Arrivaderci Milano... :'(

Ciao a tutti-

I'm writing this to you as I have just had my last Italian gelato and had my last Milano Aperativo.  Both were fabulous and now I'm just watching "Heartbreakers" in Italian waiting for the time to pass before I hop on my flight back to the states.

It's rather surreal to think that I'm leaving.  After spending 6 months here, it only feels normal to think that I'm simply jumping on a train or a plane to some city in Europe and that I'll return back to my apartment in Milano.  I can't believe I'm leaving here for good.  This is the end.  My abroad experience is over.  How insane.  I honestly can't believe it.  It really hasn't hit me yet, nor do I think it will hit me until I'm over the Atlantic.

I got really sad today, very surprising I know.  I was walking to school and thought "this is the last time I'll take the subway", "this is the last time I'll pass this building", "this is the last time I'll walk through these doors".  And I got really emotional.  As much as I've complained or missed  home, ending a part of your life is hard regardless.  So after saying goodbye to everyone, which I'm awful at doing, I decided to go get my last Italian gelato and head on home.  I picked nocciola and crema, my two favorites, and enjoyed every bite.  Nothing will ever be the same as Italian gelato... ever.

Lucky for me, Milan was gorgeous today.  I laid at the park, watched people play football (soccer for all you Americans), watched the dogs play with each other.  It was amazing to finally have ONE NICE DAY in Milano before I had to leave.  Running in the sunshine felt refreshing and rather empowering.  I'm telling you, I'm meant to live somewhere where I see sun more than twice a month!! (Sorry Raveena, but Vancouver won't work).

I can only say positive things about my experience as of now.  It's probably because it's the last day, and I'm overjoyed that I'm heading back to the US of A tomorrow, but nonetheless I have nothing but positives to report.  It's been challenging, I've missed home, I've missed my culture, but honestly, this has been one of the best experiences of my life.  I met so many people, so many amazing people, from all over the world, who have taught me so many things about the world, about themselves, and about me.  I am definitely a changed person, someone who is much less ignorant, much more aware, and I feel much more cultured.  I have seen so much more of the world, surrounded myself with so many different people, and opened myself to so many more parts of life than I could have ever imagined.  It's truly been a blessing.  And as much as I've complained about how difficult school has been, I have learned so much this semester than I ever imagined possible.  To study business with people from around the world is truly globalization at its finest (if I'm allowed).  To learn of management practices used around the world, to compare the laws of common law verses civil law, to study finance under an Oxford graduate who works for the most prestigious finance organization in Europe, it's been an AMAZING learning experience.  I can't believe all the knowledge I'm coming away with, in international business alone.  It truly has been THE MOST EDUCATIONAL semester of my life.  Hopefully my last year at UT will be 1/2 as educational.

So as I write you one last time from Milan, let me just say... Ho avuto uno tempo grande, mancaro' Milano moltissimo, e Europa ci vediamo pronto.  As this chapter ends, a new chapter begins... my summer in NY.  Of course I'll blog this new chapter, as I hope it will be full of just as many amazing experiences as the last 6 months have.  Thank you for reading.  Ci sentiamo a presto.

And because I'm living Italy, devo...

Grazie per tutto, e' stato fantastico.  Da viaggiamo in Europa, a mangiamo cibo Italiano.  Questa semestre recordaro' sempre.  A fino il prossimo... ciao bella.

THE OPERA

Ciao everyone,

Sorry I haven't written in a while.  It's been a combination of my intense obsession with running lately as well as laziness, as contradictory as that is.  I've just been enjoying all Milano has to offer in the last couple of weeks since I'm leaving in 2 weeks!!! Crazy!

Last week, Raveena and I went to the Opera at La Scala.  It was amazing!  First of all, inside La Scala is absolutely breathtaking.  It's everything you imagine a great Italian opera house to be.  There's gold, intricate carvings, red velvet everywhere, glamorous chandeliers, and gorgeous Italians dressed in their best formal attire.  It was unbelievable!! Second, Raveena and I had our own private box!  We sat overlooking the orchestra and the stage, leaning on plush red velvet cushions.  It was so cliche and everything I hoped it would be.  You can talk to people in the boxes next to you, just like they did hundreds of years ago!  It was fantastic.

The first show we saw was called Il Prigionero, which means The Prisoner.  It was in Italian, very depressing and dark, and rather confusing.  But the little electronic translators really helped.  Raveena and I had one on Italian and the other one on English.  Besides being utterly confused, their voices were absolutely amazing.  Just the most talented opera singers I have ever had the pleasure of hearing, not that I particularly like opera, but I still appreciated it greatly.

The second show we saw was called Il Castello di Barballoo (Bluebeard's Castle).  This show was in Dutch, which was definitely even more confusing than listening to the Italian.  But I actually understood the second show better and loved the girl's voice.  It was so pure, so smooth, so beautiful.  I really really really really really loved it.

So if you're ever in Milan, you must go to La Scala.  It's fabulous.

THINGS I'LL MISS/ WON'T MISS ABOUT ITALY

Miss:

-Double cheek kissing (or triple cheek from Southern Italians)

-Time is of no importance

-Italian (most beautiful language on Earth)

-Italian Espresso

-Italian Espresso vending machines where there's even a little stir stick for you

-Legitimate Italian Food, especially Spaghetti alla Carbonerra

-Italian Gelato, in particular Nocciola e crema

-Eating Nutella for breakfast and having it be okay

-How eating an ENTIRE 15 inch pizza is not only accepted, it's required

-Milan's amazing public transportation (even though @ times unreliable)

-Saying "prego" every 3 seconds and having it be okay

-Seeing Italians wearing shirts with English phrases when they have no idea what they mean (ex: I swing both ways)

-Quaint Italian streets and architecture

-Techno in clubs

-No tipping!!

-Giving you back 10 eurocents when you're supposed to get 13 back but only paying 5 eurocents when you're supposed to pay 8

- Having everything end in "eria", such as Pasticceria, Gelateria, etc.

-Parco Sempione

-Hearing the BeeGees and John Mayer in the Esselunga (groccery store)

-Kinder chocolates

-Walking down the street and running into a 500 year old church

-Brera

-Aperativo... if you don't know what it is, you're not truly Milanese

-All of the wonderful people I've met from all over the world

Won't miss:

-Running in Milan

-People looking at me... always.

-Ghettoness... get your buildings fixed you have a beautiful country!!

-The Pollution

-The Rain

-Stores/ Restaurants closing between 1 and 5pm

-Relying on public transportation

-The disgusting public bathrooms with no toilet paper

-No posti (seats) on trains

-No wifi anywhere/ misconception of what the word wifi means

-Lack of peanutbutter

-No dryers

-The constant smoking

-Cobblestone roads that ruin your shoes and luggage

-Italian TV

-The Euro/ $ conversion

-Going out in Milan and costing you 40 euros for the night

-Seeing beautiful skinny Italian women ALL THE TIME/ watching them eat pasta

-Milan's mosquito population

-Waking up at 3am to ambulances and police cars... oh wait... I'm moving to NY.

THE BOCCONI

Ciao, buona sera.

