i'm going to update this soon.
Enough with the Italy sadness. Time for some newness.
20 November 2010
16 January 2010
29 November 2009
BSB- Backstreet Boys Concert in Milan!
so. yeah. you can all be jealous.
i went to a backstreet boys concert in milan.
Backstreet's back- ALRIGHT!
it was basically amazing. they were amazing. milan was kind of amazing. the fact that we were probably the only americans there was amazing. and the fact that the italians could sing along to all of the songs was amazing.
plus- they kept making jokes the whole concert (obviously in english...) and my two roommates and i (whom i went to the concert with) were the only ones who ever laughed. especially the one about N'Sync. i guess N'Sync never made it to Italy...because the Italians did not catch on to the humor....at all....
it basically was a grand night.
27 November 2009
23 November 2009
Bet you thought i wasn't going to update this again before i left....well you're wrong.
so i left off on halloween. which was forever ago.
since then i've been to Rome, seen the parents, traveled to Amsterdam, finagled myself several free t-shirts and made it to the almost 10 day mark. impressive? i think so.
Rome---
we left for rome on a thursday morning. the school gave us that thursday off from classes. so that was nice. on our way there our bus broke down. so we ended up being an hour late. but that didn't mean that our activities got delayed. oh no- we didn't get an ounce of time to rest-- immediately after getting off the bus, we had to follow Peter around Rome for our tours of all the interesting art and churches. Don't get me wrong, i love seeing that stuff- but i was tired.
i saw a bunch of things that i don't even remember. except for the spanish steps. and a few mcdonald's. i remember seeing those.
then friday morning we got up and went to the vatican and saw the sistine chapel, st. paul's, etc.
saturday morning was the colloseum and i met up with mommy, daddy, and tara who had just freshly made it off the plane. i woke them up in their hotel and we ventured around to see the world. (and for all of you who are wondering, yes, mom did almost cry when she saw me). then i left them for their own perusing, and i met back up with them for dinner.
sunday- tried to see the pope, and as you all already know that was a big fail. he wasn't there so i had to see him through a giant tv screen. i was very upset. however, he did bless those in the piazza (which is where i was), so technically i have been "blessed" by the pope.
headed back to florence this night. looong day.
i think all this traveling around has tinted my view of some places. rome was not my favorite city. it was too big, too dirty, and didn't seem to be what i was expecting from such a significant city.
Monday- i met the parents at their hotel in florence after they'd travelled from rome to there, and i took them to my favorite restaurant (il teatro-- i'm convinced its run by the mafia, but our teachers won't confirm)
tuesday- family came to peter's class with me. he was quite entertaining. him on his bike. calling us his "children". <3
then the family saw my apartment. it's so adorable. i never want to leave it.
then i took them to Goldenview- this restaurant on the Arno River that's really fancy but DELICIOUS. i gave tara one of my meal vouchers so she got tons of food, like me. we're spoiled.
wednesday- after my painting class family met me at gusta pizza (where i eat with my painting friends every wednesday). they have the best pizza! i love it. and they're so huge. i have yet to finish one. but for some reason i always get a whole one for myself.
then i gave my family my tour of the duomo ( a very lame edition...sorry family)
and then dad, tara and i climbed to the top of the dome. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. totally worth the 463 steps.
tara was scared to walk on the part inside that you can look to the bottom of the church so dad had to lead her as she closed her eyes. and then once we got to the top i was the only one to go to the edge. i guess i'm the brave on in the family. haha or not.
mom patiently awaited our return at the bottom and then we went to san lorenzo for some market shopping.
then ate dinner at a little greek place across the street- they put a really hot sauce on it and i almost died.
Tara came back to my apartment with me and spent the night. we were going to go out on the town, but it never ended up happening. too bad....
Thursday- only had one class really early, so family and i climbed up to this really awesome piazza (piazza michelangiolo)which overlooks the whole city. you have to climb some pretty steep stairs to get there, but once you're up top it's totally worth it. there was an asian wedding going on, and some guy playing his guitar, and of course the street vendors. all in all it was pretty fabulous.
then i convinced the familiy to buy tickets for the double decker "tour of Florence" bus. it's a hop on hop off type of dealio and we rode it for HOURS. i was very happy. i've been wanting to ride it all semester, and my dream came true.
