The Eighth Wonder of the World.

Ta-dah! the Leaning Towah! and a Ta-dah! upon arrival in Monterosso Al Mare.

WARNING: This is another long one. But every amazing weekend deserves one of these, so I ain't holding back. Grab a snack =)

This past weekend I went to one of the most amazing places in the world, the Cinque Terre ("chink-weh ter-reh". it means Five Villages), which is technically a National Park. It is located on the west coast of Italy, pretty far north. If you imagine Italy's stivale (new vocab word this week- boot) shape, the Cinque Terre are located right where the top starts to flatten out. Andrea, I'm right up there with you - so far it's my favorite place in the world.
Soo, a couple of hourse after we got to bed after Domus on Thursday night, we were all up and at it again for the weekend! We took a bus part of the way because when we reserved our tickets, us being the responsible, planning ahead-ers that we are, there was a train strike planned for Friday, meaning some trains would not run and we had now way of knowing if ours would. Yes, I'm sure you're wondering, train strikes are organized and announced nationally, including the time of days during which it will be in effect. Quite strange, eh? It's nice because it doesn't completely ruin travel plans, but it also seems kind of silly to have an organized strike. And it actually turns out that we got burned for planning early- the day after we bought our bus tickets, which were a bit more pricy than the train would have been, we were informed that the train strike was now cancelled. Yaaay. We are never being responsible, planning-aheaders again. We need to start going about things the Italian way- aka not planning at all and being late for everything. So anyways, we got the bus(well, first we spent half an hour wandering around looking for where we get the bus), rode 3 hours, and stopped in Pisa. We found our way to Piazza Miracolli (Square of Miracles) and there it was, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And gosh, the Piazza was PACKED! It was actually kind of strange for me because last time I went to go see the leaning tower (during my trip in high school) we went at night and it was totally deserted. But I discovered right away that I like the area MUCH better at night. A) There aren't people and vendors freakin' everywhere, and B) the Piazza looked so different during the night time. In the day time I actually think it loses a lot of it's beauty and simplicity. At night time, the square was so incredibly beautiful because the limestone of the buildings in the square actually glowed in the dark and I remember it precisely as being breathtaking. So, I am glad that I got to see the square like that because today it was just insane. Also, since we were in a time crunch, we had to move quickly. So, we had time to take our classic standing next to and holding up the tower pictures (Side story #1: I can't tell you how many people I saw having their friends and family take pictures of them "holding up" the tower in the wrong direction. Like, they were standing on the side that leans away. Hahahahaa, people are funny). Then I paid 4.70 euro for a mediocre piece of pizza in the center just so I could say I had a pezza de pizza in Pisa! Then we got a bus and got to the train station with 10 minutes to spare. Phew! Cuz we were rushing!

We arrived in Monterosso, the north-most of the Cinque Terre and HOLY SHIZZNIT is it beautiful! And I recognized some parts of it from last time I did the Cinque Terre. We arrived just as the sun was setting over the water =) I snuck onto the beach just to get my feet in the Mediterranean. Our hotel was tucked down a mini side street right near other apartments and such. I can’t believe people actually live there!! So we explored the town, found some great eats for dinner- lots of fish around here! So fresh! (Side story #2- As we were wandering we saw two guys, one still barefoot & the other still holding the fishing pole, pushing a wheel-barrow thingy of fresh FRESH fish through the street, stopping to chat with other locals and sell them a couple. Now that’s legit). Got some deeelish gelato (caffe & cioccalata. Yes, I know you need to know every kind of gelato I get).

The next day was hike day! We got our start at 7:45am with some groceries and breakfast and were on our way! Trails were straight up BEAUTIFUL. The first one to Vernazza was the most difficult- we had to climb up and up and up a lot of steps because we were ascending up the cliff!) There’s really nothing more to say about the towns because words just won’t cover it. The pictures don’t even do them justice, but they’ll be good enough. I’ll get those up soon. Got some lunch and some awesomeee pesto in Corniglia (#3). And I’m so mad I didn’t bring my bathing suit because the girls went swimming at Manarola (town #4) and I wanted to go! (Side story #3- as we were looking for the trail to Vernazza in Monterosso, we met a guy who was, for lack of better words, or more like no other words would describe him directly, totally gorgeous. Thick New Zealand accent. Blue eyes. Tattoo. Yeah. He helped us find the trail. He got a start ahead of us and we ran into him, his dad, and his brother in every town and wound up finishing up the hike with them. *Sighh.* And don’t you worry, ladies, I totally got a picture. He jumped into one of our group shots. Yessss.) We took the train back to Monterosso from Riomaggiore, the last town. Jess, Stephanie, and I took a detour on the way back from dinner in Monterrosso and found a “Festival de Vino” in the square where they were giving out samples of traditional Cinque Terre wine! After resting a bit, all 7 of us went back to the central square of Monterrosso where the wine festival was continuing. I was immediately drawn to the square because there was live music- fantastic band- and couples dancing! Actually dancing! It was like a dream. Eventually, I got in there and got Stephanie and Carly to join me for a minute. I just kept telling them, “This is what I do!” They also had some line-dancingish dahces, too, that I picked up, and people were doing cha cha and tango and swing and waltz. I had so much fun dancing and watching! I was totally thinking of Maren then in the square. She would have ABSOLUTELY loved it, with all the dancing and music. And she would have been in that square with me in heartbeat. Or less. Maren, I took some videos and pictures for you there!


Everyone's ta-dah! at the second town Vernazza. We took that picture in every town as our trademark.

The next day, Sunday, was beach day! And the sun was shining! Finally! Jessica, Stephanie, Chelsie, and I decided to rent kayaks! We went off on the sea (kayaking on the Meditteranean! So cool!) towards Vernazza, which we could see in the distance. There were lots of little caves and coves that we explored. And ooooohmygosh that water. Never have I ever seen (or been in) water of that incredible, crystal clear blue. I still can’t get over it. We found a little cove with an itty bitty waterfall where we jumped out and took a dip. The idiot her didn’t bring her swimsuit on this trip (that would be ->me<-) couldn’t resist the water and went swimming in her underwear :-x. Who cares, it’s Europe, we were secluded. Anyways, we were out on the kayaks for 2 hours and we were SO glad we decided to rent them. Afterwards, got to lay out on the very crowded beach and dry off a bit, got a panini (with tuna! FINALLY! I haven’t had any since I’ve been here and I missed it so!) and the most delicious strawberry daiquiri in the world to have on the beach. Took the train back and we all returned exhausted but exhilarated from the most fantastic vacation =)


Yeah, that's the water I kayaked on.

