time - of - my - LIFE.

whats that?

2008-08-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

i'm sitting here trying to pass the remaining two hours of my last shift, on my last day of work, and i realize that the last time i composed a blog entry i was still over the pond. much has happened since my european adventure!

1. i am a college graduate! mom, dad, and brother michael came down to madison for commencement weekend to help me celebrate. it was nice having everybody down here for the weekend, rather than just a quick day-visit. i took the fam to the terrace where we enjoyed the lake view and sipped some beers. when mom and dad retired to the hotel for the evening, mike and i hit up the town. he was able to meet up with some of his college friends and enjoy himself. the graduation ceremony was long and boring---part of me wishes that i wouldnt have gone, but walking the stage will be a valuable memory.

2. i spent my summer earning big bucks (not) as a leasing consultant at The Towers (private housing for students). basically, this means that i was paid to sit at the front desk and chat with co-workers, surf the internet, read celebrity magazines, and watch television. i cant complain, it was the easiest job i've ever had, but it was SO boring. i never thought i would complain about an easy job, but now i'm very eager for a challenge.

3. CHICAGO! on august 17 i will be moving into a spectacular apartment in wrigleyville! i'll be moving with hannah and alison (whom i met in italy) as well as erin. i'm very eager to experience life in chicago. now all i need to do is find a j-o-b so i can afford the lifestyle that i like to live! due a wonderful past employer with many chicago connections...hopefully this task wont be too difficult.

4. my summer in madison has been absolutely wonderful. i can honestly say that i have enjoyed everything i've done, and will be sad when its over. here is a list of my highlights (not like anybody cares about my list of highlights, but i like to think of the memories):
-canoeing on lake mendota
-terrace afternoons and nights
-michael franti and spearhead concert
-4th of july weekend (brewers game, spending with weekend with ashley, tom petty concert)
-noahs ark
-discovering madison's finest/sketchiest "dance club"(?)---ram head
-and finally, the highlight of all highlights....wing night wednesdays at brothers! the sauce is amazing!

i'm definitely going to be sad when the summer comes to a close. the summertime group will be going their separate ways with some remaining in madison and others moving far away. my current roommate and long time friend, inthava, will be relocating to philadelphia. sam (aka jones) is going to grad school in balitmore. andee and stacy (the only students left) will stay in madison. hannah, alison, erin and i area off to chicago. the upcoming month will bring many changes, but they are changes that i am excited for!

*i hope to start posting regularly in my blog. i realize that my "regular" life will not be as exciting as it was abroad, but i may still have some entertaining stories....at least i hope so!

Budapest

2007-12-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Hannah, Alison, and I took an amazing trip to Budapest, Hungary. We arrived in Budapest around noon and met up with our lovely hosts Sam and Erik. They had afternoon class, so we were on our own for a few hours to explore the city. After getting acquainted with the metro system, we were on our way. Our first stop was the beautiful Saint Stephen's Basilica. To our disappointment, the dome was closed and we couldn't climb it. However, the basilica was still very interesting. We made our way onward to the Opera on the famous Andrassy Avenue. The Opera is quite a magnificent building. We were also very pleased to find that Budapest was fully decorated for Christmas, with lights and Christmas trees almost everywhere you looked. After the Opera, we headed back to Sam's to eat dinner and get ready for one of their friends birthdays. For the birthday celebration, we did a walking tour of the city. At first this idea seemed odd, but it actually turned out to be pretty cool. We started at Hero's Square and then continued up Andrassy Avenue. Next we hit and crossed Szechenyi Chain Bridge which took us from Pest into Buda and at the foot of Buda Castle. Everything looked really pretty lit up at night time. After the tour, Sam and Erik introduced us to Morrison's Karaoke Bar. It was very entertaining and interesting to see a group of Americans attempt to sing Hungarian karaoke. We ended the night there and had a blast.

Day two introduced us to Budapest's famous baths. We relaxed at Széchenyi Medicinal Bath, which is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. The water is heated and supplied by two thermal springs. While the temperature of the air is freezing, the water felt great. We probably stayed longer than we should have, but we couldn't resist. After the baths, we went out for a lovely dinner and met some more of the students from Sam and Erik's program. It was interesting to see how their program is different from ours. Also fun to exchange travel stories with one another. After dinner we went to a local bar that once again turned out to be quite entertaining. The bar atmosphere put 9 Americans in a small room with 4 Hungarians. Turns out, Erik can speak Hungarian quite fluently, so conversation was far from dull.

