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!!