What I miss/not

It's been a week since I left Italy. Italy has been good to me. I explained it to a friend this way: "I love the U.S. The United States is the love of my life, my home, but damn Italy is good in bed." It's the only way I could describe it. haha.

The things I miss:

my friends

my old apartment (oddly enough)

train transportation

walking everywhere

Aurora and Chico

Blooms and Davide

Costanti, the cute guy who works there, their aperitivi, and their Bloody Marys

close distance to Florence

clapping after a Ryan Air flight

Europe in general

riposa

loud chanting

good food

H&M

"bee boop (british accent) the train arriving from (Italian)Firenze Santa Maria Novella (British Accent) will be arriving on platform four.

rocking out in Santa Prisca (grocery store)

Things I don't miss:

My ten lbs I gained in Italy (seriously looks like I got a boob job and a j-lo ass)

slow internet

squeaky beds

non diverse food

my landlord

running out of water

not having a dryer

not having a dishwasher

So far at home, I've been fascinated with my television since I haven't watched it in months, other than online shows. Houston is hot and humid, so staying inside is a must. I was carded for the first time as a 21 year old the other day, so I was excited about that. Other than that not much going on. I'll be in Baltimore this weekend for a wedding, which I'm very excited about. My cousin graduates this weekend as well. And I move to Norman the following weekend, where I'll be until I graduate this December. It's going to be interesting. Not really sure if I want this to be the last entry or not. We'll see. Until then Arrivederci e ciao!

Getting ready to go home/ the trek home

Equals finishing papers, having fun with friends, and packing.

Paper got done.

Saying bye to friends was hard. I know I'll see them in Norman but it's not the same. I made some Italian friends too and I miss them already.

Packing was better than I thought, though I had to ship a ton of clothes. They are now on a nave(boat) and I won't see my stuff until mid to end June.

I left Arezzo with a bang. We did our ritual stops at Aurora and Mr. Blooms and we had a blast. That's all I wanted.

On a rainy Sunday afternoon, I said ciao to Arezzo. We arrived in Rome, dropped off our tons of luggage, and went to the Spanish steps where I said bye to Sam and Steven. They were so nice to help us with our luggage, and I'll be forever grateful, because my crap was heavy. Sarah and I decided to get dinner, where I ordered my favorite meal which is Caprese and Spaghetti con vongole (clams). We then had to get gelato and sit at the Trevi Fountain, my favorite location in Rome. The next morning we got up, got on the Leonardo da Vinci express and showed up at Fiumincino.

Jesus American customs are crazy in foreign countries. Don't get me wrong, I think that's great because the last thing we need is another terrorist attack, but damn. Some bus took us to a remote terminal, where we did customs, checked in, did security, did passport check, and then got on another bus that took us to the actual terminal where our plane was. My plane was delayed for two hours which means I would miss my flight from Chicago to Dallas. I tried explaining this to the check in dude, who was just like "I thought you told me your connecting flight was at 7 pm!" "No my flight from DFW to IAH leaves at 7, I'll miss my connecting flight to Dallas." He then wouldn't even make eye contact with me which really pissed me off. So I was like "Look I'd just like to be in Houston tonight, can you get me on a flight?" He ignored me! So then I was rude. "Fine. I guess I'll talk to the people in Chicago when flights are full and I'll be jet lagged and confused! Thanks you've been super!" So during the flight I spent 10 and a half hours twiddling my thumbs, because I was so antsy, and couldn't sleep, or read, or pay attention to the tv. (We didn't have our own on this flight) We landed in Chicago, and I got a text from my mom saying I had a flight right from Chicago to Houston. I was thanking Jesus, because I heard so many people were being stranded in Chicago from our flight.

As I stepped off, I went through another customs and passport check, and picked up my luggage. I tried explaining to the lady that I had a different flight plan, and if there was something I could do to change my luggage tags. She responded with "We're professionals, we know what we're doing." Clearly not, my luggage wasn't in Houston when I landed.

I went to the terminal to wait for the plane, and stopped at the nearest Hudson News to pick up a magazine, sprite, and starbursts. I then sat at the gate, realized it was a small plane, and decided to take dramamine. Mistakes! I immediately felt drowsy from the jet lag and the dramamine and started to drift off. People probably thought I was on drugs, I was trying so hard to stay awake. I then heard the guy announce boarding, so I got up, boarded the plane, found my seat, and passed out. The only time I woke up was when I heard the guy said "It is now safe to use portable electronic devices," which I take as put down the tray table and pass out again. I then woke up a bit during a lightening storm, then I realized we were landing. I power walked to baggage claim where I first saw my mom, then my dad, then Tori! I greeted her drowsily saying "Oh look it's Tori...I knew you'd be here." We stood at baggage where I was like "it's not going to be here, the professional idiots lost it." So we went to baggage lost and found, filed a report thing, and then went home. I don't remember what I said I just remember not shutting up. I went to my room and passed out. Luckily I barely had jet lag because of that day, but I did wake up at 8 bright eyed and ready to go that next morning. And recently I haven't been able to sleep in. Hopefully that won't change.