Day three consisted of Erik giving us a guided tour of all the top spots Budapest had to offer. We began at the Budapest Christmas Market. Different vendors lined the streets with their goods. We sampled Hot Wine, which was excellent, and I purchased some Hungarian Christmas Ornaments. We then walked along the Danube River and over the Szechenyi Chain Bridge. From there we trekked up the hill to the Hungarian National Museum, Castle Quarter, and Fisherman's Bastion. Unfortunately, it was extremely foggy out, so our view of the city was very limited. After some time, we headed back towards Hero's Square and City Park to the ice rink. Once again, we were disappointed as all of the skates had been rented. We still got to walk around and take some great pictures though.

We had lots of fun on the trip and it was a nice way to bring a close to the semester. Budapest definitely is one of my favorite cities and I would love to go back some day. Hard to believe I only have one more week left before I return home! Time sure has flown by.

Interlaken, Switzerland

2007-12-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

November 29-December 2 2007

I decided to go on somewhat of a last minute trip to Interlaken, Switzerland this past weekend. Stacy convinced Hannah, who then convinced me, to take a weekend trip to experience the Swiss Alps. We headed out on Thursday night with Bus2Alps for the 7 hour bus ride to Interlaken. Our 8:00pm departure time put us in bed at the lovely Balmers Herberge hostel at around 4:00am. Needless to say, we were quite tired on Friday. That being said, we decided to walk around Interlaken during the day. After some shopping, we decided to hit up the indoor ice rink. Non of us are very skilled skaters, so the hour and a half spent at the rink turned out to be quite entertaining. After a few falls and some "interpretive" skating, our rink time came to an end. Come 4:00pm, we headed to Outdoor Interlaken to rent our ski and snowboard equipment for Saturday and Sunday. I've wanted to try snowboarding for quite some time now, and what better place to start than the Swiss Alps, or so I thought. The rest of the girls all decided to ski. Stacy, Petra, and Katie were the experienced ones of the group, while Hannah and I had absolutely no clue what we were in for. After getting all the necessary equipment, we went back to the hostel to grab some dinner. This turned out to be a great experience. Balmers had a wonderful hang out/restaurant area where just about everyone from our bus decided to congregate. To make the evening even more enjoyable, they had happy hour featuring a local Swiss beer. Better yet, Interlaken's most popular night club, Metro, was in the basement of the hostel. A fun time was had by all. Saturday started bright and early, as we caught the 8:15 train to Grindelwald. Upon arrival, we had about a 10 minute walk with all of our gear to the gondola, which was our first leg of the journey up the mountain. The gondola ride lasted approximately 30 minutes. As the altitude increased, Hannah and I began to worry. The mountain was looking intense and our survival was in question. Finally, after reaching the area known as First, we exited the gondola. Our next step was a chair lift ride. This brought us to Oberjoch, at an elevation of 8206 ft. Intimidating to say the least. The experienced skiers were eager to hit the slopes while Hannah and I feared for our lives. Apparently, the Swiss do not believe in Bunny Hills, so we were forced to learn to ski/snowboard on a rather difficult slope. After a quick lesson from Stacy, I was off and boarding, but not for long. I soon realized that I was going to be spending more time on my butt than on my feet. After easing down the first part of the run, we discovered there were numerous cliff edges that one could easily fall off of. I began to fear for my life. Needless to say, it took me quite a long time to finally make it to the bottom. However, the views were absolutely breathtaking. I felt as though I was on top of the world. After countless wipe outs day one came to a close. We made the trip back to Interlaken to rest up for day two. Upon our return, we went to a nearby restaurant to taste authentic cheese fondue. Delicious! We were all exhausted from the day and were in bed by 10:00. Day two started off early once again. Our bodies were quite sore from the day before, but we decided to try our luck at Kleine Scheidegg. From Interlaken, it was about an hour and 20 minute train ride right up the mountain. There were unbelievable views the entire ride. Finally, we reached the destination at an elevation of 6762ft. The ski runs literally began right when we get off of the train. Hannah and I were relieved to see an area marked as "Beginners Park", so we headed that way. After looking at the run, we realized there were no cliff edges in sight and knew that it would be a much better day. We both actually did pretty good. I was able to stay up on the board for quite awhile without falling. All in all, it was a much smoother day than Saturday and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Before we knew it, our time was up and we had to make our way back to Interlaken to catch the bus home. The trip was a complete success and we all came away injury free! I'm so glad I decided to go. The landscape was amazing and it will be pretty neat to say that my first time snowboarding was in the Swiss Alps!

