Picture Update

Hey guys! Long time no post.
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Like, really long.

Like, so long I didn't realize that all my pictures had died.

Turns out, if you have to change your gmail account due to graduating college, it deletes your blogger pics. Sooooo, i'm working on re-uploading them. They'll be back up soon!

In the meantime, if you (for some unknown reason) need a specific post updated, let me know and I'll fix it right away.

peace, love, travel.

Life's a beach.

Even though I was in the goodbye mood following the last week of my program, I was really excited to head to Southern Italy with Laura and Erin and now that it's over, I'm really glad I traveled a bit after my program. The one negative was that I had all my stuff with me. I kept wanting to explain to all the people giving me judgmental looks that it was four months worth of stuff - not one week! And I'm pretty banged up from carrying it around everywhere. Anyway, we spent one night in Naples - my least favorite city I visited in Italy. I just felt like the whole place was dirty and everything seemed to be under construction. To be fair, I didn't really give the touristy things a chance - we didn't do the Naples underground tour that is highly recommended or the Archaeological Museum, so maybe if we'd done some of those things I would've liked it more. The pizza we had was good, but not worth the grunge of the city, in my opinion. After the dirty big-city feel, the absolute beauty of Sorrento's natural coastline and fresh lemon-y smell was a literal breath of fresh air.

The view from Naples! The city was huge!

A view of Sorrento.

Sunset my first night in Sorrento!

The first full day we had in Sorrento we went to Pompeii; Sorrento is a great place to do day trips all over the southern part of Italy - it's well connected and not too far from anything, in fact, it's only an hour south of Naples. After all the years of studying Pompeii - to be there was surreal! It was crazy to realize the actual scale of an ancient city, something that is hard for me to do when I'm standing next to just the foundation of one building. We may or may not have gotten lost a few times, it was so big. After we walked through the city we took a bus up to Mt. Vesuvius. The fog made the visibility pretty limited, but still, I was on top of a volcano!

It was so intact! And I bet it was so beautiful all those years ago.

Plaster casts of people who died - sent chills down my spine.

Mt. Vesuvius! You'll have to take my word for it, though. Photographic evidence was limited due to fog.

The next day we took a day trip to the island of Capri - such a beautiful place. This is where the Blue Grotto is, a famous cave tourists go to where the entire thing is lit up and bright blue - but we opted to go to the beach instead. After all, it was vacation time and the weather was beautiful, and the beach was for free, so we said, sure. The beaches were all pebbly and the water wasn't warm enough to go swimming, but it was so nice to just relax.

The port of Capri!

Beach view!

The view from the top!

Our last full day in Sorrento we headed to Positano. I say "headed to" rather than "went to" because apparently there had been a mudslide and buses couldn't get Positano. Rather than let us know that, the bus we were on just took us to Amalfi (I have certainly missed the ease of communication I find in America...) Either way, it was a beautiful drive and this was we got to see a lot of the Amalfi Coast. And Amalfi was beautiful. We didn't do much more than lay on the beach there agian, but I'm not complaining. I've never actually seen water that color and it was so gorgeous.

The drive was a bit scary at times. Those are tall cliffs. We were on a bus.

Such pretty contrasts between the sea and the water!

The view from our "private beach" which we found after wading through some water, climbing a rock, and just generally being where we shouldn't have been.

Thursday Erin and I headed to Rome for the last few days of our week together. I liked Rome a lot more the second time around. We just ambled around and saw all the big sites at our own pace, which was very different from seeing it with a group of ten people. Plus, the weather was gorgeous. I had a flight home at 6:45 AM Saturday, so we stayed up all night Friday until my cab arrived - needless to say, I was pretty tired on the airplane home. But I'm home now!

Trevi Fountain at night! I threw in more coins :)

The poppies of Italy in full bloom!

The view of the Colosseum from Palantine Hill!

Yes, we stood there,

The view from the top of the monument for Victor Immanuel II.

My time in Italy was amazing and I'm really sad it's over. I haven't had much time to decompress the experience yet, so I have no great insights as to how I've changed or what I loved most. I can't even pick a favorite city that I visited - I liked so many different things and tried so many new things. After this trip I know that I want to visit all 50 states in the US, and that I will definitely be back to Europe. I know I can't live in Italy, at least not at this time in my life, because I can't handle the laissez-faire approach to time and goals, but I could definitely see myself retiring in a city like Sorrento, or at least living there for a few months out of the year when I'm older. For now, all I can say about being back in America is that Americans talk really loudly and being able to understand every single thing people say is so bizarre. The use of ice is throwing me off and the amount of t-shirts I own is actually appalling to me. Guess it's time to go shopping!

