Erin Go Bragh!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

E BUON COMPLEANNO ITALIA!!!

**Please take a moment of silence for Japan and remember them in your prayers**

God Save the Queen (London Pt. 2)

*Friday March 4*

After a restless night we woke up the next morning got dressed quickly and headed down to the bar for the complimentary breakfast. We had toast, peanut butter (a hot commodity coming from Italy) and instant coffee (not complaining). We all tried to eat as much as we could so we didn’t have to spend much money on food throughout the day.  We had decided to meet James at Buckingham Palace, he couldn’t stay at the same hostel as us because it was over booked, and so we made our way across the street to the Hammersmith Underground station….which, by the way, has a Starbuck in it, and, like I said, the hostel only had instant coffee available (and had a system where you had to ask the bartender for hot water and I felt really bad going up there more than once) so we hit that up right away. A side note: London has a gazillion Starbucks. They are everywhere. I forgot what that’s like but it’s really strange, it’s almost as if no matter where you are standing you will always be able to see a Starbucks. We only went there once (I think) and the cappuccino was under-par compared to what Italy has to offer. Just sayin’.

Anyway, our main system of transportation was the Underground, and it is expensive (£4 PER ride= $6.40!!...crazy) so we decided to get day passes which were £6.60 each and paid for themselves with all the traveling we did. So Buckingham Palace was our first stop, where we caught up with James. It was a beautiful building with a very pretty iron and gold fence, very fancy and complete with a few guards with those fuzzy hats. After Buckingham we headed towards Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and decided to walk through a little park on our way there. It was soo nice to see the ducks and other little creatures and we went absolutely crazy with the pictures so sorry about that. The bridge we crossed was dedicated to Princess Diana which I thought was very nice. Westminster Abbey was gorgeous like usual and good ole Benny (which is actually the bell, not the tower) was still standing tall for us. Once we got our pics in we headed across the Thames and purchased tickets for the London Eye (the ferris wheel). Although the tickets were pretty expensive (£17 each, $27) we knew if we didn’t go we would regret it later so we just sucked it up and I’m so glad we did because it was absolutely beautiful. Even being afraid of heights (which all three of us girls were) the view was just amazing, every few minutes, as you got higher and higher up, you could see a different view of London. After we got off the Eye we were all starving and decided to head over to Covent Garden and try to find Chipotle, the only international Chipotle!! On our way we ran into the Sherlock Holmes restaurant and had to get a pic (for old times sake) so we could put it next to the one we took when we were 13. Ahh memories J I love London. Anyway, Chipotle was sooo good and I know what you’re thinking, but seriously we appreciate anything that isn’t Italian food much, much more now, and it was a nice little Mexican (if you can call it that) fix for us (you know how I like my cilantro). After Chipotle we mosied on over to the Covent Garden market to check out the scene and ran into a street performer with a big crowd around him. He was doing acrobatic tricks so we stopped and watched him for awhile. We then went to Ben’s cookie shop and had some wonderful triple chocolate cookies with milk and hot chocolate, it was delicious!

We then dropped James off at his hostel, which gave us the chance to see London properly at night. What a beautiful city. We had to stop multiple times to take photos of the lit up London Eye, the golden reflection of the Parliament building and Big Ben in the Thames and just the lights of the city in general. I am in love with London. This is the city that made me want to live in a city, which is why I go to school in Chicago. No city that I have visited thus far has been able to make me feel the way London does. Anyway, enough with the sappy stuff. So we headed back to our lovely hostel and had a little fun in Belushi’s Bar (located under the hostel). We went to bed pretty early that night since none of us had really gotten much sleep the night before.

London Calling

A little music to get you in the mood: Across the Universe

So as the days ticked by before our big Spring Break trip people started to get really antsy here and you could feel the excitement in the air like electricity. It’s really hard to justify a spring break when you’ve been living in Italy for the past two months but let me tell you, it was amazing, and a breath of fresh air. So for the next few days I’ll be posting our adventure in a few segments, that way I can make them nice and detailed.

Let me just get a few things untangled here. When I say that going to English speaking countries is a breath of fresh air I don’t mean to sound like a spoiled American, but to be able to have conversations with strangers you meet on the street or in a pub is one of the things I really miss about home. I’m naturally a very sarcastic person and I love to joke around but it’s nearly impossible to do that when you’re constantly struggling with the language. I love learning new languages (hence French, Spanish and now Italian) and I love to learn about different cultures and food (hence all the Travel Channel and Food Network). I could sit in a pub and talk for hours about the cultural differences between the US, Spain, Germany, the UK, Ireland and Italy (and Canada! We met a ton of Canadians in Ireland and had some great conversations)… at least those that I have observed. I think it’s great how people can identify with each other even when they are from such different backgrounds.

Anyway back to Spring Break…we spent 3 days (4 nights) in London and 5 days in Dublin. It consisted of a ton of walking, beer and meat pies. Not bad eh?

*Thursday, March 3*

Classes over, bags packed, off to London town!!! So there we were, Katie, Spencer, James, Caitlin and I, in the lobby of the JFRC waiting for the 5 person cab we had called. We were all sooo excited we couldn’t stand it. Once the cab came we headed to the Fumincino airport at about 5:30 pm to catch our 8 o’clock flight to London (!!). We made it to the airport in plenty of time and everything went surprisingly smoothly. It took about 2 hours to get London Gatwick from Rome and so by the time we touched down it was already about 10:30. We took the EasyBus to Earl’s Court, which took about an hour and twenty minutes, and then took a cab to our Hostel which was only about a five minute drive. The cab ride was such a relief compared to Rome. Here we could actually talk to the driver and make sure he didn’t take advantage of us (as much as Rome at least, it seems like all taxi drivers try to take advantage of you). Split by four people the fare was nothing and a lot better than walking around London at 1 in the morning with a bunch of luggage. So yeah, we made it to our hostel, St. Christopher’s of Hammersmith, at about 1 am and about twenty minutes later we found the entrance (it was inside a bar…so we couldn’t find it haha) and checked in. We made our way up to the room we were supposed to be in, unlocked the door and attempted to go in as quietly as possible so as not to wake everyone else up in the room. The room was small and there were 8 beds in all (4 pairs of bunk beds) and only 3 out of the 8 were available, and there were 4 of us…so we had to go back down to the manager, who was also the bartender, and tell him that we were a bed short. He went upstairs to the room, turned the light on (it’s like 2 am at this point), woke everyone up and asked to see their conformation number. Everyone had one and 20 minutes later we find out that the place had overbooked for that night. One of us had to go sleep in the “pod room” (a room with like 20 other people) and because he was the only guy, Spencer being the perfect gentleman, offered himself up to be the odd man out. Looking back at that night, he probably ended up with the best deal out of all of us because the girls had to go into a room full of sleepy, crabby strangers whom had all just been questioned because of us. We got some angry looks that’s for sure.

So that was our first night in London! I love it. 

Mind those Ps and Qs!!

Well hello there!