Fall Break: Paris

2007-11-18T12:06:00.000-08:00

Friday November 2

Our day started off very early, as we had a 6:00am flight scheduled from London to Paris. However, the airport was an hour outside of the city and with us being unsure of exactly how to get transportation to the airport, we were ready to go by 2:30am to be safe. Our journey required us to take a city bus and then a coach bus to the airport. Despite the long journey, we made it to the airport with time to spare. Upon our arrival in Paris, we were exhausted. However, our lovely hotel accommodations allowed us to rest/nap. Our first stop was the Louvre. There was a special exhibition for students that night, so we were lucky enough to get in free of charge. The entire area of the museum is beautiful. Upon seeing the glass pyramids I couldn't help but think of the Da Vinci Code. We saw tons of neat stuff including THE MONA LISA. They even let you take pictures of everything. I could have spent a whole day wondering the museum, so much to see. After the museum we went to the Arc d' Triumph. By this time it was dark, so the arc was lit up, which was awesome. We had a quick dinner and then returned to the hotel for bed as we were all still tired.

Saturday November 3

Our first stop of the day was the Eiffel Tower (my number one site for the trip). We got there early enough to avoid a long line and began our trek to the top of the tower. Andee, Lisa, and I climbed 700 steps to get the second level of the tower. From there, you take an elevator to the top level. The tower seems absolutely massive in real life. The views are fabulous. I would recommend climbing to the second level as opposed to taking the elevator because you can see so much more. It was also really neat to be climbing up the inside, you get a closer view of how big it is and how many pieces compose it. The Eiffel Tower was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip, an experience I'll remember forever. After the Eiffel Tower, we were in for more climbing. We headed to, and up the Arc d' Triumph. While there weren't nearly as many stairs, the Arc provided great views as well. However, the entire staircase was a spiral, so I did get a little dizzy. Still well worth it. Our next stop was Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral was very beautiful with huge stain glass windows and tons of chandeliers. As our time was running out, we wanted to cross one last site off our list, Père-Lachaise Cemetery, where the famous Jim Morrison is buried. Stacy, Christa, and I (the only Doors fans) navigated our way on the Paris Metro and made our way to the cemetery, we were devastated to find that we were a mere 3 minutes too late. The cemetery had just closed its doors. We put in a great effort and came up short. After the blow, our next move was to meet back up with everyone else
at the Eiffel Tower to see the light show that happens every hour on the hour at night. For about 10 minutes, the entire tower appears to glitter as tons of lights flash. Almost as if there are millions of cameras flashing. Stacey and I were so pleased with the light show, that we decided to check out the view from the tower at night. This time, we took the elevator to the second floor of the tower. Once again, I loved every second of it. A stunning way to end our stay in Paris and put a close to fall break!

Three cities in three countries in 10 days was the trip of a lifetime. Dublin, London, Paris - what more could you ask for? Each city had something different to offer and I loved all of them. My only regret is that I didn't have more time. However, I loved every minute of the time I had and saw amazing things that I will never forget!

Fall Break: London

2007-11-12T03:35:00.000-08:00

Part Two: London

Tuesday October 30

We arrived safely in London to begin our second leg of the trip. After getting settled in our hostel in the area of Kings Cross, we were off to explore what London had to offer. Our first stop was Kings Cross Station. For those of you that are Harry Potter fans, this is where platform
9&3/4 is. They even have a cart pushed halfway into the brick wall for photo opportunities. We took advantage. Next we were off to the British Museum where we saw wonderful things (highlights include: the Rosetta Stone, mummies and other Egyptian things, and pieces of the Parthenon). Following the museum, we headed to Hyde Park. The park is very pretty and very large. We only got through a little bit before it became dark out. We did manage to see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, which was very cool. Our next stop was the River Thames to get a look at the famous Tower Bridge. The bridge was very beautiful as it was all lit up for the night. After more picture taking, we decided upon dinner in Notting Hill where everyone enjoyed a lovely meal of fish and chips.

