Last week we started taking real classes. And by real I mean painting, photography, and art history. We are still taking Italian but it is only once a week for 3 hours instead of every day for 3 1/2. Last Monday after Italian class I had cooking at Rafaelas. It was a good class, but I enjoy Francescas food so much more! We made meatballs, pasta with sauce, tomatoes stuffed with tuna (hello Derek food), and deviled eggs. I was really excited though because she had a cat. I was in heaven for a few minutes thinking of Sam haha. After cooking I came home and probably watched a few episodes of Dexter, the most addicting show in the world. Tuesday I ended up being late to my first painting class. It was alright though because we were just mixing sand. I thought class started at 9:30 instead of 9. We're painting frescos in class, and what we've done so far is make the base for our paintings and put it on our canvas, and then chosen a picture to paint. I'm painting "The Girl with the Pearl Earring." Class is really nice and relaxing which is a nice change of pace from school in Champaign. My photography class was cancelled that afternoon because the teacher was in America--is my life real? So I napped and hung out with the roomies until it was time to go to the girls apartment for dinner. The girls decided to cook dinner and hold a pregame for my birthday which was really nice! They made bruschetta, pesto pasta, pasta with tomato sauce and eggplant, and salad. They also bought cake and ice cream. As they were moving the table into the living room though it just all of a sudden shattered. Once again our lives aren't real. Everyone else came over for the pregame which was really fun like always, I opted for vodka since it was my birthday (almost). We all took bottles of wine with us to Campus and on the way we got them taken by the Italian militia. When we got to Campus I decided that tequila shots were the best choice and so we had to take a cab home at the end. Thank goodness I didn't have class on Wednesday so I could sleep off my hangover. The roomies and I finished Dexter that night so it was a great birthday all in all. I also received some gifts from my parents and family (some haven't arrived yet, I know) so I was very surprised and happy! Thursday after Art History class Maura and I packed and headed over to the train station to begin our Prague journey!
About 11 of us took a train from Prague to Bergamo, which is a smaller town close(ish) to Milan that we flew out of. We got to the airport around midnight since it was the latest train we could do, and our flight wasn't until 7:55 in the morning. Let's just say that sleeping in airports is not very fun, and not much sleeping occurs. Our plane was even delayed almost 2 hours. But in the end we made it to Prague! After checking into our hostel (which was so nice) we got some lunch at the Spirit Bar. I had an amazing lunch of garlic soup, a meat platter with sausage, bacon, pork, and steak, and our table got 2 desserts. It was a much needed meat filled meal! Our group decided to walk around for a while, but when we started becoming incapable of functioning in that huge size, Lo, Maura and I walked around for a few hours. It was so great being in a smaller group because we got to find sights on our own and begin to figure out the layout of the city. We went back to our hostel to get ready for dinner, and Maura, Lo, Lily and I went to grab something quickly. I ended up giving in and having gnocchi, but it was the best gnocchi I have ever had! It had tomatoes and mozzarella in it--so light and amazing! When we got back to the hostel some of the other girls were going to dinner for Claire's birthday so we joined and had some brews. When we got back to the hostel we went to the bar downstairs for our free shot, followed by some absinthe shots and tequila. Mia and Meg finally met up with us and we got in the free limos to take us to the strip club for Claire's birthday. Mia, Maura, Meg, and I opted not to go in since we saw more nakedness then necessary just on the walk in with all the pictures. We sat at a sports bar and waited for everyone else to come out. Around 1 everyone else was done, so we walked to the tram stop to go to a discoteca. On the way we had to stop and grab some fried cheese--amazing! We went to a discoteca called Golden Tree which was really fun. Lots of dancing and dare drop it like it's hot. Which will be making an appearance back in the states. We were tired around 4 so we got a cab home and paid in monopoly money (aka Czech monies).
Saturday morning we were all exhausted, but we got up and got stuff done anyway! A few of us went to a little breakfast place where I had eggs and ham. We then went to the clock tower for our free walking tour. Even though it was so cold, it was worth it! We learned so much from the 3 1/2 or so hour tour that we would have never learned on our own. We even got to take our break at a bagel place. I had been craving bagels since there aren't any here! After grabbing a quick hot chocolate, me, Alyse, Lo, Meg, Katie, and her boyfriend went to the John Lennon wall for some pictures. It was really awesome seeing that and fun to take pictures with. Around 8 Meg, Lily, Alyse and I went to dinner at the UPrince hotel. I got lobster soup for a starter, and then veal ravioli for dinner. After that we met up with Mia, Maura, and Lo at the Beer Factory for the rest of the night. This place was so cool! Every table has a tap in the middle of it, and you are essentially racing the other tables in the bar. It tallies how many beers your table has drank. Our table was in second only to another group of American boys, and we weren't that far behind them. We went home and on the way grabbed some HUGE bratwursts that were so heavenly. I really needed a meat fix after eating so much pasta in Italy. I took a power nap before going to the airport at 4 am. We were all a little drunk still, but managed to make it home around 10. Since we were exhausted and hungry and the convenience of McDonalds was there, we decided to grab some.
Around 11 we finally made it home!! Mia, Maura, and I were going to take short naps, but we ended up sleeping until 8 pm! We didn't want to be too lazy, so after getting ready we drank some wine and walked around Verona. Since it was a Sunday night around 11, nothing really was open, but we were able to sit outside at a bar in Piazza Erbe and have a spritz or two. There was even a Chinese restaurant open for us to grab some spring rolls on the way home!
This week is already going by fast. Yesterday we had Italian class, and then I had cooking class again. This meal was absolutely amazing! We made friend artichoke, fennel, broccoli pasta, fritatta, and pizza. I was stuffed afterwards and now have some great meals to make when I get back home (and even over here). Today I had painting and photography, both of those classes are going to be really fun. In painting we added the base colors to our frescos. I'm excited to see how this turns out since I'm not that great of an artist, but, when in Verona! Tonight Lo is coming over to make dinner and then we are going to the discoteca, Alter Ego, for Hannahs birthday and Fat Tuesday. This weekend should be exciting, Lo, Kalyn, Mia and I are going to Barcelona! A bunch of our friends are going to be there, staying in the same hostel too so I'm very excited!!
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