I'm back from Spring Break and we had the most incredible time!! We are soo blessed to be able to do this stuff. I'll never forget that, I am so grateful. You'll have to give me some time to get all of the pics and posts up, there's just so much to say! There are a few new pics up on my flickr, but I have a lot to do tomorrow (like laundry and homework!) so all I can do is promise you to do as much as I can as fast as I can.

I love you and hope you are all doing well!!
Cheers!!

Guten Tag, Deutschland!!

*Last weekend, il fine settimana scorsa*

See pics here: Click!

We woke up early once again this past weekend in order to get to the airport in time for our flight to Germania. The flight took about an hour and a half which still amazes me. You can get to a totally different country in less than two hours!! Living in Europe is fantastic. We flew over the Swiss Alps and the view was incredible. As we descended into the clouds we couldn’t see anything for awhile and then all of the sudden the clouds cleared and we looked out the window to see that we were only a few feet from the runway!! It fascinates me how pilots can fly like that. Our first view of Germany was a grey runway surrounded by big black pine trees. It was really cool to note the difference between this landscape and that of Italy. Spain’s landscape was relatively similar to what we had grown accustomed to, palm trees and sunny skies. Germany, however, was the complete opposite. It was snowing and although Cait and Christina were happy about this, I was not so thrilled. We stepped off the plane and headed towards the Frankfurt Hahn airport.

Once we got inside and made our way to the bus ticket desk I became even more aware of the fact that we were now in Germany…away from everything I was used to. The signs and advertisements were all in German (obviously) and I could not even begin to understand what they said. In Italy, France (when we went a few years ago) and even Spain I could get the gist of the language because they are all so similar, being romance languages. German is nothing like any of these languages, however, the longer you look at it you can start to see some similarities between it and English, which is cool. You can tell it’s had an influence over our language. So we purchased tickets for a shuttle bus that would take us to Frankfurt International Airport, since that was where we needed to catch our train to Rothenburg, met up with two other Loyola students who were headed somewhere else (don’t ask me where) but taking the same bus and sat down to wait for the shuttle. One of the students bought us “Berlins” (I think that was the name), little powdered donuts with jam in the middle, they were very good and a very good start to our German food education!

The shuttle bus took about an hour and a half and although it might seem like an inconvenience, for those of us who have never been to Germany it was a very nice way to get to see the German countryside. It really is a beautiful country. We drove through huge green fields with cows, horses and sheep. Saw farmers walking up and down their plots with their big dogs running happily ahead of them, and many, many little clusters of beautiful colorful cottages and high steepled churches. We even drove along the outskirts of the Black Forest! How cool is that!?

Once we arrived to the Frankfurt International Airport we scurried to find the train so we could make our way to Rothenburg (it’s a HUGE airport so I’m really impressed at how fast we found the station). Luckily we only had to wait about 15 min. for the train and then we were off to the lovely little town of Rothenburg!! The trip took about 2 hours with 4 transfers onto different trains. The trains in Germany are like clockwork, they arrive at the exact time they are supposed to and leave at the exact time they’re supposed to. It blew my mind. Again, it was nice to be able to relax and see the beautiful landscape. Once we finally reached Rothenburg, at about 6:30, it was sleeting and freezing (ok, it was like 40 degrees, but that’s cold to us Mediterranean woman!!). I would just like to say how proud I am of us for being able to navigate throughout the countryside of Germany knowing only a few phrases of the language (we made sure to know the important ones like “thank you” so as to not be rude; always attempt to learn a little bit of the language before you go to a foreign country, it just makes people more willing to help you, especially in Europe). We found our hotel, after a lot of map reading, and checked in. We were told where to go and I have to say that walking up the steps to our room was hilarious. Our hotel was in a little cottage that seemed like it had been built in medieval times (and probably was!), the staircase was tiny! I felt like I had to duck and I’m not exactly the tallest person on the peninsula if you know what I mean! (Italy is a peninsula…) We got to our room, opened the door and were so relieved to see a cute little room with three tiny beds. The place was adorable, like everything else in Rothenburg. Once we had settled in we went out in search of a restaurant. Most of the restaurants in little villages like this one are in the first floor of hotels and most are very very good. The first one we went to was called Brӓustüfle…I think…and it was tiny! When we went in there were 2 tables of Japanese people and a table of young Irish boys and of course us Americans (although we like to call ourselves American/Italians now); 4 tables in all and the place looked packed. It was almost strange to see that diverse of a crowd in such a small little village, but it was very cool. The owners were adorable and we had a delicious meal of wurst (sausage, pronounced “verst”), schnitzel (breaded meat mmm), kraut and herb potatoes…along with plenty of beer, of course J…we had to, it brings out the flavor of the food. Speaking of the food, it was amazing. The kraut is nothing like what we have in the States, the cabbage is cooked in coriander and other spices and tastes great. The bartender liked us a lot and gave all three of us a shot of amaretto, because we’re Italian, of course! The food was the perfect antidote to the cold winter night and we all flopped into our tiny beds warm, full and slightly drunk. It was a great start to our German adventures.

The next morning we got ready for a day of shopping around Rothenburg. Our first priority was to find a bakery/café to get some coffee and breakfast. We found a cute one called Bӓckerei Striffler which had a large assortment of pastries and an Italian espresso machine, marvelous. I had a cappuccino (you can take the girl out of Italy…) and another form of a “Berlin”, a jam filled donut, along with a poppyseed pastry (hey, when in Germany, and when freezing, you need to eat a lot! Bend to the cultural norms!). We then went around to all the little shops and bought souvenirs and trinkets. The Christmas shop was very impressive, and is apparently what the thing in Chicago is modeled after (Rothenburg is called the Christmas town because of its huge festivities around that time of year and all their little Christmas shops, they just love that holiday year round). We checked out the coo-coo clocks, which are so intricate and beautiful, but very expensive, same goes for the Steins. Later, we came across a wood engraving shop owned by an old man who painted and engraved everything he made by hand. Lunch was another meal of wurst, kraut and beer (seriously couldn’t get enough of it, my kind of food) and the afternoon was filled with more shopping and Schneeballen. Schneeballs are big, round, fried cookies dipped in an assortment of toppings like powdered sugar, cinnamon or chocolate, and can also have a delicious filling. That night we skipped dinner, we had a lot for lunch, and went to a big bar outside the town walls and had a few nice dark brews to cap off our final night in Germany.

The next morning we got up early and reluctantly made our way back to the train station. Since the station was locked (I honestly don’t think it’s ever open) we went into a little café next to the tracks and had some coffee. There was a group of older men in their drinking beer, it was a little past nine in the morning, they instantly got my nod of approval. So back to Frankfurt we went, it began snowing again on the way, and then we set off towards Italy. When we arrived into the Ciampino airport it was late so the trains weren’t operating (ohhh Italy) and it was pouring down rain, by the time we got home to the JFRC we were all soaked. We ordered €4 margherita pizzas and changed into our PJs. Ahh home sweet home.

