Trip to Ireland: May 7-10

Thursday, May 7th

Our flight left out of the smaller airport in Rome, called Ciampino.  I had never been there before and had no idea how to get there so we decided to take a cab.  There was tons of traffic since it was rush hour, so it took us about 45 minutes to get to the airport.  Our flight was through Ryanair, an airline with extremely cheap flights, but it hits you with little costs if you don't follow the rules perfectly.  My 3 girlfriends and I check in and everything is OK, so we waited for our one guy friend who was coming on the trip with us to show up.  Once he checked in, we all went and got something to eat and relaxed before our flight.  The flight was pretty bad with a lot of turbulence.  The landing was also very bad and when the flight finally came to a stop, everyone on the plane started to clap.  We take a taxi to our hostel because the bus wasn't running since we got to Dublin around 11:30 at night.  Our taxi driver was extremely nice and told us all the good places to go to eat and where the fun pubs were.  We checked into our hostel and headed to the pub next door for a pint of Guinness.  I never had a Guinness before but I thought it was delicious!  It reminded me of a milkshake.  We listened to the live music and danced and sang and then decided to go to sleep.  However, once we got to our room we realized that we had the lights from outside shining into our room, so a couple of my friends slept horribly.

Friday, May 8th

We got up early and had breakfast in our hostel, which consisted of cereal and toast.  After that we headed to the tourism center, but on the way we stopped at Starbucks and drank some coffee since Rome does not have Starbucks.  We got maps at the tourism center and booked our day trip to the countryside.  After that, we toured around Dublin and went to Trinity College, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ's Church ( we didn't go into either of the churches because it cost 5 euros just to look around.)  Instead, we decided to just peak our heads in and get a look.  After that we went and got fish n' chips at Leo Burdocks, which is a really famous fish n' chips place in Dublin.  It was really good until you were done eating it and felt sick to your stomach because of all the grease.  After we got lunch, we headed to the Guinness Factory.  The Guinness Factory has 5 floors and the inside is shaped like a pint of Guinness.  In fact, it is the largest Guinness pint in the world.  Arthur Guinness signed the lease on St. James Brewery in Dublin for a period of 9,000 years in 1759.  Guinness beer is made of hops, water, barley and yeast.  Each floor of the Guinness Factory tells you different things about the history of Guinness Beer.  The top floor is the Gravity Bar, in which the walls are all glass, and they give you a pint of Guinness and you can drink your beer while looking at the entire city of Dublin.  After the Guinness Factory, our group decided to split up, so my friend Chelsea and I decided to go and see the Kilmainham Jail.  The map was confusing so we stopped in a pub and ask some old men how to get there.  They were really helpful and asked us to come back for a beer once we were done!  By the time we got to the jail, it was closed for the day, and it started raining so Chelsea and I jumped in a cab and headed back to our hostel.  We heard live music walking to our hostel, so we decided to stop in for awhile.  We sat down and a table and happened to come across a "stag", which is basically a bachelor or bachelorette party.  The guys were really nice and bought us pints of Guinness and Baileys on the rocks, which I had never had before, but I think its delicious.  We ended up going pub hopping with them and danced and drank with them til dinner time.  Chelsea and I went to dinner at Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin.  We had fried brie with cranberry sauce for an appetizer and I had Irish Stew for dinner which was really good.  We met up with the rest of our group after dinner and went to a couple pubs close to our hostel.  At the last pub we went to, there was a live band playing Irish music and I ended up Irish jigging with a man wearing a green velvet jacket.  We thought he might've been homeless, but he looked like an actual leprechaun and he was really nice!  

Saturday, May 9th

We got up early, had breakfast and went to catch our bus for the tour of Wicklow Countryside.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Everywhere you looked was green and the countryside had beautiful yellow flowers and at one point, the bus had to stop so sheep could cross the road!  The tour guide showed us where parts of famous movies took place, like the scene from Braveheart where Mel Gibson is running down a hill and we saw the lake Lough Tay where Lancelot threw his sword into that lake.  We also saw parts of where the movie P.S. I Love You was filmed.  We got to take pictures on the bridge in P.S. I Love You and three of my friends were almost left behind because the bus driver didn't realize they weren't on the bus and actually started to pull away.  We went to Glendalough, where we saw monastic ruins.  After that we went to the Meeting of the Waters which is where three of Ireland's rivers meet to form one.  After that we had lunch is Avoca village, where the famous Irish television series Ballykissangel was filmed.  Once we got back home, we wondered around and went to Grafton Street, which is a famous shopping street in Dublin and after that we went to Stephen's Green which is a beautiful park.  That night we had dinner at Calligher's and everyone tried different Irish dishes.  After that we went pub hopping and ended up at our usual pub by our hostel and sang and danced until it closed.

Sunday, May 10th

We didn't book a hostel for Saturday night since our flight left at 6:55 in the morning so once the pub closed at 3 am we got our stuff from a storage room in our hostel, called a taxi and headed to the airport.  Our check-in process was a little rough this time.  Three of my friends got charged 20 extra euros since they didn't follow the directions and everyone was tired and irritated.  Once we got to our gate, we all tried to sleep.  I managed to fall asleep on a chair with my head on my lap for about an hour or so and once I woke up I looked around and couldn't find my friends, I thought they had left me, but they were only getting coffee.  We got on our flight and slept most of the way home and since there was an hour time change we didn't get back into Rome until around 10:30.  When we got out of the airport, we wanted to get a cab.  The taxi drivers tried to charge us 65 euros for our ride because they thought we were from Ireland, but after fighting with them for about 10 minutes we got our taxi ride down to 30 euros, which is what its supposed to cost to begin with.  Once I got home, I got into bed and fell asleep.  My roommate Natalie's parents were in Italy so they took us out to eat in Piazza Navona and we had tartufo for dessert, which is chocolate gelato with a cherry in the center and it has a hard chocolate outside. It was delicious!  After that, I got home and jumped into bed and fell asleep immediately! 

