[P] Memories and Moments: Study Abroad.

In between sightseeing and traveling, I was lucky enough to meet some amazing people and have some of the best nights of my life. Here is a sneak peak of the other side of my study abroad experience and some of the people who have changed my life for the better:

Thoughts upon spending the last six months in Europe.

Things I will miss about Rome and Italy: Due due uno and C5; ridiculous adventures with my roommates; talking on the balcony; cooking pasta everyday; outlawing Nutella from the house; Trastevere, Campo dei Fiori, and Testaccio; gelato - especially one euro gelato; fizzy vino; art, history, and churches with both everywhere; espresso; the best pizza, pasta, and bruschetta in existence; Andrea; the Asian pizza place and stopping for kebabs; Scholars; 35 cent coffee machines at school; walking everywhere; the market on Sunday; zucchini pizza; Bulgaria; jumping gates because you can't figure out how to open them; crepes; Francesco's and Le Fate; California girls from St. Mary's; Roman water fountains; the night bus; Paulo; le discotece; house wine; Piazza Navona; trains; pear juice; "pure pressure"; making friends from all over America and the world; the government building; Easy Jet; pumpkin soup; Italian; cobblestone; protests; taking the tram.

Things I will not miss: taking the tram; protests; cobblestone; creepy Italian men; dog poop on the sidewalks; trash everywhere; mafia shenanigans; corruption; nothing working; bus drivers that take coffee breaks in the middle of a route; John Cabot University; lack of public and free restrooms, toilet paper, and toilet seats; pay as you go phones; pickpockets; not having a garbage disposal, dish washer, or clothes dryer; arguing with taxi drivers; having to communicate via skype; worrying about my passport; anarchists.

Things I Have Learned:
- I have a wonderful, loving support system and family
- I have the best boyfriend in the world
- I am smarter and more capable than I give myself credit for
- To be more open to people and new things
- To take that trip, to watch that sunset, to be the first one dancing
- That surviving in Rome means you can do anything!

[A] Study abroad- Final thoughts

As I sit in a Rome airport hotel for the third straight night, I realize once again how wonderful these past 7 months have been abroad. My time has been chock full of lifetime experiences, unforgettable scenes, and global exposure on a profound level. I am not ignorant to the innumerable factors that had to converge for me to have a life this wonderful- great parents, lasting friends, an adventurous girlfriend, a wealthy country, and a supportive university willing to let me travel to no penalty of my own- anzi, to my benefit in their eyes. They have all converged to give me what has been by any measure the best year of my life, and one that I hope does not set too high a standard for the rest of what I have in front of me.

The sheer number of new places I've seen since the first of last year astounds me...

Tel Aviv
Jerusalem
Tiberius
Zifat
the Golan
the Negev
London
Aix-en-Provence
Cassis
Roussillon
Gourdes
Briançon
Cinque Terre
Paris
Marseilles
Chateau Vignelaure
Nice
Avignon
Pont du Gard
London again
Porquerolles
Nimes
Séte
Narbonne
Carcassonne
Limoux
Queribus
Cucugnan
Gruisson
Perpignan
Arles
London again
Brussels
Amsterdam
Istanbul
the Black Sea
Athens
Barcelona
Valencia
Madrid
Rome
Siena
Naples
Sorrento
Pompeii
Sant Angelo
Capri
Positano
Buonconvento
Florence
San Gimignano
Rome again
Rome again
Milan
Colico
Catania
Mt. Etna
Fiesole
Venice
Pienza
Mt. Oliveto
Rome again
Florence again
Rome again

...and if I am forgetting any, I would not be surprised.

It has been a truly fantastic year, and I come away with few regrets. I am thankful for the new, lifelong friends I have made, and for the old ones that have waited me out while I went wandering. See you all soon,
A

Now for a photo rewind:

Secret Lake, Briançon- June 2010

Rousillon with Brian and Richard, June 2010

Sailing at Marseilles with Brian, July 2010

Brian, Andrew, and I at Chateau Vignelaure, July 2010

Pomai and I walk down Abbey Road, August 2010

The Acropolis, Athens, August 2010

Shea, Kaitlin, Christian and I swim at Capri, September 2010

Andrea, Albert, and I take a break on a bike tour outside Buonconvento, September 2010

Looking up, Rome, October 2010

Simba on Mt Etna, Sicily, November 2010

Laura, Christian, Andrea and I, La Pescaia, at the Poge's Christmas party, December 2010

[P] Berlin. December 2nd - 5th.

My roommate Shannon and I took a much looked forward trip to Germany to visit my long lost friend Übki. I met his two summers ago in Nashville through mutual friends. He now lives in Berlin and graciously offered up his home to us for the weekend and was the best host two gals could ask for.

 
Our time in Berlin was full of snow and festivities. We trudged through the powder to visit the sights hitting The Fernsehturm (TV Tower), the World Time Clock, Museum Island, Berliner Dom, Brandenburg Gate, and the Bundestag (German Parliament building) - though it was closed due to security reasons. We had to make frequent stops at cheerful Christmas markets to warm up where we sipped on hot wine and enjoyed specialties like currywurst. We got a late start the next day after staying out dancing the night before. Our missions for that day was to see Checkpoint Charlie and various parts of the Berlin Wall. Throughout our time there we also hung out with some of Übki's friends, picked up a few German words, and attempted to learn how to open a bottle with a lighter while sampling various German beers. 

