Me piace viaggiare

So, I'm not sure Egypt is gonna happen. We are gonna all talk about it tonight, so we'll see. I don't know, I've been saving up my money for so long, so I feel like I have a fair amount of travel money. But most of my friends haven't saved up nearly as much money as I have, so even though I'm totally ready to pay whatever I have to for Egypt, I don't think they will be. Really it's just the flights that are going to cost so much. It is a lot of money.

But, on a happier, more travel-y note. Emily and I are planning more things! So, we've already booked flights to Prague and Greece and we hope to book some more on Sunday. But right now here is the plan: Prague (May 17-20), Athens (21-22), Greek islands (22-morning of 29th), 29th--ferry to Venice, Venice (30), Barcelona (31- June 2), Valencia (3-5), Lisbon (6-8 or 9th), Croatia (Split & the islands--9th-13), Budapest (14-16), Salsberg (17-19), Berlin (20-23), Amsterdam (24), and fly out of Amsterdam airport early on the 25th. Woah, that's a lot of traveling. And I know its gonna be tiring and that we'll probably end up getting on eachothers' nerves a bit, but I'm so excited. And even though I would love to spend lots of time in different countries to really get to know the place, I learned from the last break that there are some places that I don't need to spend a lot of time in. And so, I'm gonna look at this as a nice sampling of a bunch of different places, so that one day when I'm older and have money, I can go back and really spend time and money appreciating my favorite places. And I figure we are gonna be spending a fair amount of time in both Greece and Croatia, so at least we'll be able to slow down for parts of the trip.

Also, Ingrid and I are talking about maybe after the program ends, but before I head off with Emily (so around the 8-16) maybe heading over to Istanbul and Petra. It's really just an idea, but who knows? Maybe it'll happen.

Gah! I'm so lucky to be here and to just to have these opportunities! I'm lucky to have had a job that made a fair amount of money so I have money to spend as well as have an awesome family who supports me, including my grandparents who were beyond kind and gave me a hefty sum to travel with. I really do appreciate it all so much. Even if I didn't travel at all, I'd still feel so lucky. I live in the Eternal City, dammit, how cool is that?

Ho sonno.

Ciao tutti,

Okay, so an update... real classes started last week and I'm not so pleased. My Ancient Roman Art class looks really interesting, but my teacher talks so fast that I don't have time to write it down, let alone understand what she is saying. I'm going to bring my computer today (since I type faster than I write) and see if that helps, but I know everyone in the class is struggling as much as I am and people have even told her, but I don't think anything will change. My Medieval Rome class is interesting enough but my teacher has a pretty strong Italian accent and can be hard to understand at times. We also are covering so much information that I'm not really sure what I should be taking notes on. Then I have Women in 20th century Italy. The teacher is nice, the material thus far a bit boring, but I'm hoping to bring in my psych background to at very least make the required paper interesting. I want to do mine on what means Italy uses to gender their children, specifically (if I can find enough info) how play preferences act as a means to gender children. As a very basic example-- in the US girls are often given toys such as dolls or play house sets which teach them that domesticity is a part of being female. And my Italian class is alright. It's with the same teacher we had for the intensive Italian and I really like her but I feel like I'm learning less than other classes cos she doesn't really push us. Oh well.

So, it looks like this weekend I will be going to Florence again. I didn't get to go to the Uffizi last time I was there. So, I'm really excited for that. There are so many beautiful pieces there and I studied a couple of them in an art class I took freshman year, so I'm excited to see them in person. We are also planning our next break. I know, we just got back...but the break actually is in less than a month! I don't even know why they planned it like that, but they did. So, right now I'm looking into Egypt. I've wanted to go since I can remember. And even the thought of seeing all those beautiful moments in person is very humbling. I'm researching tours of Egypt since I've been told that traveling around in Egypt right now can be a bit dangerous for Americans. So, if anyone out there has a friend or family who has been to Egypt and knows of any good tour groups, let me know. I'm trying to find a good, but inexpensive package that will take us (at very least) to Cairo, Luxor, Edfu, and sailing down the Nile. So far I think I may have found a couple of good ones, but its really hard figuring all this stuff just from online resources. All the same, I'm so excited. Gah! If this falls through and we don't end up going to Egypt, I'm going to be so depressed. = (

Well, fingers crossed.

First break

Hokey, so the break was fun but very draining. At the end I got sick, but just being in Rome I feel better. I'm still congested and feel gross but I don't hurt like I did.

So, we started in Copenhagen. It's a beautiful city, but there isn't a whole lot to do. We went to the WWII Resistance Museum, the little mermaid statue, the Round Tower, and walked around the different neighborhoods. I'm happy we went but its not a city I NEED to go back to. I wouldn't mind seeing other places in Denmark, however. I really wanted to see the castle that Hamlet's castle was based on, but we didn't have the time to do so. We were also there in the wrong season, no one was there. We could walk down completely empty streets. It was also really cold, but we were lucky enough to have really beautiful skies while we where there.


Then on to Amsterdam. Again, not a lot to do besides heading to the coffee shops and eating. But we went to the Anne Frank House which was moving and very depressing. It was weird being where she hid for so long. It made the whole thing way more personal. We also ended up going to the Van Gogh museum which was really cool but I didn't get as much time in it as I would have liked. I also really wanted to go on a bike tour of the area surrounding Amsterdam, but no one else was really down. I'm flying out of Amsterdam in June however, so maybe I can get my bike riding in then. We went to the Red Light District during the night time and quickly left. All the creepy guys standing around watching the women in the windows was a little much for me. I had seen an episode of Rachel Ray's 40 Dollar a Day years ago on Amsterdam and had been so excited about a pancake place she went to. So, I found it and we ended up eating there. Pretty good. the cakes were weird though, more like crepes than American style pancakes, which was a bit of a downer. Oh well.

