c'e il fine ..

hi. it's me again. i know it's been quite a while. i wanted to blog while i was still in rome but the last two weeks there were out of control and i had no internet access whatsoever. boo roma for having terrible wireless.

so yes, anna is back in the states. not happy about it, but she's here. i've been back for almost two weeks now and i still feel like i just left rome yesterday. but, this blog is for the update of the last two weeks i spent in rome, so let's get on with it shall we?

let's see. last i updated lisey and rach came to visit for the weekend. uber fun, as expected. the next week was horrendously stressful. between studying for finals and attempting to see everything on my list i never got to see the whole semester i was a huge stressball. it was crazy. wrote my nasty philo paper on whether God has being or is contained in being. what bullshit that was. chucked out my theo final, which actually wasn't that bad at all. then of course to celebrate the end of classes we went to sloppy sam's, anima, and scholar's and all that jazz. first we had our last aperitivo with dawson in the vatican, then walked over the bridge past castel saint'angelo to piazza navona and then to eat dinner at the pantheon yumm! lots of things went down that night that i won't go into detail about. but it was interesting. lol. anyways, that sunday i finally made it to pisa! teresa came with me, even though she missed our train and had to take a later one. we climbed the tower (a bajillion steps mind you, i was so winded). the view was gorgeous! and the weird thing was when you were standing on the top you could feel the lean! mindboggling i know. haha. afterwards we went to the duomo and took the obligatory pictures with the tower - holding it up, kicking it, leaning against it, licking it? all in all it was a great time, and i really needed a day off from schoolwork.

monday was back to the grind. crammed all day for the history final. if i ever have to read another word about a roman emperor i might kill someone. seriously. the test wound up not being so bad, but maybe that was because i studied like a madman for it. we'll see what kind of grade she gives me. then wednesday was the as roma soccer game!!! they played cagliari and won 2-0. it was sooo much fun! we met these cute young guys who were sitting next to us and they were insane about soccer. one of them asked laura to marry him! lol. we heard lots of our favorite roman curse words, which made us laugh every 5 seconds. it was so much fun. and even though it was legit the night before our theo final we didnt even care. screw the popes. i'm enjoying my last week in rome.

thursday then was the second part of our theo final. 80 popes to memorize. fuck that's about? i did not enjoy studying that after the game til like 4am. he gave us 25 on the test and we had to write about 16. woohoo. found out later i got an A. go me. so glad that was over. once that final was over i was free!! no more exams or studying or anything! it was party time until sunday. and boy did we party. we had our last family dinner together on thursday because diego was going to a concert the next day during our final cena with the whole program so he couldn't come. but it was so much fun. she gave us wine and made us the most delicious food! it made us feel special again. we talked for a really long time. diego gave us his email address (magicodiego lmao. because anything with soccer "non e' professionale"). he showed us some things in his room - a dart board with lazio in the middle, his posters, videos of ligabue at a concert etc. it was a sad goodbye, but we're gonna keep in touch. i think j9 was sadder than me that day bc "diegino" is her fave.

next day was tour time! j9 and i got up early and hit up the janicolo (thanks to niccolo's shit directions it took us forever). it was really pretty! we walked around a bit, then rode the 44 to venezia, went in the museum and took pictures near the monument. then after lunch we hit up piazza farnese bc i was dying to see what pope paul iii took from the baths of caracalla. there were two bins from the frigidarium that were outside, so that was so cool to see! the palazzo had al of the sculptures like the hercules and whatnot, but we didn't go in. afterwards we headed back home to pack. what an adventure. thank god i sent so much stuff home because there was no way everything was gonna make it over. then we got ready and nunzia took us to the final dinner near the gesu'. it was a yummy dinner, and ale was there! he kept pouring me wine and refilling me when i wasnt looking. i think he was trying to get me drunk that sneak. lol. the boys all dressed up in their new italian suits and they looked so handsome and sexxy. love a guy in a tie. lol. we took lots of pictures and said some tearful goodbyes (to aurora, silvia, mario, and ale!) i was tearing up a bit, but had to keep my composure in front of everyone. i promised myself i could lose it when i was alone. anyways, then afterwards we all decided to go out in trastevere to this class bar called izzo. nice choice manny! we all crowded the 8 tram from argentina and took it near trilussa. we stormed the bar and took over downstairs. there was a bearskin rug on the floor- we knew they meant business. so all like 30 of us, decked out in suits and cocktail dresses and skirts ordered the classiest drinks and danced the night away. it was such a great time, and it made me realize how much i was going to miss everyone i met in rome. we really are an amazing group, and we got along so well together. it was like we really fit together. we got home late, as usual, then it was little sleep time before our last day in rome.

our last day in rome, saturday, was a great one. we met at the spanish steps and had lunch, then headed out to villa borghese for a game of sardines. i know, we're so cool. villa borghese is beautiful! we played for a little while, then stood by this "magical tree" and passed around a bottle of wine, sharing stories like we were around a campfire. lol. it was awesome. j9 even took a swig- i was so proud! her transformation was complete lol. afterwards we went back to the steps to see if we could find the pope crowning mary on top of the column, but the place was insane! i never realized how popular the feast of the immaculate conception is. anyways, we wound up walked to piazza del popolo (which i hadnt seen since la notte bianca) and took the metro home. we waited forever for the 31 (no shock there) and got home to finish packing and get ready for dinner. then we met the girls at the trevi and walked to l'archetto for our final dinner in rome. so sad! the food was amazing, as always. afterwards we walked past the pantheon for one last time and headed over to piazza navona for the christmas mercato! i bought lots of ornaments for everyone, and jessie and i rode the carousel in the middle of piazza navona like 5 yr olds. so if anyone ever asked how i spent my last day in rome, i'll tell them i played sardines in villa borghese and rode a carousel in piazza navona lol. anyways, afterwards we met up with the crew on the spanish steps and drank wine, just like we did on our first night. love that we started and ended the same way. then we went to old bell near via barberini and ddv came to meet us at the bar. i had absinthe- an alcohol that's apparently illegal in the us. awesome! hey, i was gonna go out with a bang right? the waitress brought my drink to the table and there was a black spoon with a sugar cube on top of the shot. she lit the sugar on fire and it crystallized and dripped down to the absinthe. then she lit the absinthe on fire and added a little water. holy crap it was so strong! all i needed was that shot and i would have been so set for the night lol. all in all it was a great night and a perfect ending to the most amazing 4 months of my life.

