Pizza, Piazzas & Planes!

Dublin & Heading Home

crobbins — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 08:10:00 GMT

What a bittersweet farewell…

On Wednesday when we arrived in Dublin, we took our map and made our way to our hostel. It wasn’t too hard to find, even though our map was not very helpful. Once we checked in, we tossed our bags in the room and decided we wanted to try to make it to the Guinness Storehouse Tour before it closed. We chatted with the reception staff, got the info we needed, and headed out. We found the tram station, and just missed the tram. Since it was already getting late, that threw our plans off. So instead of doing the tour, we walked to Temple Bar, took a photo, wandered a bit more, and decided to sit down at a pub for a hot chocolate with baileys. It was absolutely freezing out! We were so cold!

Since it was so miserable out, and since we were so tired, we just decided to head to dinner and then go back to the hostel. We ate at “The Celt”. It is a cozy, little, traditional pub. I had Bangers and Mash and Nat had a traditional stew. They were both delicious! As was the pint of cider we shared. Our waiter was very kind and helpful (plus attractive) and he asked us where we were from. He then responded “would you believe me if I told you that I lived in Rochester for 13 years”. His dad was a doctor at Mayo for a while. Such a small world!

After dinner we went back to the hostel, got ready for bed, and fell asleep. We were in a room with 5 bunks, but only 7 beds were full the first night. However, I managed to wake up every time someone came in the room or went to the bathroom. The hostel was very loud, too. I tried to sleep with earplugs in but they kept falling out. So in my dreams, I was paranoid about them, so I kept searching for them in my sleep. It was not a very restful evening.

In the morning we woke up, ate breakfast at the hostel, and repacked our bags. At 10:10 the tour guide picked us, and a few others, up for a free walking tour of the city. There were 5 people from our hostel, and we stopped at 3 more hostels to pick more people up. Once everyone was gathered we stopped at a café for coffee and tea to regroup and prep for the tour. When we left it was windy and chilly, when we got to the café it was sleeting, and when we left to start the actual tour it was snowing flakes the size of quarters. I wish I had brought a hat. Opps.

The tour guide’s name was Laurence and he was a Dubliner through and through. We saw the Temple bar district, the Dublin Castle. Several famous bridges and monuments, and stopped at a pub for a snack in the middle of the tour. It was a nice stop. We had some great people on our tour. We met 3 girls from Spain, a girl from Iceland, and a girl from New Zealand. It was really fun to meet everyone, chat, and see the sights together.

After the tour ended myself, Natalie, Brogan (New Zealand), and our new friend from Iceland all decided to continue on to a few more sights together. We went to the Book of Kells first. It is the first illustrated copy of the 4 gospels, written and painted in the 800s. It was very impressive. After visiting the book we went to lunch, and more fish and chips it was! Next we headed to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was huge & beautiful! Next, Natalie, Brogan, and I went to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour. It was a pretty impressive tour, actually. We saw and learned all about the ingredients, process of making the beer, had a sample, and then learned how to pour a pint. It takes 119.5 seconds to pull and pint and is a very specific process. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Guinness (big surprise there…) so I had a soda and took pictures of the girls as the poured their pints. It was really cook to watch! It has to sit for about a minute as the nitrogen works its way out of the beer, changing the color to a dark brown/black. After they pulled their pints, we went to the gravity bar on the top floor and enjoyed a beautiful view of the city! It was nice, all lit up and such.

As we exited, the weather couldn’t decide what it wanted to do. It was windy, snowy, and cold. We kept getting snowflakes in our eyes! But, after a few minutes walking, we found the tram station, and headed back into town. We stopped in a few touristy shops, and took Brogan to “The Celt” with us for dinner again. Our waiter was there again, so that was funny. I had haddock/cod/salmon chowder, Natalie had Bacon & Cabbage, and Brogan had the Bangers and Mash. It was all quite good!

After saying goodbye to Brogan, back to the hostel we went. We headed to bed, didn’t sleep well again, and we were up around 6 to get ready to head to the airport. We packed up, checked out, took the “Airlink” bus, and are waiting at the airport now. We always manage to be here too early. Oh well. Our first flight will take us to London, the second to Chicago, and the third to Minneapolis. It will be a long day of traveling. I am planning to watch many movies on the plane haha

It is really bitter sweet to be leaving. I am exited to see my family, be back in my bed/shower/house, and to eat away all the cravings I have developed over this trip. However, besides those few comforts, I’m not really ready to go home yet. This trip has been such a beautiful & wonderful adventure. I am so blessed to have been able to travel Europe as a young lady, with my best friend. This trip was all we dreamt about, and not heading home seems pretty daunting. Its time to go back to school, find another job, and prepare to graduate. Real life seems pretty overwhelming, to be honest. But, I am going to enjoy the flights today, spending time with my family this weekend, and will take teach day as it comes- treasuring the memories of this trip each day. What a journey! Adventure was, is, and will always be out there!

Back on the Bus!

crobbins — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 15:45:00 GMT

Well, back on the bus we are.

Yesterday when we arrived in Cork, we walked to our hostel, which was just down the road. It was super quick! Yay!

We checked in with the sweetest lady, she was so helpful! Then we got settled in our room. We had our own room with a bathroom and a bunk bed. We were very excited to have our own room, again!

After getting settled we chatted with our reception lady and she gave us recommendations on what to see and where to eat. We ended up walking just down the street to a restaurant called ‘Fish Wife”. It is a take away fish & chips restaurant. They have deals with the pub across the street where you order at Fish Wife, cross the street, get a table and a drink at the bar, and then your fish and chips get delivered to you at the pub. It worked out slick! And it was DELICIOUS!!!!

After lunch we walked to the top of St Patrick’s hill, the tallest hill in Cork. It had beautiful views of the quant city! After taking in the view, we essentially did a loop through the city. We saw many beautiful churches, some winding roads, some shops, and the Heineken distillery. Mid walk we needed a pick me up so we went to a famous hot chocolate café. And let me say, that was the best hot chocolate I have ever had. Not even exaggerating. It literally was like they melted a chocolate bar into a cup. It was just the snack we needed.

