Sorry it has taken me a while to blog. mid-terms were this week, and the internet in the computer lab was down...so....you know...ok. this weekend. we went to interlaken, switzerland and i think it is by far one of my favorite places. i mean, ive only gone to 4 other countries since i got here (only, haha)...but its my favorite out of them.
ok, so thursday night we get on this bus to find out that the organization we went through, which is usually ridiculously full...like 3 buses, hundreds of kids...theres one bus. 10 of us. me, laura, kim, stef, danielle, jess, and traci all went together. and then the three other girls were only there cuz stef is friends with one from a class and told her to come. so we got to spread out which was awesome. and we watched a bunch of movies - guy movies (you'll shortly understand the title of this blog). slept a little. and got there in pretty good time.
so its like 2 in the morning, and kim and i are questioning about snowboarding...so we are told that we have to be at the rental shop at 8 int he morning, so of course we just go and pass out.
so friday morning, we get up at like 7, throw on some clothes, get our coats and hats and stuff together and go to have our breakfast at our hostel, Balmers. we get down there, and you have your choice of oatmeal and a fruit, or toast and bread adn jam and stuff. so we are like, what a great breakfast...but this bread was ridiculously good! and so was the jam and the honey. delicious. so we walk over to th eplace, and they're like, you any good? to kim, and shes like, no. and we rent pants and they give her boots, and they're like you. and im like not at all, they're like beginner, and im like oh yea. so they give me a board and show me how to strap my feet in and all that, and then they send us off.
so we get on this bus that we think we're supposed to get on. then we decide to just follow all the other people with snowboards and skis, so we get off when they get off, and get on the train they get on, and then from there, the train stops and doesnt go any further, so we get off and get on some other random train. by the time we got off that train we were actually at the bottom of the mountain we were going to go up. so we just follow everybody else and get on the tram. that takes us to the very top of the mountain! so we're up there and we're lookign at a map, and theres no beginner slopes, and we skipped the bunny slope and she had been snowboarding once before in her life, and i had never been, so of course we decide that we might as well just go for it cuz we're int he swiss alps, and we go down the intermediate slope.
it was hysterical. i mean, im not gonna lie, at parts i laid there on the ground in pain and said, "im laughing because I dont want to cry" - and i did get pretty frustrated at points. but it was quite the experience. i only face-planted once. and was going pretty fast, so my legs and board kept going and i managed to smack my arm with the board....kim face-planted like 4 times. i became a pro at flying through the air and then summer-saulting down it. lol kim nearly peed her pants. no for real. she almost did. apparently i looked that funny. lol. so we only got to do two runs. cuz she would get control and go down real slow, and i really had no clue what i was doing and would fly past her, freak myself out adn fall...shed pass me while i tended to my wounds lol. jk. kinda. lol. and then we'd repeat. ok. so best story. kim is going down all nice and slow and in control in front of me, and sometimes she would have to sit and wait for a long time for me to get the courage to come down more cuz i hurt myself. lol. so shes in front of me, and i keep veering off towards the right, and no matter what i do, my board just wants me to go off the trail. so i start picking up speed and i end up off the trail and flying off this 3 or 4 foot ledge onto another trail! i actually landed fine, but kept going and was about to end up in an area that i didnt want to be, so i made myself fall. was all disoriented, sat up, and there is a couple. sitting there having a picnic cuz they hiked there. and they're like staring at me, apparently a girl flying and screaming and coming from nowhere is startling. and im liek, first time, and the guys like, tiring? and im like yea. and shes like maybe skiing is easier? and im like, i dont know. and i get up and go some more and fall again, and shes like...maybe its not good snow, and im like i dont know. and i kept going. but it was so random and it felt like somethign that would belong in a movie. lol. but i got back onto the trail that kim was on cuz ours connected and it was a huge fiasco, cuz she was heading back up the mountain looking for me, and i was down further than she was...oh brother...lol.
so anyway, by 4 we were starving and decided we should probably eat so we had the biggest meal ever and it was divine. i had hamburgers. no bread. just the hamburger in some exquisite sauce. with fries. a salad with real dressing! a roll and a piece of chocolate cake. delicious.
so then we went back to find out that all of our friends ended up skydiving! craziness. so we shared our stories with them. then...what did we do....we sat while they ate dinner and we bought ben and jerrys cuz i was upset that they canceled night sledding for saturday night without telling us. and then we went to bed. and the next morning we got up and went to go hiking. now at this point, i could hardly move, so im like. i'll go for a little bit. well, 3 hours later im at the top of a 3,918 foot mountain! it was soooo cool though. there is no way i can describe the view or what climbing up this mountain was like. oh, but it was cool, we were walking by this old log cabin looking thing and there was a freshwater spring there, so we got some really good switzerland water. so we're fooling aroudn at the top of this ridiculous mountain by this house that we had seen from the bottom and had joked about hiking to...and how we could never do that. and then we did. oh, at one point, we were sitting on a log taking a break before we got to the top and we were at the same height as some paragliders. it was pretty sweet. and it was so quiet. like there was not a sound...and it was just mountains. everywhere you looked. and trees and a tiny little town called interlaken in the valley in between two lakes. bella.
