Buongiorno

Good Morning!

So, now that you all have completed the "Fall Back," we are back on our normal time schedule (I am six hours ahead again...instead of the five I was last week).

Anyway, this weekend was a great weekend. Though we had a day off school, I spent the weekend in Rome, "being a tourist in my town" (Thank you, Mr. Mayor Bernero). My friend Liz and I made a list (and checked it twice) of things that we haven't seen yet. A large part of the list included churches and little piazzas that we hadn't ventured into yet. Well, it was a great success.

We managed to make it to approximately eight churches and six or seven piazzas. It was very interesting, as so many of the churches are so different from one another. A few of the highlights included: a church whose crypt was decorated (seriously decorated...all over the walls and ceilings) with the bones of thousands of dead monks; Rome's only gothic church (home to three Carvaggio masterpieces); a Baroque church described by Wikipedia's travel website as being "Baroque art on steroids. Simply astounding;" and a church that was built on top of ruins of an ancient Christian church that was built on the ruins of an even more anceint pagan (Mithric) temple and settlement)--it is also the only place in Rome that you can hear and see the underground river that flows underneath the city....very cool.

Additionally, we also had the pleasure of seeing the statue of Pasquino, a tailor who lived nearby and liked to complain a lot. The interesting thing about this statue is that in following in his footsteps, the people of Rome post complaints, opinions, or any other statements they would like to share with the world on the statue for all to see. It was pretty interesting (not that I really knew what the complaints or opinions said, but interesting nonetheless).

All in all it was a great, and highly productive weekend. I'll try to post pictures from our adventures soon!

Ciao!

P.S. Countdowns:
Dublin: 3 days!
My birthday: 11 days!
My brother arrives: 12 days!
Yessssssssss!

Lately

Hey hey hey,

So it's been seven days since I last posted, and unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to report. School has taken a lot of my time lately, so I haven't been embarking on any major adventures over the past few days. Plus, it has been raining since Tuesday.

Also, today is a national holiday, and everything is shut down. Thus, it was a good excuse to stay in pajamas all day and watch movies...which we did. It was rather lovely.

The rain is supposed to stop by Saturday though, so hopefully we will be able to do some fun things.

On another note...I'm going to Ireland next weekend! It's kind of a last minute trip, but we booked our tickets today and we'll be in Dublin next Thursday....yay!

And...my brother arrives in 16 days! Yessssssss :)

Hi!

So I had taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging...partly because last week was midterms week and I had to do A LOT of studying (gross!) and partly because I wasn't sure if anyone actually reads my blog. In the meantime, however, I have learned that some people actually do read my blog (yay!), so I am going to be more diligent about posting.

Anyway, like I said...last week was midterms. Though I only have four classes, I had five exams...in two days. Awful. I don't think I have ever, in my whole life (this is probably an exaggeration), studied as much as I did last week. And, (insert sigh) the teachers are right. It pays off. I have gotten four of my five grades back, and I did remarkably well...even better than I had anticipated on some exams. (Please read this Mom, Dad, and anyone else who was concerned that I wasn't studying enough...I'm not wasting all my time here...honest!)

Enough about exams though...those are boring. Finally, after the lllloooonnnngggg midterm week was over, a few of us rewarded ourselves with a weekend trip to Venice. What a beautiful city! The trip was fantastic. We enjoyed amazing food, great shopping, beautiful sights, a museum or two, and stayed in the greatest little place!

Because there were eight of us, lodging originally looked as though it might be a bit of a problem. Upon doing a bit of research, however, we found the nicest little house about 30 minutes outside of Venice, in a little town called Vigonza (population approximately 250). In this nice little town, we had our own little house, complete with a kitchen, dining area/living room, and space for everyone to sleep...and it only cost 15 euro per person per night! (About 19-20 dollars). It was definitely a great situation....making our nice little weekend even better.

Anyway, I have to run. I have homework (yes, homework...sick) to do, and it's already 8:30!
Talk to you soon! Ciao!

London Calling Part Three

Okay, so, in an attempt to conserve space, I am going to recount the rest of the London adventures in this last blog. At least that is the plan. We'll see how it goes.

Over the next two days, we engaged in a good bit of shopping. Some of the best shopping in the world can be found in London, and let me tell you...we searched for it. And I think we did a pretty good job of finding it too. :)

Additionally, we found ourselves attempting to be normal Londoners by spending a few hours in Hyde Park and Kensington Park. And they were wonderful. Within the gates of the parks we found the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, the Peter Pan Statue, lots of people walking and lounging, a few games of pick up football (soccer), Kensington Palace, the Round Pond, and much much more.

After our stroll in the park, we checked out Portobello Road in Notting Hill...the longest road of antiques in the world. Awesome. Just awesome. An interesting place filled with interesting sorts of people and shops, I found myself humming the tune from the old Disney movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks." Nerdy, I know, but not entirely surprising from me.

Anyway, after a few more lovely English meals in fantastic little English pubs and restaurants, we found ourselves concluding our weekend by seeing "Mary Poppins" in the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End. Excellent. Just fantastic. The whole show was just top notch....I loved it. Really a perfect end to a wonderful weekend and a great trip. :)

London Calling Part Two

Oh hello again.

Sorry to do this all at once, but in my attempt to update, it seems as though there is a lot to catch up on. Bear with me... :)

So, after dealing with the hotel fiasco, Julie and I set out, bound and determined to make the most of our fabulous London vacation.