Ibiza

Ok so here's what went down:

As ya'll know, there is a pesky volcano in Iceland that has been enjoying ruining European travel plans. I was in Florence with Brittany when I received a call from Kayla saying, "our flight has been cancelled." I responded to this statement with a certain favorite f word. So when I got home from Florence, I checked the computer and sure enough it was cancelled. Later that night, my roommate Halie and I decided to trade songs on the computer and stay up until 4 am. Before we went to bed we thought it would be a good idea to check the flight just in case. Next to our flight it said ON TIME. We looked at eachother and were like "ahhhh it's not cancelled!!....SHIT WE NEED TO BE AT THE TRAIN STATION IN THREE HOURS AND WE HAVE TO PACK!" So we slept for an hour, and got ready.

The original count for this trip was nine...three showed up. Halie, Kayla, and I are troopers! As we got on the plane Halie said, "You smell that? That's the smell of volcanic ash." I was like "Halie that's not funny!" So Ryanair flew us to beautiful Ibiza. We got to the hostel, and then headed to the "Rubbish beach" as the Brits told us. We passed out pretty early. We woke up the next morning and went to another beach. The day was spent relaxing with a book. The water was freezing but we decided to test it out anyways. Apparently Halie hates jelly fish, and we saw a few in the water. I told her it would be fine because I was on jelly fish duty, and that "I got this." Well ok so I got distracted, there were cute Irish boys in the water. When I look down there's a jelly fish extremely close to me, so I scream "JELLY FISH AHHH" and haul ass to shore. Halie is still in the water screaming "WHERE WHERE" as she's running towards it. As I'm screaming to her where it is she sees it and proceeds to run to shore. Eventful part of the day. Cute Irish boys spoke to us later, and mentioned they heard us screaming earlier. oops.

Fun trip! Kayla got a bit too much sun, Halie got tan, and I'm still pale. Story of my life.

Paris

Paris was absolutely stunning! I felt there was so much to do and that I only did a small portion of it. I flew in on a Monday evening during a beautiful sunset. Paris Beauvais is in the middle of nowhere, and it took about two hours to get into actual Paris. The Italians and I bonded during the bus trip because none of us spoke French, so we stuck together. Paris, to me, felt like an American city. Other than London, Paris was the only place where I saw a lot of skyscrapers, and a freeway system with lots of lanes of traffic.

I will say this now because I'm home safe and sound, so my parents can't scold me, but I totally did the subway system by myself at midnight to get to the hostel. It was slightly scary, but I held my own and looked confident. There was a group of gypsies eyeing me and then pointed at me to their friends, but I just stared them down, and then they backed off. Nothing got stolen so success!!

Ok so I only came across one asshole Parisian. This guy was in charge of the hostel. Other Parisians were actually really nice to me. But this guy, forget it. I can't remember the stuff he said but he was rude.

Ok so Robyn, Mason, and I woke up and took the metro to Versailles. Versailles is sooo pretty. The Hall of Mirrors was absolutely beautiful. Everything was so lavish, and awesome. I went through a Marie Antoinette phase when I was younger because I read a few books in 5th grade, so it was pretty awesome to see a palace I've been wanting to see for ten years.

Later that day, we decided to go to Notre Dame. Beautiful stain glass windows. Ridiculously huge. Freaking sweet.

The next day was dedicated to the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. Louvre=most overwhelming museum since the National Gallery of London. I can't believe how many pieces are in there. The Eiffel Tower was my favorite part though. Sitting with a glass of wine, a chocolate banana crepe, with good friends made this ideal. We got to see it sparkle and then went to the third level to see the view.

Things to do when I go back:

1. If I don't get one here, I will be purchasing a Longchamp bag. I meant to do it in Paris but didn't come across a store. I saw some in Nordstrom, but I would need to save 98$. Unfortunately that'll probably be needed for an ipod shuffle since my classic died.

2. Musee de orse (spelling?) So sad I didn't go.

3. San Chapelle.

4. Moulin Rouge

Disclaimer

I'm back in the states, but completely forgot that this existed and I still haven't written about Paris, Ibiza, the preparation for home, and then the going home part. So just pretend I wrote about all these things the instant it happened or something like that.

The Hills are Alive!!!

Yes I went to Vienna for the weekend to see my friends Eva and Kathrin. I have known Eva and Kathrin since eighth grade. Their dad worked with my dad for about six months, and I lived in their pool for a summer. Chair races were a popular game at the time haha.

So I got to spend the night in Florence on Friday night because my flight left the next morning at 6:45 am. Che schifo! Luckily for me, the hostel put me in a room with a gorgeous view of the Duomo and the Campanile. So the next morning I woke up and walked to Santa Maria Novella, caught a cab, and went to the airport. Let me tell you about Austrian Air. I will forever love them because instead of giving out peanuts, they gave out Austrian chocolate bars. Chocolate bars!! So delicious. The plane ride was super short, and we had to stop in Bologna, which was a joke because the plane literally took off from Florence, then we leveled out for a minute, then the plane went back down.