so we're at the top going down a slide....switzerland is realyl really random. and then we realize that its 1:45 and that the chocolate place we wanted to get to closes at4 and isnt open on sunday, so we have an hour and 15 mintues to make it down the mountain if we want time to wlak there and buy stuff. so we're going,and kim has her stop watch going. and traci, laura, and stef (the only other 3 out of the 10 that made it to the top with us) are going pretty fast, but kim and i want to see if we can make it down the mountain in an hour, so for the second half we sprinted down a mountain. like we had been jogging before, but we started full out running down the mountain. yea. it was ridiculous. but we did it. 52 minutes and 36 seconds only half full-out running and some stops to wait for our friends when we first started. yea, kimand i are dumb with our half-baked ideas. we got our chocolate though and it was heaven.
but yea, so saturday night we went out to eat...had some burgers and steaks and spare ribs and stuff, and then we went to the bar/discoteca that was in the basement of our hostel (more random stuff). it was fun. we went to bed and the next day kim and i rented a fun car...its like a smart car, but without the doors. and we drove to go see a glacier. it was fun and pretty sweet. just a little cold. after that, we ate...at mcdonalds lol. and bought some postcards and then played pingpong at the hostel until it was time to go. where we watched 4 more manly movies. oh and i bought the coolest hat ever. a beanie..winter hat. with the swiss flag on it. love it!
it was just amazing and its just indescribable. so thats all ive got for you. however, my family is coming! aunt sharon and uncle bob are supposed to get here with rachel and erica today...im gonna visit them in fiesole. and then monday the rest of the fam is coming! cant wait. and i found out today tha tlindsay and jess are coming easter weekend, friday to tuesday, so thats really cool too! so i probably wont blog for a while cuz i'll be busy on my break with the fam. but i will most definitely have a lot to write about after.
miss you all.
ciao!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
switzerland...
its crazy here in interlaken. i went snowboarding all day yesterday....definitely hurting today, and hiked up a 4000 ft mountain today. dont know what tomorrow will bring, but im sure it will be awesome. will write mroe from florence
Monday, March 12, 2007
Torino.
So this past weekend, I went to Torino with Stefanie, Laura, Danielle, and Leanne. We left at about 6 on Friday. Well, that part was actually interesting. We knew there was a train heading to Torino at 7:24 or something like that, but it wasnt leaving from Santa Maria Novella which is our train station, so we got to the train station early because we didnt know where we were going only to find out that the people working at the train station were on strike! so we are wandering around, finally buy our stupid one euro train tickets and sprint over to the train thats leaving in 2 mintues...we could have easily waited for another train that was leaving in 5 minutes because nearly every train stops at this stop, but of course we didnt. lol. so we get to this other train station, and there is no one working there either. on strike. and the only machine that you can buy your ticket from is broken. so we go to the lone information girl who tells us to buy a regional ticket from the machine (with cash for like 20 euro) and then when we're on the train, pay for the rest. So we do that. and we wait around for it to show up on the screen with what track our train is on. so we get to the train, only to find it absolutely packed and that everyone else has seats on their tickets! so stef, danielle, and laura find seats near each other, and i find another seat, so i have leanne sit in. There was one english speaking girl who told me that i was on the right train (thank God cuz it had already started moving!) and that people are giving me looks because with this train, everybody usually gets on and has a seat reserved, so i ask her what i should do, and she said to find one of the guys that checks the tickets. so i go and leave my stuff with stef, and run through 5 carts, no joke, trying to catch the ticket checker.
so once we are in the last car, he turns around and i seriously have no clue what i was saying. the guy sittin gin the last seat who had been at the train station with us was laughing at me, but the guy seemed to understand what i was saying. so he has me paying for the ticket. and hes like va bene. and im like no! where am i supposed to sit. nobody was letting me sit with them. and he said that i am allowed to sit anywher ei want. so i go walking all the way back to stef to get my stuff...and i tell them. and i end up askign every person who has an empty seat near them if i can sit there, and they seriously all glared at me and said no. i ended up in the very last car where the guy was still checking tickets. the man i sat with was very nice, so it was ok. i did some homework, fell asleep and when i woke up we were already past pisa and the man was gone. i ended up talking with this carabineri and some kids. and actually, everybody around me thought i was italian, so i figured id actually seem italian if i didnt open my mouth to speak all that much. but the kids were cute. loved them.
so then we get to torino. its like midnight. (it was a really long train ride.) so we get a taxi to take us to our hotel. it was a nice hotel. definitely had an italian feel. and it was a lot nicer than the hostels and stuff. stef and i got there and basically passed out. We woke up at about 8:20 on Saturday. had our free breakfast. and of course took some to go with us for snacks. We picked up our torino pass and the woman working that morning at the hotel was very very helpful. Definitely recommend that hotel. so we go to the historical center of town, where there is a chocolate festival! apparently it was the last weekend too. it was crazy!
so we decide that we would hit up the chocolate festival later in the day when we dont think its so gross to be eating so much chocolate. its only like 10:40 at this point. so we start walkign and we head towards the egyptian museum because thats what everybody says is good in Torino. on the way we passed by a medieval castle. pretty sweet stuff....and an H & M - i wish we had one in florence. lol. So we get there, and it was ok. there was one really cool room....if you saw night at the museum...it was set up similar to the egyptian room in the movie. all dark with mood lighting and stuff. very cool. from there we went to look at the theatre that i found in the book...we wanted to go inside and possibly on a tour, so they told us to come back at 3. so we went to the Cinema museum to blow off time until our tour. This place...man, it was crazy. Seriously my favorite museum ever. You go in and its like dark with movies playing all over the place and in the middle there are two big screens and two sets of these big velvety red chairs that are reclined and have speakers in the headphones so you could just sit there and watch the movies. and then all around the outside of this, there are these other rooms that are set up so you can watch movies that are playing in those rooms. one looked like a fight had just ended up in a western bar. chairs and stuff tipped over and stuff...another had a big round red bed type thing with lots of pillows and you lay down on it, and the movie screen is in the ceiling. then there were some with mirrors all over so you see the movie everywhere. there was one with toilet seat chairs. haha. we took pictures there of course.