We left the Metro Hotel, feeling vindicated, and ready to take on the city. Deciding to begin right, we started our London experience with a double decker bus tour, properly titled the "Original Bus Tour" of London. It was fantastic. Really. I would highly recommend it. We were able to see all of the sights, hop on and off wherever we pleased, and take lots of pictures along the way.

The tour included Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and many many more. Plus, it offered instant gratification to that serious need of riding on double decker buses while in the city.

A few hours and a lot of pictures later, we concluded our tour. We decided it necessary to do a bit of shopping and get some dinner (Cottage Pie....awesome). After dinner, heading back to our hotel for a bit of souvenir shopping at one of the many fine little souvenir shops and bed.

London Calling

Hi!

Again, I must apologize. My blogging skills just are not quite up to par. I really do have all of these wonderful intentions of keeping on top of things...and it just does not happen quite as frequently as it should.

Anyway, with apologies out of the way...

I went to London last weekend! Oh my gosh, what a FABULOUS place! I loved it, I just love love loved it!

The weekend started with Julie flying in on Friday afternoon (yay!). Unfortunately, her flight was two hours late. This began the chain of events that led to the start of our "Arriving in London Adventure."

Upon the late arrival of her flight, we raced to my apartment to get my things, drop one of her bags off, and hurry to the other airport to catch our flight. As you might imagine, the tardiness of her flight led to missing our flight to London. Luckily, we were able to get on a flight that was supposed to leave and land only an hour later than planned. Obviously this didn't happen. Our next flight was almost an hour late, then it took another hour to get through customs, meaning that we finally had our bags approximately two and a half hours later than planned. No big deal, right? Wrong.

So began the chain of events. Upon getting our luggage and such, we obtained our train tickets that we had pre-purchased to get to the city. Easy enough. Unfortunately, what we learned from the nice gentleman at the rental car booth, was that the last train left the airport at 1:30 a.m.....it was now 1:45. Luckily, the nice person at the bus stop informed us that we could take the "National Express" night bus to the same station the train was suppsed to stop at--it would only take an extra half an hour. With no other options, we somewhat happily obliged. An hour and fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves being dropped off in front of the now closed Liverpool Street Station...in the pouring rain no less. After getting our luggage, and our bearings, we hailed a cab and made our way towards what was to be our home away from home for a few days, the Metro Hotel.

Still in the rain, the cab dropped us off. We got to the door only to find that it was locked, with a sign instructing us to call a phone number. We started to dial, only to see someone leaving the hotel to head home, meaning we were able to make it inside and out of the cold and rain. So we got upstairs to the check-in area, assuming that someone would be there to greet us (the hotel advertised 24 hour reception, and we had called a few days prior to arriving to let them know that we had an evening flight). Not true. We started to call the hotel over and over again, hoping that an attendant would hear and come to our assistance. Finally, when it became clear that nothing was going to be happening, we decided it best to go behind the counter ourselves and see which room was to be ours. Number one. So, bravely, and with the feeling that I was going to get into some sort of trouble, I grabbed the key and tip toed down the hall, peeking in the door to our room. Cracking the door open just a bit to see inside...and I saw a leg. The room we were supposed to stay in was clearly occupied, and our chances of sleeping there were entirely gone.

So we went back to calling the front desk. Much to our disappointment, another guest came out to use the facilities and informed us that the gentlemen that run the hotel are not actually there 24 hours a day...they leave in the evening. Feeling somewhat defeated, we called twice more, left a somewhat but not entirely rude note, then decided to give up and evaluate our options. The options were: the Burger King down the street, and the Hilton that was attached to the Paddington Street Station right across the street from us.

What do two, smart, twenty-somethings with savings accounts and credit cards do in this sort of dire situation? They go to the Hilton. So we did. We ran out of our hotel, into the rain, and across the street to the hotel...only to be told that they were entirely booked and we should go down the street to the Hilton Metropole.

Obviously, at 4:20ish a.m. there was to be no walking down the dark street in the dark city we don't know. So we grabbed our second cab of the evening and went up the road.

Getting into the hotel, the nice gentleman at the desk knew that we were involved in some sort of very sad situation. I think the mix of exhaustion, annoyance, and being soaked really did it. At any rate, we told him our sad sad tale and he, after a conference with his coworker, gave us a deal on a lovely room for the evening...complete with breakfast and a 2:00 p.m. checkout.

So, a few (like 9) hours later, we checked out of the Hilton and went back to the Metro Hotel, ready to rumble if necessary.

Upon walking in, we discovered that the young man running the hotel was from the Czech Republic, and his English was not the best. Clearly taking control of our advantage, we launched into a somewhat cordial yet pointed tirade about our troubles the evening before, the measures we had taken to be prepared, and how we had decided that it was unacceptable for us to be forced to pay for the hotel for the evening that we did not stay there.

Somewhat frightened and entirely overwhelmed, he agreed wholeheartedly, offering numerous apologies for their mistake and giving us the keys to our room for the next three days.

Not bad. Not bad at all. :)

Sorry!

I know I know....I have not been keeping up on the blog. I'm failing...sorry.

I don't have a lot of time, but I just wanted to put up a note to let you know that Rome is, as would be expected, wonderful. The Netherlands was also a really great time...and it was so nice to see my dad!

More about things later though, because right now school calls. I have a group project meeting to go to....

Haha, I mean, I know school is the reason I'm here, but really, on a Saturday? Yuck!

Talk to you soon!

P.S. This is the Trevi Fountain. I took the picture last night