Links to the rest of my pictures (on facebook): http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038610&l=41083&id=28503380
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038611&l=3ef78&id=28503380

Thanks for reading/looking! If you ever get to Italy in your life, get to the Cinque Terre. At least hit up Cornigilia, Vernazza, and Monterrosso. I miss every single one of you! Love.

Personal chefs, body guards, hip-hoppers, and Italy learns Zumba

After classes today, Dominic, a friend from Umbra, came over and made us an AMAZING dinner! Pasta and a 3 cheese alfredo sauce with chicken. It kicked butt. We like Dominic.

Then, we hit up the nightlife with Tiziana and her friend Angelica, Andra, Stephanie, Sarah, and Jessica! First to a bar that just opened where we got a free drink each, and at midnight they popped champagne (the cork actually hit me square in the arm ... I kept it as a souvenir). We stayed and danced for a while. They were also giving out hats and thongs with their logo on them ... to promote themselves I guess? Wow. Classy. All I know is that I have a brand new thong with some random bar's name on it. Wooohoo I've always wanted one of those. Then Tiziana & Alexandra called their security guard friend and got us into the HOT new place of Perugia called Velvet. It was really cool inside- hip and snazz and kind of insane, but it was so ridiculously crowded that we only stayed for 10 minutes. Although in that 10 minutes one of the bartenders managed to get a hold of one of our thongs with the other bar's name on it. No idea how. It was gross.
Then everyone else went home and Elisha & I went to Fashion to meet up with Sam and Dash and at 3:15ish we went to Domus, the discopub! Danced the whole night (er, morning?) away! this time mostly with a guy named MJ who is a SICK dancer. Like, I was out of my league with him. He was poppin' and lockin' all over the place and I just had to resort the the 3 cool hip-hopish things I can do (which are VERY difficult to accomplish in heels, by the way). But he taught me some sweet moves and I taught him some and I left a more well-versed hip-hopper than when I arrived, so it was a successful night altogether!

And OH MY GOSH- the highlight of my night that made me want to blog about this evening in the first place!! Andrea and Melissa, this one's for you. They played yet another Zumba song at Domus. I'm going to let you guess which one, but I'll give you a hint- It's definitely a favorite. A frequent request. And a dance that we often break into when not at Zumba (to everyone else who's reading this, that activity is totally normal in la mia famiglia). I screamed in excitement and did part of the dance and sang along at the Italian discoteca. Shelley would have been proud!

Never had a better Monday.

This one contains nothing exciting. But I felt the need to update this thing so here is a brief and boring account of my Monday. But I guess the fact that I had an especially good MONDAY is sort of monumental ...

Class. Lunch all’appartamento. Homework. Research for my History & Culture of Food in Italy class paper in the library. Had the room to myself for research- just what I needed.
2nd night in a row I made dinner! (Last night I made pasta, concocted red sauce from straight tomato juice & some spices, and sautéed some zucchini). Tonight got fresh baguettes from “Mr. Man” (that’s what E calls mr. old guy who gave us the wine the other night) at Alimentari. He didn’t make me pay for them. Sliced some zucchini & sautéed them with some salt and pepper, cut up some pomodori (tomatoes) and sweet red pepper and some of that delicious cociatta cheese. Melted the cheese on the halved loaf and made sandwiches drizzled with balsamic vinegar. A successful experiment. Go me!
Then to my new internet spot where I have to pay for internet but the connection is SOO much better. Finished uploading all my Florence pictures FINALLY (they are up on Facebook: ). Skyped very successfully with Dad. It was great to hear from him and to hear how much he was really enjoying his first Skype experience. Then, I skyped with Stephie!!! Ahhh it was so great to see her. She is beautiful! It’s like how we always were- I’m so glad we can keep this up. Thank you, technology gods, thank you! Then a miraculous thing happened- TARA NOELLE DEMMY got on Skype! So the 3 of us were able to 3-way-chat and it was sooooo wonderful. And yesterday I was able to talk and webcam with Ms Katie Dahm, so I got all the roomies within 24 hours. Love them. Can’t wait to be back together with them again. We make a good team.
Then I met some of the girls-Jess, E, Stephanie, and Tiziana- at Fashion. Phillip eventually came and we went out for drinks (well, originally I for a gelato but the gelateria was closed!), but we wound up at Dempsey’s for a drink. He made me speak Italian which I appreciated because sometimes I slack when I shouldn’t. We exchanged names of musicians to look up so I can add some Italian and Swiss music to my collection. We met a very friendly British girl named Joti (Jody maybe? Couldn’t quite tell) who made fun of my American accent- and she had it down to a T. She convinced us to check out the karaoke going on at the Shamrock pub next door. Phillip & I went and watched the drunkies sing terribly. Laughed. I saw Mr. Dancin Machine from the other night at Domus! On our way out we rain into Joti- she got seriously concerned that we were leaving and chased us outside, took a picture of us, and told me to watch out for the sleazy Italian men. Due to her drunkenness and thick accent, Phillip didn’t understand what she had told me- so I taught him the word “sleazy.” A good word to know here, at least in my experience.

The end.

I swear, I can use the corkscrew now.

Mauro & I! Sharing a drink in the piazza.

Last night was delightful: my roomies and I went to Jess, Sarah, Stephanie, Andrea, and Megan’s apartment for dinner. Megan made us some wonderfully seasoned chicken with red pepper and onion, risotto with a red sauce, and we had a beautiful salad. What fun girls- we had a great time. Then I took advantage of the internet they get in their apartment and skyped with the rest of the Fab 4- Kelsey, Maddie, and Alex! Although I couldn’t get my webcam to work so they couldn’t see/hear me, I could see and hear them and it was just like we were all together. It made me miss them like whoah. Girls, LOVE YOU. You make me happyyyy. Then E & I, once again, spent the evening at the Fashion bar. Sat with Niko, another one of Flavia & Tiziana’s friends, and all of his Italian friends and once again found ourselves using our Italian. Haha, his friends are funny. Wound up sitting outside with them for a couple hours (long enough so my brand new blazer and jeans and lungs absorbed lots of cigarette smoke … again). We might see them again tomorrow.