I've decided to fill you in on my school, since it is the REAL reason that I'm over here, although all this traveling and partying makes it seem as though I never study.  Well I do.  A lot actually.  I go to Bocconi University, which is a private business school located a little south of the heart of Milano.  The school, because it's private and prestigious, is extremely wealthy.  They are currently constructing a new building, which looks like the most gorgeous piece of architecture I've ever seen.  I'm jealous that it wasn't ready in time for my semester.  But the buildings that I do have class in are still very beautiful.  Ghetto on the outside (just like everything in Italy) but gorgeous on the inside.  Every room has white boards, projectors (overhead and the really fancy movie ones), beautiful modern desks (which could be the most uncomfortable things to ever exist-- thank god my classes are only an hour and a half), and the teacher's chair, which according to my professor runs @ about 1000 EUROS.  YIKES!  As much as Italians love Ikea, apparently my school is too rich to shop there.  Considering the professor walks around, writes on the board, and is never sitting in the chair, I find it a complete waste of money.  There are about 12-15 rooms on each floor, and 4 floors in this building.  That's only the N building, not including the Main Building or any of the smaller building used for the MBA programs.  That's soooo much money to waste on chairs for the professors!!  I'm also going to take a picture of the employee parking lot before I leave.  I've never seen more BMWs, Mercedes, and Porche's in one condensed area!!!  If you want to be rich, be a professor @ Bocconi.  Good god!

Anyway, going to Bocconi has been an incredible experience.  Whenever I tell someone that I'm studying at Bocconi, the look on their face is a combination of being purely impressed as well as thinking "damn this girl must be loaded".  Which I'm not, but I can thank UT for creating this exchange program so I only have to pay UT tuition.  FABULOUS.  I also get some people who treat me like a snot when they find out I attend Bocconi.  For example:  in Italian the word for in is "a" for cities, small places, schools, towns, etc.  The word for in is "in" for territories, states, important places, countries, etc.  So I would say "Abito a Milano." or "Abito in Italia".  So when I'm speaking to people about studying at Bocconi I say, "Studio a Bocconi."  And then they get this snotty little voice and go "Oooooooh studi IN Bocconi!!"  Apparently Bocconites (no idea if that's right) think they go to THE BEST SCHOOL ever.  But then again, I have the best professors from around the world, some of the best degree programs, as well as Bocconi has the best Masters program in Management in Europe.  PRETTY SWEET!!!  Also, I was reading my Mafia book on the subway today (I'm almost done!!!) and he mentions his friend who graduated from Bocconi.  The author (a journalist from Naples) then tells how Bocconi is the most prestigious business school in Italy.  I've also heard other Italians refer to Bocconi as the "Yale" of Italy.  Yes.  I go to school there.  It's pretty amazing!

Studying here is actually very interesting.  I'm in a couple of management classes where we compare the management systems businesses use around the world.  I'm extremely surprised we haven't started to work with Europe sooner.  They follow a lot of the same management and hierarchy structures that US corporations follow.  One thing I do love about Europe is that they treat healthcare and education as human rights that should be paid for by the government.  I wish the United States treated our health care and education this way.  Amsterdam, although they have 52% income tax, have health care and all high-school and university paid for by their corporations.  Hopefully one day I'll live in a country where the money I give to the government actually pays for my children's tuition.  

The coolest thing I'm doing right now is actually a comparative project in my management of human capital class.  I'm working with 2 Portuguese boys and 2 French girls and we're comparing the Bologna declaration to the United States higher education system.  For those of you who don't know what the Bologna process is (which I assume is all of you.. you ignorant Americans) it is Europe's movement towards comparable education systems.  46 countries are all participants... talk about coordination!!! The bologna declaration states that there are now 2 cycles, one for a bachelors and one for a masters.  The bachelors degree is a 3 year program and the masters is a 2 year program.  The bologna process also ensures that the quality given at the Universities is comparable.  Basically, this declaration has allowed students from all over Europe to easily study abroad as well as attend Universities not from their home nation and still graduate with the same requirements needed for their national workforce.  This movement is also allowing Americans and Japanese to more easily study in Europe and still fulfill their degree requirements (hence why I'm studying here in Milan).  Anyway, it's been an extremely interesting project and has taught me so much about the education system in Europe.  I think the EU and all their treaties and movements towards a democratic society is extremely interesting and truly a concept that gives me hope of world peace and cooperation one day.

Well enough about Bocconi.  I'm off to grab my salad and study a bit before my next class.  Ciao, buena sera, e ci parliamo pronto.

THE CINQUE TERRE HIKE

Ciao e buongiorno!  Let me tell you about the most gorgeous place on Earth-- the Cinque Terre-- the 5 cities on the north west coast of Italy.  Raveena and I took a 3 hour train ride bright and early and arrived in Monterosso (the 1st city).  The beach, which was completely lacking sand and covered by colorful rocks, was still covered with people soaking up the beautiful 25 degree weather.  We started out on the hard hike-- with some parts involving climbing up stairs for 15 minutes straight.  The stairmaster will never be the same!!  Surrounded by 50-60 year olds doing the same hike, I had to keep reminded myself that I'm 21 years old and I should stop being such a baby.  To summarize the hike, each small town was absolutely gorgeous and overlooked the sparkling Mediterranean.  People gather in the small piazzas to eat and drink in the hot sun.  The flowers on the trail were spectacular and we honestly couldn't' have had better weather.  The entire hike took us 4 hours and 45 minutes and of course we celebrated with some delicious, cold gelato!  The views, cities on top of the hills, and gorgeous scenery made it the best day trip yet and definitely one of my favorite places in the world.

Being Milanese

Ciao a tutti!   Buon giorno e come state??  Va bene.  Today is beautiful, about 19 degrees (yes I've switched to Centigrade since THE REST OF THE WORLD EXCEPT THE US uses it) and extremely sunny (well as sunny as you get in Milan-- thank you pollution).  I'm just sitting outside on my balcony, enjoying the beautiful weather and soaking in this beautiful Italian morning.

As I glance at the apartment building across the street, I can't help but notice that everyone has their windows cracked open, letting the cool morning air flow into their apartments.  You can't help but take a deep breath, relax, and acknowledge that life really couldn't be more perfect.

I only have 5 and a half weeks left here in Milano... I can't believe it's already May!  As jealous as I was of my friends whose programs have ended and have started to head back to the states, I can't help but brag about how lucky I am to be able to live in Europe for one more month and experience this amazing time of year.  All of the flowers and trees have blossomed here, the purple lilacs are magnificently colorful and so pungent that you can smell them from across the street.  Milanese have finally started to dress in bright colors and white- a nice contrast from the black hues they've been sporting all winter.  Large flower beds spill from every balcony.  Scooters and bicycles show up in droves along the packed streets.  It is finally spring in Milan and I'm loving every second of it.

Parco Sempione is my second home here.  It's very similar to Central Park in NY in that it's a large park in the middle of a huge city.  The grass is so green, the small ponds sparkle as the sun hits its surface, and there are millions of people walking and biking through it's paved pathways.  Hoards of people flock to lay on the grass and sunbathe.  As conservative as Italians dress, there is no modesty once at the park.  Women strip down to their bras and try to absorb every last ray.  Men pull up their shirt for any chance they can at some extra color.  Little children run around in itsy bitsy swimsuits, playing ball and enjoying being outdoors.  It's been a real treat to watch the Milanese on the weekends at the park.  They truly appreciate the park, the time they have with their families, and the unbelievable weather May has brought.  Just yesterday, I saw many families playing frisbee and paddle ball with each other, without another care in the world.  On any given day at the park, you'll see at least 10 different pick up soccer games.  Ohhhh CALCIO... I wish Americans loved you as much as Europeans do.

