ok, so I know that I have been doing a terrible job at keeping this blog going, but I've just been so busy and so excited to have my parents here. I promise a nice long, funny blog on Monday after they leave.
But to sum up, I just spent the best week giving a tour of Rome, hiking through Cinque Terre again, and wandering the streets of Assisi. Basically, I'm not ready to stop living this wonderful life.
I'll post soon, cross my heart. La vita e bella.
Eliza
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
I LIVE IN ROME!
These past few days have really drilled it home that I live in Rome. For some reason, I've woken up each morning just thinking "Holy crap, I live in the eternal city." This could possibly be because I've done some very Roman things these past two days....
Yesterday morning, I went to the papal audience. It was extremely interesting, but also a bit of a bust(sorry Grammy). It was supposed to be outside, but his holiness was cold, so everyone had to pack into the conference center. You couldn't get close and the room was full of very loud Texans. There were blessings in 20 different languages and the Pope talked for a bit in German. The highlight of the audience was probably the very good looking swiss guards that talked with our group of girls :-)
After the audience, my art class took a walk around the perimeter of the Vatican, learning about the history and architecture of the area. Next, for mythology class, we went to the Galleria Borghese. The Gallery holds many sculptures by Bernini, and paintings by Caravaggio, Titian, and Raphael. That was my second time to the Borghese and it's even better the second time around.
Today, I went with my archaeology class to the Catacombs of Priscilla. These catacombs are further away from the center of the city than the ones on the Appian Way, so they are vistied less often. They are also better preserved and larger and are soooooo cool. The catacombs began as a mining system, then were transformed into the cemetery for the Romans. The Catacombs of Priscilla create a labryinth spreading for 8 miles. It is forbidden to enter the tunnels without a guide, as people become quickly lost. It brought out the Indiana Jones in all of us....everyone daring the other to go down a dark deserted tunnel. Of course, we never did, because our guide kept telling us firmly that it was too dangerous, yet smiled at our willingness. I would never ever go down there alone.....but it was amazing to see this network 100 feet underground.
I've been here for two and a half months, but it still feels unreal. This is such an incredible city and I'm so glad that I get to be a part of it, however short.
Ti voglio bene.
Yesterday morning, I went to the papal audience. It was extremely interesting, but also a bit of a bust(sorry Grammy). It was supposed to be outside, but his holiness was cold, so everyone had to pack into the conference center. You couldn't get close and the room was full of very loud Texans. There were blessings in 20 different languages and the Pope talked for a bit in German. The highlight of the audience was probably the very good looking swiss guards that talked with our group of girls :-)
After the audience, my art class took a walk around the perimeter of the Vatican, learning about the history and architecture of the area. Next, for mythology class, we went to the Galleria Borghese. The Gallery holds many sculptures by Bernini, and paintings by Caravaggio, Titian, and Raphael. That was my second time to the Borghese and it's even better the second time around.
Today, I went with my archaeology class to the Catacombs of Priscilla. These catacombs are further away from the center of the city than the ones on the Appian Way, so they are vistied less often. They are also better preserved and larger and are soooooo cool. The catacombs began as a mining system, then were transformed into the cemetery for the Romans. The Catacombs of Priscilla create a labryinth spreading for 8 miles. It is forbidden to enter the tunnels without a guide, as people become quickly lost. It brought out the Indiana Jones in all of us....everyone daring the other to go down a dark deserted tunnel. Of course, we never did, because our guide kept telling us firmly that it was too dangerous, yet smiled at our willingness. I would never ever go down there alone.....but it was amazing to see this network 100 feet underground.
I've been here for two and a half months, but it still feels unreal. This is such an incredible city and I'm so glad that I get to be a part of it, however short.
Ti voglio bene.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Lake Garda
Ciao ragazzi!
Good news, I did very well on all of my mid-terms....and now that they're over, I can go back to doing 0 work during the week. Classes here are still pretty much non-existent. Teachers don't really care, so those of us that do put in the effort end up doing really well. Needless to say, I'm having a very easy semester.
Bad news, I'm sick. The flu's going around and pretty much everyone at school has a variation of it. Hopefully, it will go away soon...
This weekend was awesome. My friend Sarah and I went up north to the Lake region. I know everyone has heard of Lake Como, but I found a different place. We went to Lake Garda, which is the largest lake in Italy and is surrounded by the Dolomite Mountain Range. The cliffs come right down to the green, clear water. It is a stunning landscape. I loved being back in the mountains. It took awhile to get there, as all the good places are far away, but we arrived in a little town called Riva del Garda. The towns around the lake are focused on water sports, parasailing, windsurfing, scuba diving, sailing, etc. Riva is one of the biggest towns, with a large port and long beaches. It was pretty deserted, since the winter season has officially started. Sarah and I checked into our hotel(very very nice upgrade from the hostels) and walked around town. We spent most of our time down by the water, taking pictures and relaxing. The mountains were just so dramatic and the snow topped peaks made me smile. We went out for a very long dinner Friday night. It was delicious as usual.