[A] My time in Tuscany

Buonconvento, Colle Senese

My time in Tuscany has been wonderful and revealing about the region in which I’ve chosen to stay. Siena and its environs fall into the category of hill cities, perched up in their original medieval configurations on strategic crags. The towns I have gotten a chance to see, among others, include San Gimignano, Fiesole, Pienza, Mt. Oliveto, and Buonconvento.

San Gimignano

On average they are home to about 300 people, and they function as agricultural crossroads and banking hubs, much as they did in the middle ages, the Sienese golden age. Fiesole was actually the capital of the Etruscan empire, that which preceded the Roman empire and gave its name to the region.

Fiesole

Main industries are wine, olive oil, produce, and pecorino. But NOT bread. The bread is really bad- they refuse to use salt in the Sienese regions. The story has it that Pisa, a one time rival of Siena and ally of the dominant Florence, had a monopoly on the salt production in the region, and during wartime refused to ship to Siena. The Sienese, too proud for history, pretended to like the bread better without salt, and so on went the tradition.

Tuscans, San Gimignano

Tuscany does seem a bit stuck in the Renaissance, or in Siena's case the 1300s, but it is in a quaint, almost functional way. The Italian government props up what appears to be an advanced, semi-industrialized society with the appropriate grants, and Siena is rather rich because of its banking tradition. All the same, the sense is far from negative.

Piazza del Campo, Siena

[P]. Venice. November 25th - 28th.

 
For Thanksgiving, Alex and I decided to spend a relaxing weekend on the partly submerged islands of Venice. We stayed in an out-of-the-way hotel close to the original Jewish Ghetto. Our first day out, the concierge warned us that there was High Tide meaning, as we were soon to find out, part of the city's sidewalks and piazzas were underwater. After 20 feet I already had wet socks and went on the hunt for rain boots wondering why no one warns you about these things. Luckily, they had built raised platforms in the more touristy areas. Our next stop was Piazza San Marco, home to Saint Mark's Basilica and the saint's resting place. It is a jewel of a church with Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian influences. It is also a reminder of the time Venetians loots Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. We spent the rest of the day strolling around the city, shopping, eating seafood, and watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

The next day was much drier and the water levels were mostly back to normal. We took a gondola ride around the city, which was a little awkward since tourists would take your picture whenever you went under a bridge. (But hey, I totally did it too...) After we stopped by a Shabbat lunch at the restaurant of a nice, American Jewish man we had met the night before when we forgot that it was the start of Shabbat or Jewish day of rest.  That afternoon we visited the Peggy Guggenheim Collection of modern and futurist art.

[A] Colico

 Over the week I had off for fall break, I decided to take a trip within Italy, both to save money and to better know the country I was in. I had heard great things about Lake Como, and in fact a few of my Italian friends were from the area and were able to suggest a good spot to spend a couple days to "recover" from my actually incredibly light schedule, but really just to center myself a bit. After Pomai came to visit for the weekend, I took a bus to Milan, a five hour trip first through the hills of Tuscany and Emilia, and then through a thoroughly flat piece of Italy, the Veneto, which reminded me a bit of Illinois. In Milan it was freezing cold, whereas in Siena it was still and indian summer. I made my way from the bus station to the train station and took an hour up along the lake to get to Colico, a tiny little town at the Northernmost point of the lake. My hotel was right next to the train station, along with the rest of the town, and I settled in before grabbing dinner at one of two restaurants. It had a nice selection of teas.

 The next day I began to walk, first going as far up the mountain on the base of which Colico rests as I could, and then down to the shore where I found a network of trails that led potentially miles away, connecting around the entire lake. I walked for a ways then decided, as it was lunchtime, to save more exploring for the next day. I returned to town for lunch, did a bit of store browsing, found a bookstore where I got a Pirandello novel and a cafe where I began to read it. By sunset I was mostly finished.

 That night I went to the other restaurant, Voglia, which turned out to be fantastic. Eating alone can be awkward, but it seemed that every one in the restaurant was also alone, giving it a sort of silent comraderie. I had quite a meal, then turned in early.

 The next day I returned early, after hotel breakfast, to the trails and walked, with my notebook and pencils, away. I found a fork about three miles down the trail the led me up to a Spanish fort (?) on top of a small hill. I sat there, read and drew, and enjoyed the brisk air and the mountainlake view. I saw no one the entire morning. I returned for a lunch at restaurant number one, and afterwards went for a much needed haircut, which has since received the following reviews:
"Best haircut of your life!"
"This is why you shouldn't go to Custom Cuts!"
"Why is this a revelation for you?"
I, resentful of the common disdain for all other haircuts I've ever had, resignedly agree.

That night I returned to Voglia, and this time I brought my kindle. It was a very nice addition, and I quickly finished a book and resumed another. My reading production skyrockets when I have a) free time b) no human contact. By the end of my Colico trip, amid the stunning nature and quaint mode of existence I had developed a new fondness for the people and tasks that fill my day. In other words, I accomplished exactly what I wanted to with the trip! Batteries recharged, I returned the next day by train to Siena.
-A