As I sit at the park, and absorb Milanese life, a paddle ball flies and lands on my towel.  "Qua!" I throw it back to the young boy.  From my throw he hits a mean backhand straight to his father.  "Bella!" I applaud the boy on his mad skills.  Walking home, I realize that this whole semester has truly been about culture- absorbing as much as I possibly can.  And after 4 months of desperately trying to fit in, I realize that it'll never happen for me.  I'll never be the Italian screaming "Vaffanculo!" waving my hands.  I'll never be the gorgeous 6 foot, skinny, bronzed woman dressed to the 9s.  I'll never be the businesswoman that takes 3 hour lunch breaks and doesn't feel bad about it.  If these last 4 months have taught me anything, it's that no matter whether I fit in or not, I am so appreciative of the differences in this world.  I am so privileged to have had the opportunity to soak up Italian culture this semester, to understand how important their culture is to them, and to watch their daily life unfold.  It's been a most fabulous experience and I am so glad I can spend the next month truly appreciating it.  And you know what?  Not fitting in is finally okay with me.  Antonio's friends say I look like the stereotypical American woman- bella.  That's all I needed to hear.

SEVILLA!!!!!

Hola!  Como estas?!!  Last week I went to Sevilla, Spain to visit my girlfriends.  It was amazing!  First of all, all the palm trees and the 90 degree weather all week couldn't have been better.  Seeing my girlfriends was absolutely amazing.  And the cultural experience I got was fabulous.

First of all, I stayed in Devon's home stay with her "mother" Delores.  It was awesome to see how a Spanish family functions and sooo nice of her to let me stay with her.  The home cooking, besides eating lunch at 330 and dinner at 1030, was absolutely fabulous!  Spanish food is fried, bland, and loaded with salt.  They eat a lot of fish, tomatoes, potatoes, and fruit.  Which was a nice change from Italian food for a while, but after a week of it I was ready to come back to Italia!

One day we went to Huelva, which is on the Atlantic coast of Spain.  It was beautiful, full of Spaniards on holiday, and definitely the shelliest beach I've ever been to.  It was a super relaxing day (besides the ridiculous bus rides to get there) and I loved every minute of it.  I loved how all Spaniards are so confident in their body and have such positive body images.  Even overweight people were spilling out of their swimsuits, just enjoying the beach and enjoying the sun.  It's comforting to know that there are places in the world where you don't have to look like a 12 year old girl to wear a bikini.  I just ate it up.

I went to a bull fight, which was a great cultural experience.  We even saw a matador kill the bull with one sword hit!!!  OLAY!  It was definitely gruesome, bloody, and actually very boring.  6 bulls for 30 minutes each is rather repetitive... although the bulls did get bigger and more rowdy as the fight went on.  Regardless, I was so glad I was able to go see it.

I also got to go to a Flamenco show.  The musicians were awesome.  I know nothing about Flamenco... but it seemed like the music was almost improvised.  Whatever the musicians felt, they sang.  And the dancer... although it was short... was extremely powerful and crazy to watch.  Of any music I've watched, these musicians truly felt the music.  We also had this drink called Agua d' Sevilla, which was 6 different kinds of liquor plus champagne topped with whip cream!!   It was AMAZING!!!  GREAAAAT NIGHT.

Besides roaming around the city, eating way too much fried food, and seeing Christopher Columbus's tomb, it was a very relaxing and beautiful vacation.  I LOVED BEING WITH MY GIRLS and I seriously fell in love with Spain. 

Gracia Sevilla y a luego!!!

Passover in the US

Sorry it's been a while.  I've been INCREDIBLY busy.  I feel like I shouldn't even be writing about this, because this blog is supposed to be about my European adventures, but none the less I'll fill you in.  I went home (yes back to the states) for Passover.  It was AMAZING!  Seeing my family and flying down to Austin to see Daniel and my friends was fabulous.  Here's a quick summary:

Things I liked:

Driving my car

The Food (Panera especially)

Seeing my family

Surrounding myself with 10 pillows on my bed

Segway Tour with Daniel

Americanized Sushi

PF Chang's GREAT WALL

Drying my clothes in a DRYER

Things I disliked:

American Ignorance

My ADD caused by hearing too much English

Sobbing on the plane watching chick flicks

The Texas Heat

The Public Transportation System in Austin

VINCE!!! F.C. Internazionale Milano 2, Fiorentina 0.

So Antonio, Ella, and I went to the futbol game on Sunday night.  It was AWESOME!  First of all, the girl to guy ratio is ridiculous.  I'd say about 1 to 100.  It's a little overwhelming.  Apparently Italian women are too busy to go to futbol games, or they don't like it.  Who knows.  Second, these people are sooo passionate about this sport.  It's their life.  And it's sooo fun to watch and be around people like this.  I loooove soccer, but in the US watching it isn't as fun because there aren't as many enthusiasts as in Italy.  

So the first goal is made and from across the stadium someone is setting off fireworks!  FIREWORKS!!! Inside the stadium.  Gotta love it.  They really know how to celebrate when a goal gets made.  I also like how they appreciate how the game is played.  Soccer is an intense game, with the best athletes in the world (in my opinion), and takes real skill to play.  It's nice to be around a culture that appreciates this sport opposed to baseball.  Ew.  I also love that all of Europe appreciates this sport.  When they defend their city, their team, there aren't 3 different teams they could be talking about.  It's their futbol team.  I loooove that.  True rivalry.

Besides the man in front of me wanting to kill myself when every goal was missed, most Italians seemed relaxed, happy, and excited that they were at the game.  Everyone is cheering, jumping up and down, singing, cat calling, whistling when a bad play is made.  It was such a fun atmosphere to be around.  I enjoyed EVERY minute.

...vince, Vince, VINCE!!!!!

The Rain

It's funny how being abroad changes you.  Not funny in the sense of "haha" but funny in the sense of how it creeps up on you without you realizing it.  If you were to ask me point blank "Alli, are you different now than when you left?"  My immediate answer would be, no not really.  But just today I already proved myself wrong and really realized... I have changed.

So it's raining in Milan all week... yuck I know... but I have to study for mid terms so this weather couldn't have come at a more appropriate time.  I'm on the way the way to school and the idiot that I am, I'm wearing my Keds.  They're these flimsy white shoes made of canvas and literally THE WORST shoes to wear when it's raining.  I wore them to Venice in the rain; you'd think I'd learn.  Anyway, I'm basically puddle jumping on my way to school-- my shoes and socks are becoming completely soaked-- and I'm just loving it.  Not like "oh wow my shoes are wet.. yay!"  Just accepting.  So I get to school, sit for an entire day (12-6) with wet shoes and socks and I didn't complain once.  Not even in my head.  Not even to Daniel on Skype (who has to listen to all my complaints every day... thanks babe you're the best).  And if you knew me before abroad, THIS WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED!  An entire day in wet shoes and socks!  I guess with all the traveling, sleeping in hostels, and with this VERY wet spring, I'm just used to dealing with these  kind of situations.  And I love that I'm okay with sitting all day in wet socks.  I mean in all honestly, life could be much much worse.

