Jeroen and Frank were there too! It was so nice to see them, to meet Jeroen's girlfriend (our host) and his cousin as well as some other Dutch people :) Oh and I do NOT speak any Dutch so, as I have come accustomed to doing, just read the way people said things when they weren't speaking English and tried my best to keep up. I actually like Dutch. (I say this about every language now I think...) When spoken "normally" it can be kind of beautiful. Not in the typical way, but in its own way. I want to learn it... ugh I want to learn every language.

The next morning we headed out to the Red Light District because we totally skipped it the night before, and at 10 am it's not too raunchy... although one guy said something very awkward to me... anyway, after that I said goodbye to Wouter and headed to the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijk's Museum both of which had really amazing collections. Then I went back to Belgium.

This post is terrible. I am sorry about that, but what made this trip great was the conversations and the atmosphere/city itself. That can't be captured in a post. If you want to hear more about it, ask :)

Hvratska

Whoever said Croatia is Europe's hidden treasure was so right. I guess I am a little biased because I got the insiders tour of the north part from a Croatian but hey, it just means I got a taste of the real place. If you haven't guessed by now I went with Andrej and we stayed at his house in Rijeka. It was so cool to get a glimpse of where he grew up and to meet his family and friends, literally all of them (except Dino, if I spelled his name right).


Anyway, I took the train to Trieste where I met Andrej and his dad and we drove through Slovenia (where my passport was stamped! YEAH!) and into Croatia. If the borders were as easy to cross into America... I don't even know what chaos would ensue... but now that I have gotten a little of topic (at least in my brain) lets continue. So Andrej's dad dropped us off where Andrej grew up and we met up with his mom and her husband. I also met his mom's parents who live in the downstairs of the house. Andrej's grandfather (who speaks Croatian, German, English, and Italian) started talking to me in Italian... I failed miserably but it's ok. Oh and his wife speaks Russian and Croatian. Impressive right? After a brief time together Andrej's parents headed to their house and Andrej and I passed out (ok we talked and stuff until like 3 but that's ok).

yeah you know that looks great

The next day we got up fairly early and went around Kvarner (the area where Rijeka is), got lunch at this great restaurant with a view in Kastav, took a ferry and ended up on Cres (one of the large islands in the sea by Rijeka). Okay, I can't just graze over that lunch because it was amazingggg! Basically we ordered the mixed meats platter for two and it was perfect. But don't take my word for it, here's a visual :) 
The original plan involved swimming and hiking but due to the time, freezing temperature of the water, and purely wanting to soak in the atmosphere, we ended but just hanging out in the actual city of Cres. Basically we laid around on the beach, did some gymnastics (rather I did some handstands and cartwheels), and got some yummy ice cream bars (and mine definitely won the best ice cream of the two award) before taking the ferry back to Rijeka. I think this was the night we decided to watch a movie... and choose the Hangover because neither of us had seen it. No offense to anyone who likes that movie but it is horrible...


Now this next day was unreal, but before I get to the main place we went I want to throw in that we headed inland from the sea and bam! Mountains! Beautiful, tall, mountains. On the way to our main objective of the day, we stopped at this cute little cabin to have lunch with Andrej's dad's parents. They speak no English, no Italian, only Croatian... let's just say poor Andrej became the translator. However, we were still able to communicate fairly well. His grandmother even remembered me from when she came the America to take care of Andrej while his parents were away. Weird right? They were so sweet though.

NOW for the main attraction of the day: Nacionalni park Plitvička jezera (or in english Plitvice Lakes National Park). This place is so incredibly beautiful. Take the rainforest feel of Costa Rica and mix that with the Mediterranean and perfectly clear water, waterfalls everywhere, and rainbows and that's sort of like what this place is like. I originally found out about it from this list of 40 places you have to see before you die (Number 16  http://www.boredpanda.com/amazing-places-to-see-before-you-die/) And for some more visuals...

I would recommend that anyone who can get here, GO. It is so cool. You walk around, under, and along the waterfalls (that are literally everywhere) on these flattened wood log walkways, some of which are covered in water. Oh! And the water is completely clear. It almost looks like there isn't any. For more pictures go on Facebook. I have so many.
Here is the website http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/hrv/ to the park. Check it out!

When we got back to Rijeka from the epic day in the National Park, we stopped and got some food (some stew thingy which was really good). Then we called it a night.

The next day we got lunch with Andrej's mom and her husband which was grilled meat. YUM. That stuff was great. Although the honey flavored liquor at the end was rough... After that we took a drive around the bay (i think that's what you call the area, regardless it was Kvarner) and went to this cool look out on the top of the hill. We walked around, took some pictures, and got coffee while watching and narrating a sailboat race. Then we went to a beach close by and just enjoyed the day. It was nice because right when we were about to leave we got to hear this really cool Croatian band. The style of music is like a mixture of Hawaiian and barber shop quartet (yeah figure that one out :P). Then that night Andrej and I headed over to Matija's (Andrej's friend) house to watch the Chelsea-Munich game. After Chelsea won, (WOO) there was an epic jam session since they are all musicans. Oh, it was most of Andrej's closest friends. I won't even try to spell their names... but there were three of them, Andrej, and me. It was a lot of fun.

The next day, we got up and I got a tour of Rijeka's city center, where Andrej went to high school, etc. Then we picked up Matija and drove to a lake where we took some photos, I caught a frog and then freaked out because I thought it was poisonous for a second, climbed a hill with weird wood structures, and hung out. Then we headed back because Andrej and I had a lunch scheduled with his dad and family. We had grilled fish and it was so tasty! Oh and it was Dodo's birthday :) (their doggy) I actually really liked the fish too. Complicated to clean since I hadn't done so before but luckily Andrej took pitty on me and did it for me after I struggled for a while. Before heading back to pack so I could catch a night train back to Bologna, we went up to this fort on the hill which gave a nice overview of the city. Totally worth it.