After doing some more searching in the city center, we were starting to wilt. At least I was ready to fall asleep standing up. So we headed back to the hostel, and chose to send some emails, post some photos, and watch some Big Bang Theory. After resting for a while we got ready and headed back to the city center for dinner. It was maybe a 5-minute walk to the center, which was perfect. Our hostel was in the perfect location! Once we were in the center it took us a while to find a restaurant we wanted. But once we did, we decided to split a pork chop meal with mashed potatoes and veggies. It was just the right amount of food! We also split a pint of cider. We have each been having an entire one to ourselves, and that gets to be a little much sometimes. After we enjoyed our meal, we stuck around at the table for a while. A soccer match had started so we just sat and watched the first half of the game with all the fans that had gathered in the pub. It was super fun!

After finishing up at the pub we walked back toward the hostel and went to a pub that had live music playing. We shared another pint, made awkward conversation with a strange man that was determined to chat with us, and enjoyed the music. Then it was time for bed (finally!)

This morning we got up, and got ready. The shower is one where you have to keep pressing the button for the water to turn on. It reminded me of camping! Except a much nicer shower… After a quick bite to eat we headed to the train station to catch the bus to Blarney. It was about a 20-minute bus ride, and when we arrived in Blarney, the castle was only 2 blocks away. Upon entering the park, you can’t see the castle in the distance, But as you round the path, across the stream is your first glimpse of the castle. It was incredible! Natalie was jumping for joy she was so excited!

We meandered through the lawn, took photos, and began to climb the castle. The staircase to the top was a winding, stone staircase that got more and more steep and more and more narrow as you went up. When we started our climb, it was sunny. When we reached the top, it had started to rain. Such strange weather here.

When we got to the top, it was time to kiss the Blarney stone. Legend has it that when you kiss the stone, you will be gifted eloquence of speech for the rest of your days. The tricky part was how you have to kiss the stone. You sit on the edge, with your back to the outer wall. Then you lean back, into the hole, grab the bars, lean in, and kiss the stone. It was safe, with someone there to hold you and bars below you, but the view was a long way down! It was fun, though!

After marveling at and wandering through the castle more, we decided to wander the lawn. As we did this, in a matter of 5 minutes, it was sunny, then it poured, then it was sunny, then it was sleeting, then it hailed, and then it snowed. Then the sun came back out. It was hilarious! Minus being cold and a bit damp.

As we exited, Natalie spotted a blanket she liked. After looking a few other places, we decided to go back to the shop to get her that blanket. In her words “my trip is complete now”.

We took the bus back, went back to the “Fish Wife” for more delicious fish & chops, this time to go. We ate at our hostel, in the bar area, grabbed our luggage, and headed down to the bus stop. The bus was early, so we only had our luggage for 10 minutes or so. SO NICE!

The bus ride has been beautiful, yet again. The rolling countryside is just so incredibly green. It’s unbelievable. We watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 and now I am writing this and Nat is looking through our pictures from today. There are so many pictures… she went a little photo crazy, as she should haha

When we reach Dublin we’ll head to our hostel and settle in. This hostel will be a shared room again- it should be nice though. Ho knows what exactly these last 2 days will be filled with. I know we have a list of things to try and see, but we’ll see how we feel, what things cost, and what the weather does.

Until Dublin!

London Calling!

crobbins — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 13:05:00 GMT

Well hi strangers!

The last few days have been crazy! But fantastic!

On Saturday we landed in London, made our way through customs and baggage claim, and headed to the underground. We took the Piccadilly line to King's Cross, which was super cool, but it took about an hour. So that was frustrating. Then, when we got to King's Cross the line that we needed to get to our hostel was closed for the weekend. So back to the information desk, and on a bus we went. It was super strange to get on the bus on the wrong side of the road, with the door on the wrong side, and the driver on the wrong side too! It made crossing the street an adventure. Luckily, at every corner they write "look left" or "look right" to remind us which way the cars are coming from. Saved us a few times haha

When we got off the bus we had to walk down the block to our hostel. It was a bit of a walk with our bags, but we found it! We set our luggage in the luggage room, got our registration paperwork filled out, and went out for lunch. We went to "Wahaca"- a chain of Mexican restaurants in London. It was TO DIE FOR! We missed Mexican food. They even put a candle in my churro and sang me happy birthday! It was really hilarious because they didn't know my name so at the part where they say "happy birthday dear___" Natalie just yelled "CHRISTINE!" It was perfect haha

After lunch we got to check into our room- it was a small room with 4 bunk beds, 8 dressers, and a sink. At first we were a little concerned with it but it ended up being just fine! The only bummer was that the wifi was only available in the lobby.

After checking in and freshening up, we bought our tickets for the "hop on hop off" bus and started our London adventure! We road the bus the whole way, and saw just about every tourist attraction possible. It was so fun! After the bus ride we hopped on the Tube and went to Camden Town, where we went our for fish and chips. The restaurant took off in the late 40's, so everything is decorated with post-war decorations and the servers are dressed in fashion of that time. It was awesome & delicious! By this point in the day we were both so tired so we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.

Sunday morning I woke up early, got ready, and we headed out for the day. We grabbed coffee (for Nat) and a croissant for me. Then we wandered, trying to find cheap broadway tickets. After exploring a bit, we found them! We got tickets for Mamma Mia for only £25! Our max was £30 so it was perfect!

After our purchase, we hopped back on our tour bus, and got off at London Tower. We saw the tower, the bridge, took lots of pictures and grabbed lunch at Pret a Manger. It is like London's version of Panera. There is a 'dine-in' fee so we took our food to go and walked down the pier to our tour BOAT! We ate on the boat, and then headed to the roof of the boat for our tour. We saw countless bridges, the London Eye, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament. After disembarking the boat, we got back on the bus and headed to Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and Kensington Palace. After all that walking, we got on the blue line and started back towards home.

As we got closer, I realized that we hadn't planned a time to go to King's Cross and take the classic "Platform 9 3/4" picture. So we took the bus there, waited in line for about an hour, and wished to go to Hogwarts!

After our fan girl moment, we were running low on time so we just decided to walk to Hillsong London. The service is so much like a rock concert! I love it every time!

Since church was late, afterwards we were looking for food and everything was either closed (cuz it was Sunday) or the kitchen was closed because it was 8:30 pm. So that was frustrating. But after finding some dinner, we went back to the hostel and headed to bed.