Well the socks actually weren't what got me thinking, it was the rain on the way home.  I'm waiting for my 15 tram to take me to the metro and the digital time clock pops up saying "15... 9 minutes".  It's a 10 minute walk so I'm thinking "no way am I going to wait 9 minutes when I can walk in 10".  So it's raining, and I'm splashing around, getting my shoes even more water damaged than before, and I realize I don't mind waiting.  I mean I truly DO NOT mind waiting.  I wasn't concerned with how long it would take me to get home.  I could care less that the tram was a 9 minute wait.  I could care less that the walk took me 30 minutes instead of 10 minutes.  And then I started thinking... I don't even care about waiting in a restaurant.  So what if the check takes 30 minutes to come?  And I don't care about waiting for a store to be open either.  I walked past a book store on the way home to buy a blank journal (I'm going to write a story when I'm in Greece for a week... I have the urge to fictionalize this experience) and the store was closed.  And 4 months ago I would have thrown my arms up in the air, put that annoyed look on my face, and thought "THIS FIGURES".  But today, I simply saw it was closed, shrugged, figured I'd go tomorrow or the next day, and went on my merry way.  

So as I'm realizing that I don't mind waiting, I start to question why it bothers everyone so much.  What are we in a hurry for?  What is it that we can't stand about waiting around?  Do we have something better to do?  If we wait 10 extra minutes will we stop ourselves from doing it?  It's hard for me to think so.  Life over here isn't planned; and even if you do plan it, there's so much room for adjustment.  I wish people would realize all the things you can do while you're waiting.  Everyday I read my book (this Mafia book is INTENSE!!! Glad I went to Naples and South Italy before reading this.), I watch people (not creepily, just observingly), and I unwind.  You can spot an American from a mile away while you're waiting.  They're the ones that are all tied up, anxious, checking their watch, moving around with ants in their pants.  I'm proud to say I'm no longer that girl.  I refuse to look at my watch anymore-- is looking at it going to signal the tram driver to magically appear?  I refuse to get anxious.  Italy could care less if you're 10 minutes late.  Seriously.  And I've begun to unwind.  To relax.  To enjoy standing in silence.  To enjoy the few minutes I have to just watch the rain fall, to watch the cars go by.  Life's too short to always be rushing.  Europeans LOVE their life.  And that's why they live longer than us, plain and simple.  Because in those 10 minutes when you're jumping around, stressing yourself out, losing years off your life, they're the ones standing there thinking "How funny does that American look?  Hmmm I wish the tram would come, but gosh, I sure do love the rain."

AMSTERDAM!!!!

Hello everyone!!

I just got back from Amsterdam today and MAN WAS IT AMAZING!  It's definitely my favorite city I've been to in Europe so far!!

First of all, it's absolutely the gorgeous.  How the Dutch constructed this city on a swamp to be laid out so masterfully covered with beautiful canals, is completely bewildering.  The Dutch architecture is soo adorable and you can really picture these cute Dutch people walking in clogs through the canaled streets.  I loooved it.  It's seriously so beautiful, so quaint, and really a modern marvel.  

Second of all, the Dutch are a fabulous people.  They are sooo chill, so accepting of others, compeltely okay with their city being international, it's so fantastic to be around.  Everyone is happy, everyone does their own thing and they don't bother each other.  No one was being nosy, no one was being rude, everyone is just living their life to the fullest.  It was a culture I was sooo drawn to and I'm extremely jealous of!  They live the simple life and they absolutely love it.  

Third, I LOVED that bikes rule in Amsterdam.  Cars and trams have to cater to the millions of bikes that roam the streets.  There are ALWAYS bike lanes, not always walking lanes, but definitely biking lanes, and sometimes not even car lanes but ALWAYS bike lanes.  It's sooo cool to see.  They are so environmental, so in love with keeping their city pretty-- it's really inspiring.  It made me want to ride a bike for the rest of my life.  I also love that it's taboo to talk on your phone in public.  It's such a modern city, with such a respect for people and culture.  I love that modernization hasn't destroyed their traditions.  It really gives me hope that our future isn't headed in such an awful direction.  We could learn so much from the Dutch!!

Forth, the canal boat houses are absolutely adorable!  How can you not love these little houses strapped to the sides of the canal.  I would LOVE to rent one out one time... how fun!

I met up with my parents during their 3 hour lay over at the Anne Frank house.  It was sooo cool to see.  To be in the house she hid in; to walk through the book case that hid her family; to see the stairs she climbed, the places she wrote her diary.  It was really emotional, extremely moving, and definitely worth the 30 minute line. :)

So I got to see Julie, Devon, Blake, Elissa and of course Lindsey who is so lucky she gets to live there!!  It's so fun to meet up with my Texas girls in Europe!  I'm so lucky!  When Julie got in, we had a nice time in a coffeeshop, went on a great canal tour, and then went to roam the city to wait for Lindsey to come back from her weekend trip to play.  We went to Lindsey's, which is sooo cute.  It's very simplistic, as in the Dutch tradition, but still very cute.  And it was ikea'd out... these Europeans and their love for ikea!

I had a great time with my best friends in the best city in the world... I really couldn't have asked for more!

LA MIA FAMIGLIA IN ITALIA!!!

Ciao!

The family was here!  It was sooo amazing!  It was so great to see them and show them Italy and where I live!  The first day we chilled in Milan, ate some pizza, walked around, and went to my favorite little Italian place on Porto Venezia.  It was great.  The second day in Milan we decided to go to Lake Como for lunch... yes I can say that.  It's a 45 minute train ride, so we went to Varenna and took the boat to Bellagio for lunch.  It's gorgeous, and the weather was perfect!  I'm so glad my family got to see how beautiful it is!!  It was really absolutely breath-taking.

Saturday we headed down to Firenze.  We LOVED our Hotel Monna Lisa and my family just absolutely adored the city.  It's so quaint, absolutely gorgeous, and who can complain since it's in beautiful Tuscany!!  We did the David, the Uffizi, the market, The Medici Chapel, Michael Angelo Piazza up on the hill, climbed Duomo, got a caricature, and at the most fabulous Italian food.  

On Monday we headed to Lucca and Pisa.  It was sooo fun!  We biked our Lucca's city wall, which is absolutely beautiful.  It was a gorgeous city, super mid evil with great views, we had a great time!!  Then we headed to Pisa which went rather smoothly besides Jenna and Dad getting off the train a stop early and having to walk 3 miles to Pisa Centrale.  Mom freaked out but in hindsight it was rather hilarious.  Anyway, we took our cliche pictures, ate at a great pizza place, and headed back to Firenze.

I sent my parents on their way to Rome as I headed back up to Naples to have a couple days of school and then head off to Amsterdam!!  It was really great to be with the family and I'm sooo glad I got to see them and experience Italy with them!!!!

SPRING BREAK #1: SOUTHERN ITALY

Dearest everyone,

I just got home from Spring Break #1.  Besides the constant 5 days of rain, south Italy was absolutely amazing.  Much better than northern Italy in my opinion.  It's absolutely gorgeous and the people are sooo much nicer.  I loooved it.  Whenever I come back to Italia, I am strictly going to the south.  Anyway, let me fill you in on my amazing break!

First we went to Rome.  Traveling on Easter weekend is NEVER a good idea in Italy.  We tried to buy seats but all that was left was standing room.  So the girls and I spent 5 hours sitting in the corridor of the train.  Nothing a little beer and cookies won't fix!  Thank god I'm young!  It was definitely an experience I'd never like to repeat, but an experience none the less.

Arriving in Rome, we checked into the hostel and left to explore the city.  I love how Romans refuse to dig anymore because they find more ruins every time they dig.  All they want to do is build new buildings and they uncover ruins!  I think it's cool, but Romans get quite annoyed actually.  Anyway, the city is gorgeous, there's something very romantic  about it.    We ended up at the Trevie fountain around dinner time and it is ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR.  The lights are placed in the perfect places and really it's so beautiful.  I threw a coin in the fountain to ensure a fast trip back to Rome, but who knows when that'll be.  Maybe if someone in your family goes to Rome, in which case Mom, Dad, and Jenna are going next week!  After dinner we strolled the streets and came upon Good Friday mass next to the Colosseum.  I've never seen so many people pray with no view next to such an ancient building... spectacular!!  Besides the ridiculous amount of umbrellas, it was great!