we wound up sleeping like 2 hours that night only to get up mad early to get to the airport on sunday. nunzia and niccolo woke up early just to have breakfast with us how sweet is that! nunzia was crying a bit when she said goodbye to us. it was so sad! it was quite an adventure to get the beast and the collosal down 4 floors to the taxi but i managed. we made it to the airport, and of course the beast handles broke on me. awesome. i only went over on one bag, i think it was 32kg. the other was totally fine, which i was surprised about. go me! lol. it was basically all the loyola kids at the airport who were flying home on the 9th bc the depaul and catholic kids were staying extra time to travel. lucky. we left at 9:55am roma time and landed about 2:15ish newark time. i had no problems with customs thank god, and was legit bombarded by the rentals as soon as i walked out of baggage claim. they even bought me flowers. how redic. they took me straight to grandma's to see the fam and they were all so happy to see me. it was good to be home.

that feeling, however, lasted for maybe like the first three days. now i'm bored as hell and i hate americans. lol. all i want to do is go back to rome. not even like i want to. i NEED to. rome became such a part of me. it's my home. i tried explaining this to my mother but she just doesn't understand. i waited for this semester for so long. i wanted to study in rome since the 6th grade. i had the most amazing and perfect 4 months of my life, and now it's over. what do i have to look forward to now? mcats? labs? graduation? yipee.

i am so glad i studied abroad. i had to work my ass off to get there, and had to work around my schedule to fit it, but i'm so glad i did. studying in rome was the best decision i have ever made. i would have regretted it and hated myself if i didn't go because of orgo or physics or that crap. rome changed me. i feel like i'm a completely different person. i don't know if that's a good or bad thing. we'll have to see what happens. but i will always remember the people i met, the places i visited, the things i saw while abroad. i love italy. i love europe. so much. i could definitely see myself living there. i wish i could live there. it's so different from here, and i think that's why i love it so much. i miss roma already, and i want to go back so badly. i technically do have an excuse to go back to italy though - my family in bari, first of all. plus kat is studying in firenze next semester and hannah is studying in roma. i'm so jealous of them, specifically hannah bc she's going to be doing everything i just did. lucky girl. she's going to have an amazing time.

well i guess this is the end to my little travel blog. it's been a great ride, and i wouldn't trade these last 4 months for anything in the world.

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."

ciao bella roma. mi manchi molto. tutto insieme per sempre. ♥

don't mess with my swiss guard ..

its monday booooo.

lisey and rach visited us this weekend and it was soooo much fun. it was great to have them here and i think they had a good time, even though it rained like a bitch. we did sooooo much it was like redic. i cant believe how much touring we did in 3 days.

friday afternoon lise and rach arrived in ciampino and we met them at termini, took them to tony's gelateria and then to dinner at il caminetto. we showed them around our hood and what not which was pretty fun, and i think they really enjoyed the gelato lol. then afterwards we took them to trastevere and piazza trilussa for some italian nightlife. it may not compare to newcastle insanity, but i like that its so chill and you can drink outside. we took them to the chocolate shop for some chocolate shots (yummm) and then walked around for a little bit before heading back because we had an early day the next day.

saturday was nuts. we all met up at ottaviano at 8am, lise and rach went to the vatican museums to see the sistine chapel and lau, j9 and i hit up st. peter's to watch the special ceremony pope b had for the naming of 23 new cardinals. we were right after the last people to be allowed to sit in the actual basilica, so we had to sit outside and watch it on the big screens. but it was still gorgeous. the whole thing was basically in latin so i didnt understand much but it was amazing to be there for it. one cardinal was from philadelphia and drew actually knows him so that was cool. after the ceremony we all went for lunch (pizza bianca at cipro yumm) and then did the forum and colloseo. then we walked past the imperial palace of augustus and hit up santa maria in cosmedin. we saw the bocca della verita!! i was dying to see it so i was really excited. i stuck my hand in it and told a lie but i didnt get my hand stuck in it. oh well. guess i'm a bad liar lol. we saw the spanish steps and then afterwards we headed back to st. peters for the greeting of the cardinals. we got special access to the apostolic palace and we got to meet cardinal foley of philly and a whole bunch of other cardinals. the palace was soo gorgeous!! and it was so cool that we got to meet all the new cardinals. we took lots of pictures with them and took some with the swiss guard bc theyre pretty awesome. we were so lucky to have the opportunity to go there and meet them all. after we went back to termini so lise and rach chould change hostels, then we went to l'archetto for dinner yummmm. everyone was really happy with their spaghetti choices which was awesome. then we took the girls to the trevi fountain which you know is one of my favorite places in the city. god its just so gorgeous at night. le sigh. i threw coins in again (its like my 4th time lol). the venders were really annoying there too which pissed me off bc theyre usually not bad, but whatevs. afterwards we walked to campo dei fiori, hit up drunken ship and the bar with the hypnotic shots that i always forget the name of. i double fisted the hypnotic bc jessie was gonna get a shot but decided not to after we ordered. i didnt mind - its so yummyyy. afterwards we hit up blue ice for gelato, as always, then headed home.