When I got to the Vienna airport Eva, Kathrin, and Irmagard were there to greet me and Kathrin's boyfriend Lorenz was super nice to drive us around. The first thing we did was get breakfast. This was an exciting moment because Italy's breakfast equals a croissant and coffee. Breakfast fail! Austria's breakfast equals eggs and ham. Breakfast win! Actually Austria's food in general is a win. There was nothing gross in that country. After breakfast, we walked around and did some sightseeing. Then we did some shopping at H&M, my weakest link. We got a tour of Kathrin's cute apartment and then Peter came over and we went to dinner where I had Wienerschnitzel and potatoes, and this kick ass soup. Oh and I saw the Austrian president on the street. Bawlin!

The next morning, Kathrin and I woke up, had a nice breakfast, went to a place where she could vote for their president, and then we met up with Eva and went to Schonbrun palace (the summer home of Maria Therese, Marie Antoinette when she was little, and Sissi who had ankle length hair). Touring houses and palaces is a favorite of mine so clearly I had a lot of fun. We also went through some mazes and took a stroll along the gardens. I saw this little boy with an OU hat and I almost freaked out, but luckily I didn't go over and scream and scare him and his mom. Success. We then had lunch where I got a caesar salad (hey dressing doesn't exist in Italy). We then had an early night. The next morning I got up and met Kathrin who works at the Belvedere museum, and we looked through the whole museum chatting about art. There was this one room that reminded me of the Ballroom where Beauty and the Beast danced in. It was a good day. Then I had to fly back to Florence, spent the night, and then went back to Arezzo.

Good times. I really want to go back to see Graz and Salzburg. This will be my next trip to Europe.

Cinque Terre

Ok so about three weeks ago, I decided to go to Cinque Terre with two of my friends for the weekend. So far it is the most beautiful place that I have ever been to I believe in my life. As some of you may know, I am a beach person. I love the water, love being around it, and I love good seafood. Cinque Terre for the win! We arrived Saturday night, and found a decent restauraunt with my favorite: spaghetti con vongole (clams), along with a glass of wine and chocolate cake. This dinner was followed by bedtime, however we instead talked about ghost stories, then couldn't sleep, so we talked about random stuff and fell asleep four hours later than we wanted to. We got up at a decent hour, and decided that after breakfast, we wanted to hike to all of the islands, and then go to the beach if we had time. It was a beautiful day. We could not have asked for better weather. Our hike was really awesome, but very very intense. If we weren't surrounded by beautiful scenery, it would have been hell. It was very uphill downhill, and my legs were rock hard by the time we were through. It was so worth it and I would do it again. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go to the beach, so we hopped on a train home. Good weekend trip!

I really fail

At this whole updating thing. I have two trips to update on so stay tuned!

Irlanda!! aka: motherland

Ok this is going to be a really long entry, so I'm going to split it up in different topics, and you can read from there:

Topic 1: Ryan Air

This is my first journey with Ryan Air and I think my roommate Halie describes it perfectly, "Ryan Air...you are not Top Gun." Then this is always proceeded with the Danger Zone song. If you know me at all or had the unfortunate experience of flying with me, you will know I do not like to fly. One time (side story sorry) we were landing in Newark and I was sitting with random people, and we went through a terrible wind storm and could not land because Newark has air traffic all the time so we were circling in terrible turbulence. It was so bad I heard the alert thing in the back telling the flight attendants to drop everything they were doing and buckle up because this was bad. I was hyperventilating and crying into a lady's lap and screaming, "WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!," And then proceeded with a lot of Hail Marys and Our Fathers. Not a proud moment in life. Ok luckily Ryan Air wasn't like this. They just like to take off at a 90 degree angle on one wheel, and drop land. And when they turn (I thought it was fun) they're pretty intense. But not too bad.

Topic Two: Temple Bar

Extremely expensive, but they have the best Irish Coffees in the world.

Topic Three: Hostel stays

Abigails Hostel: Dublin, The morning of, we didn't have water...you think the reception would be like, "Oh hey construction is going on so you might want to take showers tonight in case the water goes out."

Bru Bar: Cork, Pretty sweet that the hostel included a bar. Not really sweet that a smelly musty 50 year old man was sleeping in our room.

Abrahams: Dublin: Best.Shower.Of.My.Life.

Lagans: Belfast: The place itself was old and musty, but the beds were super comfy, and the owner was awesome. He was so honest with us, telling us what tours to take and what would be a waste of our time. And...Free Jameson. Yes. Oh and awesome breakfast and good strong coffee.

Abbey Court: Would have been fine if we weren't rooming with assholes who kept shutting the light off when we were trying to settle in.

Topic Four: Cork!

Cork is a really cute and pretty town. They also had a really fun pub/club. I went out with Johanna, Megan, and Kyle and had the best time. At one point an Irish jig came on and it felt as if we were in an inside joke we weren't a part of. I was half expecting Tub Thumping to come on but it didn't happen. Unfortunately, the club fun was cut short because at midnight it was Good Friday and nothing that sells alcohol is open on Good Friday.

Topic Five: Blarney Castle

Unbelievably awesome and pretty. The group of us took a bus to Blarney and spent the whole day at the castle and the grounds. And of course I kissed the Stone. And no Fight Club nerds I don't think people piss on it. We also had lovely PB and J's on the lawn of the Blarney House which was pretty awesome.

