Southern Tour - part 3.

Where did I leave off?
Oh yes, the Greek Temples at Agrigento.
That was such a long day.
We ate lunch at like 11 that morning (which is really early for Italy) and then didn't eat dinner til after 8!! We were famished.
Our dinner was a lot of fun though - and it was roasted chicken breast...I had just said earlier in the day how much I would love to have that for dinner! After dinner we decided to spy on this guy and this girl that have started dating; so we tailed them for about 30 minutes...and then couldn't find them. Amy, Libby, Tyler, Nick, Riccardo and I ended up wondering through the olive groves and ended up back at one of the temples...apparently we weren't supposed to be there and the guard made us leave. Whatever!

I think I'm on Friday. I know that everyone really enjoys my play-by-play.
We took a bus to Monreale and went to some church that had a lot of Byzantine artwork inside -- mosaics with lots of gold on the ceiling. We climbed to the top (which wasn't very tall) and ate our lunch overlooking the town of Monreale; it was pretty gloomy. This guy stood up there for a while as we ate our lunch and didn't say much but just seemed to be observing us. This will come into play later.

We left Monreale and traveled to Palermo...home of the Godfather! We visited the Cappucin Church (google it, it's creepy) and saw the Teatro Massimo (a very expensive theater; 3rd Godfather is filmed partly on these steps. Palermo was nothing too special. We got on a boat at the port around 8 pm. It was a big boat! It had 8 or 9 decks. I had never been on such a boat.
It was not as cool as a cruise liner or anything - but it was definitely cush for one night on the sea. We ate a huge dinner and then sat in the bar (Italian cafe) til about 11 just visiting and listening to Mona and Riccardo tell funny stories about using the wrong phrases/words in their second language. Slept real NICE and docked in Naples around 6 am. I slept much better on the boat than I did on that stinkin' train! The rocking of the water rocked me to sleep.

Regardless of how well we slept on the boat we were still tired. So, when it came time for our 2 hour bus tour of Naples --- I think pretty much every one slept. We got off the bus and went into the Naples Nazionale Arcaheological Museum - and it was FREEZING. I don't know why these museums think that they can't have heat. The floors are marble, the walls are marble, the ceilings are marble, the old stuff is marble - heat will not hurt it!!!

We saw a ton of things. But, the highlights were the bronzes that were uncovered in a villa in Herculaneum (destroyed by Vesuvius) and all the mosaics recovered from homes and businesses in Pompei. I understand now why Dr. Warren did not take us there when we came to Italy my senior year; there was some pretty graphic stuff going on in Pompei. We went down to the ground level and saw a ton of ginormous sculptures from monoliths. I like sculptures. I think they are quite impressive.

We went onward to Pompei. I really can't describe this to you. It was huge - really a very big city and at least 1/3 of it (it may be 2/3s I can't remember) lies covered still. Walls, roads and mosaics were still in tact and in many buildings there were still frescoes on the walls. Vesuvius really did preserve the town well.
Pictures?
This was the most beautiful thing in Pompei; It was so well preserved. This is a fresco in one of the most affluent villas in Pompei.


Captured in the last moments.


We took a train to Sorrento from Pompei and headed to our hotel. It was a creepy hotel. It was built into the side of the hill. You walked in on the top floor and had to walk DOWN to get to your room. The lights flickered a lot when they came on...it was just creepy. We ate dinner at a pizzeria and the food was AWESOME. The atmosphere? Well, it was creepy too. That whole night was creepy. No more details. Basically we needed the ghostbusters though!!

We had gelato at this world famous place called PrimaVera. The owner of the gelateria has made dessert for the Pope before! In the square of Sorrento he had made a chocolate Ferrari! And, there was a brand new Ferrari on display. It was very nice. Brett said, "That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen" in reference to that car. It was humorous.

Sunday...(this trip is SO LONG!!!) We took a ferry to Capri where we got on a boat and took a boat tour together around the island for about 2 hours (we all got a little pink in the face). While on the boat tour we got in little row boats and went into the Blue Grotto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Grotto) where the Roman Emperors (specifically Tiberius) used to swim when they were at their villas on Capri. The boat ride was really wonderful...and Robbie, who is wonderful, ended up paying for all of us. He's a nice guy.

Roaming around Capri was nice and relaxing. Really February isn't a great time to go to these resort towns because nothing is really open. But, we also went to Villa San Michele which was owned by Axel Munthe (a Swede) and he lived there until 1949 and now it has been turned into a museum because he collected so many historical artifacts and preserved them in his house so well.

We took the ferry back to Sorrento and walked back to the hotel after we went and saw the HUGE Ferrari exhibit in the square that night. Not only was there at least 1 brand new one - there were 7 or 8 cars that were less than 5 years old and one that was a Ferrari Classic. It was pretty neat.