This will be another long post. Today was quite an adventure. Details galore.

Looked out the window this morning and saw a thick line of fog over the hills. Rained allll day.

Feeling homesick today. Miss all my Denison girls. Their pictures make me a little sad. Got to talk to mom today. It rained lots. Hung out with Mauro, Umbra’s “techie” guy on staff, while chilling in the school building Bartolo to get on the internet. Mauro’s young, well dressed, and completely adorable. All the girls love him, and he loves him back. On the way back to the apartment when Elisa and I stopped for a bottle of our favorite frizzante red wine (fizzy red wine- it’s so good!) to pair with our steak & potatoes dinner, we met the adorable old guy who runs the grocery shop that is right in between our class building and the Fashion bar. He helped us pick out a good wine, gave us discounts on the cheese we bought, and then he threw in another bottle of wine! For free! Hahaha what a cutie. We’ll go back there and probably be best friends with him by the end of the week =) Stopped at our favorite butcher for some nice steaks.

Looking forward to a fun, relaxed night, Elisha and I (Chelsie & Carly are out of town for the weekend, so it was just the two of us), hopped, skipped, and jumped back to the apartment. Ready for some wine, we ran into a dilemma- neither of us could figure out how to use the corkscrew (yeah, we know, we’re idiots!) Carly had always opened the wine. So, er, needless to say, it took us a while. It involved more than one corkscrew. And we finished with a cork that was just a little … crumbled. We rewarded ourselves with a toast and some Gilmore Girls episodes along with our kick butt dinner. Got ready to go out around 10, not expecting to be out too late. Boy did that idea go awry.

It began at our default location: Fashion. Elisha got herself a latte and got a table inside (because it’s gotten chilly here! Seriously!) and we chatted. I finally met the other guy who bartends there, named Tony. I don’t know if he was speaking extra clearly or with extra simplicity for our sake, but I found for the most part I could understand most of the things he said to me! It was so fun to be able to communicate with him and Sam! All we had to do was say, “LENTAMENTE!” (slowly!) and if they spoke slowly enough we got most of it. Only twice consulted the dictionary. Go us! While sitting there we also met Rocco, a student at the University of Perugia. He knew about as much English as I know Italian, so we communicated in broken sentences but it still worked. He offered his number so if we were interested in another tandem (language exchange) then we could meet up and practice. Cool, huh? Because we were sitting there so long, Tony brought us some Bailey’s on ice. That’s what I really like about Fashion- it’s full of nice guys. It may sound as though I’m basically only making Italian guy friends, and I suppose it’s true- but you have to understand, women don’t really come up and talk to you here. Yes, men may come to talk to you for other reasons, but men here just don’t hold back with anything. If they are curious about you (and they usually are- for some reason, no matter hard we try to look/sound Italian, we will always scream “HI, I’M AMERICAN” even if stay silent), they will come over and ask you who you are, where you’re from, etc. We have been extremely lucky to have generally avoided the slimy creepsters. I think that’s seriously unusual, considering the proportion of creepsters to nice. The guys who we have met are tame and (as far as I can tell) genuine. It’s so nice to have people who are patient with our incompetence.

Anyway, then we stopped at Celebrate to see Flavia and Alexandra. Stayed for a drink. Got bothered by a severely drunk Italian man (who definitely belongs in the creepers category above). He came over to me and got in my face (like, literally two inches) and asked (er, slurred) me where I was from. Over and over. I said “New York” and he says in English “Really? I know New York!” Over and over. It was half hilarious because he was so completely inebriated, and half annoying because he was getting way too close. Eventually, after standing back and watching the whole spectacle and laughing, his friends took him away with an apologetic smile. Although part of me thinks they encouraged him. We thanked Alexandra and were on our way to stop back at Fashion to see Tony and Sam before they closed, but we were sidetracked by Mauro, who we ran into in the square. Met some of his buddies, and wound up staying for a drink with them at Dempsey’s (another popular bar just across the crowded square from Fashion). While in the square hanging with Mauro, drunk guy from Celebrate saw us and once again, his friends let him stumble over and bug us with his proximity and the same questions. Mauro was no help, hahaha.

Back to Fashion as it was emptying (it’s now 2:30ish), hung out as Sam & Tony closed up shop and cleaned. Some other older but not creepy regulars who we see at Fashion bought me and Elisha another drink. Sam & Tony made us sandwiches just because they heard E say she was hungry. Then Sam tooks us to Domus, the “disco pub.” At this point it was already close to 3:30, and I just thought, “okay, what the heck- let’s go!” He paid for our cover, held on to us so we wouldn’t lose him in the crowd, and didn’t let us out of his sight all night. If guys (which the club was full of- why does it feel like this city is 80% men who are all between the ages of 15 and 30?) made an inappropriate move or looked at us the wrong way, Sam would pull us into him like our own little body guard. I’m sure he loved having 2 American girls to flaunt at his side. But knowing that he was keeping an eye on us, I allowed myself to not get intimidated and I danced danced danced! ALL NIGHT. Mostly with Sam and Elisha. And, towards the end of the night, saw another guy (who’s name I have forgotten already) who was a friend of Mauro’s I met at Dempsey’s, and danced with him. Such a fun, unique, and awesome dancer! We played little games and he showed off his moves and I showed off mine, and at this point the floor and mostly emptied so we had some room to play. I love dancing with guys like that! It was such a blast! Another night of dancing all night at Domus (as long as we have a trusted Italian guy with us) is in the future.

Now back at the apartment. Sam walked us back and he came up to watch a movie with us because E & I decided that we just weren’t going to sleep, but after 5 minutes he decided he was too tired and went home. Which is understandable because it’s now 6:19am. Elisha and I aren’t even tired. Adrenaline is an amazing thing.

This is my letter to Italy.

Today I had to take 200 pictures sitting in one spot for my photography class. I did my shoot at the Fashion bar. Here's one of the 200- Sam & Elisha.

Happy half birthday to me! (& Mel!)

Dear Italy,
Please don’t take any offense to the following. I have some complaining to do (which will be infrequent in this record of my experiences, I expect). I’m just being honest. But don’t ever think that what I say decreases my fascination/adoration/enchantment with you. Kay? Kay.