May 4th-May7th

Monday was a really stressful day for me because I had to write a paper and be prepared to present about it on Tuesday.  It was stressful because the paper basically determines my grade in that class for the semester.  The class is Italian Politics and I had to reform parts of the Italian Constitution to make it represent more of a presidential republic rather than a parliamentory democracy.  On Tuesday, I presented it and turned in my paper and actually think I did pretty well so I was happy.  Since it was Cinco de Mayo, our friends threw a party at their apartment on their terrace/garden.  It was tons of fun and I had a great time!  Wednesday was a day for me to relax, update my blog, upload pictures and do laundry.  I only have a little over 2 weeks left in Rome.  Its crazy to think how quickly it went by!

Weekend in Amalfi Coast- April 30th- May 3rd

My friends Meghan, Kelly, Brittany went to Amalfi Coast together.  It was absolutely beautiful!!

Thursday, April 30th

I had an Italian quiz that day so I was ready for a fun weekend.  The trip was organized by a program called Euroadventures and it had kids from Florence and Rome on it.  The bus was supposed to be in Rome at 1o pm that night, but they ended up getting caught in a lot of traffic in Florence, so they didnt end up getting to Rome until around 11 pm.  To kill time we went to McDonalds and ordered food.  So once the bus arrives, no one moves to make room for the rest of us.  There were people that had 2 seats just for one person and once the bus driver yelled people finally started to move, but my friend Brittany and I got stuck in the very back left corner of the bus.  We get to our hostel, Villagio Verde, in Sorrento around 2:30 am.  Villagio Verde was really cool because it was covered in ivy and vines and was all around green.  We stayed in bungalow/cabin type of houses and they were absolutely freezing.  I didnt pack for cold weather so I ended up having to borrow my friends sweaters and I also had to steal a blanket off a bad that wasnt being used to stay warm.

Friday, May 1st

May 1st is Italy's Labor Day so we had a day off of school!  But we woke up around 10 am and walked to a piazza to meet up with everyone participating in Euroadventures.  We take a ferry to the island of Capri.  The ferry was really pretty, but very bumpy.  Once we got to Capri, we went on a 25 minute hike up to the main part of Capri.  We ate lunch at a pizza place over looking the Mediterranean Sea.  We got lost on our way back down to the sea, but we managed to find our way back down somehow.  We bought wine and caprese sandwiches, which consist of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese for our booze cruise around the island of Capri.  The weather was beautiful and the cruise was really fun except that a girl kept getting sick off the side of the boat.  The blue grotto, which is one of the 7 wonders of the world, was closed due to rain, so we couldnt go in but we got close enough to see inside and it looked really amazing.  The weather was pretty and they gave us the opportunity to go swimming so I decided to jump in the water.  It was so cold that I couldnt breathe.  After the cruise, we bought gelato and headed back to Sorrento.  We almost missed the ferry though because they told us the wrong dock to catch it on.  We get back to our hostel and nap and that night we went to a karaoke/dance club and sang and danced til 2 in the morning.

Saturday, May 2nd

We got up at 10, got ready, and got breakfast/lunch at little diner close to the bus station.  We wait for the bus to Positano and the bus finally comes, but the only room left is standing room so we decide to jump on and stand.  The bus ride from Sorrento to Positano was honestly the scariest bus ride of my life.  To get to Positano, you drive on the coast on very skinny roads the big buses shouldnt be allowed to drive on.  Every time the bus driver made a turn, it looked like you were going to fall of the cliff into the sea.  We get to Positano and to get to the beach you have to walk down through the city and through all the building stacked on top of each other.  The beach was a black sand beach and it was a beautiful and really hot day.  Trisha, one of my best friends from home who is studying in Florence was in Amalfi Coast for the weekend too so I met up with her and hung out with her on the beach.  We wanted to catch the 5 o'clock bus back to Sorrento so we left the beach early and got the biggest sandwich of my life.  It was the size of my head.  We walk back up through the city and wait for the bus.  It ended up being 2 hours late and everyone was mad and was pushing to get on the bus.  I get separated from my friends and they get on the back of the bus but almost didnt fit and got the door slammed on them 3 times before people started to move.  I was in the very front of the bus standing basically flat against the windshield.  At one point of the ride back, the bus driver did the sign of the cross so I was freaking out.  We finally got back to Villagio Verde and we decided that we wanted to hang out on our porch and sit outside for the night instead of going to a club.