Saturday we went on the Segway tour.  It poured the whole time, but it was the sweetest technology.  It was so sweet of Scott to give me that present because it really was awesome!  I definitely suggest renting one just to play with because it's super fun!  We went to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, but St. Peter's was closed due to 5pm mass.  We met the rest of the group at the Spanish steps and did all the fabulous window shopping-- Gucci, Prada, Louie, Fendi, etc. and then found a cute place to eat.  When in Rome, eat by the Spanish steps!  There are so many restaurants and pizzerias and it's sooo adorable.  I LOVED it.  Modern Rome is absolutely fabulous.

Sunday we woke up bright and early to wait in line to go to Vatican Square for Easter Mass.  We got into the first section and got seats!  It was so amazing besides the monsoon!  I got to see the Pope, hear the Pope pray, and it was just sooo awesome to be there!!!  I know you're jealous... it was amazing.

After drying the 5 layers of soaking wet clothing, we went back to the Spanish steps area to eat again and then did a mini night tour of our own with shopping and the Pentagon.   We went to the Colosseum on Monday early and then jumped on a train to Naples.

From Naples we took another train to Sorrento.  This Italian city on the Amalfie Coast is the most undiscovered paradise.  It's sooo gorgeous, even in the rain.  It's a very small, but developed town.  All the people are sooo nice and we just loved it.  We found a charming pizza place-- super cheap-- but super amazing.  We made friends with the waiter and he came out drinking with us.  It's such a great cute town with such a friendly atmosphere.  I ate it up.

Tuesday we went to Capri.  Of course this was the 5th day of rain for us.... ugh!!  The sea was very rough and the waves tossed the ship around.  I've never been more seasick in my life... vomiting is no way to start the day let me tell you.  Anyway, Capri is such a gorgeous island.  Just beautiful.  We went on a short hike and explored the beautiful hills and trails.  The window shopping was great as well.  I had a Caprese salad (I had to in Capri!) and went back home.  Luckily I stayed outside on the ride home so I didn't get sick sick.  Ughhhh.

Back in Sorrento we went back to the Pizzeria... they loved us and gave us free food/ drinks and ten we went to another bar with Luigi (our waiter).  Boys is the south are soo much sweeter than in Milano.  Luigi says southern boys have heart and I completely agree.  Although the whistling in the south is OUT OF CONTROL!!!  It's supposed to be a compliment, but dammit it gets annoying.  I suppose when I'm 50 I'll wish people still whistled @ me.  Well back to Naples I stopped in Pompei to take a look around.  I pretended I was in the European Union and got in for free... shhh don't tell the government!  It's a very cool city, much of it is preserved and alot of it is excavated.  I loved it, although it does start to look the same after a while.  The dead bodies cast in volcanic ash are really sweet.  It was definitely worth the stop.  Back to Naples and then I headed on my 7 hour train ride to Milano... yuck.

It was a great trip but damn is it good to be home... mom, jenna, and dad come tomorrow!!!

Daniel e' stato qui!!! (Daniel was here)

Buongiorno!

Quick update on my European travels... Daniel FINALLY got here... seemed like it would never come... and just left :(... WENT BY WAY TOO QUICKLY.  We spent our first couple days together in Milan, eating pizza, baking AMAZING pasta, and seeing all the touristy Milan attractions (not that there are all that many...)  It was sooooo great to finally do all the romantic couply things I wanted to do here.

Our first weekend trip was to the French Riviera to see Nice and Monaco.  Our train was about 5 hours, which was really nice because we had our own private car for most of the ride.  Unfortunately, the Italian police came into our cabin and asked for our passports.  They scanned that document front to back and then called in our Passport ID #s.  I swear they were looking for someone because it took about 5 minutes for them to leave our cabin.  Apparently Daniel and I look very suspicious?  Anyway, France is SOOO much nicer than Italy.  They maintain their buildings much better, don't leave shit hanging out their windows or in their yards, and just have cleaner, newer structures overall.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Nice, being the big city it is, actually had a very small town feel to it and we loved strolling the beach and walking through the quaint piazzas.  The kiddy park with the ferris wheel in the middle of the city was very charming... unfortunately it was raining so the last thing I wanted was to be stuck on a ferris wheel soaking wet.  The food in Nice was amazing!! It was so nice to get away from typical Italian food, although let me tell you they had plenty of it.  We ate mostly seafood (yay Mediterranean coast) and it was seriously EXACTLY what I had been craving.  I also had some French pastries, and my new favorite sweet is a Macaron.  They seriously melt in your mouth and are well worth the 1 Euro each.  MMMMMMM.

Our day trip to Monaco was beautiful.  We got a gorgeous day, a little cloudy at times but what are you going to do, and the city was almost deserted.  We wandered through the streets, walked the beach, and went up to the Monte Carlo Casino.  If there were ever a car I've dreamed about, it was right there in front of the casino.  Seeing two Bentleys, a Rolls, some Caddy's, and a Maybach all right next to each other was ridiculous.  TALK ABOUT A RICH TOWN.  Luckily Nice was only a 15 minute train ride away because the food in Monaco was a good 30 Euros a plate, unless you wanted something more upclass... like a filet... which will set you back around 50-60 euros.  I just wanted a 4 euro panini... unfortunately not to be found anywhere near Monte Carlo.

Back in Milan for the week, we went to school, went out to Apperativo's (I won't tell you about Daniel's drink that tasted like a melted after dinner mint because if he reads this he'll get sick again just thinking about it), and did the last of our Milan attractions.  We picked a beautiful day to go on top of Duomo, although I was extremely disappointed.  I had been waiting all semester for Daniel to get here so we could go on top and it was not at all like any of the other cities I've been to.  They have wire walls blocking openings (I'm guessing so no one jumps or throws things) and you can barely get a good view of Duomo plaza.  I also heard it was beautiful to look out over Milan and see the whole city, but Milan is even uglier from above than it is from below.  There's no consistency to the city, no one color, no one style of architecture; I was really upset.  Oh well.  At least I went up there... I definitely don't recommend it.  Besides roaming the parks, riding the metro, and kissing in public (it is Europe), we pretty much fell into our usual routine of just relaxing and being together... and finishing an entire season of Californication on my iBook. ;) (Great show by the way)

On Thursday, we headed off to Lake Como for our second weekend get away (YES we know we're spoiled).  We booked our hotel in Bellagio, a little touristy city on the point of the peninsula of Lake Como (the lake is an upside down Y and Bellagio is at the tip where the two legs come together).  We took the train from Milan into Varenna, a cute little fishing town (more residential than touristy), and then had to take a ferry from Varenna to Bellagio.  There's something cool about staying in a city that you can only reach by boat, or by a two hour car ride through the mountains.  It was definitely a very relaxed atmostphere; a place I found completely lacking of stress.  Although depending on a ferry to let me leave where I live would probably add stress to my life... but that's just me.  Anyway, Lake Como could possibly be the most beautiful place on Earth.  The Lake is huge and absolutely breathtaking as it is completely embedded within the base of the Italian Alps.  Mountains surround the entire lake and glancing up north you can see the snowcapped Alps in the distance.  It's gorgeous- insanely beautiful.  I'm not sure my pictures can do it justice.  

