Spring break

Buona Pasqua tutti! 

Sorry I have been so absent from ye olde blog lately. This past week was spring break, so I have been out of the country (although I suppose I'm always out of the country now). Last Friday after class, I walked the hour long walk to the train station with my luggage because the transportation service was having a strike. How convenient. But it was a gorgeous day, so I didn't mind the walk. I took a train to Verona, where I met up with my friends Asha and Luca for our train to Munich! 

It was a little delayed right before the Austrian border, though, because of a "human accident". We assumed this meant that someone had not turned the right switch and they had somehow messed up the engine, and that's why we had to wait an hour for them to switch out the engine. Later, we learned that was the code word for someone jumping in front of the train and they probably had to change the engine because of the "shotgun effect" that sometimes happens. Not quite a good start to the trip...

When we got to Munich I was amazed at how pristinely CLEAN the U-bahn and all the streets of Munich are. It looks very orderly. We navigated our way to Corrine's apartment where Asha and I would be staying and found the hidden keys since Corrine was on a ski trip for work but still letting us stay there because UM, she's amazing. (Thanks, Corrine!) Then we went to meet Luca's friend at Man Fat, the Chinese restaurant where he works, where we had some delicious dinner and our first Deutsches Bier. Soo delicious. And the tempting gummy bear bowl which Asha made best friends with. 

This Spring Break was a blast, I traveled to Munich, watched a friend get us free shots of jager by 'donating' her bra, went on a self-led bicycle tour of the English Garden, saw people surfing while it snowed, toured the Residenz, ate German pretzels, Spezi (Germans drink Coke with Fanta and it's surprisingly good), Schnitzel, Bier Bier Bier, made new friends, caught up with old neighbors, laughed, got caught up in a dinner party birthday celebration with some Germans wearing traditional Bavarian outfits, tried Bavarian snuff, spoke German, decided that some travel is best left for next time (such as visiting a concentration camp with a friend for a shoulder to cry on), visited Neuschwanstein, drank a beer in the most famous beer hall in the world, pretended to speak French, almost missed my flight, ran through airports, saw a magnificent view of Paris at night, got a lot of sweet vintage clothes, ate crepes under the Eiffel Tower, saw the crowds in front of the Mona Lisa, waited in lots of lines, rode lots of trains, saw lots of golden fancy rooms in Chateau Fontainbleu, lived my Nancy Drew dream of visiting the Catacombs in Paris, visited the most unusual museum in the red-light district of Paris, bought a book at the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore, took a jumping picture by the Eiffel Tower, attended a night Easter mass at Notre Dame, encountered some really mean French people (and a few really nice ones), drank a flaming blue drink, saw lots of lovers and their signs of love in Paris, and spent a lot of time in airports and buses. 

I would say it was an unforgettable break, and I can't wait to share all my stories and pictures with you all! But for now it is time to sleep. Although I can't be with my friends and family for Easter, I am excited for my adventures to come as well as to see everyone again in five short weeks! Time is flying by now. :) 

Spizi

Kasespatzel

7th sin of breakfast

View of Berlin from my plane at sunset

Corrine, my wonderful neighbor who let me stay with her! :) 

Blair, reading a book at Shakespeare! Thanks for letting me stay at your little abode :)

Some of the more tame art from the Musee de l'Erotisme

Notre Dame

Super crowded service at Notre Dame

I love you written in 200 languages

The Alps on my way back to Milan! 

Ciao for now! 

Marching forward

One part of me wants to shout, HOW IS IT ALREADY MARCH? Another also wants to say... I've only been here for six weeks and it feels like an eternity.

Living here is so weird, and I'm not sure if it's because it's such a big city or if it's because it's another country but I'm pretty sure it's a combination of both. Last weekend I went to Florence. It was so beautiful. Completely different from Milan. It definitely looks like what you picture the "typical" Italian city to be like. Cobblestone streets, little accordion players everywhere, windy streets, beautiful views, olive trees and gorgeous architecture. However, there were so many people there speaking English! And so many students.

Sarah got punched on her birthday, which you can read all about in my MOVE article. But honestly the trip was still amazing. We had a great time other than that. After we finally got there and Asha pulled a track star move running all the way back to her apartment to get her passport, Florence was a blast. On Friday we went to an aperitivo and then to a pub and gelato. We got free champagne for Sarah's birthday and Rhianna made the bar play a ridiculous chipmunk happy birthday song when it turned midnight. Ana and I also decided that when the men selling flowers all the time try to bug us we will just react like crazy buffoons and say "ciao ciao ciao prego prego prego" like broken robots. I'm sure everyone thought we were legitimately off our rockers when we were walking around that night, but it was definitely worth the good laughs.