Sunday, May 3rd

We got up and checked out of the hostel and had breakfast at an outdoor diner.  We had chocolate filled croissants and donuts that were really good!  After that we went to the train station and headed to Pompeii.  Right when we get to Pompeii, it starts to rain.  We walked through the Pompeii ruins.  It was amazing to see how everything is still so well preserved even though it was covered in lava at one point.  We even saw a person who was basically fried alive by the lava of Mount Vesuveus.  After we walked through the ruins, we went to lunch at a little italian restaurant.  We decided that not many tourists go to the place because we all got eyed up and down.  After lunch we realize that the train station we thought would get us back to Sorrento actually didnt have trains running through it.  We got lost, but eventually found our way back to the main train station after walking for 45 minutes.  We get back Sorrento and get on the bus and head back to Rome.  I got back to my apartment around 10 pm and was exhausted so I went to bed!

Weekend in Prague

April 24th-26th

Friday, April 24th

I went to Prague for the weekend with my friends, Meghan and Ross.  Our flight left really early on Friday morning so we decided to take a cab.  I have never been in a car that drove so fast in my life.  He hit 180, so Meghan and I were squeezing each other's hands and hoping that we got to the airport OK.  Which we did and really fast too.  Our flight there was a little rough because we had teenager Italian boys sitting right behind us so we couldnt really sleep since they were so loud.  We landed in Prague and went right to our hostel, Sir Toby's.  Since it was too early to check in, they let us put our stuff in the storage room and we got breakfast at the hostel.  After breakfast, we tried to head to the center of the city.  We ended up going the wrong way on the tram and took it to the last stop.  Once we got there, we decided that we went the wrong way and waited for it to head back the other way.  Eventually we got to the center of the city.  We climbed the clock tower of the main church in Old Town Square.  After that, we went on a free walking tour through Prague.  We saw the John Lennon wall aka Freedom Wall, where it is the only place in the city were you are legally allowed to spray paint on.  We also saw the Charles Bridge, Parliament building and Wallerstein Garden.  The Garden was beautiful and it had peacocks just walking around freely.  After that, we hiked up to the Prague Castle.  This walking tour took about 2 and 1/2 hours so by the end we were pretty tired, so we headed back to our hostel and took a nap before going out.  That night went to a bar/club called Beer Factory.  You sit at a table with your friends and each person has their own beer tap and you compete against the tables around you to see who drinks the most.  Since there was only 3 of us, we didnt win.  But we danced all night and had a great time.

Saturday, April 25th

We got up and had breakfast and decided to walk around by ourselves, so we headed back into the city.  We walked to the Jewish Ghetto of Prague, hiked up a hill and saw an amazing view of the city.  After that we went to Charles Bridge and took pictures.  Part of the bridge is shown in Mission Impossible so we were sure to take pictures by that.  After that, we headed to a park and went to see Petrin Tower.  Petrin Tower looks like a minature Eiffel Tower.  You had to take an incline, like in Pittsburgh, to get up to the park.  Ross was too tired to walk to the top, so just Meghan and I did.  It didnt seem very sturdy and once we got to the top we could feel it swaying with the wind, so we took a bunch of pictures quickly and got down as soon as possible.  That night for dinner we went to a little restaurant close to our apartment and had pizzas.  Then we met up with Meghan's friends who are studying in Prague and we pregamed at their place and headed to a 5 story club.  Each floor of the club played a different genre of music, from oldies to techno to hip hop.  I ended up staying on the oldies floor and danced with a gay man til 2 in the morning when we decided that we should head home since our flight left at 10 in the morning.

Sunday, April 26th

We got up, checked out of our hostel, and figured out the public transportation to the airport.  Our flight home was more relaxing then our flight there.  When I got home, I slept and did work the rest of the idea and fell asleep at about 10 pm that night!  

Prague was a beautiful city.  I dont know what I was expecting Prague to look like, but it wasnt what I expected.  It was a little hard and confusing though since we didnt know anything about the language so we had somewhat of a hard time getting around, but it was still tons and tons of fun!

Earth Day

April 22nd

Today was Earth Day in Rome and they were having a free concert in Piazza del Popolo.  My friends and I decided to go to the concert so we pregamed at our girl friends' apartment and headed to the concert.  My friend from school, Steph, who is studying in Dublin came to Rome so I met up with her and took her to the concert.  It was really fun and really crowded.  Ben Harper was the main singer and he was introducing his new band.  It was a great concert and tons of fun!

Spring Break!

Friday April 10th 

I got up and took the train to the airport to meet the rest of the girls for spring break!  The girls included me and my friends, Natalie, Meghan, Anndel, Liz, Kellyn and Brittany.  My friends Anndel and Liz dont have small suitcases so they had to bring one of their big ones and both of their suitcases ended up being overweight.  Also, my friend Kellyn, had the wrong last name for her ticket reservation so we had to wait for about 45 minutes to get everything figured out.  We had to sprint through the airport to catch our flight on time!  But luckily we ended up making it with time to spare.  Once we got on the actually plane, we ended up sitting there for about 45 minutes before they even started to move to the take-off and landing strip.  We landed in Nice, France around noon to beautiful weather!  We checked into our hostel, Hotel Baccarat.  It was a nice room that consisted on 2 lights on the wall, one plug for the entire room, a broken shutter in our room, and we had to steal toilet paper for the closet in the hall.  

We changed in our swimming suits and headed to the beach.  We bought french baguettes and cheese and found a really cute wine store and bought wine.  There was the most beautiful french man (that we named Geston, from Beauty and the Beast) who worked there and helped us pick out wine.  We sat on the beach, which was a rock beach, and ate and drank.  After that we went back to our hostel and got ready for dinner.  We went to a place close to our hostel called Woody's Tex Mex.  We should have figured that mexican food in France might not be that good... It wasn't the best meal and the drinks were extremely expensive so we stuck to water.  After dinner, we were all exhausted so we decided to go to sleep early.