then as you go up there are pictures of famous actors and actresses and props from movie sets and scripts and stuff, and then there are interactive things. like if you stand on the circle or the feet, there is a camera on you and you are actually projected into the movie. there was one, where you stood on it and there are like tvs all over the place and there were about 7 or 8 different cameras on you from different angles, so you see yourself on all these screens.
we loved it there. so then we go to our tour. buy our tickets. get inside. and we're standing there. attempting to understand this woman who is going to lead us around on this tour for an hour and forty minutes in italian! so we sit down and we're listenign and we're trying not to draw attention to ourselves, and then stef's cell phone starts ringing. so then everybody gets up so we follow, thinking we're actually going to be getting to see some stuff now. but no! we only were moving to a different section of the entrance way! so we're standing there and i lose it and start hystericall ylaughing and couldnt even tell stefanie the reason, which was...that iw as about to ask her what language her tour in the Globe Theatre was.....the globe is in London. so she starts laughing and im like crying, but we're trying to be really quiet. and then laura comes over and she starts dancing for no apparent reason. you know those times when you have to be quiet so it becomes harder to stop laughign...well yea that happened. so i finally calm down...and then it hits me that we've been on this tour for like half an hour now and dont speak italian! an di lose it agian. its just so random. but we got to see a lot of cool stuff. we saw the theatre, and then we went on the stage...it was set up for oedipus rex. from there we went to the dance studio and then we saw the small theatre in the basement. and then we got to walk throughthe place were they were making the costumes. that was really cool. we did go to some other random rooms, but i dont realyl know what they were because i was not in the mood to concentrate and try to understand her. from there, we went back to where the chocolate festival was by the Po river. and looked for the boat the woman told us about...for a tour. but we missed it. so we searched for someplace to eat.
after sandwiches, we went back to the chocolate festival where stef and i bough blocks of dark chocolate with nuts on the bottom and just attempted to eat the whole thing. she did. i ate like 3/4s of it. it was intense. we just hung out there for a while. then decided to eat some more....pizza. with olives! was actualyl the first time i foudn them in the past 2 months that ive been here! so then we decided to go back to the cinema museum cuz we loved it there...and we went on the lift...which took us to the top of the dome on the building, and we got to see all of torino. it was beautiful. then we sat in those chairs watching tv. at about 9:45 we decided to leave because we wanted to see the Tango at the chocolate festival. but we got there and they were only on the poetry reading which was supposed to be at 9, so we just left cuz we were tired. On Sunday, we decided we would go shopping cuz we saw everything we wanted to see, but foudn out that all the stores are closed on sundays, so we just left and came home early. it was better that way cuz we were all beat and had classes in the morning.
it was a fun trip. we laughed a lot. laughed so hard we cried a lot too...hadnt done that in a while. so tonight, we're going to the movies. nice and relaxing. its in english which is good, cuz im still tired and would probably fall asleep if it was in italian.
then tomorrow Stefanie and I are doing a day trip to Verona and Padua. Wednesday i think we're hanging out cuz Kim has a friend over this week. and Thursday we leave for Switzerland and will get back Sunday night, then Mon-Thurs is midterms. Fri and Sat is visit Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bob in Fiesole, Sunday is the family arrives!!!!!!!!
Gonna be a crazy couple of weeks.... :-)
so once we are in the last car, he turns around and i seriously have no clue what i was saying. the guy sittin gin the last seat who had been at the train station with us was laughing at me, but the guy seemed to understand what i was saying. so he has me paying for the ticket. and hes like va bene. and im like no! where am i supposed to sit. nobody was letting me sit with them. and he said that i am allowed to sit anywher ei want. so i go walking all the way back to stef to get my stuff...and i tell them. and i end up askign every person who has an empty seat near them if i can sit there, and they seriously all glared at me and said no. i ended up in the very last car where the guy was still checking tickets. the man i sat with was very nice, so it was ok. i did some homework, fell asleep and when i woke up we were already past pisa and the man was gone. i ended up talking with this carabineri and some kids. and actually, everybody around me thought i was italian, so i figured id actually seem italian if i didnt open my mouth to speak all that much. but the kids were cute. loved them.
so then we get to torino. its like midnight. (it was a really long train ride.) so we get a taxi to take us to our hotel. it was a nice hotel. definitely had an italian feel. and it was a lot nicer than the hostels and stuff. stef and i got there and basically passed out. We woke up at about 8:20 on Saturday. had our free breakfast. and of course took some to go with us for snacks. We picked up our torino pass and the woman working that morning at the hotel was very very helpful. Definitely recommend that hotel. so we go to the historical center of town, where there is a chocolate festival! apparently it was the last weekend too. it was crazy!