Da Roma, con amore.

BARCELOONNNAA!!!!

*Friday, February 11*

Sooo last Friday morning we woke up at 4:30 again and headed to Campino to catch our 8 am flight to BARCELONA!!!! We made it to the airport rather smoothly but we weren’t allowed to board the plane until about 9…a good hour after the plane was supposed to take off. And that was still considered on time. God I love this country, nothing is ever on time in Italy. The whole flight was like being at a zoo, people kept getting up and walking around and downing dozens of little bottles of wine. Take-off and landing were the only times people sat down and even then the stewardesses had trouble getting people to sit. When the plane landed everyone of course applauded…twice actually, once when we landed and then again when the plane had stopped moving. Europe is hilarious.

When we arrived in Barcelona we had to figure out the public transportation system in order to get to our hostel. Once you get used to it, it’s very easy and it’s much better (and by that I mean much more reliable) than Italy’s PT. So we arrived at our hostel around noon and the place is great. Since there were 8 of us we had a room to ourselves and everything was surprisingly very clean. We locked our stuff up in the little lockers they gave us and went to look for some lunch. We stopped at this little café near the hostel and immediately spotted the differences between Spain and Italy. When we walked into the restaurant the owners weren’t immediately put off by our group size but very accommodating. They pulled three little tables together and even though they could tell we were English speakers the little Spanish woman talked to us in Spanish (with a Cataluña dialect of course) and we could actually understand her! It was great. I ordered a tuna sandwich which tasted extremely fresh, it was probably canned but I psyched myself into believing that the tuna was straight out of the sea (hey we’re in SPAIN!!). So after a nice pick-me-up we went shopping around town. Barcelona has a lot more American companies than Rome, they have Starbucks, KFC, and DUNKIN DONUTS. I love it.

We went to a ton of little boutiques with very cute clothes, some were extremely expensive and others not so bad so we didn’t feel too guilty looking around. On our way back to our hostel we ran into some very drunk English boys who said they were having a “stag-do” (bachelor party) or something and asked us to join them in their celebration. We thought that could be fun so we gave them one of our numbers so we could keep in contact.  We had decided to get Paella that night for dinner and so we went on a hunt (odyssey is probably a better word) for a good restaurant. The seafood was amazing. Complete with mussels, clams and HUGE prawns, absolutely delicious.

The next day we got up early and began our self-guided tour of Barcelona. First, we headed to the Gaudi Casa which was very cool; it’s a building with mosaics build into the façade and very curvy architecture like most of Gaudi’s designs. The colors around Barcelona are unbelievable; everything is filled with color, from the buildings to the food and all the markets, everything here is stunning. The people are great too. On the train we saw a woman get pick-pocketed (it’s very common here so you have to be really careful), the thief was trying to jump into our car just as the doors were closing but a man standing near the door literally shoved her back onto the platform where a security guard grabbed her. It was amazing, everyone applauded the man, it was quite a show!

After we saw the amazing Gaudi casa we went in search for hot chocolate and churros for breakfast, we went to this little café and I swear have never eaten anything so good for breakfast before. The churros were so fresh they were glistening with oil, it was beautiful J .We dipped them into the hot chocolate…please just go and get it, it’s heavenly.

After breakfast we went to the Sagrada Familia Basilica, which, to me, looks like dripping wax but it’s very cool and very famous. After we got our fill and plenty of pictures of the church we split up and Christina, Catlin and I went shopping while everyone else headed for the Picasso museum (we didn’t want to spend the money). I bought a very cute dress and belt and Cait got a very cute top. It was a very successful day! We went back to the hostel for a bit of rest and a few minutes later everyone came to re-group. Emily, Sienna, Cait and I decided to go out that night so we met up with the Brits at a place called the Joker Bar on the pier. The bar was playing a great collection of Beach Boys, Michael Jackson and Rihanna and we all had a great time. We got back to the hostel at about 2 and had to leave at 3:45 to make it to the airport for our 6 am flight. I love Barcelona.

Da Roma, con amore.

a brief summary of Pisa and Florence...

*Friday February 4*

Last, last weekend…sorry I’ve been slackin’…

Our alarm clock went off at 4:25 this morning. We got up, threw clothes on and headed downstairs to meet everyone in the lobby at 4:50. The Porter called two taxis for us (we couldn’t get a 6-person cab that early) and a few minutes later we were off to Termini Station. We found our train without a problem, got seats together and set off for Pisa at 6:13 on the dot. Everything went rather smoothly (for Italy I mean) and the car we were in was pretty empty. Throughout the train ride we had a beautiful view of the Italian landscape; mountains, the sea, and many fabulous ancient homes scattered about. I had signed us all up for sack lunches on Wednesday night; this is a really nice option Mensa (our dining hall) gives us. You pick your bagged lunch up on Thursday night, since we have Fridays off, and you can take it with you on your trips! It’s a very good way to save a few bucks, so we all ate those on the train as a makeshift breakfast/lunch, (it consisted of an Italian bologna sandwich (which is a shit ton better than American bologna, no offence) an apple, blood red orange juice, a cheese sandwich (for the veggies at school, we just took the cheese off and put it on the bologna sandie) and an apricot tart, it was a splendid little meal!) and in about 4 hours we arrived in the quaint little town of Pisa. We walked out of the Pisa Centrale train station and realized that we were completely unprepared. We had no map and no idea which direction to head in, but we had a good 3 hours until our train left for Florence and so decided to make the best of it! We found a map a few minutes of out the train station and began our trek to the other side of the city (where the tower is located), which took about 15 to 20 min tops. When we told people that we were going to Pisa before Florence almost everyone told us to just skip it, there was nothing to see except for the Tower, and that’s swarming with tourists. Well, this is what I have to say to those people: we had a FREAKIN BLAST in Pisa, it was the cutest little city I have ever seen. Totally worth the trip!!

When we finally got to the Tower we, of course, had to take that picture, you know that one that every tourist takes when they are in Pisa, the one where you’re holding up the tower. We had a blast trying to get these pictures and with a group of 6 it took a lot longer than we thought it would. It was so funny to see everyone hanging around that tower. We thought it would be an American tourist thing but tons of people from all over the world were trying to get the same picture. It was hilarious, everyone was laughing and doing the same pose with their hands in the air trying to hold a building that is, in reality, about a football field away. The whole experience was quite amusing.

Our train to Florence left Pisa around 1:30 in the afternoon and got in around 3. We decided to head to the hotel first so we could put all of our stuff down but since I had COMPLETELY forgot to bring our printed conformation information (I know, I’m an idiot, completely worthless) we had no idea where our hotel was…but thankfully we did know its name and found someone who could look up the address for us. The women who googled it for us said that it was a long way away, in fact her exact words were “It’s in another district completely. Not even in Florence!!” So we started freaking out…a lot (I would like to take this time and let it be known that I did not book the hotel). However, after looking at a map and chatting to a few Loyola students we had run into we decided that it wasn’t too far away. When we got into the cab we told the driver the name of the hotel and he knew exactly where it was…so no worries :)!! It was about a 20 min walk from downtown Florence, totally do-able for 6 Romans.