Saturday, April 11th

We woke up at 10am.  It wasnt a pretty day, so we decided to get dressed and walk around Nice.  We got coffee and chocolate croissants on the street, which were delicious.  While shopping, I passed a store that I had been to when I traveled to Nice after my sophomore year of high school.  It was crazy deja vu.  We decided that since it wasnt a pretty day that we should go to Monoco.  We saw the prince's palace and took lots of pictures and then headed to Monte Carlo to gamble.  When I walked into the first casino, I was asked how old I was to make sure that I was allowed to gamble...  It was my first time gambling and I lost 5 euros in the slots.  We took the train home, napped and showered and got ready for dinner.  We went to a restaurant called Milo's.  The waiter wasnt very nice, but I got a cheeseburger and it was delicious!  After dinner we went to a club/bar called Wayne's Bar.  It was really crowded the drinks were pretty expensive but it was a nice relaxing night.

Sunday, April 12th

It was Easter Sunday so all of us girls got up early, put on our dresses and went to church.  The mass was in french, I could understand a little but it was still hard to understand.  We stuck out like sore thumbs in our bright colored dresses but it was a nice mass.  After church, we went back to our hostel to change and then went to get lunch.  My friends, Liz and Anndel, and I went to the grocery store and bought baguettes and cheese and the other girls went to a little cafe and had croque monsiers, which are basically grilled cheeses but with ham too.  After lunch, we hiked to a castle and on the way there was a beautiful waterfall that we took lots of pictures infront.  There was also a park at the top of the mountain so we walked around there too.  We went to the beach after that and relaxed.  We had baguettes with ham and cheese for dinner and we pregamed with lots of wine.  We wanted to go to a bar called Karlsbrau but it ended up being closed so we walked to the beach and found a bar called McNolans.  There was a life band there that played great music.  Anndel and I were tired so we went home early and ended up having to run to catch the tram to get back to our hostel!

Monday, April 13th

We woke up and met Meghan and went to the beach for the day.  The beach we were on was a nude beach a couple of the girls decided to go topless for a little for the fun of it.  We stayed at the beach all day but we had to catch our flight to Spain that night so we had to end our time at the beach a little early.  We took the bus to the airport and got there 4 hours early so we just sat around and talked and ate dinner.  The airport had barely anyone in.  Our flight took off around 11:30 pm so we didnt land in Barcelona until around 1 am.  Our flight landed in Terminal C, but the train that we need to take the next morning was in Terminal A so we had to find our way to Terminal A at 3:20 am.  The earliest train to take to Costa Brava was at 6 am so instead of paying for a hostel for 4 hours we decided to save money and sleep in the airport.

Tuesday, April 14th

We got up from sleeping on the floor in the airport and got the train around 6 am.  The train ride took about an 1 and then we got on a bus to get to Costa Brava, Spain.  It took us about a half to walk from the bus station to our hostel.  We checked into our hostel, named Hotel  around noon, put on our swimsuits and got lunch.  We went to a restaurant named Carmens.  The food was really good and really cheap.  After lunch, we headed to the beach.  We decided to go to an outside bar for happy hour and we ordered wine and champagne sangria.  After that we went home and napped and ordered pizza from downstairs.  That night we went out around 12 am.  The roads were bare so we were afraid the we werent going to be able to find anywhere to go.  But after walking for about a half hour we found the strip of clubs.  We went to a club called Temptation because it had all you could drink for 5 euros.  We were basically the only girls and people in the club.  There was a group of 17 year old German boys who were playing soccer came and thought I was 16 but when I told them I was 21 they said I was too old for them hahahah!  We danced for awhile but we decided that the drinks really didnt have alcohol in them so we left.  We went to an arcade and did bumper cars which was so much and after that we went to Burger King for some food.  They kicked us all out cause they were closing so we decided to call it a night and headed home.

Wednesday, April 15th

We woke up around 10 am.  We had breakfast at the hostel and headed to the beach.  The weather wasnt very nice so we decided to have a photo shoot of the cheesiest poses we could think of.  While doing this, the weather cleared up and it turned out to be a beautiful day so we laid out all day.  My friend Brittany had to leave and head back to Rome because her family was coming in, but after she left the rest of us got ready and went out to eat.  The dinner was really nice and we decided to order dessert.  I had some crazy chocolate ice cream thing and it was delicious.  We were really full and tired so we decided to call it an early night and save up our energy for Barcelona, so we went to bed.

Thursday, April 16th

We woke up at 8:30 and checked out of our hostel and got breakfast and headed back to the bus station to head to Barcelona.  It was a beautiful day in Costa Brava so we wanted to get to Barcelona for the weather... atleast that was our idea.  As we got closer and closer to Barcelona, it looked like we were heading into a tornado.  When we first got to Barcelona, it was raining but the day ended up clearing up.  We went to the church Familia Sagra.  It's a church that has been being built for close to a hundred years.  After that, we met up with our guy friends and went to Park Guil.  Park Guil was really cool.  All of the building made you feel as if you were in a fairytale.  It also has the longest park bench in the world, called the Serpent that Guil designed himself.   After walking around Barcelona for awhile, we headed back to our hostel to relax.  We got ready and Kellyn's friend who was studying in Barcelona took us to this really nice tapas restaurant.  Tapas are spanish appetizers.  The food and drinks were delicious!  People in Barcelona dont go out until around 2 am, so since we finished dinner around midnight, we decided to go to a bar before we went to the club.  I was so tired by 2 am that instead of going to the club, I went home and slept.