Our first day we took the Ferry to Cadenabbia and walked along the shore through about 3 small towns.  It's very cute how each town is so close to one another... it makes for interesting scenery throughout your entire walk.  We walked about 2 hours to Villa Balbianello- the place where they filmed Anakin Skywalker and Padme's wedding in Star Wars Episode 2.  Unfortunately, after climbing up half the mountain this Villa is located on, we found the gates closed.  They claim to be open mid-March but apparently March 15 is too early.  DAMN.  Anyway, the Villa looked beautiful from a distance... I guess I'll just have to watch Star Wars again to see the view from there.

Our second day we took a 2 hour hike up the peninsula to see Bellagio from up high.  Besides the lack of sidewalks (how obnoxious) the hike was pretty good.  We saw a ton of bikers, although my butt hurt just thinking of their straight uphill climb for a good hour.  Talk about getting toned.  JEALOUS.  The view from the hill was beautiful... although the fog was starting to roll in.  I still think if you're going to own a Lake home anywhere, make it Lake Como.  Damn it was beautiful.

Besides walking and hiking, we drank wine and beer on our balcony overlooking the Lake, and just had a very romantic, beautiful weekend away.  It was absolutely perfect and I loved every minute of it.

Now Daniel is gone... and I've gone back into Alli depression mode.  Hopefully being distracted by Rome this weekend and my family coming next week will definitely help, although I already miss him terribly and I only dropped him off an hour ago.  Only 3 more months until NY... although I can't even think about that since I have a million more trips before then.  Anyway, hopefully I didn't bore you too much with my romance stories.

Ciao e ci vediamo pronto!!

Bologna

Ciao ciao.

Sorry I haven't written for a while.  I've been super busy... I guess that's a good thing.  I figured I'd drop a quick line about Bologna, since I did go there a couple weeks ago.  It was just a day trip, and nothing too drastic was seen besides the dirrty Neptune fountain, some beautiful churches, and a huge tower that overlooks the city.  Overall it was a cute, beautiful little Italian town.  We did have some amazing tortellini (yes tortellini was created in Bologna) alla Bolognese (deliciously amazing meat sauce).  Other than that, not a whole lot else to report... just figured I'd let you know we went so you can keep track of all my travels.  :)

VERONA... La citta di Romeo e Guilietta

Buongiorno!

Yesterday I went to Verona, which is an hour and half train ride pretty much straight East from Milano.  It was soooo beautiful.  What a cute little city.  It's definitely a day trip, where you can hit up everything you need to see in one day + a whole lot of walking.  We went to see La Arena, which is a beautiful ancient amphitheater that is still used for operas today!  It's very magnificent to see.  I also saw la casa di Guiletta, clearly fake, but very romantic all the same.  It's fun to imagine that Romeo and Juliet happened here, even if it's a completely fictional story.  Imagining Romeo running through the narrow streets at night, and coming upon the Capulet household, and seeing Juliet looking out her balcony (which I did stand at and repeat the verse which I've still had memorized since 9th grade... Romeo o Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name...).  It's a very Romantic/ touristy little place :).  And I loved every minute of it.

We also saw the clock tower, the castle, Juliet's tomb (lame), and some really beautiful piazzas and such.  It was great city, great shopping, and some really great gelato!!!!! MMMMMM.  (I had some gelato in the form of the spaghetti (seriously right out of the playdough maker) with strawberry sauce (red tomato sauce) and coconut on top (parmesan cheese).  It was realllly good.  As usual.

Ok well I'm off to do homework and relax before school tomorrow.  Ciao a tutti... buona notte!!

Scuola... finalmente

Ciao ciao,

Well after a month and a half of galavanting around Europe, this week I started school.  And wow.  Let me tell you how different it is!  First of all, I go to a very prestigious private business school.  So it is much smaller (our classes are only in 2 buildings) and much richer (I know surprising cuz UT is so rich).  All of the girls walk around with their designer bags, expensive European clothes, and ALWAYS have a cig in their hand.  It wouldn't be so bad for the fact that the no smoking inside rule leads everyone to smoke 2 feet from the doorway.  They need to implement the 200 feet from the door rule!!  Ewwwww.  Oh Europeans... they love their tobacco.

All of my classes are in English, and my classes consist of 1/2 exchange students and 1/2 italians who want to earn their business degree in the English program.  Apparently the English program is easier than the Italian one... which I'm hoping is not just a myth.  I'm taking 4 classes: Corporate Finance (sucks), Comparative Law (where we compare American law to the rest of the world... interesting!), Management of Human Capital Services (where we discuss the importance of maintaining human capital through education, on the job training, and health care... SOOOOO AWESOME... definitely an Alli class), and Organizational Networks and Entrepreneurship (which is a great class where we discuss how important networking is in business as well as in life and the necessary things you need to think about when being an entrepreneur or investor).  It's definitely a heavy work load, but I only have to pass my classes so I'm hoping it wont' be too awful.

School environment is definitely different than what I'm used to.  All the Italians talk during class (like while the teacher is talking), they are loud and make fun of people who say dumb ideas, and they randomly come in and out of class.  It's very distracting.  I've found myself becoming the true nerd that I really am and sitting in the front of class just so I don't get distracted by all the chatter.  Our classes are also formatted extremely differently.  Besides one class, where the professor was inspired by doing her doctorate at Stanford, all of my classes have no homework and consist of either one midterm and one final or simply one final!  AHHHHHH 1 TEST FOR AN ENTIRE SEMESTER!  Good thing I only have to pass!  Italians are lucky though, they have 3 chances to pass a test.  Unfortunately for me, I can't stay around to take the 2nd and 3rd test (September 2008 and January 2009!!!)

Other than sticking out like a sore thumb (my Jansport backpack doesn't compare to the Louie Vuitton oversized shoulder bag, my red hair screams exchange student, and the fact that I have to ask where the new building is when I'm standing in it doesn't help either) school is going really well!  I can't believe I've only just started... I've been over here forever already!

This weekend I'm headed to Verona... should be a fun little day trip.  Hope all is well wherever you're reading this from.  MISS YOU!

Vi voglio bene!

Alli

Berlin- February 11-15, 2008

Ciao a tutti!

Well I'm back in Milano after a week in Berlin, Germany.  I went with 5 other girls and we had THE BEST TIME!  Berlin is an absolutely amazing city.  It's crazy how beautiful it is considering how the city was not only completely destroyed in the war but how it only became 1 true city 19 years ago!!  It's definitely a thriving capital and a hot spot for young Germans.  We had such a blast.

First of all, the Berlin public transportation system is one we should all be jealous of!  With the most reliable subways and trams (well besides when our train decided to not take the tracks it was supposed to), the seats are all upholstered and some are even padded!  And everyone rides bikes in Berlin.  There wasn't one subway ride we took where we didn't see a bike on the train.