Needless to say, the hotel was amazing, it was a 2 bedroom apartment with 5 beds and it even had a kitchen! It was fabulous and was only 18 Euro for each of us! A very good find! That night we went out for pizza and beer at a local place, it was great stuff. We woke up early the next morning and made breakfast in our little kitchen! We had nutella, bread and eggs (breakfast of champions!!) it was so nice to have a real breakfast. We then walked downtown went shopping for a bit at the awesome markets and then met up with Father Al at the Duomo. He gave us a nice little tour of the churches and streets of Florence, it’s a great place to visit and has amazing architecture. We went through the Santa Croce Cathedral which houses the tombs of some of Italy’s best, including Galileo, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and Dante…among others. The leather shop connected to this church was amazing as well, although extremely expensive. I would recommend this tour to everyone who goes to Florence.

Because our train left at 7 we had to eat an early dinner (we had pizza again because nothing else was open…most restaurants close for a siesta after lunch from like 4-7:30). We then got on our train and headed back to Rome. It was sad to leave but felt nice to be back in Rome.

Da Roma, con amore. 

Guess where I went!!

VIVA PAPA!!

*February 2, 2011*

So when Loyola Chicago gets the day off for snow, Loyola Roma gets the day off to see the Pope. How ironic.

Today we all went to the Papal Audience at the Vaticano and were able to see the Pope!! (pics are on my Flickr). It was very cool and there were a TON of people from all over the world, however, the Brazilians were by far the loudest and proudest (everyone kept yelling "VIVA PAPA!!!"). The Cardinal who spoke your language would call out your group (we, of course, were John Felice students from Loyola University Chicago) and then you would stand and cheer, and the Pope would wave (cool!). For almost all of the European groups people would burst out in song, it was great, they sounded so legit. The French sung softly and French-like (you know what I mean), the Germans did a folk song in Amish looking outfits, the Italians waved little red flags and the Polish chanted proudly, but the Brazilians acted like they were at a soccer match, they were crazy! Waving their huge green flag back and forth, one guy was actually running back and forth with it, and not just chanting but screaming and pumping their fists. It was fantastic! So then it was our turn. Loyola was called, we all stood up and cheered (we had no song, no chants, no flags, just lazy Americans, but neither did the British, go figure). And then while Team Brazil was doing their cheering, for the fourth time (at that point I don’t even think we were still on Brazil, I think it was Germany or something) a little Brazilian boy took that opportunity, while everyone was distracted by the cheering, to run up to the Pope. We were all like “Oh my GOD!” and freaking out but thankfully the Swiss Guards didn’t impale him, like we were expecting…we over-dramatize everything (more of that to come later)…they didn’t even flinch. The Pope just threw out his arms in welcome, blessed and kissed the boy, and it was amazing. We all wanted to cry. Bravo little boy, Bravo!! So that’s all that really happened there…

*On-Site Class Number Two (took place on: Feb. 1^st)*

So on Tuesday morning we, Caitlin, Spencer and I, were on our way to our second on-site class (writing Rome) and we got into ANOTHER hot mess. First of all let me further explain the public transit situation over here. Here’s the scoop: when you want to get on a bus, you wait (could be 5 min, could be a lifetime) and then you get on when it arrives, pretty simple. You scan your bus ticket (they cost €1, equivy to about $1.40) inside the bus when you get on, there’s a little yellow box at the front and back to do this. Now, let me make it clear that this is all on the honor system; the driver, unlike in Chicago, doesn’t make sure you do it, he just drives. There are people who work for the bus system (ATAC) who will occasionally get on the bus and check that you’ve scanned your card (I have yet to see one do this on a bus, and probably just jinxed myself), there’s a €50 (nearly $70) fine on the spot if you haven’t stamped your card and if you don’t have the money the worker will take you directly to an ATM and the fine goes up to €100, and if you can’t pay for it at all you get taken ‘downtown’. I’m not really sure what happens then and I never want to find out. This system goes for the train as well.   

So back to Tuesday morning. We all get on the 990 bus to head to the train station and on the way we pick up two more students from our class. We make it to the train station just fine and are soo confident that we’re actually going to be early this time; I even start planning on getting breakfast at the caffé we’re supposed to meet at. Now, at the train station downtown there is a place where you have to scan your card in order to get into the station, they do not have this system at the stop down the street (don’t ask me why, the govt could save big time on the wages they have to pay the ATAC checkers…but it's good for employment I suppose). So we get down to the tracks and there is a scanner on the wall, and we decide not to scan our tickets (don’t ask me why, to save a Euro I guess). We get on the train, it’s nice, we even get seats. Everything is going great; we are comfy, on-time, early even! When we are about 3 stops away from where we need to get off to switch trains an ATAC worker steps into our car, turns right and starts checking tickets. I swear my heart has never beat so fast before in my life. I just turn to Caitlin who has turned white and whisper “oh my God, what do we do!?!”. Now, because we are sitting on the left of the door (and the lady had gone right) we decided to get off at the next stop …if we could. We could, but the girls who we had met up with had sat to the right, so at that point it was every man for themselves, we couldn’t reach them. The train started to slow down at Saint Peter’s station and I’m telling you, if that train would have been going any slower it would have been going backwards. I was freaking out. Well folks, it stopped, we ran out, stamped our cards and had to wait for the next train to come, which was delayed by 30 min. While waiting we kept talking about how sure we were that the other girls had gotten taken ‘downtown’, I even think the phrase ‘taken to the gallows’ was thrown out there at one point (over-dramatize everything).

We found out later that the ATAC woman had just told the two girls where to stamp their cards in the future because she took them for dumb tourists who didn’t know any differently. We were five minutes late to class and I was sans a cornetto. What did I learn? Leave campus even earlier next time so if you have to run from the law at least you will have time to get breakfast later.

Da Roma, con amore. 

Song of the Semester

Drink some wine, turn up your speakers and dance.

We No Speak Americano

tip: the more you drink the better it sounds :)

Ohhh the future is looking bright!!

UPDATE: Bought tickets to Spain (Barcelona), Germany (Rothenburg) and Czech (Prague)!!! I love living in Europe :)

That is all.

Da Rome, con amore!

PS: updated Flickr, check out the latest Shepenmaier adventures!