On Saturday, we roamed the town and parks in the morning, then took a boat ride to the town of Limone. While the town obviously does grown lemons, it was actually named after a Latin word meaning 'border'. Don't worry, I won't bore you with that now. Limone was a very cute little town. Stone walkways and pink flowers everywhere. We wandered through the town, had a picnic lunch in an olive grove, and took more pictures. The boat ride was definitely worth it, seeing the mountains from the water was spectacular. Saturday afternoon, we strolled around Riva some more. Really just taking it in and enjoying the peacefulness. Unfortunately, I was still feeling sick, so we went in a little early.
On Sunday, we started the journey home, which should have been fairly short, but....leave it to the Italians to go on strike. We ended up stuck in Verona for 4 hours, trying to find any train that could bring us home. We finally took a train towards Venice, stopped in Padova, then took a train to Bologna, then home(14 hours later). It was stressful, but I guess just one more thing that you have to get used to in this beautiful country :-)
I am definitely returning to Lake Garda in the summer. I would love to go sailing and windsurfing, not to mention hike in this beautiful landscape. I feel like every weekend I return to Rome knowing that someday I have to return to the place I explored that weekend. It's never enough time to see it all. Everywhere I've gone has amazed me. There is so much beauty.
This was my last weekend trip on my own. Next weekend is Florence with school, then my parents for 2 weekends, then I'm saying goodbye to Rome for the last 2 weekends. One of my goals for this trip was to see as many different regions of Italy as I could. Out of the 14 regions(including Sicily), I have been to 10. I'm pretty pleased with that, but you can trust I'll be back someday to finish it off....
Ti voglio bene(I love you)
Good news, I did very well on all of my mid-terms....and now that they're over, I can go back to doing 0 work during the week. Classes here are still pretty much non-existent. Teachers don't really care, so those of us that do put in the effort end up doing really well. Needless to say, I'm having a very easy semester.
Bad news, I'm sick. The flu's going around and pretty much everyone at school has a variation of it. Hopefully, it will go away soon...
This weekend was awesome. My friend Sarah and I went up north to the Lake region. I know everyone has heard of Lake Como, but I found a different place. We went to Lake Garda, which is the largest lake in Italy and is surrounded by the Dolomite Mountain Range. The cliffs come right down to the green, clear water. It is a stunning landscape. I loved being back in the mountains. It took awhile to get there, as all the good places are far away, but we arrived in a little town called Riva del Garda. The towns around the lake are focused on water sports, parasailing, windsurfing, scuba diving, sailing, etc. Riva is one of the biggest towns, with a large port and long beaches. It was pretty deserted, since the winter season has officially started. Sarah and I checked into our hotel(very very nice upgrade from the hostels) and walked around town. We spent most of our time down by the water, taking pictures and relaxing. The mountains were just so dramatic and the snow topped peaks made me smile. We went out for a very long dinner Friday night. It was delicious as usual.
On Saturday, we roamed the town and parks in the morning, then took a boat ride to the town of Limone. While the town obviously does grown lemons, it was actually named after a Latin word meaning 'border'. Don't worry, I won't bore you with that now. Limone was a very cute little town. Stone walkways and pink flowers everywhere. We wandered through the town, had a picnic lunch in an olive grove, and took more pictures. The boat ride was definitely worth it, seeing the mountains from the water was spectacular. Saturday afternoon, we strolled around Riva some more. Really just taking it in and enjoying the peacefulness. Unfortunately, I was still feeling sick, so we went in a little early.
On Sunday, we started the journey home, which should have been fairly short, but....leave it to the Italians to go on strike. We ended up stuck in Verona for 4 hours, trying to find any train that could bring us home. We finally took a train towards Venice, stopped in Padova, then took a train to Bologna, then home(14 hours later). It was stressful, but I guess just one more thing that you have to get used to in this beautiful country :-)
I am definitely returning to Lake Garda in the summer. I would love to go sailing and windsurfing, not to mention hike in this beautiful landscape. I feel like every weekend I return to Rome knowing that someday I have to return to the place I explored that weekend. It's never enough time to see it all. Everywhere I've gone has amazed me. There is so much beauty.
This was my last weekend trip on my own. Next weekend is Florence with school, then my parents for 2 weekends, then I'm saying goodbye to Rome for the last 2 weekends. One of my goals for this trip was to see as many different regions of Italy as I could. Out of the 14 regions(including Sicily), I have been to 10. I'm pretty pleased with that, but you can trust I'll be back someday to finish it off....