Wednesday October 31

We were all a little worn out from all of the travelling, so we decided our best way to see the city was by riding a double decker tour bus. The tour gave you the opportunity to hop off whenever you wanted in order to see more of each site. However, we just decided to ride the entire route and then decide what we really wanted to see. We had an entertaining tour guide who made continuous jokes about us being from Wisconsin and being "bred tough"(we are still not sure if he was referring to our size or due to us withstanding the cold). We saw all of the major sites including the Tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Madame Tussauds, and London Bridge. After the tour, some of us decided that Westminster Abbey deserved a closer look. The Abbey was beautiful both inside and out. Almost everywhere you look inside, there is a burial or a commemoration site for someone. Kings ,Queens, poets, you name it.

Thursday November 1

Thursday started out with us making our way to Buckingham Palace in order to see the Changing of the Guard. While this seemed like a good idea at the time, and I'm sure at some point in my life I will be glad I saw it, I was somewhat dissatisfied. The entire area of the palace was packed with tourists and it was very hard to see what was going on. The guards weren't even wearing the traditional red jackets and big black hats (which was something I wanted to see). Our next stop was the National Gallery. The gallery was fantastic and we saw works by Van Gogh, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Monet. After the gallery, time was running low as we had tickets to see the musical Rent that night. We made our way back to the hostel to get ready for the show. The show was playing in the West End at the Duke of York Theater. We got there early for general admission, which paid off as our seats were great and the show was fantastic! A great way to end our stay in London.

Side note: the Tube (London's subway system) is absolutely fabulous. Very fast and easy to use. I loved it!

Fall Break: Dublin

2007-11-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

After much anticipation, fall break has come and gone. I travelled with 7 other girls from my program on the ten day journey. During that time we managed to hit 3 cities in 3 different countries. Here is the overview:

Part One: Dublin, Ireland

Friday October 26, 2007

Our trip officially started as we hit the railways for Pisa to catch our flight to Dublin. We thought we were in the clear after everybody's luggage was under the weight limit (this was a huge dilemma while packing) and we headed towards our gate. Our 5:55pm flight was scheduled to put us into Dublin at approximately 8:30. In our minds, this was plenty of time to get settled in the hostel and explore the night life of Dublin. Turns out, we were very wrong. The flight ended up being delayed until 12:15am, reason unknown. This ended up with us arriving in Dublin around 3:30am. Not exactly what we wanted, as 6 of us had scheduled a 8:00am bus tour to take us to the Cliffs of Moher on Saturday.

Saturday October 27, 2007

After a quick 3 hours of sleep, the crew headed to Dublin's train station in order to get to Limmerick, where we were to being our tour with the lovely Barrett Tour Company. We were greeted in Limmerick by Richard Barrett who would be both our bus driver and guide for the day - a real comedian as well. The tour showed us everything that the countryside of Ireland has to offer. We saw Leamenagh castle (famous ruin), Poulnabrone Tomb, the limestone landscape of the Burren Region, the village of Ballyvaughan (the site of an ancient fort as well as a gift shop that had a Vince Lombardi book), a lunch stop in Doolin at the famous Gus O'Connors Pub (where i had an excellent bowl of seafood chowder with fish caught fresh from Galway Bay), and finally the main destination of the Cliffs of Moher. Even though it was cold, windy, and misty, the cliffs were absolutely amazing. No matter where you were, the views were fantastic. I would highly recommend visiting if you have the chance. Definitely one of my favorite places on the trip.

Sunday October 28, 2007

On Sunday we checked out the campus of Trinity College. It had beautiful lawn areas with exceptionally green grass and neat buildings as well. Very nice. While visiting, we happened to stumble upon a rugby tournament. We sat and watched for about and hour. After watching, I realized that rugby is a very intense sport, and one must be insane to participate. After the tournament, we decided to hit the famous shopping area known as Grafton Street. A big chunk of our time was spent exploring the overwhelming amount of shops. Some of us did more damage to the credit card than others. After shopping we headed back to the hostel to clean up for a night on the town. We dined at an Irish pub that had traditional music and a dance floor. Some of the Irish really know how to move on the dance floor. Others do not. After dinner, we made our way to The Porterhouse Bar, in the Temple Bar district. Besides the lovely selection of Porterhouse brews, the bar also featured a live band to celebrate Halloween. A great time was had by all, as the band was American and played classic hits such as Roxanne, Sweet Home Alabama, and Dont Stop Believin'.