Yesterday we woke up, ate breakfast at the hostel, and raced over to Eusten station to catch our train to the Warner Bros Studio tour. Right as we got there, the train we wanted left. But we asked around and found another train that was leaving shortly and got us there in less time. It was perfect! When we got to the station, we road a Harry Potter bus to the studio. I was geeking out!

The tour was incredible! We saw the Great Hall, the Burrow, Dumbeldore's office, countless props, sets, costumes, animated props, masks, etc. It was so cool! We even had butter beer as a treat!

It was a dream tour! I didn't want it to end!

After our tour, back to the shuttle, back to the train, and back to London we went. We grabbed and shared lunch quick, and went back to the hostel to Skype family and repack our bags. After getting dressed for the play, I went downstairs to ask the reception staff a bunch of questions about the best way to the show, the best way to the airport, etc.

Our conversation about the way to the airport ended up taking like 30 minutes and was really stressful. Turns out the tube, national express, and heathrowexpress all shut down in night. The buses also switch to the night schedule, which is unreliable and sketchy. So that was really hard. We even thought about going to the play, grabbing our bags, and taking the last tube to the airport and just sleeping there. But we couldn't have made that work either. So, a cab was called and the decision was made.

After that spat of frustration, we left for the play. We took the tube, looking everywhere for a place to eat. We finally found a pub just down the road from the theatre, so that was good. We had a good meal and got to the play on time.

The show was really good! I really liked the music and how it had a few songs that the movie doesn't. I still think I like the movie better, but it was a great, fun show. At the end the entire cast came out to sing Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen again for us, all wearing sequined outfits. It was hilarious. After the show, back we went to the hostel, and straight to bed.

This morning I woke up at 3:00 am. I showered, finished packing, and it was time to go. Nat did not want to wake up today haha but we made it! I hope we didn't wake any of our roommates up, but packing with a flashlight is hard.

We got to the airport earlier than anticipated, which was good, just frustrating at the time. We got our luggage checked, passed through security, and spent that last of our £s on breakfast. To the gate we went, and on another flight we flew. We both napped, edited photos, and listened to music. It was just an hour long flight, so it was nice and short.

When we got to Dublin we passed through customs, got our luggage, and headed to the info desk. We found out that there is a bus that runs straight from the airport to Cork, so that was perfect! After we bought the tickets, we sat down with our map and wifi and tried to plan out the blocked schedule of these next few days. It was very helpful!

We are now on the bus, heading through the Irish countryside, and enjoying every minute of it. We watched 'Leap Year', which was hilarious to watch actually in Ireland.

Once we reach Cork, the bus will drop us off near our hotel, and we are planning to eat, unpack, and explore Cork tonight. Tomorrow we will go to the Blarney Stone/ Castle and then back to Dublin we go!

I can't believe how much we have done in the past couple of days! And I can't believe this bust ride is still going... And this blog has taken quite a while to write, as I'm sure it has been a lot for you to read! Thanks for sticking with me!

Ciao Bella!

crobbins — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 07:30:00 GMT

Well folks, we are at the airport. It is time to leave Rome! NOOO!!!!

Yesterday we got up, went to Alex’s for our last breakfast, and then it was time to take our test! It was 2 essay questions (with 5 parts each) and 5 short answer questions. I think it went well. It was very time consuming! I am glad we had our notes!

After the test I did some researching for London, then a group of us went to the market. I finally got my purse! Yay! Then we went out for lunch with like 12 people. I had a good plate of pasta and was so full afterwards! It was a goof & fun meal!

In the afternoon Natalie, Grace, Eric, and I all wandered around. We went into some churches, bought some more gifts, got some gelato, and walked down by the river. Then it was time to meet our class for our group dinner!

The dinner was pretty bad, food wise, but company wise it was fantastic! The girls surprised me by having the waiter put a candle in my tiramisu and the class all snag me happy birthday! I was so excited and surprised!

After dinner, and some sad goodbyes, a bunch of us went to Campo de Fiori and popped a bottle of champagne. We passed it around as we stood next to the fountain. It was like a movie! Then we went to Trastevere for a bit to celebrate some more. It was a great birthday-eve! We may or may not have danced around to Taylor Swift’s “22” all night!

This morning we woke up at 4:00 to head to the airport. Everything was packed, not fitting super well but we have it all! Our car service was right on time, we got to the airport early, and breezed through baggage, security, passport check, etc. We have been using the airport Wi-Fi to email, post photos, blog, etc.

We should be boarding our plane soon! It will be a short flight, then a big day in London! We will head to our hostel, and who knows after that! We will take time to do some scheduling and researching and then we will be off and exploring London! It is going to be a blast!

What a way to spend a birthday!

The Final Days!

crobbins — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 17:45:00 GMT

Wow! How fast the week has flown by!

On Tuesday we had class at 10:00, a little later than usual. We went at the regular time and got some muffins and coffee. Then we turned in our papers (finally!) and had our final day of lecture.

After lecture we went to a restaurant in Trastevere for lunch. It had a drink, bruschetta, and pasta for 9 euros. The idea was good, but the food wasn’t my favorite. I just can’t seem to win here, food wise. After lunch, the group split separate ways. Natalie and I decided to go shopping quickly and cross a few mores sites off of our site seeing list. We ended up finding Natalie a pair of rain boots, finally! The poor thing could wring her socks out. This rainy weather and her taped boots had had enough. After shopping we visited Piazza Popolo, took a few pictures, and took a mini electric bus back towards school. Then we met our friends for a snack and drink before heading to cooking class.

Cooking class was pretty fun! We made Roman Dumplings. It was basically cream of wheat made into patties and broiled with cheese and salt. Not my favorite but not the worst either! We had a delicious chocolate dessert and wine as well. I just love the guys that run cooking class. They are so funny! After class we headed home and went to bed! We were tired and cold from the rain all day.

Yesterday we met at class early, and headed to the Vatican with our class. We had tours of the Vatican Museums, St Peter’s Basilica, St. Peter’s Square, and the Sistine Chapel. Words cannot describe how beautiful all of it was! I could have stayed there for days and still not have seen everything! There were maps painted the size of the wall, rooms painted from head to toe, sculptures that stood 26 feet high, the list goes on and on! The tour ended at 2:00, and we were STARVING! Natalie, Olivia, Tori, and I all headed back to school and went to “The Perfect Bun” for lunch. We had a burger and fries, for 5 euros. The best, and tastiest, deal all day!