Topic Six: Dublin

Dublin is extremely expensive, but also really fun. The one thing I loved about going to Ireland is the food. It's pretty much American food, so we Italian students stocked up on the burgers, hummus, Subway, normal turkey, and all that other American stuff. (I realize hummus is not American, but I'm obsessed with it.) The night life in Dublin is really fun too. Megan and I went out one night, and met these pretty drunk British boys. They stopped us and were like, "Excuse me but do you know any places we should go to?" and I was like "Uh I have no idea." and they were like, "Shit you're American!" and then we proceeded to talk about random stuff. At one point one of the drunk British boys ran into a guy and said "Hey go fuck yourself." The guy turned out to be an undercover cop, told him it's illegal to harass cops and handcuffed him on the spot. Probably the most hilarious thing I've seen in a long time. I also saw Trinity College, the Molly Malone statue, Christ Church, St. Patricks, and other good stuff.

Topic Seven: The Guinness Factory and the Jameson Distillery

Both awesome and worth it. Free Guinness with a good view of Dublin, and I got to be a certified whiskey taster! (no really I have a certificate..I'll be sure to include it in my resume when I job hunt... : ) )

Topic Eight: My interesting Easter Mass

The other Kaitlyn and I went to mass at St. Mary's Cathedral in Dublin on Easter. The first thing we saw was a picket line and a fence with children's shoes tied to it. Yes, we had some protesters. During the consecration of the body and blood of christ, the protesters came inside during mass and starting shouting, "SHAME" and all this other stuff, went right up to the altar with the shoes and placed it on the altar with the archbishop looking a little shocked. I was just kneeling there in shock. Let me get this point across. I think what the Church is doing with the cover ups is disgusting. These priests need to be dealt with properly, so the victims can find some peace in their lives. However, you do not interrupt the most important part of mass. That part means a lot to the followers of the faith, just because you're pissed at the priests don't take it out on the people. However they are certainly justified in their anger and I do not blame them one bit. Priests need to get their shit together.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0404/breaking22.html

Oh and the part about the parishoners verbally abusing the protestors...it was because when they were shouting disgusting at us, this cute old man was like, "You're disgusting." It was kind of comic relief for me in that serious situation.

Topic Nine: Belfast

We decided to make the track to Northern Ireland to see what was up there. Belfast is really sad. Thankfully the city was super cheap compared to Dublin, but we were slightly afraid we were going to get shot or some random bomb was going to hit the Hotel Europa for the 35th time. Luckily none of this happened. We took the Black Taxi tour which showed us all the murals, the peace wall and showed us where most of the crazy crap that happened in the 20th century. I'm really glad we did that. Our tour guide was funny and thought I was a smart ass because he asked us what the round thing was on the Celtic Cross and I answered that it was a circle. It's ok a bartender in Dublin thought I was a ball buster because I paid in all change (10s and 5s) for my cider. After the tour I had a delicious Chicken Caesar Wrap at this awesome pub. Belfast is also where the Titanic was built and they are very proud of it even though the damn thing sunk. They claim that it was fine when it left the harbor, and that it was the idiot British Captain who thought it was a good idea to drive it into an iceberg at full speed. I love the Irish.

Topic Ten: Giants Causeway

I can't even describe it. Look at my pictures on facebook.

Things that broke or was lost on my trip:

my ipod has a sad face. I'll fix it when I get back.

my shampoo bottle

my headband

buttons on my coat. (Relax people my coat is just old.)

Things I got:

Claddaugh ring (my other one broke so yay!)

rugby shirt

guinness boxers

gifts

shot glass

Aunt Jemima (my favorite gift!!)

some postcards

an Irish boyfriend (hahaha...I wish)

Pretty much one of my favorite trips ever. Yay Ireland!!

Spring Break Adventures

This is going to be a long entry because I will cover the last week, and a lot has happened then...so brace yourselves.

Okay I will start with Saturday. Instead of going to some crazy country, and exploring crazy lands, I decided to further my education and take a spring break course known as "Italian Folktales." This class is only a week long, so that I could use other weeks to do some crazy exploring. Saturday was the day we had our orientation and I planned to take a nice shower, and clean the house, and do some grocery shopping before I had to go. God had other plans. As I was about to take a shower, the pressure happened to be a trickle. (this happens a lot, the shower decides when we shower not the other way around.) As I went to the kitchen to check the pressure, the machine that controls everything was spewing water and flooding the kitchen. This has never happened before, so you know I was flipping shit, and my roommates just left for Spain. So I turned off the water, and ended up reading for the rest of the day. We got it fixed later thankfully and hopefully this won't happen again.

So orientation was dandy, and the dinner was dandy as well. After dinner, I walked to the train station to pick up my friend Clay who was visiting from the states for a week. He is the only friend who thought "This will be my only chance to go to Italy, and not pay for food and room and board." We got to my apartment, and he had a whole suitcase full of goodies for me from my loving and awesome parents. There were boxes of girl scout cookies, skittles, nerds, laffy taffys, sweet tarts, two jars of peanut butter, taco seasoning, hot sauce, my hat, my true blood books, some of my treasured movies, and a thing of mascara. Needless to say I was overjoyed and very very happy.

