Looking Back, Moving Forward.

It's hard to believe that this is my last day in Italy. Today feels like a mixture of two contradicting ideas. I think back to the first night we were here, on the rooftop terrace of the Hotel Baglioni, and it feels like 4,000 years ago. But when I think harder, it's hard for me to explain exactly where November and December went. These past few weeks I was so excited to push through my remaining school work and head home to my friends and family. Now that the day is here, however, I've come up with a new plan: Everyone I love can just move to Italy. Bring clothes dryers and peanut butter and we'll be all set.

Seriously though, there are a lot of things I am going to miss, a LOT of things and people I am looking forward to at home, and a solid list of things I am excited to leave behind. So in a last-ditch effort to sum up this experience, here's a series of lists. Mainly because I'm too lazy to write in paragraph form.

Things I will miss:

1) Italian coffee- shot of espresso for 80 cents? sure.

2) the duomo- oh hey, enormous, wondrous feat of architecture that I walk past on a daily basis. what's up?

3) delicious pasta for virtually every meal, i don't hate it.

4) secret bakeries!! (every night a select few locations in Florence make all the pastries for all the cafes to be sold the following morning. If you are lucky enough to stumble upon one in the wee hours of the morning by following your nose (or by googling it if you're lazy) you can get delicious pastries fresh from the oven. be warned, however, the bakers are often akin to the Seinfeld soup nazi.

5) sporadic church bells ringing at virtually every time except when you would expect them to ring. it that santa croce I hear? must be 5:17.

In addition to these five silly things (most of which involve food, clearly) I will obviously miss the experience of living in this wonderful city, in what I maintain is the most beautiful country in the world. I will miss the friends I have made here, certainly (tear...) and will miss the knowledge that, even after 4 months, there are random moments where the sheer awesomeness (I don't think that's a word) of this situation takes my breath away.

Things I will NOT miss:

1) dog poop. It appears as though the pooper-scooper has been deemed an unnecessary invention by the majority of the Italian population.

2) San Lorenzo Markets- Although these can be a fun folly if you're a tourist in the city, the market stalls where merchants ceaselessly try to get you to buy a new leather coat (even in 80 degree heat) or any other such goods are a HUGE nuisance when I'm trying to get virtually anywhere in the city.

3) Foreign tour groups- you know the type. They need photos in front of everything that even resembles a monument or landmark, they stop in the middle of the street, they travel in packs of about 50-100, and make no attempt to move out of your way if you need to get past. Sure I was a tourist this semester, but someone shoot me if I ever feel the need to follow a tour guide's ribbon on a stick.

4) narrow sidewalks- one cobblestone width raised 1/2 and inch above the street does not constitute a pedestrian walkway. sorry florence.

5) communication barriers- before you even ask, I am nowhere near proficient enough in Italian to actually speak to a native about anything other than, say, the weather. in very rudimentary terms. gesticulating, using broken english-italian hybrid words, and occasionally ending up with a croissant when I wanted a coffee are no longer cutting it.

Things I am looking forward to:

1) Reunions with family and friends that I haven't seen in far too long. I suppose this speaks for itself, but everyone better be ready to receive an enormous hug immediately upon seeing me. Whether you like it or not.

2) Personal space- another concept that Europeans have yet to master. Even if we've never met, it's totally acceptable to stand 2 cm behind me while we wait in "line" (read: mob) for train tickets. or something.

3) Starbucks- yes, I love italian coffee. it makes my morning, every morning. However, there is definitely something to be said for slowly savoring a delicious, enormous cup of starbuck's christmas blend. Yum.

4) Stonehill. College.: Quesadillas from the Hill, dance parties, running into multitudes of familiar faces around campus, playing in the snow, spending all night in MacPhadin library (oh, how I miss it.), getting unreasonably excited over free t-shirts, any and all things purple, etc. etc. etc. It might still be a month away, but I can't wait.

5) CHRISTMAS!!!!! Christmas is the best!! enough said.

So there you have it: a list of lists. More of an outline, really.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going out to savor the last 18 hours I have left. My friends and I are celebrating/saying goodbye with a trip to scenic Piazza Michaelangelo (where we went one of the first nights) and dinner out-- gotta use those Euros somehow!! :-)

I'll see you when I see you. In the USA.

