Home

Got home on Wed. and went out to dinner with the family. Our luggage didn't make it so we had to fill our some information to have it deliver to our house. I got mine late that evening, so it wasn't too bad. I slept till 3:30 PM and helped decorate the christmas tree on Thursday. went to work on Friday, so that is good. I feel fine and not experiencing an culture shock yet:) I guess this wraps up my blog then, unless something else exciting happens in my life;) untill then,
Ciao!

2 days till we leave for home

It's Monday and we officially leave in 2 days. We had our digital gallery presentation today and I thought it went well, very casual compare to midterm because we didn't have guests. The only class I have tomorrow is Lucy's final for Italian class:/ We watched a video that Kristen had made of our semester and Caleb got everyone an Italian flag, so we spent time signing each other's flag:) Just have studying left to do and getting a good nights sleep:)

Enjoying Rome at Night

The countdown has started for when we leave for home.  Jenna, Rebekah, Kelly and I decided to tour Rome one more time before we leave. Yesterday we went and saw the Pantheon and visited Piazza Navona. Today, the three of them went to the catacombs in the morning while I stayed back because I'm been therefore and am not a fan of being underground in such tight spaces. I joined them later in the day at the Spanish Steps and we visited the Borghese as well as doing some shopping. We headed back to the convent for a rest before heading out again at 7 to Trastevere for dinner. Rome is so pretty to walk around at night, especially when there are Christmas decorations out:) Kelly and I got stuck outside because we came back before the other girls but didn't realize that it was past 10, therefore the nuns were not there to open the gate for us. This would not have been a problem as we could just call someone but I didn't have any more minutes on my phone and Kelly's phone was dead. So, there we were, two girls stuck in the rain at night. We decided Kelly would stay at the gate while I went to the Chinese restaurant and ask to use their phone. What should have been simple quickly became frustrating as she didn't speak English and I didn't speak any Italian. Thankfully there was a man who did, but right when I was going to call the convent, Kristen called me and said that she was at the gate (she was coming back from a Christmas party at the church). That brings us to the conclusion of our pleasant evening;)

Papal Audience

Today was our last excursion day before the semester is over and we head home:/ Dr. Szabo took us to the Vatican City to have an audience with the pope. Rebekah, Jenna, Kelly and I left at 7:30 because we wanted a good seat but that was pointless because there wasn't that many people there. The rainy weather might have had something to do with that. Anyways, the pope bless everyone in like five or 6 languages. Geneva College even got mentioned by name in his blessing:)
After the audience, I came back and did some homework for Humanities and Italian class. Besides that, not much else happened here at the convent. I finally get to go to bed before 12:00!!!!!! I will get pictures up tomorrow, which we reminds me that I dropped the camera in Greece and the lid that keeps the battery from falling out got chip, so it does not close now. Taping it shut will work, other then that, the camera is in good shape.

Greece

We made it into Greece safely at 2 in the morning!! Our group had hired a private taxi to pick us up-we all had to shell out about 20 but there were no transportation running and taxis are double at night. Paul, our driver was nice and gave us a little tour of Athens.


We headed out around 10 to the Parthenon, it was amazing!!! The climb to the top was pleasant and the sun was shining! We had gotten a pass to the Acropolis and a dew other sites. It was stupid because EU students get half off, so we would only have to pay 6 euros but I hadn't brought my Roberts I.D, so I showed the lady my visa that says I'm a EU student and she told that I couldn't use it!!! So, Jenna and I ended up paying 12 euros:/ It was so stupid because I would think that they would want to make sure the students were UR ones. Once we got to the top of the Acropolis, there was an amazing view of Athens.  After that, we headed to the theater of Dionysos which was basically all ruins and there wasn't much to see.    After that, we head to the oldest part of Athens, Plaka and did some shopping. I got a few items for myself and other people. We headed back to the Apollo Hotel because a few of us had to work on our art paper. In a few minutes we will head to the National Archaeological Museum and then dinner. Thats all for now, I will write more if anything exciting happens.

Venezia

Venezia was amazing!!! The weather was cold but it was suppose to rain the whole time we were there and it didn't!! Dr. Szabo took us to Saint Marco's cathedral, S. Maria Della Salute, and the Peggy Guggenheim museum. This allowed a lot of free time for us to roam around Venice. the first day there, a group of us girls took a gondola ride and he even sang for us:) We did some shopping and got to see Saint George's Anglican church on the last day. We spent Friday on Murano, which is an island famous for their glass making and we also stopped by Burano, which is famous for their lace. There were some cool stuff at both islands and I saw a gorgeous sunset while we were leaving the islands.
The boat system was hard to understand and I would not have survive without Jenna!! The only way to get around is by boat and there aren't any lanes or anything for them to follow. It was fun getting on one and just riding it to enjoy some of the sceneries. It was weird having the fog come in so early and seeing the tide rise. This was obvious in the morning because we had acqua alta the first morning there. This meant that there were boards raised up on metal legs for people to walk on and that made getting to our destination very difficult.
Overall, it was amazing and I love how Venice is built in the water!  Would not mind returning:)

Sicily this past weekend

A group of us went to Sicily this past weekend. The weather was beautiful and some of us girls spent 2 wonderous days on the beach. Where we stayed did not have a of attractions and it was also off season, so boat tours were closed. We had wanted to go to Mt. Etna but the bus would have taken too long. We went to Mondello beach (pic. above), which is a 30 minute bus ride from our hotel and basically lounged on the beach all day:) Had a wonderful weekend and getting ready to head to Venice on Wed.