I seriously loved Croatia and by the end I understand why people don't want to work their. It's just too beautiful to do work! I was also learning a lot of the language pretty quickly although I am always so afraid of pronouncing things wrong... but hey it's ok. I'll get there. Now I need to convince my family to go visit :)

The 5..err... I mean 3 cities...Cinque Terre

Sadly this awesome trip was cut short by a stupid train strike, but more on that adventure later.

Cinque Terre was a different experience for me. I mean besides being an Italian city on the coast and another awesome place I traveled to, this trip was focused on relaxing and just soaking in the atmosphere (and the sun, as my burned body can attest to) rather than site seeing. Also, this was the first trip that I went on with a different group of Dickinson students. Now, not that I don't love everyone I have traveled with in the past but getting to spend some time with different people, by choice, was really nice and we had an awesome time. For those of you who don't know what the Cinque Terre is, its the north western coast of Italy in the region called Liguria (where Genova is) and is a set of 5 towns connected by a walking path. The best part about this area is that it is only recently a tourist attraction (made popular by Rick Steves) and therefore retains a lot of it's sea side small town feel. http://maps.google.it/maps?hl=it&tab=wl see where it says Genova? Zoom in and when you see La Spezia, go to the coast, that's where the towns are. The five towns are (in order) Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. This past fall, the towns were damaged really badly by a landslide, in fact the only way to get between some of the towns now is the train. With that being said, let the adventure begin.

Riomaggiore

Most of us took the 6 am train to La Spezia and then to Riomaggiore and arrived around 10 am. We checked into our hostel (which with seven of us in a room kind of ended up giving us an apartment to ourselves, awesome!) The hostel was located in the center of Riomaggiore, or rather the main office was located there and the rooms were all over Riomaggiore, and we planned to stay Fri-Sun. So, after checking into the hostel, and while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive, we headed to the beach, which was all rocks. Big rocks, little rocks, funny shaped rocks, you get the idea... From sunbathing, to rock jumping, to swimming with the jellyfish, we just spent hours there and finally headed back to the hostel (now with the entire group) around 5 to shower and get dressed for dinner. Seafood of course! Apparently the specialties in Liguria are pesto, seafood, and foccacia. I had all of them and it was epic. After a fun filled dinner and being joined by another group of Dickinson students who happened to go when we did, we grabbed some wine, sweatshirts, and a guitar and headed to the beach to hang out and just enjoy the night. It was seriously an awesome experience.

getting lost in a vineyard is not so bad

After some much needed rest, we got up fairly early and planned to hike the 5 towns. Now remember how there was the landslide? Well, the easy paths between the 2nd town and the third as well as the paths from the 3rd to 4th to 5th were all closed, but the hard ones were open! Okay then, we walked the coastal path to town 2 (Manarola) and then followed the signs to the path for Corniglia, and headed straight uphill for a little over an hour when we reached a road. Now we had the choice to either take the road to the next town (between Manarola and Corniglia) or go up hill more into a vineyard where the path continued... we chose up. Strangely enough, after getting to the top of the mountain, in the middle of a vineyard, the path mysteriously disappeared... so we had to find our way through the vineyards. Okay freeze frame, we got lost, in a vineyard, in Italy, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, is my life even real? Anyway, after hoping some metal tracks, climbing under grape vines, going down random ladders, and finding the real path again, we made it out and to the next part of the path. The next part of the trail was flat which was nice and went through the woods. I swear it looked like the Adirondacks! Aka, I felt at home :) After an hour of that we spent an hour going downhill to Corniglia. Once there we grabbed some much needed lunch and decided that we were going to take the train to the fourth town, get gelato, and take the train to the fifth town and were going to swim there until we got tired and wanted to go back to Riomaggiore.


Sadly, when we got to the fourth town train station the rumors we had heard were confirmed... a train strike was going to take place from 9 pm that night until 9 pm Sunday night, aka if we didn't catch the next train out of Riomaggiore we would be stranded until Monday... I think we could have found a solution but the next train out was in an hour... and we had to pack and catch the train, if we missed it we were in trouble. Oh and we had no internet, no working ticket machines, and the desk people were NOT helpful so we had no time to find an alternative. So we ran back to the hostel then to the train station. We were really sad because we had paid for the second night, didn't see the last two towns, didn't get to go snorkeling (like we had planned), and dealt with some stressful situations rather than a relaxed time... but I think the trip was awesome regardless and I guess it means I just need to go back :)

Toscana

Dickinson did good. They took us to Monteriggioni, Siena, Piacenze, and Greve (along with some minor places along the way) but that's not even how they did awesome, it was the stories behind some of the places we went, Ben (our Art Historian pretend tour guide), and the overall experience of being in what I thought Italy was going to be like.

View from our window

1. We stayed in this ex-monastery (Sant' Anna in Camprena) that has become a refuge for travelers and those who want to escape reality for a while. Being there I can totally see why. The scenery was unbelievable and the atmosphere was perfect. For either a future anniversary or honeymoon or something I will go back with a significant other/husband, because that place is the closest thing I have experienced that can be called paradise. Oh, and on top of that, this place has a rule... if you stay there you have to stay at least 2 nights, but I mean, who would argue with that? Also, this is where they filmed parts of the movie "The English Patient" Fun Fact right? Oh and they fed us delicious food. As usual.