After lunch Natalie and I bought a few more gifts, and took the #160 to a new part of town and wandered through the central park of Rome, Villa Borghese. It was beautiful! And so green! Afterwards, we made our way back to school, popped our head into a few churches, and met our friends for dinner.

There were 12 of us that went out to dinner together, I had vegetable soup. It was so good! Then we got gelato, and a nutella crepe for me! It was so good! I was stuffed!

Afterwards we wandered a few blocks over to a street full of restaurants. One thing that is strange about Rome is that the restaurants all have a staff person that stands outside the restaurant and tries to convince you to eat at their restaurant. It can be quite annoying. The one that we did end up at offered us free champagne. So after a glass of free champagne, we each got one more drink and just chatted. We then when to the Irish pub, Scholars, to meet some other friends. We only stayed for a bit but it got pretty late. Oh well, it was fun to just hang out with our classmates.

This morning we had our last day of lecture. It was technically a review day. He gave us 20 minutes to do a review exercise, we discussed the exercise and then we talked about the exam. It is 2 essay questions and 5 short answer questions. After explaining it, I felt a little better, but knew I would have a lot of studying to do. Then Olivia raised her hand and convinced our professor to let us use our notes for the test! He said yes! We were so excited!

After class we had one of the Richmond staff call the car service to schedule our pick up this Saturday morning. Then we went to lunch. And it was awful. The service was bad, they ran out of the pesto Emily wanted, the gnocchi was overcooked, and we were all just really crabby. But they gave us free dessert, so that made it a little better. After lunch we did a bit more shopping, stopped at a pretty fountain to take some pictures, and came home.

This afternoon I am feeling rather overwhelmed with everything. We are doing laundry, packing, blogging, emailing, and we need to study. It feels like a lot to do tonight. But we will get it all accomplished! Plus, we will eat with our family tonight! Minus Arti, he went back to school today.

Tomorrow we will take our test, run around all afternoon, and go to our group dinner. They all want to go out for a bit after the dinner to celebrate my birthday. We won’t stay too long, that cab at 5:00 am on Saturday is not going to be friendly.

Hope everyone is doing well!

The last Monday in Rome!

crobbins — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 21:55:00 GMT

The last Monday in Rome! How crazy is that!

We got up this morning, headed to school, and met our friends at our café. It was so good to see Olivia! We had to fill each other in on our weekend adventures. She really enjoyed Venice, so that was good to hear!

Then, as we were walking to class, our professor was smoking on the terrace of the school. He wasn’t going to be here today so we were really confused. Then we got into class and he starts with “I know some of you are disappointed that I am here today”. He then proceeded to say that it had come to his attention that some of us did not feel comfortable and have been concerned with the class. He offered a nice apology and a genuine explanation. It didn’t fix everything but it was a nice gesture. Then he turned on a video we were to watch and left. Then we had free time to work on our papers. I printed mine! That means it is done! The only bummer is that the printer is old and leaves ink lines on the papers. Oh well. At least everyone else’s will have that too.

Nat, Olivia, and I grabbed lunch, and then took the bus to the Coliseum for our tour! We met Lavinia at 2:00. She is so sweet! We had a beautiful tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. We had a beautiful day for it too! It was so interesting to know how old these ancient buildings are and to hear all about their history.

After the tour we went back to school, met our other friends, and went to find some gelato! On the way the cobblestones got the best of us. I rolled my ankle pretty bad and Grace actually took a tumble. We are both okay, just a tad sore. These roads are so treacherous! You have to watch every step you take!

After gelato we stopped for an early dinner. Pasta and pizza just aren’t sounding good anymore. So I had a spinach and pear salad. It was tasty! After dinner I was super tired and not feeling so hot, so Nat and I said our goodbyes and headed home. On the way home, I decided I should buy another gift that I had in mind. When we got there I noticed that they had the sweatshirt Olivia has been looking everywhere for, in her size. So we took a chance and bought it for her! We even got a deal! Then we wanted to run to school to text her about it, so she wouldn’t buy another one tonight. As we were walking, she and the rest of our friends just happened to be walking by! So we ran after them and gave it to her. She screamed she was so happy! It was hilarious! Such a God moment!

Then, it was officially time to go home. Once we got back, we chatted with our mama, played with the doggie, and started to organize our things, finish up some class stuff, and I finally posted the photos I was trying to post last night. Bedtime soon. Paper due and our last day of lecture tomorrow. It will be a full afternoon of adventuring and hanging out with our friends before we head to cooking class! I can’t believe how the time flies!

A Weekend in Florence!

crobbins — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 20:00:00 GMT

Well, what a fun filled, exhausting, and beautiful weekend!

On Friday, upon arrival, we walked to our hotel. It was quite the walk with my duffel bag. The curse of this trip. Once we got to our hotel, we unpacked and rested for a few minutes. Then it was time for our walking tour.

We met our guide, Clause, in the lobby. He is from Amsterdam but has lived in Florence for 8 years. He was great! He took us on a walking tour down the river walk, across the river, and then into the central part of the city. He showed us his favorite places to eat and was just a wealth of knowledge. The only downside of that tour was that it was sprinkling and chilly once the sun went down.

After a 2.5 hour walking tour, about half of us went to a restaurant for dinner. We were famished and frozen. Plus my feet were wet. So I dried my socks under the hand dryer. I had a less than spectacular plate of carbonara. Hits or misses on every meal. We then grabbed some dessert, a nutella crepe for me, and walked back to the hotel.

Once back in our warm (too warm) room, I shaved my legs (FINALLY!) and Nat and I watched a movie. I put my wet shoes on the heated towel rack. Best idea ever!! After we thawed a bit, our room ended up being too hot. So I turned on the A/C before bed. We finally figured out how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. Multiply by 2 and add 30! But, of course, when we woke up it was too cold in the room. Oh well.