Sunday was class day. I stopped by our professor's apartment (aka classroom) ready to learn. A Palm and Sue Sha are awesome! They gave us delicious coffee and pastries and time to converse before class!!!! I feel if that happened every class, I would never leave school. After class, Clay and I hopped on a train to Florence and decided to walk around. Since it was Sunday not much was open so we didn't do too much. But we did find a delicious place that sold ravioli with broccoli sauce.

Monday was Siena day! I love Siena! We did our thing for class, and then we all went to find lunch. We stumbled on this quaint place and had some good quiche and some good wine and unlimited bread. We then found this awesome gelato place, with the best gelato I have ever had. Then on the bus back home, Kayla and I (the two people who don't think Italians are the hottest people ever) were seriously having some eye candy to the front of us. Too bad he left early. : (

Tuesday: Clay and I decided to hit up Pisa. On the train to Pisa we at first sat next to a bunch of school children who were gawking at us while Clay and I spoke English. We decided to move because the noise was a bit too much. We moved to a car where a little girl was being the biggest brat. I don't approve of children being smacked around but this one deserved it. She would not shutup or sit down until her mother forced her to sit. And then the God awful crying. This child would not stop crying and complaining when finally her mother just smacked her. Thank the lord. When we got to Pisa, we decided to climb the tower. Last time I was there I didn't climb it, and it would be something fun to do. Damn was that a trippy stair climb. Luckily it wasn't as brutal as the cupola, but it was definitely an odd climb. We finally made it to the top and it was so beautiful during the sunset. Pisa has redeemed itself...kind of. I still think it isn't that great, but definitely see it once. As we were ready go back down the stairs, this American lady and her husband were huffing and puffing, while Clay and I were giving her moral support. As we climbed down the stairs we overheard her being a mega bitch to her husband. She was like "No that is such a crappy picture, you delete this right now and do it right...DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND??!!" It was embarrassing. On the train ride back our car had been invaded by annoying sixteen year old boys. They were creeping on Clay's solitaire game on his ipod, one was blasting his music on his ipod speakers, and apparently one was checking me out. Thankfully they weren't there for long. I like to listen to my own music thanks. Then on our way back to Arezzo, this lady was screaming at the top of her lungs bitching the ticket guy out. Like literally screaming and calling him a dick, and that he should go fuck himself and everything. It was slightly funny. The ticket guy walked in our car smiling, and someone asked him in Italian what happened. The ticket guy was just like I just punch tickets, and continued on his way.

Wednesday: Assisi day! I loved Assisi. My whole life I've been spelling is Asissi. Oops. Just as I think views can't get any better, I stand corrected. Assisi is absolutely beautiful. We only went to St. Francis but it was so beautiful. After learning about the art, we visited St. Francis's grave. I didn't really know what to pray for so I decided to pray for my dog Jingles, who passed away last October. St. Francis is the patron saint of animals so I decided he would be the one to talk to. I just asked him to take care of her. After I left I saw five brittany spaniels (Jingles's breed) that day. It was pretty weird. After lunch, the group of us decided stupidly to walk down the hill instead of taking the bus back to the train station. Needless to say we missed our train and had to wait in a train station for two hours with a man barking at us. Unfortunately Sue Sha broke her arm in Assisi, so she had to leave sooner than expected.

Friday: Clay and I went to Florence to see David and do some shopping. David is amazing. Can't describe it. I pretty much love Michelangelo. On the way back this drunk old Italian man decided to bug me. He told me he's a good father, and that he's going to San Marino to see his son. When he found out we were from Texas, he was like "Bang bang...CHUCK NORRIS, GEORGE BUSH," and then proceeded to ask if I knew Bruce Springstein. I said yes, then he was like BORN IN THE USA, while I rolled my eyes. He then asked for my number, I said no, then he told me he wouldn't drive us but his dad would, and that it would be good dinner if I would come. I said no again, and he was like "It's okay I'm too strong for you and you're too young for me." Then the lady behind him told him to leave immediately because he was bothering us and he left. Fun times...

Saturday: Trip to Rome, saw everything, and then I had delicious Hard Rock Cafe. I am so sorry but I miss my American food. I had buffalo wings, onion rings, and refills of pepsi. It was heaven.

So that was my spring break!

Saturday: We decided to hit up Ro

Exchanging of words

So I am a part of a language exchange program in Arezzo where we meet with a group of Italian students to help them with whatever they need for their English exams, and of course if we need help with our Italian, they can help us with that. We are each assigned a person, and then we get together on our own accord. I was assigned to a sweet girl named Michaela, who took me to her dorm room to meet her two roommates who are also very sweet. They knew some English, but guess who got to speak in Italian for two hours? Yours truly. It was weird because yes I did have to think about it, but once I was on a subject, I just started spewing words out...and they were the ones I wanted to say! We talked about Arezzo, (they hate it because it's full of spoiled brats and it's too small...they're from other cities in Italy mainly the South), music (they're burning me a cd!), other things, I talked to one of their parents on the phone in English because they wanted me to speak English, and towards the end, we started singing Bocelli and Katy Perry. After the meeting, I celebrated by going to Blooms and ordering a cheeseburger and french fries.