Monday October 29, 2007

With Monday being our last day in Dublin, we still had a few more tourists sites to squeeze in. We headed towards St. Stephen's Green, a well known park in the center of the city. The park was very picturesque, with a pond, fountains, and neat paths. On the way to St. Patrick's Cathedral, we ran into the Dublin Marathon. We stopped near the finish line and were early enough to watch some of the elite runners cross the finish line. They didnt even look tired! We continued to St. Pat's. I'll have to admit, I wasnt that impressed from the outside, but upon entrance my opinion was quickly changed. The floors had a beautiful pattern in them and the high arches of the cathedral were great. Glad I decided to go in. Our focus quickly changed from churches and traditional site seeing to the Guinness Factory. The Guinness Storehouse is a massive building that actually housed the fermentation of Guinness beer until 1988. Now, the building is actually modelled after a giant pint glass. An opening stretches from the ground floor all the way to the "Gravity Bar" on the 7th floor. The tour of the factory is self led, and was actually very interesting and entertaining. It takes you through the complete process of how Guinness is produced and the history of Guinness. Once you make it to the top floor, you are welcomed with a free pint of Guinness to enjoy in the Gravity Bar. The Gravity Bar is circular in shape and provides you with a panoramic view of Dublin. The entire tour was really enjoyable. If you are ever in Dublin, be sure to check it out!

Dublin was a very enjoyable city to visit. The city itself is a completely different atmosphere than the countryside. So glad I was able to experience both the city and the countryside. All in all, I would say that the Cliffs of Moher were my favorite part of Ireland.

2007-10-21T23:57:00.000-07:00

Some interesting things have happened in the past week. Here is the recap:

on tuesday, our Modern Italian Culture class took a hike up Mt. Morello. apparently, the area of Sesto Fiorentino was very active in the resistance movement. partisans used the mountain to hide from German soldiers. The hike meant the return of the mountain god Mario. having already gone on the previous hike that Mario led, i thought i would be fine. come to find out, the last hike we took was the "easy" one. when Mario told us this, i knew i was in for trouble. so, the group started out on what was to be a 4 hour hike. basically, once we got to the mountain, we just went straight up. the path was steep, with loose rocks along the entire way. i was terrified. we took the exact route that the partisans would have taken. along the way Mario pointed out specific spots in which the partisans hid, and he also took us to some monuments to remember those who had passed. it was definitely neat to see. if i was terrified on the way up, i cant begin to describe how i felt on the way down. in my head i thought there was no way that we would go down the mountain the same way we came up. i was wrong. we headed straight back down. at every step i thought i would lose my footing, fall down, and take everyone out in front of me. surprisingly, we made it down without anyone falling. it was a good hike and my body was feeling it days later.

this week i also started speaking with a conversation partner. the program contacts people in Sesto that would like to work on their english and help us work on our italian. my roommate meg and i were assigned the same partner, which i'm very glad about because my italian is extremely limited while meg is in advanced italian. we made our way to the home of angela, a 30 year old teacher to students with special needs. she was very nice and already speaks english quite well. it was very interesting to talk to her and learn about her life. meg and i will meet with her twice a week from now on. hopefully my italian will improve.

this week also marked my trip to eurochocolate 2007. the city of perugia hosts the biggest chocolate festival in europe. loving chocolate myself, i figured this would be the perfect day trip. tents of chocolate vendors lined the streets...we didnt know where to begin. seen as it was a little chilly that day, we started off with a cup of hot chocolate. this turned out to be more like chocolate that was melted, it was so thick. it was delicious, but i had to toss it after about a half cup due to the richness. we moved on, chocolate bars, chocolate popcorn, chocolate covered apples, the list was endless. we also saw the worlds largest chocolate bar, weighing in at 3,000 kg. it was definitely large. after we had enough chocolate, we explored perugia a little bit. the city is set on a hill and has some great views. a fun time was had by all.

this will me my last entry before the big fall break trip. hopefully i will have some entertaining stories to tell after my journey to dublin, london, and paris! ciao!