That night for dinner i took them to takeout-- it's literally 5 feet from my house and has this adorable little old man who works there and tries to teach us italian (so far it hasn't worked...but we still love him. lindsey my roommate and i fight over him. i claim him since i met him first though)
Friday- visited Santa Croce (probably one of my favorite areas of the city), and its leather school. It was so awesome, first of all, to see where galileo and michelangelo are buried...but then to be able to go to the leather school and watch how they make things was so cool.
i had to say goodbye to the family after this. i was leaving for amsterdam with a friend in the morning- so i had to complete all my homework and get some sleep. it was a sad parting. good thing i'll be home in a few days.
Saturday- off to amsterdam! aka THE LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE!
left at 10 in the morning with my friend Kim for hour and a half train ride to pisa airport, 2 hour flight to Dusseldorf, and then our bus didn't leave for 7 hours to amsterdam. so we sat in the airport...and waited...and waited...
luckily- we're very good at entertaining ourselves. we ate food. we laughed at the people around us. we tried to figure out what we wanted to do with our lives. we even got on the computers there and read "textsfromlastnight" for hours (it's a website btw).
finally, at midnight, before we went insane, our little tiny van of a bus came to pick us and a few other couples up. (cutest little old british man as our driver--- who refused to turn on the heat so we FROZE)
the bus didn't take even half the time that it said it would to get to Amsterdam therefore we were stranded, in the middle of the night (approximately 2:30) without a hostel (because we didn't figure we'd need one...woops) and nowhere to sleep. so luckily our hostel was AWESOME and let us store our bags in the middle of the night (they're a pub too so they're open 24/7...pretty sweet right?) and then we literally hung out at mcdonalds and the train station for 8 hours. when the sun finally started to rise at approximately 7 AM kim was so happy she almost started to cry. at this point we decided that we weren't going to probably sleep any time soon (especially since hostel check in wasn't until noon), so we decided to try and find the anne frank haus. without any help from a map. because i guess we're too good for maps.
eventually we found (after walking our tired butts around for a while) that that was stupid. we found a map, and STILL couldn't find it. oh boy. however- have no fear- thanks to my amazing memory of being in Amsterdam as a 9 year old...we found it...(and no mom, that freaky statue of Anne is no longer outside of the museum...i was upset too...it's okay- we can write to them later).
after that we went for "breakfast" at our hostel. technically we weren't supposed to eat it, but kim has this thing with convincing people of things (without even trying), and the bartender told us we could eat it. so we had breakfast, and attempted to check in at noon-- but our room wasn't ready. i almost cried. i hadn't slept in forever, no one was speaking english to me, i wanted free ketchup (mcdonalds charges you 40 cents per packet), and no one would help me. so we went to a bunch of shops outside to look around until around 1:30. then we finally got our hostel room and slept until dinner.
dinner consisted of a burger and fries. and unlimited ketchup!!!! i love our hostel! it was so good to us.
then out on the town of course. aka- we went into on coffee shop at approximately 9:30, left at 9:40 and went back to the hostel. and slept. hahaha welcome to amsterdam.
did i mention that we were in amsterdam for St. Nicklas day? its apparantely this huge deal for the dutch. and i got to see santa claus and all of his freaky black men/elves. we at first thought i was some stupid carnival and were upset by all of the people- and then realized that it was santa riding his white stallion down the rode...and that the elves were handing out candy/cookies. pretty awesome i suppose.
Monday--
Van Gogh museum. SO AMAZING!
subway-- subs for 3 euro. SO AMAZING!
sex museum-- for 3 euro, cheapest museum in Amsterdam. SO AMAZING!
canal boat ride- with tour included! SO AMAZING! plus cute little old man as our captain.
then we went on a tour of the red light district. it was so educational. in a good way. apparantely the UN is making the netherlands shut it down by the year 2013, but they're having problems with "pimping" etc since they've been shutting parts of it down...soo...yeah...now you know...
tuesday--
finally got to come back to florence. i missed it so much!
left at 8 in the morning and didn't get home till 10. who knew it would take so long to travel from amsterdam. so frustrating (not to mention our plane was delayed an hour and half..while we were sitting on it....grrrrr)
the rest of this week was pretty boring with my usual routine and such.
friday our internet got cut off (that would be last friday, to put this into context for you people).
and saturday i had some guy give me his fully punched out ticket (that you have to buy 20 pints of beer to complete...that's a lot) to get myself a sweet awesome t-shirt. yeah, that's right- i got a free t-shirt.
and now it's monday. good ol' monday. tomorrow will mark 10 days for me coming home. mixed feelings on that one. i'm going to miss this city like nothing else before. however- being home for christmas will be so amazing. plus i miss free water, and my shower. and did i mention the ketchup thing yet? i think i did. haha
well, this week will be me finishing up my classes, backstreet boys concert in milan, and spending my last weekend in Florence. sniff sniff.
then next week is finals and packing.
caio caio tutti!
since then i've been to Rome, seen the parents, traveled to Amsterdam, finagled myself several free t-shirts and made it to the almost 10 day mark. impressive? i think so.