We ate dinner in the restaurant in the hotel and members of the church in Naples came and ate with us as well. We had a nice devotional afterwards. I love how every time we worship with the Italians we sing in Italian and in English..and I love singing "Ti amo con l'amour di Gesu" (I love you with the love of the Lord) because we know that one and it's nice to sing in their language too. One of the Neapolitan guys did a magic show for us afterwards. It really made me miss Mr. Geoffrey and all his AWESOME magic tricks!

Got up early the next morning; packed our bags and locked them up in a room and took a bus to Positano. I'm not sure why. It was a pretty boring place. We sat at a bar for probably 2 hours. I did get some awesome hot chocolate. I realized, that if you order cioccolato con panna you get it with whipped cream --- so it's not quite as bitter as just cioccolato caldo (hot chocolate).
Trained home and...well, here I am.

We didn't have class til 2 this afternoon - which allowed everyone to sleep in and recover. Semi.
I'm still pretty tired.


My mom called today; My Uncle Pat died. He's technically my great-uncle, but for the past couple of years I've stayed with them a bunch of times when I've gone to Memphis to visit Jonathan and we always visited them when I was a kid. But, I've really formed a relationship with them the past couple of years. He got really sick right before I left (he had colon/lung cancer the past 4 years) and I went to visit him in the hospital when I was visiting before HUF. I like to think that he knew I was there when I did visit him - but, I'm so glad that I did get to see him that one last time. My heart hurts a lot because I feel so far away from home - and I can't be there to give my Aunt Dorothy a hug or my grandmother either --- I just can't be there. If I was at Harding I could be there right this minute to take care of my Aunt. But, I know that my cousins are there and that everything is okay, but it still really makes me homesick.

Sigh. Those were 3 epic posts. But, I think I'm caught up.

Ciao!!

Southern Tour - part 2.

It was so nice to be able to go on this trip - it was such a nice mix of planned activities and free time to let the group relax.
When I last left off, I had conquered a castle.
Wednesday morning we woke up and we had a free day. I slept until about 8:45 and I was going to get up and take a shower --- however, I woke up and found out that there was no water. The workers had turned it off without warning so that they could fix the heat. So, I went down to the restaurant and ate breakfast with everyone else who was in shambles because we couldn't get water! Finally, around 10 the water came back on and I took a nice long HOT shower because it had been so cold while I was sleeping.

I went down to the store right next door to the hotel and bought a sandwich and some water and went and sat on the terrace of the hotel with Amy, Nick and Tyler. Coulter came out and had his swim suit on and pointed to a cliff and told us he was going to go jump off of it.
We decided to go down to the beach so we could get a better view. Well, we chose the perfect moment to go down to the water! When we got down there a bunch of people from our group were in a boat and yelling for us to jump in! So, we paid 5 Euros each for an AWESOME boat tour of the grottoes and the coast of the town we were on. And, what made it even better was the music selection (it was probably like, Now 8 or something -- Genie in a Bottle, Britney Spears, Boyz 2 Men -- it was awesome). We were dancing and laughing and had a fantastic time!!

We had a photo shoot on the boat because JT looked like a Polo or Nautica model. It was pretty humorous.


After that we watched Ellie jump off the cliff that Coulter jumped off of - she was so brave! That night we went to one of the most depressing places ever; Catania. It was so dark and dreary. All the buildings were made out of lava rock so they were gray and dingy looking...but they supposedly were not really dirty.
We ate with the church members there and then had a devotional. After that, they did some traditional Sicilian dances for us. It was a blast!

These are some of the dancers and their pretty skirts.


Thursday morning we got up pretty early and left for Agrigento.
We stopped at some ancient villa on the way there. I liked it so much that I couldn't take pictures I was just so moved (not).
Agrigento is on the southern coast of Sicily. It was controlled by the Greeks and the Romans at different times. But, there are several pretty SWEET Greek temples left in ruins there. Such as this one.


Okay I must leave again for a bazillion hours of class.
More to come.
Ciao!

Southern Italy Tour - part 1.

What a trip! I'm not sure where to even begin my story - but I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning.
Another epic-ly long post is about to happen. But don't worry, this was an epic trip so it is definitely warranted.

Our trip began last Monday (the 18th) around 9 pm when our train pulled out of one of the smaller stations here in Florence. It was our first experience with a "couchette" (koo-chet) -- aka an overnight train car with 6 people to a tiny compartment. Let me just say - it was a little (a lot) creepy. Nevertheless, our entire group was in one car (for the most part) and most everyone had just our people in their compartments. I was lucky enough to be in a room with 5 other girls. So, I took dramamine - we shut and double locked the door and attempted to sleep on this long train ride to Reggio Calabria.

Sleeping was overrated; I tried not to think about how fast the train was going and how since I was on the middle bunk I would fly out if we stopped to quickly...but, we arrived in Calabria safely the next morning...around 6 am. If I had only known the long day that was about to happen!