The Odyssey

So here at the John Felice Rome Center we have this awesome ability to sign up for classes that are called “on-site”. This means that your lectures can be given at the Colosseum or the Vatican or the Trevi Fountain or anywhere else in Rome. This is a great way to learn about the history and culture of this amazing city and actually be present at the place you’re learning about. Pretty cool, huh? Well, Caitlin, Spencer and I have an on-site class together (Writing Fiction in Rome) on Tuesday mornings at 9:30, so this past Tuesday was our first attempt at making this work. This is how it went:

8:17am we leave campus to catch the 913 bus (remember our class is at 9:30, so this gives us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the Teatro di Marcello (where our class was taking place), plenty of time in a normal city especially since it’s only about a 20 minute drive in a car). We are in sight of the 913 bus stop (fermata d’autobus) and the bus flies past us so we begin to run after it; it’s at a red light so we were really confident that we were going to make it, ya…we didn’t. So knowing the Italian bus system, we figured another one could be coming in a few minutes, or in a few hours. About 25-30 minutes later the bus came, woo! So we jumped on and took it all the way to Piazza Cavour where our professor had told us to take the 30 bus to the Teatro di Marcello. So after waiting about 10 minutes, by which time we only had about 10 min. to get to class we decided, by using my fabulous map of Rome (on which we could not for some reason find Piazza Cavour), that we were close enough to walk to the Teatro. So walk we did. And walk. And walk. And then the 30 bus flew past us. And we continued to walk until we came across a police woman who we asked to point us in the direction of Teatro di Marcello. All I got out of that conversation was “molto camminare”…and I knew exactly what that meant… “long walk”. So, while walking back to the 30 bus stop, it being clear now that we weren’t going to make it to class in time, we spotted a 30 bus coming our way. We all stopped and tried to decide where it was heading…and then we started running. We sprinted after that bus for a good 3 blocks, right when we got to it, just in time, my shoe flew off and in a desperate panic I grabbed it, threw it onto the bus and jumped in after it. An old man sitting next to the door was laughing hysterically at the three of us, as if this was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.

When we arrived at the caffé 15 minutes late after finding 4 more students from our class we realized that our teacher had already left with the rest of our class. So we set off for the Teatro hoping to catch up with all of them there. It took us about 10 minutes and many stops for directions later to figure out where the entrance to the Teatro was. It was, as mom would say it (excuse my Italian), a clusterf*ck to the extreme. Finally getting into the Teatro we realize that our teacher is not there anymore. So we go back to the caffé, call the school, who then calls our teacher, who then calls us and we hear that she is instead across the street on the steps to the Capitoline Hill...

After class we get lost looking for the train back to campus, end up at the Vaticano and finally take the 990 home…

Just in time for lunch :) 

Pictures!

Click!!

Just a little note on Italian fashion

So I’ve been asked to go over some of the popular styles of dress in Italy, so Aunt Debbie, here you go J  

The women almost always wear boots. They love boots. I have never in my life seen so many boots. It might just be a seasonal thing, it being winter here and all, but man do they love their damn boots. I have yet to see a pair of UGGs here though…coincidence? Probably not.

Dark colors are also very popular now. Because of the recession many people can’t afford to buy a lot of clothes, so they go for the darker, neutral colors (like browns, blacks and grays) in order to easily mix and match what they have. They always look fabulous. Even when they are just going out to the grocery store. This is new to Cait and I, who typically live in our pjs and sweatpants, but it’s been nice dressing up…so far. They are dynamite accessorizers, I don’t know, they just know, it’s a sixth sense. Scarves are very popular, as they are cheap ways to switch up a look. They like to wear black tights under knee length skirts with boots. I have seen this a ton here. Dresses will be popular when it begins to warm up because they love to dress up and they will be missing their dresses throughout the winter months, plus dresses are in style now…I didn’t even know that they had gone out of style...

The men here are very conscious about how they look as well. It’s weird sometimes, especially when it’s clear that some of them probably take longer than I do to get ready in the morning. They wear pants and dark jeans and either very nice tennis shoes, like those weird colorful ones the ‘hip’ stores are selling these days, or nice dress shoes. They like to use a lot of gel in their hair, which, unfortunately, reminds me of Jersey Shore. Button down shirts and nice jackets are key staples in their wardrobe.

Just to go back to the shoes for a minute (shoes are important to Italians), I haven’t seen many women wearing high heels. The streets are cobblestone and walking is the transportation of choice for most of them, therefore comfortable walking shoes are what they go for…like boots. 

This one time in Salerno…

*Friday January 21*

This morning Cait and I woke up at 5:30, already a questionable start to the day…now add to that a few SLAs (Student Life Assistances, basically RAs but with fancier names) belting, and I mean BELTING, through megaphones for everyone to wake up and you get 200 REALLY crabby students. Once our floor’s SLA had reached the end of the hallway we could hear a shrill voice call back “Shut the f*ck up!!” and knew instantly it was Christina. Man, I love my friends.

At 6:30 we were all stumbling towards the four buses, about to set out for our first stop in Herculaneum. Most of the students immediately fell back asleep but I thought it would be nice to watch the sunrise over Rome; it’s such a beautiful city. The drive out there was pretty uneventful but the mountains were fantastic. I have never seen mountains before!! (well, before this trip…and Virginia, but that doesn’t count).  Unlike taking bus trips in the United States, where all you see are corn and soy fields, in Italy there is always something to look at. The drives are interesting and beautiful (and no, family, they don’t drive on the other side of the road, their highways and roads are very similar to ours, except for the crazy weaving in and out of motorbikes and the “suggestion” to stop at stop signs). So we get to Herculaneum in about three hours and it starts raining immediately, thank God I had remembered to “borrow” mom’s travel umbrella and bring it with me, sorry mom, I promise I won’t lose it. We saw the ruins of this old city which is similar to Pompeii (same volcano eruption) and in the background you can see Mount Vesuvius (the said volcano) hanging out, looking all innocent. It’s strange to think that such a beautiful structure can do so much damage in a matter of hours. The ruins were great, like all ruins are, and there were even a few skeletons we were allowed to look at (so cool!). After the tour of the ruins we were loaded onto the buses once again and drove to a Neapolitan pizzeria. A plate of antipasti was served with Peroni beer, this first course was delicious, almost everything was fried. Fried mashed potatoes with gooey cheese in the middle, more fried gooey cheese, fried rice balls, fried dough (no idea what it was but I was really diggin’ it) and lastly bruschetta with tomato and basil. After this huge antipasti plate the waiters brought out margherita pizza for everyone. This was the best pizza I have ever eaten (EVER), this is not one of those over-exaggerations I am known to make but seriously…just seriously. Christina and I almost cried, ok I cried a little, it was just sooooo good and I was so happy to be in Italy surrounded by people I love; it was a moment I will cherish forever.

So after we ate everything (we’ve decided to go easy on the food when we’re eating here in the Mensa (school dining hall), eating lots of fresh veggies and fruits, and just go crazy when we go out, sounds like a legit diet plan to me!) we all loaded up into the buses and headed to Salerno. The Amalfi Coast is unbelievable. I cannot adequately describe it with words, like many places here. Just Google image it. Perfect. Now, riding in a huge bus on tiny streets on the top of a mountain on the other hand…is a little scary. Once we got to Salerno we were immediately place into hotel rooms with, in my case, three random girls I had never met before. It was a little weird but what made it that much stranger was that out of the four of us we were only allowed to have one key. So instead of making friends and hanging out with each other, which I’m sure is what Loyola intended, the girls in my room decided to just stick the key under the rug outside our door. I have to admit, this system worked out rather well!