sunday was not too much of an early rise. we went to the circus maximus and then i played tour guide at the baths of caracalla for the gruppo. it was raining a lot which was annoying, but i felt kind of special because i knew so much about the baths that i could tell them. afterwards we went to lunch for more yummy pizza near spagna and a little bit of touristy shopping for the girlies. we saw the pantheon which laura was the expert on, so she did her thing there. then we went to st peters again and climbed up the cupola. an elevator and 320 steps later, we were so winded but were on top of the world. we had the most amazing views of rome. st peters square was beautiful and the sun was setting over the whole city, so it was such a perfect time, especially for pictures. it was so worth it going up all those steps. i love it up there. then we climbed down and gave lise and rach the tour of the basilica. its just so beautiful, and its def going to be one of the big things im gonna miss when i leave. im gonna try to go to mass there next sunday. after the tour we tried to go to dinner at tre pupazzi but it was closed! i was so disappointed - i was really looking forward to their wine yummmm. oh well. maybe we can go again this weekend after ddv's aperitivo. so we picked another random restaurant nearby to eat and then walked past castel sant'angelo and finally made it to piazza navona!! i finally made it there - i was so happy. it was really pretty at night, but the vendors pissed me off again. elise and i got wine and drank outside for alittle there, then we hit up campo again because we just cant get enough. after lots more gelato and people watching we made our way home.

this week is going to be lots of work but hopefully lots of seeing things in the city that are on my list, because i only have 13 days left. that number makes me cry. so much to do and so little time. i hope i can make it to pisa with laura on wednesday. i cant believe finals are next week holy shit. thats gonna suck sooo badly. guess i better enjoy myself now while i can.

already i think im gonna go home and finish up some more work so i can go out this week. pace fuori lovers.

tanti baci ♥

je voudrais acheter ses chausurres ..

oh my god i am in love with paris.

i can't even tell you how amazing a weekend i had in paris visiting two of the loves of my life. j9 and i got to paris late thursday night and just crashed on mary's floor. the next morning mary had class but clarice took us to our first boulangerie where we got the largest baguettes of life and this amazing tartelette aux fruit (orgasmic). then she took us to the musee d'orsay, where we saw lots of pre-impressionist art. the top floor was closed, which was poop bc that was where all the impressionist monets and all that were, but it was all good. we saw some cool paintings and sculptures. then clarice went to class and mary met us for lunch where i had my first paris crepe!! it was so yummy and full of chocolate. then she took us to notre dame, which was absolutely GORGEOUS. i love gothic architecture. we went in and it was just amazing. then we climbed up to the top top (it was like 250 steps or something - i was dead by the time i got there). we had the most awesome view of paris - we could even see the eiffel tower from the top! we hung out with the gargoyles up there, then climbed up the bell tower where quasimodo would ring the bell! the bell was so huge. but it was pretty cool being up there. afterwards we did a little souvenir shopping (got parisian scarves!) and walked over to musee de cluny, but it was closing so we didnt go in. we did a little shopping around that area, saw there was a riot going on (lots of french po-po with big helmets and large guns) so we just headed out of there. we walked to the louvre and met clarice there, because mary had her first talk for her art history class that night. while mc prepped, j9, clarice and i walked around the louvre. it is the most gorgeous and breathtaking museum i have ever been in. the walls were lined with so many paintings and the rooms filled with ancient greek and roman sculpture. we were there for over 2 hours and we barely covered one wing. it was redic. we got to see the mona lisa though!! it was pretty, but they have it roped off so far away from it so i couldnt really sudy the details because i couldnt get close. but it was still cool. then we heard mary give her talk on "st michael trampling the devil" by rafaele. it was pretty awesome, and its so cool she got to talk about a painting IN THE LOUVRE. i was so excited for her. im so excited i know someone who could even do that. its such an amazing opportunity. thats why study abroad is the shit lol. afterwards we got dinner at "mary and clarice's place" and i tried escargot for the first time! at first i was like ew its chewy but its actually really good! i love it! and then i had duck with peaches which was to die for, and this amazing apple tart yummmmm. all in all it was an excellent meal.

the next morning we headed out to montmartre so we could go to the museum of eroticism and get fondue but because of the metro strike we didnt make it to the museum and the fondue place (with wine in baby bottles!) was closed. we were mad disappointed, but found another place with fondue which was pretty good. i had creme brulee for dessert and it was sooo yummy! i love french food lol. then it was riverdance time!! the show was sheer perfection and trading taps was soo sick!! i think it was even better the second time aroundd - im so glad j9 found out it was going to be in paris when we were there! after riverdance we headed back and went to visit the most amazing and gorgeous part of paris - the eiffel tower! we climbed all the way up to the top!! and it was sparkling when we were up there! it was so beautiful! and someone got engaged up there - that basically made my entire life it was so adorable! i wanted to eat them. i so want to get proposed up there now ahhhh. i love the eiffel tower so much. clarice conquered her fear of heights and came up with us - i was so proud of her! 2 hours later, after freezing our asses off, we walked back to the apartment, got amazing nutella and banana crepes and j9 cooked us chicken cordon bleu for dinner yummm. then we passed out because we were mad tired.

the next morning it was time to hit up the champs elysees!! we started off at the place de la concorde, then walked all the way down to the arc de triomphe. i got the backstreet boys cd (finally!) which i am currently listening to right now lol. then i got a little makeover in the biggest sephora of LIFE. it was soo hugeee and they had EVERYTHING. i was in heaven. then we got starbucks!! i had forgotten how much i missed their coffee. i got a creme brulee latte which was tres delish. we stopped in the louis vuitton and the bag that i saw that i wanted was prices at 1,150 euros. yea no thanks. but it was pretty to look at lol. all the big brand names werent even on the champs but on a street right off it, and since it was sunday they weren't open poo. so luck for my parents i couldnt get into chanel and buy the black bag ive been dying for since i was 16. no worries though. then we walked back to the apartamento and tried to defrost for a while bc it was sooooo cold! we watched youtube for a bit because we're cool like that, then i dragged the girls out again to the eiffel tower for more pictures (because i didnt get to take any at the champs de mars before). it started raining but we got good pictures, then we headed to dinner at mary and clarice's place again, and i got more escargot. obvi. i cant get over how good it is lol. clarice and i got some bordeaux, which i had never drank before, but it was very good and im a fan. i got more creme brulee (because i'm obsessed with french food) and then we went back to the apartment and fell asleep early because j9 and i had a 4am wake up call. gross.