I know this will be difficult to comprehend if you know my obsession with carbs, but I am sick of them. I need more meat. I'm slightly sick of pasta, bread, crackers, all of it. I need more hamburgers, and chicken sandwhiches, and tacos, and fajitas. I'm becoming a vegetarian without meaning to. At least I'm discovering this now before I develop an unhealthy veg diet. You know the one where they just eat carbs and don't take the necessary vitamins or don't eat from the other food groups, and then develop this kind of stomach thing where they kind of look preggers but it's pudgy. Calm down veggies, I'm not saying all of you have it, but I refuse. I'm going to Rome next weekend and I'm going to Hard Rock cafe. It is settled. Ok rant done. Ciao ciao!

Cortona

Yesterday, a few of us headed over to Cortona (twenty minute train ride) for a wine tasting. Since a lot of us have never been there, we decided to leave Arezzo around 12:15 to go explore and get some lunch. Cortona is the most beautiful place in Tuscany hands down. For those of you who don't know, Under the Tuscan Sun (couldn't find the underline button) by Frances Mayes took place in Cortona. The view was spectacular and we were blessed with such a gorgeous day. We took the bus up to Cortona, had a great meal (I had a mac and cheese type thing, a salad, and some vino), and took the bus back down to meet the others. Bus drivers in Cortona like to think that pushing the accelerator down a hill is how it works. We were literally careening down a very steep hill, and we all thought the brakes were out/we all thought we were going to die. But luckily the only thing damaged was his side mirror.

My first wine tasting was awesome. Benedetto, the owner's son who is in his late twenties and super handsome, gave us a tour of the vineyard, the pet falcon, and then the awesome wine tasting/olive oil tasting. We tried three different wines, all amazing (third one was the best, yes I bought a bottle, and yes I'm saving it until I go home.) Along with the wine tasting, there was awesome salami, awesome bread, and great cheese. It was just a perfect perfect day.

Pisa...not much to it.

Today we had a class trip to Pisa. Other than the leaning tower of Pisa, there is not much. I have heard from others that Pisa isn't that great but now I can confirm. The history of Pisa was interesting but there was not much to the town. We also visited Lucca, which I liked better. It's a shame it was so miserable all day. But nonetheless Lucca is very very pretty. Hopefully the rain will stop and the sun will stop by to say hi when we are all wine tasting in Cortona (Under the Tuscan Sun). A presto!

I am the next Ina Garten

Ok so even if you met me for two seconds you will know this. I do not cook. I do not spend time in the kitchen, and I could care less about cooking things. I mean for Christ sakes when I was three, my parents got me a kitchen set complete with dishes and silverware, and fake food. I only used that thing for the phone. Who knew that would be a foreshadowing of my lack of kitchen skills.

But here I really don't have a choice. If I want to live and not be broke, I have to cook. The food network website is my life. I wouldn't know what to do without it. Yesterday was a cooking day for sure. I was adamant about getting tomato soup (they don't have campbells here people and though they have every other tomato thing you can think of they don't have canned tomato soup.) So I got ingredients and made the damn soup. Not bad, I still like Campbells better, but what can you do? Then I made pancakes for dinner from scratch and my God were they good. Italy along with the rest of Europe believe breakfast is a croissant and a cappucino. Though I love both of those things, it would be nice to have a bagel or waffles or something of the sort every once in a while. I also have a recipe for ranch dip and after my sesta (what I call a nap, fiesta in Spanish translates to Festa in Italian, so I thought, as well as lots of Americans thought it would be logical to translate siesta to sesta.) But yes we'll see how that turns out.

My Italian class is all done! This is the last one I'll take during my college career. It's hard to believe I've been taking Italian for the past six years. We're going to Pisa and Lucca with our class tomorrow and Saturday a group of us are taking the train to Cortona for an inexpensive wine tasting. I'm very excited. A presto!

A Roma

Weekend!

Friday: Stayed in Arezzo and went out for some Mexican food! Yes there is a Mexican place in Arezzo and yes it is absolutely delicious. Brittany and I split the fajitas and they were great! ( I forgot it was Friday.) I also had my first legal libation that starts with an m and ends in argarita. Delicious as well. I'm looking forward to getting sushi and Chinese food sometime here too.

Saturday: Woke up very early to catch the 7:45 am train to Rome. We arrived at the termini and got to our hostel. I have much better faith in hostels. This one was ten times better than the one in Venice. We got some food and then headed straight to the Vatican.

Oh. my. goodness. I forgot how amazingly awesome the Vatican was. I was there ten years ago for the holy year. My parents and I were three out of the 40 million people that came to visit the Vatican. Crazzy. Ok so right as we stepped out of the metro, we found tour guides willing to take us. Cathy was our tour guide! She was awesome, and American so that was helpful. We first went to the pope's old palace which is now a museum, and saw a bunch of old statues, paintings, and tapestries. My favorite part of that museum were the Raphael paintings. Very very cool.

