so the first stop on our bus2 alps northern loop extravanganza spring break trip was to prague, aka praha. firstly a little eductaion.
praha comes from the word prah which means threshold in czech. the way this city got the name threshold was that one of the princesses long ago was a clairvoyant and she could see that the man whom she would marry was sitting awaiting for her on a threshold. so she sent out her men to go find this person. she gave them some details(like the city where he lived) and the fact that he would be waiting on a threshold. well they did not believe her, but low and behold there he was, waiting on a prah for the kingdom. so they named the city where he was waiting praha. o and the city where he was waiting was to be the new capital and become the most prosperous city(which it did).
but anways. prague was absolutely amazing. when we all first woke up from the 16 hour bus ride, we were some where still in the mountains and it was snowing!!! well we got into our hostel, which was really nice. had a yummy breakfast(amazing scrambled eggs) freshened up and went out for our walking tour of prague. we went to the old city center and saw the old clock tower, which on every hour puts on a little show for you. its like a huuge old cookoo clock, there are little figurines that dance around, a rooster crows and then at the very end, a live man on the top of the tower sounds the horn. it was a fun way to start off the tour(especially since it was rainy, windy and cold, but not horrible) so we walk around prague see the new town center(more modern) then cross the river to see the jewish quarters. at the entrance of the old jewish ghetto they have a statue of kafka(b/c he was jewish) and on the tile surrouding him is the shape of a beetle. i really enjoyed this becuase metamorphosis is one of my favorite books. it was the first book that really challenged me to understand what else he was saying, and i got really into figuring it out. we walked around the old jewish quarter than walked over to the river where we could see the charles bridge and the castle. it was here that we ended to the tour and went to lunch.
for lunch we had the traditional czech food varnishka! we had no clue what to eat so we asked our tour guide, kate, what her favorite food was, which she said was varnishka. so we trust her, get to the resturant she suggested and order. now let me tell you....soooo goooood. it was steak covered in the sweet tangy savory gravy, with sweet cranberrys and whipped cream on top. with czech dumplings(which is basically like a very moist and yummy bread). least to say i became a proud member of the clean plate club that day. we also ordered the traditoinal pilsner beer and enjoyed a very much needed heavy lunch.
after lunch we walked around a bit then headed back to the hostel where we gathered to go on our first bar crawl. this one was one of my favorites of the trip. we went to like 3 or 4 different bars and for the first 1 and half had free drinks. it was here that we had our first(and only) absinthe shot. abinsthe, contrary to many americans beliefs does not make you hallucinate, you have to do something special to it to do that, otherwise it is just a very strong alcohol. and let me tell you, it doesnt go down easy. but anyways we hoppped from bar to bar(the first was was called church! represent london what what?! lol) but ya it was a really fun first night on the trip.
the next morning we got up and went on a little tour wiht our awesome guide leaders before heading to the castle tour. we saw the peeing guys statues(which is litterally two guys peeing, facing each other) than we headed over to the john lennon wall. here i got a little emotional. i was tired and whenever i see the beatles i think of my family. and there it was the perfectly spray painted picture of the yellow subamarine, which is by far the most important beatles song to me. so after taking some awesome photos and writing the opening lyrics to hey jude on the wall we went to charles bridge.
charles bridge is named after king charles, who everone loved(there is also a charles university) it is the oldest bridge in prague and has survived like everything. it is now only a pedestrian bridge and is lined with a tone of statues and of course vendors selling stuff. after walking over the bridge(and seeing the absinthe museum) we met up wtih our tour guide for the walking tour of the castle of prague(which is massive!)
see upcoming post for more prague shannanigans
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
happy 150th italy!
150 years ago today Victor Emanuel united Italy into one state. Although Italy and italians have been around forever, they have never been one united country. They actually had similar problems as America did with their north and south. the north was industrialized and hated the south.
but ya, there are major celebrations goign on all over rome, there are italian flags everywhere and the city has kind of shut down cause everyone has off. however it is rainy, so not the best day to celebrate. but it is still cool to be here on such an important holiday!
but ya, there are major celebrations goign on all over rome, there are italian flags everywhere and the city has kind of shut down cause everyone has off. however it is rainy, so not the best day to celebrate. but it is still cool to be here on such an important holiday!
London!!! where everything is proper!
so this past weekend i got to visit my love jessica in london! let me preface this with i did not think i was goign to make it there. london was one of the last trips i booked and i already thought i blew through my travel budget when i booked this. but i am sooo happy i got to go.
my plane left at 10 in the morning so to get there on time i had to wake up at like 6, it was a very long morning, but hours later i finally met up with j. we went back to her place, which is much more modern and larger than mine here in rome is, and we went to get some fish and chips. becuase this was my second time to london i had already experienced fish and chips, but i forgot how huuge a piece of fish they give you! but anways we got fish, and starbucks before that( a carmel macchiato..mmmmm) then we walked around regents park which is right near her apt. regents park is so pretty and manicured its crazy. it is also here that jess told me of how proper dogs walk, and its true! dogs prance in england, they dont walk like everywhere else. so after walking around regents park we decide to meet up with some people, that i know! and taht jess has made friends wtih at this int'l student bar. it was there that i had my first legal cider, becuase last time i was in england i was only 17! it was yummy, but little to my knowledge there is a yummier drink. its called a snakbite, and although my dad told me a traditional snack bite is a lil differ, ours was half cider half beer wiht some current juice in it. its soo yummy. like englands version of a fruity girl drink. after having a couple of drinks and singing karoeke, we head back to her place.
the next morning jen(who stayed the first night with us) jess and i got up and started to explore around london! first we went to the starbucks 2 seconds away from her apt, then got some yummy rolls at her local food store(which is one thing i miss here in rome, ours are not at all liek the ones at home, and far away from me...i want to go back to london for one) so we take the tube into the touristy part of town, go to where we can get student discount tickets and we happen upon jersey boys and get cheap tickets for a box for that night! after we thought perfect time for lunch! so we head over to chipotle!!!!!! it was soooo good, expensive but worht it! o before chipotle we went to convent gardens where i found the wine bar that my family and i ate dinner in our first night in london, it tugged at my heart string a bit, knowing that i was back there two year later. anyways so after chipotle we go to the book store which is the book store of the book store and music store that diagon alley is in between( accodring to a harry potter fan, i didnt know this) and go in and and look around. after we take the tube to go see the peter pan statue! i love the peter pan statue, it just makes me smile.
so we walk through the park, and get to the big ben, parliament and th elondon eye. since we stayed like two seconds away from the london eye when i came with my fam, of course i find the hotel, and take pics with it. but there was a starbucks nere there, so we went in for starbucks round 2! after starbucks replenishes our engery we decide to go to kingscross and go to platform 9 3/4!!! it was cool to see it, even though it wasnt technically inbetween platforms 9 and 10, it was in the main corridor that it is in the movie.
so after the platform we decide to head back to the picadilly area to get some pub food before teh show. we get meat pies( i got a steak and ale pie, yummy) and we all get my dads favorite beer, bombhader(or somethign like that). it was once again a delicious meal. soo yummy :) we finish dinenr just in time and head to the theatre. our friend jared, who was also in from rome visiting friends happens to be the box across from us in the theatre, which was funny. so we watch jersey boys. i come from italy, to london to watch a show about people who live in jersey, who are of italian decent. makes me laugh, not seeing a british play, but w/e it was really good. and one of the lead guys looked like charlie sheen, which made it a lil better too lol.
so after the show jen goes to her cousins and jess and i go out with her rooamtes to a a locla pub had some drinks and went home, for an early night
saturday jess and i just wandered around london, took it easy, since we did all of the touristy things the day before jess and i decide to go to afternoon tea. tea was so much fun. we had finger sandwiches, scones and yummy desserts, all on the that cute little silver stacker thing. and not to mention the tea, best tea ive had. i had spring time tea, which was fruity and yummy. after tea we went to harrods and window shopped then went to this store top shop, which i wish was my cousin, but we did not buy anything(everything was so expensive)
after harrods we went to brick street to meet up with jess's roommate for indian food! it was yummy, a little expensive like all of london, but i really enjoyed the variety. we then went down the street a little to get some bagels! or should i say beigels( or something weird like that) after beigels were bought we went to this dance club with all of her roomates. i was exhausted but it was still fun to go out in london.
we get back, and decide to go to church the next day. however, church is a day club. people dress up all crazy and drink from noon-4. it was a blast. we did crazy kesha-esk eye make up dress in greeen for st pattys day and go to church. we were exhausted afterward and had hw to do, so we just stayed in took a nap and did hw.
jen came back and we took the 3 am shuttle to our 6 am flight. got back to rome, and i went straight to class. had midterms a paper due, and here we are, the day i leave for spring break to prague, berlin, amsterdam and paris! still need to pack. but im about to go do that!
ciao rome, for now
my plane left at 10 in the morning so to get there on time i had to wake up at like 6, it was a very long morning, but hours later i finally met up with j. we went back to her place, which is much more modern and larger than mine here in rome is, and we went to get some fish and chips. becuase this was my second time to london i had already experienced fish and chips, but i forgot how huuge a piece of fish they give you! but anways we got fish, and starbucks before that( a carmel macchiato..mmmmm) then we walked around regents park which is right near her apt. regents park is so pretty and manicured its crazy. it is also here that jess told me of how proper dogs walk, and its true! dogs prance in england, they dont walk like everywhere else. so after walking around regents park we decide to meet up with some people, that i know! and taht jess has made friends wtih at this int'l student bar. it was there that i had my first legal cider, becuase last time i was in england i was only 17! it was yummy, but little to my knowledge there is a yummier drink. its called a snakbite, and although my dad told me a traditional snack bite is a lil differ, ours was half cider half beer wiht some current juice in it. its soo yummy. like englands version of a fruity girl drink. after having a couple of drinks and singing karoeke, we head back to her place.
