Sunday, March 24, 2013

Spring Break in Italy!

This week was Spring Break for OU in Arezzo and while a lot of people went to different countries I got to show my mom and sister why I love Italy so much! I think it's safe to say that we conquered the entire country of Italy, well from Rome up to Milan. The exciting adventure started for me on Saturday, but for my mom and sister it started when their plane left DFW on Friday night.

I met up with them at our apartment in Rome on Saturday night just before dinner time. I know it was a relief for all of us to see each other ;) After we got settled we went down the street for dinner, Hope and I had a pasta with pesto sauce. Sooo good. We were staying about a block away from the Vatican so after dinner we walked to St. Peter's Square! It was really cool to see this at night. They were exhausted so we turned in early this night.

Sunday was the day we conquered all of the monuments. By this time I am a pro at Rome so I knew exactly where to take them and how to get there. But of course there was the equivalent to the NYC marathon going on in Rome! Our luck, right? It did not stop us though, we first started out at the colosseum where this time we went inside! We also had passes to go inside of the Roman Forum so we spent about an hour looking around in there. If I were to go back I would definitely want to go with a tour so I knew what I was looking at, but we knew the history was there and that worked for us.  So back to this marathon...I think we were stuck inside of it. Every time we tried to get around it, we would run into it again! Like being trapped inside of a circle.  We ended up having to back-track a lot and eventually we ran into a point that wasn't barricaded, but we still had to cross where runners were, which was exciting. So we made our way to the Pantheon and stopped for lunch along the way, by this time it was about 2 p.m. In honor of St. Patty's Day we each had a beer for lunch! But not Guinness :/
After dinner we walked up to the Trevi fountain, Spanish Steps, then took the metro back to our apartment where we hung out for the rest of the night!

Monday was our first day of traveling somewhere new! We started the morning waiting in line to see the Sistine Chapel, but gave up 2 hours later in the never ending rain :( The morning wasn't completely wasted though! The line to get into St. Peters was running very fast so we ended up going in there instead! One of the prettiest churches I've been into yet with another art history freak-out by seeing Michelangelo's Pieta. We were on a time-crunch so we had to shorten our visit inside of the church. The next couple of hours was pretty hectic, from getting back to our apartment, gathering our suitcases, walking fast to the metro, taking the metro to catch our train, and then FINALLY getting on the train that would take us to Bologna! We arrived in Bologna two hours later where we caught a taxi to our hotel we would stay at for the night. After getting settled we were starving! So we headed to the bus stop to catch a bus into the city center, but the problem was we had no idea which stop we needed to get off at. We ended up getting of in front of the train station and eating at a cheap pizza place and had a crepe for dessert! Probably one of the best decisions instead of spending more money at a sit-down place. Then we needed to head back to the hotel to get ready for the Of Monsters And Men concert! So we took what we thought was the right bus back, but of course it wasn't! We ended up getting on the wrong bus that was going in the opposite direction of our hotel, but the driver helped us find the right one. So an hour later and we were back at the hotel with only 15 minutes to get ready for the concert. The hotel shuttle took us to the venue which was only about 5 minutes away. The guy warming up for the headliner was not bad either! But Of Monsters And Men were fantastic! I would see them again in a heartbeat. After the concert we had the challenge of getting a taxi...I had a number that the hotel gave me, but they kept putting me on hold! I tried another company but they didn't speak any english, downside of not knowing Italian. We finally got ahold of a taxi and soon we were back at the hotel around 12:30 a.m.!

Tuesday was our experience of driving in Italy! We rented a car from the Bologna airport and we were off to Tuscany! First stop was Arezzo so I could show off my town to Hope and Mom. This was the first small tuscan town they saw so I think they liked it! We ate lunch at Antica Fonte, the restaurant we had our welcome dinner at. Mom and I had the Papa Pomodoro. It was so amazing,  I might have to have it again there very soon :) After lunch we went to Bar Stefano's and had a cappuccino and pastry. Then gelato at one of the many gelato places in town! We wanted to make it to Greve before it got dark so around 4:30 we were back in the car on the way. The drive took about an hour, most of it winding around tuscan hills. Following our directions we made it before sunset! Our apartment was so adorable, but freezing!! So we cranked up the heat hoping it would warm up before we went to bed. After some grocery shopping, eating dinner, and meeting a family from Maryland we were back at the apartment drinking wine and playing the game Farkle. Probably my favorite night of the trip.

