cinque terre!

for our final full day of the weekend we took a two hour train to cinque terre... the "5 lands." although it was a bit overcast, it was still an amazing experience! we only went to 3 of the five because we figured we were short on time, which was a good plan since a lot of the walking plans were closed due to landslides/mudslides. the first town we went to was riomaggiore where i got a traditional mozzarella, tomato, and pesto sandwich on foccacia bread. we then hiked up to what is said to be one of the oldest castles, which gave us a nice over look of the city! the next town we went to was monterola where we went down to the water and sat on some rocks at the edge of the water. it really felt like i was apart of the little mermaid as i was sitting on the rocks with the waves crashing behind me! we then grabbed some gelato from a small store that was rumored to have the best gelato in cinque terre, and then we walked on the only path that seemed to be open. we then stumbled upon a church that was actually really creepy as it was home to a really old cemetery. however, it did provide us with an even better view of the city which you can see in the picture.  after taking in the view, we continued on the monteresso, which is actually the last town in cinque terre. monteresso had the most “tropical” feel, as there was an actual beach in this town. the beach itself was actually pretty rocky, and because it wasn’t too nice outside, none of us went in the water, even though it felt pretty nice to dip our feet in. here, i made everyone climb this huge rock that was right at the shore line. i honestly could have spent all day sitting up there as it provided the greatest view of the ocean. after awhile, i finally came down and took a nap on the beach until it started to drizzle and we figured we should move on. for dinner we went back to manarola to a restaurant we had found earlier in the day for some seafood pasta. we also had fried calamari which was so delicious! it was then time for us to head back to florence to get some much needed rest! sunday morning we then got up and grabbed some pizza (which was not as good as roman pizza) before catching our train back to rome. it was really a lovely weekend but i am happy to be home and take a nap before preparing for a week of midterms, papers, and tests. wednesday night we are taking the opportunity to see the romeo and juliet ballet, which means im probably skipping sunday night football to get started on my work… especially since next weekend in PARIS!!! hope everyone has a great week!

firenze

florence (firenze) is such a wonderful city. its a real change of pace from rome as florence seems to be less of a "city" than rome does (kind of like comparing rome to new york city and florence to boston... just different). we were fortunate enough to have two friends of my friends let the four of us crash in their apartment, so not only did i get to make new friends, but we had our own personal tour guides! after getting a later start than we had originally planned, we headed over to a restaurant called the diner... which had all american food! it was such a nice treat, and although not really a cultural experience, it is said that northern italy pizza is not as good as the pizza in rome so we didnt wanna take the chance (once again, the new york/boston reference is relevant). i had a cheese burger which was just as good as something you could get in the USA so i was overjoyed. after that, we headed over to one of the main piazzas (town squares) to take in some of the scenary. we then headed over to the ponte vecchio which is one of the oldest (and prettiest) bridges in the world(bottom picture). we then attempted to go to the uffizi museum (home to the david) but it was closed due to some sort of strike... as were almost all of the museums. so instead, we went to this museum/tower near by (which was apparently the only museum open) where we got to see some pretty cool architecture, murals, statues, and paintings. then, we climbed 283 steps to the top of the tower for a beautiful view of florence! we just sat for awhile and took in the view until we decided to go back and shower to get ready for dinner (top picture is view of the duomo). on our way to eat, we stopped by the michaelangelo piazza which gave us another beautiful view of the city. it is rumored that the prettiest sunset can be seen from the piazza however, by that time of the day it was starting to drizzle and it was a bit cloudy, but nevertheless we enjoyed taking a seat and listening to a lovely italian women sing "time after time." then we headed over to a restaurant where i had some authentic penne alla vodka, which needless to say was delicious! we then grabbed some gelato and headed back to the apartment which has a beautiful view of the duomo, which is such an impressive and gorgeous building. we then decided to spend the night by staying in and getting some much needed sleep as we are grabbing a train at 7am tomorrow to head to cinque terre, which literally translated to "five lands," but more information will come about that later!! overall, a fantastic trip thus far and hopefully more fun to come tomorrow!!