the next morning jen(who stayed the first night with us) jess and i got up and started to explore around london! first we went to the starbucks 2 seconds away from her apt, then got some yummy rolls at her local food store(which is one thing i miss here in rome, ours are not at all liek the ones at home, and far away from me...i want to go back to london for one) so we take the tube into the touristy part of town, go to where we can get student discount tickets and we happen upon jersey boys and get cheap tickets for a box for that night! after we thought perfect time for lunch! so we head over to chipotle!!!!!! it was soooo good, expensive but worht it! o before chipotle we went to convent gardens where i found the wine bar that my family and i ate dinner in our first night in london, it tugged at my heart string a bit, knowing that i was back there two year later. anyways so after chipotle we go to the book store which is the book store of the book store and music store that diagon alley is in between( accodring to a harry potter fan, i didnt know this) and go in and and look around. after we take the tube to go see the peter pan statue! i love the peter pan statue, it just makes me smile.
so we walk through the park, and get to the big ben, parliament and th elondon eye. since we stayed like two seconds away from the london eye when i came with my fam, of course i find the hotel, and take pics with it. but there was a starbucks nere there, so we went in for starbucks round 2! after starbucks replenishes our engery we decide to go to kingscross and go to platform 9 3/4!!! it was cool to see it, even though it wasnt technically inbetween platforms 9 and 10, it was in the main corridor that it is in the movie.
so after the platform we decide to head back to the picadilly area to get some pub food before teh show. we get meat pies( i got a steak and ale pie, yummy) and we all get my dads favorite beer, bombhader(or somethign like that). it was once again a delicious meal. soo yummy :) we finish dinenr just in time and head to the theatre. our friend jared, who was also in from rome visiting friends happens to be the box across from us in the theatre, which was funny. so we watch jersey boys. i come from italy, to london to watch a show about people who live in jersey, who are of italian decent. makes me laugh, not seeing a british play, but w/e it was really good. and one of the lead guys looked like charlie sheen, which made it a lil better too lol.
so after the show jen goes to her cousins and jess and i go out with her rooamtes to a a locla pub had some drinks and went home, for an early night
saturday jess and i just wandered around london, took it easy, since we did all of the touristy things the day before jess and i decide to go to afternoon tea. tea was so much fun. we had finger sandwiches, scones and yummy desserts, all on the that cute little silver stacker thing. and not to mention the tea, best tea ive had. i had spring time tea, which was fruity and yummy. after tea we went to harrods and window shopped then went to this store top shop, which i wish was my cousin, but we did not buy anything(everything was so expensive)
after harrods we went to brick street to meet up with jess's roommate for indian food! it was yummy, a little expensive like all of london, but i really enjoyed the variety. we then went down the street a little to get some bagels! or should i say beigels( or something weird like that) after beigels were bought we went to this dance club with all of her roomates. i was exhausted but it was still fun to go out in london.
we get back, and decide to go to church the next day. however, church is a day club. people dress up all crazy and drink from noon-4. it was a blast. we did crazy kesha-esk eye make up dress in greeen for st pattys day and go to church. we were exhausted afterward and had hw to do, so we just stayed in took a nap and did hw.
jen came back and we took the 3 am shuttle to our 6 am flight. got back to rome, and i went straight to class. had midterms a paper due, and here we are, the day i leave for spring break to prague, berlin, amsterdam and paris! still need to pack. but im about to go do that!
ciao rome, for now
Tuscany weekend
So i know this is coming a little late, but better late than never! right?
anyways. So two weekend ago i went on a school trip to Pisa, Florence and the Tuscan country side(i forget the name of the little town we were in). But we took a 7 am bus(early but worth it) and drove a few hours to Pisa. Pisa is a very small town, which basically only has the leaning tower of Pisa. When we got there we had a little walking tour of the Baptistery the Church and then the Leaning Tower. We learned that the tower is leaning because the ground is too soft, and that just about every other building built there, even the trees, lean as well. I really thought that was interesting, and i thought of my friend eric the entire time, because he is an architecture major. so when the tour was done we took the typical touristy pics then walked around town for a little bit. as we were walking back we happen upon a gelato shop that actually says yogurt so we were like "oo a change, i love yogurt!" so we went in and actually got amazing vanilla cherry ice cream, and wow i cant remember the other flavor right now...but it was really good. so ya we spent hte afternoon walking around pisa, ate mcdonalds for lunch(dont judge it was delicious) and then took the bus back to our hotel.
At the hotel we were provided with a very lovley dinner than we all just hung around the hotel bar and in our rooms for the night, it was a long day.
so the second day we went into florence. Since i had already been there it wasnt like o-m-g look at the duomo(i already knew it was pretty big). but it was nice to go back to the leather market and shop around with friends. When we were in the market we actually asked a local vendor for a good sandwich shop that was good. he told us of one around the corner, which we found and when we got there we did the roman thing. asked for the best sandwich, with truffles on it(looooove truffles). so the shop owner makes us all a truffle, sun dried tomato smoke provolone sandwich, it was heavenly. After lunch we split up and jen, lisa and i went to the ufizi(the museum with the birth of venus) and saw all of those amazing paintings. little to my knowledge the birth of venus is huuuge, and beautiful, im really glad we made it to the museum.
so we get back to the hotel eat dinner, and like natural italians everyone bought at least 2 bottles of wine, so the entire group from AUR was chilling together drinking wine and having a fun time. it was actually a really fun night.
the next day we get up some what early have breakfast and head to the tuscan country side. i was falling asleep on and off but when i was awake the scenery was amazing. beautiful rolling hills of green with vineyards lining the roads. it was soooo pretty. so we get there, get a tour of the vineyard, have a wine tasting and get lunch. but lunch for them is no normal lunch, it is a four course feast in their restaurant that has the most gorgeous view i have ever seen. so we sit down and they give us our third wine to taste with our antipasta dish. it was two types of salami and two types of proscutto with bruschetta. and let me tell you, this meat was amazing. it was so flavorful and delicious. then we get our second course which was pasta bolognese. but really good tuscan pasta in a really good bolognese sauce. and not only did we get firsts of the pasta, they came around and gave us seconds. but it was soo good, with thier fresh pecorino cheese sprinkled on top, my mouth waters just thinking about it! after the seconds of pasta a bunch of people start going outside to chill and look at the view(it was the perfect weather outside, sunny and warm, no jackets needed) and of course we take pictures and sit there sipping our wine while enjoying a nice break from stuffing our faces with amazing food. we come back in to the main course, roasted chicken and potatoes. the chicken literally fell off the bone(yes i was a big girl and ate chicken on the bone) but it was sooo good. we walk around a little more than come dessert. which i kid you not, tasted like an apricot humantashen. it was yummy and homey, made me think of purim :). but anyways we finish lunch early and are able to explore the vinyard some more. i have never seen such a pretty part of the country, or a prettier landscape or anythign just as breathtaking as the views of the countryside. if i can afford it when im older, i will buy a vacation home there. i can never get sick of the views of this place.
so after one of the most amazing days, we head home to rome, but it was good to get back
btw all pictures are on facebook!
anyways. So two weekend ago i went on a school trip to Pisa, Florence and the Tuscan country side(i forget the name of the little town we were in). But we took a 7 am bus(early but worth it) and drove a few hours to Pisa. Pisa is a very small town, which basically only has the leaning tower of Pisa. When we got there we had a little walking tour of the Baptistery the Church and then the Leaning Tower. We learned that the tower is leaning because the ground is too soft, and that just about every other building built there, even the trees, lean as well. I really thought that was interesting, and i thought of my friend eric the entire time, because he is an architecture major. so when the tour was done we took the typical touristy pics then walked around town for a little bit. as we were walking back we happen upon a gelato shop that actually says yogurt so we were like "oo a change, i love yogurt!" so we went in and actually got amazing vanilla cherry ice cream, and wow i cant remember the other flavor right now...but it was really good. so ya we spent hte afternoon walking around pisa, ate mcdonalds for lunch(dont judge it was delicious) and then took the bus back to our hotel.