we flew back to rome monday morning and the rest of the week has been all papers and readings and lots of work and its yuckie. i'm not a fan. wednesday i spent the day in firenze and met up with gracie for lunch. it was great seeing her! i got so much done there - the accademia (the david is the most AMAZING thing i have ever seen. i spent a half hour just staring at him), the duomo, under the duomo, piazza san lorenzo, piazza della signoria and the basilica there, basilica di santa croce, the uffizi, museo della storia di scienza and the ponte vecchio. the duomo was pretty cool and awesome looking inside. i loved the accademia, basically because of the david. shopping in san lorenzo = to die for. the outside market was great - got lots of souvenirs for fam and for me. piazza della signoria had lots of copies of michelangelo's sculptures which were cool to see. the basilica was being restored so i didnt get to see much of it. the basilica di santa croce was also under resoration which was poop. but michelangelo, dante, machiavelli and galileo are all buried there, so it was totally awesome to be there. the uffizi is huge - i saw lots of sculptures of roman emperors and military men which was cool because i was like hey i know this guy! lol. my favorite part though was the museum of the history of science!! i know im a dork and i dont care. they had galileo's first telescope and ocular lenses and all of his instruments it was so cool! and i got to see surgical instruments from the 16th and 17th centuries and chemistry beakers from the 18th century. it was soooo awesomeee! and they had globes used for mapping and the countries on them were so weird and not even close to what it known now. it was really interesting to see how far we've come in science and technology but also cool to see where everything started. the ponte vecchio was pretty and filled with lots of jewelry stores that made me happy lol. then i went shopping a little and got really cute clothes. then i took the train home. all in all it was a good day, and im really glad i got to see gracie. it was fun reminiscing about mary louis and gossipping about stuff. =)

now it's friday and im so unproductive. j9's been churning out papers like whoa this week and i feel so stupid because its taking me forever to do everything lol. im slacking i know. i dont even care anymore. i have only two weeks left (which makes me cry i dont even want to think about it) and i cant be worried about work. im gonna go out and stay up all night and drink wine and eat gelato and pastries and pasta until i throw up because i'm never going to be able to do this ever again. this is the most amazing semester of my life and i just dont want it to end yet. it went by way too fast.

elise and rachel should be in rome right this second and me, j9 and laura are meeting up with them and we're going to tony's gelateria (its been TOO long) and then il caminetto. then we're going out in trastevere tonight. then tomorrow we're going to see the 23 new cardinals in the ceremony led by the pope and then we can go into the pope's palace to congratulate them!! im so excited for that! i hope we can knock out things i havent seen in rome this weekend so i can check them off my list and not feel completely useless. lol. cant wait to have lisey and rach here this weekend!!

pace fuori. <3

i left my heart in palo.

alrighty. post number three. after fall break we had class on tuesday booo. but then all of us headed out to napoli on thursday. we made it there at 11am and did a speed tour of the city. we saw churches and went shopping a bit and then we went to the archaeological museum with dr flusche. we saw lots of artifacts and remains preserved from the pompeii disaster in 74AD, and then we had special access to the “gabinetto secreto” which is basically the sex room. it had paintings and sculptures with really erotic themes and enlarged genitalia. it was actually quite interesting to see how free and comfortable the romans were with their bodies and the human anatomy. that was def the fave room of everyone lol. then we headed back to the hotel bristol in sorrento and had a yummy dinner there. we sat with guiseppe our bus driver and had such amazing conversations solely in italian. it was great. then we went out with ddv! we tried to go to a kareoke bar but it wasnt open, so then we all went to this irish pub called chaplin’s bar. ddv was crazy and the boys kept trying to get him drunk lol. the bartenders were playing awesome songs and they gave us all jager bombs. i had my first one!! it was actually really good, even though i don’t like red bull. i love when everyone in the program goes out together on these trips bc its always so fun.

the next day was friday and we took a tour of pompeii with flusche. it was absolutely amazing. i can’t even imagine how everything was preserved after the massive explosion of vesuvio in 74AD. some things are still just as they were before the eruption. it’s really interesting. we saw the gladiator training grounds, theatres, the market, the forum, the roman baths and temples. then we saw the house of the fauno, which was the biggest and most lavish house in all of pompeii. it had a grand entrance with two gardens and two courtyards. it was really cool to see. then we left pompeii and had the afternoon in sorrento to walk around and explore. we did a little shopping and just roamed around. we found some cool churches and the place where they do woodwork near st. francis which was really awesome to see. then we headed back to the hotel and dressed up for dinner. after dinner we headed over to the fauno notte night club for a tarantella show! we got free prosecco and watched the show for an hour or so. it was pretty cool, i didnt understand some words they were singing because of the neapolitan accent but it was fun. then afterwards the club became a discoteca and we totally took it over. we danced until they kicked us out and then we all migrated back towards chaplin’s irish pub. the bartender was so excited to see us again! lol. i had my first orgasm drink and my first irish car bomb with marissa which were both really yummy!! the boys were taking “bro shots” which basically destroyed drew lol. all in all it was a totally awesome night. we worshipped bacchus like whoa, and it was fabulous lol.

we woke up the next morning, half of us hungover, and drove 3 hours outside the city to a little mozzarella farm. we got a tour of the farm, saw the bufala where the milk is from, and had a huge lunch with the most amazing ricotta of life. the mozzarella was good but a bit too fresh for me, if you know what i mean. but the talk of the day was about a somewhat scarring experience. while we were talking a tour of the farm animals we were at the pigpen when these two pigs began having sex. needless to say the boys ran closer and were taking pictures and laughing about it, but then out of nowhere the female started moaning and screaming sooo loudly. we dont know whether it was out of pleasure or of pain, but it was so incredibly disturbing, and it lasted for sooooo long. alex and dan took videos of it, and the whole entire day that sound was played so much. it was redic. after our interesting experience with the animals and our lunch we returned to rome for a very short period of time until j9, laura and i headed to the motherland!