So the first day we went on a 4 hour walking tour.  It was one if not the best tour I've ever been on.  Our guide, a student from Ireland, was so knowledgeable about Berlin's history and he was a great story teller!  I learned so much about Berlin that I had no idea about!  And it was rather amusing that I learned it all from an Irish boy!  Oh Europe.  Some of the spots we hit on our tour were places that I would have never found without this tour.  Fuhrerbunker (where Hitler hid out and committed suicide) is now a parking lot for an apartment complex in East Berlin.  Our guide told us the reasoning for this is that Germany wanted to destroy it so Neo-nazis from around the world won't flock to this place to worship the man.  It's rather eery to think that you're standing above the spot where Hitler hid for months.  And yet I think it's what makes this world so cool.  That certain places have taken so many different forms throughout history.  Once a bunker, now a parking lot, and who knows what it was 200 years ago, 2000 years ago.  Anyway, we went to see the wall, of course.  They don't let you go touch it anymore, since people used to come and chip a little bit of it away to take home with them.  It's very cool to see, and not nearly as tall as any of us expected.  They had some memorials for people that had died trying to cross it.  I can't imagine how awful life must have been to risk being shot or drowned just to climb over a wall.  It was very amazing to see it in person.  We visited several other spots, such as the parliament (Bundestag), Ministry of Ministries, Museum Island, Humboldt University, and Brandenburg Gate.  One of my favorite spots on the tour was The Memorial To the Murdered Jews of Europe.  It's indescribable.  (http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/memorial_to_the_murdered_jews_of_europe) Check it out!  It's a bunch of blocks (look at the picture) that can represent whatever you want them to represent, the # of Jews that died, gravestones, anything.  And you look at it and think these blocks maybe get around 6 feet tall.  And then you walk in, and these blocks get higher and higher, up to 15-18 feet tall.  And as I walked in, deeper and deeper, you get a sense of being lost, lonely, isolated, overwhelmed.  Our tour guide said it made him feel like he was going under water.  And you see all these people walking through with you, but it's not until you get really close to them that you can actually see them.  And people appear and disappear in an instant behind these blocks.  Really it's indescribable.  Anway, Berlin is a beautiful city, and the tour was absolutely incredible.  DEFINITELY GLAD WE DID IT!

We went on a pubcrawl, which is where they take you from pub to pub to pub.  It was fun, in that we met so many people but we really didn't need the people to tell us where to go.  Kind of a scam but I'm glad I went on it.  Now i can say I've done a pub crawl.

We went into the Bundestag, which is Germany's parliament building.  The building has a long long history which I won't bore you with, but the newly renovated part and the new dome on top is absolutely awesome.  Go check it out online if you get a chance.  The architect claims to have designed it with the intent that the German people can look down on Government, and the Government can look up at the people watching them, so everyone is watching everyone.  Cool concept.

Well we went to the Berlin Zoo, the Berlin TV tower, the Pergamon museum (where we saw the Original Gates of Babylon (soooo cool)), and well I ate about everything I could and walked about everywhere in Berlin.

Besides eating wienerschnitzle and bratwurst, running around the city doing everything and then some, I got a chance to go to the Jewish Museum.  It was the most amazing museum.  I actually liked it better than the Holocaust Museum.  The architecture by Daniel Libeskind was breathtaking.  I can't describe it unless you go there.  But really they couldn't have asked for architecture more fitting for this museum.  My favorite part was his exhibition of Memory Void.  Literally, there is nothing.  It's an entire exhibition floor, left empty.  No pictures on the wall, no boxes with artifacts, or names to remember.  Nothing.  Just emptiness.  Daniel Libeskind says he designed it this way to remember those who were killed.  Because what's a better way to remember the dead, than with nothing.  LOVED IT.

Well anyway, it was a great trip, and now I'm back in Milan starting school on Monday.  Awww traveling Europe.  Amazing.  Ciao ciao and love you all.

FIRENZE... Feb 6-9, 2008

Dear All,

Florence was amazing!  What a beautiful city... seriously!  First of all, I took the Eurostar down here.. GORGEOUS TRAIN.  The people are nice (and don't smell), the seats are actually comfortable (ok well on the way I was much more comfortable than the way back), and I had a little pull out table to use my Italian book during the train ride.  It was great 2.5 hours :).  

What can I say about Florence?  Well it's an American city in Italy.  Ok not really, but everyone and their mom speaks English and you're more likely to see 2 college girls talking than to hear Italian.  It's definitely a hot destination full of students and tourists.  It's a smaller city, so you walk everywhere, which was a really nice change compared to riding the subway every day in Milano!!!  Florence is very beautiful, very quaint, and what a magnificent view of Tuscany in the background!!  MMMMM amazing.

The first night I stayed with my friend Christie (from mini-hops... back in the day).  She had a spectacular view and we watched Under the Tuscan sun and drank wine from a nearby Tuscan vineyard.. you can't not do that while in Tuscany!!  It was amazing :)

The next day I roamed the city, took way too many pictures, and ate THE BEST gelato.  MMM.  I'd have to say that Nutella crepes or Nutella waffles are definitely up there on my list as well.  If I come home fat, you know why.

Touring around Florence is beautiful.  The cobblestone streets get a little old (and if you're wearing stilettos they steal your shoes), but it really is so quaint and gorgeous!  All the salespeople were out at the market, and everyone was walking around bargaining and buying.  I loved seeing all the leather, glass, and pashminas they have.  Ok ok, besides seeing I did buy a little.  But you can't not when in Firenze!

I stayed with my friends Paul and Jordan the 2nd night.  Everyone has such gorgeous apartments in Firenze compared to Milano!  Oh well... I do live in a ridiculously large city that ooooober expensive.  I went out to meet my friends at this club that was little America.  Seriously.  Only American rap music.  I think I saw one Italian and 9500 American sorority girls.  Ridiculous.  Well, that's what we get to hitting up a bar that had student night.  DEFINITELY NOT LIKE MILANO AT ALL!

We went to the Pontevecchio, which I found every piece of jewelry I've ever wanted.  I found a couple gorgeous wedding rings, too bad they were only 20,000 Euros.  Damn.  Duomo was gorgeous.  We went to the top (yes 463 stairs and Alli completely questioning her past stair-master sessions later) and it was gorgeous!  Definitely worth the 20 minute walk up.  It was a spectacular day, the sun was slowly setting in the distance, and I can't tell you how in love with the Tuscan hills I am.  SIMPLY STUNNING. (that's for you Jen)  I went to see THE DAVID, which was REALLY cool.  The room they have him in, and just seeing how meticulously done he was, it was really awe inspiring.  Sculptures are my new favorite artworks, definitely.

The next day I hung out with my girlfriends Blake and Chelsea and we just walked around, shopped, and enjoyed the beautiful day (yes I enjoyed it with a Nutella waffle).  Florence was amazing... breathtaking... and absolutely gorgeous.  But let me tell you, after that 3 hour train ride... IT'S SO NICE TO BE HOME IN MILANO!!!

Ciao a tutti,

Alli

VENEZIA... Carnivale 2008

Ciao a tutti!

Come va?  Tutti e' buono qui!  Last weekend I went to Venezia (Venice) for Carnivale!  Che bella!  Venice is such a beautiful city.  It's full of so much history and was absolutely beautiful to see.  I cannot imagine living there... what a lifestyle.  Boats instead of cars... can you imagine how impatient Americans would be if you had to sit in a boat to go somewhere?  Ha.  Our gondola driver (yes we took a gondola ride.... AMAZING!) told us that they only built the bridges and walkways about 500 years ago... so literally before then, you HAD to take a boat everywhere.  At least now you can walk.

Carnivale was crazy... so many people in masks and dressed up.  It's like European halloween.  Instead of saying halloween costumes in their Ipercoop (target sort of), they have Carnivale costumes.  I saw some of the most intricate outfits.  It was really awesome.  Anyway, we took the train that left at 7am and stayed until the train left at 5am from Venice.  Let's just say it was a crazy, wet, cold, and AMAZING time!!  Seeing Piazza San Marco lighten up in multi colored lights was AWESOME.  There were hundreds upon hundreds of people there, all to party for Carnivale. It's weird to think how old the city is and how many people have stood in Saint Mark's Square before me.  I definitely am jealous of Europe's history.  The United States is such a baby compared to this ancient continent.  It's so cool to see something older than 400 years! 