Saturday morning we had a delicious buffet for breakfast, and headed on another tour. We saw many beautiful churches, markets, and the graves of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Galileo, and many other famous people. Everything happened here in Florence. It is a city with such a rich history! It is incredible! Also, this city is smaller than Rome, so everything is walk-able. But it will be a 45-minute walk. So our feet were screaming by the end of the tour! We saw several beautiful churches, stopped for a snack break, and continued walking in the pouring rain. I am so glad I brought my umbrella! Nat and I shared it.

As the tour came to a close, it finally stopped raining. Nat and I decided to go do some shopping, since her shoes are on their 8^th of 9 lives. We were walking with a few other friends and an American young man heard us talking about needing new leather shoes so he stopped us and told us the place he likes best. So we checked that out. But real leather, in the stores, is so expensive! So Natalie and I went to a open air market and bartered! We bought some scarves, bracelets, and Nat got a purse. I finally got my ring! No purse for me though. The markets are nice, but they can be intimidating when every person you walk past is calling you over to their stand and trying to offer you “a special deal”. But, it was worth it! What an experience! We ran and grabbed a slice of pizza and then had another tour!

In the afternoon we went and saw the “David” sculpture by Michelangelo. It was so tall! I couldn’t believe how big he was! And it was also super detailed. What a talented artist! After that we headed to the “Duomo”, or cathedral, and saw that. It has the largest brick dome in the world. Architects today still cant figure out how it stays up! It was so beautiful! The façade is indescribable.

We then went shopping for a bit longer with some of our friends, and then headed back to the hotel. On the walk back we saw a hardware store so Nat bought some tape to tape her broken shoes up. What a hoot!

Once back in the hotel, we were pooped. We sat on our beds, in silence, for like 30 minutes. And then I laid my head on her stomach and fell asleep. So we were not excited when we had to get up and get ready for the evening. But it was a great evening!

We met the class in the lobby of the hotel at 8:15, but we didn’t leave until 8:30. Classic. Eric had talked with the hotel desk and they recommended some good restaurants. So Eric and I took the map and took the lead. We walked the whole group, 17 of us, to a restaurant just about 10 minutes away. I’m sure the sight of all 17 of us would be intimidating to any restaurant. So we all sat, and I was at a table with Natalie, Kelly, and Anne. Our scary professor had recommended that we try a Florentine steak, so that’s what we did. The tricky parts with ordering it though. The steaks are prices 5.00 euros per 100 grams. But the steaks have to be ordered at a minimum of 700 grams. So the steak would be 35 euros. So we decided to split it 4 ways! We got some potatoes as our side dish, the restaurant gave us bread as part of the cover charge, and it was the best meal I have had yet! It was absolutely delicious! Cooked very well, very flavorful. I was so happy with it! We also all had some limoncello to finish the meal!

After dinner, the group split into 3. Some went to the hotel to sleep, others went downtown to get into all sorts of shenanigans, I’m sure, and 5 of us went across the river to a Piazza we saw on the tour the first night. We found a bar, grabbed a drink, and took it out into the piazza. We sat on the edge of the fountain, chatted, and just took the night in. It was really nice!

When we got to the hotel, it was time for bed. We put the A/C on, and slept hard. Until I woke up shivering. Opps. I went to grab my phone, couldn’t find it, freaked out that we had overslept, until I found my phone, saw that it was 6:00 am, went to turn the a/c up, and managed to drop the lid of the thermostat, which set the motion light in the closest off. Luckily Nat is a hard sleeper! So I went to the bathroom, se the light off again, and crawled back into bed. It was hilarious.

Today we met Clause to tour the world’s first ever museum. The collection started off from an extremely wealthy family’s collection of art, and grew from there. We saw work from Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and many other artists. However, my feet were killing me and I was sick of carrying my purse, so I didn’t overly enjoy it. Oh well.

After we went to lunch. We have a standard procedure of finding a place:

1.) Read the menu posted outside

2.) If the prices are reasonable, send a representative to talk to the waiter

3.) If they speak English, ask if they take our vouchers

4.) If they take the vouchers, ask if they have a cover charge,

5.) If they don’t, grab the group and go enjoy a meal together

After those steps, we found a great place! I had fettuccine in a cream sauce and shared ½ liter of sangria with Anne and Natalie. It was a great meal! We have been super lucky with how many people accept the vouchers! So helpful!

After lunch we did some more shopping, grabbed a snack (cannoli for me) and walked back to the hotel. On our way, my eye stopped on a girl I recognized- It was Veronica! So we said hello, and then our mama walked over with the doggie! We chatted with them for a minute, the boys were climbing the tower of the cathedral, and we continued walked. When we got back to the hotel, all 17 of us were lying on the couches, on our phones or computers (since we had checked out this morning) and waited to head to the train station. We walked to the station, found our platform, and we are now on the train back to Rome.

Tonight we will head home on the bus, grab some food, and retreat to our room. Photos need to be posted. Papers need to be written. Families need to be Face Timed. And we should probably do some laundry. This week will be really busy! I can’t believe that we are leaving in 6 days! I will miss our new friends! And now that we’ve finally gotten the hang of Italy. it is time to start prepping for the other part of this trip. Crazy!

Florence bound!

crobbins — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:30:00 GMT

Hello from another train! This time we are on our way to Florence!

Yesterday was a crazy day! We woke up, got breakfast, and had to say goodbye to Prins. It was time for him to return to Sri Lanka and his cousin has returned to Rome to take his place with our family. It was sad to say goodbye! Next, we headed to class, and proceeded to watch a video that claimed that Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and the Dali Llama are all just terrible people. It was really frustrating. Yet another day hating my class.

After class we all went and grabbed pizza really quick. They have huge sheets of pizza on their counters and they cut your slice with a scissors to the desired size you want. It was pretty good.

We then proceeded to catch a bus to a market that may or may not be considered the black market of Rome. Our friends in the art history class went to it with their professor so we had them bring us there in order to get some good deals! I got a new wallet for 5 euros and a pretty scarf for 3 euros. Bartering at its finest.

After we shopped for a bit we got gelato, and then headed back to school for our 3:00 tour. We met Lavina (our favorite guide!) and had a tour of the Jewish Ghetto and Tiberina Island. The Jewish Ghetto is a section of Rome where the pope made all of the Jews live in year 1600ish. It is literally like 3 blocks and there were thousands of people forced to live there. It is also right across the road from the Tiber River, so to make conditions even worse, it flooded every spring for a few hundred years. In 1943 that is where the Nazi’s invaded to murder and send many of the Jews into concentration camps. Even today, despite its sad history, it remains a Jewish neighborhood of Rome. There were some cool restaurants and bakeries.