sunday morning we got up mad early to go to fiumicino and hop on a flight to bari to meet my family for the first time. i was really nervous and afraid that they would have all these expectations and i wasnt going to live up to them but it all went away as soon as i walked out of the airport and saw 14 people greeting me there! i had thought only rosa, vito, and felicia were going to pick me up, but half the family was at the airport, and they all attacked me as soon as they saw me. it was redic. i met rosa, zio angelo, zio collino, zia maria and a whole bunch of their kids. i cant keep people’s names with faces straight, especially because half of them are named vincenzo and the other half rosa. sheesh. anyway, we got into felicia’s car and drove to bitonto so i could see the statues of sts cosimo and damiano. it was absolutely gorgeous. the church was beautiful and i was speechless as i was standing in front of the statue. i prayed for a while and gave a donation, and then we drove to palo to visit some houses. we saw rosa’s house (daughter of zio angelo) and i think vincenzo’s house right down the block. then we drove to rosa’s house and prepared for pranzo! she let us help out in the kitchen which was cool for me and i felt special. we ate SO MUCH FOOD. we had antipasto (mozzarella, provolone, prosciutto, manzo, olives, salsiccia, salami, bread, finocchio), then pasta (orrechiette with ragu!!), meat (polpetti, pezzo di carne, brasciola), insalata, nucelli, castagne, limoncello and the most amazing dolci of life. rosa let me taste zio angelo’s wine, which was amazing!! i wish i could bring some home because it was delicious!! then after pranzo since we basically couldn’t move we went for a walk around palo with felicia and then took an amazing nap. we woke up and then a whole bunch of family members came over the house to meet me. i need to make a list of everyone i met so i can keep it organized. lol. then felicia, pietro, and savino took us out the city of bari for some late night touring. we had the most amazing crepes ever (i had the scandalosa - nutella, bananas, white chocolate chunks and whipped cream). then we saw the city wall, the castel, the basilica and cathedral of bari and some gorgeous piazzas. then we came home, went to sleep and woke up early to head back to the airport. i wish i could have stayed longer but we needed to be back in rome for class. but i had the most amazing time and i need to go back so badly. i love my family so much. they are so sweet and welcoming and beautiful and loud and obnoxious and its just so amazing. being in bari made me so happy.

and now we’re back in rome. i had two classes today and none tomorrow, but i have to go to the baths of caracalla to write my history paper so that will be fun. then thursday afternoon janine and i leave for paris until monday!! i am sooo incredibly excited i cant even tell you. we’re going to see riverdance on saturday!! and we’re going on the champs elysee!! and we’re climbing up the eiffel tower!! and we’re going to be with mary and claricee i’m sooo exciteddd! =)

i’ll try and keep this updated as much as i can i promise. things are just getting so hectic now with like three weeks left (oh my god).

can’t i just please stay in italy forever?

cheers to a proper good break ..

okay new post. this one’s a recap of fall break. wow what a week. let’s start with tuesday afternoon. we landed in newcastle (after flying from rome to milan and then milan to newcastle) via ryan air after 8pm and elise was there (cardigan and all) waiting for us at the airport. we took the metro back to the university and parked ourselves in her flat (which has the biggest kitchen/common room of life bee tee dubs). she cooked us amazing pasta with sugar snap peas (her specialty!) and then of course we went out. we pregamed with strongbo (new yummy obsession - its cider!) and then hit up a dance bar called blubambu. the dj was totally rockin and i had such an amazing time. newcastle nightlife is the shit, and i totally should have studied abroad there. the end. the next morning (wednesday - halloween!!) we did the touristy thing. we woke up a little late, had breakfast, saw the newcastle u campus (which is gorgeous and to die for), walked around grainger street, hit up grainger market, and went to the coast! we went to tynemouth, ate fish and chips for lunchie (yum!) and toured the priory and castle there in the afternoon. the coast was beautiful!!! and the castle was so kickass! it was really cold and windy there but it was all good. then we walked out to a lighthouse jetting out into the water and had the most awesome view of the sun setting over tynemouth. then we got back to newcastle, grabbed starbucks (finally!!) and we hit up marks and spencers for some cibo. its a department store with a supermarket built in it!! go figure!! haha anyway, we had dinner and then it was time to get ready for halloween festivities!! j9, laura and i dressed up as greek goddesses (from rome? idk man) and lisey was a dark sexy fairy. lise’s flatmates and friends were scooby doo and his crew, which was so cute! we went to a whole bunch of parties in flats around elise’s and we saw a whole bunch of loyola peeps chillin in their costumes so that was cool. then we headed back to louise’s flat (she’s my fave brit and im obsessed with her a little bit) and had some flaming sambuca shots with merlin and pete. mark and matt were enjoying their pixie sticks in interesting ways and we all just hung out for a little while before going out. we tried to get into blubambu but the line was redic so we hit up sam jacks instead. we got bracelets as we went in saying we got free shots for our first mixed drink we bought. sweet deal let me tell you. i had this yummy girly blue vodka drink a lot that night. we danced like crazy there for a while (they played backstreet boys!!) and then we headed over to popworld - a 90s themed dance bar - totally up my alley! they played amazingly awesome 90’s music which made me soooo happy, and there was this little pole that mark was enjoying for some time, which was quite entertaining lol. i had this other girly apple and vodka thing there which was sooo good. i kinda wish they would have those in america bc they were so cheap and sooo good! anyways, so we had an amazing halloween, newcastle style, but still incredibly awesome.