shipping out!

not too much new this week, or blog-worthy for that matter! i did attend another cooking class which needless to say was once again awesome. the best part of the meal was a lemon custard with caramelized peaches on top... i must say i was integral to the grilling of the peaches which may have been why it was the best. i also got to watch a lot of football last sunday, which some of my friends and i think we are going to make a weekly tradition. but the best news of all, is that today... after four weeks of being in rome... im going to travel!! i leave in about a half hour for florence and cinque terre for what i hope will be an awesome weekend! we are planning on doing a lot of sight seeing, and im hoping to meet up with a few of my BC friends who are in florence taking classes. i also have a ton of exciting events coming up in the next week, as i also leave for paris a week from today!! i hope you all have a wonderful weekend in the USA!

a day in the life

so there are a few things i have notice recently that for better or worse are different than the way we do things in the US:
1. paper size: 8 1/2 by 11 does not exist. instead, the paper is longer and thinner... which isnt really noticeable unless you brought a notebook from home (like me) and have all of your syllabus's sticking out the top. i am still not sure how i feel about this yet... it just interesting i guess.
2. vespas: everyone rides them. men, women, young people, old people, one person at a time, two people at a time, surprisingly no babies... which makes me question how they are transported. vespas are even bigger than the average car, and honestly come in more varieties. i even saw one the other day with a plastic shield to protect drivers from the rain. it is absolutely insane.
3. fun fact: wine is less expensive than soda. it is "coke light" not diet coke, and it is wicked expensive. especially at restaurants, beer and wine are much cheaper (im talking like $2.50 cheaper). also, you have to pay for bread and water, but you dont have to tip your waiters... so there is that. also there is no way to buy over 4 cans of soda at one time. needless to say, i am going threw withdraw but my new years resolution was to drink less soda so i guess i am back on track with that
4. italians love american music. last night i got the "privilege" to see a bon jovi cover band. it was awkward to say the least.... somehow people knew every word to the songs but no english in conversation. this includes the lead singer.  hearing "living on a prayer" with an italian accent is something i am trying to adjust to still hours later. they also have springsteen and ricky martin cover bands... whether or not i will attend is still very debatable.

well thats what i got for now, ive had a pretty slow week as far as blog-worthy events go. i did finally figure out how to watch some tv online! (the office premier was fantastic by the way) I was also supposed to do wine tasting in tuscany this weekend but it got cancelled.... so i think its a day at the beach again for me tomorrow! which i definitely cannot complain about. minus the excessive amounts of speedos, that i feel like i cant justly whine about. hopefully ill have more to mention soon!

how to make the most out of a weekend

this weekend was pretty awesome... and its not even over yet! on friday, although it started out a bit rainy, my two roommates and I headed to the roman forum/colosseum for some sight seeing. at the roman forum, we stumbled upon a glass exhibit that was open for the final day. inside they featured some of the coolest and most ancient jewelry, glasswork, and mosaics that dated back to the first and second centuries AD.  we also saw the remains of what used to be there center of rome, which was the place where many speeches were given by julius caesar, and many of the things that we think of as "iconic rome" took place such as chariot rides and marketplaces. we then made it up to palentine hill, which is one of romes "seven" hills. there are actually more than seven hills, but because seven was the lucky number of the romans they only recognized seven. anyways, here we saw some cool botanical gardens, a natural spring fountain, and a beautiful view of rome (see picture top left). by that time of the day the sky actual started to brighten up which was when we headed over to the colosseum. while we were there we took a walking tour and got to hear about a lot of the ways that ceremonies were held and the type of architecture and designs that went into the planning. on of the best fun facts about the colosseum was that they used to make ostriches battle, which i thought would be pretty interesting. we also got to see pictures of what some of the different gladiators dressed like along with what the covering of the colosseum was thought to look like. to be honest, the inside of the colosseum actually made it feel smaller than it looks from the outside, but it was really a breathtaking experience. its unfortunate you have to pay to go inside, otherwise i feel like i would go and sit once a week! that was all for friday, we were all so tired that we just grabbed some dinner and sat around the room for the rest of the night. then on saturday, we made it to the beach! which gave me my first opportunity (and hopefully not the last!) to stick my feet in the mediterranean ocean. i think because of the rain the previous day, the water really cooled down, so i spent most of my time just taking in the sites from the shore. it was really a nice and relaxing day after all of the walking on friday. after the beach, we made a quick stop at the grocery store and grabbed some food so we could make a "pinterest inspired" dinner. my roommate lucy made some very very delicious pesto stuffed chicken and then i worked on pasta with tomatoes and then we all worked on some strawberry/blueberry sangria and cheesy garlic bread, while my roommate claire made nutella cookies and chocolate strawberries. it was all so delicious... and we now have dinner for the rest of the week! it was really nice to sit down and eat something that we all worked hard on but spent no more than an hour on. then, we all headed out and met some of my friends from bc who were visiting from florence, and we walked around and met some of the locals. overall, it was another great day. we were originally going to go to the zoo today, but we figured we should probably save something to do for another weekend... so instead we are all trying to get some work done before the rest of our roommates come home. i hope everyone had just as amazing of a weekend, ill report back with something probably not as interesting later this week!

