Spring Break

The past two weeks have been so busy, so I finally found time to tell you all how a European Spring Break is. First off, my boyfriend Jordan Mazur, came in to visit. The first week he was here, it was spent in Rome. I had midterms that week, so it was jam packed with studying and sight seeing. He has never been out of the country before, so I took it upon myself to make sure we saw EVERYTHING. After he finally was adjusting to Italy, it was time to travel. Him and I took a 10 day back packing trip to Paris, Munich, and Venice.

Our first stop was Paris, the city of love! It was also the city of the first hostel I have ever stayed in. We stayed in the Montmartre neighborhood. It was located right next to the Sacre Coeur and the metro, so it was quite easy to get into town. We spent the first day walking to the Notre Dame, Champs Elysse, Sacre Coeur, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triumph. It was a very long, but exciting day. After a long day, we decided to go out for a traditional French meal, which consisted of chicken and lamb. Following dinner, we went out for a few drinks and enjoyed the Parisian night life.

The second day we reserved strictly for the Eiffel Tower. It was on the agenda to climb all the way to the top! After about 600 steps and two elevator rides, we made it to the Tower's Summit. After experiencing some breathtaking views and more steps, it was time to walk around the city again. There was an outdoor festival going on, so it was nice to walk around and listen to some music. One thing that really took us by surprise were the amount of Irish people in Paris at the time. Apparently, it was the last rugby game of the season, so we also got to experience the excitement and competition of the Irish and the Parisians (the Irish won in case you were wondering).  After two long days, it was time to board our train to take on our next destination: Munich, Germany.

When boarding our first overnight train of the trip, we were not quite sure what to expect. But luckily, we had booked the sleeper carts. Getting sleep that night was pretty easy, and in the morning we arrived in Germany bright and early. Unfortunately, the hostel we were staying in wouldn't let us check in until about noon. That was super unfortunate due to the fact that our train arrived in at 7 in the morning. When we got to our hostel, we were astonished how beautiful it was. It was so nice, clean, and had such a friendly atmosphere. We decided to wait out the time and get breakfast. When we finally got our room, we got ready and then head out into town. We spent the day getting to know the area, appreciating the fantastic street performances, and shopped around. When the night came about, we went to our first brewery/beer garden of our stay, Augustiners. After an authentic German dinner and beer, we headed back to our hostel and hung around there for the night.

The second day in Germany, we were fortunate enough to take a guided tour through the concentration camp memorial of Dachau. It was such a humbling experience getting to learn about the history of the camp. A lot of the memorial sight gave off such an eerie and unsettling vibe, especially in the roll-call square and the crematoriums. After a day tour of Dachau, Jordan and I decided to go on the "Beer Challenge" which was a tour that took you to the most well known beer gardens of Munich. Unfortunately it was cancelled, so we went to the Hofbrauhaus and spent time there. We ended up meeting up with some people from our hostel, and had a nice night out.

On our last day in Germany we spent time walking through the Viktualienmarkt, which is an outdoor food market in downtown Munich. After that, we found a nice spot by a river, and stayed there for a while. After a nice and relaxing dinner, we got an authentic dinner of Schnitzel, and then headed to the train station to head to our final destination: Venice.

This overnight train was definitely not as nice, we however, did find our own Coachette. After a night of barely any sleep, we arrived in Venice. We checked into our cozy little Bed and Breakfast, and got ready for the day. Our host was nice enough to pretty much plan our day out, so we followed his recommendations. We went to grab some coffee and breakfast, and then headed to the Fish Market (taking a Venetian Gondola to get there). Following the market, we headed around to San Marco's Square and got lunch there. After lunch, we decided to take a boat ride out to Murano, the well known glass blowing island of Venice. We stayed there for a few hours and walked around the different glass shops, and we even sat in on a glass blowing factory (they were making cups at the time). We finally decided to head back to the main land, and got dinner. For dinner, I had the Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia, which is a traditional squid with ink sauce pasta. It was delicious, and a nice way to end the day.

On our final day of the trip, we just took it easy and walked around the island and shops some more. Finally around 5pm, it was time to head back to Rome. After such a long time away from Rome, it was super nice getting back. It was an exciting and unforgettable trip!

Under the Tuscan Sun

What would you think when you hear about Tuscany? Most people would settle with the thoughts of rolling hills, countless olive trees, and countless rows of grape vines. If you were one of these people, you are right! This weekend I went on a trip that was planned through my university to Pisa, Florence, and Trequanda.

We started our weekend with an extremely early wake up call to meet our group in front of our school at 7am. We then had a three hour bus ride to the city of Pisa. There we had a tour of the city which ended with taking a million pictures at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, getting lunch, and shopping. The weather was not the best, but at least the rain held off until we were on the way back to the hotel.  That night after checking in, our group was served a delicious 5 course Tuscan meal. The meal included a Tuscan style soup, salad, salmon pasta, sea bass filet with Mediterranean style potatoes, and tiramisu. After dinner, the group was quick to disperse to our rooms and get sleep.