thursday morning (the morning after) j9 and i woke up early and headed on the train for edinburgh (pronounces edinbruh, apparently) in scotland to see clarice who was visiting her friend datta there for her fall break. after an hour train ride we arrived, and datta took us to the national museum (saw some van gogh and degas!), some monuments in a gorgeous park, the castle (though we didnt go in bc it was 11 pounds admission - i really wanted to go poo), and then we walked down the royal mile, stopping in shops along the way. we saw adam smith’s grave which doesnt mean much to me bc i dont like economics but clarice was happy lol. we had lunch at the elephant house which is where jk rowling used to write and think about harry potter when she had kids and was on welfare - before she hit it big and was famous. we also saw the hotel where she finished the final book in the harry potter series, which was sooo cool. then we hit up some regular shopping at h&m and lush etc and had dinner at tgi fridays. i wound up getting food poisoning from the burger i ate there, so my train ride home/evening was not pretty. elise, rachel, natalie, and laura met us at the train station and we toured the awesome bridges of newcastle at night. they were gorgeous. then we went for dessert (when i really started to not feel well) and heading back to elise’s flat. we retired quite early bc we had to get up at the ass crack of dawn for our flight to dublin, but i was sick all night long. it was not fun. i was a mess and felt like shit. it was the first time i got food poisoning and i felt just awful.

we woke up at 430am friday to head to the airport for our flight and i got sick again. i honestly didnt know how i was going to make it to the airport. but we made it there (barely for me, i felt so gross and so awful) and i napped while we waited for our flight and while we were flying. when i woke up we were in dublin, and i was feeling a bit better than the morning but still not great at all. we took a bus to our hostel and checked in but couldnt go into our rooms until much later. all i wanted to do was sleep for the afternoon and the room wasnt even ready. boo. so we got breakfast/lunch whatever you want to call it, and we planned out what we wanted to do while in dublin. finally our room was ready so we went in and napped for a while. i woke up before everyone else bc i wanted to shower bc i felt so nasty, so i went down to the communal shower (ew). it was such a yuck experience. the water had no temp control, so at first it was freezing and then it got so scalding i was burning myself. and you had to push for the water to flow and keep your hand on the bottom otherwise no water would come out. it was not what i was expecting at all. but hey, thats all part of the europe experience right? i promised myself i would be less neurotic and less high maintenance so i just went with it and was okay. we were sharing a room with 2 other people so that was a new experience for us too, considering we’ve had private rooms at all the places we’ve gone so far and have had private bathrooms as well. the room was cold and the pillows might have not as well existed, but it was fine. i was okay with it. i was going with the flow and just relaxing about it, which was a nice change for me. i felt bad for booking us just a poopie hostel, but the girls reassured me that it was totally fine and we joked around about it, so that made me feel better.

after my fun shower, we went out to dinner at a true irish pub in temple bar. we had great food, and i had my first irish coffee!! it was soo yummy! and as we were walking out the bar dj played “breaking free” from hsm which makes me so incredibly happy lol. its taking over the world!! haha. anyways, we met felicia, daniela, emma, and kevin while walking in temple bar which was cool. then afterwards we just walked around and toured the city at night, then crashed because we were so tired.

the next morning we were up bright and early, had breakfast, stopped at the earl, which had the most amazing chocolate chip muffins of LIFE, and then began our day of touristy things. first we stopped at the molly malone statue, where a cute little old man who reminded me of a leprechaun took pictures with us. he was adorable! then we saw trinity college, which has such a gorgeous campus! we walked around a bit and saw the building where the book of kells resides, but didnt go in. then we went to st. stephen’s greene which was a beautiful park full with lots of grass and a pretty lake and bridge. i loved itt! we saw the gardens and walked through for a bit, then j9 went to mass at christ church while laura, lisey and i ate amazing bagels for lunch and hit up the guinness storehouse! there was a long line outside so we were afraid we wouldnt make it in but it moved quickly which was good. we got in for 9.50 euro at student discount which was pretty kickass considering admission was 14 euro. anyway, we walked through and we learned about how they brew guinness and what they use to make it and it was sooo cool. we got to taste a rare draught of guinness from october 2004 which was so yummy. then we made our way up to the gravity bar on the 7th floor and had our free pint of guinness. it was my first pint ever and it was soo yummy! i loved it. then afterwards we ran to meet janine at st. patrick’s cathedral, and then we headed over to dublin castle for a guided tour. we saw the areas that are still in use today in the castle for the leaders of ireland, and then the tourguide brought us underground so we could see the remains of the actual first castle that was built back in the day. it was really interesting and so pretty! then we finally made it to dinner at another pub and just sat and listened to irish music. it was cool.

the next morning we took a tour of the irish countryside!! we went to wicklow and glendalough and saw lots of lakes and grass and pretty trees and scenery and it was just absolutely gorgeous!! it was definitely the ireland i wanted to experience. we saw an old bell tower and a monastery and it was so amazing. we had a great time. we got back in the evening, had dinner and then hit up temple bar for a couple of pints. temple bar was so fun and such a cool place to just chill and people-watch. i loved just being able to sit down and watch irish football with my favorite girls in the middle of ireland. it was so awesome. then we left dublin to go back to rome poo.

okay end of post number two. let’s move on to the third now oh gesu.

efharisto! kalispera!

so its been quite a while since ive updated this thing. my sincerest apologies. life here has just been insane crazy and so busy. whenever i’ve actually had a minute to myself i’ve either been writing a stupid paper or sleeping. its been fun, let me tell you. anyways, this will probably be the longest post of life, but i’ll try to keep is as brief as possibly while making sure i don’t miss anything important. hopefully i’ll remember everything that happened. thats what i get for doing my papers before blogging after trips. poor choice.