At the hotel we were provided with a very lovley dinner than we all just hung around the hotel bar and in our rooms for the night, it was a long day.
so the second day we went into florence. Since i had already been there it wasnt like o-m-g look at the duomo(i already knew it was pretty big). but it was nice to go back to the leather market and shop around with friends. When we were in the market we actually asked a local vendor for a good sandwich shop that was good. he told us of one around the corner, which we found and when we got there we did the roman thing. asked for the best sandwich, with truffles on it(looooove truffles). so the shop owner makes us all a truffle, sun dried tomato smoke provolone sandwich, it was heavenly. After lunch we split up and jen, lisa and i went to the ufizi(the museum with the birth of venus) and saw all of those amazing paintings. little to my knowledge the birth of venus is huuuge, and beautiful, im really glad we made it to the museum.
so we get back to the hotel eat dinner, and like natural italians everyone bought at least 2 bottles of wine, so the entire group from AUR was chilling together drinking wine and having a fun time. it was actually a really fun night.
the next day we get up some what early have breakfast and head to the tuscan country side. i was falling asleep on and off but when i was awake the scenery was amazing. beautiful rolling hills of green with vineyards lining the roads. it was soooo pretty. so we get there, get a tour of the vineyard, have a wine tasting and get lunch. but lunch for them is no normal lunch, it is a four course feast in their restaurant that has the most gorgeous view i have ever seen. so we sit down and they give us our third wine to taste with our antipasta dish. it was two types of salami and two types of proscutto with bruschetta. and let me tell you, this meat was amazing. it was so flavorful and delicious. then we get our second course which was pasta bolognese. but really good tuscan pasta in a really good bolognese sauce. and not only did we get firsts of the pasta, they came around and gave us seconds. but it was soo good, with thier fresh pecorino cheese sprinkled on top, my mouth waters just thinking about it! after the seconds of pasta a bunch of people start going outside to chill and look at the view(it was the perfect weather outside, sunny and warm, no jackets needed) and of course we take pictures and sit there sipping our wine while enjoying a nice break from stuffing our faces with amazing food. we come back in to the main course, roasted chicken and potatoes. the chicken literally fell off the bone(yes i was a big girl and ate chicken on the bone) but it was sooo good. we walk around a little more than come dessert. which i kid you not, tasted like an apricot humantashen. it was yummy and homey, made me think of purim :). but anyways we finish lunch early and are able to explore the vinyard some more. i have never seen such a pretty part of the country, or a prettier landscape or anythign just as breathtaking as the views of the countryside. if i can afford it when im older, i will buy a vacation home there. i can never get sick of the views of this place.
so after one of the most amazing days, we head home to rome, but it was good to get back
btw all pictures are on facebook!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
forgot how slow comps used to be. thank g-d for blackberrys
so my computer is currently at school awaiting the dell tech guy to come and give it a new fan and mother board, becuase it decided to break. so i am using the computer they provided for us. and let me tell you, other than the fact that an european keyboard is comptley different than a normal u.s. one, it is soooo slow. i don't know how old it is, it reminds me of our first computer, but like i said thank gd i have a bberry.
but ya just a litle post for those of you reading about how i hate technology. i like it a little better but am still very frustrated, esp when i have to write at least a 6 pg paper by next wed, study for italian quiz tomorrow, study for int'l bus midterm for next tues, study for italian midterm next wed, and go to london thurs morning....this is going to be an interesting week.....
but ya just a litle post for those of you reading about how i hate technology. i like it a little better but am still very frustrated, esp when i have to write at least a 6 pg paper by next wed, study for italian quiz tomorrow, study for int'l bus midterm for next tues, study for italian midterm next wed, and go to london thurs morning....this is going to be an interesting week.....
Thursday, March 3, 2011
now this post is about venice!
so we get off the train at Venice and are greeted with such a pretty view of Venice. Right there is bridge(one of thousands i'm sure), so of course, first photo-op of Venice on the bridge! it is there that I see a Mephisto store and think of my grandmothers love affair with those shoes, and the 30 minute lecture on why they are such amazing shoes. anyways we take pics on the bridge, cross the wrong way go into a Murano glass store only to be told the main part of that island was where we just came from, cross back over and head towards the Jewish ghetto to meet Jared. We get a little lost on the way there, turn around go down an alley than happen upon Gam Gam's backery. well, Gam Gams just so happens to be a Jewish backer, on a Friday, so what do they have, CHALLAH! so for 3 euros we get a big challah to share. Not only was this good challah but it was jens first challah she has ever had! and well you know the ending, of course it was delicious(great harvest is still the best because of all the eggs, but this was so nice and homey to have some challah on shabbas) but anyways as we are walking, we think in the right direction we just happen to run into jared, which was very convenient cause we were trying to meet up with him. so we walk a little bit more into the ghetto and see a Judaica store and go in. well of course i buy something two mezzuzahs in murano glass, sooo pretty. jared got one too, but he bought the scroll to make it kosher(40 euro more so i passed). but anyways as we left the store for some reason Jared all of a sudden decides to wish us all a good shabbas. Well.....none other than a member of the chabbad there in Venice sees Jared doing this approaches us and asks if we were going to the shabbas dinner that night. We say o we didn't know about it, he gives us details when and where and says hopefully see you there. Of course we decide to go, who turns down a free meal! it would also be really cool to experience a shabbas meal in a different part of italy(for those keeping count that is now my third shabbas meal here in Italy, and at home....i think one the entire semester) so Jared goes to services the girls walk around a little bit more, than we meet up at the resturant and have a delicious shabbas meal. It was funny becuase all of the chabad members are American all the tunes for kiddish were the same so we were able to sing along.
Actually at dinner we met two Israeli girls who were also visiting venice and they were really nice. One was actually a sniper in the army!(pretty bad ass if you ask me) but so we sang and prayed a lil and ate and had a really nice free meal! afterwords we were ganna try to go out on the main island but didn't know of anything, but our taxi driver did tell us of this bar 2 minutes away from us that has live music on the weekends so we head there. and on the way we are walking meet other american students and chat for a bit, one of the guys stays near us so he came back to the bar with us. and omg the bar was so much fun!
so at this bar, its all local italians, pretty packed. well we find seats get some beer( i actually dont cause i didnt have money! kinda ran out...woops) but anyways we were just chillin, the new guy leaves and we try to find seats closer to the band. we got a table and so happy we did. this band was amazing! i mean they played oldies like pink floyd and bob dylan. he was rocking out on the guitar, absolutley amazing! so we stay there till they get off, have a blast and get back to our hotel and pass out!
saturday we get up with the boys leave the hostel and go to san marco, the main island for celebration. the boys heard of a fish market they have so we walk there to check it out. on the way we see the island which was really nice. we walked over a hundred bridges and walked in little alley ways but thats how venice is. so on the way we see this little garden with these swing things, and of course we get in them and photo-op. we move on and get to the fish market, not huuuge, but big. it was pretty cool because there was a ton of fish. so after the fish market we split up for a little bit. Jared comes with the girls and the other two boys went off on their own. that was when we decided to take a gondala ride! on our ride we saw marco polo's house, casanova's house and the old prison where he was the only one to escape! it was a lot of fun. i got nervous sometimes becuase well its in the water, and sometimes you dip down close to the water.
after our gondala ride we decide to put our masks on and start the carnivale celebration! we meet up with the rest of the boys in san marco square, where the stage is that plays music and has different festivites at night. after another photo-op with our masks on this time, we walk around a bit.after some walking and touring we decide to find a super market and get some wine to enjoy the evening with. so we find a super market buy break, brie and wine(jen and i got presecco, italain chamagne!) and sat down at the waters edge and enjoy a lovely sun set with brie bread and booze(i like the b alliteration). after chilling for a while we decide to go to a pub before dinner and heading back to san marco sqaure to party! at the pub we got a big beer thing that had like 4 liters of beer and split that. well of course another photo-op ensues and it was just a really fun time.
after the pub we have to wonder around for a while to find dinner(everything was booked because of carnivale). we finally get dinner, i got a very yummy pizza with eggplant, artichoke and prosciutto. so after dinner we head to san marco square where they have music and drinks and we just had a blast dancing and drinking and celebrating with so many other people (btw carnivale means good bye meat, or something liek that. its the celebration before giving up meat for lent!) so we celebrate, and go back to our hotel where we hang out for a while then head to sleep.
sunday we take our time getting up, check out, and head to Murano for some glass! well Murano was pretty obviously lined with shops for the famous Murano/Venitina Glass. and it was a very successfull trip. many suvineers where bought for everyone by everyone! at one point we split up becuase ellen had to catch her early train so tim and max take ellen to the train station and jen, jared and i stay on the island and get lunch and shop. well we found a great little place with 5 euro pasta! yummy :). we also met a couple from America who had moved to Italy exactly 1 year before we arrived in Rome, which was pretty cool.
so we go back to san marco and walk around, which was not smart it was cold adn raining by this point so we finally convince jared to find a restaurant to eat in. we met up with the other boys and ate a leisurley dinner than headed back to the hostel to get our stuff(we left it there so we didnt have to carry it around). any ways we get to the train station early and decide to play asshole! well i havnt played in years, but i really should because i won most rounds(its called being the president). dont get me wrong i lost some too(was the asshole) but it was still fun to do while waiting. so we get on our train for the overnight train play another game and eventually pass out
well we get back to rome at 6 40, i get back to my apartment at 7 40ish, shower and pass out, only to get up at 11 to get to class!
overall- i love venice. it was so beautiful with all the canals and the bridges and the history. great place!