The second day consisted of yet another early wake up call, and a 40 minute bus ride to the city of Florence. Upon arriving to the city of Florence, we had another group tour of the city. It took us to the most beautiful parts of the city. After the tour, it was a free day to spend around Florence. Financially this was not the best idea because of the leather shops. You guessed it, a leather jacket and pair of boots were bought in the midst of the excitement. My roommates and I also decided to try a Tuscan lunch delicacy called Lompredotto. Lompredotto is the fourth stomach of a cow boiled in water with tomatoes, onion, celery, and parsley. It was a bit unsettling, but it was definitely tasty. After another long day, we were greated with another 5 course Tuscan meal. This time, we had a classic Italian antipasto dish, another Tuscan soup, and pork and beans. Instead of spending the night out on town, we all went to bed early due to the earliest wake up call of the weekend.

We started our final day in Tuscany with a 6am wakeup call. We needed to get on the road in order to get to the city of Trequanda. We were a bit skeptical because not many people have heard of this town. It is a small wine town next to the city of Sienna. We knew we were close to our destination because of the numerous amounts of olive trees in sight. After a three hour bus ride, we made it to our destination. This day consisted of a tour of vineyard, a wine tasting, and a lunch. It was probably the most beautiful place I have been to since being abroad.

After a long exciting weekend it is always nice to come back home to Rome. The traveling is exciting, but being back to my apartment and seeing my friends always makes this study abroad experience one to remember.

 

 

 

 

 

When in Rome: Do as the Romans Do

I know I have been talking about my trips and everything going on over here, but I figured this would be a great time to talk about the most important city of them all: Rome! There are so many different perceptions of this old quaint city, and let me tell you, they are NOTHING like what I thought. 

When I use to dream about living in la città di Roma I would always compare it to the movies. Drinking coffee while taking in the quiet Italian lifestyle was something I had always wanted to do. But if you think that’s going to happen in Rome, think again! Rome is actually a big, loud, eventful city. If there aren’t any protests, the packed trams, late buses, and many cafes lining the streets are more of an accurate depiction. 

Rome is obviously known for many famous landmarks, such as the Colosseum, the Forums, the ruins, the Vatican, and many more, but what people do not know is that that is only one small section of the city. Rome is split up into many different neighborhoods. Each neighborhood is different depending on where you live. I was fortunate enough to live along Quattro Venti in the Trastevere neighborhood. My neighborhood is about a 20 minute walk to school and a 10 minute walk to public transportation. There are many different pizzerias, cafes, and fruit stands lining the streets. The locals in our area have been nothing but welcoming and nice. Whether it be Patrizio and Guiseppe at the coffee shop or Mohammad at the fruit stand, they have been more than happy to lend a helping hand. 

My apartment consists of two rooms, a bathroom, a living room, a washer, and a kitchen. It is quite roomy despite the many drying racks lining our hallways. That is one thing that I miss more than anything is a dryer! I am living with another girl from Central named Sarah, and then we live with two girls from Maryland named Kalkidan and Sapna. We have been more than fortunate because we all clicked instantly. Right across the street, there is another group of girls, mostly from Maryland, who we hang out with quite a bit. Other friends of ours come from different places such as California, Maryland, Germany, Egypt, Italy, France, England, and many more!

Being in class with people from all around the world is probably one of the coolest experiences ever. Everyone has such a different grasp on concepts that it’s interesting to hear how different people/cultures interact to different situations. For example, I am currently taking a documentary production workshop class. My teacher is from the Netherlands, and she worked for the Dutch Documentary network for many years. Learning about her filming technique and comparing it to my own can only benefit me in the future. 

It seriously saddens me to know that I have already been here for a month. Studying abroad has been the best decision I have ever made! People say that time flies when you’re having fun, and I couldn’t agree more. Ciao for now!

Happy Carnevale!

This week was a bit of a drag. Last weekend we were in Zurich, and it was only four days until we were off to our next weekend trip: Venezia! Halfway through the week though, I had to make my first trip to the doctors. I had gotten a pretty bad cold a few weeks ago, and it was not getting better. I was getting worried that the cough and cold I had was going to get worse and possibly turn into Bronchitis. After a week of work and feeling a bit under the weather, Friday hit and we were ready to go. 

Our day started by having to wake up around 5am to get ready. We then all took a cab to Roma Termini train station (that to our disbelief was surprisingly close to Piazza Venezia). We took our three hour train ride which we pretty much slept through. When arriving in Venice we were surrounded by the most beautiful scenery. We grabbed some lunch, and then got lost finding our hotel. Now, Venice is definitely not the easiest place to navigate around, but after three days, we finally got the hang of it. After a day of wandering around shopping, trying new things, finding our dream masks, and grabbing some drinks it was time to call it night! 