Ti voglio bene(I love you)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Noon
Spent the weekend in beautiful Paris with beautiful Marion!
I had an incredibly wonderful time. This weekend was all about seeing my sister from another mister. For those who don't know, Marion Destoop stayed with my family my senior year in high school as an exchange student. She's from Lille, France and is one of my most favorite people in the whole world. We haven't seen eachother in over a year, so it was so nice to have a whole weekend together.
I got to Paris early Friday morning and met Marion at the station. We took the train to Versailles, since we were able to stay with her sister and her sister's husband, Fanny and Alex. Fanny and Alex's flat is literally 5 minutes from Chateau de Versailles. It is such a beautiful town and their flat was extremely comfortable. We were very lucky to have stayed there. After dropping our stuff off, we went back into Paris and out to lunch. Just stopped at a random cafe and had delicious food. After that, we treated ourselves to a few hours at a hammam at the Mosquee de Paris. The hammam is a sauna, turkish style. There are 3 rooms, progressively getting hotter. The middle room has little niches you can lay in and the most beautiful mosaics. On Friday, only women were allowed, so it was really nice to just have a bunch of women hanging out and purifying their bodies. The hottest of the saunas was almost unbearable. It made your eyes and throat burn when you breathed in deeply, but it felt so good. After the sauna, we went for a walk through the Luxembourg Gardens, then I went and got my nose pierced(I like it a lot). We went back to Versailles and had a very nice dinner with Fanny and Alex.
On Saturday, we woke up to fresh chocolate croissants. Marion and I spent the morning at the Musee d'Orsay with all of the Impressionists. We had a picnic lunch in a park, and did a little shopping in the afternoon. That evening, we got dressed up and went to the Opera Garnier!!!! We say Joyeux(Jewels), a ballet with three acts: Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds. The ballet was so graceful and the Opera Garnier was more than I imagined. I thought the Phantom would appear at any moment. We went out for a lovely dinner after and to the bars.
On Sunday morning, once again we were greeted by croissants. We stuck around Versailles, went for a walk, and had another delicious lunch with Fanny and Alex. It was raining out, but we still went to Montmarte and Sacre Coeur.
It was such a good time. Fortunately, Marion and her parents are coming to Rome in a few weeks, so I get to see her again!
It's a rainy week here, but that's ok, because I still live in ROME!!!!!!!
I had an incredibly wonderful time. This weekend was all about seeing my sister from another mister. For those who don't know, Marion Destoop stayed with my family my senior year in high school as an exchange student. She's from Lille, France and is one of my most favorite people in the whole world. We haven't seen eachother in over a year, so it was so nice to have a whole weekend together.
I got to Paris early Friday morning and met Marion at the station. We took the train to Versailles, since we were able to stay with her sister and her sister's husband, Fanny and Alex. Fanny and Alex's flat is literally 5 minutes from Chateau de Versailles. It is such a beautiful town and their flat was extremely comfortable. We were very lucky to have stayed there. After dropping our stuff off, we went back into Paris and out to lunch. Just stopped at a random cafe and had delicious food. After that, we treated ourselves to a few hours at a hammam at the Mosquee de Paris. The hammam is a sauna, turkish style. There are 3 rooms, progressively getting hotter. The middle room has little niches you can lay in and the most beautiful mosaics. On Friday, only women were allowed, so it was really nice to just have a bunch of women hanging out and purifying their bodies. The hottest of the saunas was almost unbearable. It made your eyes and throat burn when you breathed in deeply, but it felt so good. After the sauna, we went for a walk through the Luxembourg Gardens, then I went and got my nose pierced(I like it a lot). We went back to Versailles and had a very nice dinner with Fanny and Alex.
On Saturday, we woke up to fresh chocolate croissants. Marion and I spent the morning at the Musee d'Orsay with all of the Impressionists. We had a picnic lunch in a park, and did a little shopping in the afternoon. That evening, we got dressed up and went to the Opera Garnier!!!! We say Joyeux(Jewels), a ballet with three acts: Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds. The ballet was so graceful and the Opera Garnier was more than I imagined. I thought the Phantom would appear at any moment. We went out for a lovely dinner after and to the bars.
On Sunday morning, once again we were greeted by croissants. We stuck around Versailles, went for a walk, and had another delicious lunch with Fanny and Alex. It was raining out, but we still went to Montmarte and Sacre Coeur.
It was such a good time. Fortunately, Marion and her parents are coming to Rome in a few weeks, so I get to see her again!
It's a rainy week here, but that's ok, because I still live in ROME!!!!!!!
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