Some pics of me...Canyoning!

So these are just a few...i will upload the rest when Im not typing a paper at the same time! lol...

this is me before the second jump...the biggest jump. and the pretty scenery.

this was one of the smaller jumps. supposed to do a little cannon ball...its hard to move in all that gear. lol.



the first jump. off a waterfall. supposed to lean back. i apparently lost control of my legs...lol.

the bigggggest jump. so crazy. about 15-20 feet high. felt like you fell forever.

in preparation for the first jump. standing at the top of a waterfall...so cool.

repelling into the canyon.

my helmet said..straber...which apparently means geek in german. couldnt be more perfect. lol

i will write all about it later...the jumping, the sliding, the lazy river aspects. it was unbelievable.

Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Capri, and Pompei!

So this past weekend we left at about 9:30 to head down to Sorrento with Bus2Alps, the same organization we went to Switzerland with. So we got there at about 5 in the morning, and they too us in the dark in the woods on this trail and dropped us off in our...bungalow. yes, bungalow. lol. it looked really tiny from outside. but it was pretty nice on the inside. there was one room with bunkabeds, a kitchen table, and a tiny kitchen. then there was stef and my room...two beds and a chair in between the two used for a night stand, and then the skeevy bathroom. the bathroom coulda been better, but its a bungalow....it coulda been worse!

So we got up at like 9-something...went to get our free breakfast...two rolls. and then we got on the bus that took us on a pretty ride to positano. we had to get dropped off on the side of the street and walk down thru the town on these crazy steep stairs. so we got down there, bought sandwiches, that were really good, and went on the beach. we laid there all day, ate, and went swimming in the mediterranean sea! yea, i swam in the mediterranean sea! so cool. i mean, it was really pretty chilly, but it was so clear and blue and pretty and it was nice cuz it was so hot. Cinnamon (Simon the director of the organization) and Big C, later named Charcoal (also known as Charlie...an employee) hung out with us for a while. it was fun. From there we got on a boat and went to Amalfi. where we got some really good gelato and walked around the little town. i also met the meanest italian ever and he made me cry. but then we met a really nice man at a store we went in, so it was ok. we took the bus back. hung out for a while in our bungalow...and then went to dinner at the restaurant on the campgrounds. it was so cheap, so we literally had a 5 course dinner...it was pretty good. we went back to the bungalow, hung out and passed out.

Saturday we woke up at 7:15, but i had to get up at 6:45 to shower. it was horrible! its either scourching hot, or freezing cold and its too small, and it seriously trickled out...so bad. so we followed Cinnamon down this path on the grounds to the dock/swimming area where we got on our private boat that took us to beautiful Capri. Before we got onto the island, these little boats came along and picked us up and we got in it, and had to sit on the floor and we went into the Blue Grotto! we had to lie down in the boat to get into the opening of the cave cuz its so small. but it was unbelievable! this color blue...it was crazy. and i cant believe the color blue that the sun caused. From there we went near the Green Grotto and that was really cool too....then we got stopped by the coast guard for no apparent reason...it was random and pointless, but pretty funny. From there we got onto the island of Capri, and we had to hike up to the main center of the town. where we went and saw a really pretty garden with unbelievable views. Then we went into a perfumeria (? i dont know). Then we had lunch. it was pretty good. From there, we were supposed to meet Cinnamon at the bus station, so we got there, but decided to pay liek 3 euro more to take a convertible taxi up to ana-capri...the higher town on Capri...cuz Capri is like just rocks and cliffs. the ride was awesome and gorgeous and i called mom and told her we had to move there (sorry mom, i forgot that it was only 7am on a saturday!).

So up there, they took us to this store that sold limoncello and capri sandals and lemon soaps and candies and everything lemon, cuz capri is known for them...so the people that werent shopping or ordering custom sandals, aka. me and my friends, we went to this place and saw this amazing view. of the clear blue waters and the rocks and cliffs and it was awesome. then we took a chair lift up to the very top. ok. it was a 12 minute ride up and a 12 minute ride back. and it was basically a ski lift...but...they were single chairs! so you had to sit by yourself and on the way up you couldnt see any of the views cuz you were going away from it and it was horrible...so we were all yelling to each other so we didnt lose our minds. apparently we cant handle being alone for 12 minutes. so at the top there is this restaurant and then theres this spot where you can go and basically go to the very edge of the cliff and hang your legs over while you sit there if you want. we went there, but there was no hanging over the edge. except for allison's head. haha. it was beautiful. i could have just sat there all day. so we went back down, bought postcards. got on the most crowded and awkward bus ride ever....and then we had to hike back down to the marina and get on the boat. they took us completely around the island and finished the tour they started on the way there, and it was awesome. the boat ride back to sorrento was really long, so we slept. and then i had a headache. so stef found someone with advil, and we just ordered take away from the restaurant. we ate in the bungalow and went to bed early.

