Upcoming Trips

Tomorrow I will be taking the first of a series of trips. I will be leaving for Barcelona at around 7am. The next five consecutive weekends include trips to Greece, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and a skydiving adventure. I will have lots of blog updates and more pictures.

Va bene!

10/21

The last two weeks in Rome have been awesome. School is definetly a bit harder than I had anticipated. I have had to spend more time studying and less time going out. I think a large part of the challenge is the language barrier and cultural differences. I enjoy the challenge.

Last night six of my room mates and I had a huge dinner. Greg made homemade cannolis, prosciutto and melon, bread with seasoned olive oil and cheese, and delicious meat cooked into a homemade pasta sauce, with penne. It was a very typical Italian style meal. We drank a few glasses of wine and ate for about three hours, with some light acoustic music. We decided we will do this once a week. I have some pictures to put up here from the meal.

10/20

Today I had only one class. My tuesday schedule is light. I have one class in the morning and then I am done for the day. I chose to walk and do some shopping. Johnny and I walked the city for most of the afternoon. I met Johnny through a friend of a friend in Munich and he was staying with us for a few days. We did a little man shopping. I bought a new pair of kicks (some stylish navy blue chucks) and a button down (sexy purple Italian) shirt. They make shirts so differently here. The material, the color, the fit, and the style are all different. The purchases were a little pricy. I am satisfied with both and plan to buy a few more things before I go home.

I realized I may or may not have been partying a little too hard today. I need to lighten up on the drinking and focus in a little more on school work. I have some stories. I am starting to gather a goals list for second semester. Frederik so kindly pointed out to me that today is the exact half-way point of our semester. I don’t want to think about it.

Weekend in Roma

This was the first weekend that I have really stayed in Rome. The night life was great and the site seeing was very impressive. I spent a good ten hour walking the city this weekend. My camera batteries died so the pictures will not be put up yet. My feet are pretty sore. I tried out a few new restaurants and had my first hamburger in Italy. I made brunch two mornings in a row. The first morning I made brunch with Anna. We made a huge brunch for six. It consisted of mostly American foods...Homefries, eggs, and chocolate chip pancakes. It was a nice change from the usual miniature coffee and croissant (which are both very good by the way.) The second morning we decided to step it up a notch and make a big-boy breakfast. Ryan and I made chocolate chip pancakes and purchased a large tub of local gelati which we melted over the top. The gelati place just below our apartment, Gioliti's, is one of the most famous in all of Rome. It was sooo good but put all four of us guys into a very serious food coma.

The night life picked up this weekend. The first night out was spent at a few new bars and a dance club/ bar. A large portion of the program came to our apartment before going out to play cards and have drinks. The second night we went to the ice bar. The bar is made completely of ice. They give you silver shalls and gloves to keep warm. The average time in the bar is about an hour because it is literally freezing inside. The drink cups are made of ice. It was awesome! Here are some of the pictures! I am excited for next weekend.

Good Times

Napoli – 10/4

Napoli is the ultimate city of Italian anarchy. People drive on sidewalks, piazzas, and everywhere in between. There is garbage everywhere. There were kids throwing firecrackers and fireworks under cars and into the middle of crowded piazzas. No one stops at crosswalks. Running lights is the norm here. The mafia runs the city garbage service and does little to keep the city clean.

Our visit to the archeological museum was well worth the travel. Our short stay of only a few hours was more than enough for me to understand to fully submerse myself in the culture.

Capri – 10/3

Capri is my favorite trip so far. The city is built on enormous cliffs that overlook the Mediterranean Sea. I don’t know where to start. I loved everything.

The pizza was the best I have EVER had. The place was called “Universitta” or something similar. They served pizza by the meter. Seven of us ate a meter and a half of pizza. We had it divided into three types: Bacon, Margherita, and Veggie Margherita. The restaurant served other food that looked just as delicious. They pushed around a huge dessert cart and a cart with a huge roasted pig. It was SOOOO good!

The trip to the island was the best sight-seeing experience so far. The water was teal blue and the weather was perfect. 14 of us took a tour on a private boat for about 20 euro around the entire island. We stopped about halfway around the island to swim through one if Italy’s most famous landmarks, the Verde Gratta (could be off on the wording and spelling here). It is basically a water cave that you can swim through with the clearest water you have ever seen. It was so awesome. None of us wanted to get back on the boat but the skip ordered us back onto the bus.

After the boat tour, we all went to the beach. I have officially lost all tan from the summer. It took me all of about 4 hours in the sun to get a solid nine out of ten sun burn that I am still feeling today. The sun felt good and the beach was small. The scenery definetly made it the nicest beach I have ever been to.

Pompei – 10/2

The entire AIFS group travelled by bus for three and a half hours to Pompei. The city was covered by the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius (An active volcano) in 79 AD. The ancient ruins were discovered by a farmer, about 300 years ago, as he was tilling his land. The city has been under excavation since that time. The ruins were unbelievably impressive. There were preserved bodies, pottery, art, homes, and buildings that have remained in tact since the eruption.

First Soccer Game - 10/1

Today I went to my first professional soccer game, Roma vs Bulgaria. The stadium was only about a third full and it was still the loudest sporting event I have ever been to. Soccer fans are nuts. And Bulgarian soccer fans are even more nuts. They lost 3-0 to Roma and the fans remained standing and cheering for the entire game. They had flags and banners and noise makers and chants that never stopped. It was crazy and very impressive. The group that I went with is planning to see another game because it was so good.

First Time Playing Soccer - 9/30

My philosophy professor called me this morning and asked me if I wanted to play a pick up soccer game with some guys. I was caught extremely off guard and the competitive side of me agreed to the deal.

I purchased my first soccer jersey…and found out after spending 43 euros that it was a practice jersey and not the real thing! I took the bus in the wrong direction and showed up at the metro station 20 minutes late. My professor was waiting for me when I got there. To my surprise, he was holding two moped helmets. I can honestly say that I have never in my life been so afraid of being injured in traffic. Rome drivers are insane. Anything goes! Not to mention the fact we were 20 minutes late and rushing. The experience was awesome.

I played pickup soccer on turf. I had never played soccer before. My professor was the only one who spoke English. I was very satisfied with my two assists. It was the first time I ran around athletically on my surgical leg and it felt very solid for the first time in almost two years. The whole thing was an unbelievable experience and a great culture submersion.

Baroque Rome - 9/28

This one is for you Uncle Ron! “Baroque Rome” is the name of an elective class I am taking. The class is teaching me about the Baroque period of art in Rome. We are covering artists, painters, sculptures, engineers, artists and their works during the period. This period in Roman history is categorized by bizarre or irregular works. In the class we tour basilicas, statues, monuments, and galleries where we study Baroque compositions. We have six or seven classes where we actually tour facilites while taking pictures and notes.

Our first tour is captured in some of the pictures on the left. Some of the pictures you see here are of a church known as The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. It is one of the four most important basilicas in Rome. It was built in the 5^th Century BC! Sixtus V (A pope of the time) has the basilica built, marking entry of the Baroque period in Rome. The Baroque style is seen in the variety of colors and the grandiose size of the church.

Some of the other pictures here are of the Spanish steps and fountain, the Pantheon (literally 2 blocks from my apartment), the Trevi Fountain, and the Piazza Navona Fountain (a block from my apartment). The pictures speak for themselves. Rome is AMAZING!