so we decide that we would hit up the chocolate festival later in the day when we dont think its so gross to be eating so much chocolate. its only like 10:40 at this point. so we start walkign and we head towards the egyptian museum because thats what everybody says is good in Torino. on the way we passed by a medieval castle. pretty sweet stuff....and an H & M - i wish we had one in florence. lol. So we get there, and it was ok. there was one really cool room....if you saw night at the museum...it was set up similar to the egyptian room in the movie. all dark with mood lighting and stuff. very cool. from there we went to look at the theatre that i found in the book...we wanted to go inside and possibly on a tour, so they told us to come back at 3. so we went to the Cinema museum to blow off time until our tour. This place...man, it was crazy. Seriously my favorite museum ever. You go in and its like dark with movies playing all over the place and in the middle there are two big screens and two sets of these big velvety red chairs that are reclined and have speakers in the headphones so you could just sit there and watch the movies. and then all around the outside of this, there are these other rooms that are set up so you can watch movies that are playing in those rooms. one looked like a fight had just ended up in a western bar. chairs and stuff tipped over and stuff...another had a big round red bed type thing with lots of pillows and you lay down on it, and the movie screen is in the ceiling. then there were some with mirrors all over so you see the movie everywhere. there was one with toilet seat chairs. haha. we took pictures there of course.
then as you go up there are pictures of famous actors and actresses and props from movie sets and scripts and stuff, and then there are interactive things. like if you stand on the circle or the feet, there is a camera on you and you are actually projected into the movie. there was one, where you stood on it and there are like tvs all over the place and there were about 7 or 8 different cameras on you from different angles, so you see yourself on all these screens.
we loved it there. so then we go to our tour. buy our tickets. get inside. and we're standing there. attempting to understand this woman who is going to lead us around on this tour for an hour and forty minutes in italian! so we sit down and we're listenign and we're trying not to draw attention to ourselves, and then stef's cell phone starts ringing. so then everybody gets up so we follow, thinking we're actually going to be getting to see some stuff now. but no! we only were moving to a different section of the entrance way! so we're standing there and i lose it and start hystericall ylaughing and couldnt even tell stefanie the reason, which was...that iw as about to ask her what language her tour in the Globe Theatre was.....the globe is in London. so she starts laughing and im like crying, but we're trying to be really quiet. and then laura comes over and she starts dancing for no apparent reason. you know those times when you have to be quiet so it becomes harder to stop laughign...well yea that happened. so i finally calm down...and then it hits me that we've been on this tour for like half an hour now and dont speak italian! an di lose it agian. its just so random. but we got to see a lot of cool stuff. we saw the theatre, and then we went on the stage...it was set up for oedipus rex. from there we went to the dance studio and then we saw the small theatre in the basement. and then we got to walk throughthe place were they were making the costumes. that was really cool. we did go to some other random rooms, but i dont realyl know what they were because i was not in the mood to concentrate and try to understand her. from there, we went back to where the chocolate festival was by the Po river. and looked for the boat the woman told us about...for a tour. but we missed it. so we searched for someplace to eat.
after sandwiches, we went back to the chocolate festival where stef and i bough blocks of dark chocolate with nuts on the bottom and just attempted to eat the whole thing. she did. i ate like 3/4s of it. it was intense. we just hung out there for a while. then decided to eat some more....pizza. with olives! was actualyl the first time i foudn them in the past 2 months that ive been here! so then we decided to go back to the cinema museum cuz we loved it there...and we went on the lift...which took us to the top of the dome on the building, and we got to see all of torino. it was beautiful. then we sat in those chairs watching tv. at about 9:45 we decided to leave because we wanted to see the Tango at the chocolate festival. but we got there and they were only on the poetry reading which was supposed to be at 9, so we just left cuz we were tired. On Sunday, we decided we would go shopping cuz we saw everything we wanted to see, but foudn out that all the stores are closed on sundays, so we just left and came home early. it was better that way cuz we were all beat and had classes in the morning.
it was a fun trip. we laughed a lot. laughed so hard we cried a lot too...hadnt done that in a while. so tonight, we're going to the movies. nice and relaxing. its in english which is good, cuz im still tired and would probably fall asleep if it was in italian.
then tomorrow Stefanie and I are doing a day trip to Verona and Padua. Wednesday i think we're hanging out cuz Kim has a friend over this week. and Thursday we leave for Switzerland and will get back Sunday night, then Mon-Thurs is midterms. Fri and Sat is visit Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bob in Fiesole, Sunday is the family arrives!!!!!!!!
Gonna be a crazy couple of weeks.... :-)
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Shopping...
So today, I went shopping. first i bought a hat. of course. it says italia on it and has a little italian flag and its a greenish color...love it! then i went to the photo store and bought some more film and paper for my photography class....and then of course i went for gelato (for the second time today lol) with stef and kim...chocolate coconut is soooo good. definitely a favorite, if not the absolute favorite. then we went and bought some gifts. got something for Efren...yeaaa....then I bought.....a leather coat! Its brown and long and is stonewashed and can be worn in the rain, so thats a plus, and it buttons up and I got it for 120, and it is priced at 220, and i got the alterations on the sleeves for free....and they said that they have a store in LA, and that the same coat sells there for $420! I am so excited, I think im gonna live in it for a while!
just wanted to share...i'll probably write more on monday after my weekend in torino!
ciao.
just wanted to share...i'll probably write more on monday after my weekend in torino!
ciao.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
ahhh!