First of all, you kind of smell awful. Your air is completely taken over by smoke, and I feel as though I have barely breathed fresh air since I’ve been here. Especially at night, In the piazza, where everybody is around (so, consequently, where I always want to be) I can almost feel the smoke filling up my lungs and after a while it suffocates me a little. And it’s not something I ever want to get used to or become immune to. That is one of the one things that I like better in America than here- they’ve gotten over the obsession with smoking over there. So yeah, I don’t like smelling like smoke 24/7- all my clothes and my skin are absorbing the smell & it spreads. My apartment also manages to smell although the 4 of us are very clean.

Your internet sucks.

So does the time difference.

Also, you are so far away. I really miss my friends. I love it here. But there times, I admit, that it would be nice to be at Denison. I can’t have the best of both worlds, and being here I’m definitely not settling for anything. So I am so lucky to have so much to look forward to when I get back as well. Tutto bene.

And, you are also sucking up my money like a dementor in a field full of Sirius Blacks. Yeah, sorry, I just watched Harry Potter #3 with the roomies and that is the first simile that I thought of. I apologize for it’s lameness that it reaches on all levels possible.

You’re also still doing a great job of overwhelming me. You are so full of stuff to experience. I don’t know what to do with you. And you will only make this more difficult for me as time goes on, I imagine. But in case I forget to tell you later, thank you for that. You are still new and scary and uncertain for me, but that is exactly what I want to fill my life with. You are a challenge for me. I find that now my newest perspective on how to approach each day is to facilitate/introduce challenge. Every day I do and want to continue to step outside my comfort zone. Because if I don’t do that here, I won’t get it all. I don’t want to miss out on ANYTHING I could experience here- good or bad. So yeah, keep it up.

Besides all of these, always, you make me feel, you make me feel, you make me feel like a natural woman.

We all share the same space.

All of us at the top of the Duomo. In the back from left to right is Chelsie, Sarah, Carly, and Elisha. Jess & I in the front. Behind us is Florence and beyond!

This is my weekend in Florence! I won’t even try to make this short. I kept a piece of paper with me all weekend to record all the stuff that happened, so here goes.

First highlight: heard some Italian teens singing High School Musical on the train (*sings* this feeling’s like no otherrr, I want you to knowwwww!!) hahaha it made me laugh. Taking the train was fun and facile (easy).

Friday in Firenze: Thanks to the map, we found our way to the hostel from the train station, which was about a 15 minute walk. Um, okay, so our hostel (called Plus Florence) was TOTALLY not the hostel I was imaging. This place was like a freakin hotel … for youngsters … on crack. Besides having a beautiful lobby, reception area, extremely helpful staff, nice rooms with clean bathrooms and lockers, there was also a dance club/bar downstairs with events every night. We didn’t take advantage of the bar in the hostel, but we did stop down there on our way back in on Friday and Saturday night- Saturday was toga night. It was like a giant frat party. Hilarious. I love Europe. So anyways, after getting settled in our room (that was painted purple, by the way- totally my kind of hostel), we went off to explore. The pouring rain and even the brief hail, with pellets of size that I could hold in my hand, didn’t stop us. After squealing like little girls for a second, we rolled up our jeans and went on our way. We knew it was going to rain all weekend (and it did, to no avail), so we just saw it as an element of adventure to our whole weekend. It never got us down! It started to downpour even more, so, still laughing, we found a nook on the street to get out of the rain for a second. However, we had to keep moving quickly because we were standing next to a (in my defense, hidden) door out of which an older man wearing the black collar thing with a white square stuck his head out and told us, blatantly, to shut up- we didn’t even realize that we were right outside a church. Whoops … still waiting for the lightning to strike me. The we stopped and get our first gelato (menta & cioccolata) along with a little grammar lesson from the lady who served us because we failed miserably when trying to order in Italian. Wandered into some shops- I wound up with a great skirt and blazer, so now I have my “this is my skirt from Florence!” Kept walking (we only barely consulted a map) and the gorgeous duomo literally appeared out of nowhere. Even more beautiful than I remember it to be. Like, wow. Walked around Piazza del Duomo and Piazza de Repubblica (where statues of the Roman gods) near the Uffizi, and met up with Sarah’s friend from Elon who is studying in Florence. With her we found an adorable pizzeria where I ordered some kick butt lasagna and the waitress was adorable- when I stood up to asked her to take a picture of us at the table, she handed the camera to another waiter, sat in my seat and patted her lap so I could sit down on it, and got in the picture with us. Italians rock.

We needed to walk off our delicious dinner, so we made our way to the Ponte Vecchio. And that’s when it hit me. I realized where I was. Everything was as close to perfection as one moment can be, and it even made me cry a little. The feel and smell of the breeze, the lights, the peace, the people, the sounds. It’s when I realized it, and first expressed aloud how I could see myself here (in Italy, not Florence) again. Maybe for a longer period of time. We sat there looking at the Arno for a good while just taking it all in. It was a moment I will never forget. The moment passed, and we kept moving. As we walked off the Ponte Vecchio a cardboard sign probably belonging to a homeless person caught my eye on the street. It read, “we all share the same space.” It pulled at my heart a little bit and I kept thinking about it as I walked past it. So, about 50 feet later, I turned around and went back and I took it. Yes, okay, I think technically I stole from the homeless. But it’s a pretty cool souvenir in my opinion. Still waiting for the lightning.

