Cliffs, Guinness, and the Little People ...Must be Ireland

One of our trains leaving London was late, so we missed our next train and then had to take a slower and later ferry, so we lost almost a half day in Ireland- which made me quite sad. We really did jam a lot into short time in Ireland. We took a bus from the ferry to the center of Dublin and some patrolling officers pointed us in the right direction of our hostel. The hostel St. John Gogarty's was right in the temple bar region and had its own three story pub attached that played live Irish music from 2:30-2:30 every day so we got to enjoy that pretty much whenever we were in our room. We spent our first night enjoying Guinness and corned beef cabbage at said pub. The next morning we caught a bus at 7am for a day trip to Galway and the Cliffs of Moyer. I am so happy we did this tour, it was an amazing experience. We first stopped at an old castle on a hill by a lake from the 13th century and took a ton of pictures. Our second stop was at an area where people lives thousands of years ago. It was built up on a hill with surround fields. The third stop was an anicent burial/site temple that almost looked like stonehenge on a smaller scale. We then saw the famous crosses of Ireland and then made it the Cliff Of Moyer which are so impressive. They are so high and the water just crashes against the rocks. I was suprised by how blue the water was and grateful to have such a sunny day. Our tour guide then took us to some "baby cliffs" where you can get right up to the edge without a wall. Our last stop was at a twelth century Abby= really cool inscriptions and artwork into the building. It was a really long day, but it was definalty my favorite of spring break.

The next morning we made up the lost time due the train/ferry debacle and went to the Guinness factory. It was cool, but def not as fun at the Hieneken one in Amsterdam. Cold and fresh Guinness is pretty damn awesome though There is a really cool bar at the top with an awesome view of Dublin. We then decided the check our email and make sure everything with our flight was still good by going to an internet cafe on the third floor of a building. While walking up the staircare, I see two men huddle in a corner with a light, tin foil, and a straw- I bet you can guess what they were doing and if you can't it's prolly best you don't know. But there you go, right in the stairway of an internet cafe in Dublin. I really loved Ireland and want to go back sometime when I have more time to enjoy the scenery and more cities!

You Sound Like You're From London

We decided to take an overnight ferry from Holland to England instead of dealing with the hassle of flying. We took a train from Amsterdam to the Hook of Holland and waited until we could board the boat. It was really empty, there had to be less than thirty people on it and it was fairly large ship. It was almost erie being that empty. We had a cabin with a porthole view though, so that was nice. We were set to dock around 6:30, so defintely an early morning. We just got something to eat and went to bed, what else is there to do? I set a wake up call for an hour before we dock so we would have time to get everything together- well aparently we got there early because I got a wake up call at 3:30AM. Not pleasent. I finally figured out that we may have docked at 4:30, but didn't have to get off the ship until 6:30. We were Harwich and took a train to London and got there around 9:30- wondered around the station for a bit before finding an info booth. We booked a trip to stonehenge, got some london passes, and day passes for the public transit. We finally made it to our hostel- it was hard with no map bc the directions were a bit confusing. We dropped off our bags, got some lunch-yummy Thai food, and took the bus to stonehenge. The bus was pretty jumpy and within five mins a guy puked all over himself and the seat next to him- did not smell very nice. When we finally made it out there it was sleeting and really windy. In a strange way I didn't mind because I always picture stonehenge covered in mist and mystery, I like illiteration-sue me. There were a lot of sheep around the area- which always makes me happy. The stones were bigger than what I pictured, but they don't let you get too close. I took a lot of cool pictures, walked all the way around it, got some hot coco and got my frozen ass back on the bus.

We got an early start the next day and began at Westminster Abby and walked around the block to get pics of Big Ben and the House of Parliment. I thought I had left Rome, the land of protests for everything, and was greated by a civil workers protest/strike. We then treked through St. James Park, which was really pretty and had all kinds of cool looking birds and ended up at Buckingham Palace. We got to see the guards and walked over by the stables before heading over the St. Paul's Catherdral. It was massive and has a basillica that is only second in size to St. Peter's in Rome. It was really pretty and I got some yummy soup in the cafe there. Our next stop was the Tower of London, which is more of a castle complex than a single Tower. We caught up on a tour with a really good guide. It was pretty cool to see where Anne Boylen lost her head- poor girl. I also really liked reading all inscriptions prisnors left on the walls. Our last stop was the London Bridge Experinece- which is a cheesy explanation about the bridge throughout the years followed by a haunted house filled with the lost souls of Plague victims. Ha it was entertaining and included in the London Pass. I would love to spend more time in London and not be so rushed. I could have easily spent an entire day at the Tower. Hoping to see more when I go back with my mom :-)