I know i know, its my fourth blog today, but i cant believe i forgot about this!
I bought a Tutto Disney CD (everything disney) - its italian. and it is Ah-mazing!
they did a pretty good job at gettign the voices to match up with the american singers and stuff too...its awesome.
bibbity bobbity boo is by far kim and my favorite - just imagine that with an italian accent. awesome! and all the mary poppins and lion king and its AWESOME.
just wanted to share. 43 disney songs. its awesome.
ok, basta.
I bought a Tutto Disney CD (everything disney) - its italian. and it is Ah-mazing!
they did a pretty good job at gettign the voices to match up with the american singers and stuff too...its awesome.
bibbity bobbity boo is by far kim and my favorite - just imagine that with an italian accent. awesome! and all the mary poppins and lion king and its AWESOME.
just wanted to share. 43 disney songs. its awesome.
ok, basta.
love this pic.
Dar, me, and Paul after spending a few hours in Italy together!one of the best days here so far :-)
French Riviera Pictures!
Nice, France... Leeanne, Laura, Me, Danielle, and Stef.
Picnic on the beach. Traci, Me, and Stef. Nice, France
On the Ferris Wheel in Nice, France, during carnival, right before paul and dar spotted me cuz of my wonderful plaid coat. Laura, Traci, Me, and Allison. not the most flattering picture, lol, but still a fun one. you wouldnt believe how fast the french make their ferris wheels go...
Laura and I. Cannes, France. Bella! and yes, I did end up takign my shoes off and going into the water a lil, but on the sandy part of the beach...
Siena.
first of all, i just want to say that i love how random italy is. kim and i were just walking here, chatting and eating our valentines day lollypops, and some random waitor at a restaurant starts singing the lollypop song. was pretty funny. i love italy.
anyway, stef, danielle, and i went to siena for the day yesterday. I really liked it, it wasnt too sunny, but it was still very nice. we got there and decided to stop at the mcdonalds and eat there, all because i wanted a baci mcflurry. you seriously have no idea how good those things are. i decided that im goign to write a letter to ronald mcdonald and tell him that we need that flurry in the US.
so after that, we walked to campo del something. i dont remember. but its the really famous piazza, where they race the horses every july or something like that. so we were there and i had to take a whole role of motion pictures for my photography class by today, so i had stefanie running through the pigeons and taking running leaps and jumping and stuff in the middle of the piazza. it was pretty funny. oh the things i make my friends do for my art projects...
so after we goofed off in there for a while, we started walkign and attempting to get to the market. but got lost. and i took some more motion pictures of cars and vespas and things like that. so we got to see some random residential areas and got a nice workout on all the hilly streets, and we ended up back at campo. so from there we went to the duomo that was there...we didnt go in. but the outside was really pretty. gothic style. i really liked it. apparently they had started building it and were trying to make it better than florence, but they never finished it because the plague hit. so there are like unfinished naves and stuff, it was pretty interesting.
from there, we went back to campo again. and danielle got a pizza and i ran up to a pizza store just so i could get a picture with a pizza box in italy. really random day. i think i was delirious...tired and hyped up on caffiene. so from there we went to this saint's house. Saint catherine or something. so we went to her house, and it was pretty. and then we went to the church. san domenico i believe. and we knew it had st catherine's head. so im thinkin...its a skull, thats pretty cool, lets go see it. and stef is thinking...you're really not going to be able to see her head, and danielle didnt really seem to care if we saw it or not. lol.
so we look at a map when we get into the church and we go straight for the head, and im like, the heads to the right! the heads coming up to the right!! ew. it was really her head. like presereved. and we had seen preserved popes and other saints in other churches and it was creepy, but it was the whole body....this was just a head....and it looked liek they didnt preserve her right away. yea really gross. so we were scarred for life. yet couldnt stop looking at it, so we finally get too creeped out cuz we kept expecting her to open her eyes, so we walked around the rest of the church and sat down in the first pew. and decided that we didnt really like the style of the art in this church. the stain glass pictures were like picassos, but were just really creepy. bizarre.
and then we went back to mcdonalds to use the bathroom and stef wanted a baci mcflurry...yea, we're addicted. and then we got back on the bus and come home. it was a good day trip. i enjoyed it. excpet for the head.
so this weekend we go to Torino! so i'll write more soon!
oh, and im gonna try to import a few more pics of the french riviera from this weekend.
ci vediamo!
anyway, stef, danielle, and i went to siena for the day yesterday. I really liked it, it wasnt too sunny, but it was still very nice. we got there and decided to stop at the mcdonalds and eat there, all because i wanted a baci mcflurry. you seriously have no idea how good those things are. i decided that im goign to write a letter to ronald mcdonald and tell him that we need that flurry in the US.
so after that, we walked to campo del something. i dont remember. but its the really famous piazza, where they race the horses every july or something like that. so we were there and i had to take a whole role of motion pictures for my photography class by today, so i had stefanie running through the pigeons and taking running leaps and jumping and stuff in the middle of the piazza. it was pretty funny. oh the things i make my friends do for my art projects...
so after we goofed off in there for a while, we started walkign and attempting to get to the market. but got lost. and i took some more motion pictures of cars and vespas and things like that. so we got to see some random residential areas and got a nice workout on all the hilly streets, and we ended up back at campo. so from there we went to the duomo that was there...we didnt go in. but the outside was really pretty. gothic style. i really liked it. apparently they had started building it and were trying to make it better than florence, but they never finished it because the plague hit. so there are like unfinished naves and stuff, it was pretty interesting.