Actually at dinner we met two Israeli girls who were also visiting venice and they were really nice. One was actually a sniper in the army!(pretty bad ass if you ask me) but so we sang and prayed a lil and ate and had a really nice free meal! afterwords we were ganna try to go out on the main island but didn't know of anything, but our taxi driver did tell us of this bar 2 minutes away from us that has live music on the weekends so we head there. and on the way we are walking meet other american students and chat for a bit, one of the guys stays near us so he came back to the bar with us. and omg the bar was so much fun!
so at this bar, its all local italians, pretty packed. well we find seats get some beer( i actually dont cause i didnt have money! kinda ran out...woops) but anyways we were just chillin, the new guy leaves and we try to find seats closer to the band. we got a table and so happy we did. this band was amazing! i mean they played oldies like pink floyd and bob dylan. he was rocking out on the guitar, absolutley amazing! so we stay there till they get off, have a blast and get back to our hotel and pass out!
saturday we get up with the boys leave the hostel and go to san marco, the main island for celebration. the boys heard of a fish market they have so we walk there to check it out. on the way we see the island which was really nice. we walked over a hundred bridges and walked in little alley ways but thats how venice is. so on the way we see this little garden with these swing things, and of course we get in them and photo-op. we move on and get to the fish market, not huuuge, but big. it was pretty cool because there was a ton of fish. so after the fish market we split up for a little bit. Jared comes with the girls and the other two boys went off on their own. that was when we decided to take a gondala ride! on our ride we saw marco polo's house, casanova's house and the old prison where he was the only one to escape! it was a lot of fun. i got nervous sometimes becuase well its in the water, and sometimes you dip down close to the water.
after our gondala ride we decide to put our masks on and start the carnivale celebration! we meet up with the rest of the boys in san marco square, where the stage is that plays music and has different festivites at night. after another photo-op with our masks on this time, we walk around a bit.after some walking and touring we decide to find a super market and get some wine to enjoy the evening with. so we find a super market buy break, brie and wine(jen and i got presecco, italain chamagne!) and sat down at the waters edge and enjoy a lovely sun set with brie bread and booze(i like the b alliteration). after chilling for a while we decide to go to a pub before dinner and heading back to san marco sqaure to party! at the pub we got a big beer thing that had like 4 liters of beer and split that. well of course another photo-op ensues and it was just a really fun time.
after the pub we have to wonder around for a while to find dinner(everything was booked because of carnivale). we finally get dinner, i got a very yummy pizza with eggplant, artichoke and prosciutto. so after dinner we head to san marco square where they have music and drinks and we just had a blast dancing and drinking and celebrating with so many other people (btw carnivale means good bye meat, or something liek that. its the celebration before giving up meat for lent!) so we celebrate, and go back to our hotel where we hang out for a while then head to sleep.
sunday we take our time getting up, check out, and head to Murano for some glass! well Murano was pretty obviously lined with shops for the famous Murano/Venitina Glass. and it was a very successfull trip. many suvineers where bought for everyone by everyone! at one point we split up becuase ellen had to catch her early train so tim and max take ellen to the train station and jen, jared and i stay on the island and get lunch and shop. well we found a great little place with 5 euro pasta! yummy :). we also met a couple from America who had moved to Italy exactly 1 year before we arrived in Rome, which was pretty cool.
so we go back to san marco and walk around, which was not smart it was cold adn raining by this point so we finally convince jared to find a restaurant to eat in. we met up with the other boys and ate a leisurley dinner than headed back to the hostel to get our stuff(we left it there so we didnt have to carry it around). any ways we get to the train station early and decide to play asshole! well i havnt played in years, but i really should because i won most rounds(its called being the president). dont get me wrong i lost some too(was the asshole) but it was still fun to do while waiting. so we get on our train for the overnight train play another game and eventually pass out
well we get back to rome at 6 40, i get back to my apartment at 7 40ish, shower and pass out, only to get up at 11 to get to class!
overall- i love venice. it was so beautiful with all the canals and the bridges and the history. great place!
venice, verona and CARNIVALE!
so this post is going to be a doozy. just a heads up, its ganna be long
so, we start the trip meeting at AUR for the cab to pick us up at 5 15 to take us to the airport. well we wait, and wait and call and they say that we have a cab for tomorrow morning. well after some clarification they send us a taxi and while we wait i was like, duh! Jen ordered the cab for 5 15, well here in Europe that means 5 15 in the morning, not at night. so that is why they had us for the morning....but not biggie, just thought i would add that
so anyway, after the 1 hour flight(jens second flight! and amazing views of hte coast of italy) we land in venice. take a taxi to the hotel, deal with the very stubborn annoying, obnoxious dude at the counter and get to our rooms. hotel was pretty ok. we were in like this seperate villa so we had a common area to go with our shared bathroom and rooms(we shared the bathroom iwth the boys so it worked out fine) but ya so the girls decide to go to sleep becuase we had a 8am train to verona the next day, but the guys go out.
so we get up at 6 get out of the hotel a lil after 7 and get the 8 o clock train to verona. when we get to verona we try to figure out where juliets house is and hop on a bus. well when we try to get off only ellen got off, jen and i were stuck on. so we got off at the next stop and met in the middle. and wound up goign to this coffee place for capiccino, but ellen and i decide to get hot chocolate. and that was when i was introduced to the amazingness of chocolate calda(italian hot chocolate). this hot chocolate kicks nestles butt. i mean hard core kicks it. it is like drinking melted chocolate, but not too overpowering, just enough to be AMAZING! o and according to jen this was the best cappucino she has had yet(he sprinkled cocoa powder on top!)
so we walk around towards Juliet's house, stop on a really pretty bridge take pictures of the river going through Verona and really pretty churches. than we stop upon a bakery that had marzipan animals. not only did they have marzipan animals but they also had a million amazing looking desserts. i held my ground, but Ellen and Jen caved and got marzipan animals, which they enjoyed very much. so after our second little snack we are walking around in the heart of Verona and just happen upon Juliet's house. of course we were looking for it, but i just turn my head, and i was like "guys, we're here!" and let me tell you, i was not disappointed. to save money we didnt go inside to the museum, just went to the courtyard, but i so happy. i loved that we got to see her balcony and the little gardens and of Julietta. Well we all took our pictures near the balcony and with Julietta(and for some reason every one grabs her boob, we dont know why, but because everyone else did it we did too! lol) but anyway after taking a million pictures of the courtyard we go to the little tunnel to get to the courtyard where people all wrote like love notes and K+J=4ever, type things and it was actually really pretty. so what were we supposed to do, of course we had to take an artsy photo shoot(most pictures are on Jen's facebook, i have a few) but we were there for a good 30 min just taking pictures in diff poses and having a blast. after we decide too many tourist groups have passed, we move on to find Romeo's house!
on the way to Romeo we get called over by this guy in this shop were they are stitching names into things(those were all over Verona) but any way he goes tell her your name and she will do it for you! well skeptical me was like no this can't be free how much, and he insisted it was free, which it was. so we got our names stitched out all prettily(i'm making it a word, leave me a lone) but then of course we go in the shop and for 6 euro you can have a pot holder embroidered. well, i just had to get it. I got a heart shaped pot holder with D,L,J,M,R, on it (my families initials). I loved it because everytime it snows, or we are on the beach, my dad draws a huge heart and puts our initials in it. i love when he does that, its been something he has always done and always give me the warmest feeling, so of course i felt that again when i saw it on this heart(just a nice little piece of home with me almost).
well after our embroidered gifts, we run into none other than Garibaldi, well his statue at least. so we took some pictures with him in his little plaza thing. we saw a beautiful building area that was just really pretty. than on our way to romeo's house, find juliet's tomb. it was surrounded by gothic looking bells and a very gothic looking buliding. they were beautiful(pics on fb of course).
but anyways. we finally find romeo's house, which was converted to a very expensive restaurant, but still it was fun to see it(marked by a sign with a romeo quote) . so we move on from romeos house and find dante(his statue) in a cute little park!
of course we take some more pics than head back were find a court with old ruined tile floors underneath that we could see. and as we wondered back to the train, we eat at a restaurant where jen got a very little mermaid-esk fork(hence the pics of us "brushing" our hair with the fork)
well we then took the train back to Venice. and i think that Venice might be a second post. this one is long enough :)
so, we start the trip meeting at AUR for the cab to pick us up at 5 15 to take us to the airport. well we wait, and wait and call and they say that we have a cab for tomorrow morning. well after some clarification they send us a taxi and while we wait i was like, duh! Jen ordered the cab for 5 15, well here in Europe that means 5 15 in the morning, not at night. so that is why they had us for the morning....but not biggie, just thought i would add that
so anyway, after the 1 hour flight(jens second flight! and amazing views of hte coast of italy) we land in venice. take a taxi to the hotel, deal with the very stubborn annoying, obnoxious dude at the counter and get to our rooms. hotel was pretty ok. we were in like this seperate villa so we had a common area to go with our shared bathroom and rooms(we shared the bathroom iwth the boys so it worked out fine) but ya so the girls decide to go to sleep becuase we had a 8am train to verona the next day, but the guys go out.
so we get up at 6 get out of the hotel a lil after 7 and get the 8 o clock train to verona. when we get to verona we try to figure out where juliets house is and hop on a bus. well when we try to get off only ellen got off, jen and i were stuck on. so we got off at the next stop and met in the middle. and wound up goign to this coffee place for capiccino, but ellen and i decide to get hot chocolate. and that was when i was introduced to the amazingness of chocolate calda(italian hot chocolate). this hot chocolate kicks nestles butt. i mean hard core kicks it. it is like drinking melted chocolate, but not too overpowering, just enough to be AMAZING! o and according to jen this was the best cappucino she has had yet(he sprinkled cocoa powder on top!)
so we walk around towards Juliet's house, stop on a really pretty bridge take pictures of the river going through Verona and really pretty churches. than we stop upon a bakery that had marzipan animals. not only did they have marzipan animals but they also had a million amazing looking desserts. i held my ground, but Ellen and Jen caved and got marzipan animals, which they enjoyed very much. so after our second little snack we are walking around in the heart of Verona and just happen upon Juliet's house. of course we were looking for it, but i just turn my head, and i was like "guys, we're here!" and let me tell you, i was not disappointed. to save money we didnt go inside to the museum, just went to the courtyard, but i so happy. i loved that we got to see her balcony and the little gardens and of Julietta. Well we all took our pictures near the balcony and with Julietta(and for some reason every one grabs her boob, we dont know why, but because everyone else did it we did too! lol) but anyway after taking a million pictures of the courtyard we go to the little tunnel to get to the courtyard where people all wrote like love notes and K+J=4ever, type things and it was actually really pretty. so what were we supposed to do, of course we had to take an artsy photo shoot(most pictures are on Jen's facebook, i have a few) but we were there for a good 30 min just taking pictures in diff poses and having a blast. after we decide too many tourist groups have passed, we move on to find Romeo's house!