Sunday we got up at liek 9, got our rolls again, and left on the bus at 11 to go to pompei. we watched the beginning of my cousin vinny. got there. had about an hour to do whatever, so we ate sandwiches at this cute little restaurant outside. then we went on a two hour tour of pompei. it was pretty cool. a little long though. got a little restless at the end. but so did cinnamon and charcoal, so its all good. the bus ride wasnt too bad. we finished my cousin vinny, watched devil wears prada, thank you for smoking, and then at the end they put in the worst movie in the world. sooo bad. but the ride was good, we got back at like 9:30...and we friended cinnamon on facebook and he put pictures up, so i will be copying them and stealing them and putting them up here at some point when i have time. so...be looking for them.

oh also, we decided to go to switzerland tomorrow for the weekend so that we could go white water rafting. and cinnamon is going to be there so he is going to help us with everything, because Bus2Alps is going next weekend, so he knows all the stuff anyway.

cant wait!

see you all in 2 and a half weeks!!!!

Cinque Terre and Portofino!

So 7 o'clock saturday morning we were getting on a bus heading to Cinque Terre on a trip with the school, and it ended up being the most laid-back school trip i think of the semester. it was nice. The ride wasnt too long. 3 hours, including a half an hour break. lol. So we got to Santo Margherita Ligure which is where our hotel was at like 10. we hung out there for alittle bit, and met the bus...right by the beach. It was gorgeous. I mean, they dont have sand, they have rocks. but it was still realyl nice and the water was gorgeous. The thing with the italian riviera is that its the seacoast and the water is crystal clear and a gorgeous blue, but that its also mountainy. so sometimes your like ona cliff looking at this amazing view. bella.

So we take the boat to this other place called...comogli. We hung out there for a lunch time. right on the beach. ate a salad at this restaurant outside. pretty good stuff. and then we went and put our feet in the water, it was pretty chilly, but refreshing. and then we got gelato and just sat on this wall and looked out over the cliffs and at the water and stuff. then we got on a boat...which was ridiculous. lot of laughs on that one. stef you know why! lol. and then we went to some other place. i dont know the name...possibly san fruttuoso. but i really have no clue. lol. there we just took a tour of this abbey and monastary and stuff and it was right on the cliffs and it was gorgeous. we were onyl there for liek 45 minutes before we got back on the boat and went to portofino. which is where all the rich people live and bring their yachts to port. so we watched this one yacht come in. and then we took some pictures. and then got nonalcoholic pina coladas. I apparently dont like pina coladas and wasted 10 euro on it! stinkin portofino and their expensive places.

then we took the boat back to santo margherita ligure where we took naps and then went to a hotel around the corner for our local cuisine dinner. we had lasagna pesto which was ridiculously good. swordfish, which i didnt eat, and potatoes, and then tiramisu. it was good.

after, we went to the solarium, which was basically the really nice roof on our hotel. and hung out there, took some action shots cuz stef likes to do that, and they usually come out pretty hilarious.....we actually got to go to bed early and sleep on this trip, so that was nice.

we got up at 7:30 and had breakfast, checked out and were on the bus by 8:30. we drove about an hour to levanto. There, stefano and franco (the leaders on the trip) handed everybody a pass that gets you on the trains or the hiking trails from one village to another. there are 5 villages along the coast that make up cinque terre (levanto was not one of them). So we hung around in levanto a while. which basically means, we laid on the beach for an hour and half. took the train to the last of the 5 villages an dworked out way back. so 25 minutes later, we're getting off the train in Riomaggiore. We bought some icecream there. It was a cute little town. Then we took the hiking path (which was basically a sidewalk...kim walked barefoot lol). It was called Via del Amore *street of love. and it was up in the cliffs along the edge, overlooking the sea. it was gorgeous.