Oktoberfest: Munich, Germany PROST!

2007-10-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

The weekend of October 5-7 I travelled to Munich, Germany to participate in the famed celebration known as Oktoberfest. My words cannot truly convey how much fun I had and the comedy that occured, but I will do my best. I'll break down the events of the weekend in segments, because it was just that good.

Thursday Night October 4
After a delicious dinner at the villa and a few hours spent packing and preparing for the weekend's festivities, our group of 8 was eager to start the trip. We boared the 10:30pm city bus to Santa Maria Novela (the main train station in Florence) to play it safe and have more than enough time before our Bus2Alps bus arrived to the station and departed for Munich at midnight. We arrived at the train station with about an hour to spare. As time passed, other travelers joined us and the anticipation grew. As the clock neared and passed 12:00, there was no bus. Our group of 8 had previous speculation whether or not this Bus2Alps Company was in actuality a real company. We definitely became concerned at 12:15. However, thanks to a very loud and annoying fellow traveler who phoned Simon, the man in charge, it was confirmed that the bus was running late from Rome and would arrive shortly. Sure enough, the bus arrived at approximately 12:30. Shortly after, we were settled in our seats and started out on the 9 hour journey.

Friday Morning, October 5
Turns out, my plan of sleeping the entire 9 hours did not happen as expected. However, this did not get me down, as our arrival in Munich gave me a new burst of energy. Simon dropped us off and said a quick farewell so he could take part in Oktoberfest as well. The eight of us made our way to the hostel that was booked on Wednesday evening (previous accomodations fell through). We had a slight problem with the fact that there were 8 of us and the hostel was only for 5 people. Upon arrival at the hostel, we realized we were a mere 10 minute walk from the Oktoberfest grounds, a lovely surprise. Five of us went to check in and scope out how we were going to sneak in 3 extra people. We were again pleasantly surprised to see that this would be a piece of cake and that we also received a free breakfast in the morning. After dropping off our bags, we proceeded to Oktoberfest.

Friday Afternoon, October 5
Once we entered the grounds, we all knew that the weekend would be pure entertainment. Swarms of crazy Germans roamed the grounds in traditional German apparel and appeared to have been guzzling beer for hours prior. We made our way into the Hofbraeuhaus Tent to get our first liter of beer. The tent was packed with people singing, dancing, drinking, and eating. As we searched for an open table, I heard a male voice yell my name. Considering the fact that I was not traveling with any men, and I dont know any German men, I was both confused and surprised that someone would know my name. I also considered the fact that there could indeed be another Leslie in the tent. I decided to turn around anyway, and to my surprise, I saw non other than Sam Froelich, a boy that I went to high school with. Our group of 8 squeezed in with Sam's group and the party started. We learned some new songs, drank good beer, met fun people, and ate enormous soft preztles. After a few hours in the tent, we ventured out to see what else Oktoberfest had to offer. Hannah and I decided to spend a considerable amount of both time and money on the bumper cars. This was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. After we dominated the bumper cars, we went back to the hostel and met up with the rest of our group. After a nap, some ventured back to explore the grounds, and some continued to sleep in order to rest up for the next day's events.