Rome---
we left for rome on a thursday morning. the school gave us that thursday off from classes. so that was nice. on our way there our bus broke down. so we ended up being an hour late. but that didn't mean that our activities got delayed. oh no- we didn't get an ounce of time to rest-- immediately after getting off the bus, we had to follow Peter around Rome for our tours of all the interesting art and churches. Don't get me wrong, i love seeing that stuff- but i was tired.
i saw a bunch of things that i don't even remember. except for the spanish steps. and a few mcdonald's. i remember seeing those.
then friday morning we got up and went to the vatican and saw the sistine chapel, st. paul's, etc.
saturday morning was the colloseum and i met up with mommy, daddy, and tara who had just freshly made it off the plane. i woke them up in their hotel and we ventured around to see the world. (and for all of you who are wondering, yes, mom did almost cry when she saw me). then i left them for their own perusing, and i met back up with them for dinner.
sunday- tried to see the pope, and as you all already know that was a big fail. he wasn't there so i had to see him through a giant tv screen. i was very upset. however, he did bless those in the piazza (which is where i was), so technically i have been "blessed" by the pope.
headed back to florence this night. looong day.
i think all this traveling around has tinted my view of some places. rome was not my favorite city. it was too big, too dirty, and didn't seem to be what i was expecting from such a significant city.
Monday- i met the parents at their hotel in florence after they'd travelled from rome to there, and i took them to my favorite restaurant (il teatro-- i'm convinced its run by the mafia, but our teachers won't confirm)
tuesday- family came to peter's class with me. he was quite entertaining. him on his bike. calling us his "children". <3
then the family saw my apartment. it's so adorable. i never want to leave it.
then i took them to Goldenview- this restaurant on the Arno River that's really fancy but DELICIOUS. i gave tara one of my meal vouchers so she got tons of food, like me. we're spoiled.
wednesday- after my painting class family met me at gusta pizza (where i eat with my painting friends every wednesday). they have the best pizza! i love it. and they're so huge. i have yet to finish one. but for some reason i always get a whole one for myself.
then i gave my family my tour of the duomo ( a very lame edition...sorry family)
and then dad, tara and i climbed to the top of the dome. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. totally worth the 463 steps.
tara was scared to walk on the part inside that you can look to the bottom of the church so dad had to lead her as she closed her eyes. and then once we got to the top i was the only one to go to the edge. i guess i'm the brave on in the family. haha or not.
mom patiently awaited our return at the bottom and then we went to san lorenzo for some market shopping.
then ate dinner at a little greek place across the street- they put a really hot sauce on it and i almost died.
Tara came back to my apartment with me and spent the night. we were going to go out on the town, but it never ended up happening. too bad....
Thursday- only had one class really early, so family and i climbed up to this really awesome piazza (piazza michelangiolo)which overlooks the whole city. you have to climb some pretty steep stairs to get there, but once you're up top it's totally worth it. there was an asian wedding going on, and some guy playing his guitar, and of course the street vendors. all in all it was pretty fabulous.
then i convinced the familiy to buy tickets for the double decker "tour of Florence" bus. it's a hop on hop off type of dealio and we rode it for HOURS. i was very happy. i've been wanting to ride it all semester, and my dream came true.
That night for dinner i took them to takeout-- it's literally 5 feet from my house and has this adorable little old man who works there and tries to teach us italian (so far it hasn't worked...but we still love him. lindsey my roommate and i fight over him. i claim him since i met him first though)
Friday- visited Santa Croce (probably one of my favorite areas of the city), and its leather school. It was so awesome, first of all, to see where galileo and michelangelo are buried...but then to be able to go to the leather school and watch how they make things was so cool.
i had to say goodbye to the family after this. i was leaving for amsterdam with a friend in the morning- so i had to complete all my homework and get some sleep. it was a sad parting. good thing i'll be home in a few days.