Ciao forever,
Liz

Playing Catch-up

I'm aware that I've been a little neglectful when it comes to this blog recently and for that I apologize. But I have to say, I have been quite the busy little beaver throughout the month of November!

The weekend after Vienna, took off for my final API excursion to Rome. Although this was my third visit to the Eternal City (2nd this year) it remains one of my favorite cities in the world. While the guided tours were more than a little repetitive, the sights did not fail to take my breath away. I was especially surprised to see Paolo, who had been one of my class's guides on my LC trip to Italy in January and was well known for his mind-numbingly boring lectures on obscure pieces of art.


Now to jump ahead to this past weekend, one of the best weekends I have had since being abroad-- I was able to visit my good friends studying in the greater London area for Thanksgiving dinner!!

Although these plans had been in effect for months, I was feeling a little homesick leading into the holiday. I couldn't picture being away from my family for thanksgiving and we were unsure if we would be able to eat a traditional turkey dinner. Thankfully, the minute I arrived in London all of my worries disappeared as I geared up to cook a huge feast with my Stonehill family. Although the food was nowhere near as good as mom's, I was extremely proud that we pulled together a respectable thanksgiving dinner. It was so nice to be around good friends that I hadn't seen in a while that it took my mind off not being at home. I think we all felt the same way.

"family portrait" of the Stonehill Thanksgiving Crew: Janna, Corinna, Kellie, Brian and I

After a lovely few days in London, I headed back to Florence to cheer on my good friend Christine as she ran the Florence marathon. It was a great day (for me at least) as we watched 10,000 people from all over the world compete in a race that I would never in a million years be able to finish. I'm so proud of Christine as this is her first time (in fact, she never really ran before beginning her training) and she finished within her goal of 5 hours (exact time 4:46:51) Congrats Christine!!

So there you have it, that's what I've been up to the past few weeks. I will add pictures to my webshots within the next few days, but other than that I will be pretty occupied with the "study" part of study abroad. Only 3 weeks until I am back in the USA-- Crazy thought!!

The land of Weiner dogs and Weiner Scnitzel: Vienna!

Guten Tag!


This weekend I had the pleasure of taking the train with some friends from Florence to the lovely city of Vienna, Austria!


I was very excited to visit Vienna as I had heard nothing but rave reviews from anyone who had been. I have to say, I was not disapointed!

We were lucky enough to be in the city during the opening weeknd of the Vienna Christmas Markets, which were essentially the happiest places on earth. Different sections of the city put on christmas markets, which include beautiful christmas lights and stands filled with christmas-y trinkets and delicious food and drink! At first I was a little taken aback at how early the Europeans are starting to celebrate the holidays, but then I remembered that they have no benchmark like Thanksgiving to mark the begining of the Christmas season. I can't say I'm mad, however, as anyone who knows me knows that Christmas is my favorite time of year.

In addition to the markets and other essential sightseeing around the city, we also had the opportunity to see the ballet Swan Lake in the famous Vienna Opera House. Although we pre-ordered our tickets, we neglected to notice that they were marked as 'obstructed view' and we therefore were surprised to find that we could see virtually none of the stage when seated in our chairs. fortunately, we were each in the last rows of our respective balconies and were able to stand on our chairs for most of the show. From that vantage point we were able to see almost everything! (well, everything left of center stage, anyway....) Even with the limited view, the ballet was absolutely beautiful and truly a once-in-a-lifetime event (I find myself saying that a lot on this blog.. hmm....). I used the intermission time wisely and tasted my first glass of Austrian wine as well as a delicious Austrian chocolate-cake-candy-type substance. Delicious.

attempting to be classy at the Ballet.

All of these experiences made the 11-hour each way train ride seem completely worth it, although we did run into a little trouble on the way home with a woman who insisted on taking up 2 and a half seats in a very full compartment and putting her feet on my friend Erica's head. Luckily we managed to find an empty compartment a few stops later, but part of me really hopes that woman accidentally slept through her stop. Karma can be tough! :-) Despite all this, riding the train really made us feel like backpackers and helped us relate to all the stories our parents have told us about their own experiences in travelling Europe. Very cool.

