Nutella is Like Sex for Children

Sorry I've been slacking at my blogging, but I've been so busy that I haven't really had time to write!

Verona is amazing like always. I feel like I'm never really here though because of all the traveling I've been doing. When I'm not on a trip that I've planned with my friends I'm on a trip planned by Claudio (much appreciated). I finally got a weekend to be here (last weekend) but we'll get to that eventually! Nothing too exciting has been happening while I've been here though, just class and whatnot. Our Italian is starting to fall behind but I'm sure we'll be able to study and get it right for the test. Painting and Photo are my two favorite classes. Painting is so relaxing even though it's at 9 am, and Photo is fun because of Mauro, our teacher. Also i haven't been doing too bad with my photos. He's like the ones that I have done so far so that's exciting! Art History is growing on me. My class is done with classroom meetings for the semester and all we have are two field trips left.

Last week we had our first of 2 breaks--Spring Break. Maura, Mia, Kalyn, Lo, and I went to Galway and Dublin, Ireland, and then Lo and I headed off to Amsterdam. Mias friend Kelly was with us in Ireland too, and Maura's friend Erin met up with us in Dublin, so we had a pretty solid crew. We got to Dublin on Thursday the 18th, but we were just there for the night before taking a 3 hour bus ride to Galway. That first day we just walked around the city after stopping for lunch at what we thought would be a Mexican restaurant. It wasn't what we expected, but I got this breakfast burrito which was really good. We walked around and picked our our Claddagh rings and other jewelry for a few hours. When we were done with that we just walked around by the water and then headed back to the hostel to get ready to go out. Mia had another friend that was there for the night and it was her 21st, so after pregaming we went to meet her at a few bars. Let's just say the night resulted in going to McDonalds and me ordering a quarter pounder, 2 medium fries, and a coke. Operation diet is going into effect the second I land in STL in May. The next day we woke up early, grabbed the free toast the hostel had, and got on a bus to do a Cliffs of Moher tour. We stopped at the Aillwee Caves first, which were really cool since there are only 2 cave systems found in Ireland. After that we saw a tomb, and then headed on over to the Cliffs. The view was absolutely breathtaking and I wish we could have spent a little more time there. The weather was extremely nice the entire time we were on this break also, so we were able to get away with just wearing a light jacket. After the Cliffs we stopped at a few more quick stops and then made our way back to Galway. That night we weren't really feeling going out, so Mia, Maura, Kalyn, Kelly and I found this small Chinese restaurant and finally got some really good Chinese food!

After another 3 hour bus ride back to Dublin, we went to the hostel, got Erin, and headed to the Temple Bar to grab a sandwich and our first real Guinness. After getting some food in our stomaches we walked around the city and saw some of the Medieval buildings and Dublin Castle. We met up with Kelly's cousin who actually lives in the city, and he took us to a few parks and such. We made a taco dinner that night, and after pregaming we headed to the Temple Bar area and went to a small bar with a live band. It closed kind of early (1--I mean it was Sunday) and so we went to a club called Sin with some British boys that we had met. Dare drop it like it's hot ensued, and by the end of the night I was demanding taco fries sans taco meat, but with gyro meat. Very good. In the morning we woke up a little later than expected, and hopped on the Hop On Hop Off bus tour to take us to the Guinness factory. We didn't actually get to see the beer being made, but we did learn a lot and got to enjoy a free pint of Guinness each at the end. Somehow we ended up with more beers than people, so a few of us took advantage of that and left feeling a little tipsy. Mia, Lo, Kalyn, Kelly and I got back off at a prison for a prison tour which was interesting, and after that we headed back and took a really long time to get ready. We went to a little bar that night that was pretty chill, and we headed back somewhat early because we had big dreams of getting up early so that Lo and I could do some things before leaving for Amsterdam. That of course didn't happen and we woke up a little later than we wanted so Lo and I left and went to the airport for Amsterdam.