Buon appetito!

 last night, i went to a cooking class that was arranged by my school, and as one could only imagine it was AWESOME! there were about 18 people in the whole class and we had the option to move around and work on whatever we wanted to make. our first course (out of four) was bruschetta, which i did not get to help make, but, it was very very delicious. the green tomatoes were an especially good extra touch. our second course was a type of pasta that is similar to gnocchi, but it is made with pasta
rather than potatoes.
if i dont say
so my self, i was instrumental in
this part of the meal as i rolled the
individual noodles making
 probably 100 or so in total... i was there for a full hour. another set of students made tomato basil sauce for the pasta by hand, which was the perfect final touch. the third course was some sort of beef and mushroom dish, (which because i spent so much time rolling pasta i did not help with) and it was probably my least favorite out of all of them, but still good nonetheless. finally, we had tiramisu which i learned literally translates to "pull me up" as it is meant to give you some what of an energy boost (thanks to the coffee) as a result of eating it. i helped dunk the lady finger cookies in the coffee and lay them out on the bottom of the pan and then i helped sprinkle a layer of chocolate as a few other classmates made the top layer. for someone who does not really enjoy the taste of coffee, i still thought it tasted phenomenal. at the end of the class we all got coupons to the chef/teachers restaurant around the corner from my dorm as well as all the recipes to what we made! what was really cool about the class is that every time it is taught they make a different menu so that you can have a different experience every time. i think i am definitely going to take another class as it was only 20 euro ($25) for more food than we could all even eat. the best part was that it was all relatively easy (the parts i did at least), and i really do feel like i could go home and make everything again! this weekend i am (hopefully) meeting up with two friends from BC who are visiting from florence (firenze) for the day and then possibly going to the zoo where, my roommate claims the animals make different noises (doubtful, but i will report back the findings). i am also going to attempt to dip my feet in the mediterranean ocean by making a trip to the beach! i have also been trying to get a little more trip planning done as i booked barcelona for a weekend in october and florence/cinque terre for two weeks from now. hope everyone enjoys their own weekends!