We got onto a bus and rode into town and stopped at a bar for cappucinos (or hot chocolate) and pastries -- this seems to be the first thing we do...anywhere really. We dawdled around waiting for the Archaeological museum to open. Finally it did and well, let's just say I don't remember much about it except the notes I took during class. We did see the Riace bronzes though -- they are 2 of 4 or 5 bronzes still in tact in the world. They are free-standing (also amazing). They were cool I suppose.

We left the museum, got on a bus, the bus got on a ferry and we took a ferry across the Straits of Messina to Taormina, Sicily. We checked into our Really nice hotel only to find out that there was no heat (a pipe busted and they failed to let Robbie know) in any of the rooms. All the rooms were tile -- so, needless to say I slept in 2 pairs of socks, stretchy pants, three shirts, my fleece jacket and my scarf that night. Thankfully it was semi-fixed the next day.

We met up and took bus up the 'mountain' where the town was actually located (our hotel was about 2 flights of stairs above the shoreline, so to get 'up' to the town would've been a long walk!). And, we visited an ancient Greco-Roman theater. Mona-Lee wanted to take a picture of our entire group sitting in the amphitheater; so we all walked up and scrunched together so she could snap the picture. While we were up there, Robbie yelled "Mona-Lee, sing something! Let's hear the acoustics!!" Now, Mona-Lee is a piano teacher and she majored in vocal (I think) in college and she does have a beautiful voice. She got embarrassed but once we started chanting her name she began to sing. Funny, but right before she started to sing a group of Italians had walked in and sat on the opposite side of the theater. They started cheering when she finished and yelling "Encore!!" - unfortunately, she blushed even more and refused to sing another note.

We were given free time that evening to eat together and explore the town. So, Amy, Coulter, Tyler, Nick, Riccardo and I saw this old castle situated on the highest point of this mountain (it was called a mountain, I promise!) and decided that would be the perfect place to watch the sunset. So, we made the trek up the hill -- hundreds of stairs...I promise! And finally made it to a flat point where we could see every little town and the Mediterranean and Mt. Etna. We could see the castle up above, but we realized it was locked so we pretty much gave up and decided to watch the sunset from there. However...all of a sudden we heard someone yell at us and we turned around and! There was Brett, standing ON TOP of the castle and waving his arms. He, JT, Nathan and Travis had hiked up from that point and climbed the walls and got in. As they were moving to the gate (we had hiked up this far by then) they realized that they had actually broken in because there was a huge lock on the gate. But, that didn't stop us.

We climbed the wall (yes, I climbed an old rock castle wall) and got to the top of the castle and the 10 of us watched the sun set. It was one of the most magnificent things I have ever seen.

I will leave you with a few pictures because I must go eat breakfast and begin a project; however, there is much more to tell - so check back often!

This is the sun setting behind a smoking Mount Etna (still active volcano!)


Sometime today I'll figure out how to rotate this. After we conquered the castle.


Ciao!

canoli anyone?

I am in Sicily - I have been here since the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
Tuesday evening I watched the sunset from a high point in Taormina - but, the sun went down behind mount Etna...so it was definitely beautiful.
I took a boat on Wednesday with a group of friends around the coves there and we went into the caves along the shore....we were in the Mediterranean.
We are in Agrigento today - which used to be a Greek colony so there are lots of Greek temples.
Tomorrow we go to Palermo.
Then take a bus to Napoli (Naples) then onward to Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast.

I don't know when I'll have internet again...but I'll be back in the villa Monday evening for sure :]

Ciao!

Planes, trains, buses...water taxis?

THIS IS A LONG ONE. VERY.


It took many different forms of transportation to get us to Stockholm and to Venice, but we did it.
After we arrived home on Sunday evening from Rome we immediately threw all our clothes into the laundry and got ready to go on our next trip...and as we were getting ready we realized there was a minor problem...

That day we took a train home from Rome to Florence; the train was scheduled to go all the way from Rome to Milan, but Florence was just a stop in between. Well - Sara, one of the members of our group to Sweden, realized that she didn't have her passport. She had taken it out on the train home to get her train ticket out and somehow left her pouch on the train. Thankfully, about 15 minutes after she realized it the police from the Milan train station called the villa and let us know that they had her passport there at the train station and that it would be best if she could come get it as soon as possible.

Seeing as how we were supposed to get on a train the next afternoon (Monday) at 2:30 to go to a town outside of Venice to fly to Stockholm it meant that she was going to have to leave very early the next morning. Long story short, she went to Milan early Monday morning and met us at the airport in Treviso for a very uneventful flight with RyanAir to Stockholm.
We arrived around 10:45 pm at an airport about 1 and 1/2 hours outside of Stockholm (sidenote: RyanAir is cheap - 19.96 for a one way ticket to Stockholm - but they fly to really random airports that are kind hard to access) and had to take a bus into the city to get to our hostel.
When we arrived at the station in central Stockholm it was freezing. I think the cab's thermometer said -8 degrees Celsius. The 4 of us girls decided it would be worth it to pay 14 euros (140 kronors - only the worst currency ever) to get a cab to our hostel. Of course the 4 boys were VERY stubborn and decided to walk all the way there. We arrived at our hostel a little after 1 am and the boys didn't get there til after 2 and they had lots of icicles on their scarves!