On Saturday morning we got kicked out of the hostel for a lock-out so they could clean our rooms. We went on a little walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo where we saw some fantastic views. I got some really great gift as a prank for Nick. The prank was real good though, and I executed it perfectly. It's really a shock he's still talking to me because I play such mean jokes on him. We then went shopping and I got to see the statue of David. It is so much bigger in real life than I imagined. We also ran into a weird little festival and the Gucci Museum. That night we went to dinner at Za Za's for Sarah's birthday. We had terrible service, but it was still a fun night! Afterwards I went to a pub with Nardi for some Phi Mu fun Italian style.

Sunday we got breakfast at an American style diner, HALLELUJAH BACON. It was good, and I'll probably kick myself when I get home for wasting a meal on diner food, but it was well needed after a long weekend. Ana and I then went to the Uffizi. So many historical pieces of art. Florence really would be the perfect city to study abroad in for art or design. Not so much for Italian language though. After Uffizi we went shopping for a little bit and then caught the train back to Milan. I was so exhausted afterwards... trains can really drain you.

This week was fun filled with friends, foods and dancing. And a few good long sleeps. And my stupid permisso di soggiorno appointment. Italian bureaucracy sure is fun! But I can't complain I'm sure it's a much bigger hassle to come into the USA than it is to come here.

Today I have locked myself indoors so as not to spend money. It's so hard here! I'm surrounded by beautiful clothes and delicious noms. Although I have made it to a few museums here now, so I don't feel so ridiculous that I haven't done any cultural activities here in Milan. I think I might be going to Dublin sometime in April (hopefully) and might be getting visited by Jacqueline in May!! With so many trips to look forward to, how can I possibly be expected to study for midterms? Just kidding... I will mom, don't worry.

I suppose I should go do that, now instead of rambling on about nothing. Ciao for now!

A drawing by Ana to sum up our trip: 

Running around

Since I've been here for a little less than a month, I finally decided it was probably about time I exercised. I went on a nice little run Sunday which I've been meaning to blog about for a) to let the world know that occasionally I do work out and b) to share some of the cool sights around the area where I live!

The buildings here are so beautiful! 

Yeah there's a gate like this in front of my house as well...

Sculpture in Piazza Concilazione

Lo Gnomo gelato... it tastes even better than it looks! 

I have probably been eating too much gelato. I'm also not so hot at cooking so what I've been eating in the dorms has been pretty limited. Although mozzarella and tomatoes with balsamic vinegar has always been a favorite of mine, and it's so cheap here! 

Ana, Alex and I also made some pasta and chicken the other night. I fooled Nick when I sent him this picture... he thought we had cooked something really fancy and goes "what is that golden thing?" 

My response?

"A chicken nugget." Gotcha.

Well, it's time to go stalk some models and designers outside the Prada show because it's fashion week in Milan! 

Ciao for now.

Flying ain't very fun but I'm finally here

Well I have been here for a little a day and half now and I have accomplished several of the quintessential Italian things such as enjoying an espresso (apparently it's faux pas to order coffee with milk in it after lunch), ate a pizza and went shopping! For a towel... you can read all about that little fiasco in my next "Ciao for now" column for MOVE.

The flights were mostly fine except for the very first one when a man on my flight passed out and his wife started shrieking for help. I was sure we were going to die even though we hadn't left the ground. A doctor quickly jumped up though so we all found out who would star as Jack if that plane got LOST.  But it didn't.

I did find some rather ridiculous reads on the in flight magazines, though.

I spent pretty much the whole flights reading The Girl Who Played with Fire on my Grandpa's Kindle that he let me borrow for when I'm in Italy.

When I got here some of the other exchange students from America who were on my flight and I waited for MIL service to pick us up. They dropped us off at our dorm in the nice Mercedes-Benz that they casually picked us up in.

After I got settled in I took a wee nap and then tried to find a towel. Failed at that. Just read about it in MOVE on Friday I will probably get emotional if I talk about it again.

Today I had orientation today and then a tour of campus and my oral exam for the Italian pre-intensive class I am taking. It is quite a bummer I don't know any past tense verbs because that is the only thing that put me in the Beginners class instead of the Intermediate, so the Beginners will be mostly review. But oh well, I should make it up to Intermediate by the time the semester long class starts.

After orientation business was through I went to get my first espresso with my new Australian friends Alex and Rhianna. Rhianna had to do all the ordering, though, because she has been here for a couple weeks and has two years of Italian experience compared to my mere semester. Then we went to Corso Buenos Aires for a bit of shopping. Italian sizes are definitely a lot smaller than American sizes... but it was cool because everything is half off right now mostly because stores are trying to get rid of last season's stuff before they put out there stuff for spring in February.

My first pizza!

Well it's getting pretty late here, so I am off to bed before another round of orientation type things tomorrow. I still need to get an international SIM card, as well. And hopefully some killer shoes.

Some pics of my room.

Ciao for now!