A Dio.

My program ends this week.

Maybe if I repeat it enough, it'll sink in? Because it hasn't so far. I simply can't believe that this is it - these are the last days I'll probably ever spend in Macerata, Italy. I've hit the point where everything is a countdown - possibly my last trip to the grocery store, possibly my last pastry ever in this particular bar (false, I plan on binge eating pastries before I head back to the land of the pastry-free). The concept of being at home is really hard to grasp. It's like seeing that the air has a consistency (as painters of the Renaissance knew and depicted in their super sweet life-like paintings... can you tell it's finals week?) and knowing that my hand is in the air, but being one hundred percent unable to hold the air. Does that extended simile make sense? Probably not. I'm ready for some Mexican food, to play with my puppies, and to sleep in my own, non twin sized bed, but the idea that I'll be doing all those things in less that two weeks is so crazy.

Whatever. It's all kind of a moot point since I'm actually not headed home until the 28th of April. I promise to post one or two last posts about my travels post AHA, especially because I'm so excited to share the glory of Pompeii with all my fellow archaeology nerds out there, but for now I'm in the goodbye mood since Macerata has been home for so many days and now I don't know if I'll ever be back. On that note, this blog post is entitled with the Italian way to say goodbye forever (it basically translates to, until we meet God). Hopefully, it's not literal for me, but the sentiment just about sums up how heartbreaking it is to leave.

Our last "family" dinner!

Last night was our program's farewell dinner - and I think they were trying to put as much good food in us as completely possible - meats, cheeses, assorted appetizers, two plates of pasta, pork (and applesauce!) before an ice cream dessert. The best part of the meal was when Angelica started predicting our futures. Luckily, she sees me opening a restaurant with my roommate, though I'm not sure if it's because we're the best cooks she's ever seen in her cooking classes or if we're just such good forks (to be a good fork is to clean your plate, or be a good eater). Considering how much of the food I ate, it's probably the second. 

Buona Pasqua!

In Italy, Easter (Pasqua) is a huge national holiday, so big that the Monday after Easter is also a national holiday and school is cancelled! For us, that meant that we had a four day weekend and so seven of us from the program took it as an opportunity to head down to Trapani, Sicilia for a three day vacation (you know, all the studying I'm doing is highly stressful and since Italy is absolutely no fun whatsoever by any stretch of the imagination.... we desperately needed a break from the mundane... kidding - we just wanted to see Sicily). The weather wasn't quite as warm as we'd hoped, but we did manage to lay out on the beach on Friday. Since my skin had all the color drawn slowly from in during the weeks of hibernation due to blizzards, it turns out that's all I was able to do anyway (can you say - sunburnt?).

Trapani is a little town on the western coast of Sicily, which is an island off the west coast of southern Italy. It's not a very big tourist town or hot destination spot, but we picked it because Ryanair (a cheap airline that goes all over Europe) flies from Ancona (an hour from Macerata) to there. Even though towns like Palermo and Siracusa are more well-known, I liked Trapani because it was a taste of small town southern Italy (and one thing you know about me by now is that I like small towns). It's a port town with beaches, with big mountains in the background, and some delicious seafood! Also, some specialties are cous cous (with seafood it is even better than regular cous cous - and they have an entire cous cous festival) and these rice balls (which I ate twice for lunch - so good). Basically, the food is good (what's new?). And the people were much more friendly and loud in the south than they are in the central or northern regions. Not that they aren't nice there too, they are just more approachable in the south. For example, standing outside a gelateria our last night there, a woman and her two daughters just started talking to us and I got to practice my Italian (I told the little girl I liked her glittery shoes), while she got to practice her English (she's studying it in school, but she's studying British English so it's a little different). Also, we were honked at and told we were beautiful more times in three days than has ever happened in three months in Macerata.

Here's some pics of the beach (two blocks from our hostel):

Friday, the town had their Good Friday processional. Very Godfather-like (appropriate because the Mafia began in Sicily) with little "floats" and bands. But rather than a festive and jovial feeling, it was like a big funeral march. Appropriate for the holiday, I suppose, but rather odd to watch - nothing like I've ever seen before. It was long too, I only watched part of it but it supposedly went on for over five hours.

Depicting scenes from the crucifixion. 