The hostel was wonderful. Probably one of the nicest we will stay in while we are here. We had a room with 2 bunk beds and across the hall the boys had the same. It was minimal, but clean and quiet. It was really convenient to the T-bana (Stockholm's subway). We had planned on walking most of the time, but it was just SO cold that if we could take a 10 minutes Subway ride for 20 kronors (less than 2 euros) we would definitely do that. We did a lot of walking on the near by island (Stockholm is an archipelago, made up of a series of islands) of Gamla Stan which is the 'old town'. There is a church (Storkykan) there, lots of stores and cafes and also the big palace where we saw the changing of the guard.

The first day we were there - after a 2 hour adventure that Nick and I went on to find a ForEx so we could exchange our money into really stupid Kronors we embarked upon our first day of our Swedish holiday. We caught the T-bana and went out into the city and went to Skansen which is the world's largest open air museum. It was very obviously the 'off' season - we felt as if we were the only ones there. There are animals and homes set up for different periods of Swedish history...shops, rides - it really reminded us of Branson and/or Gatlinburg. We did take refuge in a 'shelter' that looked very much like a wigwam (it was used by the Samme people who followed the reindeer in Sweden) and sat at the fire to warm up as the man inside told us we were sitting on reindeer pelts...Weird.
After Skansen we got a very late lunch and somehow found our way to the island that housed the Moderna Museet (the Modern Art Museum). We were lucky enough to be there during the 8 or 9 month period that there was a HUGE Andy Warhol exhibit. While I don't know a lot about modern art - I really and truly enjoyed this museum. We got to see tons of famous artists (Andy Warhol, Picasso, Pollock, Salvador Dali, and many others whose names I can not remember) and lots of Swedish artists as well. Modern art is fun to look at because you just never really know what you're going to get.

That night we spent a long time arguing about what we were going to do for dinner - believe me, free travel is much harder than I ever expected it to be - and Sara and Nathan ended up doing something and 6 of us went down to the central part of town to find food. Guess what I found -- SUBWAY! It was one of the happiest days of my life. We ate pretty quick and then went down to this Jazz Cafe (It was very pretentious; I'm almost embarrassed to say I took part haha) and ordered dessert and enjoyed the company, the atmosphere and the music. And, while it was pretentious and I don't love jazz music - it is neat how music transcends all cultures. It was a nice way to end the night.

The next morning we got up early (the girls were ready before the boys AGAIN) and all went different ways - Leigh and Libby just wanted to roam and get coffee and people watch, but I really wanted to go to the Vasa Museet with Tyler and Nick and JT. The Vasa was a ship built in the 1600s in Sweden that has a story very similar to Titanic's. It was thought (at the time) to be the greatest boat ever built - it had two decks of cannons, it was abnormally large and had all these other innovations that no other ship during that time had ever had. However, when the day came for it to set sail, it set off in the harbor, went about 500 yards caught a gust of wind and tipped over --- the base wasn't wide enough! And, there it sunk in the Stockholm harbor. And it sat there until the 1960s when they finally pulled it up and floated it into this museum.

The whole ship is in there - you can't go in it, but that's okay. The exhibits made up for it. The museum was very well planned with different areas of the ship or different things from the ship on each level of the building.

Nick and I were taking pictures of the ship and talking about how interesting it was to us -- the fact that all this time we've been in Florence we've been studying the Renaissance and it's birth under people such as Michelangelo, Raphael and Da Vinci -- and, how in that 100 year period or so, this [ships like the Vasa] was the Renaissance in Sweden. It was just so different than anything we had been studying so far. And eye opening for sure.

After the Vasa museum we jumped on a bus and headed back to the city center to go to some department store that was supposedly really cool - I can't remember what it was it was initials (not H&M) but maybe N&H - oh well, regardless it was very snooty and very expensive but fun to roam around in nonetheless. We had some extra time so we crossed a bridge to another island and went to Stockholm's city hall. Their city hall is quite famous - mainly because...this is where the Nobel Peace Prizes are presented! Normally you can climb up the tower if you come in relatively warmer months, but unfortunately it was February and freezing and we couldn't - otherwise it would have made for a great place to take photos. We wondered over to another church and then met everyone else at the train station to take a bus back to the airport to fly to Venice.

After taking a bus from Treviso (where the airport is) into Mestre and then a water taxi from Mestre to Venice....we were finally there around 10:15. While we whined about getting in at night - riding on the front of the water taxi was fantastic because we got to see Venice lit up at night. It was very beautiful.

We got off at some stop and everyone was trying to navigate the map to see if they could figure out which way to go in the maze that is Venice to get to our hostel. Tyler thought he would have the bright idea to go ask the Italian man where our hostel was.
This is the conversation.
Tyler: Scuzi?
Man: Si?
Tyler: Do you know where hotel albergo is?
Man: Cosa?
Tyler: Hotel Albergo?
Man: Cosa?
(Tyler getting louder, slower - this is when I hear and realize what he's saying)
Tyler: Hotel ALBERGO??