That night Christina, Caitlin, James, Katie, Spencer, Lauren and I went out to a local bar down the street from our hotel. We wanted to get some shots of Limoncello which is made where we were, in the South of Italy. Once we walked into the bar we noticed that there were three very drunk Italian girls, probably about 24 years old, sitting in a corner, laughing loudly and singing to the music (Kid Cudi “Day ‘n’ Night”, who can blame them??), this didn’t bother any of us, it was actually kinda funny to watch. The bartender came over and asked us where we were from, he was clearly wasted as well, and when we told him Chicago, he became really excited and told us to wait, he was going to put on a song for us. A few minutes later a not so well known, and very slow, Michael Jackson song, which I still can’t remember the name of, began playing. This was followed by about 30 minutes of oldies.

Once our waiter/bartender decided to turn on a song that wouldn’t be played on Delilah, Lauren decided she wanted to get up and dance with the local drunk girls, and so did Katie, Caitlin and I. So with no alcohol to blame for our actions we all began to dance with the local girls who began to get a little…uh…aggressive. Besides that, we had a great time and they LOVED us, but they could only dance for a good two songs or so until they had to sit down so they didn’t fall down. It was a great night.

*Saturday, January 22*

The next morning we were given free breakfast (first real breakfast in a few weeks!) and they actually had real ‘american’ coffee (and cocoa puffs!!!). The coffee was a little funky but kudos to them for trying! In Italy if you order ‘un caffé’ you’ll get an espresso (my beverage of choice), ‘un caffé americano’ will be espresso diluted with water, order ‘un cappuccino’ after noon and you’ll get weird looks; they consider this strange, something about the milk being filling and their mentality is that if you’re hungry you should eat ‘un cornetto’ (croissant) not drink ‘un cappuccino’!!! Don’t ask, they’re pretty sensitive about their food and bevs. Anyway, enough of the lesson on coffee, I could go on for hours on this subject.

That morning we left bright and early for Paestrum, the drive was, like usual, magnificent. Once we arrived in this small little village it began raining again. So we walked around a wet field staring at very old Greek temples for two hours, which would have been amazing had we not been soaking wet and freezing. It was still amazing but I would love to go back on a sunny day, wearing shoes that actually cover my feet (fail on my part, note to self, invest in some good quality boots, don’t worry Aunt Deb, I will describe fashion in my next post!!). For lunch we went to a VERY nice hotel, where we did not fit in at all given the fact that we all looked like drown rats. There was wine though. Both red and white; hence the picture. Hey a girl’s gotta warm up somehow!!

We went back to the hotel and decided to walk around Salerno for a little while, the weather had cleared up by then and it was only misting a little bit. We went to bed early that night knowing that we would have to be up extra early the next day to pack up our stuff and check out.

*Sunday, January 23*

Once we were all packed and loaded onto the buses we headed to Sorrento, which we were all very excited about since it’s the furthest south we would be going on this trip, and Caitlin, Christina, Katie and I were all excited about the Limoncello. We had heard from many people, our teachers included, that they make the best Limoncello in Sorrento. Once we arrived in this beautiful town it began raining, again. So once again we all got soaked and were freezing. Therefore, right off the bus we went in search of a bar (they call cafés “bars” here, so if you want alcohol you don’t want to go to a bar, I’m not really sure what you would call a place that sells alcohol…a bar Americano I guess). We wanted to find a place where we could get some hot chocolate and attempt to dry off and get warm. The hot chocolate was perfect after such a cold weekend but I could not seem to warm up. With about 30 minutes remaining before we all had to meet for lunch we went in search of Limoncello and found the cutest little store with the cutest little Italian women. We were allowed to sample their Limoncello which they insisted was the best in Sorrento (and therefore the best in the world!). They also said that Danny DeVito himself gets this specific brand shipped to his house…who knows if that’s true, but they were cute and it was raining so we decided to buy a few bottles, what the hell, right?!

We left Sorrento and even though it was nice to be out of the rain and into a nice warm bus, it was sad knowing that we had to leave such a beautiful and truly majestic place. I DID NOT get a chance to sample the seafood down there and therefore I refuse to leave this country without going back. Perhaps on my birthday weekend Cait and I can take a special trip back down to Sorrento, buy some Limoncello and eat as much seafood as possible…I hear Sicily is nice that time of year ;)

Da Roma, con amore.

vino, mi amore

Orvieto

*Sunday, January 16*

Today we took a trip to the small village of Orvieto, about an hour and a half north of Roma. The bus ride through Italy was beautiful and was the first chance we had at seeing what the true Italian countryside (la campagna) looked like. Cait immediately fell asleep so I followed tradition and snapped a quick photo of her in all her glory (see it in pics below, truly a sight to behold). I have never seen a landscape quite like that of Italy. There are rolling hills, yes, and tons of sheep (my calling) and of course vineyards, but there are also cliffs, castles, and other ancient ruins scattered all over the place. People will build their houses, modern ones, right next to huge 700 year old wells, or barns, I can never imagine living on a plot of land that old, saturated in history dating as far back as the Roman Empire (and in many cases earlier!). And the colors! Let’s talk about the colors. The hills were shades of green that you just can’t find in America. A camera, like the view off the cliff in Orvieto, just can’t capture the true essence of this country. Even the sky seems clearer, bluer, as if you’ve left this earth and suddenly been transported into one where flaws don’t exist. But anyway, enough of the sensitive crap, let’s talk about the food…

When we finally arrived at Orvieto we all climbed up the six long flights of stairs to reach the top of the village (it’s perched right on top of a massive cliff, check out the pics below and on my flickr and just think of how well this place must have been protected!! All you’d really need are a bunch of archers and you’re good to go!). We walked through the small town to reach the restaurant we were scheduled to eat lunch in, called Restaurante dell’ Ancora. We sat down and were instantly brought wine and aqua naturale, as usual. The wine was amazing. We were unfortunately sitting at the end of the table next to a bunch of boozer guys (you know the type), so the one bottle of wine we were all supposed to share didn’t quite make it to me until there was about a fourth of a glass left, however, I am grateful that I was able to taste it and I attempted to savor it throughout my meal. First course (primo corsa), zucchini lasagna. Best pasta dish I have yet to taste in Italy. The noodles were silky and super thin, covered with many thin layers of ricotta cheese and sliced green zucchini, the top covered in mozzarella and baked until brown (mmmmm brown cheese…). Just looking at the picture makes me swoon, those layers…Second course (second corsa), braised beef and mushrooms, this is pretty popular in Italy, boiled potatoes with rosemary and a salad with light lemon/oil dressing, absolutely delicious. The guy sitting across from me was a vegetarian and man did I feel bad for that kid. He got the veggie plate; it looked like a dark green quiche with bits of beige running through it... Italians don’t really believe in being a vegetarian, I don’t think they understand it. Dessert was a raspberry rum cake (a sign from the gods to me); it was soft and rich in flavor but light as a pillow, dusted with cocoa powder. These people know what they’re doing.