from there, we went back to campo again. and danielle got a pizza and i ran up to a pizza store just so i could get a picture with a pizza box in italy. really random day. i think i was delirious...tired and hyped up on caffiene. so from there we went to this saint's house. Saint catherine or something. so we went to her house, and it was pretty. and then we went to the church. san domenico i believe. and we knew it had st catherine's head. so im thinkin...its a skull, thats pretty cool, lets go see it. and stef is thinking...you're really not going to be able to see her head, and danielle didnt really seem to care if we saw it or not. lol.
so we look at a map when we get into the church and we go straight for the head, and im like, the heads to the right! the heads coming up to the right!! ew. it was really her head. like presereved. and we had seen preserved popes and other saints in other churches and it was creepy, but it was the whole body....this was just a head....and it looked liek they didnt preserve her right away. yea really gross. so we were scarred for life. yet couldnt stop looking at it, so we finally get too creeped out cuz we kept expecting her to open her eyes, so we walked around the rest of the church and sat down in the first pew. and decided that we didnt really like the style of the art in this church. the stain glass pictures were like picassos, but were just really creepy. bizarre.
and then we went back to mcdonalds to use the bathroom and stef wanted a baci mcflurry...yea, we're addicted. and then we got back on the bus and come home. it was a good day trip. i enjoyed it. excpet for the head.
so this weekend we go to Torino! so i'll write more soon!
oh, and im gonna try to import a few more pics of the french riviera from this weekend.
ci vediamo!
Monday, March 5, 2007
The French Riviera..
So this weekend, I went to the French Riviera with the school.....and it was amazing.
We had to be at the bus stop at 4:45 on saturday morning and we got into Nice, France at about 10/10:30. I didnt really like it at first. We went on a walking tour. and i was tired and some of the natives were a lil mean....but then they told us that we had about an hour to eat and hang out and they pointed in the direction of the beach. so we bought some sandwiches and headed in that direction. we got there, and i fell in love.
The beach didnt really have sand at all. there was like one section...the rest was like little rocks. but the water was like crystal. and this blue. crazy. it was so clear...but it wasnt caribbeanesque either...it was different. but i loved it. Took a ton of pictures. so no worries.
So then we got back on the bus and we went to Monaco, which is another country nearby. Its where princess Grace lived. It was really pretty there too...and we saw their graves...and there is constantly fresh flowers around it. oh, in Nice there was a flower market with all the fresh flowers that are grown in the area, Bella!
So then we got on the bus again and went to Monte Carlo. I wasnt about to pay 10 euro to go into a casino for 20 mintues, so i saw it from the outside and walked around the area. ridiculous prices. like 17 euro for a pizza for one person. craziness.
then we got to go back and i actually got to watch english news...so i kinda know a lil of what is going on over there in the US. lol. then we went to dinner. it was ok. we had french bread which is delicious. and stuffed vegetables. some sort of beef stew and potatoes. and lemon cake. there was another group coming to eat dinner behind us though and they like practically threw us out of the restaurant. we were really mad cuz we paid for it too. frustrating.
So THEN. we were going to go to another casino or something...but on the way, we ran into the Carnival parade! I dont know whats with me and ending up in these places when they're having these massive carnivals, but i love it. so we're walking along, taking it all in, and decide to go on the ferris wheel. So we're on it, and im like, hey, Dar and Paul's hotel is supposed to be right around here somewhere, i should look for their hotel and look for them....and while im on this ferris wheel, i turn around and see their hotel, directly behind me! So im like, thats it! No way. so we get off and Kim, Allison and I decide to look along the parade in front of their hotel and meet up with our friends at the casino afterwards, so we're walking along and getting sprayed with silly string and getting confetti thrown on us, and i had just decided to walk past the hotel and if i saw them, that would be insane, and if not, no big cuz i didnt really think id actually find them anyway. so we're crossing the parade, cuz you can do that in France. they dont have police that stop you from walking into the parade. you can join whenever you want....its crazy. so i hesitate cuz with my luck, id get run over by a float, and just as im about to go, i hear my name and turn around and there is DAR! apparently, they were sitting on their balcony and were looking down at the parade and saw my plaid coat! see, plaid coats are awesome. And seriously. i still cant believe it....what are the odds. I mean, even the fact that i wore my plaid coat when they were in florence, and that i wore my plaid coat in france is ridiculous. cuz i usually have my black one on, and they never would have found me. and i still have no clue how they managed to spot me from that high up in the midst of all that chaos. but it was awesome. and so much fun. And we ate nutella crepes.