We continued to get bugged by guys selling umbrellas on the street because it was still raining and we were sharing. Jess, Sarah, and E eventually caved and bartered a bit to get one for 2 euro. It was a fight, but they won. Got gelato #2- a nutellla gelato (yes, it does exist, and yes, it does taste like nutella, and yes, it is heaven) and a flavor called panna cotta that was a very sweet, toffee-ish. Sat on a large open platform with pillars to enjoy it and then I realized we were sitting right next to the famous Boar statue, whose nose you are supposed to rub for good luck- the nose has been rubbed so many times that the texture and color has deteriorated and it is now smooth and gold. The girls all rubbed the nose. Since I rubbed it last time I was in Florence in high school (and it did bring me lots of good luck) and I didn’t this time in fear that it would cancel out my first time. We found another gorgeous piazza that I have forgotten the name of where there were musicians on the street and a carousel. Cute! I love places like this by night. Then, in more rain we split up (Sarah & Chelsie walked Sarah’s friend back) while Carly, Jess, Elisha, and I made a little detour- first we got a little lost. Imagine that- 4 soaking wet, clearly American, and hopefully not so clearly lost girls wandering the sidestreets of central Florence at 11pm. But we found our way after a couple of circles around the Duomo, almost long enough for me to really start getting nervous but not quite long enough! We spontaneously decided to take a turn into a bar that was about a block from the hostel because we heard live music! Again, feeling spontaneous, I ordered a mojito from the super nice cooky looking men behind the bar and listened to the 3 SUPER talented guys playing (American) music. Beatles, Beach Boys (everybody’s gone surrrrfin, surfin usaaaa), Elvis, etc. They were SO good! Right on musically, entertaining, and unique- they had great harmonies and arrangements that were accompanied by their playing of an acoustic bass, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar. Created a unique but seriously solid sound. We had having an awesome time and wound up staying for an hour. Eventually had to leave because we were getting up and out at 7:30 the next morning (er, later that day) for “touristy stuff.” You can sleep when you’re dead (thank you, Clay, for introducing that philosophy to me. I live by it when I’m here.)

Sick of this entry already? Don’t worry, that’s only our first night.

Saturday. All succeeded and got out of the hostel by 7:40am, all 6 of us surprisingly cheerful. So proud of us. Stopped at the bar where we saw the music the night before to grab a cappuccino (they gave it to us in paper McDonalds cups because we wanted it to go hahaha). Got pastries for bfast and went on our wee. Got to Piazza del Duomo by 8:00 which was FANTASTIC because nobody was around. We were able to take some pictures by the duomo and basilica without being crowded by tons of other tourists, and were one of the first groups in line to climb to the top of the dome. We climbed the 463 steps to the top. Ohhhmg. I forgot how breathtaking it really is. Pictures unfortunately do not do it justice. Just, wow. Back down the stairs, wandered for a couple hours, did some shopping, more rain. Then got into the Accademia. Saw some beautiful paintings and Michaelangelo statues including The David. I always wondered why people made such a big deal out of The David- when I saw it last time I was in Florence, I didn’t get it either. But this time I got it. It is absolute, precise perfection. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that it is sculpted. By hand. Out of marble. And it is PERFECT. After staring at The David for a while (no, not only at his butt, girls), I wandered into what was my favorite part of the museum- a room of plaster first drafts of statues to be. There were hundreds of them. One of them really caught my eye and stuck in my mind and I repeated the name in my head a million times so I wouldn’t forget it so I could write it down in here, but I failed. 20 minutes later I could not remember the name. I remember part of it so I am doing a wild search in the library/on google and when I find the name I will share it with you. But anyway, she caught my eye because she was the only statue that was smiling. The other statues (in this room, curiously almost 100% women) looked solemn, prayerful, and content, but this particular one was actually smiling. The plaque said that it was a famous soprano of the time and the statue was her in her theatrical pose. So, even though the smile was theatrical, it was still beautiful. After the Accademia, got lunch and gelato #3 (fragola- strawberry). Went to Piazza Repubblica and got pictures of the incredible statues. There, Carly ran into a friend from school. Yeah. Totally normal.

Exhausted, now at 4:30, we pass through the public market as go back to the hostel to rest. After the most glorious nap of all time, we make our way back and through the center, over the Ponta Santa Trista to a small restaurant called Casalinga that Chelsie’s friend who studied in Florence recommended. And boy was she right. Amazing bruschetta for an appetizer. I got some straight up ravioli but it was definitely the best I’ve ever had. Tiramasu for dessert (no, I haven’t found profiterol yet but I WILL!!). Dude, I need to find some new adjectives to describe the food here. “Awesome” and “amazing” and “ridiculous” just don’t cover it any more. How about I do a little Rachael Ray and say “Yum-o!”

After dinner, we got our map and spent the next half an hour searching for the dance club that my lovely sister Andrea, Florence expert, recommended. After finding nothing, we ask a group of 15-year-old Italian boys “Dove e Zucchero?” And they laugh at us and say “Zucchero? We would like to go too but it is closed. 2006.” Hahahahahha. We were disappointed that we couldn’t check out this place but it also made us feel better about not finding it. So, our search for another bar began. We stopped at an “Irish” pub for a drink, and then found another club called the Red Garter where they had karaoke. Old creepy drunk Italian men tried to convince us to get up and sing, and by the time they did the guy who was running it had taken a break. Oh snap. We were getting ready to leave when another crazy small world thing happened- Elisha ran into a friend from her school who is studying in Florence. Like, shut up! What are the odds. And there is more. Her friend’s roommate, who was also there at the club, was drunkenly dancing by himself like a fool and my friends knew that I couldn’t sit still with good music on, so they pushed me over to him and I took his hand and started spinning him around while I couldn’t stop laughing because all the Italians in the club were staring at us. But he was funny and I was having fun despite feeling a little embarrassed. We wound up talking (er, shouting over the music) and I found out he’s from Cleveland and knows a ton of Denison kids. !! Really?! Realllly!? College is an amazing thing. I really think it connects everyone between the ages of 18 and 25 by like 2 degrees at the most. Seriously, whodathunk that 4 out of 6 of us ran into a friend/one degree of a friend in Florence, Italy?! Ahhh. Went back to the hostel, laughed at the drunk Europeans in togas at the club, and passed izzout.

Almost done. Stand up and stretch.

Sunday was a day of successful shopping- Sarah bought a leather coat at a store that I am 80% sure is the place where I bought mine in ’05. Of all the leather factories in Florence. Yeah. Did some window shopping at places that we can’t even pretend to afford (Gucci, Prada, Tiffany & Co, Fendi, Burberry- you name it, they had it). Found THE original gelato shop (once again, thanks to Chelsie’s friend) and I had the most amazing cioccolata gelato yet. At this point my legs and feet were yelling at me, and fortunately it was time to head to the train station. Caught the 4:00 train back to Perugia (the ride is approximately 2 hours). It was interesting coming back to an itty bitty town like Perugia after the overwhelming size and grandeur of Florence. But I immediately felt comfortable when stepping back onto Perugia ground, and my place here right now was reinforced- I definitely made the right choice.