That took us to Manarola where we had lunch. So the italian riviera is also known for its faccacia and olives, so i got a pizza on faccacia bread with olives on it. it was divine. we sat and ate it outside overlooking the coast. it was just really pretty.

from there, we took the train to Corniglia. which is one thats way up in the cliffs, but we didnt have much time there because of the train schedule and its a 20 minutes hike up, that we just stayed around the train station...finally found a bathroom lol....took some pics cuz we were already up pretty high.

train to Vernazza where we got this lemon ice drink, cuz cinque terre is also known for its lemons. lol. it was sooo good. it takes like those lemon italian ices we used to get as kids on the beach. we were walking along when we heard somebody playing instruments and singing Stand by Me. so we went back and there was a guy on the viola, the base, and the guitar singing and stuff. they were really good. so we hung out there for a while. then went and did a little shopping. danielle got a really pretty necklace. then we hung out down by the water.

Fromt here we took the train to the last of the cinque terre, monterosso. there we bought some postcards and hung out on the beach. stuck our feet int hew ater. it was really pretty. from there, you could see all five villages down the coast and up on the cliffs. it was pretty sweet. the bus picked us up there and we left at about 6. we got home at about 9:15. took showers, ate a little, did a little homework and passed out.

it was a great weekend, and im really glad we went on the trip.

two days and im off to capri!

miss you guys. be back in 3 and a half weeks!

Ceramics field trip.

So this past friday I had a field trip with my ceramics class that I was really not looking forward to at all. It turned out to be ok.

We took a train about an hour away to this little town called certaldo on the way to siena. then we had to take two cars for about 15-20 minutes on these curvy, hilly streets. We got to the place to do the raku firing (its when the pots turn black and look crackly where the colored glaze was applied), and it was beautiful. It was totally in the middle of tuscany. Surrounded by all these vineyards and groves and things. bella.

So the guy takes us into the gallery and shows us some stuff, we sit outside having tea and coffee and cookies. and then we go and we put the glazes on the pots. they go into the kiln. so while the kiln is slowly heating up, we go have lunch. we had to walk to it and it was a half an hour walk cuz we were in the middle of nowhere. but it was pretty and i actually saw in italian squirrel, which is really rare...they look different than the squirrels in the US. anyway, lunch was good...fresh bread, then pasta with like a meat sauce, then a different kind of pasta, then salad and proscuitto and cheeses. then coffee. not too bad for 12 euro.

so we walk back and we jack up the heat. like all theway. i played with the dogs that were there. this one, charlie. he didnt look like a puppy anymore, but he totally still was. the guy that worked there threw this stick down all the way in the backyard and there was a lake down there! it was really pretty. well the stick went into the lake, and so did the dog. so the dog comes running back up and we're all sprinting all over the place cuz he was soaked. he was a cool dog. i became friends with him. wouldnt leave me alone. kept having to throw that stinkin stick. lol.

so after they were in the kiln for a while, we took them out and stuck them in a pile of sawdust and they lit on fire! then we covered them with the sawdust so that they would be black and crackly. put them in water, cleaned them off. hung out for a little while and went home.

it was a pretty fun day. I think the fact that the 7 of us in the class get along really well helps. most of us are actually going to see a beatles coverband together tonight. should be fun.

Perugia and Assisi

So this weekend, Stefanie and I went to Perugia and Assisi from Saturday to Sunday.

Saturday morning we caught the 11:00 train and got into Perugia at 1. So we go and we ask the woman at the information booth what bus we take to get to the street with our hostel on it, but she has no idea, and she wasnt very nice. so we decided we'd walk around, try to find some food, maybe walk to the city center and just try to figure it out from there. So we start walking and we see signs for the city center, but things start to get sketchy, so we turn around and start walking in a different direction and its not working, so we go to this park, sit down and have some toast and nutella (thank you Old Florence Inn for those! lol). It was beautiful in the park. but by this point, we're all turned around and cant really figure out how to get back to the train station to get tickets and catch the bus somewhere...anywhere at this point. so i ask some random guy. and i guess he could tell my italian wasnt that good so he gave me the simplest directions ever. "Qui. (points down a path) Sinestro." which just means "here. left." lol.