After the parade was over, and dar and paul went back to their room, we met up with our friends on the beach, and got to see the lunar eclipse. its so crazy...there we were...a bunch of college kids...from america....in france...on the beach seeing a lunar eclipse. who gets to do that??
so then we went to bed. and the next morning we left our 4 star hotel! yea, 4 star...definitely different than the hostels we've been staying in lol. and we went to St. Paul or something like that. It was a cute little town. Stef and I sat down for most of the time. relaxed. took a breather. we did so much traveling in two days, it was needed to refresh for the next two places....then we went to Cannes. they have film festivals there. so we went to see that and saw - they have hand prints like we have the stars with the stuff....haha. so we walked around and took some pictures of the people we liked, or didnt like, or our fathers dont like, like chuck norris. hehe...and then we took some pics by the palm trees! and ate mcdonalds lol. and then we sat on the beautiful beach with our tshirts on an dgot some sun. the water was really cold. i had to take my shoes off and feel it. and i took a shell :-)
from there, we started heading back to italy....and we stopped in Eze...where we went on a tour of a perfume factory. it was ok. expensive stuff...and then we left. and hit traffic and our 5 hour bus ride turned into a 7 and a half hour bus ride. so we got back pretty late last night and i had to do some homework. haha. but it was a blast.
tomorrow we are going to siena for the day. and this weekend, we're traveling to Torino!
oh ps, we paid for the trip to switzerland today!!!
miss you all.
baci!
We had to be at the bus stop at 4:45 on saturday morning and we got into Nice, France at about 10/10:30. I didnt really like it at first. We went on a walking tour. and i was tired and some of the natives were a lil mean....but then they told us that we had about an hour to eat and hang out and they pointed in the direction of the beach. so we bought some sandwiches and headed in that direction. we got there, and i fell in love.
The beach didnt really have sand at all. there was like one section...the rest was like little rocks. but the water was like crystal. and this blue. crazy. it was so clear...but it wasnt caribbeanesque either...it was different. but i loved it. Took a ton of pictures. so no worries.
So then we got back on the bus and we went to Monaco, which is another country nearby. Its where princess Grace lived. It was really pretty there too...and we saw their graves...and there is constantly fresh flowers around it. oh, in Nice there was a flower market with all the fresh flowers that are grown in the area, Bella!
So then we got on the bus again and went to Monte Carlo. I wasnt about to pay 10 euro to go into a casino for 20 mintues, so i saw it from the outside and walked around the area. ridiculous prices. like 17 euro for a pizza for one person. craziness.
then we got to go back and i actually got to watch english news...so i kinda know a lil of what is going on over there in the US. lol. then we went to dinner. it was ok. we had french bread which is delicious. and stuffed vegetables. some sort of beef stew and potatoes. and lemon cake. there was another group coming to eat dinner behind us though and they like practically threw us out of the restaurant. we were really mad cuz we paid for it too. frustrating.
So THEN. we were going to go to another casino or something...but on the way, we ran into the Carnival parade! I dont know whats with me and ending up in these places when they're having these massive carnivals, but i love it. so we're walking along, taking it all in, and decide to go on the ferris wheel. So we're on it, and im like, hey, Dar and Paul's hotel is supposed to be right around here somewhere, i should look for their hotel and look for them....and while im on this ferris wheel, i turn around and see their hotel, directly behind me! So im like, thats it! No way. so we get off and Kim, Allison and I decide to look along the parade in front of their hotel and meet up with our friends at the casino afterwards, so we're walking along and getting sprayed with silly string and getting confetti thrown on us, and i had just decided to walk past the hotel and if i saw them, that would be insane, and if not, no big cuz i didnt really think id actually find them anyway. so we're crossing the parade, cuz you can do that in France. they dont have police that stop you from walking into the parade. you can join whenever you want....its crazy. so i hesitate cuz with my luck, id get run over by a float, and just as im about to go, i hear my name and turn around and there is DAR! apparently, they were sitting on their balcony and were looking down at the parade and saw my plaid coat! see, plaid coats are awesome. And seriously. i still cant believe it....what are the odds. I mean, even the fact that i wore my plaid coat when they were in florence, and that i wore my plaid coat in france is ridiculous. cuz i usually have my black one on, and they never would have found me. and i still have no clue how they managed to spot me from that high up in the midst of all that chaos. but it was awesome. and so much fun. And we ate nutella crepes.
After the parade was over, and dar and paul went back to their room, we met up with our friends on the beach, and got to see the lunar eclipse. its so crazy...there we were...a bunch of college kids...from america....in france...on the beach seeing a lunar eclipse. who gets to do that??
so then we went to bed. and the next morning we left our 4 star hotel! yea, 4 star...definitely different than the hostels we've been staying in lol. and we went to St. Paul or something like that. It was a cute little town. Stef and I sat down for most of the time. relaxed. took a breather. we did so much traveling in two days, it was needed to refresh for the next two places....then we went to Cannes. they have film festivals there. so we went to see that and saw - they have hand prints like we have the stars with the stuff....haha. so we walked around and took some pictures of the people we liked, or didnt like, or our fathers dont like, like chuck norris. hehe...and then we took some pics by the palm trees! and ate mcdonalds lol. and then we sat on the beautiful beach with our tshirts on an dgot some sun. the water was really cold. i had to take my shoes off and feel it. and i took a shell :-)
from there, we started heading back to italy....and we stopped in Eze...where we went on a tour of a perfume factory. it was ok. expensive stuff...and then we left. and hit traffic and our 5 hour bus ride turned into a 7 and a half hour bus ride. so we got back pretty late last night and i had to do some homework. haha. but it was a blast.
tomorrow we are going to siena for the day. and this weekend, we're traveling to Torino!
oh ps, we paid for the trip to switzerland today!!!
miss you all.
baci!
Friday, March 2, 2007
Carnevale in Venice pics!
Venice. I love it there. 
Dinner in Venice. Kim, Me, and Brandon. This is one of a series of four pictures where I just laugh harder and harder cuz i have no clue what these crazy kids are doing.