In all, it was another great weekend, and definately one I won't soon forget. This weekend we are off to Rome with API, our study abroad program. It will be my 3rd trip to Rome (maybe it's time to stop throwing coins in the Trevi fountain??) but nonetheless I am VERY excited.

Ciao for now (ooh! that rhymes!)

Liz

Stonehill Invades Firenze!!!

Stonehill girls at Piazzale Michaelangelo, overlooking the city of Florence!

Hello again!

This weekend was a very special weekend for me, as 3 of my best friends from Stonehill who are studying in London/England came to visit me here in Italy! They arrived in Florence on Friday afternoon after stopping briefly in Pisa to pose with some leaning tower or something... weird... ;-)

On friday I showed them to their hostel and then took them on a brief walk around my neighborhood and through the San Lorenzo markets. Then we walked past the Duomo (I didn't even stop to look at it, but my friends were blown away. I guess I had forgotten how cool it can be when you've never seen it before!) to a cafe where we enjoyed some good italian coffee before heading to Grom, the best gelato in the city. It was a great afternoon all around. That night we all went out and I was very happy to spend time with my new friends in Florence and my old friends from Stonehill!

The next day I took them on a walking tour of sorts (thanks to my Quarters of Florence class I know FAR too much about this city) and I felt like I was back at stonehill leading campus tours! I showed them the major landmarks including Santa Maria Novella, Ponte Vecchio, Piaza Michaelangelo, Palazzo Vecchio, and perhaps most importantly the Sandwich Shoppe, a favorite of any student studying in Florence. yum! :-)

By the afternoon it had started raining and we were all tired from walking around the city so we headed back to my apartment and watched a movie. It felt like we were back at school!

Boland 120 reunited in Italia! <3

When we were done with the movie we went to mass at the Duomo, and after that I wowed my friends with my culinary skills by cooking enough spaghetti carbonara to feed a small army. After dinner we went over to my friend christine's apartment for a low-key night of wine, halloween-type games, and good fun.

All in all it was a great weekend that gave me the chance to reconnect with some of my best friends. Next weekend I will be headed to Vienna, Austria with my friends in Florence, and I just found out that my friend Rachel from Stonehill will be there at the same time! So exciting!

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Fall break 2009- France!

Geeking out in the hall of mirrors

After two very busy days in Madrid, it was time to head off to the city of lights, Paris!

I was very excited to get to Paris and finally be able to use some of my French language skills (which were very rusty, but helpful nonetheless.)

We thankfully had the foresight to purchase Paris museum passes while we were in Madrid, to gain fast-pass entry for all the major sights in the city as well as to Versailles. This proved to be invaluable, as after only 3 museums the pass paid for itself!

Our first morning in Paris we headed out early to get to Versailles palace. I was very excited to see a Starbucks across the street from the train station, which gave me some extra energy for our long day. It was my first cup of Starbucks in almost 3 months so it was quite enjoyable. Anyway! the important landmark!

Photos of this really do not do it justice. I was blown away by the sheer size and scope of the palace. It was easy to imagine it during Louis XVI's time, with the entire royal court milling around outside, angry mobs at the gates, and the Royal family holed up inside happily spending all of their nation's wealth... ahh. I guess this is where the history nerd in me comes out to play. Anyway, we toured the palace and saw the hall of mirrors, which is GORGEOUS, not at all overrated, and then had a nice picnic lunch in the gardens. We then wandered the gardens for hours. It's easy to get lost there, and while we walked around we suddenly understood how Marie Antoinette could have been so out of touch with reality. Her hamlet in the gardens was so secluded!

After Versailles, we stopped at the Eiffel Tower right as it was starting to get dark and took some wonderful photos. It really is enormous, and if the weather had been better I would have gone straight to the top. Unfortunately, we had neither the time nor the ideal conditions to do so... so I guess that just means I'll have to go back to Paris someday.

Le Tour Eiffel


We headed back to the hostel to cook dinner (sidenote, we made WAY too much pasta.) and spend a night relaxing before our jam-packed day the next day.

In the morning, our first stop was the Louvre. We got there just as the museum opened and bolted to the mona lisa. Why we did this, I do not know, as it's not really that exciting, but it just felt like the right thing to do. We saw ton of other great art there, obviously, but we left after a few hours feeling generally exhausted after looking at so many masterpieces.

