Caprarola and Bagnaia

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Not too much has been going on lately, just some midterms and studying and hanging out around town. But yesterday we had our day trip to Caprarola and Bagnaia, which were about and hour and a half north of Rome. It was a really fun trip because we jsut looked at some villas and gardens and played around in them. It must have been really fun to have been friends with the Farnese family. their gardens were really sweet. this one fountain was a fake cave that they had water drip down from the ceiling into a pool below. very cool. we couldnt get into one of the gardens becasue there was some film being shot there. It was really funny because we could just see into it and it was a movie about the renaissance and they were all dressed up and the workers told us not to take any picures, so everybody got out their cameras and started taking pictures like crazy. it was really funny. then villa lante in bangnaia had these maze looking bushes around a big fountain and when you hit them, they jiggle like jello. it was really funny, but the people who worked there didnt appreciate it as much. At the top of the gardens there were a bunch of old trees that were hollow and one of htem had just a little slit all the way through the trunk about 8 inches wide, so we tried to squeeze keri and billy and nathan into it. didnt work though. they got really close aand i think billy cuold have gotten in if he'd tried a little harder. so we basically just played aroudn all day. that place would have been so much fun to just run around in all day long. today keri and sarah and i are going to try to find the international food store so we can get some cheddar cheese and sour cream for mexican food, which is super expenseive to nonexistant in europe, and maybe some peanut butter adn oreos. mmmm. american food... and last night we found this place that has real pancakes, not crepes, with lots of fruit or nutella or other goodness on them. so that's where we're going to try for dinner. last week, sarah keri and i planned out the rest of our trips for while we're here. next weekend we're going to Venice with the group, but we're only staying one night, bc its super expensive there, and everyone said you can do it in a day, but you have to see it at least. so that's what we're doing. so that's days 3 and 4 for our eurail passes. then for thanksgiving break we're going to Munich, and since we're there for the first weekend in advent, we get to see the opening of the Christkindlmarkt in the Marienplatz, which is a huge christmas market and lots of good food and music and christmas decorations. i'm soooooo excited about that. italy doesnt know how to do christmas like germany. yeah. so that is days 5 and 6 of our passes and that's it for me and keri. (sarah's going to austria too) But after classes are over and before we come back home, the three of us are going to Amsterdam for a couple of days. I've heard such good things about the city. Im excited about going to the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh museum. We're staying in a Christian Hostel, even though its not really close to all the good stuff in town, its definitely the cheapest one we foudn that wasnt gross looking. it actually looks really nice. and the one we're staying at in munich is supposed to be a really good one too. i cant remember the name of it though. i'm glad to have all that planning part out of hte way. now if i can just survive the train/plane rides.

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