After we finished walking around the Jewish Ghetto we went to Tiberina Island. It is an island in the middle of the river that the Romans have proceeded to build upon. It was really beautiful! Next, Lavinia took us to a restaurant to meet the rest of our class for drinks and appetizers (on the school). It was a lot of fun!

We stayed at the restaurant for a few hours, and then decided to go get some dinner. I had a delicious pizza! FINALLY!

After dinner Nat and I headed home. When we got there our family was eating dinner, and their grandparents were there. It was fun to meet them! We also found out that our family will be visiting Florence this weekend as well! Arti took a picture of our itinerary so maybe we will meet up with them there! Crazy! After packing for our weekend trip, we headed to bed. We were exhausted.

Today we got up early to finish packing and headed to school. We road the #62, which was actually not too packed today, which was good. Bringing our weekend bags on the packed bus would not have been fun!

Class today was maddening. Our professor was 40 minutes late and when he did get there he jumped right into teaching, offering no apology, and was super crabby with us. After a break he came back and apologized at least, but then he proceeded to tell us that he wished he could’ve just cancelled class, since lots of us were gone, and he said he regretted coming to class. What a rude man. We were beyond frustrated with him. He did let us out early, which was nice, but we are all just so angry with him.

We went to grab a quick lunch, and then it was time to go to the train station. Olivia didn’t sign up for this trip and she was feeling very badly about us leaving her. She cried when we said goodbye. I felt so bad! She is going to Venice with 3 other girls, so pray that goes well for them.

The bus ride to the train station was brutal. It was so packed and we all had our bags. It was terrible. Once at the train station we waited for our platform to be announced and then boarded the train. We are currently Florence bound, with a good majority of our friends along for the ride. And my ears keep popping as we go through tunnel after tunnel! This is worse than the plane! Ouch!

I am excited to be in a nice hotel, with my friends, and to see another beautiful city! It should be a very enjoyable weekend! I am looking forward to doing some shopping and hanging out with our friends. I am also glad that I did so much of my paper beforehand.

Time continues to fly here. And the to do list doesn’t seem to get any shorter. But I will just keep enjoying every moment!

Unforgettable Moments!

crobbins — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 21:45:00 GMT

Well, what a day! I am so tired!

We had to go to class early today, in order for our class to take the bus to the “Oriental Art” Museum. The old man who led our tour last week, Tom, led our tour again today. It was a very strange tour. The museum was under renovation so the exhibit we went to see wasn’t there. So that was interesting… haha

After the tour, Natalie, Olivia, and I headed back to school and proceeded to go to lunch together. Following lunch, Nat headed back to school to work on her paper and Olivia and I walked around for a few hours. We went to the Trevi fountain; I threw a coin in the Trevi fountain! (Backwards, right hand, over left shoulder) which means I have to come back to Rome J, then we went to the Spanish steps, and to the Basilica of St Mary Major. It was so beautiful! I wish the churches back home were made this way! They are all so beautiful!

We walked back to school, with tired feet, and rested there a bit while Nat worked. We decided she need a break so we went out for a treat, a Lindt milk chocolate crepe for me J After our snack, we did a little shopping, and headed to the neighborhood of Trastevere to meet our friends for dinner. The three of us grabbed drinks and apps during ‘happy hour’ and then met our friends. Nat and I shared pasta and bruschetta. It was delicious! The restaurant was so good and the workers were hilarious! When they brought our food out they brought out a plate of fake pasta, connected by a string to the plate. They then proceeded to pretend to dump the plate of pasta on Natalie’s lap. We all screamed. It was hilarious! And they gave us free dessert!

After catching the tram back to the center, then the bus home, we are now working on our papers and getting ready for bed. I know mine needs some tweaking but I am pretty tired tonight.

Tomorrow we have class, plan to go to the international market, and then we have a tour of the ‘Jewish Ghetto” and a class “Get Together”. That will be fun! But also another long day! Then packing for our weekend trip to Florence! Good thing I got so much of the paper done early!

Oh, how the sights still amaze me!

crobbins — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 21:30:00 GMT

So last night we worked on our papers until the point of banging our heads on the desk. We were starving as well! Our host siblings were out for part of the evening so we didn’t eat until 9:45! It was good we had stopped at the grocery store for snacks!

Our meal was good, as always! I had vegetable soup, beef & artichoke in olive oil, salad, bread, oranges with sugar and cinnamon, and chocolates. It was delightful! We always have fun chatting with them!

This morning we were a little slow out of the gate. So as we walked to the bus stop, we saw both of the buses we would normally take leave just seconds before we arrived. So that was frustrating. But we made it to school, got Nat her cappuccino, and were at class in plenty of time! When our professor arrived he stood awkwardly in the front of the room, coat on and all, and announced that we would be taking our tour this morning instead of this afternoon. So instead of 3 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of tour we got 3 hours of tour and 1.5 hours of lecture! Score!

Our tour took us to a lot of the sights we have already seen half a dozen times. But they never get old. Plus, our professor knows so much detailed knowledge about the things we are seeing that it makes them interesting all over again! He was on a mission to show us as much as possible. We had to run after him to catch up half the time. Plus, we were chilly (I didn’t think I would need both my northface and coat today. WRONG!) So with a glove on one hand and the other hand without, I furiously scribbled notes as he talked a mile a minute. He just is such an interesting man.

After our whirlwind tour we met up with our friends from the Art History class and went to lunch. It is always difficult to find places that take the vouchers but we found one! I had pasta, pork, potatoes, and a Fanta for 9 euros! It was a good deal! Then we got gelato for dessert J

We had our afternoon class, which was long and hard to focus during, and then we went shopping for a bit with a small group of people. I liked 1 sweater but I didn’t want to pay for it, so we left. Maybe I will go back. I am trying to find myself a ring, like I always do. No luck yet.