Friday, April 17th.

We ended up sleeping until around noon since we didnt get home until 3 or so.  But we put on our bathing suits and walked about 20 minutes to the beach.  We met up with our guy friends and laid out and played on the beach all day.  The weather in Barcelona is really funny because it will be beautiful forever and then within 2 minutes it will drop 10 degrees and start down pouring, which is what happened to us.  We headed back to the hostel, walking 40 minutes in the rain and put in a movie and hung out.  We went out to a late dinner and then headed to a club called Catwalk on the beach.  It was really cool and played different music on different floors.  We ended up dancing til really late at night and finally decided to go home after our feet started to hurt too much to dance.

Saturday, April 18th

Today we kind of split up and all decided to do our own thing.  So my friend Liz and I decided to head to the beach and soak up as much sun as possible.  It was a beautiful day and I ended up getting really sunburned because I didnt realize how hot it was since the wind was blowing.  On our way home, we passed a band playing outside and sat and watched them for awhile.  We went back to our hostel and packed up our suitcases since our flight left the next morning at 7 am.  After that we got ready and headed out to eat.  We went to a restaurant recommended by our friends and it was amazing!  I had duck with a sauce that had apples and had the most delicious dessert of my life called, Chocolate is for Lovers.  It had all different kind of chocolate treats which were amazing!  We decided that since we had to get up at 4 to get to the airport on time that we shouldnt go out so we went back to our hostel and put in a movie and hung out with kids in our hostel.

Sunday, April 19th

We got up at 4 am and got a taxi to the airport.  Our flight left Barcelona at 7 am so we got back to Rome around 10 am and once I got back to my apartment, I immediately jumped in my bed and slept basically the rest of the day and night!  It was an amazing spring break! We really lucked out with weather and I had a great time with all my friends!

Monday, April 6

Last night at around 3:30 in the morning, I experienced my first earthquake.  I woke up to our my bed, window and furniture shaking.  It took me awhile to realize what was going on! But my roommate and I were pretty scared.  The place that took the biggest hit was about 30 miles outside of Rome.  Nothing got damaged around where I live and my friends and I are all safe, but it was a pretty crazy experience.  Then I had to get up this morning and take a midterm.... but it was the hottest day we have had yet in Rome, so that makes up for it!

March 26-31 and April 1-5

Thursday: 

I woke up and went to the airport to meet my family! I was so excited!  The airport was kind of confusing because I havent been there since I arrived in Rome.  But I managed to get there before my family got off the plane and I got to see them arrive!! I cried right when I saw my family because I was so happy to see them and have them in Rome with me!  We got a taxi and headed to their hotel.  After they settled in, we started to walk around Rome and site see.  We saw the Trevi Fountain, the 

Pantheon and Spanish Steps.  My family got tired so they took a nap and I headed to class.  After their nap we went out to dinner to a place close to the Colosseum

 called Luzzi.  It was a restaurant where very few americans go to so we all had a fun time!  After dinner I took Jay and Dana out and we went clubbing for the night.

Friday:

I had to give a presentation o

f on the Colosseum Friday morning, so while I was in class, my family got to tour inside the Colosseum.  After my class we met up and and went through the Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and the Imperial Forums.  Later that night we went out in Trastevere for dinner.  We were so exhausted that after dinner we just went home and went to bed.

Saturday:

I had to get up at 5 am to schedule classes.  It was a good scheduling and I managed to get in

to all the classes I needed!  I met up with my parents and we toured the Catacombs and walked around Rome again for the day.  That night we went out to a place near my parents hotel.  After dinner, I took Jay and Dana to Schola

rs Lounge and met up with my friend Meghan and her sisters who were visiting.

Sunday:

We got up and went the Vatican.  The line wasn't too long to get into St. Peter's Basilica.  After St. Peter's we climbed the dome and went into the tombs and saw were all the Pope's are burried.  After touring through St. Peter's Basilica, we went to the Penn State bar and watched the Michigan Stat

e game, which they won, so Jay was very excited!

Monday:

My family went to Florence for the day and I studied for a midterm that I had the next day.

Tuesday:

I took my midterm and skipped the rest of my classes for the day so I could be with my family for the rest of the day.  We went to the Vatican Museum and spent hours there and then we went into the Sistine Chapel, where I

 got caught taken pictures.  After the Vatican Museums, we went back into St

. Peter's so we could rub his foot.  That night we had an aperitivo, which is basically cocktails and appetizers before dinner.  After that, we went out to eat around my parents hotel again.  After dinner I stayed at my family's hotel since it was there last night.

Wednesday, April 1st:

My family left early in the morning. Very sad to see them go since we had such a fun time together!  After they left, I went to see the Pope at the Papal Audience.  It was in St. Peter's square and I got to see the Pope up close an

d personal and I got to have him bless some charms for my family.  My friend Kelly also turned 21 today!  So she had a BBQ and we ate hotdogs and hamburgers and had cake!

