Hot Mess in Venice

I could not have been more excited for my trip to Venice.  My friend Chris from Barcelona was meeting me in Venice and we were going to spend the weekend there.  Prior to leaving,  we had a few minor freak outs, housing numbers came out (I will not be getting housing this year), and the airline changed Chris's airport in Barcelona at the last minute.  This was a sign that the weekend was going to be a hot mess.

My train arrived right on schedule at 10:30.  Chris's flight was supposed to get in at 10:00 and his airport was 20 mins off the island, which meant this was perfect timing for him to meet me at the train station, which was in the area we wanted to be in.  Sounds like a perfect plan right?  10:45 rolled around and still no Chris....  I thought, "Maybe there was traffic?"  11:00, no Chris, I knew he had to be lost.  He knows no Italian, so I obviously began to worry.  11:30 and finally I see Chris.  I told myself that my first words to him couldn't be 'where were you?'.  I spot him and the first words out of my mouth, 'where were you?!'.  The airline had again changed his airport to one an hour away; however, this time they did not notify him ahead of time.  Thank God, he somehow made it to me in one piece!  Chris, who is not the best with figuring out directions (sorry Chris), bought a bus ticket, found the bus, and figured out the directions to the train station and then walked there.  I was so proud!  This was a BIG accomplishment.  We were both starving, so we decided to go get lunch before our 2pm check in at our Bed and Breakfast.  We ate at Ginos, Ginos:  A Place So Nice They Named It Twice!, then we visited St. Lucia Basilica, and bought our 18 euro bus passes.  So far things were going smoothly.  Headed to our bus...and this is where it gets rough.  I asked the lady at the station where we had to get off and she wrote down a bus name.  We got on that bus, rode it for about ten minutes and then realized we had no idea where to go from there, or what stop we needed to get off at.  Luigi, our Asian host living in Italy told us it would be a fifteen minute walk...lies.  We got off at the second stop just because we figured it couldn't have been that much further away.  Ha!  Texted Luigi and he said in regards to which stop to get off at, "Stop is hasn't name.  Look for Chinese restaurant."  Thanks Luigi....  We decided to walk.  It couldn't be that far right?  We walked for about 20 minutes, decided to get back on the bus, and we ran into the same person that was on our original bus.  So weird.  Rode that bus for a while then decided to get off at a stop that had the street name we needed, but ended up not being it.  Walked some more in no mans land where they probably haven't seen civilization in 20 years.  Now this was backpacking!  We decided to get on yet another bus and again there was someone from our original bus.  Now this was too much.  Fate was really messing with us.  We rode this bus for one stop and then saw the Chinese restaurant  In total we walked about 14km, which I averaged to be about 9 miles, for 2 hours.  What an adventure!  It's all about making memories.  At least now I can say I sorta backpacked....  As Chris said, "We have to be some of the best looking back packers around."  After we settled in to our Bed and Breakfast, we got on the bus and headed back to Venice.  

The number one thing that Chris and I wanted to do was take a gondola ride.  This was our first order of business.  By this point it was sunset, so the gondola ride was perfect.  We got on the gondola and our Gondolier asked us where we were from.  United States.  He then asked, "So, are you on your honeymoon?"  Uh, nope.  "Romantic vacation?"  Nope.  After the gondola ride, we figured out that our expensive bus passes worked on the water taxis too.  We rode the taxi around, with really no destination.  We knew we wanted to have dinner soon, so we got on the taxi back in the direction we wanted and we headed to dinner and got something to eat.  One of the things that makes me laugh about Italy, and all of Europe, is that they don't understand social cues.  Numerous times I made eye contact with our waitress for our check.  She just didn't get the memo.  Social cues!  She already thought I was a crazy American, who put the bread basket in her lap to get the crumbs off of the table.  You would have thought I had three heads with the look she gave me.  We were falling asleep at the table and all we wanted was our check. We made it back to the room by 9:30, and we crashed.