We finally made it to Amsterdam after being a little delayed, and her Uncle picked us up from the airport and took us to his apartment. Lo and I went to the store to get food to make for dinner after he supplied us with some appetizers and wine. We opted to make cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes, and beer. We went out that night to a bar that her Uncle told us to go to, and then another bar called Nasty. I ended up breaking my camera which wasn't fun at all, but I didn't let it ruin my weekend. We got home pretty late (around 4:30) but made sure we got up around 10:30 to start seeing things in Amsterdam. Around 2 we met her Uncle outside his show, Boom Chicago, and he walked us throughout the city. We went through the Red Light District and then stopped at the Anne Frank house. It was a very sombering but I really enjoyed it. After grabbing dinner we headed back to her Uncles house where we passed out for 4 hours until 10:30. We got ready really fast and headed to a bar we found called the Pirate Bar, where I decided that 5 tequila shots were a really good idea. We went to Paradiso, a discoteca, after we had a few and danced the night away to the most random collection of music ever. Thursday morning we biked down to the Van Gogh museum--yes I said biked. Lo's Uncle let us use two extra bikes that he had to get down to the city center. It was about a 20 minute bike ride and I struggled most of the way but it was worth it. We even saw a collision. Anyway, after seeing the museum we went to a park to walk around, stopped in the Heineken museum, and then found a street market which provided us both with a package. That night we went to Boom Chicago where Lo's uncle was the technical director. It's kind of like Second City--very funny and so much fun! We had some drinks with some of the cast and her uncle after the show, and then Lo and I spent some more quality silent time around the city and ended up in an Italian restaurant at 1 am. The next morning we had to be up early for our plane, and after what was the best week I could have asked for I was back in Verona.

Mia, Maura, and Kelly didn't end up coming back until late at night, so we didn't do anything until Saturday. Saturday we took Kelly around Verona and went to Castlevecchio, Piazza Bra, Piazza Erbe, and so on. That night we went to Campus for British night which was fun like always. Since Sunday was daylight savings for us over here, we didn't even get out of the house until 5 pm (we were a little confused and hungover) but we walked around for a little and then sat in Piazza Erbe and had a spritz before going to a really good pizza place for some pizza. I got tuna and onion which was amazing! I've had two days of class this week and normally I wouldn't be done until Thursday afternoon but this week we don't have Art History scheduled so I am actually done until Monday the 12th of April! We have our Easter Break and most of us are going to Santorini, Athens, and Cinque Terre for the break! It's going to be amazing and absolutely beautiful. I also get to see the one, the only, Caitie Holmes so I'm pretty excited!!

Our program ends in 39 days (which I am very sad about) and the only reason I am somewhat counting down is because my parents and Woj are coming then.

I promise I won't be so lazy and there will be another update right after I'm back from Greece and Cinque Terre!!

Monjour and Dome

It has been so long since I’ve written in here! I have been extremely busy with traveling and such, but I have been having an amazing time. Let’s start off with Roma, Roma-ma.

On Friday morning, Courtney, Steph, Maura, and I left for Rome. We took the train into the city, and tried to find our hostel, Hostel Beautiful. Judging by the name, you can probably tell that it’s a little shady. We check in and are instructed to put our things in a room that is wide open until our room is ready. I decided I had nothing of value in my bag, and if someone wanted my underwear then so be it because we had sightseeing to do! Courtney, Steph and I headed to the Vatican to begin our tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. Everything in there was absolutely amazing, and fun fact—if you spend one minute in front of everything in the museum then it would take you 15 years to see it all. After that we went to St. Peters Basilica and had our BFF Rick Steves give us a quick tour. By that time, it was time to meet Lo and Mia at the hostel. When we got back, we met our new best friend, Monjour. He was working the front desk and super creepy. Steph, Courtney, and I went to dinner with Stephs cousin Peter at this great little restaurant that he frequents. We were the only people in there and naturally I ordered gnocchi. The four of us finished our meals and headed over to Dennis and Chris’s apartment to pregame before going out. That night we went to a bar that had cheap shots, tequila was in order, and then to 3 more bars until about 3:30 when we headed back. That’s when the real fun began. We get back to the hostel and head to the front desk to pick up our keys from Monjour. He is sleeping, and def on some sort of drugs. So we wake him and he decides to tell us that he doesn’t have our key and that someone is already in there sleeping. AKA a strange person is in our room. Of course in our drunken states we all go off on this man until he realizes that the key to 29 was just on a different key ring.