Hokay. This is it. I don’t know about you, but I need to walk it out and get some eats. Props if you got through all of this in one sitting. The internet here is being obnoxious and is not letting me upload pictures right now, but have no fear- 2 full albums are coming soon. I don’t even have the energy to read through this again, so again I apologize because it’s basically free write and you know how I can go on and on and on like I am right now. Woww alright. Seriously, guys and gals, thanks for reading! This blog is for you as much as it is for me! Love.

Today we go to Florence

Ciao regazzi! Just checking in real quick before I'm off to Florence with Carly, E, Chelsie, Sarah, and Jess! It's my first weekend trip and I'm a little nervous ... especially because Florence is big and tourist-full and thief-full and scary and it's the first time I'm taking a train and staying in a hostel and traveling with all my belongings on my back (er.. front. Yup, I will be wearing my backpack on my front. With pride). But it's also beautiful and awesome and I can't wait to go! Lots of pictures to come, of course. Now just gotta grab some food for the 2 hour train ride and meet the rest of the girls at the mini metro station to get down to the train. Love you all!

travelin machines

I bought my first ever train ticket! Andiamo a Firenze! (Let's go to Florence!)

Today I was happy. It was warm out, I decided I really like a lot of the people here, and best of all- we planned our fall break. We gathered at Jess & Sarah's (adorable!) apartment where we get wireless and showed our bargain-hunting skills. After some stressful website surfing, we found great rates and BOOKED!!!!!! Jessica, Carly, Elisha, Sarah, and I have our break in October will go as follows: 2 days in Barcelona, 2 days in London, and 4 days in Greece! Holy crap. I can hardly contain myself! I kept breaking into a little happy dance as Jess & I sat side by side booking flights =) I really hope I get to see Alyson in London, and maybe Tara? And Haidet & Karadimas in Athens. I bought my tickets, it's official. I'm going.

Also, today we took the mini metro down to the train station to buy train tickets to Florence! We already have our hostel reservations set. Weeeeeeee. We leave on Friday!

Tonight is dinner out with the all the Denison kids who are in Perugia, and then I have to write 80 words in Italian about myself. Yeeeesh. Tomorrow starts the rest of my classes. I snagged a spot in the Intensive Italian program- which just means i have 6 hours of Italian class instead of 4. I am thrilllllled that I got in! I thought I would never get a spot! I lucked out!

A presto, regazzi!

The title of my journal means "I want a gelato."

Me and my freshly cut linguine!



The celebration/parade thing going an along the street while we got gelato.

Yesterday we went on a field trip with all the Arcadia kids to a farm community to see another aspect of Umbrian life. Saw some olive trees, played with the adorable mangy dogs that were around, saw an adorable pony who was abandoned by his mother. But the best part was learning how to make pasta! I volunteered to go up and try it myself- while cutting the dough (we were making a linguine style), all the Italian chef ladies told me that I had a talent for cutting pasta. So, I've decided to drop out of school and become a pasta maker. Soon I will be sending you all boxes of homemade pasta. It was a nice afternoon.

Last night I spent the evening with Philipp, "internet cafe guy" (that's what my roommates call him). We got some gelato and sat on the steps at the Piazza. As we were making our way to the steps, there was a quite a strange "spectacle" going on in the street- people on stilts, wearing huge head masks, wearing drapy clothing and dancing through the street to Madonna. No joke! Philipp & I just laughed. Never seen anything like it. Woo, Europe! Anyways, Philipp & I had a great time. The purpose of our get together was to practice our Italian and English, but we most spoke mostly in English because my Italian is still pretty bad. But if I knew how to say something in Italian, I would attempt it, and then he would correct me. We sat there and talked for two hours! I learned he is originally from Switzerland, and he is here on a one month Italian program here. At school in Zurich he studies Political Science. We talked about Europe and the places I wanted to see, why we were in Perugia, what and why we are studying, etc. He was really fun to hang out with- I think we could be good friends.

In other news ...

I realized today that I don’t think it’s hit me yet. Like, I know I’m here. But for the most part I have felt comfortable. As I rode on the bus today watching the beautiful Italian countryside pass me by, I just thought, “wow, I’m in Italy.” But it didn’t really shock me at all. Is that normal? I feel like I should have had all those crazy knots in my stomach and the want to curl up in a whole and die or just go back to a place where they speak English. Or just break down and eat lots of peanut butter (which they do not have here). But no. None of that. Maybe it will come later? Beware!

Ballare!

Ciao babies! What an awesome night last night. It was our first Friday night in Perugia and seeing everyone out and about was so exhilarating. We went to Celebrate, the pub that Alexandra owns. She had a DJ there, and the only people there were us (7 of us American girls) and Tiziana, Alexandra, and their friends. Most of them didn't speak English so it was really fun/challenging to use Italian all night but I loved it. I had a couple full conversations in Italian! Basically, we danced. All. Night. It's what I've been waiting to do since I've been here and it felt fantastic. It was to introduce the girls I've been hanging with here to my unstoppable side: music + an open space = I never get off of my feet. Even taught some guys how to salsa! Conversed with some more locals, and we are meeting them for coffee again at the Fashion Bar & Coffee. yay. The picture is me & Alexandra. What a fun girl, full of spunk!