anywhoot, let’s see where i left off. wow. birthday weekend. longgg time ago. so we went to venice for my birthday weekend and it was pretty awesome, not gonna lie. friday night we all went out with silvia to irish village in ostiense which was such a crazy awesome good time. i def want to go back soon. we woke up mad early saturday morning (like 4am early - i might as well have not gone to bed). four hours later, on a train, we arrived in bella venezia. one girl megan was supposed to come with us but never made it to the train so she decided to stay home. her loss. anyway, we got a bit lost in venice and couldnt find our hostel but eventually we did and it was a cool little apartment thing with a kitchen and all these beds and a common area. it was so cool! so we settled in a bit, got lunch, then took a water taxi over to the island of murano where they make glass. the island was really pretty, and we bought soooo much glass stuff. its so gorgeous there. i cant even explain it. one place even let us play dress up and try on a whole bunch of jewelry. good times! it was quite cold near the water, which made me sad, but whatevs. we took the taxi back to the main island and then the girls cooked me dinner in our apartment (gnocchi, chicken, salad, cheese, wine, the works!) and it was soooo yummy. then it was time to ring in my birthday!! we went to a discopub near our hostel called dogado and danced and drank in my birthday. i wound up getting free drinks from this older business man from holland, which was a bit sketch at first but it was fine bc then i didnt have to pay on my bday! lol. i got a dogado which was an amazing little concoction of rum and all these fruit juices. yummm. i was wearing a tiara that laura had let me borrow for the day which was fun but also weird bc everyone kept asking me if i was getting married. i should have said yes - maybe i would have gotten free food too! lol.

sunday was my actual birthday (yay 20!!) so we got up, had breakfast, went shopping a bit and such. i took a tiny nap bc i wasnt feeling well at first, but then i was better so it was all good. we saw the ponte rialto which is redic gorg and then we shopped at the rialto market, which was the death of our bank accounts. i got lots of presents for people, and lots for me too! haha. then we got some lunch and hit up piazza san marco. i fed the infamous pigeons there. that was an experience to say the least. i freaked out when they all attacked me and they were all up on my arms and shoulders but it was so fun. thank god they didnt shit on my coat. anyways. then we found a really nice gondolier named franco and took a 45 min gondola ride around venice!! it was absolutely beautiful!! it was such a great way to spend my birthdayy! it was a bit on the expensive side but it was def what i expected it to be. after that we walked around a bit more, went out to dinner, then went back to the square at night. gorgeous. we hit up the famous harry’s bar, which is where they invented the bellini!! i had one there and it was by far the best bellini i’ve ever had! sooo yummy! then we went to sleep bc we had to get up mad early again monday morning to head back to school for philosophy class. funn. all in all it was a great weekend. venice is beautiful, and one of my favorite places i’ve been in italy so far. i got a bit homesick bc i really missed being able to celebrate with my whole family and all of my friends, but i honestly cant complain because i mean, come on - who gets to say they spent their 20th birthday riding a gondola in venezia?

the next week was a blur. mainly the usual - get up, eat, go to school, class, eat, italian, home, eat, homework, sleep, repeat. we finished our italian class on thursday and friday which made me very sad. no more italiano with mario! =( i miss him already. i kind of just want to sneak into one of his other classes just to hear him say “coraggio!” or “oh gesu!”. i got an A in the class (i found out yesterday) so that’s two for two woop woop. we left italian early on friday after our oral exams and me, laura, jess, teresa, erica, and liz headed over to athens greece for the weekend!!

greece was one of the most gorgeous places i’ve ever been, and it was the most amazing weekend of life. we got in to athens after midnight and it was about 2am or so when we finally checked into our hostels, after viewing some transvestites and a possible whorehouse on the way. we got a free upgrade to the studio apartments = amazing room with kitchen and tv and common room. we make our way up to the third floor and encounter an unconscious man lying outside our door. laura screamed like a banshee while jess laughed hysterically for a good 15 mins. obvi he was drunk and sleeping half on the stairs and half in front of our door. awesome. then we get into the apartment and cant figure out how to put the lights on. 20 mins later laura and teresa go back to the main building to ask how to put the lights on/ if theyre even working and erica figures out that our card key needs to be in so we can put the lights on. honors kids man. needless to say our first experiences in greece were pretty comical.

we wake up early the next morning, have breakfast, meet our unconscious friend for real, then head out for some touring. we walked up and around the acropolis (we got in for free!! yay student visas!) we saw the parthenon (it was being renovated so there was scaffolding booo), the temple of athena nike, whole bunch of other ancient worship buildings and temples. we climbed up on top of rocks and took top of the world pictures. that was a good time. we toured the agora ancient market and walked throughout the ancient ruins there. it was soooo cool! i love that stuff, and it reminded me of the forum in rome. then we hit up lunch - had lamb and potatoes! - and then we walked over to plato’s academy. we read symposium, meno, and republic on the steps of his institution, which was pretty nerdy/awesome of us. it was so weird and surreal to be reading the words of the man who created this school and where his philosophy was taught to others a bajillion years before us. interesting feeling. then we headed back to the hostel, showered up, and headed out to the recommended god’s restaurant. holy shit what an amazing dinner. i had moussaka for the first time, and it is my new obsession. it’s eggplant lasagna with lamb potatoes and cheese in it. it is AMAZING. i also tried baklava for the first time, which i also really liked. the waiters liked us so much that they gave us free bottles of wine (which was so good btw) and a free round of tsiporo shots, a typical greek liquor thats sweet and licorice tasting. im a big fan. god was very good to us that night lol. then we bought more wine and baklava and had our own symposium. we climbed up to the top of the acropolis and had the most amazingly gorgeous view of the city of athens before us. i cant even put into words how amazing it was. i had never seen anything like it. it felt like the world was at my tiny fingertips, allowing me to do with it whatever i pleased. i was speechless just sitting there on the rocks staring at how beautiful athens was. we continued to drink more wine, talking about life, love, study abroad, family, everything. it was one of the best nights of my life. hands down. it made me feel so grateful for everything and everyone i have, and really made me realize how incredibly lucky i am to be here. the view of athens made me feel so insignificant and small. it was very grounding. and the view was just breathtaking. i wish i could have taken pictures, but they just wouldnt have been able to capture even a smidgen of the beauty i saw. we just sat there for over an hour just talking and looking over to the temples on the hill all lit up, and the lights of the city still alive and awake. it was just so .. ahh i cant even explain it. it’s just one of those things i will treasure in my heart forever, and only those girls sitting on top of those rocks with me that night will understand.