In Italian, Albergo means hotel. It was funny.
We eventually made it to our hostel (we had a bathroom in our room this time!) and then went out around 11:15 to search for food because we hadn't eaten since Stockholm. It was hard but we finally found a place that served us fantastic pizza.
We agreed to meet at 8 the next morning to pay for our hostel (we were very happy to once again be operating in Euros) and the girls - we were packed and in the lobby at 8, the boys -- well, we didn't leave the hostel til about 8:40. PRECIOUS TIME!!

We went to St. Mark's square together and got pastries for breakfast and sat on the steps of the colonnade and watched the water and the pigeons and the church. We visited the church once it opened; it was very different than most Catholic churches we've seen. You could also see how in danger the city is from inside that church; there were only certain areas that you could walk on and they were very adamant about that - you could see how wavy the floor was because the foundation is settling/sinking. The ceiling has more gold on it than any other church I've ever seen - it's absolutely priceless.

After, Leigh Libby and I did our own thing. We went into about 1 billion glass shops and had a hey-day buying gifts for people! I bought a few things in one shop and as I was leaving the owner/designer came out and handed me a glass bead made for a necklace that was being sold for 10 or 15 euros -- as a gift!! He did that for Libby too. The Venetian glass is beautiful. And very unique.
We went in and out of shops - bought postcards, watched the gondoliers, took pictures and ate lunch at a ristorante on the Grande Canal. We saw a couple that had just gotten married (it was Valentine's day mind you) posing on the Rialto bridge for the wedding photos; I got a great shot of them - it was quite picturesque.
We ended up eating gelato and sitting on steps right in front of the Grande Canal and the train station just watching the gondolas go by and visiting. If I couldn't be with a certain person for Valentine's Day, it was worth it to be in a beautiful city with 2 girls that are becoming some of my very best friends.
While we were sitting there we saw this older couple - mid-60s - walk out of the train station each with their little rolling bag and immediately sit on the steps about 25 feet from us. He put his arm around her shoulder and she held out her hand and he kissed it and they just sat there like that for about 15 minutes. It was really really sweet.

We made it back to Florence just in time for dinner. Since it was Valentine's Mona decorated the entire villa with lots of red, white and pink balloons, tablecloths and confetti. When we sat down to dinner the boys were all noticeably absent. All of a sudden we heard music (for the life of me I can't remember what song it was) and saw Kyle walk in with shades on carrying a boom box and the boys followed behind him with long stemmed single roses and singing this song. They sang to all of us and gave all the girls (even Mona and Mona Lee!) the roses. It was fun and silly - esp. since we (thankfully) do not have any couples on this trip.

I went into Florence on my own (don't shudder too much Mom) yesterday afternoon and continued my souvenir shopping (which is SO fun when you see stuff you know people will like). I went to a part of the city that I had never been to before and not once did I get lost. It was quite empowering.

We had class ALLLLLL day long today and this afternoon I went back into town to search for a leather purse (the one thing I KNEW I wanted from here) and I for sure found it. The price tag said 260 Euros (OUCH!) and I somehow ended up paying only 100. It was such a fantastic deal. And, when I went to pay I carried on a 5 minute conversation (in Italian) with one of the people that worked there. It was awesome.

Okay. I posted a lot of photos on Facebook. Maybe you want to look at them.
Rome - 1.

Rome - 2.

Stockholm.

Venice.

You should just be able to click on those words.

CIAO!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way...

to the Forum!
Well, I guess technically nothing That funny happened; but it really was a great trip!

Now, a lot has happened in the past week - so let's see if I can recollect enough to give you a good overview of that trip.

We left last Thursday pretty early in the morning to travel to Rome (by TRAIN! my new favorite mode of transportation). Wednesday was our 2 week mark here. And boy, you could tell! Everyone was suffering from serious cabin fever and we were ready to get to a new place!

We arrived around 10 or so and checked into our 4-star hotel (Thank you Harding) - which was about 3 blocks from the Pantheon...what a life.

We traveled to some places in town that day: Circus of Maxentius (the boys raced around the circus), St Paul outside the Wall (Paul's bones are supposedly here), the church and crypts of San Sebastien, the Pantheon (still one of my favorites) and some other places. There are lots of nuns in Rome. I like to see them.