on the way to Romeo we get called over by this guy in this shop were they are stitching names into things(those were all over Verona) but any way he goes tell her your name and she will do it for you! well skeptical me was like no this can't be free how much, and he insisted it was free, which it was. so we got our names stitched out all prettily(i'm making it a word, leave me a lone) but then of course we go in the shop and for 6 euro you can have a pot holder embroidered. well, i just had to get it. I got a heart shaped pot holder with D,L,J,M,R, on it (my families initials). I loved it because everytime it snows, or we are on the beach, my dad draws a huge heart and puts our initials in it. i love when he does that, its been something he has always done and always give me the warmest feeling, so of course i felt that again when i saw it on this heart(just a nice little piece of home with me almost).
well after our embroidered gifts, we run into none other than Garibaldi, well his statue at least. so we took some pictures with him in his little plaza thing. we saw a beautiful building area that was just really pretty. than on our way to romeo's house, find juliet's tomb. it was surrounded by gothic looking bells and a very gothic looking buliding. they were beautiful(pics on fb of course).
but anyways. we finally find romeo's house, which was converted to a very expensive restaurant, but still it was fun to see it(marked by a sign with a romeo quote) . so we move on from romeos house and find dante(his statue) in a cute little park!
of course we take some more pics than head back were find a court with old ruined tile floors underneath that we could see. and as we wondered back to the train, we eat at a restaurant where jen got a very little mermaid-esk fork(hence the pics of us "brushing" our hair with the fork)
well we then took the train back to Venice. and i think that Venice might be a second post. this one is long enough :)
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
totally forgot about dessert!
so how can i forget dessert! while looking through the 10 page menu(i kid you not) i just so happend to see on the dessert menu that they had fried gelatto. well i have only had fried ice cream at home once, but the experience was amazing so we convinced ourselves to share 2 fried ice cream balls for hte 5 of us. and, although it wasnt like the fried ice cream at home, it was nonetheless sooooo good! it was like yummy stracieatella(like choco chip but a little better) covererd in this amazing dough that was warm and crunch on the outside and cold and ice creamy on the inside. it was just the perfect ending to an amazing meal.
we also sat there trying to describe the meal in artsy ways for jens resturant review for jen and julies writting about food class(which i almost took, but i needed a break from writing)
but ya i think i got all of it now! enjoy the jelousy! (and seriously nothing like this would ever happen back in the states)
we also sat there trying to describe the meal in artsy ways for jens resturant review for jen and julies writting about food class(which i almost took, but i needed a break from writing)
but ya i think i got all of it now! enjoy the jelousy! (and seriously nothing like this would ever happen back in the states)
yes we can! bad girls and drinking to be smart like einstien :) and DUCK!!!!
so tonight lisa, jen, julie, frieds, and i decide to go out for thai food at this restuarant that we kept hearing about. We heard it was amazing thai food and that they love americans and they give you so much free stuff. well, let me tell you, the amount of free food and wine they give you, o-m-g.
so we get there, its only like 10 min tram ride from my apt and we walk in and it just smells amazing! we sit down get our menus start looking htem over than a waiter comes over and hands us a huuuuge plate of fresh french fries and says "free french fries for american students" and of course we are all starving and havnt had fries in at least a month, we scarf them down. especially me i was so hungry i swear i ate half the plate. so we were like aww thats so awesome fresh french fries how nice! well little did we know, after the french fries they gave us this amazing dish of cucumbers with this warm peanut sauce that was warm and spicy so it was not only tempurature cooled by the cucumbers but the spice was cooled a little to. it was amazing to say the least.
so we not only go through 1 plate of that, we go through 2 cuase it was so good. THEN they come over with this zucchini dish, we are all getting pretty full by now but we have to try it, its all FREE(becuase we are american studetns) and that was of course delicious, then they come over with a yummy cabage dish, which was also cold. our final free apatizer was this fish dish(it was good, im not a big fish person so it wasnt my favorite thing, but frieds loved it). but by now we are all getting pretty full and we havnt even gotten our dishes yet!
well, we ordered 2 different calamari dishes as an appatizer, the first one comes out which is in a red chili curry sauce, it was amazing, so good. then we get our second dish which was in a coconut milk, lemon grass and basil sauce which was also good(i liked the first one better). but both were amazing!
soooo, finally we get our dishes! I got a rice noodle with shrimp in a peanut suace which was soo good( i have left overs cuase i was so full) and the other girls got other noodle dishes and julie got a duck dish and frieds got a chicken dish. well, i decided to be brave said when in rome and tried the duck!!!! i cant believe i tried it, its not that it tasted bad, but i cant get over the fact i ate duck! like a littel ducky or those mutant ducks that i hated down in florida....but ya i tried duck.
and that was just the food. we order a bottle of white wine and a bottle of water. they give us the 2 liter bottle of wine and 2 liter bottle of water. but they were not satisfied with us just having 1 bottle. so once again, for FREE because we are american students, we get 2 more bottles of 2 liter wine. each time he came over to fill us up, he would see our empty glass and say "bad girl" or our favoirte "yes we can!" or you know why germans are so smart, becuase they drink a lot of wine and beer....like einstien! they also siad that drinking that much would make our studies better. but once again, payed for one bottle and got 3! well we laugh and enjoy an amazing dinner and soooo much food which was sooo good. and he brings over a huge basket of candy for us. and just when we thought htey were done, they bring over a bottle of anannna juice, which is pineapple apple juice which was of course good and we drink some. now of course like cheap american studetns we take the left over wine and juice to save and share together(julie liked putting them together and making a "momosa")
least to say, hands down, favorite and cheapest dinner out yet. we are def going back there
so we get there, its only like 10 min tram ride from my apt and we walk in and it just smells amazing! we sit down get our menus start looking htem over than a waiter comes over and hands us a huuuuge plate of fresh french fries and says "free french fries for american students" and of course we are all starving and havnt had fries in at least a month, we scarf them down. especially me i was so hungry i swear i ate half the plate. so we were like aww thats so awesome fresh french fries how nice! well little did we know, after the french fries they gave us this amazing dish of cucumbers with this warm peanut sauce that was warm and spicy so it was not only tempurature cooled by the cucumbers but the spice was cooled a little to. it was amazing to say the least.
so we not only go through 1 plate of that, we go through 2 cuase it was so good. THEN they come over with this zucchini dish, we are all getting pretty full by now but we have to try it, its all FREE(becuase we are american studetns) and that was of course delicious, then they come over with a yummy cabage dish, which was also cold. our final free apatizer was this fish dish(it was good, im not a big fish person so it wasnt my favorite thing, but frieds loved it). but by now we are all getting pretty full and we havnt even gotten our dishes yet!
well, we ordered 2 different calamari dishes as an appatizer, the first one comes out which is in a red chili curry sauce, it was amazing, so good. then we get our second dish which was in a coconut milk, lemon grass and basil sauce which was also good(i liked the first one better). but both were amazing!
soooo, finally we get our dishes! I got a rice noodle with shrimp in a peanut suace which was soo good( i have left overs cuase i was so full) and the other girls got other noodle dishes and julie got a duck dish and frieds got a chicken dish. well, i decided to be brave said when in rome and tried the duck!!!! i cant believe i tried it, its not that it tasted bad, but i cant get over the fact i ate duck! like a littel ducky or those mutant ducks that i hated down in florida....but ya i tried duck.
and that was just the food. we order a bottle of white wine and a bottle of water. they give us the 2 liter bottle of wine and 2 liter bottle of water. but they were not satisfied with us just having 1 bottle. so once again, for FREE because we are american students, we get 2 more bottles of 2 liter wine. each time he came over to fill us up, he would see our empty glass and say "bad girl" or our favoirte "yes we can!" or you know why germans are so smart, becuase they drink a lot of wine and beer....like einstien! they also siad that drinking that much would make our studies better. but once again, payed for one bottle and got 3! well we laugh and enjoy an amazing dinner and soooo much food which was sooo good. and he brings over a huge basket of candy for us. and just when we thought htey were done, they bring over a bottle of anannna juice, which is pineapple apple juice which was of course good and we drink some. now of course like cheap american studetns we take the left over wine and juice to save and share together(julie liked putting them together and making a "momosa")
least to say, hands down, favorite and cheapest dinner out yet. we are def going back there
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
my frustration with technology
so i am sitting in rome, after a pretty chilly afternoon and what happens? my fan on my computer breaks. it sounds like it is grinding up a rock inside of my computer. thankfully my roomate is going out so she lent me her computer, but still. before i left i sent in my computer with a whole list of problems. one of which was the fan and the it guy was just like o dont worry it probs just needs to be cleaned. well obvi not.....cuase its back to sounding as bad as it did before, even worse! and am i at maryland so i can go to see them to fix it. no. im in italy. where i have no clue where to go to get it fixed.
i hate technology sometimes...no i more of hate dells....see dad you should have listened to me when i asked for a mac......
i hate technology sometimes...no i more of hate dells....see dad you should have listened to me when i asked for a mac......