There are so many things I like about Perugia. a) It is full of students from all over the world. Umbra is just an institute for American students, but the University around the corner is an international school where people from all over come to learn Italian and about the culture. So, there are curious people everywhere. So many people want to learn and are so eager to explore things and meet others who share the same passions. Here's an example- yesterday at an internet cafe (the very same one from which I am writing now, actually), the young guy sitting next to me, who inevitably heard me speaking English and knew I was on skype because I was talking with Melissa and Steph, tapped me on the shoulder and asked me for my Skype name. I was confused but I didn't get any kind of strange vibe, so I gave it to him and, as he sat right next to me, he sent me a link and a message that read "this may not be funny to me as it is to you, but watch" through his Skype name to a funny American youtube video. It was one of those silly videos in which some guy is rapping to make complete fun of American rap culture. I laughed and asked him jokingly if this is how he learned English. It was a strange gesture and it sounds so out of place and weird, but I was totally okay with it. We introduced ourselves and I found out that he and the girl he was sitting with are from Switzerland, here for a month studying Italian at the other University. He's also working on his English. We spent the next half an hour speaking to each other and typing on Skype in half English / half Italian- a good way to understand the languages by reading them. He asked where I was from, what I was studying, etc. Anyways, he gave me his information and I said that it would be fun if we met up sometime (don't worry, mom, in a public place with my friends with me) to get a gelato and practice our language skills. Again, it sounds ridiculous but it was a really interesting way to meet someone. But it's what I really love about here- a lot of us are in the same place (literally and figuratively), learning the ropes around the language and the culture. I don't think I could ask for a better atmosphere to be spending my semester.
and b) (who else forgot that this was a list? I did) I am really fascinated and enchanted by the Italian culture all together. Everyone is so relaxed. My Italian professor reminded us that "Italians are NEVER in a hurry"- such a contrast to America. And it makes so much sense! Such a better way to live! I love that Italians take 3 hour lunch breaks every day. And everything shuts down on Sundays. They actually invest in REAL free time, and don't spend their lunch breaks or vacations working or thinking about work. It's sad that I'm so amazed by this. It should be natural that people live like this, shouldn't it? I love that I can go out at night, have a drink or two, and just hang. No one makes a big deal about drinking here- just because it's a part of everything. No one really goes out solely to "GET WASTED!!" like in America. It's typical to get a beer and sit out on the steps and watch everyone out and about. I feel so much more... real here. Like I'm not wasting space being a confused, curious, and terrified girl. I am still all those things, but it makes more sense here. I could get used to this.

Anyways, I have been in this cafe for way too long. Like, I came in here with a fully charged computer battery and it is now almost running on empty. I gotta get out of here. Off to meet Flavia, Tiziana, Sem, Alexandra, Jess, Carly, and E at Fashion for a pre-dinner coffee!

Today I write in short sentences.

On the escalator- Franceso B takes us down to the mini metro.
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Class. Studied in the sun on the steps at Piazza Noviembre. Hung with Flavia & friend at Fashion bar, worked the little Italian I know. Took the mini metro to the bus station with my "survival skills" class with fun girls and Franceso B. Festivals going on at lots of Piazzas today- how fun! Went out for a nice dinner at La Bocca (spinach & ricotta ravioli, chicken in a white wine sauce, zucchini, and some sweet house red wine- deeelish!), stopped in Alexandra’s pub “Celebrate”, sat on the steps at the piazza looking at the fountain just to enjoy the beautiful evening, and got gelato number 2 (kinder & cioccolato) with Flavia (ran into her at the piazza with the Rottweiler Stoob), E, Carly, Chelsie, and Jessica. Class for two hours tomorrow, then weekend for more exploring!! Back to La Tana and Celebrate tomorrow, I think. =)

First day of Italian class!

My first trip to the butcher to get some legit meat.

Love the professors- sweet & funny, both Antonella and Francesco B. Had another fun afternoon at the Fashion Bar & Coffee with E & Flavia. Met her two friends Alexandra & Tiziana (who knows a bit of English). Tiziana wants to practice her English, and we want to practice Italian, so we got her info and plan to meet often at Fashion to practice! So much fun chatting with them: Flavia made us amazing drinks and Alexandra invited us to visit her pub.

Then E & I went to the butcher shop! Picked out our hunk of steak and got three succulent pieces. Steak tonight for dinner!

1:20am our best night yet! Dinner was seriously awesome- fresh stake, baked carrots, and golden potatoes. Then we hit up the bars again, this time with some new friends E met in Italian class. Such sweet girls! Wound up at La Tana again- full of drunk Americans (ugh, embarrassing) but for the most part we steered clear and got some shocktails of our own for 3.50 euro. Stayed and danced for a while and took some pictures. Eventually we wandered up to see Sem at Fashion Bar & Coffee where he made us the Bailey’s cream drink again. We bonded more with the 4 girls we ended up with, chatting about tons of things. Really sweet girls, so not clique-y, and seem to have similar interests in regards to traveling, drinking, and our whole experience in Perugia altogether. Went back to La Tana to bring home drunk roommates home, wound up staying for a while and talking to some other international students for a while, including Mexican Axel who learned English in school and came to Italy to learn Italian so is fluent in both, but has been hanging out too much with a British friend so he has a funny accent. We’ll go back and see him on Friday I think. Good music, though, and got to dance, finally!

Class tomorrow early, but I’m still excited! Can’t wait to learn more so I can speak more with locals! Muah!

What a day!

Orientation in the morning (just the coordinators of the program going over some last minute stuff), another piece of delicious pizza from a local pizzeria, some more grocery shopping at the cute shop Parma (where I accidentally bought bleach instead of laundry detergent-whoopsies! hehe), and finally learned my way down the skinny road Via dei Priori to Umbra 1 all by myself! Spent some time wandering through the enormous book store, spent 75 euro on text books for classes (not too shabby I guess?), and finally got onto the internet for the first time since arriving in Italy, minus the 5 minutes I got on my roommate’s computer at Hotel Gio to email the fam to let them know I was alive. I got to chat with Mel, Brittany, Dave, Tara, Maddie, and Maggi- it was so great to talk to people. I’m so far away! It was kind of hard to look at pictures from Denison, but can’t wait to post my photos (that I must take more of) and post them so they can see what I’m talking about!