Saturday, October 6
We awoke early in order to get a spot in the beer tents. After getting ready for the day, we headed down to breakfast. What a wonderful spread the hostel had! Cereal, fruit, bread, cheese, juice, etc. After taking full advantage of the meal, we were on our way back to the fest. At about 9:30 the lines for the tents were hundreds of people long already. Most dont open until 10:00, but we found one that had already let people in. We entered Armbrustschutzenzelt and found a table in the back corner, perfect for people watching. Each of us got a liter and a preztel and began the day. Minutes later, we noticed an Italin man very near to us, who believe it or not, had the skin tone of squash, perfectly plucked eyebrows, glossed lips, and upon further examination both a hairless chest and hairless arms. Groomed to perfection, according to metrosexual men of the world. Putting our limited Italian to use, we flagged him over and started having a humorous conversation. Between the 8 of us, we came up with the clever nickname of "Bambina", meaning "little girl". As I write this I am laughing so hard that tears are starting to form. Moving on, we also met some cool Germans. As 1:00 rolled around, we were kicked out of the table, due to reservations from a different party. Collectively, we decided that we had had enough of Bambina and exited the tent. After discussing our next move, our group dispersed into those who wanted to do some site seeing, and those who wanted to continue partaking in the festivities. I was in the group that wanted to continue the fun. We decided that we would try and return to the Haufbrauehaus, seen as it provided so enjoyable the previous day. We got a delicious cheddar brat to hold us over while we waited in line. We continued to wait, and wait, and wait. After conversing with a group of American boys, we decided to see if we could sneak in through the beer garden entrance, and skip the tent line altogether. Our plan was successful and we had the time of our lives in the beer garden. People were very entertaining and we joined in on the fun. We met great people and learned a little bit more about the American boys we met in line. The photos and videos that we took captured the events and are still getting laughs days later. We also learned that the German Police force does not mess around. By no means were the gentile when escorting out those who had too much fun. As the night came to a close, we said goodbye to Haufbreauhaus and Oktoberfest.

Sunday October 7
Upon realization that we may have had the best weekend ever, we packed our things and went to devour breakfast. Once again, it was fabulous. Our bus didnt depart for Florence until 12:30, so we had a few hours to site see. Once again, we split up. Stacy, Hannah, Alison and I decided we wanted to visit the Glockenspiel, a famous clock tower. After some language barriers at the train station, we finally figured out what tram we needed to take and bought our tickets. Proud that we had cleared that obstacle, we waited for the number 19 tram that would take us directly to the clock tower. We boarded the tram and looked at the map in order to see what stop we needed to get off at. As Hannah viewed the map, she assured us that the clock tower was just a few stops ahead. A few minutes passed and we realized that none of the stops matched up with those on the map. Sure enough, we had gotten on the 19 that went in the opposite direction. The German language had beat us, and we were not going to have enough time to get on the correct 19 and see the clock. We rode the tram its entire route and got off at the station where we were to meet Simon and return home. The views on the ride home were amazing. The mountains in Switzerland surrounded us, and I got some good pictures. We also had time to watch Oceans 11, Oceans 12, Traffic, and Meet the Parents on the trip home. All in all, I can definitely say that it was one of the best weekends of my life.

venice

2007-09-24T03:13:00.000-07:00

this past weekend the entire program went to venice. we headed out early on friday morning and arrived in venice around 11am. upon first sight i was not that impressed with the city. however, my opinon quickly changed as our boat brought us into the heart of venice. absolutely gorgeous, minus the stray dogs running around. after dropping luggage off at the hotel, we made our way to Piazza San Marco. never before in my life have i seen so many pigeons. to make it worse, they are not afraid of people, but rather flock towards them. needless to say, i was very uncomfortable. with the clock tower, the basilica, and the doge's palace surrounding the piazza, it was quite a site. we were able to go into both the basilica and the palace. these were spectacular. the entire ceiling of the basilica is covered in mosaics, most of them being gold. the basilica has five massive domes in it as well. i probably could have stared all day long. but, we continued our tour into the doge's palace. the palace was huge, with artwork and sculptures everywhere you looked. each room had something different to offer. after our tour of the palace, we were on our own for the rest of the day. a group of us decided to visit the peggy guggenheim collection. this was really neat because it is located where peggy guggenheim used to live, and it is her personal collection of artwork. there was a lot to look at, including pieces by pablo picasso and salvador dali. i dont know a lot about modern art, but i am definitely glad that i stopped there. after a fantastic dinner, we met up with some others at a local bar. we had quite a good time, mainly due to the fact that the bar played 80's american music all night long. we started saturday off at the Academia. one of our professors knows an incredible amount about art history, so she guided us on our tour and loaded us with information. i was also pleasantly surprised to realize that some of the pieces in the museum were touched upon in a previous art history class that i took. after the academia, we rounded up a group to go on a gondola ride. although disappointed that the charge was 20 euro each for a 30 minute ride, it was definitely well worth it. i also got some really cool pictures. the rest of the day was filled with shopping and sight seeing. while the rest of the group went back to florence on saturday night, some of us opted to stay at a camp ground just outside of the city so we could spend sunday in venice as well. the camp ground turned out to be quite the experience. our "cabin" turned out to be a room that was about 8ft x 8ft with a bunk bed and a cot in it. not much room to move around in. i have found that most things in italy are not built for tall people like myself. so we decided to make our way to the camp ground's restaurant/bar area. after a good pizza we went for a drink at the bar. to our surprise, a group of australians also decided to hit up the bar, however they were dressed in togas. after some contemplation, our group decided to join the toga party. using the sheets provided by the camp ground, we did a quick wardrobe change. a fun time was had by all. we made our way back into the city on sunday morning to visit the jewish ghetto and the rialto bridge. to no surprise, we got lost going to the jewish ghetto. after some back routing we finally found it. the ghetto was very secluded and almost hidden from the rest of the city. the rialto bridge looked amazing, but it was crawling with tourists and hard to get a good view. with our time running out, we headed back to the train station so we could make it home in time for Nino's (the chef at the villa) amazing cena (dinner). the trip was a success!