Friday, April 3rd:

I went to the Vatican Museum again today for class.  After the field study, my friend Ross and I rushed home because we had to pack and get to the train station by 1 to meet some friends and go to Venice for t

he night.  The

 train was very long and seemed like forever.  But right when we stepped off the train and headed out of the train station, it was totally worth it! Venice was absolutely beautiful!  They

 do not drive there so instead of cars, the have water taxis and buses! I

t was amazing!  The boat system was hard to navigate, but my friend Kellyn brought a tour book and we figured it out!  Our first hard task was to find our hotel... it took longer than expected but we finally found it.  We dropped off our st

uff and headed to Piazza San Marco.  The Piazza was all lit up and it looked beautiful at night.  Basillica San Marco is located in Piazza San Marco and it also looked beautiful at night!  After we went site seeing for a little, we met up with the rest of our friends, and went out to dinner on the river.  I had amazing seafood pasta and great wine.  After dinner, we had gelato and went to a little night club close by.  We fell asleep to a man playing the violin outside of our window.... just like in a movie! I was in heaven!!

Saturday:

We got up bright and early and wanted to head out and see the islands surrounding Venice.  We ran into a little problem that morning though.  We booked the hotel for 4 people but snuck one more person in.  However, we got caught on Saturday morning and had to pay more for the extra guest... we thought we beat the system, but not so much.  We went to the Murano Island in Venice also know as the glass island.  At the island we got to see people blowing glass and making all differ

ent sorts of things.  After the glass island, we jumped on another boat and headed to the island of Burano, the lace island in Venice.  The houses and buildings in Burano were the most colorful houses I have every seen (bright pink, yellow, blue, etc)  It seemed like out of a movie!  After we went to the 2 islands, we took another ferry back the the mainland, bought our tickets, and went on a gondola ride!!!!  Our guy friends surprised us with a Bellini, which is V

enice's form of champagne.  So we drank champagne and rode on the gondola!  However, the gondola man didn't sing... he said that only happens in movies.  I was a little disappointed but it was still so much fun!  After the gondola, we jumped back on a train and headed back to Rome. Venice has been my favorite place in all of Europe thus far! Everything went according to plan and I was having the time of my life!

Sunday:

This was a day to relax and study since I had a midterm the Monday.  A nice day to recuperate after an amazing weekend in Venice!

March 23-29

I am so excited for this Thursday to come because my family will finally be here!!! YAY! I cant even wait!  But its bitter sweet because they're only staying for a week, and I hope it doesn't go by too fast!

It's also bitter sweet because this is the week the midterms start.... ugh! I only have 1 this week, 1 next week and 1 the week after that.  So its nice that they are spread out, but then again it's a reality check that I'm actually here to take classes....

March 16-22

This was a pretty quick week! However, it involved an Italian oral exam and midterm, which I managed to do really well on! (even though Im in Italy and classes aren't exactly my first priority!)  haha kidding Mom and Dad... kinda! I got my computer back at the beginning of the week so I was extremely excited about that, especially after not having it for over a week and a half.

Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day.  So my guy friends who live a couple of apartments down had some kids over and that was a lot of fun!

It was a short week because we didn't have class on Friday.  Instead, IES (the program I take classes through) sponsored a trip to Siena for the weekend.  

So on Friday we got up and had to be at school at 8 am, which means that we had to get up at 6:45 to be showered and ready and at school by that time.  Our first stop was the Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda.  Here we got a quick tour of the winery, which only has women working at it and had a traditional tuscan lunch there.  They had amazing soup and good meat!  After that we 

went to Casato Prime Donne Winery and went wine tasting.  They only make red wine where we went so that is all we got to taste.  I bought 2 bottle

s for my parents and for Jay, Dana and I for when my family visits.  After the wine tasting we got back on t

he bus and headed to Siena.  We had dinner at our hotel.  Again another pretty good meal! And the hotel was really nice too.  A bunch of us went out that night and searched around and ended up at a pretty cool pub that had posters and pictures ALL over the walls and played Bob Marley music all night.

On Saturday morning, we got a guided tour of Siena and went to Piazza del Campo, where a famous horse race takes place each summer, Fonte Gaia, Palazzo Pubblica and the Duomo in Siena.  Siena was really cool cause it felt like you were back in Medieval times and the buildings were the originals since nothing got destroyed in any of the wars.  Later that day we went to San Gimignano to walk around and go gelato tasting.  I was in absolute heaven! It was awesome to see how gelato was made and also just as great tasting freshly made gelato.  That night we had dinner at a restaurant called "Papei".  It was probably one of the best dinner I have had since being in Rome.  Great pastas, salad, meat, dessert and wine!  Afterwards we went back to our hotel and went out for the night.  We found a "shot bar" where the boys had a hay-day buying shots called Bin Ladins, which consisted of only tequilla and vodka.  After that we went to a pub/club place that was tons of fun.

Sunday morning we left Siena and headed for San Galgano.  We got a guided tour of San Galgano Abbey and the Montesiepi Hemitage.  The abbey was neat becasue it housed an actual "sword in the stone".  And the Montesiepi was really cool place because it was in the middle of a gigantic field.  It was an old, huge church that was still up but kinda overgrown... it looked like it could have come out of a movie.  After that we had another great meal for lunch and then headed back to Rome.

Another great week/weekend which was nice because we finally didn't have to pay any money and still had amazing food and a wonderful time!