Wednesday was the day we lost our car. It started out by sleeping in! By 10 a.m. we were off to explore the cute little tuscany towns around Greve.  By 2 p.m. we made our way down to Sienna which is apparently a lot bigger then I thought it was! We parked our car alongside the city walls of Sienna and walked into an entrance into town to do some exploring. The city is a lot like Arezzo, but their Piazza Grande is probably twice the size of Arezzo's! Mom and Hope found a cute shop where they bought stuff for family and friends to take back home. Afterwards we were tired of walking in the rain so we decided to head back to the car. Well we thought we were going in the direction of the car...but after the stores and streets stopped looking familiar we knew we were lost! We had to ask for directions from three different people before deciding to call a taxi to take us around the city walls until we found our car! Eventually we found it after walking in the rain for an hour and a taxi ride later. When we got back to Greve we went grocery shopping so we could make dinner at our apartment, man did I miss my mom's cooking. It was sososoo good! That night we stayed in, drank more wine, had more fun :)

Thursday was the first day of Spring! And it actually felt like Spring! This day we made a trip up to Florence, where I had to put 10 euros worth of coins in the meter that only gave us 3 hours! So we had a lot to cover in a short time. We started at the Ponte Vecchio bridge where Hope almost sold half of her soul for a ring.  But she escaped from the lady without a dime spent ;) We hit all of the piazzas that we could then Hope and I climbed the 414 steps up the tower of the Duomo! The view was totally worth the climb, so pretty! Then we had to get back down the 414 steps, by this time we were starving! We found lunch and then Hope and I were off to feed the meter more coins. The rest of the day we shopped around some stores and then headed back to Greve.  We got back before sunset so we got to enjoy tuscany in the sun! At an appropriate dinner time for Italians we went back into town to eat dinner and then back at our apartment for the last night there.

Friday was the day we couldn't return our rental car. We woke up bright and early to head to the Florence airport to return our car so we could take a train up to Milan, but after about an hour of searching for the rental car place we gave up and decided to just drive to Milan instead. It was an overall very frustrating day, but we made it to our hotel just outside of Milan by 1:30! About an hour later we were in the city center of Milan. This is by far my favorite big city in Italy, probably the abundance of nice clothes is why. We ate our "last supper" together at the fanciest restaurant I've ever been to. I ordered a "salad" and got a huge chunk of buffalo cheese surrounded by cut up tomatoes. But it was so delicious!  After dinner we took the hour long bus ride back to our hotel and turned in early.

Saturday was the day I said goodbye to my mom and sister :( Again I really hate goodbyes, but this wasn't that bad since it was at 5:30 a.m. and I was half coherent.  They had to leave early to catch a 9 a.m. flight back and return the rental car at the airport, whereas I went back to bed until 9 a.m. Haha
I had some traveling also, a bus ride, and three trains later I was back in Arezzo by the afternoon.

Here are a couple of pictures of the week! But check my facebook for the rest of them!

Ciao!


Sisters in Italy! 


No biggie, just seeing a Michelangelo sculpture 


Cute town of Greve


Spring time fruit


Tuscany in the sun


Florence from up high 


Milan knows fashion 


Loved traveling with you two! 









I've been here for more then two months?!

It's crazy crazy crazy to think that I've been abroad for longer then two months (ten weeks to be exact). The longest I've ever been away from home is less then a month when I'm up at school which is only an hour away, but now I'm separated from home by 7 different time zones! But for some reason it doesn't really seem that far away, probably a little help from the internet.

Since I haven't posted on here since my weekend trip to Rome, which was way back in February I thought I would do a quick re-cap since then and talk about my spring break week in the next post!

The week after my Rome trip was pretty laid back, which was a nice change.  But exciting things were happening in Arezzo that weekend! On Friday, February 15th Arezzo celebrates the Madonna Conforto (Mary of Comfort) where they have a big festival mainly around the Duomo and inside. Businesses donate flowers and line the interior cathedral with big flower arrangements, which makes the church smell amazing! The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, drinking coffee, and probably studying ;)

On Tuesday I was ready to expect Aubrey from the train station after my Italian class! She got into town in the afternoon and I gave her a walking tour before my meeting at 4:30.  Afterwards we cooked a typical Italian dinner of pasta, cheese, bread, and wine.  The next day we headed off to Florence for our first art history class trip in the morning where we saw Michelangelo and Galateo's tombs! And also Masaccio's Trinity in the Santa Maria Novella Church. The art historian in me was freaking out by this point.