Saturday- off to amsterdam! aka THE LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE!
left at 10 in the morning with my friend Kim for hour and a half train ride to pisa airport, 2 hour flight to Dusseldorf, and then our bus didn't leave for 7 hours to amsterdam. so we sat in the airport...and waited...and waited...
luckily- we're very good at entertaining ourselves. we ate food. we laughed at the people around us. we tried to figure out what we wanted to do with our lives. we even got on the computers there and read "textsfromlastnight" for hours (it's a website btw).
finally, at midnight, before we went insane, our little tiny van of a bus came to pick us and a few other couples up. (cutest little old british man as our driver--- who refused to turn on the heat so we FROZE)
the bus didn't take even half the time that it said it would to get to Amsterdam therefore we were stranded, in the middle of the night (approximately 2:30) without a hostel (because we didn't figure we'd need one...woops) and nowhere to sleep. so luckily our hostel was AWESOME and let us store our bags in the middle of the night (they're a pub too so they're open 24/7...pretty sweet right?) and then we literally hung out at mcdonalds and the train station for 8 hours. when the sun finally started to rise at approximately 7 AM kim was so happy she almost started to cry. at this point we decided that we weren't going to probably sleep any time soon (especially since hostel check in wasn't until noon), so we decided to try and find the anne frank haus. without any help from a map. because i guess we're too good for maps.
eventually we found (after walking our tired butts around for a while) that that was stupid. we found a map, and STILL couldn't find it. oh boy. however- have no fear- thanks to my amazing memory of being in Amsterdam as a 9 year old...we found it...(and no mom, that freaky statue of Anne is no longer outside of the museum...i was upset too...it's okay- we can write to them later).
after that we went for "breakfast" at our hostel. technically we weren't supposed to eat it, but kim has this thing with convincing people of things (without even trying), and the bartender told us we could eat it. so we had breakfast, and attempted to check in at noon-- but our room wasn't ready. i almost cried. i hadn't slept in forever, no one was speaking english to me, i wanted free ketchup (mcdonalds charges you 40 cents per packet), and no one would help me. so we went to a bunch of shops outside to look around until around 1:30. then we finally got our hostel room and slept until dinner.
dinner consisted of a burger and fries. and unlimited ketchup!!!! i love our hostel! it was so good to us.
then out on the town of course. aka- we went into on coffee shop at approximately 9:30, left at 9:40 and went back to the hostel. and slept. hahaha welcome to amsterdam.
did i mention that we were in amsterdam for St. Nicklas day? its apparantely this huge deal for the dutch. and i got to see santa claus and all of his freaky black men/elves. we at first thought i was some stupid carnival and were upset by all of the people- and then realized that it was santa riding his white stallion down the rode...and that the elves were handing out candy/cookies. pretty awesome i suppose.
Monday--
Van Gogh museum. SO AMAZING!
subway-- subs for 3 euro. SO AMAZING!
sex museum-- for 3 euro, cheapest museum in Amsterdam. SO AMAZING!
canal boat ride- with tour included! SO AMAZING! plus cute little old man as our captain.
then we went on a tour of the red light district. it was so educational. in a good way. apparantely the UN is making the netherlands shut it down by the year 2013, but they're having problems with "pimping" etc since they've been shutting parts of it down...soo...yeah...now you know...
tuesday--
finally got to come back to florence. i missed it so much!
left at 8 in the morning and didn't get home till 10. who knew it would take so long to travel from amsterdam. so frustrating (not to mention our plane was delayed an hour and half..while we were sitting on it....grrrrr)
the rest of this week was pretty boring with my usual routine and such.
friday our internet got cut off (that would be last friday, to put this into context for you people).
and saturday i had some guy give me his fully punched out ticket (that you have to buy 20 pints of beer to complete...that's a lot) to get myself a sweet awesome t-shirt. yeah, that's right- i got a free t-shirt.
and now it's monday. good ol' monday. tomorrow will mark 10 days for me coming home. mixed feelings on that one. i'm going to miss this city like nothing else before. however- being home for christmas will be so amazing. plus i miss free water, and my shower. and did i mention the ketchup thing yet? i think i did. haha
well, this week will be me finishing up my classes, backstreet boys concert in milan, and spending my last weekend in Florence. sniff sniff.
then next week is finals and packing.
caio caio tutti!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