you live and you learn

sorry for my absence the past few days, i have just been doing a bunch of low key things i didn't think anyone would care to waste their time reading. i have been jotting down a few cultural notes however, based on questions people have asked me and things i have seen around that i think are pretty interesting and unique to italian culture:
1. there are fresh, spring water fountains continually running along the roads (picture right). they are apparently extremely efficient and clean drinking water that is free for the taking which is really nice! especially since you have to pay for tap water at restaurants, these things come in handy. fun fact: if you cover the bottom where the water comes out the water redirects and comes out of the top like a regular drinking fountain (which is a bit messy if you ask me but the italians seem to know how to do it just right and not end up soaked... or maybe its just me)
2. during one to four everyday almost everything (except for the one gelato place down the street) closes so that the owners can take a nap/grab lunch. which is a pretty awesome concept, sometimes inconvenient, but i find if you plan on things being closed and they happen to be open it ends out working out pretty nicely. i also have found i take a nap almost every day at this time for lack of anything else to really do (when i dont have class that is)
3. the floors are numbered differently, which actually makes a lot more sense. what would be the first floor in america is the ground floor, then what americans would call the second floor is actually the first. im pretty sure this is because there are not many basements because of how old all of the buildings are, but i was in one store that listed the lower floors in the negatives (-1 was the basement). but i guess there are never really that many underground levels anyways. either way, i think its pretty convenient until you get in the higher floors and realize that the sixth floor is seven flights of stairs...
4. my residence hall has a cannon (no joke, literal cannon) that goes off everyday at noon. the entire building is pretty modern in decor (literally everything is from ikea) but it is made entirely out of marble, so you can hear everything. so, when the cannon goes off, i swear to god the whole building shakes. now, no one seemed to what to clarify what the cannon actually means (i wanted to know if a cannon ball shot somewhere or something... there is apparently a jail two doors down from me... just learned that yesterday...) but i have not found the answer to that or the cannon as of yet. so i will just have to let you know.
5. doing the wash takes 3 hours. on the shortest cycle. and there is no drier. allegedly this is more "environmentally friendly" because it uses less water during the course of the cycle, i am personally skeptical, but with the heat and the amount of walking i have been doing lately, my clothes seem clean so i guess it works out, but out of all the prior things i mentioned, i think this is the one i am happiest not to have... unless there is a cannon ball that really fires somewhere... which i doubt... but hope.

anyways, that is all for now. i do have some exciting stuff coming up this week! i am taking a cooking class wednesday and have my first on-site class tomorrow! i also think coming soon i will have a post about what its like living with 8 other people.

finally, i just wanted to thank everyone for their positive feedback so far about the blog, i know there are a variety of people who read it and i just wanna say thank you to everyone! believe it or not i can track how many people check my page daily and it always makes me happy when i have a lot of readers!! grazie e ciao!

clearly, i am not italian

today i ventured to the bookstore by myself as a test that i could get there and back... which i did without getting lost!! im not sure if it is because of italian prices or just because i have not bought a book from the bookstore... ever, but the prices were out of control. i also made another pit stop at the trevi fountain on my way to see it in all of its glory during the day time, of course it didnt disappoint, and of course i made another wish. i also bought two really cool leather bracelets (2 for 5 euro!), half because theyre awesome and half so i can say i bought them at the trevi fountain (picture right). then, on my way back, i noticed there was a red light and all of the cars were stopped on the one way street, so i went to cross.... when i was clipped by a vespa. not cool. i walked away without a scratch (a small rip in my bag) but i was SO mad that the vespa was basically going against what seemed like such common sense to me. but i really do not believe that the italians have driving rules (i have yet to see a speed limit sign) so it was totally my fault, which was fine but infuriating. and im okay, so its just a lesson learned for next time, and im sure a few people enjoyed the show as the italian vespa driver screamed at me. on my walk today i did get to take in a bit of italian culture the three main takes away of the day:
1. i am taller than 2/3rds of romes inhabitants
2. people in rome walk slower than toddlers learning to walk
3. three months will never be long enough to try to understand this country
with that, i head out for the night as this school doesnt believe in friday classes (this is something i do understand)
CIAO.