Mona Lisa View

2. We went and did a wine tasting at Villa Vignamaggio which also has some sweet stories about it. The Mona Lisa was originally painted there (yes by da Vinci) so the landscape was unreal and slightly familiar at the same time. Now the story behind Mona Lisa is pretty cool. So, some bandits owned this villa, but due to money issues the man was forced to sell it, and his daughter, Mona, to this other guy. Well the man she married decided to commission a painting by Leonardo da Vinci of his wife Mona and it is called in Italian "La Gioconda" because the husband's last name was Gioconda! Cool right? Also, the gardens behind the villa are where the movie "Much Ado About Nothing" by Kenneth Branagh was filmed. Pretty cool, especially since I have seen that movie! Another thing that was cool about this Villa was our tour guide/wine tasting leader. He and I are totally getting married. Handsome, knowledgeable, knows his wines, I think I am set :P (That was the joke of the day, every girl loves him)

Much Ado About Nothing Gardens

3. Siena had some incredible frescoes of good and bad government as well as an awesome panoramic view (that us history majors found) because the sign said down to exit, up for panoramic view, how much time do we have? none, ok RUN. (that was our decision process and we ran all the way up the winding stairs). However, what made Siena, and a lot of the educational parts of the trip great were Ben. He is a professor at Lewis and Clark College/University and Professor Davidson's Cousin. He knows so much about art history and the way he talks about it makes people want to know more. I don't know how to describe his style but in a nutshell, think about what your favorite teacher's style/qualities/knowledge/etc are and that's the feeling I get when I listen to Ben talk. I mean I have always liked art history, but he just makes it something so powerful and for lack of better words, cool.

I loved Tuscany. I hope I get the opportunity to go back someday. Thank you Dickinson, you did well. Without you I wouldn't have been able to get to most of the places we went.

The Emerald Island.

4 days. It took me four days to fall in love with the place. I only went to Dublin, Belfast, and the Giant's Causeway and fell in love. Unbelievable. Please play this song (and then the successive playlist of the same artist or play The Dubliners because they rock as well) while you read because it will put you in the perfect mood for my Irish shenanigans that will follow :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EPsuOEH1fY

Yeahhh buddy! Look at that 

The adventure started in Bologna where Ed and I took a train to Verona, then a bus to the airport, and then a plane to Dublin. When we FINALLY got there we were starved so we checked into our conveniently located hostel (literally a few minutes away from Trinity College and Temple Bar) and walked to a close pub called O'Neill's which turned out to be a famous pub. Win. We got our first Irish meal of Shepard's pie and a Guinness. Now that meal instantly hooked me on the country. I mean my mom makes a mean Shepherd's pie and this one stuffed me to the core with pure goodness.


Anyway, after getting our fill of yummy yummy food (and laying around in the pub for a little) we decided to explore the city a little and head out to Temple Bar (the bar district) where we went to THE Temple Bar, tried some cider, and then headed out to wander some more. We consumed some cookies, got into a club for free, and people watched like it was our job. I can't even describe this one white guy who was creeping on some girls from afar being mimicked by some asian guy. It was quite entertaining. Then we called it a night as we had a jam packed day the next morning.


Day 2 was even more hectic. We had a few things we wanted to see before catching a bus to Belfast, so we got up night and early and headed to Trinity College to check out the Book of Kells and some other really cool Illuminated Manuscripts. I was super excited when I found that they were in Dublin because my Art History class last semester talked about them. I love seeing a lot of the places and artworks that I have learned about because it's just so surreal. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed so I can't share the awesome, BUT the internet can! Enjoy: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/KellsFol034rChiRhoMonogram.jpg/220px-KellsFol034rChiRhoMonogram.jpg

After that we headed to the Guinness Storehouse to take the tour and get our free Guinness with admission. The museum is seriously cool. Lots of things to touch, very technologically advanced, and overall visually epic. I recommend people check it out if in Dublin. Also, the top definitely has the best view of Dublin in the city. OH! And you have the opportunity to try and pour your own, there is a waterfall inside, and the history of the beer is interesting in itself. When we were enjoying the view and drinking out beers at like noon, Ed and I both attempted to get foam mustaches... I failed. He however totally got it to work. Haha, very entertaining.


Time out. A note about our roommates in the hostel in Dublin. Two were from Australia (the girl was in Ireland for the Nationals of Irish Dancing...) and two Americans. Small world. They were all really nice. I guess that's all I wanted to say... awkward...


Then it was back to the Hostel, packing up, grabbing the Bus to Belfast and just enjoying the trip to Belfast.


Belfast. I really liked Belfast because it had that English influence that Boston has but is still very much Irish. When we finally arrived (the bus ride was about 2.5 hours or so) it was close to closing time for a lot of the places in Belfast which was not leaving us a lot of time to do things (everything closes by 5pm in Ireland...grrr). We checked in at our hostel and by the time we had done that mostly everything was closed so we just wandered around Belfast and grabbed some food. I had mashed potatoes and ham which was delicious as usual and we even got a dessert of vanilla ice cream with Bailey's on it. Then we wandered again. Belfast at night is really cool. Ed got some really sweet pictures and I wish I had brought my nice camera to say I have some of my own. Then we decided to head to sleep early because we had to be up really early for our Giant's Causeway Tour the next morning. Oh, first of all, the front desk guy was awesome. He knew a lot of interesting information and in general was chill to talk to. Although our first experience with him involved us not being allowed to bring Fish and Chips into the hostel... awkward, but afterwards he turned out to be awesome. Also, the two girls we shared a room with were from Spain. Let's just say it was fun listening to Ed and them speak Spanish, understanding generally what they were talking about and not being able to respond. Man, I wish I still took Spanish. Beautiful culture and language. Oh well.