We then headed to the Sistine chapel where I got to see my favorite Michelangelo painting, "The Last Judgement." The guards there were Nazis, kicking people out who took pictures, and telling us to "SILENZIO." Sounds like some people had a long week.

We then headed to St. Peter's to look at the dead popes. One thing I didn't see last time was Pope John Paul II's tomb because clearly he was alive when I was there last. You can tell he has touched a lot of lives. There were a lot of people there praying in front of his tomb. And then I saw St. Peter's tomb, when I remembered last time we were there, mom dropped her sunglasses down the stairs and had to go get them. I also saw John XXIII. I have him to thank for listening to mass in English, and being able to eat meat on non lent Fridays. Lots of people were in front of his tomb as well so that was nice. The Pieta is my favorite Michelangelo sculpture so I was very happy to see that as well.

Then there was the climb to the top of the Cupola. Oh my goodness. Once again I'm praising the lord for not being fat, claustrophobic, afraid of heights, and the size of a small child. Those stairs would not end, hallways were narrow, and I am so out of shape, I was literally crawling towards the top. But it was so worth it. The view was spectacular, and we showed up right at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful.

We left St. Peters and went to find food. We found a great restaurant, and the weather was so nice, we sat outside and had a nice fun delicious meal. I had fettucine something. We then decided to go to the Trevi Fountain and I threw in a coin for Mama Kettler. Which is good because the whole saying is throw a coin once, you come back, throw a coin twice, you get married, and throw a coin three times, you get divorced. I already threw a coin when I was eleven, and getting married right now is not something enticing. But just in case I won't throw a coin in again...I'll pass on the experience of a divorce. Then we just sat there for an hour observing and talking. It was so nice. We ate some delicious gelato after then trekked to the Spanish Steps. We had a great time, but we were so exhausted, we passed out as soon as we got back to the hostel.

Sunday: We did the whole Roman ruins thing. Colesseum and all that jazz. It was cool to see, but wasn't my cup of tea. The Pantheon is awesome though. I can't believe something that old is in really good condition. Amazing. A few of us stumbled into St. Ignatious of Loyola, and that was so unbelievably beautiful. Then we got gelato, then off to Termini to head home. I had my first run in with a gypsy. He was so annoying. He literally held out his hand as if it was mandatory for me to give him money. "no...no...no...no...no...NO NO NO NO...VAI VIA!" He started to follow me and continued asking. Luckily I had an entourage of six people around me also telling him to go away. He gave up and moved on to other tourists. The end!

Fashion

Ok. So you know I would talk about this sooner or later. Italians have a very different sense of fashion at the moment. For the most part they can pull it off, because they are all skinny and know how to wear clothes, and do not pretend that they are a size smaller than what they really are. However if this ever hits the states we will all be hot messes. Here are grand examples of what I see every day in the Corso.

Metallic Jackets

Both men and women wear these.

Timberland boots, a fav of the men's

And then graphic shirts for women

Basically if one aspires to be a construction worker, but not really, or loves Clark shoes, or wants enough shiny objects of clothing to make an ADD child go mad, then Italy is the place for you at the moment.

Catch up

Ok so I really stink at this whole, let's write something everyday. It might be because I'm lazy, or I feel the material isn't interesting, or the fact that the only place I get internet in my apartment is my bathroom. I will never bitch about slow internet again...maybe.

So last week, I got to celebrate my 21st birthday. (Ti auguri a te!) It was a great great birthday. We (Brittany, Andrew, Chelsea, and myself) woke up early on Saturday, got on the train, and spent the day in Florence. I love Florence. It's so beautiful, and the shopping is great. I bought myself a scarf, and two pairs of much needed sunglasses. The goal was to look for shoes. FAIL. I did find a pair that I fell in love with, however my test walk resembled a penguin waddle. So they were a no go. It's fine before I leave I will have a pair of black Italian patent leather stilettos with a round but slightly pointed toe <--this might be another reason why I cannot easily find shoes. We returned home and ate delicious lemon biscuit cookies that Halie baked. I'm slightly addicted to them. Then a bunch of us got ready and celebrated at Aurora and the favorite Mr. Blooms. Good times.

Here's something I'm really excited about. Next Thursday is my last Italian class! You might think, "But Kaitlyn, why are you excited? Shouldn't you want to learn Italian forever?" But I say, "Nay. I've been learning Italian since the age of fourteen. This is my extent, and my Mondays and Thursdays will be completely free to do other fun things like travel and take day trips to the English bookstore in Florence." Plus I feel really awkward asking Italian students why Rome is "a bitch among pigs." Yes, we had to do that in class.

So today we went to Siena for our art class. Freaking cool, and really pretty. We stopped by St. Catherine's of Siena, where we saw her thumb and her head. Being the Catholic nerd that I am, this was really exciting.

a. People back then were tiny. She had the head the size of an infant. (ok maybe a small child)

b. I could not believe I was standing in a church where crazy miracles happened. Ok Catholic nerd moment done.

Then we went to the museum by the Duomo and saw the Maesta, and other works of art. The Maesta by Duccio is crazy (look it up). So many stories in one altar piece. It really pissed me off that they decided to replace it with an ugly tabernacle.