the next day, we found out while eating at god’s, happened to be a public holiday - oxi day! it’s the day when the leader of greece told mussolini no (oxi) to his request to invade neutral greece during world war two. i’m not exactly sure why there is such a big holiday to celebrate this one particular word, especially considering that mussolini invaded shortly after anyway, but whatevs. me, teresa, liz and erica went to the parade in the center of athens in the morning which was really cool because there were marching bands and men of the armed forces and all of the school kids in the city marched in the parade as well. then afterwards we went shopping at the montisraki (spelling?) flea market, which took forever to find bc we didnt have a map and no one seemed to know what we were talking about. then we had lunch, did more shopping, and headed back to the hostel for happy hour at the backpackers bar. our bartender friend nick from australia had laura make me a “suicide bomb” and even though i still have no idea what was in it it was absolutely yummy! two of those and i was feeling perfecto. afterwards we headed out for dinner near the center of athens and i had amazing moussaka once again (im telling you i’m obsessed). our waiter spoke italian which was really cool. then we did some touring after dinner. we saw the arch of hadrian and the temple of zeus. we happened to stumble upon fashion week in greece as well (i honestly dont know how these things happen to us) and we snuck in to a fashion show near a greek temple. it was soooo awesome!! i took lots of pictures, obvi. the models were just so surreal-looking and the dresses were absolutely gorgeous. im going to need to get me one lol. after our little vogue sesh we went to the old olympic stadium. i wont go into detail about what exactly went down but lets just say i got some amazingly awesome pictures out of it and a good cardio workout lol. after a little more touring we went back to the hostel bc we were really tired. we ran into nick again at the studio apartments as he was closing up the bar and told him we still hadnt had ouzo (the alcohol greece is known for) and so he opened up the bar just for us and gave us free shots of ouzo!! it was just the six of us and nick in the bar listening to the rolling stones and drinking ouzo. it was soooo awesome. then nick took us up to his terrace apartment and we had the most amazing view of athens lit up at night. we could see the acropolis and all of the temples and hills and everything. then nick took out his guitar and he played while we sang and danced under the athenian stars on this amazing terrace. it was one of the greatest nights of my life. i cant even describe to you how amazing it was. honestly. all i can write is this one particular quote said by nick to us that night on the terrace, “now you’ve done the roof, you’ve done Athens. Now all that’s left is the rest of the world.”
we woke up the next morning and were really sad about leaving greece. we said yasu and efharisto for the last time and left athens in the afternoon monday. we arrived back in rome, we gave our history presentations in class on tuesday morning and then we were off to newcastle that afternoon!!

alright i’m breaking this up into multiple posts otherwise this will just be ridiculous and no one will read anything.

"alright i'm going to despar. wish me luck - i might not have exact change .."

yo yo yo.

alrighty here's the update i know y'all have been waiting for. so last wednesday we saw the pope!! we were there at 8am for the papal audience and he came out around 10:30am and said some prayers and did some readings. we got a shout out and he acknowledged us in the audience which was so cool. and i got some awesome pictures of him passing us in the popemobile. we had great seats for that. and he waved at us! it was def pretty badass.

thursday i handed in my final midterm and finished my italian midterm and so we all decided to go out all night to celebrate the end of the week from hell. we hit up trinity college, then the drunken ship, then some other random little bar in campo dei fiori and i can't remember the name of it, and finally we ended up at scholars. basically everyone in the program was out with us so it was totally awesome and so much fun. friday was a chill day because we had to prepare for our visitors!

so saturday morning we woke up at the ass crack of dawn and met mc and c unit on via ottaviano and went into st peters. i was the little tour guide for that part bc i was the only one that had been there before. we took a tour of the church then hit up a pasticceria near there and got on the metro for more touristy things. we visited the pantheon, the trevi fountain, the spanish steps, our school, and then we had lunch at l'archetto spaghetteria. yummyyyy! then ater lunch we went to piazza campidolgio and gave them a tour of the roman forum. it was really cool bc we know a lot about it and we could tell them so much about each part. then we saw the colloseo and sat around there for a while. we walked around via nazionale and then took the metro back to ottaviano and did a little shopping there. we went to the pizza place dawson took us once and we had some yummy pizza. then we headed back to mc and c unit's little hostel (lmao. i still laugh everytime i think about that) and got ready for going out. we couldnt find where silvia told us to go, so we just hit up a random pub down the block from the hostel. clarice and i had our first blowjob shots which were really yummy. we were content. then we went home and met up sunday morning for breakfast and chiaccherare. it was fun catching up and gossiping. then we took them to the train station and they went to the airport to fly back to paris.

all in all it was an awesome weekend, but i wish they could have stayed longer. but now im even more excited about paris bc we'll be there for a long time and itll be great to see them again!! and im practicing my phrase - je voudrais acheter ces chausurres!!

this week has been uneventful. class as usual, then a little shopping. i bought myself a dress to wear on my birthday, and today i bought a pair of boots to go with. i'm very excited. last night i started the birthday celebration off after we had a ridiculous birthday dinner for alessandro. he was thirty yesterday so we had lasagna, eggplant parmigiania, mozzarella di bufala, insalata, and tiramisu, on top of vino and champagna. yumminess!! nunzia's tiramisu was PHENOMENAL. im obsessed with it. anyway, after dinner i met up with some people in trastevere and we went to the chocolate bar for some chocolate shots. they were so delicious. if i had stayed there whew forget it. afterwards we found arandom bar on via moro and sat down and just chatted and hung out. it was really chill but totally fun. then we met up with some other people and ended up at scholars. all great nights end there. lol. it was def a fun night, and a great way to start off my birthday weekend!

tonight we're all going out with sylvia in ostiense to a kareoke bar and then for dancing on tables!! i'm so excited!!! and then tomorrow morning we head out to venice!! this is going to be an amazing birthday and i cant wait!!

next time i update i won't be a teenager anymore!! woop woop!

god i love my birthday. ♥

tanti baci lovers.