There was one main thing in Northern Ireland I knew I had to do and that was the Giant's Causeway. Man was it worth every cent. Speaking of cents. Northern Ireland is in Sterling. Woo! New currencies. Threw me off again though having to convert all the prices to euros and dollars. But that's a different topic for later on. Giant's Causeway. We got onto this really nice bus, right outside our hostel (I know perfect planning), and traveled along the Coastal Causeway Road along the northeastern coast of Ireland where we made several stops. The first being Carricksfergus Castle. Basically for only picture taking opportunities but the Castle was cool looking, there was a Jack Sparrow statue, and it was raining. Then we headed further up the coast and the sun started to break through just as we got to the Carrick-a-rede Bridge. Now this bridge was built by Salmon fisherman to get across this crater? ditch? umm... cavern? anyway, the bridge is a rope bridge and kinda shaky.. and Ed is terrified of heights. BUT he was awesome, and crossed that sucker twice! I loved it. The views were also unbelievable. See?

After that we made a quick stop at Dunlace Castle and took some pictures of the ruins that were once a castle on a hill. From there we went to the Bushmill Distillery for lunch. The fish and chips were very yummy as was the rocky road bar thing I had for dessert. There was this woman who was traveling on the same tour as us and started asking me if I was getting good photos. After affirming that I was she told me she was a travel agent, her camera was dying, and was hoping I could send her the best of the day. So, when I returned to Bologna I emailed her a bunch of photos. Who knows? My photos may be used in her Atlanta, Georgia agency! Cool right?


Then FINALLY we reached the Giant's Causeway. This was one really cool place. The rocks are shaped like hexagons and they form this really sweet looking wave going out towards the ocean (which in the distance you can see an Island with 40 inhabitants and tons of Puffins :) and past that Scotland!). We climbed around taking pictures for about an hour and a half and Ed even found the wishing chair I couldn't find! I was mildly impressed :P

I feel like pictures are the only thing that do this place justice... so here are some!












After getting our fill of this awesome place (more photos are on facebook) we headed back to Belfast and went to sleep. The next morning we had to get up early again to try and fit in the things we wanted to do before heading back to Dublin.


We got up early enough to get to City Hall where we wandered around a little (we couldn't take the tour because it wasn't until later) and then headed towards the Titanic Museum which had just opened earlier in the month. I thought it was also really cool. A lot of different mediums and technologies were used. My only complaint would be that there were little to no actual artifacts. Just a lot of reconstructions which I guess makes sense. Really that's a nit-picky thing to bring up because there was so much information and some many interactive elements. I think my favorite one was the three dimensional room that took you on a tour of the ship or the room with the excavations of the ship. Overall, the museum was really well done. From there we headed back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, and caught the next bus to Dublin. We also accomplished (kinda) our goal of collecting all the sterling coins that made up the cool coat of arms on the back.


Now when we reached Dublin again, we had an epic race to see a few things before they closed and being that it was Friday, the times were even earlier. Our last day in Dublin was a whirlwind because as I have said, everything closes around 5, and being Friday everything closed by 4:45. Let’s just say we had almost no time at all to try and fit in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the National Library, plus we had to check in at our new hostel.  However, the champs that we are, we saw the Cathedral AND got into the Library AFTER it closed. Ed seriously has some persuasive abilities slash the man who worked there was super nice. Basically, we showed up 7 minutes after it closed, thinking that it closed at 5 not 4:45, and the guy told us they were closed and that we should come back tomorrow. We told him we were leaving on an early flight the next morning and couldn’t. So he said “fine, but we have to be quick!” It was awesome he acted like a tour guide and was telling us all the famous people that had read there and whatnot then ask if we wanted a picture so of course we said yes! He was awesome.

St. Patrick’s is worth mentioning because of its gorgeous stained glass, collection of old flags, and overall how beautiful it was. I wish we had more time in it.  After the Library (which was after the Cathedral), we checked out the Oscar Wilde house and statue, both which we just a quick look from the outside as the house is not open to the public and the statue is in a park. It was cool to know he lived there. If I get back to Ireland I would love to do the literary tour in Dublin and the music tour. They seemed really cool.

I want to go back. There is so much more to experience on that little island and I didn’t get to really know the people, which I have heard are the best part. Guess I will be going back!

Here is Ed's Blog too if you want to here his take on the trip, just look under Ireland. There are three posts. http://ekewaka11.wordpress.com/

Beautiful Chaos

So, just for some background there are a few things you all should know before I go into talking about my trip to Rome.

1.  I strongly dislike cities. I like visiting them. I think there are positive things about them, but I prefer my    nature and fewer people. Cities smell, they have thick air, etc.

2.  I hate tourists even though technically… I am one. 

3. I am not a fan of huge spaces with lots of people (which is kind of a combination of the above things)

Those being said, I thought I might dislike Rome despite the amazing history preserved there. However, to my surprise (a welcomed one) I loved it a lot. At night it is peaceful, reflective, enchanting… but above all it’s like a time portal. You can actually imagine yourself in Ancient Rome when you wander at night after everyone (aka tourists) has called it a night. I got to see the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Emmanuel Monument, and the Coliseum in this peaceful state. Oh! And the scale of the monuments is breath taking. Look at the picture of me in the entrance of the Pantheon at night. Oh my goodness. I am so tiny and insignificant. 

It’s strange. Most of the others places I have been were amazing but pictures have done an awesome job of making them look like they do in real life. Rome wasn’t like that at all. Everything was so much more amazing than anything I have seen photo wise or media wise. I actually could imagine what it would have looked like in its Hay day. But, at the same time, I have no idea what it would have looked like besides the overwhelming feeling that it would have been incomparable and so incredibly magnificent. Words stink. I can’t even do it justice in my explanation of it!