The next day Aubrey and I took a noon train to Rome for the weekend! On Thursday we hit up all of the monuments: colosseum, piazza novana, pantheon, and trevi fountain.  This time I got to go inside of the Pantheon and see the Trevi fountain at night. I highly recommend seeing the fountain at night, so pretty! The next morning we got in line early to go to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel! The line went by pretty quickly with great people watching to keep us entertained. I could not wait till the end to see the Sistine Chapel so we went there first instead of last.  Every time I saw a sign directing us to the chapel I got more and more excited and then finally we were there! We probably spent about a half hour just inside the chapel, just gawking at how incredible it is.  Tears were probably shed not gonna lie.  After spending time in there we fought an uphill battle against the crowd to get to the rest of the museum where we spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon in. The rest of the day consisted of pizza eating, walking around Rome, and ending the night by seeing the Colosseum at night! On Saturday we were pretty exhausted, but we snuck one more church in to see Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. Again, more art history freak outs for me.

On Monday I was saying goodbye to Aubrey at the train station, which always stinks. But that night we played Italians vs. Americans at a game of volleyball. Let's just say that I'm out of practice... The rest of the week was pretty chill and I stayed in Arezzo for the weekend because the Antique Market was in town, which meant lots of great people watching!

By this time we are in the first week of March and that weekend was my trip to London! Katie and I left Arezzo at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday morning to catch a plane out of Rome and landed in London at 2 p.m.! We met a really nice girl from Florence that helped us get into the city center of London at half the time! Around 4 p.m. Katie checked into her hotel and we met up with Hilary! I was so excited to see a familiar face. She took us to Chipotle since we haven't had mexican food since January. It. Was. Delicious! And we finished that night by seeing Wicked!

The next morning while Hilary was in class her friend, Kelsey took Katie and I around London to see St. Paul's cathedral, the Millennium Bridge, and Abbey Road! That afternoon we met back up with Hilary and Jackie to head to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I could literally write an entire blog post just about that, but I will keep it brief :) The tour started with us being in an auditorium where we watched a brief clip about the tour, the screen rose, and there was the Great Hall Doors. THE GREAT HALL DOORS. By this time I was flipping out. The doors opened and I walked into the great hall, the actually one they filmed! Total fangirl moment. The rest of the tour was amazing to, every time I turned around I saw something that made me freak out. I probably looked like a fool. Halfway through the tour you could get a drink of butterbeer. SO GOOD. Then the rest of tour consisted of the more detailed work that went into the making of the movies. Including the actual Hogwarts that they filmed! This thing was huge, which ensued more freak-out moments. Afterwards we ate at a cheap place called Hunger Inn where I had my first burger since I've been abroad! Not as good as what I can get in the States, but it'll do until May.

Saturday was total tourist day! Hilary took me around to all of the big monuments and landmarks in London. For lunch we had a traditional fish and chips along with Apple Cider :) For dinner we had another go at Chipotle, why not! And then met up with more of her friends at the Metropolitan Bar then finished the night by seeing Parliament and the Eye lit up at night! It was a perfect weekend in London!

On Sunday I met back up with Katie where it took us several tube, train, and plane rides to finally get back to Arezzo! It's always so nice getting back home, but reality hit whenever I had to start studying for midterms :( I won't go into that.

This brings us up to Spring Break where my mom and sister made the journey to come see me! Here are some pictures of this past month to entertain you while I work on my next post about spring break!











Candy stand outside of the Duomo for the Madonna Conforto Festival 


Michelangelo'stomb! 

Masaccio Trinity 

Pantheon at night

Colosseum at night!


Ajax and Achilles Playing Dice!


Sistine Chapel taken from inside my purse haha

Trevi fountain at night!

Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa! 



WICKED!


The Millennium Bridge

Abbey House on Abbey Road 






One of the coolest props


SO GOOD


It's truly magical 


Can't get enough of those double-deckers