During lunch Katie and I went to the bathroom, I didn’t lock the door, having had previous bad experience with getting stuck in bathrooms (recall Amtrak), Katie however did lock the door…and got stuck. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time, thank God I had waited in the bathroom for her. It locked with one of those old-fashioned keys and she couldn’t get it to work, I just remember us looking at each other through the keyhole, me laughing and her freaking out. I told her to give me the key and I would try it on the other side, so she slid it under the door and it unlocked immediately. Now keep in mind that this is in a really nice, authentic Italian restaurant; I’m kneeling on the floor dying of laugher, Katie is hammering away on the door and all the other girls in the bathroom and looking at us like we’re insane. Never laughed so hard in my life. I don’t think Katie will ever lock a door again.

After lunch we took a tour of the little village, saw many old people walking arm and arm, many little Italian children playing in the streets and of course the ever popular strings of laundry hanging out of windows across alleys (like all good tourists I took a picture of this). We stopped at a huge church (reminded me of La Notre Dame), it was very cool and very, very old (built in the 14th century). The façade was spectacular. When we reached the cliff that this city is built on I almost fainted. We were sooo high up. It was fantastic!! I can’t imagine ever getting used to that view…

Da Roma, con amore.

Dinner at Capperi

Gelato, Vaticano, Colosseo...Perfecto

*Friday, January 16*

After our welcome buffet we all met in the lobby and decided to take a trip to the Vatican and check out la casa di le Pope. We jumped on the 913 bus and headed towards the city. Now, I know what you’re thinking, the Vatican is huge, and there’s no way anyone could miss it. Well, we did. We got a little lost. So we walked around for quite a while, asking “Di dov’e le Vaticano?” Of course everyone spoke English back to us, which was probably for the best considering that none of us would have been able to understand them anyway. Finally we found it and it was absolutely beautiful. As we walked up to it we entered at the end of a white columned, U-shaped spaced that surrounded the Vaticano. It was dark but all of the columns were lit up by soft orange light casting a majestic glow all around. In front of the Vatican stood a huge, extremely detailed nativity scene. About fifteen minutes, many pictures and one very bad video later, the bells started tolling and that is when you get the true effect of this little city. It was, literally, divine ;)

When we had stood around long enough and all had their fill of da Pope’s casa we decided to search for a gelatoria (which was, in all honesty, the main reason we went there), well not just any gelatoria, but the Old Bridge Gelatoria. This was my first (real) gelato experience in Italy, and let me tell you, it would put Randy’s (Lake of the Ozarks) to shame. I ordered black cherry, raspberry and caramel (I know that sounds like a strange combination but the gelato guy was cute and adamant about me getting a third flavor so I told him to choose it for me). In Italy they don’t eat just one flavor of gelato; they typically have at least two or three. Regardless of the flavor, all of it was amazing. It was so creamy but very light at the same time. While eating no one said a thing, except to mutter a quiet “ohmygod this is amazing”. We all literally struggled to leave, seriously considering going back to get more. It was painful. We decided not to be fat Americans and that we will be here for 4 months…therefore there’s no need to rush things. Keep cool baby, keep cool.

*Saturday, January 17*

Today Cait and I woke up, went to the IC (Information Commons, we have one of these on the Loyola Chi campus, it’s basically a computer room) and caught up on our emails, fb, blogs, picture downloading and what not. We then went to a lecture about the Palatine Hill, Roman Forum and The Colosseum, which was being given by one of our history professors, he’s Dutch and very passionate about what he teaches. The lecture was great but went into overtime so we were rushed through lunch (didn’t sit down for more than 10 min, can’t even remember what I ate) and herded into 4 huge buses. It took about 20 min to get to downtown Roma and let me tell you, I thought the Vatican was cool (which it was)…when I saw the Colosseum I literally squealed out loud and started crying. Everything downtown is eye candy. You can’t swing a cat down there without hitting something famous and ancient. I wish I could describe everything we saw down there but I can’t. Words won’t even begin to cover the vastness and the magnitude of the Colosseum, the amount of genius that went into creating Roman architecture, and the persistence of the ancient artifacts. It really is a wonder to behold.

Once we made it through the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, which we are planning on doing again because one day just isn’t enough (get the pictures in one day and then really get in deep the second time), we headed to the Colosseum but we weren’t allowed inside, they closed early so we could only see the outside. But not to worry! We will be going back sometime very soon!!

Da Roma, con amore.

Food, lots and lots of food

This morning I woke up in Italy.

*Thursday, January 13*
I don’t think this will ever sink in. I woke up, looked out my window and realized that I was in Rome, a city founded in 750 BC (BC!!!). I was in the same city as the Colosseum, the Pope, and some of the best food found on Earth (not to mention some of the most distinguished fashion designers). I am so lucky, it’s hard to even find the right words to describe the emotions this city can pull out of a person.

Due to excitement and a slap in the face we call reality, I knew that sleep was no longer going to be an option for me. I climbed down the tiny ladder on my bed as carefully as I could (I’m on the top bunk so chances of me stepping/falling on Caitlin are pretty high), went down to the basement, where the Mensa is located, and bought an espresso from the coffee machine (€0.60). It was amazing. No, the word ‘amazing’ isn’t suitable. Perfect(o) is more like it. I have never tasted espresso as rich as this one in the United States, and keep in mind, this was out of a machine! Now this I could get used to, but who would want to?? After another shot of espresso my head started to feel smaller and I could respond to staff members’ greetings (‘Ciao!’ instead of a slurred “sshhiaao” while very ungracefully wobbling down the stairs in my best paint-stained sweatpants). This espresso changed my life.

At twelve the group I was placed in had to meet in a classroom… to fill out paperwork in order to become legal residences in Italy, something that I hear people who have been at the JFRC (John Felice Rome Center, aka J-Force) for 6 months still haven’t received…this is, so I’ve learned, the typical Italian way of business, “I’ll get to it when I get to it, no problem!” The paperwork was painless and given the importance of it, the staff basically held our hands the whole way through it. After this we went to the lecture on “how to speak Italian to the locals” which somehow turned into “how to order coffee from the local bar (café)”.

Knowing that we would be indulging in a full-course, legit Italian meal later that night Cait and I decided to eat a light lunch. I had a stacked eggplant, tomato and mozzarella salad and a bowl of blood oranges, absolutely delicious, and she had an apple and a bag of stolen snack mix from the plane (classy). We met up with our friends Austin and Christina there in the Mensa and decided to explore the neighborhood and pick up a few things from the little shops around town.