Saturday was our power sightseeing day. The five of us headed out to the Coliseum. We joined in on a tour and we had an awesome tour guide named George who referred to himself in the third person. The Coliseum was so cool once inside! It was a really nice day out too, so that made everything so much better. We had a break between the Coliseum and Palatine Hill so we grabbed some lunch and then headed back. Palatine Hill was where Rome was founded. Our guide for this tour was basically the narrator from VH1’s “Fabulous Life”, and I couldn’t take him seriously haha. The view we had from Palatine Hill of the city was so cool. Our day was pretty much done after that, so we went back to Hostel Beautiful (Oh by the way they removed the S from the sign on the door so it literally read Ho tel Beautiful. Good cover up guys) and made dinner. Our dinner for 5 girls and one boy consisted of peppers and 2 pounds of pasta, and since family dinner rules applied, we had to finish it all. And we did. All of us were kind of tired and didn’t really want to go out, but we had to meet up with Maura and her brother, sister, and cousin so we sucked it up and did. On the way to meet up with them we went to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Both were beautiful, and it was even better that we were drinking our wine while seeing them both. I think we all got a little drunker then we were planning on getting and decided on crepes after we left the bar.

We had big plans on Sunday, but as the morning came around they got a little messed up so we checked out of the hostel and put our baggage at the train station holding area. We went to the square to wait around so we could see the Pope give his blessing. There were so many people there and it was def a once in a lifetime experience that I am very happy I did. Since we had done most of our power shopping, we went to the Pantheon and then just walked around, got gelato, and did some shopping until it was time to head back to the train station. McDonalds was in order, and then we hopped on our train to head back to Verona.

The week after I was only in Verona for 2 whole days before leaving for Vienna, but those two days were good. I had Italian on Monday, and I like to believe it is getting better but I just really need practice haha. Tuesday I had painting and photography, and I am still really enjoying both of those classes. It’s such a nice change to take classes like that instead of real classes. I also like how in Italian we got our grades and I got an A++. I’m not sure how that happened but I’ll take it haha. Our entire program got at least an A so everyone was thrilled. Wednesday we had an art history field trip to the Arena and then to a church. I hadn’t been in the Arena yet and it was really cool to see especially after going to the Coliseum. I had to rush back to shower and pack and leave. Meg and I met up at the train station and made our way to Milan. After a two hour train ride, we had to take an hour bus to the airport. We split up at the terminal, and I headed to my gate. I grabbed a sandwich and got on the plane. When I landed in Vienna I was already frightened by the scary German language and kept looking for words I knew such as “uscita” which means exit in Italian, but alas, there was nothing like that. Buying a train ticket was just as confusing, but I somehow made it to Westbanhof station and tackled Caitie when I finally saw her! It felt great to see someone from school and I had 5 days to spend with her! We popped open some wine and caught up with each other until around 2 when we went to bed.

Thursday morning we stopped at this bakery down the street and got pastries. Mine was this huge pastry with I couldn’t even tell you what was on it but it was amazing. We walked down Maria Hilsomethingingermanwhichconfusesme which is a big shopping street and then made our way to this outdoor market called the Nash Mart. I became really acquainted with the U-Bahn, which is one of their subway systems. We then walked over to meet up with her advisor, Bruce. He let me read a picture dictionary to learn some German while he talked to Caitie haha. After that we went to her school to see it and then to Stephansplatz to see Stephansdom and do a little more shopping. I ended up getting a shirt that I really wanted from H&M so I was happy. Caitie and I stopped in a little coffee shop that had really great coffee, and I’m not really that big of a coffee fan either. We headed back and grabbed dinner at Centimeter. We both got brews and this meal that consisted of three hot dogs wrapped in bacon, infused with cheese, lying on a bed of fries. Amazing. When we were totally stuffed, we headed back to her room to get ready to go out to Praterdome for the night. After a pregame, we headed over to the Dome for an awesome night. The discoteca has themed rooms for dancing and Thursday was ladies night so I only ended up spending 3 euro. We left there around 3 and then stayed up till 6 doing after hours. We went to bed when it was getting light outside.