So we managed to get back to the train station, so we went inside the train station and found a different information booth, so we hand the guy the paper with the hostel's address on it, and apparently that place is outside of perugia. so he tells us to take bus number 8 to this other bus terminal. so we do that and go and find another information guy, he sells us tickets for bus 8c. but i saw this big arrow painted on the ground that said, Escalators to the city center. so since we were there, we decided to do that and then just head to the hostel when we're done with perugia. so we start talking all these escalators. underground. outside. up. down. inside cave-like buildings. weird. but we come out and the historic city center of perugia is really nice. so theres a perugina store, so of course i buy some baci candy, cuz how can you not? so we see some parliament places, some churches, a fountain. then we walk to th is church and see a raphael fresco...and our ticket is good for this underground etruscan well....so we go there. it was so cool. you have to like climb down these stairs and its damp and pretty dark and everythign is wet. and you actually get to like stand on this bridge over this ginormous really old well and it seriously felt like somethign out of an indiana jones movie. it was by far my favorite part of perugia. oh, and i had the best gelato ever there. the pizza i bought had a gnat in it, but everything was really cheap there, so that was pretty cool.

So we are at the bus stop for bus 8c. and we dont know what stop we get off or if it even goes to our street, so we call friends and family and finally get the number of the hostel and call them as we're gettin gon the bus, and they tell us to ask the driver to drop us off there! lol, so stef said it was my turn since she called the hostel. so i walk up to the guy an dim like...When....here? (only in italian) and i point to the address on the paper and im hysterically laughing an dhe starts laughing at me, and he asks (in italian) if im talking about the hostel. yes. so he is like near...something or other that i have no idea what he said, so i just stare at him and he tells me twenty minutes. and then tells me twenty minutes in english. i think he thought i was really stupid. but i probably was acting the part, so ya know... lol.

so stef is hysterically laughing at me in the middle of the bus cuz she could tell it wasnt going well lol. so we just laugh about it and more people get off so we move up and stef is behind him and im like practically next to him and every time he turned he saw me and laughed. so he did drop us off right outside the hostel and he pointed it out for us too. my friend the bus driver. lol

but the hostel was really nice. we stayed in the building that looked liek a castle! it was cool, and we practically had the room to ourselves. it was sweet. we went to the food store and bought some chips and bought tickets for the bus in th emorning and went to a pizzeria...no gnats, so that was good lol. then we just played cards for hours cuz we were in a small town an dthere as nothing to do. some spit. some blackjack. we used the baci and as our bets. lol. so we went to bed at about 11 and got up at 7. checked out. 7:25. had breakfast. at the bus stop 7:50. bus gets there 8:15ish. we get back tot he train station. 8:50 to find out that cuz its sunday, the earliest train to assisi is 10:21. so we walk to mcdonalds which apparently isnt open early in perugia. so we sit and read and stand and play war. lol. it was greeeeaaat. lol.

so we get on the train and like 20 minutes later get off in assisi. bought tickets and got on the bus just in time. so we got there and we walked to a church. san francesco. it was really pretty. i felt funny walking through it. there was a service going on. but it was a nice church. from there we walked and got lunch. sandwiches. prosciutto. and ate in the most awkward place ever. then we decide we'd try to catch the 1:19 train. and run around and get lost and cant even find the bus stop. so we took it a little slower. bought some post cards. stef bought some stuff for her grandma and this realyl cool wooden necklace an di bought this big green cross necklace. lol. its pretty.

then we found the bus, got back to teh station, bought our tickets, and went to mcdonalds. of coruse. lol. then we got on the train. an dit was the hottest train ride ever! so it was sleeping on and off and on and off and we were wide awake for th elast hour cuz it just got so hot and stef couldnt feel her hands and i kept slidding off the seat cuz i couldnt take the heat. lol. so we played air war to pass the time and three italian guys next to us just stared at us th ewhole time. we probably looked like we werent doign anything but handing each other random cards. it was a never ending game and we got back, ran to the food store, and then ran home.

it was a fun weekend.

this weekend...cinque terre! only with the school, so that means less problems! lol. hopefully.

oh, and possibly ravenna tomorrow. so i'll write later.

miss you all....4 and a half weeks i think!

ciao.

Easter

So sorry it ha staken me so long to write again. things have gotten crazy here lately!

So easter in florence.

Jess and Lindsay got here Friday night, so we of course went out to celebrate lindsay's 20th birthday! I took them to reginella where lindsay had gnocchi for the first time, in the pesto sauce. the guy picked on her a little bit cuz its hard to pronounce but gave her a hug at the end and said happy birthday lol. he also gave her some brandy candy...that apparently tasted ok when you first put it in, but then you had to spit it out when you got to the center...it tasted like brandy.

after we tried to get a hold of brandon, but couldnt...so we just went to his apartment to pick him up and he came with lindsay, jess, and i to festival del gelato! soo good. lindsay loved it and we ate a ton of gelato that weekend! lol. after, we just hung out at my house talking and goofing around until about 3 in the morning.