The next day we got up early, had breakfast, checked out of our Bed and Breakfast and decided what we wanted to do for the day.  The main place we wanted to see was St. Mark's Plaza, and Cathedral.  It was beautiful out, so we decided to take a scenic water taxi ride.  Check out the views!

After the water taxi, we ended up at St. Marks.  There is  a bell tower at St. Marks, and I said to Chris, "Wanna climb it?"  His response, "Oh, we're climbing it."  We bought our tickets, and unfortunately, you couldn't take the steps, you had to take the lift.  We were disappointed, but the views were still worth it!  Afterwards, we went into St. Mark's Cathedral.  We couldn't go in with our back packs, so Chris and I went in shifts.  Besides seeing St. Mark's, there was nothing else we both had our hearts set on doing.  This was probably my favorite part about this trip: there was no pressure to rush around, we both saw what we wanted to see, and, at times, we just walked around and looked on our map for cool things we hadn't yet seen.    Later we walked around, and by walked around, I mean got lost at every chance possible; yet, we always got where we needed to go.  We had lunch and then sat down near the Rialto Bridge so Chris could sketch.  As I sit next to Chris sketching, which came out awesome btws, I am in utter bliss.  I am so lucky to have been given the opportunity to study abroad.  Here I am sitting next to one of my closest friends, as we overlook the water and he sketches in Italy!  Unreal.

We ended our trip back where we started, Ginos, Ginos: A Place So Nice They Named It Twice.  I was taking the night train home at 11:00 and Chris's flight was at 9:30.  I tried to get my train switched, but they said I would have to pay.  I waited to make a decision, so we then bought Chris a bus ticket to his airport.  I told him I was going to buy my ticket for my train and that I would be right back to help him find his bus.  I came back, and no Chris.  I am hoping he found his bus to the airport and is safely spending the week in Germany on a class trip.

    "Do great things in your life, but do small things as well."

                     ~ Anonymous.

Skiing In The Italian Alps

Last weekend we went to Trento, Italy (The Dolomites) which are the Italian Alps.  There isn't much to say abut the Dolomites.  We saw a few churches (the usual) and we went skiing on a mountain that over looked the Swiss Alps.  I prefer snowboarding, but everyone else was skiing, so I thought I'd give it a try...Big mistake.  I am horrible!  At least I can now say that my first and last time skiing was in the Italian Alps.

   "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."
               ~Henry Miller

And We're Back on Track!

Today is our rescheduled trip to Tuscany.  This morning was also the day I returned from Austria.  The Tuscany trip left on Sunday, so I had to by my own ticket to Arezzo and meet them there.  I went straight from my Austrian train to my terminal for Arezzo.  I soon found out that my train to Arezzo had been cancelled...now what?  Another train was leaving in a hour and a half, so I had to roll with the punches and take that one.  My main concern was that I wasn't going to arrive in time to go to the Castle in Arezzo for our wine tasting.  

I finally arrived in Arezzo and ran into another student from our program.  We headed to the hotel and made it back just in time for the wine tasting.  The wine tasting was held at Castello Del Trebbio.  We had a guided tour by the castle owner's cousin; he was hilarious.  He cracked a joke at every opportunity possible.  He told us that the castle often hosts weddings.  They provide everything, the flowers, music, food, even the bride and groom!  He took us into the conspiracy room where the Patsy family planned to kill the Medici's.  No one has ever been brave enough to get married in that room except for one person three months ago.  He pointed to his ring finger.  He was the only one to ever get married in that room.  After the wine tasting, we had dinner and dessert, bought wine, and later headed back to the hotel.

The next day we headed to Pienza and visited the sights there before our stop in Orvieto.  While in Orvieto, we visited numerous churches, including the Duomo, and the Church of St. Andrea.  Afterwards, we had lunch at a quaint restaurant.  I told them I was allergic to nuts; however, after taking two bits I realized what was inside.  I sent my food back and the chef came out and apologized for the mistake and took the meal of my bill.  I unfortunately didn't have time to wait for another meal, so we just paid our bill and headed to the Duomo.  After we visited the Duomo I wasn't feeling well, so I bought a few post cards, and then headed to the bus to head home.  Overall, Tuscany was absolutely beautiful!  I missed our day in Sienna, but I heard it was gorgeous, so I will have to plan a day trip sometime in the near future.