Saturday, the seven of us took a day trip with the only other two people in our hostel to a medieval town named Erice, which sits on top of the mountains behind Trapani. Because it's in the mountains, as we took our cable car to the top, we disappeared into a fog that sometimes covers the town. It was actually really disorienting and kind of creepy, plus it was really cold and we were not dressed for it. On the upside, we went to a famous pastry shop and I ate a giant, delicious cannoli!

Cable car ride to the top!

Eerie.

Castle exploration time!

Where bad things can't happen.

Sugar coma followed promptly.

Sunday was our day to relax, and I read a book and took a walk to some ruins a little ways down the beach. We didn't really have many options of things to do, as it was Easter and almost everything was closed (in case you'd forgotten, Italy is super Catholic).

Spring flowers and random ruins!

In the early evening, the seven of us made an Easter dinner in our hostel's kitchen- complete with pasta (what else), salad, bruschetta, annnnnd deviled eggs! Eating the eggs actually made it feel like Easter!

It took imagination and creativity to make this happen. And it was probably comical to watch. It was a very small kitchen.

Then we went to bed early because we had to get to the airport by 5 AM. Which meant that we had to get up at 3:45 AM to take the bus there. While I love being places, I don't always like how difficult or long it takes to get there. Still, I really enjoyed Sicily - the weather was beautiful, the seafood was heavenly (I've been waiting for seafood for months), the people were kind, and it was so nice to relax for a few days on the beach. My next travels will take me back down to the south, and I can't wait to spend some more time in that part of Italy!

My Roman Holiday

This last weekend marked our last group excursion, and we went out with a bang - Roma!

Tiber River

First of all, Rome is big. And after only three days, I'm glad I'm not studying there. The food was not as good, the service was not friendly, everything was expensive, and there were tourists everywhere. Despite all this, Rome is such a beautiful city historically and I got to see some really cool things that I forced myself to get over my deep aversion to public transportation and large masses of strangers pressed up against me (punny because I went to "mass" with the Pope... and thousands of other people).

We started with the Colosseum, the first monument I glimpsed as I hitched a ride from Fiumincino to Roma Termini so many months ago, and this time I got to go inside. Going inside was super cool and the only practical application of my many years of Latin in high school and how many times I've seen The Gladiator. It's huge! And what we see today is only 1/3 of the structure as it was originally was built. Right next to the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill, some former temples, and the old Roman Forum (the only place I wanted to go that I didn't get to, I'll have to hit it up when I go back in a few weeks).

The famous Filiberto and Angelica with me where gladiators fought.

The Triumphal Arch of Constantine with the Colosseum lounging casually in the background.

In the afternoon, we went to the Bocca della Veritá (which was featured in Audrey Hepburn's Roman Holiday, though the film mislead me as to how long the line would be for snapping the quick picture below), a couple of ancient Roman temples, the Campidoglio - a set of stairs designed by Michelangelo, and finally we walked to the Pantheon.

My hand is still intact! This means I am not a liar.

View of the Roman Forum from the Campidoglio.

The Pantheon was closed, however, when we got there - we went to Rome during Palm Sunday weekend and there were stations of the cross occuring in the Pantheon - so we had to go back Saturday. Instead, we walked to the Trevi Fountain and I threw in a coin, then we climbed the Spanish Steps (also featured in Roman Holiday, though sadly we climbed them without gelato, like Audrey did).

Pantheon

I threw a coin into the fountain. Guess I'll have to come back.

Spanish Steps! These were also less crowded in Roman Holiday. Cinema lies.

Sunset from the top of the Spanish Steps.

Saturday, we dedicated to Vatican City (technically a different country), seeing St. Peter's Piazza, the Dome of St. Peter's, and the Basilica itself. That afternoon, we took the shortest route through the Vatican Museums to see lots of cool and famous art - including the Sistine Chapel (where photos are not allowed and neither is speaking). How short, do you ask? Only three hours. There is literally days worth of stuff in there. And so many people.

TWO COUNTRIES AT ONCE!

We climbed the Dome here too - for a spectacular view of the "arms" of the Piazza, built that way to welcome back those sneaky Protestants who would surely see the error of their ways and return to the Church.

The Pieta, by Michelangelo, inside the Basilica.

Loacoon, famous sculpture of the body under stress, in the Museums.

The "School of Athens" by Raphael in the Museum.

Sunday we got up super early and headed back to Vatican City - we had seats for the Palm Sunday Mass with Pope Benny! It was literally a different language, but it was cool that I was so close to the Pope and his swank Popemobile when he came around the crowd.

Sexy Swiss Guard attire.

Not zoomed up, actually this close!