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
tivoli
so the plan for saturday was to go to the vatican finally, well at about midnight the night before i get a phone call from jen seeing if we wanted to the vatican another time and sleep in a lil longer than go to tivoli for the day. Tivoli is a small lil town in the countryside of italy where the garden scene was filmed in the Lizzie McGuire Movie(it has a lot of pretty fountains and waterfalls). so we decided to take the train for 2.30 euro, or something cheap liek that, and go to tivoli for a bit before Jen and I went to the opera.
so we get there at like 9ish i would say and we finally find how to get into town, get a panini for lunch and follow signs to the gardens(d'este) well to our pleasent surprise on our way we stumble upon tivoli's own littel carnivale! there were tents wiht table at least 100 feet long with candy and tables with masks and jewlery. But mostly candy(it was very small just in the small little square of this very tiny town). so before we head to the gardens we walk around. We got to one booth that had a tone of venitian glass jewelry and we get some stuff, and as we are leaving jen calls julie, lisa and me back and to our further surprise the vendor gives us each all pretty bracelets for free. he was so nice, when we didnt like the color/the bracelet didnt fit he gave us new ones! so about 1 minute later julie goes " do you guys remember that episode of friends where joey gets chandler a really aweful gawdy bracelet and chandler loses it replaces it then finds the old one, and hten gives it to joey?" and of course i remember this moment foundly, becuase its friends and i know just about every moment. so taht is when she said, "guys we're bracelet buddies!"
well i have to say, there is some magic in being bracelet buddies, because on our way to the gardens we find a shop that sells cameos. He was the ninth generation to be making the cameos out of shells and blue stones and they were absolutley beautiful. so on a day when i was trying to save money, i fell in love with a cameo and bought one(so much for not buying myself anything else....) but julie and jen also bought cameos. julie got a beautiful one of a women sitting carved into the blue stone and jen got a gorgeous ring. well after shopping for a while trying to convince ourselves in and out of buying hte jewelry we realize the time head back to the candy booth quickly where jen and lisa got a bag full of candy(yummy) and we head back.
well a gelatto place catches( i believe it was jens eye?) but anyway that was closed for the lunch break so we go next door to a pastry shop, where for 1 euro they have most amazing looking mousse filled pastries. jen, julie, and i got a strawberry and vanilla mousse filled pastry and lisa got a pastachio flavored one. and O-M-G they were soooo amazing(pictures are currently up on fb). so once again we witness the power of bracelet buddies.
i wish there were a better word than eat, becuase this was so much better than eating! but after eating the pastry we go to the train station and eventually get on the train, where you buy tickets(no ticket stand at hte stop). and to the power of bracelet buddies again, no one ever came around to collect our money! so we had an amazing train ride home with candy and laughs and then jen and i ran back to our apts to get ready to see the opera! which was amazing.
so we get there at like 9ish i would say and we finally find how to get into town, get a panini for lunch and follow signs to the gardens(d'este) well to our pleasent surprise on our way we stumble upon tivoli's own littel carnivale! there were tents wiht table at least 100 feet long with candy and tables with masks and jewlery. But mostly candy(it was very small just in the small little square of this very tiny town). so before we head to the gardens we walk around. We got to one booth that had a tone of venitian glass jewelry and we get some stuff, and as we are leaving jen calls julie, lisa and me back and to our further surprise the vendor gives us each all pretty bracelets for free. he was so nice, when we didnt like the color/the bracelet didnt fit he gave us new ones! so about 1 minute later julie goes " do you guys remember that episode of friends where joey gets chandler a really aweful gawdy bracelet and chandler loses it replaces it then finds the old one, and hten gives it to joey?" and of course i remember this moment foundly, becuase its friends and i know just about every moment. so taht is when she said, "guys we're bracelet buddies!"
well i have to say, there is some magic in being bracelet buddies, because on our way to the gardens we find a shop that sells cameos. He was the ninth generation to be making the cameos out of shells and blue stones and they were absolutley beautiful. so on a day when i was trying to save money, i fell in love with a cameo and bought one(so much for not buying myself anything else....) but julie and jen also bought cameos. julie got a beautiful one of a women sitting carved into the blue stone and jen got a gorgeous ring. well after shopping for a while trying to convince ourselves in and out of buying hte jewelry we realize the time head back to the candy booth quickly where jen and lisa got a bag full of candy(yummy) and we head back.
well a gelatto place catches( i believe it was jens eye?) but anyway that was closed for the lunch break so we go next door to a pastry shop, where for 1 euro they have most amazing looking mousse filled pastries. jen, julie, and i got a strawberry and vanilla mousse filled pastry and lisa got a pastachio flavored one. and O-M-G they were soooo amazing(pictures are currently up on fb). so once again we witness the power of bracelet buddies.
i wish there were a better word than eat, becuase this was so much better than eating! but after eating the pastry we go to the train station and eventually get on the train, where you buy tickets(no ticket stand at hte stop). and to the power of bracelet buddies again, no one ever came around to collect our money! so we had an amazing train ride home with candy and laughs and then jen and i ran back to our apts to get ready to see the opera! which was amazing.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
shabbat shalom due
This was the second shabbas i went to in rome. This time we went to the rabbis shul and went to his house for dinner. There was a much larger group of us, i went with with four of my guy friends, but than the rabbi had some other people over. The food was amazing, sooo good, reminded me of non italian home cooking which was nice for a change.
Services were services, but at dinner after eating and before berchat we all went around the table and told a story that related to Judaism. not really knowing what story to tell i of course told the story about how we ran into my moms high school friend on the shores of tel aviv. because really where would that ever happen. the rabbi told a really good story rabbis in eastern europe who rejoiced when they finally got supported by teh government to increase their jewish education programs. and the head rabbi had an ancient coin from the days in Jerusalem passed it around and it got lost. long story short it was eventually found, but one of the elder rabbis kept on praying that it would be found and they would not have to empty their pockets to search b/c he had one just like it, and was scared of falsely being accused. this short summary here doesnt give the story any justice, but it was a good tale.
o completely forget to tell how the evening got started. we were searching for shul which was some what near us, and couldnt find any of the raods we needed. my friend jared asked a couple of people and they couldnt help us and went on their way. he than asks one lady, who speaks no english, and she like everyone doesnt know. however, she decided to help us. this little old lady, carring bags, most likely going in the opposite direction, walks us over to a gas station where she one of hte attendants and jared look on a map for htis road. well we thought she helped us great now she will go home. instead, she insisted on walking us the enitre way there. it turned out she is from spain and knows spanish, since we all spoke spanish better htan italian we talked on the way there in spanish and it was just one of the best moments. my friend ethan told this story at dinenr relating it to a mitzvah that we had all experienced, becuase if it werent for this lovely old lady we would have never found the shul.
but anywya, back to dinner. it was delicious, and i mean good. two types of chicken two types of koogel, home made challah. sooo good. but ya it was just a relaly fun night with a large group of us. i told the wife that i would help her cook for pesah, so im excited for the sedars because i wont be around for any more friday night shabbat dinners really(im all booked traveling).
but it was a great experience, a lot more fun than the last shabbas, and a lot more delicious. hopefully we get to do dinners like that with our friends(kinda like what we did thrus night with the mac n cheese)
Services were services, but at dinner after eating and before berchat we all went around the table and told a story that related to Judaism. not really knowing what story to tell i of course told the story about how we ran into my moms high school friend on the shores of tel aviv. because really where would that ever happen. the rabbi told a really good story rabbis in eastern europe who rejoiced when they finally got supported by teh government to increase their jewish education programs. and the head rabbi had an ancient coin from the days in Jerusalem passed it around and it got lost. long story short it was eventually found, but one of the elder rabbis kept on praying that it would be found and they would not have to empty their pockets to search b/c he had one just like it, and was scared of falsely being accused. this short summary here doesnt give the story any justice, but it was a good tale.
o completely forget to tell how the evening got started. we were searching for shul which was some what near us, and couldnt find any of the raods we needed. my friend jared asked a couple of people and they couldnt help us and went on their way. he than asks one lady, who speaks no english, and she like everyone doesnt know. however, she decided to help us. this little old lady, carring bags, most likely going in the opposite direction, walks us over to a gas station where she one of hte attendants and jared look on a map for htis road. well we thought she helped us great now she will go home. instead, she insisted on walking us the enitre way there. it turned out she is from spain and knows spanish, since we all spoke spanish better htan italian we talked on the way there in spanish and it was just one of the best moments. my friend ethan told this story at dinenr relating it to a mitzvah that we had all experienced, becuase if it werent for this lovely old lady we would have never found the shul.
but anywya, back to dinner. it was delicious, and i mean good. two types of chicken two types of koogel, home made challah. sooo good. but ya it was just a relaly fun night with a large group of us. i told the wife that i would help her cook for pesah, so im excited for the sedars because i wont be around for any more friday night shabbat dinners really(im all booked traveling).
but it was a great experience, a lot more fun than the last shabbas, and a lot more delicious. hopefully we get to do dinners like that with our friends(kinda like what we did thrus night with the mac n cheese)
Triple M Night
So what started out as an idea of having a "triple m night": mac n cheese, mojitos and a movie, just turned into mac n cheese. Our entire group and my rooamtes enjoyed what i beleive to be my matserpiece. i made an amazing three cheese mac n cheese, that was based on the mac n cheese that shira made at our past thanksgiving(i used different cheeses). but it was soo good, and i have to say i am quite proud of myself for making it.
it was just a really fun night with all my friends hanging out, eating and drinking wine of course. this night will def have to be repeated.
it was just a really fun night with all my friends hanging out, eating and drinking wine of course. this night will def have to be repeated.