The next day we literally saw all of Rome. We did Santa Scala (the church that was built to house the supposed steps of Pilate that Jesus climbed that Helen, Constantine's mother, brought back from Jerusalem; Catholics make a pilgrimmage here to climb the steps one at a time on their knees saying a prayer at each; it was pretty awesome to see the nuns and an older lady doing it...very moving), St. John Lateran, the Forum, ate lunch on a hill by the colosseum, St. Peter in Chains, Mamertine Prison (where Paul and Peter were supposedly imprisoned in Rome). Then, a group of us went to the Capitoline Museums - one of the best museums I've ever been too. But, while we walked through the piazza there we noticed a protest about to begin.
Robbie told us that the signs were protesting about equal housing or everyone having the right to have a home --- something along those lines. Anyhow, while we were in the museum it turned into a riot; we peered out the window and saw the polizia with their barricades up.
Some sort of political figure (the mayor perhaps) came out and said some things into the megaphone and everything calmed down.
Don't worry they were just throwing chairs from windows in the Senate house...nothings too dangerous ;]
That night I ate at Hard Rock Cafe; that was one of the best nights ever. YAY AMERICA!!!!!!!! And free water. And a cheeseburger.

I'm not sure what day I'm on.
We did Vatican City the following day. And, while I've been there before - that is also a fantastic museum. There are so many things from so many different time periods in there; Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, Florentines, Americans -- it never ends. And of course, the Sistine chapel...still breathtaking - a bit overrated - but beautiful nonetheless.
I went to St. Peter's Basilica with Nick and Tyler and we decided to climb the Dome. Now, I am very afraid of heights and I don't love small spaces. So, this was a very big deal for me.
Climbing the stairs was like being in a fun house - sometimes the stairs leaned or the wall crushed you so you had to walk sideways...but the view made it so worth it.

St. Peter's Square designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

We hung out with our friend Riccardo who is actually from Rome and went to dinner with him and went to a cafe afterwards.
Sunday or whatever day I'm on we went to the Villa Borghese;
That is where all the sculptures of Bernini are housed (okay, not all but a lot of them). He was the first sculptor of his time to sculpt things in motion.
We weren't allowed to take pictures in there; but, if you have time you should Google image search either "Daphne and Apollo" or "Pluto and Persephone". In Pluto and Persephone, where he is grabbing her leg it looks like his hands are actually pressing into flesh - that is serious talent.
We also climbed the Palatine Hill that afternoon; with our packs. The palaces on that hill were huge and just went on for ages.

We got home Sunday evening and enjoyed lounging around the villa; our group started laundry and went ahead and packed our bags for the next day.

I can't write anymore tonight.
Tomorrow there will be detailed accounts of Sweden and Venice.

And, this isn't even close to everything that happened in Rome.
I took something like 400 pictures. Believe me.
Here are a few.
We are posing as statues here; pretty awesome!


I'm sitting on Constantine's kneecap. He was humongous.


This is me and some of my friends sitting on steps outside of Victor Emmanuele's monument that looks like a typewriter.


CIAO!

Snow in Sweden.

I am in Sweden and I dont know how to use the apostrophe so my contractions will be limited.
It is colder here than anywhere it has been in my life.
The Kronor is the lamest currency.
Stockholm is BEAUTIFUL.
And, were going to Venice today.
Ciao!

i promise i'll be back.

I have been to Rome and back.
I did everything in Rome (at least it felt like it).
I am going to Stockholm tomorrow after lunch.
I will return Thursday.

By then, I will have plenty of time and plenty to say about both trips.
Promise!

Ciao!

the journey continues...still...

Nothing of interest happened today. I went to class.
I took a nap.
Spent the afternoon planning our Sweden trip and brainstorming ideas for 1st, 2nd and 3rd free travel.

Just to throw some ideas out there...
1st (6 or 7 days i think)
Flight to Portugal (you have to understand that you can find VERY cheap flights here; our flight to Sweden is 19.96 Euros)
Beach in Lisbon.
Train to Spain (Seville).
Ferry to Morocco; spend the day there. Ferry back at night.
Train to Barcelona.
Day there.
Overnight train to Switzerland (Interlaken).
Train home.

2nd (7 days?)
somehow get to Istanbul.
Day or two there.
Train to Thessaloniki. Train to Athens.
Flight to Rome. Train home.

Last (10 or 11 days).
Munich/Dachau/New-es-schwan-stine (fake phonetics)
Paris
Brussels (an hour or two...haha just joking)
Amsterdam (to see NOUR!!!!)
UK.
Dublin, Edinburgh/Glasgow, LONDON!!!

We leave the villa at 6:45 in the AM to catch a train a little before 8 in Firenze.
Onward to Rome. I'll be there til Sunday. Limited internet.
Don't worry it will all be documented so you all can be on the edge of your seats until I am able to update again. What a jam packed 4 days we are going to have!

I'm so excited to see the hub of the ancient world again.

Ciao!

Carnevale.

Not every day is interesting here. We're finally really settled in after being here for 2 full weeks.
And, the cabin fever is setting in -- everyone is ready to get out of the villa for a couple of days. Which, is good because tomorrow we head to Rome until Sunday.
After that -- our schedule is pretty much non-stop for a month or so. When we get back on Sunday, 8 of us are heading to Stockholm, Sweden via Venice on Monday and will be back Thursday...
Home for a few days then we go do a 4 or 5 day southern Italy tour...home for a few days then 1st free travel...etc.