After Mass, a couple of us tried to find a Mexican restuarant, and after several wrong turns - it was closed! Sad day. Sadly, we had to settle for Subway. Kidding - it was so satisfying to have American food (and made me think of all the food I'll want to eat when I get home)! Here, they don't have footlong subs - but rather 15 or 30 centimeter subs. Since we got up so early, we hit up a local park to relax and saw some inline skaters doing tricks, lots of kids playing soccer with their parents, people rowing in boats on lakes, and groups of people just singing along to a guitar. Such a typical Italian Sunday, enjoying life! It was nice to get away from the city for a while.

No big deal, just rowing a rowboat on Sunday.

Speaking of home, it's officially April. As in, officially the month I will come home. It's such a bizarre feeling to so desperately want to be in two completely different places at the same time for entirely different reasons. If I weren't scheduled to go home for another five months, I'd be perfectly happy, but since going home is so close, it makes me want to just be there already (and skip the whole packing bit, preferably). But I don't want to wish Italy away, because I know once I get home, I'll miss Italy (I miss Macerata on my three day trips away...). Maybe all my friends and family could just move here with me? And bring Mexican food? Okay, deal.

Under the Tuscan Sun

This weekend was our first group weekend trip and we went to Firenze (Florence).

Florence was lovely - out of all the of the Italian cities I've visited so far, this is the one I could see myself actually living in. First of all, it's a river town (a real river this time, the Arno), so it felt a little bit like home. But also, since there are no hills, it's a very active town, people were always running or riding bikes around and it just had a very vibrant, alive feeling to the town - metropolis without being chaotic. We did a ton of things in Firenze, so I'm going to hit the highlights in vague collective form.

Churches. We went to a lot of them, including the Duomo, the Chiesa di Santa Croce, the Chiesa di Santa Maria Novella, and the Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte. I saw some really cool things in those various churches, most notably - Brunelleschi's Dome. We actually climbed to the top (400+ stairs) and got a great view of the city! Other cool things in other various churches include: tombs/memorials to Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Raphael, paintings by Cimabue, the first painting with one point perspective (Masaccio's The Trinity), frescoes by Giotto, the Ghiberti's doors etc etc etc. There's basically so much awesome art and history in Italy that it's overwhelming to create a list. The names and references probably also don't mean all that much to anyone who hasn't studied it, so I'll just say it was awesome and you guys can trust me.

Scaled that. Using stairs, obviously. It's hard to get a good picture with scale of these buildings understood.

View from the top of the dome!

View of the city.

Ghiberti's doors.

Speaking of art - we went to Galleria dell'Academia and saw Michelangelo's David and Prisons and also went to the the Galleria degli Uffizi and saw lots of famous paintings by Botticelli (Primavera and The Birth of Venus), along with art by Giotto, Duccio, Cimabue, the Lorenzetti Brothers, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, and Titian. Lots of cool things. Quite frankly, a lot of it was only interesting because we've studied the pieces in our Art History class, but still, some of the paintings were really famous and it was neat to see them in person. The size of the paintings always surprise me when I see them in real life, whether they are smaller or bigger. On a sad side note, these museums are uptight and don't allow pictures. But feel free to either use your imagination or Google.

Markets - leather everywhere. Also, a great place to try a tripe sandwich (a specialty of the region), which I did. In case you were wondering - it's cow stomach. I wasn't all that much of a fan, but I would eat it again if I had no other options. And in Italy, gelato is always another options. So I probably won't be eating it again.

Piazzas - Like always, some of my favorite memories are the hours I spend just hanging out in the piazzas of Italy, soaking up sun and hanging out with my friends, playing the "where are those tourists from?" game. Americans - you are so easy to spot.

The Arno River - So pretty! I enjoyed being by a real river. All other "rivers" I've seen in Italy have been about the size of the creek in my back yard.

Sunset on the Arno.

On Saturday, seven of us took a day trip to le Cinque Terre, a region on the west coast of Italy, where there are five little towns right on the edge of the water. It's absolutely gorgeous, and we got to hike which was one of the first time since I've been here that I got to do some outdoorsy, nature-y things and I was totally digging it. This was simply the prettiest place I've been so far. I'll just post pictures because otherwise you won't believe me. We hiked for about four hours, and saw three of the five cities in the Cinque Terre - and the whole experience was surreal, since I remember learning about the area in Italian class last year.

Pretty pretty pretty.

One of the towns, We hiked to the top of the mountain, so it's an ariel shot.

Sunset in Cinque Terre!