Italia...a little delayed...

So, I know that I promised a blog soon after the last, but let’s be honest…I’m in Europe, things come up….so here it is, a little late, but here nonetheless.
After my family left, my friends and I took off for our trip to Italy. I’ve talked about going to Italy since I was young (my friend Stephanie and I said we were going to go there when we turned 16, ha!), so I was very excited to go. My three friends Caroline, Caitlin, Sam and I met up with Sam’s friend from home in Rome, and we started our Italian adventure. The first three days we spent in Rome, Rome-ing around the Colusseum and old Roman Ruins. We saw the Trevi Fountain and Vatican City. I didn’t get to go to the Sistine Chapel on Saturday when two of my friends went, but I went Vatican City and got to see the Pope poke his head out of his little window and bless the crowd. That was really awesome, he spoke in about 7 different languages and welcomed everyone to Rome…I’d say it was better than seeing the Chapel.
On Sunday afternoon we took a train to Pisa, and got to see the Leaning Tower! The next day we took a day trip to Cinque Terre, which is five little cities all along the coast. You hike from one to the other, and it was an absolutely beautiful day which made it so perfect. That was probably my favorite part of the whole trip.
Monday night we were in Florence, had a quick dinner and then went to bed. We woke up and walked around the city, seeing the Duomo (dome on top of the cathedral) and much of the city. The next day we waited for about two hours in line at the Ufizi Gallery, and I got to see several works that I’ve studied in art history, the Birth of Venus being my favorite. That afternoon, Sam and I headed off to Milan, where we would catch the plane back to Sevilla. That was an adventure all in itself! Instead of taking the bus that the hostel told us to, we decided to take the advice of an Italian man who insisted that it would get us to our destination faster. We walked around in the rain for about half an hour trying to find the right bus, when we finally did, we pointed to the stop we needed, and the driver started rambling off in Italian. I said “oh okay, “ Sam said, “you got it?” and I was like surrree….when we got on the bus she asked again “Okay, so what did he say” I replied with “I have no idea…I THINK he said we have to get off at some point and switch buses…” So we just rode around for a while, eventually the bus driver got up and signaled for us to get off, and we transferred to the other bus. At this next bus the driver did the same thing, we pointed, he rambled, and then he signaled when it was time for us to get off. So, about an hour and a half after we’d gotten off the train, we were in the general area of where we needed to be, still walking around in the rain, looking for the hostal. We finally found it with the help of an Italian bus boy with little English, but with our Spanish and his Italian we found our way. This hostal was about the creepiest thing we’d been in. We walked up a few flights of stairs to a room poorly lit, (think flickering lights and cracked walls), only to be led down the stairs, to an alley in the back, and up another five flights. Once the man realized that the room he was going to put us in was full, we had to walk back down the stairs to another room, with a boy from China who was wayyyy too excited that there were going to be girls in his room with him. We walked into the room, and there was paint splattered on the walls as if someone had just thrown it around, no locks on the doors, and no lockers. I guess that’s what we get for booking the cheapest hostel just a few days before we arrive. Oh well, it was a good life lesson. (Nothing was stolen…)
When we got back to Sevilla the Feria was going on. That was an awesome part of the semester. On Friday I got to go with my friend Danielle to her boyfriends “caseta” (a little tent decorated like a house, with working bathrooms and bars!”. We spent the evening dancing flamenco and drinking rebuijito (some sort of white wine mixed with Sprite, gross at first, after about 5 glasses you don’t taste it anymore). The next day my friend Sam and I went pedalboating on the river, and just relaxed under the sun.
That was about six weeks ago. After that, I went to London for a weekend to see my friend Renata, and ended up deciding that I NEED to live in London eventually. The city is so amazing. I barely spoke one word of English the whole weekend because I was with Brazilians, and there are just so many people from all different parts of the world. I think it’s calling my name.
After London, it was time for finals to begin….ahhh!!! After a LOT (sarcasm) of studying….the semester was over, and it was time for everyone to go home. Many of the people in my program left on the 16th to go to Madrid to fly home, but others, such as me, Caroline and Sam, were off to go travel some more.
Okay, I’m going to end this post here….and continue on in a new one so no one gets bored.