March 9-15

This is the week that my computer just stopped working and I had to find a MAC store in Rome to get it fixed.  It was very stressful because once I found the store, I realized that it was pretty far from me and once I got there, I realized that the men working there do not speak very much english... but we managed to get by and in the end they fixed my computer!! But it took over a week... (I dont think people in Rome are very concerned with time and costumer service! haha)  

It was Penn State's spring break, so 

a friend of mine, Sarah, came to Italy for Sprin

g break.  She travelled all around and got to Rome on Tuesday.  Natalie and I decided to take her on a pub crawl which was tons of fun.... but my camera got stolen from me. : (  That was the big bummer of the week....

My friend Kristin (who is studying in Florence) 's family travelled to Rome for the weekend so she decided to come back to Rome for the second weekend in a row! Which I was very excited about!  Her parents took Natalie and I, with Kristin and her brother and cousin, out to eat at a very nice restaurant with great food and the most delicious cookies!  That night we took Kristin and her brother and cousin to a club... We wanted to keep it an early night, but actually ended staying out til 3 am!

On Friday, I had another field study for another class and went to to the Holy stairs.  It's a place that you are only allowed to climb the stairs on your knees.  I didn't get to do it, but my friend Ross and I decided that we would go back one day and try it.  After that, a bunch of my friends from my program travelled to Florence for the weekend.  Natalie and I stayed out Kristin and Alli's apartment in Florence.  It was huge with really high ceilings and you had to walk up like 8 flights of stairs, since they were on the top floor.  Needless to say, I got a good workout that weekend!  On Friday night, Natalie and I and a couple of our guy friends decided to go to a restaurant called Acqua al 2, which supposedly had one of the best steaks in Florence.  It was a filet mignon with a blueberry sauce on it and it was delicious!!! It was the first time I've had steak since being in Italy and it was one of the best, if not the best steak I have ever eaten.  Afterwards, we met up with Alli again and she introduced us to all of her friends and we went out to a club called 21.  While in 21, I ran into a girl I used to dance with when I was wayy younger.  It was the first time that I have seen someone from home and I was so excited.  Our parents are really good friends so we took a picture and plan to send it to them.

On Saturday, Natalie and I got up and met a couple of our guy friends at an american diner for breakfast.  We got omlets and bagels (which they do not have in Rome) and freshly squeezed orange juice.  After that we went to the Duomo and climbed to the very top which was over 400 stairs.  It was a beautiful church and it had an amazing view at the top.  Once done at the Duoma we decided to go the the museum where the Statue of David is.  It was pretty cool to actually see the statue in person and I managed to take a picture without getting in trouble.  It was on a disposable camera though, so hopefully it turns out.  Then we went to the famous bridge in Florence called Ponte Vecchio.  We walked across the bridge and got lunch on the other side at a cute little Italian place.  Again amazing food... I got a panini with turkey, goat cheese, lettuce and sundried tomatoes.  It was great!  Then we decided to go to the market and look for jackets... I ended up being a leather jacket, which I am in love with and wear constantly now.  Later that night, Alli's parents were in Florence, so her mom made us an amazing dinner at Alli's apartment.  After that we met up with the rest of our friends who were in Florence for the weekend and went to a club called Space.  

On Sunday, we went back to the market and looked around for a while and decided to head back to Rome around 1:30.  It was nice because we were able to come back and catch up on some work and relax before class on Monday!  Overall, a great weekend with great food and great sights, and great friends!

March 2-8

This week was another pretty relaxing week, besides our Italian quiz.  It's finally starting to start like school and not just seem like a very long vacation.  Our teachers are starting to assign us readings and homework assignment... which me, as well as the kids in my program are not too pleased about.  

For one of my classes this week, we had a field study to a museum to see art that is called "Futurismo".  It was a period where youth, technology and speed were portrayed in the artwork.  We had to choose a painting and describe how the painting ties into Facism for my sociology class.  I chose to describe a painting called "Women Swimmers".

On Friday, my friends Alli and Kristin (who are studying in Florence) came to Rome for the weekend to end their spring break.  We had tons of fun going out and seeing the Trevi Fountain (and throwing coins into it.)  On Saturday, we also went to Villa Borghese, which is a beautiful park in Rome and we walked around for hours.  It was the perfect day for it because the sun was shining and it was just the right temperature.

They left early Sunday morning, so Natalie and I didn't get to see them, but we got to sleep in.... which was great because I can honestly say that that was the longest I have slept in, in like atleast a year.  We just relaxed and went to another park close to us and listened to music and played soccer with our friends!  Great and relaxing weekend!

February 23- March 1

This week was very relaxing.  Just consisted of taking classes and exploring.  On Wednesday the 25th I went on a tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum with my neighbor Meghan.  It was really awesome.  I tried to get ashes for lent, but when I looked around no one had ashes on their forehead and we later learned that is due to the fact that they sprinkle the ashes in their hair instead.  Also this week, I went to see the Vatican with my friends Meghan, Tom and Kelly.  We didn't go in but we looked outside.  Kelly is an art history major so she was telling us all about the architecture so we had our own tour guide.

On Saturday, since in State College it's State Patty's day, we had our own State Patty's day in Rome.  It was by far the prettiest day we have had yet in Rome.  So we decided to have a day drinking party at my friend's balcony/apartment.  Later that night we went to the Penn State bar in Rome.  The man who owns the bar loves Pennsylvania, Penn State and Pittsburgh in particular.  He was awesome and the bar will definitely become a common place we go to!

On Sunday, Meghan and I went to the market in Trasteverie.  Very nice market with lots of stuff for very cheap.  