It's about to get crazy! But, it's fun nonetheless.
I realize everyone at home is having awful weather...I hope ya'll are okay - but, don't send it here!! For the most part it's been very mild and for that, I am thankful.

Classes are pretty boring; Dr. Garner's two classes run together (which isn't a bad thing) and we listen to a lot of Italian pop music in Italian class. But things can't always be SO colorful :]

Class this morning and then the afternoon/evening in Florence.
And what I said about blisters - don't worry they will attack you too. They are okay to live with, but really...there's nothing you can do to stop them.

Ciao!

scherzo.

Last night we had a Super Bowl Party here at the villa after dinner. Kyle went to the Army base and bought Doritos and chips & salsa and GIRL SCOUT COOKIES and snickers/reeses and SO MUCH junk food. And, while it was junk food --- it was fantastic. We started to watch the game around midnight. However, it was broadcast in Italian with no American commercials. Needless to say, I went to bed around 1.
The game wasn't over til 4 am or so here. But, everyone was in happy spirits when I woke up because the NY Giants had won...and there's a Harding Alum (#52 Tank Daniels) on that team :]

We didn't have class until 11 this morning and then we ate lunch and had some free time.
Libby, Nathan, Leigh, Mallory and I headed into to town to go to the Co-op to find some masks for Carnevale and just to explore.
Needless to say...we got off at the wrong stop, had to find the right bus, ended up being the wrong bus and then just got off and followed the golden arches to the McDonald's that was right by the store.

And, when we got there - it was almost disappointing. Definitely a neat place, but somewhere I would like to wonder around by myself - not with a group of people.

Tonight we had a Carnevale party and before dinner/the party it seemed as if people were very somber -- neither happy nor sad. So, we dressed up and took pictures together and played games and ate dinner. After dinner, we turned on music and "choreographed" in the classroom until everyone was ready to go outside.

A Carnevale tradition for the kids is to spray eachother with silly string and throw confetti. So, we were all awarded a can of silly string and ordered to go outside to the basketball court. It was to be boys vs. girls. Unfortunately it was raining...so we took off our shoes (bad idea) and froze. Once Robbie said "GO!" we went at eachother...and I had silly string in my hair, on my pants, my shirt, in my eyelashes....it was fantastic. Robbie got a video of it on his camera...it was madness!!!

We went inside and they had chocolate cake and milk for us. The perfect ending to the evening! Michella (the 7 year old I wrote about earlier) was here at the villa for our party with her brother and sister and her mom. She was dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. While we were eating our cake in the dining room - she came up to our table of 6 or 7 people. She talked to us girls in English and then looked over to Riccardo and spoke in fast Italian and looked back at us and said "bye-bye students". She's absolutely brilliant - despite her learning disability.

I've been a little home/friend/job-sick today. Not in a bad way, but I've been here for 12 days now and I'm settled. I miss my sweet little girls at Gym Stars so much. I miss their energy and their hugs and I miss getting to interact with them everyday. I hope they don't forget me.

We had a split chapel today. I did the devo and talked about Ex. 21:5-6 --- Pierce My Ear....that song still is so deep and so moving.

Ciao!

agape.

Church in Italy is really long.
Today we had a potluck (agape).
Nothing like an American Southern church potluck.
No casseroles, no fried chicken, no deviled eggs.

They spent about an hour after church setting up tables and place settings and then we were served pasta.
Then, we ate. For hours.

It was yummy.

Then we went to the train station. And Leigh and I got ice cream cones at the McDonald's.
It really was wonderful.

Ciao!

if only I had known...

This is a list of things I have learned in the week and a half I have been here...
information for future students as well...

o1. Walking up the hill is fun the first 2 or 3 times you do it...but after 15 or 20 it does get a little tiresome.
o2. When crossing the street, do not hesitate and ALWAYS stay in the crosswalk. In Italy, if you are in the crosswalk and a car hits you and you are killed they pay for your funeral; but, if you are jay-walking, you have to pay for your own funeral.
o3. Cars/buses/mopeds get WAY closer to you when you are walking on the side of the road here than they do at home; if they got this close to you at home, you would probably have a heart attack.
o4. Ryanair.com is the one of the best websites for cheap, but legitimate continental European flying.
o5. The Italian Polizia Municipale wear Gucci uniforms (according to Robbie, but not to Riccardo, the native Italian) and some drive Lamborghinis. Enough said.
o6. The non-Italians in the markets are the ones that are more willing to scam you.
o7. Buy scarves, no matter how cliche it might seem.
o8. While NorthFace may seem to scream American (which it does), that 3-in-1 jacket was one of the best things I could have ever brought. When in doubt, always where all the layers.
o9. Thank goodness for Silk long underwear!!!
o10. Rain in Florence is just as bad as rain in Searcy.
o11. Bring comfortable shoes to ward off the blisters for the first few days; but, don't worry you too will be attacked.
o12. The HUF packet says you will walk between 5-7 miles a day. If you spend all day in Florence, you are more likely to walk 15-17 miles a day (proven fact).
o13. After a while all paintings and churches seem to run together, that is unless there is something very Extraordinary about them.
o14. Cobblestone may look pretty, but it is very hard on your feet.
o15. You do walk uphill everywhere.
o16. If there is construction going on in the city, the bus stops will never be in the same place for more than 2 or 3 days. So, you will get to chase them a lot and it will be an adventure.
o17. Ride in the bendy part of the bus to avoid getting bus-sick.
o18. The Medici family se la comandavano (translated: "They Ruled" - hold up peace sign with two fingers to show your awesome-ness)
o19. Beware, when ordering Hot Chocolate, you will not get what you get at Midnight Oil or Starbucks - it is much better. It is chocolate soup.
o20. Try every kind of gelato.
o21. Do not buy things in Europe that you can by at home.
o22. Written Italian is much easier than spoken Italian.
o23. Sleep when you can, eat when you can, go to the bathroom when it's free - you don't know when you will have the next opportunity to do any of these.
o24. Do not buy train tickets online.
o25. Most importantly, bring everything you want, because trust me - you won't regret it.