Brandon and Kim. Told you they were crazy kids...
Typical Carnevale outfits. some are really creepy. some are funny...like giant pants.
You cant see it, but im in that gondola!!!
In the Duke's Palace ready for Carnevale to begin! Top: Danielle, Leeanne, Stef, Kim, Jess, and Allison. Bottom: Tracy, Laura, and Me.
Grand Canal in Venice.Florence pics.
oh hey, ponte vecchio.
santa croce
Uffizi...love it!
out with some visiting Marist Kids...Rachel, Leeanne, Kim, Jill, Stef, Danielle, Me.
More visiting Marist Kids from london...Rachel, Kathleen, Stef, Jill, Tim, Danielle, and Me with my plaid coat! and lime green scarf. love them!
d to the omo.
the duomo.
view from the ponte vecchio of the arno.
Rome and trips from Tuscania...
I forgot this one...its in Tuscania. a fountain near the school. Traci, Natalie, and Cassie (Natalie and Cassie are my housemates).
Kim, Me, and Nell at the Colosseo in Roma!
Marist Kids invade the Vatican!
Danielle, Stef, Traci, Me, and Kim in front of the nativity at the Vatican.
Day trip to Cività di Bagnoregio. We walked up that crazy thing in insane wind and hail. one of the best experiences so far.
Orvieto was a beautiful city.
some of tuscania...
Welcome dinner...Traci, Danielle, Stef, Me, and Kim. we were really tired here.
Farewell dinner. Traci, Danielle, Stef, Kim, and Me. this was an insane dinner for some reason.
me and the roooom at the farewell dinner.
So this would be a typical view of Tuscania...where I lived the first two weeks of my semester in Italy.
This would be at the gelateria we went to hang out at everday. Me, Kim, Neno (the owner and nicest man alive), Stef, and Danielle
and lilo on my lap.
This would be Lilo and a typical street in Tuscania
some of the Italians we hung out with every night. in the street. Cuz there isnt much to do in a small town. lol.
this is me waiting to go to Florence. and no, surprisingly, thats not all my stuff.
the greatest day ever...
allora. Yesterday was incredible. In Italian class, we sang andrea bocelli's Con te Partirò. it was so funny, Kim and my professor should not be allowed to fool around together cuz i was crying - it was so funny. anyway, so then I came to the computer lab and hung out with stefanie and ended up laughing so hard i was crying in there.....and then. I had lunch, did some homework and then went shopping. bought dar a pretty scarf and paul a nice journal type notebook, which he said he would use for his sermons, so that was cool. then i had class which let out early cuz the lights went out, so Nell and I went and hung out while she ate lunch.
So then I went to go meet up with Dar and Paul, and I got to the hotel that i thought they were staying at, but when i got there, the windows were all covered over with newspaper and there was a sign on the door that said they were closed for work! so i called their daughter in law, then called the hotel , and then practically sprinted across florence! but i found them! it was awesome to see them....we ate at one of those outdoor restaurants in Piazza della Repubblica. then we went to Accademia (3rd time in one week! love the Uffizi card and getting in free!) so i was a little guide for them and told them everythign I knew about the David and Michelangelo's slaves and some other random little things in there that i knew somethign about at all. lol.
from there we went to Festival de Gelato and then we ate the gelato while we walked to Piazza le Michelangelo cuz i told them they had to go there, cuz its so pretty. and they loved it! so we sat there for a while talking and we prayed and it was just a lot of fun. Paul and his puns crack me up.
So after I gave them presents, I met up with Kim and we went to Mama Toscana for dinner with Lewis and Luciana, and cassie and nell were there too! It was so much fun and so great to see them. Makes me miss the steel plant even more. but we had a great time.
then kim and went and met up with Stefanie, Danielle, Traci, Laura, Leeanne, and Brandon at the discoteca where we goofed off for a good two hours or so. Then we came back here and passed out. it was some good times.
alrighty, well, I have to get some homework done and pack before we go to the french riviera tomorrow!
ciao!
So then I went to go meet up with Dar and Paul, and I got to the hotel that i thought they were staying at, but when i got there, the windows were all covered over with newspaper and there was a sign on the door that said they were closed for work! so i called their daughter in law, then called the hotel , and then practically sprinted across florence! but i found them! it was awesome to see them....we ate at one of those outdoor restaurants in Piazza della Repubblica. then we went to Accademia (3rd time in one week! love the Uffizi card and getting in free!) so i was a little guide for them and told them everythign I knew about the David and Michelangelo's slaves and some other random little things in there that i knew somethign about at all. lol.
from there we went to Festival de Gelato and then we ate the gelato while we walked to Piazza le Michelangelo cuz i told them they had to go there, cuz its so pretty. and they loved it! so we sat there for a while talking and we prayed and it was just a lot of fun. Paul and his puns crack me up.
So after I gave them presents, I met up with Kim and we went to Mama Toscana for dinner with Lewis and Luciana, and cassie and nell were there too! It was so much fun and so great to see them. Makes me miss the steel plant even more. but we had a great time.
then kim and went and met up with Stefanie, Danielle, Traci, Laura, Leeanne, and Brandon at the discoteca where we goofed off for a good two hours or so. Then we came back here and passed out. it was some good times.
alrighty, well, I have to get some homework done and pack before we go to the french riviera tomorrow!
ciao!
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