Rome'in around

yesterday was super exciting on a few different levels as classes started and i toured some of the city! my first class (wine and the drinking culture in classical antiquity) was cancelled because my teacher was stuck in traffic... which let me tell you can get brutal. i would never want to drive here. EVER. i now understand why everyone drives vespas and bikes, but even that seems like its annoying. my second class of the day was italian, where my teacher spoke only in italian for the majority of the class. luckily, it is so similar to spanish that i had a pretty good idea of what was going on even though i walked out of the class with a super big headache.  then after that i had time to nap (thank god) and then my final class of the day which was the american 20th century which was comprised of mostly italian natives, which was pretty cool. then some of my roommates and i got dressed up and we went to dinner a place nearby where we had already been and loved (i got the same pasta with mozzarella and tomatoes as the other day). after that, we made the trek to the trevi fountain, which i must say is so so so so SO much prettier in person. luckily they have steps you can sit on and just stare at. half of the building that the fountain is apart of is even under construction but it still looks breathtaking. i got to throw a coin into the fountain too and make my wish (pictured below)! the only thing that is bothersome about some of these places/around the city in general is the fact that these people (generally indian men) illegally walk around and try to take your picture/sell you roses in order to make money. the worst part is that they are extremely pushy and even come into restaurants and come up to you while you are eating your pasta. needless to say, "no grazie" (no thank you) is one of the very few phrases i have perfected. from the fountain, we stopped and grabbed gelato (picture right) and some drinks before heading to the spanish steps, which were also very cool. at about 150 steps they provide a beautiful view of the city and a direct overlook of one of the classiest streets in rome (im talking louis vuitton, prada, fendi, gucci, pucci, burberry, dior, to list a few). what was also interesting was that some spanish speaking guys from argentina asked us to take their picture and i was the only one who knew how to translate! for once my spanish was directly useful which was different. we then stumbled upon the fountain of four rivers which was also super cool as it was in a plaza that is a perfect oval with two smaller fountains as well. it was overall a really awesome night and a great way to forget the summer is "technically" over.

grown up problems

today i finally made it to the grocery store! it was disastrous.  i could not read what anything was and had no idea what i even wanted to buy other than pasta... i could not find chicken or lunch meat anywhere, and felt like i didnt know what else i knew how to make. anyways, i made pasta with pesto sauce and mini shrimp for dinner (picture) and all of my roommates claimed they were jealous so i guess i made it okay. on the note of culture, i went out last night and heard call me maybe..... which was actually exciting in a weird way because it was comforting haha. i should note that it was an american bar, and i also got to watch college football (not bc, which was probably for the better) which was really awesome. but i feel like all italians love all americans. which is not even flattering in my opinion because its just seriously across the board an obsession. it was really nice though because last night 8 of us went to dinner, we ordered 3 bottles of wine and 6 pasta dishes, but we were also giving another free (better quality) bottle of wine, and two free scoops of gelato per person... total bill: 70 euro ($80). literally because we are americans... so in that case it was obviously very nice. i dont really understand it honestly haha but it is what it is. i also did some trip planning today with some of my roommates in an effort to get the cheapest places, so we decided to do paris fashion weekend in october, and we signed up for a cooking class (thank god), the chocolate festival near rome, and the romeo and juliet ballet. which is super exciting!

on the run...

i literally feel like i have not had a second to catch my breath. i have wanted to take everything in and havent even taken the time to sit! yesterday a few of my roommates and i went to go shopping and ended up basically stumbling upon the colosseum... so cool! i am going to go back to do the whole tour obviously but it is literally about a 30 minute walk from my room. speaking of walking, ive done a TON. thank god i bought sperrys (or rather my mom did for me... thanks again!) because i am the only one in my room that does not have huge blisters. we did go out for a nice italian dinner last night, which was not only delicious, but inexpensive! it is so nice because all of the portions here are a realistic size... unlike america where everything practically comes in bulk. i also ran into three bc kids last night who i didnt even know were in rome! they go to a different school but it was so crazy to see them! it definitely made me once again feel like i was home. the big problem that i have been having lately is that i keep responding to italian in spanish.... needless to say that doesnt work out too well for be although the languages are pretty similar. not speaking italian is not a problem at all when it comes down to it, because most store owners speak enough english, the problem is when i buy things (like shampoo and conditioner) i have no idea what the products say on them! well, i of course have more orientation stuff to go to, which is sometimes helpful but i really (kind of) want classes to start so i can get into a schedule instead of running around and grabbing pizza before an info session starts... which is what im about to do. CIAO (the one word i actually know)

p.s. the picture is some kind of ruins where a ton of cats live....