February 16-22

This is the week our classes started.  Basically everyone starts class at 9:30 am and doesn't get done til around 5 that night.  Granted you have some half hour and hour breaks in between classes.

On Thursday, the 19th, a bunch of us left for Interlaken, Switzerland.  We left Rome around 6 and got to Interlaken around 4 am.  The bus ride wasn't bad and we all slept a lot of the way.  Natalie and I met up with our friends from Penn State, Alli and Kristin!  Interlaken is a cute little city that is what I would picture an old Swiss town would look like.

On Friday morning we got up and signed up for paragliding.  Paragliding in the alps was one of the prettiest views I've ever seen.  After paragliding we walked around Interlaken and had lunch.  That night we went night sledding in the alps.  One of the craziest things I have ever done.  The moon is basically your light source on the sloops.  You catch so much speed going down the hill and there are tons of turns so you have to be very careful.  I have a couple of bruises that are still healing from that night.  But Natalie and I caught on fast and managed to beat everyone down each time.  

On Saturday, we decided to travel to Bern, Switzerland for the day.  It was about 5o minutes away by train from Interlaken.  Bern was a more modern city with a lot of good shopping and chocolate.  We had rosti for lunch which is a typical Swiss meal that consists of potatoes and any kind of meat or vegetable you would like to add.

We relaxed on Sunday and watch THON online in our hostel.  It was snowing like crazy so the main road to get out of Interlaken was shut down.  So we had to take a detour that added 2 hours onto our trip so we didn't get home until 4 am Monday morning.

Intensive Italian/ Academic Advising Week

February 9-15

This week consisted of us taking italian class for 2 hours a day and also getting all of our classes situated.  It was a very useful week and I learned a lot.  We decided to stay in Rome for the weekend of the 14th and 15th so we could explore and get to know the city better.

Assisi and Perugia

February 6 and 7

IES took the whole program to Assisi and Perugia for 2 days.  Both places were very beautiful.  We went to Assisi first.  Assisi is an old village with tons of churches.  So Friday consisted of a walking tour throughout the small city.  That night we went out to dinner at a meat house.  The meat and pasta were delicious.

On Saturday we went to Perugia.  Again we had a walking tour of the city.  Perugia is a bigger and more modern city than Assisi so it was neat to see how contrasting Italian cities can be.  Perugia looked like more of a gothic city.  Perugia is known for their chocolate, especially Baci.  Baci means kisses in italian and people buy that chocolate for their friends and family for Valentine's day.

Orientation Week

February 3-5

This was our orientation week.  We had to be at the IES center from 9:30 am - 6:30 pm everyday.  Basically, the week consisted of getting accustomed to how things were going to be run.  We had meetings to learn about the culture and about our classes, etc.  We also had lunch and little parties so we could get to know all the kids participating in IES.

January 31, 2009
My trip to Rome started on January 31st. I left Pittsburgh at 11 am and arrived in Philadelphia at 12:30. My friend Matt (who also is studying in Rome for the semester) and his family were nice enough to pick me up from the airport and take me out to lunch with them before our flight at 5 p.m. We went to a restaurant called Copacabana. The food and margharitas were delicious. We met up with Natalie, another friend studying in Rome for the semester and checked in our stuff to go to Rome. We had time to spare so we ended up going to a restaurant in the airport to pass the time before our flight.  Our flight to Rome was entertaining. After realizing that the movie they provided us was The Mummy Returns 5 (a bit of an exaggeration) we decided that it'd be a good time to try and sleep. Natalie and I managed to sleep for a couple of hours. But since Matt was between us, he had a little more trouble. Once we woke up, we decided to play a couple of games on Uno. Our landing was a little rough but all ended well.

February 1, 2009
We arrive in Rome around 8 am, italian time. We all managed to get to Rome with all of our bags. But carrying them was another story. Packing for 4 months in 2 suitcases tends to weigh alot. We found our commute service man and he helped me with my bags. We checked into our hotel, called Hotel Lirreco. However, to get to the lobby we had to climb a big staircase with our luggage. We checked our bags into the hotel and started to explore. We kept getting lost, but everytime we got lost we managed to bump into the Trevi Fountain or the Coliseum. We went back to our hotel and took a long nap and got ready and decided to go out for a nice dinner our first night. 

After dinner we decided that it was time to find a pub to watch the superbowl. Luckily we found an italian man who was interested in american football and he gave us directions to a pub called Old Station. I put on my Steelers jersey and headed out. The game didn't start til midnight in Rome but Natalie, Matt and I managed to stay and watch the whole game, even though we were exhausted. GO STEELERS!! The only sad part is that I was one of the only people in Rome who wanted to celebrate.

February 2, 2009
We got up and checked out of our hotel and headed to IES Center. IES is the program that I am studying through for the semester. Once at IES Center, which is also where we take classes, we received our housing assignments and off we went. Natalie and I are roommates and live in Monte Verde. Matt was nice enough to come in the cab with us first to our apartment and make sure we got there ok. Mai Lin, our Italian Student Companion, was waiting for us when we got there. We unpacked our suitcases and met our next door neighbor Meghan, who also is studying at IES.

Mai Lin then introduced us to our neighbors who live a couple of apartments down. As a huge group, we went exploring around Monte Verde and I had my first try of italian pizza in Rome and it is still my favorite place to get it to this day. Later that night, my Italian Student Companion (aka ISC) and our guy neighbors' ISC made us an authentic pasta dinner.