After walking for a bit, we decided we should head home and work on our papers. We headed up our leftovers and ate cereal for dinner, and have been working on our papers ever since. Mine is essentially done. I have my paragraphs all written with all of my citations mixed in. I have a lot of editing to do but I am 95% done! It feels really great! Nat is struggling to find sources for her paper, so the writing process is much slower for her. I think she is pretty frustrated with it, sadly.

I am going to reward myself with some Big Bang Theory and then try to head to bed a bit early. Tomorrow we have another site visit with our class, and we are going to try to do some exploring with our classmates in the afternoon. Then finishing our papers tomorrow night. The days are just flying by. We need to make a list of everywhere we have been and what else we want to see. Its strange how quickly it goes!

Happy Monday!

crobbins — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:00:00 GMT

Well, another week has begun here in Rome.

On Sunday we slept in, it was glorious! After taking our time getting ready, we headed to the bus stop. And waited, and waited, and waited some more. The #62 just did not want to come. So we took the #60 to school, and grabbed the #62 down there. It worked, but it wasn’t ideal. It was sprinkling, but that didn’t stop St. Peter’s Basilica from being beautiful!

After a terrible and terribly expensive cup of hot chocolate, I was tired, damp, and upset from the rain and the buses, etc. Yet, when we entered the Vatican City, it was so beautiful! There were people everywhere! And there were GIANT TV’s set up all around the square. So as we walked around and took everything in, I noticed that the TV’s were starting to fan the crowd and focus on 1 window in the basilica. All the sudden we hear cheering, I look up, and there is Pope Francis, in the window, waving to us! I couldn’t believe it! He gave us a blessing, we prayed the Hail Mary, and pure joy and peace radiated around the square. I may or may not have balled my eyes out. It was so beautiful!

After realizing that God’s plan that morning was so much bigger than us, He meant for us to be there at that time and to surprise us, we headed back towards the center and went shopping for a bit. I got a cute pink blouse and a pair of black jeans, which I was in desperate need of. We also stopped for lunch at an Irish pub. We had nachos and fish. A strange combination. It was decent, but not as good as we had hoped.

We decided to call it a day and head home. When we got home we watched the “Lizzie McGuire” movie! It was so fun to relive our childhood and to see all of the famous sites we are surrounded by featured in the movie. After the movie we worked at figuring out our topics and researching for our paper. It was slightly stressful.

Next was time for dinner with our family! Artidoro came home from France yesterday, so we got to meet him! He is super fun, nice, and smart. We chatted with him about Harvard, the US, and college in general. We enjoyed tortellini, veggies, and meats and cheeses from Austria. It was a fun meal! Their friend from Paris was visiting so the number of different languages being spoken at that table equaled 3 or 4 at certain points. So fun! Also, we found out that Veronica got accepted to Oxford! So exciting!

So after a 2-hour dinner, we both headed upstairs to face time with our families. Then it was time to head to bed!

Today we had class in the morning, and afternoon class. The first block of class (9:30 – 12:30) got a little long and drawn out. During our lunch break 5 of us went for lunch at a restaurant called the “Perfect Bun”. We had burgers and fries hahaha but they were delicious! Then we had class from 2:30 to 4:00. We talked about the Shroud of Turin, which is said to potentially be the burial shroud that Jesus was wrapped in. It was super interesting!

After taking the bus home, we stopped at the grocery store to buy a few groceries. We got celery, pretzels, pears, apples, cereal, and a toothbrush for Nat. We wanted more things but we didn’t want to buy too much.

Now we are home, answering emails, researching for our paper, and we will hopefully get a good chunk of the paper written tonight. We will eat with our family again tonight, which will be fun and a nice study break.

Pray for divine inspiration to come on this pap

Assisi & Perugia

crobbins — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 22:45:00 GMT

Today was long day! Ooofda!

We woke up very early to get ready for our day. We grabbed some breakfast and headed for the bus stop. We missed the #62 by like 5 seconds, the #60 didn't come, and so we just took the next #62. At least we had left early enough and the buses run pretty frequently. Plus, no one was out at 7:15 am.

When we get to school we hopped on the bus and headed to Assisi. Nat napped, I read. We took 1 bathroom/cappuccino break and then we were there!

Assisi is such a beautiful little town! It sits up on the hill and looks like a castle! We saw the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi. We also saw the cathedral that is dedicated to him and the Franciscans. It was so cool! Such an incredible story- to simply give up all you have, to live in poverty, to live and love like Jesus, to reach the poor. So incredible.

After our torus we had lunch. Our food was decent but the service was terrible. So that was unfortunate.

Next, we hopped back on the bus and jumped over to Perugia. It was a more modern city, with a wall around it from the Ancient Roman times. We saw some beautiful paintings, stepped in the cathedral, saw a couple getting married, and went in the famous chocolate shops! And bought way too much chocolate.

We are on the bus heading home now. Nat and I had a good chat and I napped a bit. We will grab dinner when we get back and probably just head home. Maybe we'll watch a movie. Who knows? We are tired.

Tomorrow we are going to sleep in a bit, hopefully go see the Vatican, do some shopping, and we should really start working on our research paper. Our host brother comes home tomorrow! So that will be fun to meet him!

It will be nice to have a day just for us. Our classmates are all trying to plan trips to Pompeii, Florence, and Venice for tomorrow and next weekend. I am so glad we chose to just do that on the front and back end of our trip. The stress of doing it over a weekend, with homework and class, does not sound productive or fun.

Pray for inspiration for this paper.

Ciao Bellas :)

TGIF!

crobbins — Fri, 9 Jan 2015 17:00:00 GMT

Well, Happy Friday!

Last night we ate dinner with our family. It started off with a very simple broccoli pasta. Then we had a delicious piece of chicken, with cranberry jam on it, a salad, and finished with fruit and cookies. It is really interesting to have a German/Italian mama. So our meal was half Italian, half Austria. 100% delicious, though!

After dinner, we headed to bed. However, since dinner was so late, I had to go to the bathroom like 3 times before I was able to fall asleep hard. So that was frustrating. Plus, my nose was plugged and I was coughing.

This morning I threw our clothes in the dryer, got ready for the day, ate breakfast, and we headed to school. The cereal I like here is a Kellogg’s cereal called ‘Extra”. It is like oats with chocolate and hazelnut chunks. It is delicious!