Monday, February 14, 2011
valentines day
so valentines day is big here, not as big in the states, but there were dudes selling balloons on the street corners. didnt do anything special, went out to gelatto near us(but it is amazinnng gelatto) which was yummy and am now just trying to relax and watch things online.
as for the weekend....on friday i walked like all over rome with jen. we went to the pantheon and found the amazing gelatto place that jessica(sister) told me about, and it was heavenly, we also went to the trevi fountain and i showed jen the beautiful church inside the wedding cake, aka victor emanuel aka the big white building. it was a great day of walking around. we actually wound up at the vatican, didn't take a tour(thats this saturday!) but we went in st petersburg(?) square and just looked around. it was a gorgious day that was well deserved. almost forgot one of the best parts, we found this stand right on the way to the vatican that sells old records. we found joe cocker, hall and oats live at the apollo, debbie gibson and the bangles. all records are 5 euro which is awesome. i almost bought a couple but decided to come back when we had more time. i love finding music in foreign places, especially vinyls there is nothing like a good vinyl.
saturday was a much smaller walker adventure. went to the spanish steps finally. very touristy and went into a massive mcdonalds/mccafe. which was cute but also touristy. we than went to villa borghisi which is romes largest park. it was so nice, museums everywhere a zoo and just miles and miles of pathways and grass and tress and statues. it was nice. we split up after villa borghese when frida(roomate) and i tried to find out way back to the apt using hte bus system, which proved much harder than you would think. we were on 2 different buses and went aorund the same circle like 5 times. we eventually got off and just walked to the tram, which proved to be closer than it seemed.
sunday was hw and laundry day. nothing special. caught up on my reading and hung. went out for ellen(friends) birthday. went to this little resturant in trestevere(a couple of tram stops away from me) where we had an ok dinner. i got a ton of muscles and clams in mine, which was good. but wasnt anythign amazing for the price we payed. although they did have delicious termisu(spelling??). but ya so no for dinner, but a good place for dessert. there are better places in campo di fiori that give student discounts.
which brings us back to today. which was my first roman quiz, worth 60 points(i would love to see how many points the tests are) and then doing some work and having gelatto for my valentines day.
finally got to open up the card my mother tried to secretly hide in my suitcase. it put a smile on my face. all in all a good weekend and looking foward to another nice weekend of raoming around rome before venice!
cioa mi amore <3
as for the weekend....on friday i walked like all over rome with jen. we went to the pantheon and found the amazing gelatto place that jessica(sister) told me about, and it was heavenly, we also went to the trevi fountain and i showed jen the beautiful church inside the wedding cake, aka victor emanuel aka the big white building. it was a great day of walking around. we actually wound up at the vatican, didn't take a tour(thats this saturday!) but we went in st petersburg(?) square and just looked around. it was a gorgious day that was well deserved. almost forgot one of the best parts, we found this stand right on the way to the vatican that sells old records. we found joe cocker, hall and oats live at the apollo, debbie gibson and the bangles. all records are 5 euro which is awesome. i almost bought a couple but decided to come back when we had more time. i love finding music in foreign places, especially vinyls there is nothing like a good vinyl.
saturday was a much smaller walker adventure. went to the spanish steps finally. very touristy and went into a massive mcdonalds/mccafe. which was cute but also touristy. we than went to villa borghisi which is romes largest park. it was so nice, museums everywhere a zoo and just miles and miles of pathways and grass and tress and statues. it was nice. we split up after villa borghese when frida(roomate) and i tried to find out way back to the apt using hte bus system, which proved much harder than you would think. we were on 2 different buses and went aorund the same circle like 5 times. we eventually got off and just walked to the tram, which proved to be closer than it seemed.
sunday was hw and laundry day. nothing special. caught up on my reading and hung. went out for ellen(friends) birthday. went to this little resturant in trestevere(a couple of tram stops away from me) where we had an ok dinner. i got a ton of muscles and clams in mine, which was good. but wasnt anythign amazing for the price we payed. although they did have delicious termisu(spelling??). but ya so no for dinner, but a good place for dessert. there are better places in campo di fiori that give student discounts.
which brings us back to today. which was my first roman quiz, worth 60 points(i would love to see how many points the tests are) and then doing some work and having gelatto for my valentines day.
finally got to open up the card my mother tried to secretly hide in my suitcase. it put a smile on my face. all in all a good weekend and looking foward to another nice weekend of raoming around rome before venice!
cioa mi amore <3
Sunday, February 13, 2011
things i am craving
SUSHI!!
mexican food
regular ice cream(why i dont know)
rice
chinese food
thai food
mexican
sushi
a normal post will come soon! about my weekend adventures(i finally got to the spanish steps!!)
but ya im cravin some food that isnt italian, good news is we found a good sushi place and apparently there is a great thai place near us...if only italians could make italian food(maybe i'll be making it. too bad i havnt seen chedder anywhere here! i want chips and queso!!)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Fireneze!
So this past weekend a friend and i decided to hop on a train and go to Florence for Sat and Sund(we stayed at her friends apt, so no hostel! woohoo lol). but florence was amazing. its so small that you can walk everywhere easily. when we got off the trian we were greated with this gorgeous church than walked about 2 minutes and say the duomo. The duomo is unreal. it is so beatuful and huge and amazing, it sometimes looked like it was just a picture. the deatil that went into hte building was amazing. after dropping our stuff off at her apt(which is newer than our, but i feel very italian in my tacky covered wallpapered apt) we went to the chocolate festival they had. there was soooo much chocolate, all i thought about was jessica(sister). i got some chocolate goodies and than this chocolate drink which was basically melted chocolate, it was amazing! we walked around florence afterword than went to the market, where i got the most beautiful leather jacket! i love it, so happy i was able to buy real italian leather in italy! i got some suvinears for people, not saying what or for who! but i started covering my bases which was good.
Dinner was good, went to a small itlle place and had some pizza(i think our roman pizza is better, im really getting spoiled here) than went to a pub and just enjoyed a nice glass of wine.
the second day we went to the gogili(?) gardens which were huge and pretty. it was a little overcast and cold but it was still nice to walk around and see florence. since i am coming back on a school trip i figured that we would hit up the museums, aka david and the art museum, so we didnt do those. we met up with someone for lunhc where i had a turkey, mozorella lettuce and TRUFFLE OIL! sandwish, the oil shoppe was close cause it was sunday, but i was very happy with mine. i love truffle oil. but ya i will post pictures soon. cant really describe the pretty things i saw.
i would love to go back, its a nice break from the city, although sunday it was packed! but i did notice things were open, liek the grocery store which was nice. but ya that was florence. not going anywehre for 2 weekends, than im goign to venice!
but there will be more roman adventures until then!
Dinner was good, went to a small itlle place and had some pizza(i think our roman pizza is better, im really getting spoiled here) than went to a pub and just enjoyed a nice glass of wine.
the second day we went to the gogili(?) gardens which were huge and pretty. it was a little overcast and cold but it was still nice to walk around and see florence. since i am coming back on a school trip i figured that we would hit up the museums, aka david and the art museum, so we didnt do those. we met up with someone for lunhc where i had a turkey, mozorella lettuce and TRUFFLE OIL! sandwish, the oil shoppe was close cause it was sunday, but i was very happy with mine. i love truffle oil. but ya i will post pictures soon. cant really describe the pretty things i saw.
i would love to go back, its a nice break from the city, although sunday it was packed! but i did notice things were open, liek the grocery store which was nice. but ya that was florence. not going anywehre for 2 weekends, than im goign to venice!
but there will be more roman adventures until then!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Shabbat shalom!
so today we went into the jewish ghetto than to services at the great synagogue and than to a shabbat dinner.
my friend jared set it all up and he actually told us an interesting history or the shul as to why it was in such great shape. apparently the pope who was in power i guess, right before WWII made it a historical monument. and when the nazis went into italy during the war sat down and talked with the pope to see what they could and could not destroy. this was a new pope from the other one who made the shul a history building, and they didnt realize it. so when the nazis came in, they couldn't touch the shul so the surrounding jewish area put a lot of judaica in the basement so it survived, and it is now a museum which shows everything they hid from the nazis.
there was also this mini colliseum type buliding right there that a king decided to make into a fortress. so there is the old ancient colliseum and than a more modern buliding connecting on top of the structure, so it looks like the did a horrible job restoring it, when acutaly a king turned it into a fortress for him back in the days.
services at the shul were really short, and like all other shuls that are seperated the womens area is just full of women gossiping. some where praying but most were talking(although there were not many people there). but it was short and sweet than my friend ellen and i walked to a persons home for shabbas dinner, which was set up by the chabad.
it was a little awk at the dinner, firstly becuase they spoke to jared and were expecting three guys, but also cause only 2 of them spoke english. so ellen and i just sat there and ate our food politely while trying to understand some of the conversation. It was a young man, his mother and father, an older collegue adn than a collegue around his age. he had a one year old son and the wife didnt eat with us, she was sick i think they said. but the baby was cute, huuuge for a 1 year old, like big and a lil chubby, but still cute. it was sooo much food, i cant believe how much italians eat. but they were very nice and invited us over any time for shabbas dinner,even for pesach.
well that was my shabbas in rome, it was nice to connect with jews here, even though they werent my age.