cinqueterre is amazing

2007-09-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

cinqueterre is quite possibly the most beautiful place i have ever seen. we started the day in Monterosso and hiked from there to Vernazza. the hike was definitly intense. the guide wasnt kidding when it said "strenuous". i couldnt tell you how many steps we climbed, but it was well worth it as the views were breath taking. at times the path was only about 2 feet wide, and we were basically on the edge of the mountain the entire time. a little bit scarey, but everyone made it safetly. the path gave us great views of the mediterranean sea. the water was a gorgeous shade of blue and crystal clear. even from up above we could clearly see the rocks at the bottom of the sea. as we completed the hour and 45 minute hike, we came to Vernazza. this city was beautiful. we took full advantage of the beach here. there was both sand and huge rocks for people to lay on. definitely took a lot of pictures. the water was a bit chilly, but i was able to get used to it and swim out far. even swimming in a deep area i was able to look down and see everything under me. a wonderful feeling. after the beach we continued on to Manarola where we walked the famous "Via dell' Amore" path. once again we got great views of the sea and surrounding cliffs. we finished the day in Riomaggiore where we got gelato and hopped on the train to take us home. definitely one of my favorite days so far. ciao!

birthdays and soccer

2007-09-13T01:56:00.000-07:00

yesterday was quite a success. the day marked one of my best friends birthdays as well as a victory for team 7 in our first intramural soccer game. ashley vanderpas celebrated her 22 birthday. i was able to call her and talk to her for a good 20 minutes. it is nice to actually hear a voice instead of just emailing. sad that i missed out on her birthday dinner, birthday cupcakes, and ice cream cake. i hope she had a great time! meanwhile at the villa, team 7 kicked off at 7:30 pm. i held myself back at dinner in hopes that i would play better. however, this really wasnt a factor as team 7 dominated team 8. i think the score was something around 11-2. the game provided some entertainment as the field consists of a clay area definitely not meant for playing soccer on. there were some tumbles and battle wounds, but i think a good time was had by all. i am really looking forward to the day trip to Cinque Terre tomorrow. will update more upon my return. http://homepage.sunrise.ch/homepage/avong/cinque_terre/

ciao!

the blog is finally created

2007-09-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

for those of you who care, i have officially started my semester abroad in italy. i had hoped to start this blog upon my immediate arrival, but as usual i have procrastinated. i am into my second week of classes, but with the way things are going so far i feel as though this expereince will be more of an adventure\vacation than an actual academic semester. all in all, things are going better than i had imagined. i have great roomates and have met some awesome people. the only problem that i encountered was the airline losing my luggage for 3 days, but even that couldnt get me down. i have already seen some amazing things. day trips to siena and pisa provided wonderful scenery and great comedy. learning the train system can be tough, and having the right group of people with you makes a trip worthwhile no matter what happens. i have also become a mountain climber. our volunteer hiking guide mario spoke little english, although enough to warn us that he was not responsible if anyone got injured. mario led us an an intense 4 hour hike up mt. morello. he was definitely a master of the mountain. my bod was feeling it afterwards, but the views were worth it. as the semester progresses i hope to soak in as much as europe has to offer. this is all for now. hopefully my posts will be more entertaining to read as the semester progresses. ciao!
peace and love