Well now that I have completely gone off track I can’t write everything I did in detail because honestly this post would be wayyy too long, but I want to highlight some things.

The first night I was there, Derek, his roommate Tom, and I went for pizza then wandered the center of the city at like 1 am. It was a great way to start my adventure. Oh, and some more reference, I was staying with Derek outside the center of Rome. His apartment was awesome. It smelled like Hawaii outside his building, was a residential area, and they had a sweet balcony. And on top of that, his roommates were pretty awesome :).  He had the ideal situation. Living outside the tourist center but close enough to go in whenever. Perfect. It’s the “real” Italy experience. They even made friends with a local Roast place.  

The second day (Friday), Derek and I did all the major historic things and I hit up the Capitoline Museum (which I will discuss more later). We did Circus Maximus, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Coliseum. We also just generally wandered and I got to see Derek’s school. They have a really great view of Rome from their roof. I wish the Coliseum was still in its grandeur. It would have been sooo incredible. Horrible in the way it was used but incredible to behold. It’s weird with the Hunger Games having just come out and then seeing where the “real” historic place and events, that I am sure inspired the story, took place. Kind of makes me want to see the movie. Or watch Ben Hur or Gladiator. I know cruel and horrible but so incredibly interesting. Man was I born in the wrong era.

Alright now I want to focus a little bit on the Capitoline Museum because not only does it have some of the most historic statuses and works known to man, but it had this unreal temporary exhibit of the Vatican’s Secret Archives. Man was it cool. "Lux in Arcana" as the exhibit was called had one of the coolest collections of incredible documents I have ever seen. Many of them were from the Pope of the time (which depends on when the documents were written) but some were unexpected. Here is a list to blow your mind: Galileo, Hirohito, Martin Luther, the ruler of the Safavid Dynasty, Michelangelo, il-Khan of Persia, some in Italian Vernacular, dowager Empress Wang, the Ojibwe Indians, al-Murtada the caliph of Morocco, Mozart, Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln both during the Civil War but on opposite sides, Alexis I Romanov, House of Commons, the deed to try and annul Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon with the seal of each signer (which there were a lot of), the Golden Bull, Constantine, Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius II, Pope Innocent X against the Westphalia Peace, Boniface VII, the floor plan of the Sistine Chapel including the placement of the Cardinals in it, the document formally ending the schism, Humanae Salutis, Voltaire, Copernicus, the defeat of the Turks at Vienna, the last Crusade, the interrogation documents of the Knight's Templar, Christina di Svezia, Mary Stuart, Marie Antoinette, Empress Elizabeth of Austria, a 1582 calendar missing 10 days, the formal recognition of Cambridge as a University, and the list goes on. These were the ones I either knew of or found interesting enough to write down. No pictures were allowed unfortunately but I recommend, if you are in Europe between now and September, that you should definitely go see it.

The third day I was on my own as Derek headed to Orvietto for a school trip. I took the opportunity (after very little sleep and walking ALL day the day before) to sleep until 10 am. It felt great. Anyway, I had a list of things I wanted to see and made a plan: National Museum, Borghese Gardens, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and then back to Derek’s. And if I was not too tired I had some other ambitious places to attempt. Unfortunately I was exhausted so skipped the Church with Michelangelo’s Moses Statue (Church of Peter’s Martyrdom?) and the Ara Pacis (which was expensive and far away). I’m not too upset. There is way too much in Rome for me to see it all. Anyway, the National Museum was unbelievable. It had so many famous works I had learned about in art history last semester like the Discus thrower and Livia’s Garden Room fresco. They were SO much better in person.  Don’t worry I took plenty of photos. After spending a good amount of time in the museum I headed to the Borghese Gardens (which are MASSIVE) and had lunch under a tree while a jazz player serenaded the entire area. PERFECT. There were balloons, a little train, two person covered bikes, pony rides, and people everywhere hanging out, playing, eating, etc. The Spanish Steps were beautiful as well but much more underwhelming because of the amount of people there. The Pantheon, which I had previously seen from the outside at night, was just as powerful during the day, but much more crowded. The inside is very beautiful and cool with the hole at the top and hey Rafael is buried there! Anyway, I decided to take a Rick Steve’s suggestion for this slushy coffee with whipped cream thing around the corner. Well worth the 2 euro :) I would add something to his suggestion though, mix the whipped cream and the slush and BAM! Delicious. OH! And I also visited the Trevi Fountain again during the day (much more beautiful at night by the way) and tossed a coin in and made a wish :P

The Vatican. This city, also the smallest country in the world, is one incredible place. BUT being that I went the last Sunday of the month in April (aka the free day… where the Pope comes out to speak at 12) it was slightly crowded. Even my dislike of crowds though was unable to take away from the Sistine Chapel (which I got pictures of before they yelled at people to be quiet and “no foto”) or the Raphael rooms or the other beautiful works in there. The School of Athens was much more detailed and amazing than I had expected. The Sistine Chapel was also amazing. Seeing the creation and development of the world in that form and expression was a true privilege. After spending a ton of time in the Vatican Museum I got to go into St. Peter’s. The pieta was breath taking and the church itself resembles San Petronio in Bologna (if you know the story behind that church this will make sense, if not, google or ask me :)) which is so cool. It was beautiful. After that I had to return to Bologna, but was actually really sad to leave Rome. It was better than I could have imagined.