well avire derche(not at all how you spell it, lol)
my friend jared set it all up and he actually told us an interesting history or the shul as to why it was in such great shape. apparently the pope who was in power i guess, right before WWII made it a historical monument. and when the nazis went into italy during the war sat down and talked with the pope to see what they could and could not destroy. this was a new pope from the other one who made the shul a history building, and they didnt realize it. so when the nazis came in, they couldn't touch the shul so the surrounding jewish area put a lot of judaica in the basement so it survived, and it is now a museum which shows everything they hid from the nazis.
there was also this mini colliseum type buliding right there that a king decided to make into a fortress. so there is the old ancient colliseum and than a more modern buliding connecting on top of the structure, so it looks like the did a horrible job restoring it, when acutaly a king turned it into a fortress for him back in the days.
services at the shul were really short, and like all other shuls that are seperated the womens area is just full of women gossiping. some where praying but most were talking(although there were not many people there). but it was short and sweet than my friend ellen and i walked to a persons home for shabbas dinner, which was set up by the chabad.
it was a little awk at the dinner, firstly becuase they spoke to jared and were expecting three guys, but also cause only 2 of them spoke english. so ellen and i just sat there and ate our food politely while trying to understand some of the conversation. It was a young man, his mother and father, an older collegue adn than a collegue around his age. he had a one year old son and the wife didnt eat with us, she was sick i think they said. but the baby was cute, huuuge for a 1 year old, like big and a lil chubby, but still cute. it was sooo much food, i cant believe how much italians eat. but they were very nice and invited us over any time for shabbas dinner,even for pesach.
well that was my shabbas in rome, it was nice to connect with jews here, even though they werent my age.
well avire derche(not at all how you spell it, lol)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
DUKE GAME TONIGHT!!!!
I hate that the duke game is on at 3 in teh monring here. but since i dont have classes i may go out than try to stay up for a little bit of it! but ya classes wehre the same today(they are ganna be easier than maryland classes, its a differnt structure). i should be doing homework right now, but i really dont feel like it. i think ill get the rest of my books than read tomorrow.
after class we all met back up at AUR to try to discuss traveling, specifically venice and carnival in 3 weekends, and that we will hopefully book tomorrow. i have a decent sized group of people here who all want to go so its a little difficult, but it will be fun! we are also looking into day trips to florence and other places in italy. i didnt realize how many weekends i acutally have booked! when i pulled out my calendar i realized i only have one free weekend in march and a few in april. than may i wanna be back here to enjoy the city for my last couple of weeks. planning everything made it seem like we have such little time here.
nothing else new, doing errands tomorrow getting food at a market than getting other stuff i need. hopefully going out tonight than on saturday we are doing a tour of hte vatican which will be amazing than sunday i wanna do one of my walking cards that mel and noami gave me than do hw. its wierd that we have school, it doenst feel like we should.
but i will update more on that when it happens, today was pretty uneventful.
status on knee: can climb up stairs with some discomfort, but down stairs still really hurts.....but at least its getting better!
after class we all met back up at AUR to try to discuss traveling, specifically venice and carnival in 3 weekends, and that we will hopefully book tomorrow. i have a decent sized group of people here who all want to go so its a little difficult, but it will be fun! we are also looking into day trips to florence and other places in italy. i didnt realize how many weekends i acutally have booked! when i pulled out my calendar i realized i only have one free weekend in march and a few in april. than may i wanna be back here to enjoy the city for my last couple of weeks. planning everything made it seem like we have such little time here.
nothing else new, doing errands tomorrow getting food at a market than getting other stuff i need. hopefully going out tonight than on saturday we are doing a tour of hte vatican which will be amazing than sunday i wanna do one of my walking cards that mel and noami gave me than do hw. its wierd that we have school, it doenst feel like we should.
but i will update more on that when it happens, today was pretty uneventful.
status on knee: can climb up stairs with some discomfort, but down stairs still really hurts.....but at least its getting better!
Monday, January 31, 2011
first day of roman classes
so my schedule is as follows(well hopefully is maryland ever "approves" my int'l bus class i just added):
MONDAY/WED- 12:30 to 1:55 Italian
2:05-3:30 Business Psych
3:40-5:05 Media and Gender
Tues- 2:05-5:05 Into to Int'l Bus
So starting my day off with italian, no boys. it is a class of about 25 girls, which should be interesting, especilaly when we have to learn the male ending to words, it will never be practiced. But ya that class was long and boring, like any other lang class. Lets face it, i just think its boring to sit in a class room for 2 hours and learn a lang. we went desk by desk having the teacher ask what our name was and then us having to say it. we did this for like 12 ques, least to say i almost fell asleep.
Business psyc seems awesome, the prof is in his early 40s used to be a big shot on wallstreet and got sick of working for other people so he moved here with his italian wife, that he met on the beaches of greece and has been here for 7 years. he said there shouldnt be much outside work and the exams will most liekly be take home. As long as we participate in class and skim the readings(he said skim) i should be fine, which is awesome cause i always participate.
Then came media and gender, which is my only comm class becuase Maryland decided to not accept comm classes from AUR even though they have a huge comm department(but thats another rant) but ya right now it seems like every other sociology class ive taken, but hopefully he will focus more on the media part becuase that is his specialty.
but ya, overall classes so far seem liek they will be good, just waiting on that int'l bus one! hopefully it'll be easier than how mayrland teaches it.
but ya booked adventure to pompie and capri in april and than tuscany in march!!! so excited for both of them it is going ot be amazing. trying to book venice by friday and we found an amazing spring break trip that i would love to do. traveling is expensive. i wish it werent
ok its late, more info will ocme tomorrow!
love
MONDAY/WED- 12:30 to 1:55 Italian
2:05-3:30 Business Psych
3:40-5:05 Media and Gender
Tues- 2:05-5:05 Into to Int'l Bus
So starting my day off with italian, no boys. it is a class of about 25 girls, which should be interesting, especilaly when we have to learn the male ending to words, it will never be practiced. But ya that class was long and boring, like any other lang class. Lets face it, i just think its boring to sit in a class room for 2 hours and learn a lang. we went desk by desk having the teacher ask what our name was and then us having to say it. we did this for like 12 ques, least to say i almost fell asleep.
Business psyc seems awesome, the prof is in his early 40s used to be a big shot on wallstreet and got sick of working for other people so he moved here with his italian wife, that he met on the beaches of greece and has been here for 7 years. he said there shouldnt be much outside work and the exams will most liekly be take home. As long as we participate in class and skim the readings(he said skim) i should be fine, which is awesome cause i always participate.
Then came media and gender, which is my only comm class becuase Maryland decided to not accept comm classes from AUR even though they have a huge comm department(but thats another rant) but ya right now it seems like every other sociology class ive taken, but hopefully he will focus more on the media part becuase that is his specialty.
but ya, overall classes so far seem liek they will be good, just waiting on that int'l bus one! hopefully it'll be easier than how mayrland teaches it.
but ya booked adventure to pompie and capri in april and than tuscany in march!!! so excited for both of them it is going ot be amazing. trying to book venice by friday and we found an amazing spring break trip that i would love to do. traveling is expensive. i wish it werent
ok its late, more info will ocme tomorrow!
love
Saturday, January 29, 2011
day 5
so i will give you much more detail of my excursions. i have been with the same but different people everyday(you can tell by my pictures). today we had a bbq at the school for a little than went into the heart of rome again and went back to the wedding cake building aka the big white monument aka the moneument for victor emanual II. we learned today that it was a monument for the kind emanuel and it too like 20 years to build (1884-1905), and he was the king that unified italy into one state(now htat sounds a little familiar, i think i remember it from european histroy 11th grade). we climbed up the steps, me veyr slowly and very oddly becuase i cant bend my knee, so it was funny to watch me walk up them all, and even funnier to watch me go down. we also went to the very top of hte building and saw an ammmazzing view of rome, you could see everything(and becuase we have been to a lot of places we knew what they were wihtout hte map!) but it was a great view, got some great pictures. after that we went back to the trevi fountain and met up with some people but wound of having dinner with other people we ran into/were looking for. it was a great meal. 2 huge courses for 12 euro, plus a great bottle of red wine. the waiters there were so funny, so it was a good meal. we than got really yummy, rich, creamy gilato and walked/road back.
and that leaves me here, sitting in my room with extremley cheesy wallpaper, on a twin size bed that really is more like a cot, with my marble floors and my balacony that has a view of hte montains, in a my nice warm apt.
rome is good. and i will update more later. hopefully this blog is good enough for now. :)
and that leaves me here, sitting in my room with extremley cheesy wallpaper, on a twin size bed that really is more like a cot, with my marble floors and my balacony that has a view of hte montains, in a my nice warm apt.
rome is good. and i will update more later. hopefully this blog is good enough for now. :)
Friday, January 28, 2011
first friday in rome
so today we went everywhere! we went to trestevre(walked there, its the town really close to us which is really cute and quaint) then we went to the coliseum, campo de fiori and had as jessica says "the worlds best panninis" and to palentine, the palace of the founder of rome. it was an amazing day with a lot of walking. i will post pictures soon. and give more desciptions later. getting ready to go out!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
salve from roma!
so i decided to make this blog so people can see what i am up to in rome. if you cant tell where i got my inspiration from for my blog title/website name, well i've been watching boy meets world on youtube for the past two days :). ive been getting ot know the area so far. eating yummy food and drinking amazing wine(that doesnt cost more than $5!!) more to come later once i actually start doing more stuff. ok its late here and im goin to sleep night all :)
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