AmsterHOTdam

Oh the wonders of RyanAir. Our flight was not right into Amsterdam, but Eindhoven which is about 2 hours South so we got take a wonderful bus ride. The time passes pretty quickly though, so no worries. When we got to the city it was almost dark and starting to drizzle, but we found out hostel pretty quickly. It right in the middle of the red light district (which will be RLD from hence forth) and was insanely nice- the best place I've stayed yet. The first floor had a pretty cool, and we got discounted food and drinks since we were staying there- score! My main goal in Amsterdam was to find chicken wings, since they the thing I have been craving the most since leaving the US and lo and behold- the hostel had them. They were an asiany-sauce...but hey it's been so long that they were still amazing to me. The first night we just had some drinks and walked around the RLD some.

I wanted to get an early start the next morning, but some people would not get out of bed...grrr. Eventually we made it to the Anne Frank house which was a really sobering experience. It was bigger than I thought, but to think that they spent over two years confined to those rooms is overwhelming. We then walked across the city center to the Van Gogh Museum which was really cool. It had a lot of his early artwork as well as that of his contemporaries. We then went to a huge park and saw the huge IAMSTERDAM letters.

We finished the day the Hieneken Experence which was really interactive and fun. I got a few extra beer tokens for knowing the yeast ferments sugar into alcohol- thank you Ken Chapman. That night we went to a comedy club, after I consumed space cake, and it was really funny. A mix of improve and skits. The next day we took it kinda easy and did a canal cruise of the city and had lunch. We then caught a train to the Hook of Holland and got on our ferry to England. The ship was huge, but pretty empty- maybe because it was Monday night.

Recent Life in Rome

I have been rather horrid at updating this as of late, so this is going to be a rather all emcompassing entry. Some highlights of the past couple weeks have included catching the last 15 mins of an AS Roma vs AC Milan game. I may have pre-gamed a little too hard and getting to the stadium turned into a treck that could only be beaten by the epic adventure hope. I was a modern day Oddesys, wrought with distractions and challenges. It took me three hours to get home rather than ten years, but still- it was a journey.

In one of my classes we also went to a place where cheese is made. It is part of an agrotourism network. They have 700 sheep, we still have not found out who is the shepard though. I was able to touch some goats- which after being so animal deprieved for two months made me week. I churnched some fresh cheese and even got to try some of the made product. It was unofficial at home and some people here decided to celebrate which made the day all the more interesting for those of us who were sober.

Layers of Rome has continued to be interesting and my favorite class. This past week I was lucky enough to spend a two days with Paul. One in the church of St Peter in Moritorio- which is quite prominent in Angels and Demons and in the Chiesa Nuova while a mass was going on. He is so interesting and I may be in love with him..mildy haha

I am really excited for my upcoming trips and am really enjoying the wonderful weather in Rome.

Castllo Della Regine

While being from Chicago has made me immune to most snow, ice, wind, hail, and blizzards I did feel particually intriqued by the fact that I saw snow in Rome. The time frame varies by who you talk to but it has not snowed in Rome in at least a decade. Now this was not by any means a blizzard, but it sure closed down roads and delayed public transportion for quite awhile so we were of coarse late to the vineyard- I believe we have yet to ever leave on time for a trip. It will be a sad day when that happens.

Castello Della Regine is a vineyard located in the small town of Amelia, Italy that emcompasses around 300 acres of land. The vineyard has existed for around fifty years but was founded with strong italian traditions. In addition to producing several varities of wine it also makes olive oil. My intial reaction was that this area was pretty, but would be breathtaking in the spring, fall, or summer. Due to winter all the of branches and trees were barren and snow is not high up on my beauty list. When we got off the bus to see the areas where the grapes were grown, I wanted to venture out into the fields, but a gust of wind peppered with hail pretty much killed that idea.

We were greated by our guide, Guiseppe, who took us around the different growing areas as well as inside the fermentation areas. The grapes are destemmed before being crushed to make red wines. The skin is also removed before the crushing process to make white wine, and removed after a short period to make rose wine. The mixture is then put into a vat, where the size is inversely related to the quality of price of the wine. The best wines are aged in barrels for at least a year before being bottled.