It is really sad that a lot of Rome was destroyed by a fire. I wonder what it would look like if there hadn’t been one, or if they hadn’t taken materials from past buildings to build more modern ones… Oh and fun fact. My professor right now is talking about Rome! And Christianity and Gods and preservation there which is weird because it’s cultural heritage and law… which I guess Rome fits under! And yeah yeah “Heather you should be paying attention!” I am :)

Firenze Sotto la Pioggia

When Spring Break started in Bologna (after Lago di Como and my family left) it literally turned into Carlisle and rained for 5 days. Needless to say, my original plan (well third or fourth original plan) was to go to Lecce with two girls on the program but due to money, rain, and lack of days I choose to stay in Bologna. I met up with some friends and spent some time unwinding and de-stressing. I caught up on much needed sleep and various applications and whatnot and then decided to go to Florence to do all the touristy stuff. I choose the right day. For a week, all the city museums were free entry. I think I paid a total of 8 euro for three museums because I had to buy a reservation or whatever. I got to go to the Accademia, the Museo de Palazzo Vecchio, and the Uffizi. Besides my massive dislike of crowds, the day was pretty cool. All by myself, I was able to see everything in a few hours. I saw the Birth of Venus as well as David (where the wait to get in was at least an hour) and many other incredible works. I even snuck a picture :P 

Win :)

Freezing Time

Lago di Como. The place is a fairytale, a mythical place, a fantasy. Seriously it can't exist. I'm not going to do my usual play by play but rather try to help you experience what I did. Yeah Andrej and I rented a car, drove to Lago di Como (which is by Switzerland), walked along the lake, and climbed a mountain before heading back to Bologna but that literally explains the day. What I want to remember and convey is the feeling of absolute bliss while being next to the lake just sitting and soaking it in and then being on top of the mountain looking down on that same area from a whole new perspective.

By the lake... it was soo chilly. Three layers wasn't enough. But in the sun, you were just balanced enough to feel completely at ease, completely comfortable. That combined with the breeze and the sound of the water lapping up against the concrete of the city was enough to make you want to just not move for hours. I seriously could have napped. It is an interesting contrast though, the peaceful qualities of the lake with a view that was indescribable. A lake, with cities/towns on the shore, with mountains behind them, and even higher the Alps snow capped. It was literally like being in Lord of the Rings or something. Those kind of places don't exist. Or do they? Then, when you remove yourself from the direct coastline of the lake (coastline? shoreline? lakeline? I don't know...) it is a cute little town with people going about their daily routines as if that fantastic view didn't exist. It's like living at a resort. On a much bigger scale, combined with a Mediterranean feel, it sort of reminded me of Camp in the Adirondacks, but at the same time so completely 180 degrees opposite. Okay, imagine this. Mediterranean style houses and people on a very big lake (so the water is fresh water and more affected by slight changes in the weather) surrounded by cliffs that are surrounded by the Alps. What? Yeah imagine that.

On top of the mountain... after much steep climbing, some sneak views, and taking off those layers that were so necessary by the water, we stopped at a point supposedly 20 minutes from the Refuge we were climbing to. That is where the first awe inspiring view occurred (currently my profile picture). We both needed some energy (aka water and food as we hadn't eaten in a while) so we had some water and both grabbed an apple (prepared we were!). Then we took a nice little nap, on a mountain, looking down on that same little town we had been a few hours earlier, but whenever we opened our eyes, we were looking down on the entire valley, lake, and surrounding area. It looked almost like a painting. If you want a slight feeling of looking down on the world like a bird listen to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA376MhE2PI) while you continue reading. It kind of does the job especially since the next part is at the Refuge looking down and trying to explain the feeling that created.

From the Refuge at the top... Imagine looking down on everything you know to be moving and bursting with life and seeing it come to a complete stop. Literally, no movement, not even a breath. Everything is silent, frozen in a moment, a moment that you don't want to end. Then look around. It looks like a painting except more beautiful. Like a picture except even more vivid. Look down the steep path you just climbed for two hours. Look down at the church on the hill that was another recommended hike (less advanced and shorter) and see that it is now smaller than your picky finger when your arm is completely outstretched from your body. Then look a little to the right and see boats trying to cross the lake, seemingly frozen. You can see where the lake splits into two different sections and you can even see the end of the far section (some reference of the lake: https://maps.google.it/maps?hl=it we were in Menaggio). Oh but wait. That's just looking down. Look out and see the Alps more clearly, a passage to a hidden village behind one of the mountains, and villages hit up the cliffs around the lake. How did someone build a house so high up? Turn around. See the Refuge, a small hut for hikers to rest at. The little water fountain out of a rock. The small balcony to just soak in the view. See that you aren't even at the highest point. That behind you raise up cliffs more steep and jagged than the ones you already ascended. One day. Now that is just what you see. Listen. Silence. The slight breeze. Maybe a bird, but even the birds aren't so present this high up. Take a deep breath. Inhale the purest air you have ever experienced. Fill your lungs. Feel how it soothes your entire body. All your tiredness completely disappears. Feel the sun start to set behind you, although you know you have at least two hours before the town below says goodnight to the sun. Close your eyes and just think, "This must be what God felt like when He was creating the Universe" Except He saw the whole world, not just a lake in the mountains. Can you imagine? I am sorry I didn't do justice to the incredible creation that He made in explaining it to you. Guess you just have to go climb that mountain and see for yourself.

FAMILYYYYYYYY

My dad, mom, and sister all came to Italy for a week. It was unreal (ok I feel like I say this a lot but seriously, everything feels so surreal!). They spent the first three days in Bologna, went to Florence for two days, spent a night in Bologna, then we all went to Venice for two days, and spent the last day in Bologna. I guess I will do this day by day!

Saturday- They arrived around 3, but were super delayed because their bags were put on a later flight (I know because I surprised them at the airport with flowers). We grabbed a taxi and took it straight to their hotel that was approximately 150 meters from my apartment... good planning dad :) After getting them settled in and realizing that it was already almost 5pm, we headed out to tour some of Bologna. We hit the huge street market, I gave them a tour of the big sites like Piazza Maggiore, Neptune, and the two towers. For dinner we went to Spacca Napoli the awesome pizza place. My family loved it. We also got gelato, as my mom insisted we get it everyday they are in Italy because they can't get it at home. Then we all headed to bed for some much needed sleep.