The next day, we woke up extra early so we could make it to Murano. Murano is one of the islands off of Venice which is known for it's glass blowing factories. The weather on the second day was MISERABLE. It rained pretty much the whole day, and it was super cold. I understand that it was NOTHING close to how the weather is at home, but once you get use to Rome, it was cold. We toured a glass factory, wandered around Murano, and bought some souvenirs. Finally, we decided it was time to head back to the main land for some lunch and Carnevale festivities. After a delicious but expensive meal, my friends and I made our way back to the hotel to change and get ready for the night. We did not have a solid plan of what we were going to do, so we got our masks and headed out towards San Marco's Piazza. Luckily, we found a HUGE Carnevale dance celebration in Piazzale Rielto. It was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen, and I couldn't have been happier to be apart of it! 

After a long night of dancing and hanging with friends, waking up the next day to make our train was not the easiest. We made our way back to the train station, and now we're back in Rome for another four days until our weekend trip to Tuscano! 

 

Willkommen in Zürich

After almost a week of not writing I feel like it would be a great time to fill everyone in. Rome has been absolutely amazing. As another day passes I could not be more blessed for the opportunity of studying abroad. I've made some great friends and had some awesome experiences. The biggest things that have happened since writing last were probably my birthday and first weekend trip of the semester! 

First off, having your birthday abroad is such a crazy occurrence. I was a bit hesitant having my birthday away from home because I felt like no one would really want to celebrate. But I was wrong! My roommates surprised me with a cake and an unforgettable night out!  It started off with my roommates, neighbors, and I going to an Appertivo and ended with a night out on the town with some other friends. Turning 21 is a big deal in itself, but being able to turn 21 in Rome is something I will never forget!

After a long week of classes, two of my roommates and I headed to Zurich, Switzerland for a concert! Our weekend trip started off with an early morning wake up call of 5:30am. After taking the train to the airport we waited excitedly until our flight arrived. After an hour and half flight we finally know we are near our destination because of the breathtaking view of the Swiss Alps. 

Upon arriving in Switzerland, we had the hardest time understanding ANYTHING because of the language barrier. The positive thing is that everyone speaks English, but navigating our way through the city was a whole new obstacle! After checking into our hotel we headed downtown to grab dinner before our show. Now, we didn't know this before, but Switzerland is SO EXPENSIVE. An example: a drink at Starbucks was about 9 Franks, and a typical sized meal ranged between 50-70 Franks. And if you don't know one Frank is equivalent to about $1.12 American. After dinner we headed to the concert, and had one of the best nights so far!!! We got to listen to music and hang out with some of our favorite artists. It was definitely a great birthday gift! 

 

Day two we decided to just wander around, and see where the day takes us. Definitely should not have done that because it took us to the popular Swiss Chocolatier called Sprungli. Let's just say that we will be living on delectable sweets for the next few weeks! 

Tomorrow is our last day, and so far all we have planned is trying a traditional fondue lunch. After lunch, we are going to climb a mountain for a well-known and beautiful view of the city. Our flight leaves around 8pm which gives us one last day!  I couldn't have asked for a better first trip. Now time to get back to Rome until next weekend, Carnivale in Venice!!! 

A Nice Time to Check In

When moving to a new country, it definitely takes some getting use to. But under these circumstances, I think I have adjusted well. I finally can navigate around with knowledge of where I am actually going, and I know how to use the Tram/Bus systems! But then again, that's only in my area…Rome is HUGE! Classes have been going well, in fact, this weekend, I get to go to an international documentary film festival! Other than classes and crappy weather, I got a cold due to the constant changing weather and rain! :(

Aside from feeling off, my roommates and I have been booking all of our trips for the semester. We will be going to Zurich, Tuscany, Florence, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Sorrento, Capri , Assisi, Venice, Paris, Munich, Barcelona, and London! It's a bit of a blow for our bank accounts, but a $100 flight is always better than $1,000 dollar flight. My semester is booked, but I know that with all the excitement it will go by fast which is a scary thought.

Tonight, my roommates and I are going to take our friend Michelle to our favorite pizzeria in Trastevere! After, we decided it is finally time to check out the different bars, pubs, and gelaterias in the Trastevere area. I mean seriously, what is better than gelato for after dinner? NOTHING! Oh, and on an exciting note, my 21st birthday is Tuesday, so I am looking forward to that as well!

 It's a shorter blog this time because I feel like we haven't done as much because of the rainy weather. The locals say that it will clear up by the end of the month, so fingers crossed! And plus, once the trips start happening, I'll be sure to write more!