Finally Awake!

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Hi all!

I'm in Italy, finally! I suppose to start off, here's a brief story of getting here:

Wednesday, my mom, sister and I left Des Moines for Chicago and got to our hotel shortly before 4. We immediately took the L downtown, much more confusing for me than the Metra, but no problems. We arrived shortly after 5, and went into Water Tower Place, where, you know me, I found this betsy johnson dress i LOVE. i mean, absolutely L.O.V.E. I want it for my birthday in Vegas next year! Now I just have to find the money. We left WTP shortly after and headed to Navy Pier, where I got us a little lost, but we took a cab and made it in time to ride the ferris wheel before it closed. We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp (very good crab legs!), and headed back a little after that since we had a long train ride and had to catch the shuttle to the hotel. Still, I think they enjoyed their first time downtown.

Thursday, we got up around 9, but I did not have to be at the airport til one, so we we ate breakfast and hung out in our room until it was time. After reaching the airport, i got through everything very very fast so we had a very long wait til we boarded our HUMONGOUS plane. I mean, huge. We flew Lufthansa, two story plane, 10 seats to a row, very nice, a little crowded in economy though. First class was ridiculously nice, and the food wasn't too bad, but I didn't eat much. We flew out there at 3:45 pm our time, and got to Frankfurt, Germany at a little before 7am their time the next day. I slept none on the plane, I got sucked into the films and watched some movies I have on my iPod.

When we got to Frankfurt, we had a very very long layover. By long, I mean we were off the plane at 7am and didn't have to get on the other one til almost one, so we explored a little, but mostly hung out around a cafe. I passed out a few times for about ten minutes, but no significant sleep or nap. Our plane to Verona was Air Dolomiti, and it was so small we had to take a shuttle to it-in reality, about the same size as the plane to Vegas that I took in April, though. Just small for them here. The flight only took about an hour, so it wasn't bad at all, and I didn't have to sit next to anyone. I also heard one couple speaking French and attempted to eavesdrop, but fell asleep for the last 10 minutes of the flight.

Upon arrival, we had a very nice bus to our residence, on the outside of Verona (pop. is 230,00 or so i believe). The residence isn't too bad, not the nicest (compared to Vegas) but better than some places. we are in small apartments, with kitchens. The bathroom's not too strange, we're avoiding the bidet, its in a separate toilet, and the shower's normal size, the faucet's just backwards and our shower head is awful. We are on the 8th floor, and we have a very good size balcony with a beautiful view, although the door swings out to open and we thought it was going to fall and shatter! We've since figured it out. There are also 60 Georgia students here, and they can be quite entertaining, especially one named Jerry, when he fights with his girlfriend. That's another story though!

Anyways, last night we went to the grocery, its not a far walk, although I have no idea exactly what I bought! Prices weren't too bad, and I found milk, although its not skim, it is refrigerated and i was happy. There is also lots of liquor and wine, very cheap compared to the U.S. there. We came back and dropped it off, and immediately went to a pizza place, very nice also. We ate on a curb since there were too many of us for the tables, and a guy took a picture of us on his cell phone since we are all girls. His wife came by to shut the window a few minutes later, too funny!

After that, we walked back here, and my roommate and I relaxed a bit, but shortly after I saw other people out on another balcony with our group, and we decided to keep avoiding sleep and head on an adventure! The river (Adige) is right behind our residence, so we went for a walk in an attempt to find a bar or some nightlife and maybe get an Italian drink. Much of where we were was dark, apparently because when we crossed the river we were supposed to cross back over to find the better places, but we didn't know this. We found a bar, but we got too many weird looks, especially from creepy older Italian men, so we went back and got the most amazing gelato ever. I got grapefruit, they also have nutella that we are going back for.

I went to sleep sometime after midnight here, and didn't get up til 11, but i'm feeling pretty rested. My stomach just isn't on the right time yet. It is now just after 1:30 here, and at two we are going on a trip downtown so we know our way around, we also have our first assignment. After that, we have a walking tour, then dinner, so I'll let you all know how the wine is! I'm not sure what our plans are after that, but we're all pretty adventurous, so I suspect another trip to find some nightlife. I miss everyone, (especially Mollie-pet her lots mom!) and I'll keep you all updated in a day or two.

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