Well everyone, tonight is my last night in the beautiful country of Italy. It's an experience I'm so glad I was able to have. Sure it was a little tough in the beginning, just like anything new is but there is so much I'm going to miss. I will miss my walks through the piazza eating gelato, Spritz, ancient architecture and art, tug of war with the Hulk, trying to speak Italian, train rides, near death experiences with Vespas, home-made pizza and pasta, men with purses, Cinque Terre, fragolino, boat rides on Lake Garda, watching parades out my window, incredible espresso, [View Full Entry]

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With just a week left until I return to the states I took one last big trip to Florence. The first stop was to the Chiesa di Santa Maria Novella which was built between 1279-1360, pretty damn old! Inside is Masaccio's Trinity, which was the first paintintg to use geometric perspective, sorry wasn't allowed to take pictures! Next, I went to see who else but David in all his marble glory. I waited in line for an hour and paid 10 euro...doesn't that usually mean there's a roller coaster somewhere? Anyways, I finally made it in and was greeted by Michelangelo's [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, I took a little trip to Fair Verona, home of the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet (spelled Giulietta in Italian and prounounced Hul-ee-eta). Apparently, there were two feuding families in Verona during the 1300's and supposedly they did have two kids in love but who knows! I think Shakespeare's story is loosely based on it and Verona makes a killing from dumb-witted tourists! Nonetheless, my first destination was the Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's House), apparently the Capulet's never even lived here though so I didn't bother wasting my Euro going inside. The archway leading to [View Full Entry]

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Cristina, Kelli, Monica and I took a nice little trip to Lake Garda, the largest lake in Northern Italy. It was a gorgeous scenic 2 hour car ride! Vineyards, mountains, and rivers surrounded us. We decided to park in the little town of Malcesine and enjoy the lake from there. The main event of the day was to rent a speed boat. Once we shelled out our money we hopped aboard and sped away! Lake Garda is absolutely gorgeous and it's size is imense! I just enjoyed the sun and wind while Captain Kelli sped around the lake trying to catch [View Full Entry]

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After a couple days in Milan, Kelli, Monica, and I decide to take a day trip to Cinque Terre. So Sunday morning we hop on our 6am train ride and arrive 4 hours later to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Cinque Terre consists of 5 different villages that are all connected by various trails along the coastline or through the mountains. We started off at the last village, Riomaggiore and hiked a good two hours passing through Manarola and Corniglia. The views were amazing, just look at the pictures! Well, along our hike we ran into [View Full Entry]

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My new friend Kelli invited me to Milan this past weekend to party it up for the 4th of July. I was so excited that I wasn't going to be alone on the 4th! There weren't any fireworks but it turned out to be a blast anyway...haha get it? Blast? Fireworks!...j/k...anyways! So Friday night we went to a place called Oracle, I thought it was going to be all Italians and I would just be standing in the corner flipping through my Italian phrase book. Much to my surprise though it was mostly American, Brits, and Canadians so thankfully I didn't [View Full Entry]

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Neither words nor pictures can describe the beauty, detail, and overall emotion of what I felt and saw during my visit to the Vatican City. If you ever get the chance to come to Italy you must go to the Basilica di San Pietro (St. Peter's Basilica)...it should be a goal in life. Sorry didn't mean to get deep and introspective. Anyways, I spent most of my third day at the Vatican City. I started off with the Vatican Museums (unknowingly saving the best for last). This place is just a maze of rooms and galleries filled with hundreds and hundreds [View Full Entry]

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After a nice peaceful rest I am ready for day two of roaming Rome! :) The shuttle dropped us off at Piazza Barberini and from there I hopped onto the subway for my first site, the Colosseum! As I emerge from the steamy, hot tunnels of the subway I am stopped in my tracks by the Colosseum which is suddenly towering in front of me. Dazed, I quickly run across the street and see a precious, scrawny trojan and must have my picture taken with him. Afterwards, I find out he charges 5 euros to take a picture but he says [View Full Entry]

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Sorry to anyone who's been waiting by the seat of their pants for my blog posts but wait no more I have 3 days worth of Roman adventures! I'm going to post an individual blog for each day so it's not one huge post. I would have done the posts by day in Rome but it cost 27 euro a day to use the internet at the hotel I was staying at so I opted to wait until I returned to Vicenza where I have free internet! Well day one began with a lovel 4 1/2 hour train ride. A good [View Full Entry]

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Haven't posted any blogs in awhile since I've just been hanging out in Vicenza and what I do on a day to day basis here isn't all that interesting! Had a night out on the town last night though with Cristina and one of her friends Kelli and I thought it was interesting enough to post a blog about it :) We went to dinner at our usual spot then headed out and about to a few of the local bars where I witnessed my first of a few Italian bachelor parties. In America we like the bride or groom-to-be to [View Full Entry]

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