     "What is the definition of a good wine?  It should start and end with a smile."

                ~William Sokolin

The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music

Salzburg, Austria

Day 3:

We left Vienna at 8:30 a.m. and headed to Salzburg.  Sitting next to us on the train were two girls who looked like they were 21, but we later found out they were only 16.  They were from Vienna, taking their first ski trip alone.  We arrived in Salzburg at around 12:00 and were on the platform when Katie realized she forgot her coat.  She ran on to get her coat, but didn't seem to be coming back any time soon, so Janell ran on and got her coat and came back.  Still no Katie.  The train pulled away, and still no Katie; she was on her way to Innsbruck.  She had to meet us at the hostel later in the day.  We were able to leave a message with her, and she got to call us from  the conductors phone.  (She got the royal treatment).  She went back and sat with the two girls from Vienna and she found out that Janell had her coat...she was stuck on the train for nothing.

We, on the other hand, had to go to The Sound of Music tour.  We dropped our stuff off at our hostel (which was super nice--recently renovated), and headed to town.  The tour was AMAZING.  I had just seen the movie for the first time the day before, and it instantly became my new favorite movie.  On our tour was our Tour Guide Matt, two Australians, two Brazilians, a student from California, and then us--the three Romans as our Tour Guide Matt called us.  Throughout the whole tour, they played the Sound of Music soundtrack; it was great!  Let me take you through the tour...

The Sound of Music Tour!!

Puppet Theatre

Hotel where the cast stayed.  (All except Julie Andrews).

Theatre where the Von Trapp family sung at the festival before their escape.

Back of the Von Trapp House.

Trees where the children hung from.

Lake the children and Marie fell in.

Von Trapp House!

Place where the gazebo is kept.

Gazebo where they sung 'I am sixteen going on seventeen'.

Front of the Von Trapp house.  A different house was used for the front and the back.

Town near where Julie Andrews sung 'The Hills Are Alive'.

Where Julie Andrews sung 'The Hills Are Alive'.

Church where Captain Von Trapp and Maria got married.

Inside the church.

Fountain where Julie Andrew sung 'I have confidence'.

End of the tour.

After the tour we met up with Katie who was safe and sound in our hostel.  Earlier, we made reservations for dinner at eight at a local Austrian favorite.  We ate traditional Austrian food, and it was so good!  There were so many things I wanted to try and that is not like me.  I had pancake soup, and I split egg dumplings and chicken with potato salad with Christine.  For an appetizer we got potato balls and for dessert we had warm apple strudel.  Christine was so full from her meal, but she still had room for some of Janell's pork--she loved it that much.  Christine announced, "I am so full...oh wait the pork, I got room for that!"  The food was excellent.  After the day we had, we were exhausted!  We went back to the hostel where they were playing The Sound of Music (my new favorite movie), and crashed.  

Day 4:

Katie got up early to go on The Sound of Music tour--the people said she could still use her ticket since she missed the original tour.  Janell, Christine, and I went to Mozart's house, his birthplace, and toured more of Salzburg.    We had breakfast at Mozart's Cafe and it was amazing/the largest meal I have ever had.  It consisted of a roll, three pieces of toast with jam, scrambled eggs, pastrami, ham, provolone cheese, cereal which was yogurt, fruit seeds, and fresh fruit, freshly squeezed orange juice, hot chocolate, and a piece of chocolate.  Phew!  I am full just thinking about it!  Afterwards we met up with Katie and headed to get some Austrian chocolate from the place our tour guide recommended.  The rest of the day was spent wandering around 

Salzburg.  We stumbled upon two churches, the entrance to a castle, and an Italian/Pakistani restaurant.  We had dinner and then headed back to the hostel to collect our things to head home.

