06 April, 2010

Okay, Okay.. it's been over a month

I've gotten numerous complaints about my lack of posting.. I am currently working on a MONSTER entry that includes Spring Break, trip to Germany, Rome trip with my classmates, and then Greece for Easter weekend.

But for now, since who knows if/when I'll get it posted...
Highlights:

Spring Break (27 February - 7 March) : family here, went to Pisa, Venice, and Rome. David had pizza for nearly every meal, Mom looked more stylish than ever!, Kimby managed to purchase both boots and a purse before I was able to find either (that has been my goal of what I wanted to buy before arriving in Italy.. finally did it!), and Dad's famous "OHIO" pose... that picture is to come...
Here are just a few snapshots from our Rome trip, and also the pictures I took from Amsterdam..

Amsterdam and Spring break


Germany (11 March - 14 March) : went alone and stayed with a girl named Katrin who studied abroad in America a few years back. Her family was super warm and fed me all my meals, and wouldn't allow me to pay for practically anything! Went on a trip to Bonn (including Beethoven's house), Koln (Chocolate Museum and giant cathedral!), a town whose name I can't recall with the German winery (the whole family went and we were given a tour), and then the bridge at Bremen which was a bridge blown up during WW2. I took a bunch of pictures (mainly for Grandpa) which can be seen here:

Germany - WW2


I didn't include captions, so it may be boring.

ALSO.. drove on the Autobahn which was TERRIFYING, but absolutely awesome. I've never been in a vehicle moving that quickly in my entire life.. I was too afraid to look at the speedometer (for fear of distracting Katrin's father), but when I tried to sneak a peek we were over 200 km/hour... I couldn't see the little pointer anymore..

I have more pictures, but will include them after I have some time to write up captions!

Rome (again) (19 March - 21 March) : The school paid for a trip for our whole group to go to Rome. We stayed at a pretty nice hotel and were given walking tours of the whole city. I didn't really pay attention very well since I had just been to all these places, but it was still beautiful. Weather was pretty nice the whole time. I bonded really well with some new friends :) They all go to Ursinus, and I'll actually be living with one of them next year, as a result of how much fun we had together this trip! (Her name is Amy... you'll see pictures of her eventually.. there may even already be some up!) We went to the SAME restaurant we went to with my family.. it's called Carlo Mente and has personal pizzas for only 2,50 euro!!! Amy and I ate there for 3 of our 5 meals....

Greece (1 April - 5 April) : Went to an island called Corfu. Took us over 24 hours to reach there... a 5 hour bus ride from Florence to Ancona, Italy followed by a 14 hour ferry from Ancona to Igoumenitsa, Greece, then another ferry from Igoumenitsa to Corfu, Greece, and then a 30 minute bus ride to our hostel. I went with a tour group that is geared for students studying abroad, but I didn't know ANYONE before going. I was a little apprehensive before going, but I made friends almost immediately!! I ended up spending most of my time with a rather large group of girls, and even brought other girls into the group, making our number upwards of 12 people! We had such a great time. I am pretty burned, because I laid on the beach almost the whole day every day. Not sure what the exact temperature was, but there was absolutely NO humidity, and laying out made you extremely hot to the point you WANTED to go in the water. The Mediterranean is completely clear and gorgeous. I'm working on pictures now... but be prepared to be extremely jealous. The hostel was directly on the beach, and I had a view of the ocean from my window. We also had a toga party one night in which we were given a pink silk sheet and had to make it into some kind of toga... no cutting allowed and no one had pins so it was rather difficult! The sunsets over the beach were glorious as well.
Only downside was the traveling back... the 14 hour ferry turned into a 16 or 17 hour ferry because of bad weather. We were unable to go the correct way back because the waves were so big, which made the boat rock all over the place. I, along with half of the people on the ship, became extremely seasick! When we finally reached Ancona, the bus ride that should take 5 hours ended up taking us nearly 7 because of horrible traffic.. Needless to say, I left Corfu at 4pm Italy time on Sunday and didn't arrive back home in Florence until 9pm Italy time Monday.

Pictures coming soon. I didn't take enough, so I'm waiting for all my new friends to post theirs so I can share with all of you!!

Hope this satisfies everyone's need for an update. I have started a much more detailed entry, but I have an Italian composition due today (which I need to do), and an Art History research paper due tomorrow (I guess I should start that?)... so I don't know when I'll have time... especially because I am leaving for Cagliari, Sardinia on Friday with my friend Brittany, and we're staying until Monday night. The following weekend (April 17-18), I'm going to Vienna, Austria with my friends Amy and Kristin. I'm running the Vienna half marathon the 18th! The following Saturday, April 24th, is the day I come home... I cannot believe how fast the time has gone!! Only 18 more days which is absolutely crazy to me, and unbelievably sad :(

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