Sunday- BEST DAY EVER. We got up and went to Palm Sunday service in San Petronio, the main massive church on Piazza Maggiore, and even though it was in Italian, it was so powerful and the Priest did one of the most passionate readings I have ever heard of the Easter story. Truly an incredible experience. From there, we bought flowers and wine and headed to my Italian family's house for an early lunch. As usual, Paula made an incredible meal. We talked about a lot of things and it went a lot better than I thought it would. I mean my family speaks no Italian and Paula is the only one who really speaks English fluently. Stefano did a good job of communicating with my parents anyway. I wish Vittoria and Enrico had been less shy though. My sister and I tried to convince them to talk in English but I think they were afraid that they would mess up or something. Oh well. I will keep working with them :) From there we headed to the Bologna-Palermo soccer game. (Stefano and Enrico went too) My parents really enjoyed the game, as did Sarah and I (boyfriend?!) even though Bologna lost. It was a lot of fun. From there we took the 2 km hike up San Luca (the church on the hill) and of course Sarah and I won :P Not that we were actually racing. That took about two hours but was so worth it. After that, we went to the train station to look at ticket prices and to the outdoor book market. My mom even got some Italian books for her preschoolers :) Then we went to dinner at Belfiore (literally next to my apartment) and I made them try Tagliatelle al Ragu (aka thick noodles and meat sauce); a specialty of Bologna. And of course we then got gelato.

Monday- Monday was an interesting day because we spent so much time wandering around seeing if Museums were open (which I forgot all close on Mondays... oops) but at least we had Osteria del Orsa for lunch, amazing gelato, and Mariposa for dinner which was amazing. Other than that we kind of just hung out all day and explored the city. For some reason I cannot remember anything else concerning Monday... guess if I do I will just add it.

Tuesday/Wednesday- My family was in Florence so I just went to classes and had a pasta making lesson through Dickinson. That was the most worthwhile trip I think we have been on. We learned how to make tagliatelle and even made our own tortellini! It was so fun and very delicious.

Thursday- We got up early and headed off to Venice! After arriving in Venice we found our hotel where Andrej's dad, his dad's wife, and two kids were waiting for us. My parents were so excited to see them and I was thrilled to meet them as well. After dropping our stuff off we decided to get some pizza at a local place. It was really good. After eating we then decided to head to St. Marks Square to walk along the water where we stopped and got gelato (yes we literally got it everyday, mom was thrilled, and so were the rest of us). After sitting around by the water for a while talking and eating gelato we walked back towards the main square and said our goodbyes as our friends had to head back to Croatia. After some more wandering and such we decided to get dinner at a local place where I had this amazing smoked salmon and pasta dish and my mom got cuddlefish ink pasta... weird and black but really tasty. Then we hit the hay for some much needed rest.

Friday- We got up nice and early and went to the beginning of the Boat Bus route so that we could ride the length of the Grand Canal while listening to Rick Steve's audio tour. It was really cool to hear because he told us about all these buildings along the canal and he is sort of funny as well. After getting off at St. Mark's Square we entered the Doge's Palace and toured the entire thing. From the dungeons and Bridge of Sighs (named supposed because the prisoners all sighed at their last look at light and the water) to the apartments and courtyard. Their was the gold covered stairways and the armory. It was a pretty neat place and I would know as I got to spend an extra hour and a half walking around it looking for my lost mother who was actually at the hotel... awkward. Anyway after much searching, waiting, and involving people in foreign countries.... I found her and then my dad and Sarah who had found Andrej's mom and husband! After meeting up with them we headed back to St. Mark's Square to do the Basilica and the balcony above it. After that Sarah and I went to pick up/meet up with Andrej! Then we went back to the hotel to drop off his stuff and we all congregated on the roof of the hotel (our new hotel because we switched hotels). Then it was time for them to head to Bologna where we were going to meet up the next day. From there Mom, Dad, Sarah, and I headed to Alex, the Gondolier we had talked to all day and my mom finally got her Gondola ride through Venice. It was unbelievable. Quiet. Beautiful. Magical. And Alex knew so much about the city and really did fantastic job. Then we got dinner, which again was yummy, and passed out.

Saturday- Dad and I headed over to another church that was off the beaten track and Mom and Sarah went shopping. The Church was so incredibly cool. There were some of the most intricate and life like statues I have ever seen. And their were these two tombs that were for two famous artists... what their names were I forget but they are famous! After that, guided by Rick Steve's Audio Guide, we grabbed a train back to Bologna where we got lunch at Osteria Del' Orsa and met up with Andrej, his mom, and her husband. From there we wandered more of Bologna, stopped in a church, got some gelato and hung out in my apartment talking and catching up. Then we got dinner at Nicolas' and said our goodbyes. My parents, Sarah, and I headed to their apartment to pack up everything because they had to leave at 4 am the next morning. Andrej's parents were leaving around 10. I got up to say goodbye to my parents at 4 and then passed out until Andrej called me around 12 to bring his stuff up to my apartment as he was staying with me the next couple of days.

Overall, the week was amazing. Sometimes stressful because I wanted to share everything with them but couldn't but on the whole it was perfect anyway.

Oh, and both sets of families that visited us brought us these amazing gifts from Croatia. My parents were so heart warmed and hope to come back and visit them in Croatia. Oh and today Andrej left to visit America... and in a week he will be with my family in New Jersey. After 18 years we all choose the same month to be in opposite places. Unreal.