The highlight of the day, though, was me & Elisha’s surprise excursion at the adorable Fashion Café & Bar right next to Bartolo 16 (one of the Umbra school buildings where classes are held). After getting some quality internet time in at Bartolo where wireless is free!, E wanted some coffee so we stopped with her at this place because a) it is literally right next door to Umbra I and b) we read that it was a good place in our student handbook. I wish we could have credit for finding this place all on our own, but oh well. The guy behind the counter, a dark, handsome (of course) Italian guy a couple years older than us didn’t speak English- Elisha asked straight away if he spoke English, and he responded with a friendly smile and laugh, the only word I recognized was “problemo,” and knew immediately that he had said something like “No, that’s going to make this a problem.” We understood, and he called to a girl a couple years older than him who was sitting outside who apparently knew a little English to come and help translate. E tried to explain that she wanted an iced vanilla latte- only to discover after some pointing to ingredients and guessing that “latte” means “milk” in Italian. So, she wound up with a drink that was basically milk with a bit of espresso over ice, but it worked. The girl who helped us was so kind and friendly- she could tell we were American (as could everyone, I’m sure), and would blabber off in beautiful Italian to us. We would wish we could understand her, and then she would remember that we couldn’t and try to spit out her “stupid English” as she called it. As she is speaking, we flipped through the phrase book trying to spit out our pathetic Italian to ask to see a drink menu for future notice. She kept telling us that we were “two beautiful girl,” and gave Elisha her drink for 1 euro and warned us with another laugh that “tomorrow was 10 euro” (thanks to another amused Italian inside who translated for us). We learned her name was Flavia, and the guy behind the counter with her was her brother (*EDIT* our italian comprehension sucks. he's actually her cousin, we later found out). We introduced ourselves ("mi chiamo Alison") and told her I was from NEW YORK (there's no use trying to explain that there is more to new york than "la citta"- the city). She got excited and kept trying to say things to us, and asked us how to say some words of ingredients she had lying around- she picked up the whipped cream bottle and asked the word (it is “panna” in Italian, I believe), all in the meantime us laughing at ourselves because we had barely an idea of what was going on, are trying to use our phrase book to help each other out, and we are thrilled the Flavia and her cousin Sem are so kind and friendly to us. When she first learned that we were American, she immediately boasted her most practiced English phrase, which she had down to a T (excuse me), “His dick is very small!” and pointed to Sem. We laughed a lot and told her she probably shouldn’t say that a lot. She responded loudly and happily again, “No, it is very --- “ and motioned with her hands “BIG”. Sam, I’m pretty sure, was clueless, but smiled along with it all anyways. We were having such a good time- we must have been in there for half an hour trying to decode each other. She tried to help us by using the phrase book, and when another customer (a regular, no doubt), acted a bit annoyed/impatient that Flavia was so distracted by us to help him, she again proudly flaunted her English (again, excuse my .. English?)- “Fuck you!” More laughing.
We eventually figured out how to say, thanks to my phrase book, the words “domani” (“tomorrow”) and “lavorare” (“work”) into a question to find out if we could see her again there tomorrow. She said yes and E & I knew we’d be back . We made an agreement with Flavia (I think she understood, at least) that we would teach each other a couple words every day. We taught her “tomorrow”, “whipped cream”, and “work”, and we learned the difference between a mixed coffee drink and “latte”. We bid them very peppy “Ciao!”s and “arrivederci!”s and vowed to go back tomorrow before/after Italian class.

Wowie. It felt AMAZING to socialize with kind, friendly, patient locals, both E & I agreed. We can’t WAIT to have more experiences like that, and imagine ourselves as regulars as the Fashion. That’s the kind of thing I’m looking for here, I think. Exposure, immersion, comfort. Knowing that eventually, I won’t stick out so obviously as an American and will no longer be looked down upon as arrogant and as an easy target for harassment and theft. Maybe, as our Italian improves, I could even be friends with Flavia and Sam! E & I blabbered about it our whole way back to the apartment, and were on a high from it all evening.

We just cooked a dinner better than last night—this time we used a better sauce for the pasta, and added some fresh unsalted bread (not sure if I like that) with butter and some corn. Deeelish. Tonight we’re getting dressed up and checking out our first Italian bar. Perugia, here we come!

Italian class starts tomorrow- I just can’t WAIT to learn more!!

12:16am
Tonight we hit up our first Italian bar! We went to La Tana, a popular local bar, and got offered free tequila shots upon our arrival. I guess it pays to be a lady. The waitress and other man in charge spoke English, which helped very much. I ordered a Cosmopolitan and it was delicious. I liked the bar, it was a nice atmosphere and the drinks were awesome. It was weird that most things were being conducted in English- there were all kinds of students there but I heard a lot of English. Even the raffle for free Corona t-shirts (haha) was in English. And, like most places I’ve found around town, they were playing American music. It’s nice to get a taste of home like that, but I was hoping to escape the PussyCat Dolls when in Italy- *sings* when I grow up, I wanna be famous … blah blah blah. I seriously heard that playing out of a café today. But I can get over that- I don’t know who I am if I’m complaining about music. We’ll definitely go to La Tana again, and we passed tons more on the way back that are on our list.

Now we’re back because we have 5 scattered hours of Italian class tomorrow. I want to go to bed but the restaurant that we live above is still hopping and the noise is floating into the room. It’s a bit loud for my liking, but at least they aren’t blasting American disco music (yup, heard “Stayin’ Alive) like they were last night through 2am. Shep first floor last year, anyone? (that’s for you, Steph Tara & Katie). But I feel as though I have no right to complain about ANYTHING here. I am so lucky to be here that I will seriously take whatever I can get. More to come.

Picturesque Perugia

Ciao friends and fam! Welcome to my blog! Here is where I will keep you all updated on my experiences and adventures throughout my semester in Perugia. I will equally post important and non important details about my days, and I hope to post as much and as frequently as possible. I hope you leave comments so I know that people are actually reading my rants (that are barely edited/read over, so I apologize in advance). If I had all the money in the world I would fly each and every one of you over here pronto. Seriously. A presto!


It is day 2 in Perugia. We moved into our apartment today! It’s right above a restaurant, through a very inconspicuous door, and up three floors. It’s adorable! Huge living area and the most incredible view. We look directly down on the brown villages near and far that serve as the foreground to rolling green hills dotted with tiny towns. I got the itty bitty bedroom with no closet or personal space, but it has two windows with the view so I guess it’s okay 

After moving in, my roommates and I (Elisha, or “E”, from San Diego, Carly from DC, and Chelsie from Virginia) went to explore the city. We wandered through the dozens of Piazzas (plazas or squares), found a grocery store to shop for our first meal, groceries, and bottle of wine. We found an adorable pizzeria and met our first Italian friend Pierto. Had some delicious pizza and dubbed ourselves as regulars. We want to make it a weekly outing.

After making our way back arms full of groceries, napping, and unpacking, I went on an informal walking tour offered by Umbra of the city and saw the Umbra Institute. Everything looks the same- brick buildings and tons of side streets. I’m a little nervous about getting lost but I can’t wait to learn my way around.

I’m back at the apartment now- Bonazzi 13 Apt. 1- and it’s starting to thunderstorm outside! From our windows we can see the storm in the sky- pretty amazing. Soon we’ll cook our first dinner- pasta with cheese and sauce and a bottle of red wine. Classic Italian. Later, we’re going to check out the nightlife with a couple of welcome parties. Hope they aren’t sketch.

I’m living in Italy!!