Then on to Barcelona. Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to, largely thanks to the Modernisme movement and Antoni Gaudí. It's on the coast making it a beautiful beach town with a bunch of harbors. The weather was great and things are cheaper there than in Italy, which I also very much so liked. But really, I was just super impressed by Gaudí's works. We went and saw la Casa Batllo, Sagrada Familia, Le Pedrera, and Park Güell. We only went into a little bit of Sagrada Familia while a mass was being held--and it doesn't yet have a celling inside. The construction for the building began in 1882 and won't be finished for ~50 more years. I really hope that it does get finished in my lifetime however, since it is the most impressive building I have ever seen. I didn't go into Casa Batllo or Le Pedrera either cos had planned to go inside the last day, when I ended up getting sick and didn't feel like walking around. Batllo actually costs 16 euros to get into so odds are I probably won't ever go inside, but Le Pedrera is cheaper and it's a museum as well, so I want to go back to explore that. Park Güell was really cool. Gaudí was really an amazing architect. I still can't get over how amazing his works were. I didn't get enough, so Emily and I are gonna head back to Spain for a week and a half or so after Greece and go to Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, and maybe some other towns. I really was so impressed with Barcelona, I think it is probably my favorite city I've been to in Europe thus far.

Copenhagen pics are up and I'll get around to putting up the rest in the next week.

A quick update...

Okay, so tomorrow I have my Italian final--I'm kinda nervous, but I'm not really sure how to go about studying for languages. I've never been particularly good at them. So, in a day and a half we are leaving for Copenhagen!! I'm really excited. I'm gonna try to head on over to internet cafes along the way so that I can check emails/update. But I don't know if that's really gonna work out. We are pretty much running all over the place the first half of the break and then we get to spend some chilling out days in Barcelona...with TAPAS! Also VERY exciting...Emily and I just booked the first part of our summer travel!!! We are heading over to Prague for 2 and a half days and then on to Greece for at least a week (we are fatties and love our baklava). I'm so excited. I'm having so much fun here traveling with the people I've met here, but I think it'll be even more fun to be traveling with my bestie testie (that one is for you, Em). Alrighty, I need to actually go study.

S

Carnivale.

Wow, just wow...

So, we got back from Carnivale a couple of hours ago. It's all a haze. It was so much fun. I only wish we could have gone for longer. Okay...so, I want to be able to describe it all so bad, but I just feel like I can't. Words don't do justice. But, all the same--I will highlight. Okay, so we ended up being awake for 22 hours straight since we had to leave our place to catch our flight at 4am. and we had gone to sleep at 2am. So, that made for some interesting times. We get to our hotel and the hot water didn't work--so we got upgraded to a MUCH nicer room...swing! So, after heading to the market and being hit on by many a drunk Italians, we head back to our place to pre-game it. After a couple of hours we head out to Piazza San Marco...which is literally like one block away. There was a concert going on, so we went over to check it out. It was actually really lame, but we didn't care. And there was this creepy guy behind me when I was dancing, and he kept on tugging on my hair...and then another guy tugged my hair again at a dance party. My apartment mates say its because I'm a almost blonde. So, Andrea, I guess you're right--sono bionda (well, by Italian standards).

So, the concert ends and we decide to head over to the Rialto--this is where we should have been from the beginning. That's where all the young people hang out. So, we wade through the crowds and dance. We left for a bit than came back and Ingrid and Jess rushed the stage.

Then today, we took the free hotel taxi to Murano which is where all the fancy glass is made. And we saw this old guy make some blown glass stuff, pretty cool. Really, this summing up of what happened doesn't cut it. So, I am going to add some pictures in the hope that they can describe the night better.


the ladies before going out.

I went out and bought a belini since my Dad kept on saying how we should go out to Harry's bar and get belini's. So, this picture is for you, Daddy!





trannies!

alrighty, that's it. I'm off to bed.

<3 <3

Vado a Venezia per Carnivale!!

Okay, a re-cap of this past week...

On Sunday my apartment mates and I went to mass at the Vatican. Crazy stuff. It was really beautiful. When they were doing communion, I went up--to be blessed but not to take communion since I'm not Catholic. You symbolize this by bowing your head and crossing your arms across your chest, with hands on the shoulders. This was my first mass, and during it I just kept on thinking that if I'm ever going to become a more spiritual person this (being Rome) is the place to do it. Even though something like 95% of Italians are Roman Catholic, Rome is such a big city, there are places of worship for all religions. And not only are there so many churches, temples, etc. but they are all beautiful beyond belief.

On Monday we watched a political documentary. This has definitely got me more interested in Italian politics. Especially in the wake of Italy's Prime Minister loosing the confidence vote and resigning. Italy's political future will be decided in the next couple of weeks when they either set up an interim government with the goal of reforming outdated and corrupt laws OR elections will be held and most likely Berlusconi will win (that's what the polls show). And we don't want Berlusconi to win. It's interesting to be here when all of this is going down.

Anyways, we also had our cooking class this week--and watch out, I got some new bomb dishes to cook when I get back. I'm gonna try to take other cooking classes later in the quarter as well. On Thursday we went to the Vatican gardens--this usually costs money and you need to have a guide--who keeps a close eye on you. Somehow our landlord got us in for free without any supervision (rumor is he's connected to the mafia, but who knows?) Actually, related to that, is that our landlord told my apartment mate that he was friends with the old pope, that he was on the national soccer time here, and we have also been told by the people who were here last quarter that he throws a big party for us with the Swiss Guards. Weird stuff. Anyways--the Vatican gardens were alright. Nothing really special. It was just special that we were there, but there wasn't much to see.

Tomorrow we wake up early and go to Venice for Carnival. I'm really excited. I'll post when I get back.