Then we got to go to the top of the wall that was meant to be part of the church, but wasn't completely built because of the plague. I can't remember the name of it "ugly something" but yeah. Here are a few things I'm thankful for

a. I am not fat

b. I am the size of a small child

Otherwise the climb to the top would have been impossible. The climb was worth it. The view was the best view I have gotten of Tuscany. (pictures will be loaded soon on here). But that wind was flying. It made me reminisce of Oklahoma just a bit. We also got to look around the duomo, and eat a really awesome lunch. Props to Sam being the first American to eat Tripe at that restaurant. Siena is gorgeous, and is full of history, so if ever in Tuscany make a stop.

Just so you know

If you're in Italy and you see a little punk running away with a non man purse in his hand, this is what you say, "Ladro! Non rubi la borsa!" "Thief, do not steal the purse." Unfortunately last night I was not aware of how to say this. My friend and I were at the park, just walking around, when we saw a man running with a woman's purse in his hand. At first I thought he was carrying it for someone but I saw no girl in site.

Note to family: I do not approach sketch people or people who look harmful. He looked like a little punk who didn't know what he was doing. You do not haul ass in the other direction with a purse, you blend with the crowd...duh. (ps I've been watching too many usa marathons back home)

So being concerned with this at the time, I start running after him saying, "Stop! That is not your purse!!" The kid turns around, looks confused, ( I am speaking English) and continues to run. I start running after him saying, "You should not steal, it's not right!" He stops and meets up with a friend and they're talking. I show up, give them a look of dissapproval and say, "La borsa...not yours." and then walk away. They continue to look really confused, try to speak in English and then give up. What was I going to do with the purse? I didn't know who it belonged to, and I didn't want to make a whole ordeal about it by going to the police. But now they know I do not approve of stealing, and maybe in the future they will be smarter than that. Punks.

Recap on Venice

What can I say about Venice? Whoever says they hate Venice because of the smell should be slapped across the face. Venice is one of my favorite places in the world. It's so unique and has such a great sense of history.

Friday: 15 of us took the Eurostar from Florence to Venice. The weather the whole weekend was clear skies. Considering Arezzo is usually cloudy and rainy, this was a nice change. The minute we stepped out of the train station there was a ton of music and people all around buying masks, getting their faces painted, children running around in princess costumes, the whole shebang. It was Halloween all over again minus the whole ghost witch thing...sorta.

Then there's the hostel experience. I have never stayed in a hostel before, so this was definitely an experience. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't a five star hotel either. I really had no idea what to expect. The hostel dude had the most interesting beard I have ever seen, and was super laid back about everything. We met a bunch of people from all around the US, Canada, France, and Brazil.

We decided to venture out and buy masks. I spent 32 Euro on mine but it's so worth it. It's basically my favorite and will be wall decor in my future house in Norman. Partying in Venice is ridiculous. They are all street parties. You just find a random piazza and there is sure to be music, dancing, and a lot of Americans. I felt there were more Americans and other nationalities than Italians. I couldn't even describe how fun it was. It was definitely a highlight in life. A few of us decided to venture (get lost) to San Marco. The piazza was beautiful. It was completely empty but everything was lit up. I can't really believe how old some things are. My freaking apartment is 300 years older than the birth of our nation!

Saturday: Woke up, had the experience of getting in line and waiting for a shower, and then got ready to venture the town again. That day, we went to Murano to experience the art of glass making. Those people have skills! It's crazy what they can do with glass, without screwing up. I thought he was going to make a giraffe and I was super excited, but he made a horse instead. Oh well, it was still pretty sweet. We got back to Venice and I did the touristy gondola ride. It was worth the money. We took the ride during the sunset and it was the most beautiful thing ever. It was probably one of the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen.

Ok let me start this Saturday night recap by saying: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PIAZZA DELLA SAN MARGHERITA. We walked a total of three hours around the whole island and could not find it for the life of us. This is officially a game for American students that Italians love to play. A few of us gave up and went back and everyone else at the hostel just got back from San Margherita. The frustration from us was priceless.

Sunday: Woke up and went to San Marco and did the whole museum shebang. The balcony from San Marco has the best view of the Piazza and the water. Feel free to look at facebook. A few of us wandered away and thought we were in the direction of the hostel. We ended up in a residential setting with an hour to get to the train station. An hour turned into thirty minutes and we had no idea where we were, and I had all the tickets for everyone. I don't know how many times I said "Dove la stazione di treno?" and "Permesso!!" <---"Excuse me, but kind of ruder than scusi." We finally found the hostel, ran upstairs, got our stuff and the hostel dude looked at us and said, "You guys aren't going to make it." I was like "watch me" and hauled ass out the door. I definitely hauled from the hostel to the station with twenty minutes to spare, and that walk is usually 30 minutes. I pushed small children, knocked a drink out of someone's hand, and saw a side of me I've never seen before. But we made it with ten minutes to spare, thank the lord. Venice was so crazy and so fun and I was so excited that I was there for Carnevale.

Disclaimer

I have never done a blog before, but figured I should because I'm studying abroad, and what's the best way to inform others of my trip than writing a blog? Enjoy, hope it doesn't disappoint.