As I sit here on the train back to Rome, I can't  help but smile when I think about the weekend I just had. I loved everything about Salzburg.  I honestly could see myself living there.  The people were some of the friendliest people I have ever met, the sights were gorgeous, and the food was great.  Now I just need to learn German!.  All in all, this is a trip I know I will NEVER forget.  Gruss Gott.

      "The hills are alive with the sound of music."

                     ~Julie Andrews

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Vienna, Austria

Day 1:

We arrived at Termini (the most confusing train station ever) and searched for our train to Austria.  Austria was one of my top places to visit, so needless to say I was super excited for this trip.  We thought we had reclining seats...it was going to be a fourteen hour train ride, but we were going to just tough it out.  Turns out that the mute lady that sold us our tickets booked us with four beds.  They were perfect.  We settled in and got frankfurts (the grossest hot dog you will ever have).  I stuck to my Special K bar, watched the Sound of Music and called it a night.

Day 2:

We arrived in Vienna at 8:30 a.m., bought our Metro passes and headed to our apartment.  The lady we rented our apartment from was supposed to meet us in the lobby promptly at 9:30, but she was no where to be found.  A really nice man from the building knew we needed help, so he let us use his iphone to call her.  She was waiting for us in her apartment...we would have come up had we known her apartment number...lol.  We only had a day in Vienna, so we tried to make the most of it.  We got settled in our apartment and looked up directions to the places we wanted to go.  It has been really helpful that I have my iphone on me.  The apartment had free wi-fi, so I could google map our locations and then take a picture of my screen.  My Europe travel guide has also been a big help.  The first stop on our list was their Parliament building.  While there we stumbled upon something great.  We found a traditional Austrian festival with a maze ice skating rink.  I absolutely love ice skating, so this was a must!  The rink was the coolest thing I have ever seen. 

The tickets were super cheap, so we quickly rented skates and headed out.  The maze was awesome.  It was set inside a park in front of the Parliament building.  There were roundabouts, hills, inclines, and turns every which way.  This was honestly the highlight of everything we did in Vienna.  Katie, who originally did not want to skate, didn't even want to leave.

After we went ice skating, we headed to St. Stephen's Cathedral, and found a few cool places on the way.  We somehow ended up at a palace...haha.  After we visitied Hofburg Palace, we went on our search for 

the Austrian National Library.  We went in one place and the guy said it was across the street.  We asked the guy at the desk there and he said this was it.  We paid and went inside.  Just as I suspected, it wasn't the Library.  It was the National History Museum.  After our long search we never found the Library, but I did get to see a cool boat, and a dinosaur collage made by children.  It was almost 3:30, so we figured it was time to eat.  The food was awesome!  Austria has so many good pastries; they almost put Italy to shame.  We figured this meal would be big enough to hold us over for dinner.  Afterwards, we went to the food store to get snacks for later that night.  Our apartment had the complete Friends series, so we decided that after the Opera we would watch some Friends.  After we went food shopping, we rushed to St. Stephen's Cathedral, took pictures, and then went to search for the post office.  Jenkins, the Architecture advisor, told us we had to go there.  Unfortunately we couldn't find it.  We had to rush home, because we had tickets to the Opera at 7:00 to see My Fair Lady.  It was so much easier reserving all of our tickets beforehand.  We didn't have to worry about getting them, and it was one less expense while we were there.  The show was so good.  It was completely in German, so I had no idea what they were saying, but it was still really good.  I just laughed and smiled when everyone else did.  The Opera set came out of the floor and spun around; it was very intricately made.  After the Opera, we went back and watched four episode of Friends. 

My favorite part about Vienna was the people.  Everyone was so friendly and welcoming no matter where you went.   People just walked around with smiles on their faces.  Auf Wiedersehen!

     "Vienna...the best place in the world."