Saturday we woke up late, had mcdonalds lol, and went to the Boboli gardens! it was beautiful and sunny and we took tons of crazy pictures with lindsay in her neon pink tights! lol. From there we rushed to the food store for stuff for dinner and back to my apartment cuz we were meeting brandon to see the sunset from piazzale michelangelo. so we walked over there and kidna missed it, but saw it actually set. and it was gorgeous! we hung out there for a while an dit started to get chilly, so we went home. hung out and went to bed.

Easter Sunday we woke up early and Brandon, Lindsay, Jess, Kim, Natalie, Cassie, Laura, Traci, and I all went to the duomo to see the festivities. it was crazy! we saw like parades and people playing instruments and throwing their flags and stuff, and the cardinal came and blessed the flowers and eggs, and they handed them out and brandon caught the flower head that was for the next person who is going to get married! so funny. And the oxen pulled the cart out and they hooked up all the fireworks while this was going on and they moved the oxen. and then this dove came out of the church on like a zipline (a mechanical dove, lol). It hit the cart, shot back into the church and then the fireworks began! and it was ridiculous. it went off for a few mintues and then stopped and we were in this thick red smoke. like i could hardly see the people around me! and then that stopped coming adn the fireworks started again (luckily the wind shifted so we could see what was happening the whoel time lol). and this cart seriously exploded for liek 15 mintues. it was pure insanity!

After, we showered and took naps. walked around the market. Went to a park area near my house and saw the cute little ducks in the pond near the fountain and i sketched. then we came back and made lazy man's lasagna for dinner. with bruschetta and lindsay and i had a competetion to see who could eat more. i ate more for dinner, but we did establish that she is in fact, bigger than i am and probably could beat me up. we went back to festival for gelato. lol. that was easter.

Monday we went shopping! and hung out with kim for a little bit. we also climbed the duomo so that was fun and tiring.

Tuesday, their last day, we went to danielle's house to check on stuff for venice cuz thats where they were flying out of. and then we went to the good sandwich place on faenza for lunch. then it was to the market for more gift shopping and a homework assignment for me for my photography class. after that, we walked over to piazzale michelangelo again and saw the half of the sunset we missed saturday night. it was absolutely beautiful. we went up to san miniato (the churhc up there too) and the view from there was even better.

after we waited for kim and then met her at the restaurant next to our house where we had a really really good dinner and some gelato (this was our third time of having gelato that day lol).

Wednesday I had class in the morning and they got up early and headed to venice to spend the day before they had to fly back to ireland.

it was good times and im glad i got to spend easter with some friends... :-)

miss you girls already!

pics stolen from efren...

Here are some pictures from my spring break with the family....if you want to see the rest of the pics...check out..http://travel.webshots.com/album/558494290ilfWxL oh, the captions are underneath the pics....and their in no particular order, sorry! but enjoy! :-)


resting in rome. we look funny in this pic....me, grandma, mom, cait, and jess...jess, what are you doing? lol.

on top of the tower of pisa...dad, me, caitlyn, grandma, and pamela...

jess and efren at fountain of trevi...

random parade we saw outside the duomo on their first day of arrival...

efren punching the statue....what else?

me, jess, and caitlyn outside san miniato...

erica asleep. this was the only way her head wouldnt fall down. lol...

efren being a statue now...boboli gardens, by the way...

grandpa leaning on the tower of pisa...


tower leaning on uncle bob...


cait, grandma, dad, and pamela on top of leaning tower of pisa...


efren, grandpa, and dad on way to church...san miniato...



mom and grandma in boboli gardens...

efren thinks we look hungry...jess, pamela, me. piazza le michelangelo...

jess and efren on the way to piazza le michelangelo...

jess and pamela at piazza le michelangelo...

some kids in rome :-)

efren holding the tower...

group decision time...

jess and efren on top of duomo!

erica and gelato...

jess, mom, me, pamela, and caitlyn in florence on the way to piazza le michelangelo...

me, jess, pamela and cait in pisa...

merry go round...

Me and the random cat that laid on my feet in the boboli gardens...

Uncle Bob, Aunt Sharon, Rachel, Erica...

my cousins, Rachel and Erica...

Dad with the camera of course....

stairwell of bell tower....jess, cait, and pamela

top of bell tower, me, jess, dad, and cait.

efren giving the lucky boar a kiss...

pamela patting the boars nose...

boboli gardens... bella.