Thanks.

david oh david.

Today we saw the David. Tis really the only thing to report.
Once again, one of the most beautiful statues I've ever seen.
Our tour guide was funny...but he gave us way too much detail.
The David and the 6 unfinished works (including the 2nd Pieta) by Michelangelo (nicknamed the Prisoners) are the only things there that are big draws.

We also went to another church. San Marco's...and went into the friary and saw where Savanarola's quarters were. And his cape. And his chairs he invented.

Tonight, we are watching Groundhog Day.

days like today.

I'm thankful for days like today when I look at the schedule for the next month. This is going to fly by much faster than ever expected.

I went to class (fell asleep maybe only a little) all morning...planned our Sweden trip for about 2 and a half hours after...took a 2 hour nap...ate dinner and went into Scandicci.
Only to find out that everything was closed at 8pm and that it was very easy to walk around on the outdoor ice rink...even though it too was closed.

Exploring is always fun and we never seem to miss the interesting people; the man we met tonight in a bar (not a thing like an American bar) was a native Italian but lived in Dublin/England for 30 years until 1993 when he moved back and opened his store. He was eager to speak English to us and told us to come back any time so he could practice.

Oh, the places you will go...the people you will meet. It is all so true.

Tomorrow we must be up and on the bus by 8am to go to the Accademia to see (mainly) Michelangelo's David and prisoner statues. I'm most excited about seeing the Prisoners again...and the David too. I'll look for the finer details this time...instead of just being in awe.

I love tea time. Hot tea, sugar, and milk...mmm.

Ciao!

i have this theory...

that any direction or place you want to go in Italy is uphill. Okay, maybe 95% uphill with a really steep grade and 5% downhill with a very steep grade so that your head almost gets ahead of your feet so that you almost fall over. That being said I'm going to have such awesome leg muscles upon my return.

I'm not going to say much about today. Only because, the places I was able to go today - everyone should see someday. The pictures cannot do it justice at all.
We went to San Gimignano and Siena -- two medieval towns built in the Tuscan hills of the Chianti region. San Gimignano was by far my favorite of the two. It was small and quaint and easy to find your way around. The church there was highly decorated - but not in gold and jewels - rather, frescoes on the wall. From hundreds of years ago. We sang "Christ We Do All Adore Thee" while we were sitting down in there and you could just feel it in the room.

We followed on to Siena which was a similar town but much larger. Funny, the colors "burnt siena" and "siena brown" come from the colors of the bricks that make up many of the buildings in town. Neat where those kind of things come from...Siena also has the oldest still active bank in the world. It is called "Monte Del Paschi Di Siena Banca Dal 1472". That's very old.

Anyhow...I'm just going to now post some pictures from the day.
At the small castle in SG. Me, Libby, Amy and Leigh.


A couple of landscape photos; you can see the Chianti vineyards in the second one (These are from SG)




This is the town hall in Siena. It's huge.


And, as we were leaving in the "square" I say that because it's not a square...outside of the town hall they were having a Carnevale (a classier version of Mardi Gras) costume party for the kids. This little girl reminded me of my sweet friend McKinley Kauffman because she's dressed as Cinderella!


Oh - I was going to go to Venice/Switzerland in a couple of weeks for a few days with some of my friends...BUT! we found what they call 'penny' flights on the internet (the flight costs 1 cent and you just pay taxes...) to Stockholm Sweden from Venice for 40 Euro roundtrip. So...we're going to Stockholm for almost 2 days and Venice for 1 from Feb. 11-14th.
How crazy is that?! We have tickets and hostel reservations...this travel thing is pretty awesome.

Until next time, Ciao!

PS: Dr. Shock is here and he is super fun.
PPS: B-Weave and Mrs. Brenda, thank you for your presents. It was a taste of home! You ladies are too sweet. And it was fun talking to you on Skype today :]