So far I’ve learned not to smile as much as I do in America and not to greet people. Both of these actions can get women in trouble. Advice from one of our leaders, “Put your best bitch face on and you’ll fit right in”, haven’t been bothered since. Instead of spending money on a coffee maker and, with that, coffee and filters, Cait and I decided to buy €2 coffee mugs and just “borrow” a few shots of espresso from the Mensa during dinner, put it in the fridge and heat it up in the microwave (in our lounge) in the morning. We were raised to be efficient. *We later found out that we are not queens of the microwave here in Europe like we are in the US, they are much more complicated here!*

That night we went to Capperi for dinner, about 100 of us in total. First course was the antipasti (of course) little bruschetta with three topping combinations; tomato/basil, tuna/artichoke, and one with a black olive spread. I had an artichoke/tuna and it was delicious, a perfect combination, drizzled with fresh olive oil. Vini bianco e rosso were available as well as aqua naturale (still water). After the bruschetta the servers brought out huge plates of little sandwiches; tuna and artichoke with fresh olive oil, gorgonzola cheese, prosciutto, and Italian salami. All of these were perfect but the Italian salami seriously made my head explode. Its flavor was rich, perfectly spiced, and amazing. I’m never leaving this country. The pasta course was penne pomodori con pancetta affumicata (bacon), it was slightly spicy and the bacon gave the dish a subtle smoky flavor. All of the dishes are so simple, yet the thought that goes into them are intense. There is never an ingredient thrown in for the hell of it, they all have a reason for being there; this is what makes Italian food amazing, no fuss, just love. Dessert was intense. We were all so full from dinner but just couldn’t resist being tempted by what the servers brought out to us. It’s hard to describe what it was, the only way I can think of describing it is to say that it was a parfait that seemed deceptively light. On the bottom was an airy sweet crème covered by crumbled phyllo (filo) pastry and finally topped with a rich cioccolato ganache dusted with a tiny bit of powdered sugar. The texture was incredible.

After dinner Katie, Spencer, Christina, Cait and I all went out to the Cubbyhole, a tiny bar just down the street from campus. The girls all had prosecco while Spencer had a tequila sunrise. We went back to campus after one drink, still feeling the effects of jet lag….lame.

*Friday, January 14*

Today has been another one of those Loyola orientation days. We’ve had meetings all day, ‘how to order coffee in Italy” and others on rules (guidelines really… :)) along with some helpful stuff, and some not so helpful stuff. I didn’t even make it outside until about 7:30 pm when we all went down to la citta del Vaticano. Our reception dinner buffet was very nice! Cait and I downed a bottle of prosecco before going and had a great time!! I think we should start doing that before all of our meetings. There were a bunch of little finger snacks (which I’m soon coming to realize is THE way to eat Italian food), little sandwiches with prosciutto and a creamy cheese (we’ll say mascarpone), flat disks of chewy bread with asiago cheese baked on top, delicious roasted potatoes (tossed in rosemary and pork fat…really, does it get any better than that??) Well guys, it does! Dessert. Fruita de bosco (fruit of the woods, aka mixed berry) tart. Again, words fail me. Let me put it this way, I stole almost half the tart and put it in my fridge (Christina stole the other half). Halfway through our lovely dinner, Cait drops a ravioli down her shirt, cleary upset (not sure what upset her more the fact that she messed up her shirt or that a perfectly delicious legit Italian ravioli was now on the floor) and then proceeded to have a 10 minute conversation with our Dean of Students, Cincy Bomben. Drunk and sloppy. She then turns to me and asks, in all seriousness, “You think she knew I was drunk?”…

Da Roma, con amore.

Some pics from our adventure around Roma!

More Pictures at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58037397@N05/

Roma, Chapter Uno, L'areoporto e JFRC (J-Force)

After we said our goodbyes we passed through security at the airport (no full-body scans, no pat downs to my great dissatisfaction), the trip went rather smoothly. We boarded the plane, asked a few people if they would mind switching places with us, and we all three, Christina, Caitlin and I, sat in a row together, in the middle of the plane (Dad, it was a 2x3x2 seating pattern, Boeing…that’s all I know). The rest is pretty boring. Dinner was great!! Broccoli and braised beef in a mushroom sauce, béchamel cheese lasagna with nutmeg (to give it a fantastic little zing!) and a fresh carrot salad, it was hardly what I would call typical plane fare (although I notice a lot of students weren’t eating it…)!! And the blood orange juice was AMAZING! (Mom, we need to consider looking for this the next time we go to the lake, add a little Russian water and you got yourself a party!). They played The Social Network and Benvenuti al Sud (Welcome to the South), the latter a very funny Italian flick. Cait and I tried to sleep but were just too excited. Finally after about 7 or 8 hours into the flight we could see mountains, actual MOUNTAINS!! It was absolutely stunning and that’s when I started to become really excited!

When we finally touched down, got through customs and picked up our bags I didn’t think we were going to make it to the Loyola shuttle bus. The bags were extremely heavy and we each had 3 of them!! I seriously thought Cait was going to die. In all fairness, it was a long walk to the shuttle buses, trying to dodge Italian motorists who consider stop signs just as suggestions.

No one could deny it, Italy is beautiful. There’s green foliage everywhere and hills are scattered with a mix of ancient houses and contemporary apartment buildings, and there are palm trees!! (PALM TREES!!) It was about 50 degrees when we landed and got up to about 58 during the day. The climate definitely suits me!! Our campus is lovely. There is a pathway leading up to the entrance of the main building flanked with pseudo-ancient roman marble statues. Olive trees are scattered all over the campus grounds along with beautiful orange trees, which Christina has already staked out as her main breakfast supply. The building is a dark salmon color with intricate moss-green grates and wooden shudders. Everything in Rome seems to be dated, but in a very elegant way, it’s just part of the beauty of this city.

Today we are scheduled to do more paperwork and go to a ‘how to speak Italian to the locals’ lecture. Cait, Christina and I also decided to take a trip to the local supermarket to buy a coffee maker of some sort, the mensa (dining hall) is open for lunch and dinner only, so no caffe al mattino, this will be a problem. We also need to get a few bottles of vino and perhaps a few items for breakfast (although we’ve been stocking up on stolen yogurt and fruit from the mensa). There will be an all-inclusive dinner tonight at a local restaurant for a few of us to get to know each other better which should prove entertaining…free wine (!!)…(minus a trip to the ER and head staples…). All in all this seems like a pretty good start to the semester. Will post more soon!

Pictures!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/58037397@N05/

Da Roma, con amore.

Ciao!

Buongiorno!

Before leaving many of you told me to keep you updated on my travels throughout Italy and Europe…so here you go! This trip is an opportunity of a lifetime for me and I cannot wait to share all of our stories with you guys! I’ll try to update this blog as much as possible, and attempt to leave out the boring bits…but promise never to censor the good times we have ;) !! What happens in Europe will NOT stay in Europe (sorry Cait). Every detail, from our dorm room (sure to be lovely, as all Loyola dorms are) to what we ate and, of course drank, will be posted, along with pics (because I know the pictures are really the only reason you all are reading this). So please leave comments, I would love to hear from you all!!

Da Roma, con amore.