                 ~Mozart 

Romeo Romeo Romeo Where for art thou Romeo?

Yesterday, after Art & Architecture class, Jason, Megan and I stumbled  upon a theatre.  I saw they were doing a production of Romeo and Juliet.  The Shakespeare lover in me couldn't resist the opportunity to see this play.  I rushed home and found out there were tickets  still available for $11.00!  The production only had two more days left and since I was leaving for Austria on Thursday I had to see the show on Wednesday.

The show was absolutely amazing!!  I mean it is Shakespeare, so how could it not be?  The show was in Italian and since I have read this play numerous times before, and my Italian is improving, I understood most of what they were saying.

"Romeo Romeo, dove per l'arte sei tu Romeo."

But honestly, this play could have been in sign language and I would have loved it.  The actors were all spectacular, especially Juliet.  She had such excitement and exuberance in her actions.  There was one part, however, where we all were hysterically laughing at the acting.  After they realize Juliet is dead...sorta (sorry if I ruined the ending, but if you haven't read this play, you are missing out on life), Lady Capulet enters to mourn her daughter's death.  Midway through the scene, her shoe falls off.  Right as Lady Capulet is about to exit with Capulet pulling her arm, she turns back for her shoe and throws her arms in the air like, "Yes, I have my beloved shoe!  The show can now go on."  I found it hilarious that she was more concerned with her shoe than with her daughter's death.

"Ma morbido! Che la luce attraverso le rotture da quella finestra?  E 'l' Oriente e Giulietta e il sole!  Sorgi bel sole e uccidi la luna invidipsa.  E 'oriete, e Giulietta e il sole."

What I love about Shakespeare is that his plays can be transformed into anything.  The ending of the play was unlike any adaptation I have ever seen.  The final scene began with Romeo and Juliet...dead on the floor.  My initial reaction...woah, woah, woah, they skipped a whole scene!  What they actually did was have a flashback to everyone's death via Friar Lawrence (as he was on trial) to let the families know how they all died.

At the end of the show, the cast took their bow.  They ran off and then, of course, came right back for a second bow.  This happened another three-four times. LOL!  With each bow, Romeo came strolling out last.  He had such swag.  By the last bow, I was surprised he even came out.  All in all, this was a great find.  My love for Shakespeare is officially complete.

   "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

                     ~William Shakespeare

A Snowy Day in Roman Town

Our anticipated departure for Tuscany was Saturday, February 3rd at 8:00 a.m.  The previous day we got, what Italy considers, a little snow storm...so like two-three inches.  I woke up the previous day for class at 7:15 only to find out that class had been moved to 11:00 a.m.  I knew when I woke up that the dorm was alarmingly quiet-not a noise in the whole place...that was odd.  I know the architecture kids were gone, but this was freakishly quiet. 

Today, Saturday, I woke up at 7:25, and again the dorm was really quiet.  I thought to myself, "I will learn my lesson from yesterday.  I better turn on my cell phone; I probably have a message from Dr. Dawson.  What do you know, I was right!  It is funny that this is the second day I was the last to find out.  Yesterday I even ate breakfast before realizing that class had been postponed.  My belief is that when I sleep, my technology should sleep as well.  There is no need for it to be on. (Well I guess there is).

Turns out that our Saturday departure has been cancelled due to the snow.  I am a little disappointed but I guess I'll just head back to bed.  Night. Night.

    "A lot of people like snow.  I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water."

                ~Carl Reiner

Under The Tuscan Snow...

Today was the first time it really snowed in Rome since 1985.  You would think the world was ending with the way the Italians are responding to the flurries...  They immediately take out there umbrellas.  They honk their tiny smart cars, zip through the streets with caution, while sirens are going off all around them.  Italy is going crazy.  This weekend we are going to Tuscany and it is forcasted to snow there as well.  I am looking forward to seeing Tuscany covered in snow.  Until then, arivvaderci! 

                "Never loose your childish innocence.  It's the most important thing."
                            ~Under The Tuscan Sun