So even though it was supposed to rain, we decided we would be mad at ourselves if we didn't go to Pisa and Le Cinque Terre. It was a long train ride, but it was worth it. After a short stop in Pisa, about an hour, to take a picture of the Leaning Tower, we continued on to Le Cinque Terre. Le Cinque Terre is a national park that is made up of 5 towns along the western coast of Italy. These five towns are literally built in and up the side of the mountains. It's really cool to see. We [View Full Entry]

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VENEZIA!! We took a day trip to Venice today. The city is gorgeous. St. Mark's Square is by far the best piazza in all of Italy. It is just packed with people at midday, but as it gets later, it's almost empty. I took a video of the violinists playing music from "The Sound of Music." We had a great time. Mi piace molto Venezia. I bought a few Venetian trademark items, like for example the Bellini, an amazing Venetion Cocktail and some Murano glass. I'm glad I decided to make the 7hr journey, but I hate sleeping on trains! [View Full Entry]

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Lake Como is absolutely gorgeous! The lake itself is more of a really wide river than a lake. It's pretty skinny for a lake, and it's shaped like an upside down Y. All together, it covers an extremely large distance. It took us an hour by bus to get from Como to Menaggio. The first night, we made potatoe filled gniochi in the microwave which turned out OK somehow and went to bed since we were exhausted from our problem-filled journey. The next day we decided to buy a one-day pass for the ferry which allowed us to explore the nearby [View Full Entry]

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It all began on Easter Sunday, March 23, when we left Paris on a connecting flight to Rome than Palermo. We had to bluff our way through the metro stop by our hostel in Paris to make it to the RER because our 3 day passes didn't make it to the morning of the 4th day. The flight to Rome was fine, but the flight to Palermo did not end on a good note: just before landing, we hit some very rough turbulence, and I came as close as ever to actually throwing up from my overactice motion sickness tendencies. I [View Full Entry]

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Paris actually wasn't as exciting as Ireland because I was just there like 2 years ago and my memory was pretty fresh. St. Christopher's Hostel just off the Laumiere Metro stop was the best place we have stayed in yet. The rooms were huge, and we each had our own little cubby hole. It was really nice. The first day we spent in Paris was full of sightseeing. First, we took the metro to the Hard Rock to make a reservation for later that night. Then we hpped on the metro again and went to the Eiffel Tower where we had [View Full Entry]

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Le vacanze! SPRING BREAK! Early morning; we woke up at 5:30am and left for the airport around 6:30. Rome Ciampino airport is kind of like the "ghetto" airport of Rome. It's where all the cheap flights fly out of; our flight was through RyanAir, which I refuse to ever fly on again. Our checked luggage had a weight limit of 15kg which is roughly 33lbs. Unfortunately, my suitcase itself weights at lwast 10lbs, so with 2 weeks of clothes and stuff in it, it weighed 28kgs! Luckily, the lady at the desk had pity on us and only charged me for [View Full Entry]

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This past weekend seemed to go on forever, but I had a lot of fun. Molly's birthday was Wednesday, but we had midterms on Thursday, so we did not celebrate it until Thursday evening. We all dressed up and went to the Hard Rock, MY FAVORITE PLACE IN ROME! You just can't beat good old fashioned American food and American sized portions. It was awesome! We stopped at Pascucci on the way back to get Mol a bottle of wine, then partied it up in the room a little bit before going to Scholars. It was an overall good night--Happy 20th [View Full Entry]

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Ferrara, Day 1 The bus ride took about 5 hrs, and when we finally got here, we went straight to touring. This lasted until around 4pm, so we wre all crabby and tired since we didn't get lunch. In Ferrara, we visited the city walls, which were necessary for protection in the middle ages since Ferrara is located in a flat, lowland area much like nothern Indiana; the Palazzo Schifanoia, the d'Este playhouse; the Cimitero Israelitico, or Jewish Cemetery, where Gorgio Bassani's tomb is located; and briefly visited the d'Este Castle and Duomo in the city's historical center. Ferrara is a [View Full Entry]

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List #1: Everything I love about the USA 1. cow 2. Walmart/Target 3. Department stores 4. Punctuality 5. Hoodies 6. Jogging on the side of the road 7. Eggs and bacon for breakfast 8. Pop 9. Free bread and water at restaurants 10. Water fountains 11. Normal sized elevators 12. Water pressure 13. Normal sized doors 14. English 15. Oddly enough, respectful men 16. Stores open on Sundays 17. Easy internet access 24/7 18. My cell phone 19. Flip flops 20. Free beer List #2:Everything I love about Roma 1. The ability to walk everywhere 2. i Panini 3. [View Full Entry]

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Awesome weekend! Friday morning, all 60 of us met in the Tiz lobby at 6am to board the busses to Siena. Let's just say, I don't know anyone that's a morning person. We arrived in Siena, a city in the province of Tuscany, around 10am, and we walked to our first stop: la Basilica di San Domenico. I was not impressed at all with the Basilica; it is very plain, but it does have a relic of St. Catherine of Siena, her head to be exact. Wierd I know, but this relic makes the Basilica famous. St. Catherine was very loved [View Full Entry]

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