We were lucky enough to get to sample some of the wine and even create a mixture of our. We chose a sweeter red mixed with a very dry red to create a strong tannin affect. After this adventure we got to enjoy lunch at a beautiful site at the vineyard.

While this day was cold and snowy, I was still able to see the beauty in the region and gain an appreciation of the vinification process. Guiseppe was very helpful and even sadly told us that he and his girlfriend had recently broken up. He also told us that if we invite him to a party, he will bring twelve bottles of wine. :-) I would have loved to have seen the area closer to summer or even the harvest season, but am still happy to have had the experience.

Florence...Firenze...whatever

So we decided fairly last minute to spend the weekend in Florence. I was looking for a relxed weekend because I had already been to Florence four years earlier on a high school trip. I did want to see DAVID in all his naked glory. That was my main goal for this weekend and I happily acomplished it on Saturday. It was so much bigger than I imagined and I will not lie- pretty hot. Ah I sound like Bella Swan, a cold hard piece of marble was sexy to me. We met some really nice guys who were staying at out hostel and first told us they were commercial pilots and later admitted to being in the National Guard stationed in Kosovo. I am not sure why they felt the need to hide that, but it made me sad that they were afraid of being judged. There may have been an incident with vomit- but it did not involve me at all. I actually did quite a bit of shopping in Florence, ha my bank account loves me for that one. I did go over the Medici Palace and to the bridge. All in all it is a very pretty city and I'm happy I went back for a few days. I got too see the main church and dome again and reminisence to the days where I shared some Gilato with an Italian boy with a Euro Mullet when I was 17...ohh Antonio haha

I also have to admit how much I enjoyed the food over this weekend. I had some of the most amazing minestrone soup and gnocci ever. I know the Florence isn't known for it's food, but i def loved it.

Venice for Carnivale

Due to some internet issues a few of these posts have been backlogged- but I am working on getting them all up.

Well rule one I learned during this trip- Do not take night trains in Italy- it is not worth the money saved. It was as scary as everyone made it out to be. Thirty one of us from the program decided to go to Venice this weekend, and 7 of us bought a train tickets together. There are supposed to be 6 people in a cabin, but for safety reasons, we decided to all cram into one and take shifts sleeping.

We finally got into Venice around 5am. Venice is a confusing place to navigate- from what I understand even a lot of the locals do not know the the streets and simply meander in the general direction of their destination. It was still dark when we left the train station, but the canals and bridges were really pretty. We found our way to our hostel eventually, only to learn we couldn't even drop our stuff off until 9am. We found a little cafe where i had some of the most amazing fresh juice my lucky lips have ever met. We then decided to enjoy the sunrising over the main square - San Marco and were greated by the first of the people that dress up in elaborate costumes. A vendor explained to us that people come from all over to wear these costumes that they spend all year designing and creating. They love taking pictures with people and are really hoping to get noticed by professional photographers. After stumbling back to hostel from sheer exhaustion we were informed that we couldnt even check into our rooms until after 5pm- not cool, but it was carnivale so what can ya do? We decided to then take over their common room by sleeping all over the floors and couches- do not think they were too found of us. Jess and me booked together and got put in one room where I made the bed and laid out all of my things to later be told that i needed to move to another room- 4 hours later. This hostel really did not know how to deal with having this many people, they were nice but really understaffed. They did make us free pasta though :-) On Saturday we ventered to Morano- where they are famous for making hand blown glass. We watched a demonstration and shopped around the cute island. The ferry ride to and from the island was really pretty. I am so proud of Jess- she did not throw up once.

We then walked through the crazy crowded San Marco square again before heading back to our hostel for dinner. We got ready and went out and saw some live music in our masks. I wore a silver and pink cat mask in honor of my beloved Rico back home :-) It really was not as crazy as I thought it would be. There were a lot of families out. I was expecting crazy/party/mardi gras in new orleans type of party- but this was much more tame. I still really enjoyed the atmosphere and all the costumes. Sunday was Valentine's day and we even went on a romantic sunset gondola ride around some of the canals. It was so romantic and I got share it with Jessica...awww. I really loved Venice and would like to go back some day when it isn't so crowded with the Carnivale tourists- which I was most certainly a part of. The train ride home was pretty intense too. When we first arrived at the train station there was a DJ and a party going on-which was a great farewell from the city, I like to think it was just for me. When we got onto the train there were three men in our cabin, who did not want to move out of it and then came back ten mins to look for something they has lost. They then proceded to sit outside our door for a majority of the night. But we all made it home with everything in tow. All in all a great and beautiful weekend.