I guess that is it for the family visit. It was so nice to see them and I had so much fun. Love you guys. <3

Day Trips

Okay so I have taken a few day trips with both Dickinson and friends in general.

1. Parma and the surrounding area- Dickinson took us on an excursion to Parma and some surrounding towns. We first stopped in Langhirano at a castle on this huge hill. The castle itself was pretty cool but was mostly empty. The view on the other hand was unreal. We decided that it would be a great castle to have if you didn't want to be invaded or attacked. It is a defensive castle (sorry history major moment). In the same town but a little further towards Parma was the Prosciutto Museum. The museum itself was really small and looked sort of temporary although it wasn't. At the end of the museum tour we got to try fresh Parma Prosciutto. That stuff was delicious.

Then we headed to Parma where we wandered the city for a little and then met up at the main church which was one of the cooler churches I have visited. There were these incredible paintings along the upper walls that depicted different biblical scenes. My favorite one was definitely the one of Peter walking on the stormy water towards Jesus. I have always felt sooo connected to Peter. Like there is something in him that reminds me of something in myself. If that is a good thing I don't know but at least I can learn from what Jesus taught him specifically. :) From there we headed to an adjacent building, I think it was the baptistry, which had some really cool designs on the inside. It is amazing how many mythical creatures can be found in religious works. I have decided that all of those mythical creatures existed at one point :) yes dragons, griffins, unicorns, etc. REAL. Then Dickinson treated us to a delicious dinner and we went to sleep.

The next morning we went to this theater in Parma that was built completely out of wood and was literally built to impress a princess that the prince in Parma wanted to marry. Man, I want someone to build a theater and put on a show just to impress ME. Just kidding, I mean I would appreciate the gesture, but that's a little much. Anyway, the theater was soooo cool and standing on the slanted stage looking out made me miss theater sooo much. I seriously would have burst into song if no one had been in the room. After that we headed to Fontanellato to another castle. The castle itself was kind of lackluster but the inside had a game room and some cool medieval weapons. I really liked the artwork inside as well. (Unfortunately no pictures were allowed :( ) There was this one room that was absolutely gorgeous. It was painted by a famous artist right when he was starting out and the room was really well preserved because there was only one door in and that was sealed until recently (for protection reasons by the family). The ceiling was this scene from Mythology about how a hunter accidentally saw Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt) bathing. She caught him and turned him into a stag as his hunting party was coming. In the end his favorite dog was the one that killed him. Sad. But a truly beautiful piece of art. After getting some food and gelato in Fontanellato we headed to Roncole where Verdi's house was. Unfortunately, due to time we were only able to see the house from the outside. From there we went to the Verdi Museum in Busseto. Each room had paintings and music from Verdi's operas. Rigoletto, Othello, Aida, etc. There was also one room that had parts of his operas playing. Seeing some of the original Aida was one of the best parts of the museum. Then we headed back to Bologna!

2. Parco del Conero by Sirolo which is by Ancona (aka the beach)-

There is this beautiful, hidden beach about 3.5 hours south of Bologna so Cassi, Taylor, Ed, Markus (Ed's German friend) and I headed there! It was cheap and really fun. It wasn't a super hot day and the sun was playing peek-a-boo with us but overall I really enjoyed it. The water was freezing though... but I went in anyway, as did the boys. Oh! and we skipped a lot of rocks... and tried to skip massive ones as well. And we took naps! Wooo! Funny story, on the train home, Lindsay and her friends got on and out of all the cars in the two story train... they found ours... weird.

3. Florence to visit Rachel-

So, Thursday afternoon, three midterms complete, go to Florence? OK! Just kidding Rachel and I planned me visiting a long time ago. Anyway, I took a train to Florence while Rachel was in class and once I got there I wandered around the Duomo, by the Medici Fortress thing, past the University of Florence, by the Botanical Gardens, and back to find Rachel once her class was over. From there we headed to her adorable apartment over the Pontevecchio Bridge, made chicken parm for dinner (after getting delicious gelato... or as Rachel called it "ice cream", twice), and hung out with her roomies until we all got ready to go to the Old Stove, their tiny little Irish Pub where they know the bartenders really well. Laughter and good times were had by all. We didn't pay for a single drink and stayed three hours after the bar had closed just joking around, taking pictures, eating spicy kabab, cleaning up (well the employees did... well I mopped at least!), and just hanging out having a good ole time... then we realized it was 5 am and I had to get up at 7.40 to catch a train back to Bologna so I could go to my class trip to Casa Artusi and Dozza. Needless to say, 2.5 hours is not a lot... and that's what I am running on here... haha

4. CasArtusi and Dozza-

Dickinson took us on a day trip to the Cultural Center "CasArtusi" which is a place in Forlimpopoli that basically educates people about Pellegrino Artusi the "Father of Gastronomy" aka he took recipes from all over Italy, from every region, tried them all then published multiple volumes of a recipe book. The center had the original copies of those volumes and some of Artusi's furniture. Upstairs there is a Civil Library and a Cooking School! They have 20 fully equipped kitchens for people to watch and learn. As Artusi would say, "The best teacher is experience." I definitely agree with that!

Then we ate. And man did we eat. There was soup, then bread, then a mushroom souffle thingy, then ravioli del'Emilia Romagna (similar to gnocchi with cheese) , then veal, and finally chocolate cake and coffee. Oh and of course two different wines and water. I don't think I will be eating again for a week.

After eating for forever, we headed to Dozza, the town with the Enoteca of Emilia Romagna. We got a tour of the wines then people bought wine and we headed back to Bologna. I'm not really sure we did much on this trip but it was fun! And I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with people I usually don't see.