After a quick lunch we headed to The Orangerie, which is a tiny musem housing some of Monet's largest water lilly paintings. Needless to say, they were incredible. We then strolled down the Champs-Elysees (longer than it looks) toward the Arc de Triumph. We climbed to the top of the arch and enjoyed panoramic views of the city, despite the low temperature and not-so-great weather. It was still beautiful.

Our last stop of the day was the Musee d'Orsay. Again, awesome.

Throughout the day, all I could think about was how much I loved the city of Paris. It reminded me so much of NYC in that most of the tourists we saw were not foreign (although we did invent a game involving foreign tourists... ask me about it.) Instead, they were French families out enjoying a day in the city. The whole city just felt very homey to me, perhaps because I speak a bit of French and the whole comparison to NY thing. I just really enjoyed the day.

We ate out at a small restaurant near our hostel that night where I feasted on a delicious STEAK (I have been red-meat deprived this semester, mainly because I don't feel like cooking my own) with a cream sauce (does not exist in Italy--very exciting.) It was a satisfying day all around.

Although it was halloween, we didn't really celebrate. Paris in general didn't seem too keen on the idea of Halloween and by that point, most of us were too exhausted to celebrate in full form.

Never fear, however, as we are currently planning Halloween Part Deux, which will take place in Florence sometime in the near future.

Back to Paris!

On our last day of vacation, we had a very leisurely day. We slept in and started our day with Mass at Notre Dame cathedral. I have to say that although I understood little of what was happening (it was a sort of latin-french hybrid mass, very confusing) it was one of the most beautiful masses I have ever been to. The cathedral itself is absolutely gorgeous, and since it was a holy day (all saints? or is it all Souls? some Catholic I am...) they pulled out all the stops.

Tiny ants at Notre Dame

After mass we checked out Shakespere and Co., which is an amazing little english language bookstore near the cathedral dedicated to providing a home for aspiring writers. tres cool. We then headed over to Montmartre (spelling) area on a wild goose chase for children's books. (I wanted Harry Potter in French and my friend Christine wanted The Little Prince in French. I know, her choice makes more sense.) Unfortunately the store was closed for the day (everything was closed on sundays, just like Bergen County) so we used the opportunity to get some crepes with nutella and bananas (SO GOOD) and some starbucks (so necessary) and snap a photo of the Moulin Rouge.

We then went back to our hostel, packed up our things, and headed home to Florence.


So there you have it, my adventures around the world. 5 cities, 3 countries, 10 days. Exhausting, yes. Exhilarating, even more so. It feels great to be back in Florence, and even better knowing that some of my best friends from Stonehill will be visiting this coming weekend! And as hard as it is to believe, I will be heading back home to the US in just 6 short weeks. Better make the most of the time I have left! :-)

Fall break 2009- Spain

So after a lovely few days in Ireland, we headed off to Spain! Our first stop was Barcelona, home of sunny beaches and delicious Paella. When we were scheduling this trip way back in September, I was aprehensive to be spending so much time and money on a country about which I knew so little. I cannot express how glad I am that my friends convinced me to go to Spain. Not only was the weather warm and the landscape beautiful, but the people were friendly, the food was delicious and inexpensive, and it was an all around great time.

In Barcelona, we stayed at an excellent hostel in a great location-- right off the famous Las Ramblas. The array of crazy street performers and costumed locals we passed on our way in made us very excited to spend time in the city. We spent our first day seeing the major sights- the unfinished sagrada familia, a huge cathedral designed by Gaudi and started in 1882 and is not scheduled to be complete until 2026. It is absolutely breathtaking, especially since the design is so intricate that it is still under construction 100 years later! After that, we headed up to Parca Guell, which is a huge park overlooking the city that houses lots of Gaudi archetecture and art. It was beautiful, and a lovely relaxing way to spend the afternoon... once we finally completed the hour long uphill walk to get there!

After a delicious seafood dinner, we headed back to the hostel to prepare for some of Barcelona's famous nightlife. Conveniently enough, our hostel sponsored free entrance to what is supposedly one of the city's best "discotheques," located right on the beach. Not really my scene, but it was a fun (and late!) night nonetheless.

In the morning we took in a few of the city's other minor sights, such as the Columbus monument and the pier (pictured above) before moving on to Madrid!!