The bus to school is always hilarious. When we get on the bus, it is in the middle of rush hour, so we literally have to squeeze and shove with all our might to get onto the bus. It is hilarious but slightly terrible. At least by our stop the bus clears out a bit.

Class was fine today. I just wait for it to be over. Then we went out for lunch. We try to use our meal tickets, but that tends to be at restaurants that aren’t quite as delicious. Oh well. At least we aren’t spending money on food everyday.

This afternoon we came home to email, post photos, and finish our laundry. Nat’s gloves shrunk in the washer. Hilarious! They are like baby gloves! We about died when we were found them while folding our clothes. They’ll stretch back out, I’m sure.

We will do some homework, maybe start our research paper (probably not though…) and meet our classmates for dinner and drinks later this afternoon/evening.

We have our day trip to Assisi and Perugia tomorrow. It will be an early morning with many hours on the bus. But I’m sure we will love the cities! Sunday we have chosen to stay home, instead of attempting another excursion. We should really write our papers then and rest.

That’s what’s going on as of today!

Hope you are all staying safe & warm!

Walking for miles!

crobbins — Thu, 8 Jan 2015 18:30:00 GMT

Well, after not sleeping well last night, you could say that I was less than enthused to have to walk around ALLLL day long. Especially since we had to be to school earlier than normal. But, we did it!

After making it to school in the nick of time, our guest professor give us a mini history lesson and took us to see San Clementine. It was a beautiful church! And it has about 3 other churches/temples below it. Nothing in this city ever disappears; they simply reuse the existing foundation and build up from there. Ancient Rome’s street level was like 20-30 feet lower than the current street level. It blows my mind!

After the tour, a bunch of us walked to find lunch. It is tricky though because of two things: 1.) We don’t want to have a group that is too big or too loud and 2.) we need a restaurant that accepts the meal vouchers we were given. But we did find one and it was delicious!

After lunch, Natalie, Kelly, Anna and I decided to go shopping for a bit. I saw a few cute things, but didn’t buy anything. Nat got a cute dress and sweater. Then, it was time for more walking!

We went on a “The Top Two tops in Rome” tour. We got to go up on top of 2 of the highest look out points in Rome, which both offer incredible views and photo opportunities! It was so fun to see! However, one of them was the exact same place Kaitlyn and Julia took us last weekend, so we saw it for the second time. But it was still just as beautiful! I just wish we wouldn’t have had to walk the whole way.

After walking with the class back to school, Natalie and I headed to a pharmacy to pick up an over the counter medicine that my program director recommended. It dissolves in water and I hope it helps! After stopping for a snack, we took the bus home, and are here for the rest of the evening.

We have laundry in the washer, homework to do, and we will eat with our family tonight. Hopefully I will sleep better tonight and will be ready for class tomorrow and another busy weekend!

Too Much Pizza & Gelato!

crobbins — Wed, 7 Jan 2015 19:45:00 GMT

Ooofda. I am so pooped!

Last night, we met our class for our cooking class and it was AMAZING! We had to walk about 30 minutes to class, but walking with the whole group makes it go faster.

When we arrived, we washed up, and started working on our meal. We made a typical Italian pasta- carbonara, (eggs and ham) and a traditional Italian dessert- Chocolate Salami (chocolate, walnuts, almonds, cookies). The food was all delicious! We all took turns mixing butter and sugar, cracking eggs, stirring the pasta, etc. Then we dined like kings!

After dinner we spent some time hanging out with the cooks. They were 2 young Italian guys. They had a vintage video game from an arcade so I played Tetris and a few other games with them for a while. They had music playing so we sang and danced. It was so fun!

After all the fun, it was time to head home. So we walked the 30 minutes back to school, waited for our bus for 15 minutes, and took the bus home for 30 minutes.

So much time spent in transit!

Upon arrival at home, we were greeted at the door by ‘Attila’ (the puppy!) and our host family! We were so excited to meet them! They had just gotten home from their home in the mountains. We sat at the table with them while they ate dinner and we had a glass of wine with them. They are all a little shy, but speak English very well. We gave them our gifts and they liked them! It was funny though because the mug we gave them is about 5 times as large as the mugs they use here! So that surprised them!

We headed to bed, late as always, and woke up tired, as always. My cold isn’t going away, but it isn’t getting worse either, at least. We ate breakfast, headed to school, and got ready for class. Our professor was 30 minutes late. So that was interesting. He is such an educated man, but he is just so flaky and so rude. He doesn’t make me feel respected at all as a student. In his mind, his opinion is all that matters and everything else is bull crap. He is just so condescending and is obviously anti any religion. It’s just frustrating. At least the history lesson we covered today was safer because it was more about history than religion itself. That way there was no way for his to roll his eyes or use finger quotations around any words having to do with Christianity. I’m trying to see it as a growing opportunity but I also just don’t really care about this class. I would much rather be seeing things, learning them on my own, and getting to know my classmates instead. Sorry, rant over.

After class, we took a group picture quickly, and then most of us headed out for lunch. I had a salad (Shocking, I know, mom). It was good! It had cheese, apples, pieces of beef, and walnuts with honey for the dressing. After lunch, some people went shopping, and the rest of us went out for gelato.

Following our treat, it was time for our Art History tour. It was really nice to know the significance of all of the beautiful sites we see everyday. The only bummer was that it was sprinkling during the tour and I forgot my umbrella. Oh well. I didn’t melt.

After the tour we had a wine tasting, which ended up being more of a class about wine. We learned how to look at the wine for color, smell the wine, taste the wine, and what meals certain wines go best with. I probably wont remember it after tomorrow but it was neat to learn!

Afterwards, a few of us from the wine tour went to dinner together. We got pizza and gelato. Now, I know that sounds delicious, but I am honestly kind of missing my normal eating habits. It just doesn’t seem like they eat full, well-balanced meals here.

We got home a bit earlier than normal tonight. So I am trying to read, write this blog, and keep on top of things. I am trying to plan a trip to Pompeii for some of us this Sunday. It will be awesome to see but I am just to beat to even start looking at it.

Sometimes being the planner is more of a pain than I would like.

Off to bed soon. We have 2 tours tomorrow, in place of class. Then we will spend the evening at home, doing laundry, and eating dinner with our family. The extra time and extra sleep will be greatly appreciated and needed.