Friday Caitie and I got up super early to start the Unofficial festivities, but everyone was being super lame and not starting so we left and walked around Maria jfkdjfalk until about 2 when everyone decided it was time to start. After many games of circle of death and asshole, we left and went to a bar down the street called Back Bone and kept the Unofficial celebration going. On the way back I finally had a box of noods, which was awesome. We all went out to a bar and then to a pizza place that had 15 shots for 10 euro. Everyone was tired and cold so we had a night bus adventure which consisted of Caitie getting us kicked off for not having her pass, and then when we were getting checked on another one, one of the boys, Chris, made a scene and dropped all his change and then pretended not to know what the conductor was asking for so we could stall and get off before he made it to Caitie. Priceless.

Bratislava was our destination on Saturday, and so we woke up at 7:45 to get ready and wake everyone up to head on over to the train station. The boys went on the train after us, so Caitie, Diana, Kailin, Kristina, and I walked around and tried to find a way up to the castle. When we finally got up there we realized that we couldn’t even get in, so we stopped at the restaurant up there. It was surprisingly cheap and I tried gnocchi from Slovakia. It was made with sheep cheese and bacon, and I was in heaven. The boys met us up there, and after a few drinks we headed down to the main part of town, walked around, and went to an Irish pub for another drink or two before leaving to get back to Vienna. After a quick nap on the bus, we got ready and started pregaming to go our for Kristina's birthday. Since it was snowing we went to a bar down the street that was the 1-euro bar. Just a heads up, vodka green is a shot and it’s not that bad. We stayed there and drank, and Ryan and I dominated at darts (who would have thought that I would actually be good?) and then we all went back.

Sunday we slept in and then Caitie, Kristina, and I went back to Stephensplatz to get some postcards and souvenirs. We then went to a restaurant that was themed like a train, but I had my first schnitzel, which is pretty much just a deep fried piece of meat. We went back to the dorm and then after a quick power nap headed to the opera for the night. We got standing room tickets for 4 euro, and it wasn’t really that bad standing. We saw Simon Boccanegra, which was an Italian opera. I was excited because I could understand a few words haha. When we got back around 10, I taught Caitie how to made bruscheta, homemade tomato sauce, and gnocchi. We ate and then I packed and took a 2-hour nap before having to leave to get to the train station. We found a taxi for me around 3:15, and I headed to the S-Bahn stop. My train was at 4:30, and I got there at 3:30 so I had an hour to kill. I tried getting a box of noods but they were done serving noods. I was quite upset. So instead I sat in the freezing station by myself frightened for about 45 minutes until people actually showed up haha. I finally got to the airport, and my flight wasn’t bad at all. The airlines I flew on was Air Niki, and it was actually really nice. In the hour flight they give you a drink and food. The way there we had tea sandwiches with swiss and peppers and on the way home we got another sandwich—just enough to tie me over. I landed a little before 8 and then got on the bus to take me to the Milan train station. There was traffic, so I got there just a little after the train I wanted to take had left. I then had two hours to kill, so I walked around and sat for a while, spotted someone with McDonalds, and headed across the street to waste a little more time. I’m actually on the train right now, and it hasn’t been that bad of a ride. I should be getting back to Verona in about a half hour.

I had an awesome time in Vienna and it was so great seeing Caitie, but I really do just want to be back in my bed in Verona. It’s funny, we’ve realized that we call any place with our bed “home”. I like that Verona has become my home, it makes me feel really good and comfortable. I’m looking forward to a weekend without traveling—this weekend we have a Claudio trip to Venice, Murano, and Lake Garda so that should be relaxing. I’m also excited because I feel like I haven’t seen my whole group in such a long time since we all have different classes. After this week though we have Spring Break the next weekend! I’m getting so excited for Ireland and Amsterdam!