Madrid, the capital of Spain, was absolutely beautiful. I had been there previously (for a grand total of 12 hours) but did not truly get to appreciate the archetecture and art. Seeing the art in the Reigna Sofia museum and the Prada was so cool, as was touring the royal palace and eating chocolato con churros.

By far the coolest experience in Madrid was eating dinner at the world's oldest restaurant, Sobrino de Botín. It has been in operation since 1725 and still uses the same oven from back in the day. The food was pretty good, but not as good as I had expected. It was the atmosphere that really made the experience worthwhile. After this last great experience, it was time to head off to FRANCE! I was very excited to be able to use my seven years of French experience to good use!

Keep checking back for my next update!
Liz

Fall Break 2009- Ireland

Hello everyone!

I am just home from my fall break and although it was exhausting, it was definitely the most exciting 10 days of my life! I cannot possibly write about all I saw and did in one post, so I have decided to break it up by country.



SO! Country number one-- Ireland!!

We left Florence on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Dublin early in the evening. We went out to dinner at a pub recommended to us by a friend of a friend, and afterward a few of us headed out to the Temple Bar area to take in some craic. Being back in Dublin after only having been there two years prior was great, as all the sights, sounds, and good pubs were still fresh in my memory. Additionally, the first hint of English as the primary language we got was one of the most refreshing moments of the trip! 'twas great fun!

In the morning, we headed out early to take in the sights. We opted to use the hop-on-hop-off bus tour that offered discounts to many landmarks and was an easy way to see the whole city. It was great to be able to see some different things than I had seen the last time I was in Dublin, such as the National gallery and inside Christ's Church. Very neat!

Of course a necessary stop on the tour was the Guinness storehouse, which was conveniently celebrating its 250th year and as such offered a special tasting of the anniversary brew! It was delicious and definately something that I am glad I got to experience before the end of the year! The view from the gravity bar was as breathtaking as I had remembered, and apparently sometime between March 2008 and now my tastebuds have changed so that I actually enjoyed my free pint of Guinness. As a way to commemorate our great day in Dublin, we each snuck our glass out of the gravity bar to keep as a momento. How rebellious!

That night we headed out again to Temple Bar to celebrate a friend's 20th birthday. You know you're in Ireland when the whole pub is lead in a version of happy birthday by the live performer of the evening. So much fun! We definately enjoyed ourselves that evening and although we had to get up early the next morning to catch our bus to Galway, we made the most of our time in Dublin's fair city (cue music.)

As I said, we were up early the next morning to catch the bus to Galway, which I for one was very excited to see because of the high concentration of Stonehill students studying there. After we checked into our B+B in Galway (So cute, with the nicest owners, even if it was a little out of the way) we met up with my friend Ben from Stonehill. We all went out for a late full Irish breakfast and afterward he showed us around the town and explained somethings that we never would have known otherwise.

For example, the swans in Galway bay are said to be the souls of fishermen lost at sea trying to get home-- Who knew?! We had a great afternoon walking around town and checking out the cute shops and the like. We even ran into a few other stonehill kids on the street, which was really nice. It was great to catch up with people, even it it was only for a few minutes!

That evening was a different story, as finding a place to eat was slightly more difficult than expected. We ended up at the only restaurant in town that could fit us, the Quay's bar (although I had been warned against it by my darling brother) and were unpleasantly surprised to see that the only thing on the menu under 20 euro was soup. Needless to say, our waitress was none too pleased to bring 7 bowls of soup to the table.... Whoops! :-)

Despite that minor setback, we still had a great time. After dinner a few of the Stonehill kids went out to a pub, the hole in the wall, and caught up on everything. It was great to be able to talk about school with people who a) knew what we were talking about and b) didn't get frustrated that all we talk about is Stonehill. Great time.

Unfortunately the evening was cut short by the fact that we had yet ANOTHER early morning ahead of us, but luckily it was one of our last of the trip. We were sad to say goodbye to the Emerald Isle and the English language, but excited to head to BARCELONA!

Coming soon will be a post on Spain as well as some additional photos of Ireland. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures in Galway because of the rain and my obsessive compulsive overprotectiveness of my camera, but I will be stealing photos from friends shortly, so check back!

Ciao!
Liz