Ok so I'm obsessed with Murano glass.  OBSESSED.  Blown glass is absolutely gorgeous.  I bought the most gorgeous Mezuzah... I can't wait to put it on my door when I get back to the states.  When I bought it the sales clerk goes, "Shalom".  I love it.  I found a 350 Euro Hannukkiah that was TO DIE FOR but unfortunately spending 350 Euros would kill me as well. So I had to promise myself that when I have money in 10 years I'll fly back to Venice and buy myself a Murano glass Menorah.  (Plus, what a bitch to bring back to the states.  Maybe I'll just move to Italy for good.  JUST KIDDING MOM.  Chill.)

Besides our Gondola ride, glass and mask shopping, and dancing to the DJ in Saint Mark's Square, we ate, drank, and wandered the streets of Venice.  All in all, it was a fabulous day (besides sleeping on the train station floor at 4am.. brrr... which I have to say is an experience that has made me realize I can now do ANYTHING).

Ok, I'm going to go study for my final Italian test tomorrow... I'm kind of sad the class is over... but hopefully I'll keep learning on my own!

Ciao e vi voglio bene,

Alli

Buona fortuna!!!

Ciao a tutti!

GOOD NEWS!  I found peanut butter! Sono contenta!

Oggi

So today I had an interesting experience on my tram on the way home.  I got on, looked around, and found myself a nice empty seat calling my name.  I walked across the tram, sat down, and no sooner had my ass touched the wood I was being pulled, yes pulled by some old woman with a scarf rapped around her head.  She quickly nuzzled her little butt into my seat and left me standing.  Even though she followed this act with "Mi Scusi, Grazie."  I was rather perturbed.  She had the nerve to pull my coat and steal my seat.  Yea she was old, but damn that bitch moved fast.  None the less, I followed her "Grazie" with a "E' niete, prego."  Oh the little old Italian ladies... cute... but very rude.

La Cita di Turin

Ciao-

This weekend I went to Turin (Torino) for a day trip.   If this city sounds familiar, it's because it's where the 2006 Winter Olympics were held.  Don't go to Turin... ever.  Not that the city isn't beautiful- it's surrounded by mountains, which are gorgeous, snowcapped and glistening in the sun.  But there really isn't a whole lot to do in Turin unless you love museums.  There were about a million and one stores... but they had the same things Milan did and who the hell wants to carry back a million bags on the train.  Not I.

We did an art history museum, which was great and fabulous... but I'm only a one museum a day kind of girl.  Other than that, the city is very structurally similar to Milan, and there isn't much to do besides walking around.  The food was definitely amazing however... great doughy pizza, seasoned to perfection along with Cioccolata di Turin Gelato.... YUMMY!  

Other than that, no one came to check our tickets the ride there or back to Turin (2 hours).  Not that I'd ever just jump a train without a ticket, but on the way home I'm assuming many people did.  We didn't get a seat for 20 minutes because there were about 10 times capacity on the train... oh Italy... gotta love it.

Ciao for now... and remember... don't go to Turin unless you want to shop.

VIEW FROM MY APARTMENT!!

This is a view from my apartment window... gotta love the magnificent Italian alps!!

Milano thus far...

Ciao tutti!!

This is my personal blog di Milano!!  Hope all is well with you.  Everything over here is fantastico!  You're going to have to get used to the Italish...  mi dispiace.

Well first of all, I arrived in Milan 2 weeks ago.  I can't believe it's been that long!  I live in a 2 bedroom (if you can call it that) apartment north of the city center with a girl from UT (Ella) and a boy that goes to Bocconi from Naples (Antonio).  Both are very nice and our living conditions have worked out fantastic!  Hopefully Antonio will help me learn more Italian, although I think I've just been helping him with his English.  This city of Milan is very NYC.  There are little stores, bars, restaurants, cleaners, etc. on every block.  There is no grass, and every building touches each other.  Besides hearing Italian, and seeing the beautiful Italian architecture, you'd swear I was in NYC!  I take the tram and subways everywhere, which is really nice except for when they go on strike.  Speaking of... the first strike was yesterday.  If someone could please tell me what the point of these strikes are, I'd much appreciate it.  They announce the strikes a day ahead of time, they only last for a certain amount of time, and they only involve certain lines as opposed to the entire metro itself.  So yesterday they went on strike from 8:45 am to 3pm.  So everyone just went to work earlier.  And at night the trams 7 and 13 went on strike, so I just took the 11.  Really not inconvenient, and to me rather pointless. But it's Italy, so apparently there have been strikes, there are strikes, and there always will be strikes!  

I live right about a bakery... bad idea.  The pastries are amazing!  The woman and I are becoming best friends.  Unfortunately I can't say more than "Vorrei un brioce con cioccolata" and then when she still doesn't understand me, I'm forced to simply point.  But at least I get the message across and at least she's found her new best customer!  Besides the AMAZING pastries, the pasta and pizza are to die for.  Seriously.  I may die when I come back to the states. Even the bread of the pizza is seasoned to perfection, and the delivery is NOT Dominos.  We ordered cheese pizza the other night.  It was the freshest, thickest, most amazing mozzarella I've ever had in my life.  And it was the same if not cheaper than Pizza Hut.  Che fantastico!!  Besides eating, drinking is definitely different here.  I bought a ridiculously large bottle of wine from the super market for 3 euros.  That's $5 for a great bottle of wine.  A large bottle of water cost me 4 euros.  Oy.  Can you imagine if it were like that in the US.  Never.  Also, lots of girls have had their fare share of problems ordering coffee.  Cafe= espresso.  Cafe con latte= espresso with a splash of milk.  Cafe macchiato= our normal lattes.  Cappuccino= more or less a latte with a little more foam.  And if you get a mocha... the chocolate is not sweetened... ew.  And besides all these wonderful fattening foods, if these weren't enough, we have gelato.  How amazing.  I won't even go into detail because I'll end up talking myself into going downstairs and getting one. MMMMMMM.

I don't start classes until February 18th, but we've been having a crash course in Italian since i got here.  It's 4 hours a day, 4 days a week, and is pretty intensive.  But I'm learning a lot, and it definitely keeps me busy until school actually starts.  Hopefully I'll learn enough to become a little more fluent as the semester goes on.

The weather here as been pretty nice.  It's overcast a lot, but most it's been party cloudy around 45 degrees.  Can't really complain, most of you are in the snow!  The only thing that sucks is that we want to go travel but most of the places aren't as beautiful yet.  We were going to go to Cinque Terra this weekend, because i've heard it's the most magnificent place in Italy, but it won't even be green yet, since it's still winter.  Unfortunately I'll just have to wait.

Other than that, everyone I've met is really nice.  I hang out with mostly Canadians, Minnesotans (I know how funny), and Norwegians.  Although there really are people here from all over.  Should be interesting when classes actually start and the rest of the exchange students who didn't want to do the crash course get here.  A little overwhelming I think.  I'm glad that I came and got to know Milan before school started.  Phew.

Besides Italy, I did get my summer internship with Target Sourcing Services in Manhattan so NYC here I come!  But I can't even think of how amazing that will be, since I have all of Europe to discover before hand!

Ciao e vi vigglio bene!!

Alli