Prague

Had a great day today, went exploring Old Town by myself and did not get lost, thank goodness! The town has a typical Prague feel to it, small cute houses painted different colors and lots of cathedrals for such a secular country. Old Town Hall has the famous astronomical clock that Jan Taborsky had rebuilt. I also got to see Powder Gate (used to store gun powder in the 17th century), Municipal House with its beautiful Nouveau art, Jan Hus Monuments, walked across the Charles Bridge and bought some gifts, and took a beautiful walk in the woods to Prague Castle which was not that impressive except I got to see the changing of the guards:)

The weather was chilly and it sprinkled on and off but I kept warm by walking fast. At the center of the square, there were people selling traditional Prague food and trinkets. I had some pig for lunch, it was not as good as I had expected. I sat on the benches and people watched for awhile. Came back to the Hynds' house around 5 and had some home made chicken noodle soup with green beans for dinner. Today was basically a relaxing day because I'm starting to wind down now that break is coming to an end. Mrs. Hynds will take me to the airport in the morning and I will be back in Rome by 3. Sad and excited to go back.

Prague

I made it into Prague with no problems except that the man who was sitting with me had my window seat. Mrs. Hynds picked me up at the airport and I am staying with her till Friday morning. I basically passed out on the bed and didn't wake up until 3, so I'm just gonna relax, do some laundry (she has a dryer!!!), and plan what I  want to do tomorrow. Maybe see the old town tonight because Mrs. Hynds said it was a safe area, don't know though because I'm starting to wind down. The Hynds live in a cute little neighborhood and their house is beautiful!! They have a cat and dog, who pretty much mind their own business;) That's all for now, I will update this if I do anything tonight.

London

Millenium Bridge

It's my last night in London! The weather was cold and chilly but I still had a great time seeing Big Ben, the Eye, Buckingham Palace, and walking across the London Bridge. We went to church at Westminster Abbey on Sunday:) We had dinner at the Ye Old Cheshire Cheese, it's the oldest pub,which was under the reign of King William and Queen Mary and a number of other kings. It had the old historical feel which added to it's character.We also went to the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone!!!!!!!! among other Egyptian artifacts on Monday. The British Library was the next day and I got to see the original Beaowolf manuscript and the Magna Carter. Jenna and I also went to Harrod's which is a really expensive shopping mall with name brands like Gucci, D&G, Armani and so on. I got a puzzle which is pathetic I know but I could not resist! Not going to be fun trying to pack it in my suitcase. It's been a great couple of days and I want to be a nanny in England for sure now! Going to bed early because I have a plane to catch at 7:35 to Prague!!

London Bridge

Oh, Kylie and Jenna kindly pointed out that it is illegal to bring fruit from one country into another which I had by mistake (2 clementines I was going to eat as snacks but forgot to), no one at security stopped me though.

Barcel and London

I made it to Barcelona! The weather was gorgeous and the culture is beautful. We got into Barcelona at one and went directly to bed. I went off by myself the next day and saw the Sacred Family, it was amazing and overwhelming at the same time. After that I headed to the Picasso Museum, I've never been a fan of him and enjoyed it until I saw some of his errotic drawings, it was disturbing. I wandered around the town for awhile and saw the Santa Maia Del Mar church. After that, I went to the beach and enjoyed listening to the waves. It was peaceful and relaxing. On Saturday, Sofia's friend Emily,gave us a tour of one of Gaudi's park. Afterward,we headed to lunch and did some shopping as we headed to the beach. I left that evening for London:)

Fall Break!

It Fall Break is finally here!!! This week was extremely stressful because we had papers to write, a presentation, and a midterm in Italian. Definitely ready to relax these next 10 days. Heading to Barcelona in a couple of hours, will be there till Sat evening and than I head to London till Wed. I will wrap up my trip with Prague and come home Friday.
My parents came this week, it was nice to see them but I felt bad for not seeing them more because I had classes and this week was just plain busy. We did go out to dinner on Tuesday with Rebekah and Kelly, so that was fun and they got to know the girls a little. Went to Trestevera last night for Peter's 22nd birthday with Nick, Robert, and Mr. Cole. We got some gelato afterward and did some shopping. Nick and Robert were sick, so we didn't stay out that late. I also had to get back and study for Italian, which I did okay on today:/ Definitely need to do better my tests and final now.
Well, I need to go do some last minute things and finish packing. Ciao!

Florence Weekend

We got back from Florence this afternoon and went directly to getting our pictures taken for the Public Relations office, a long and exhausting day! We did get gelato as a reward for getting our pics done:) Florence was cold, but very beautiful and full of places to shop. I am not good at bargaining with the sellers at all!! Bought some gifts for people and I got a scarf and shaw for myself:) We saw the Accedemia and Uffizi Museum as well as the Saint Maria Novella, where Masaccio's fresco painting of the Trinity is.
My parents made it safely and I got to see them a little today. They and Mr. Cole made dinner for us all, which was really nice because I didn't have any food in my container. My digital gallery group met and we went over what everyone is doing, so I got mine done but need to add some more information to it. I still need to do my movie review and practice my skit for Italian on Tuesday!! I am heading off to take a shower and going to bed, thank goodness class isn't till 10 tomorrow.

Florence Weekend

It's the weekend and we are heading to Florence tomorrow at 8! Today was a crazy day because we had classes starting at 8:30 and we went till 4 because of the film, La Dolce Vita, which was like 3 hours long!!! I wanted to gouge my eyes out because it was such a pointless movie with no plot. Anyways, Dr. Cole and Chisty Miller arrived today and she did a few shots of me;).
We also had our talent show this evening and I actually had fun. Jenna did some ku fu moves on me because I was her prop and we amazingly won the "people's choice award" Finished my packing and still have to wrap up my paper on seeing Dante (definitely taking Italian homework with me because our midterm is Thursday!). Its going to be one heck of a weekend but I'm ready for it...I think. Well, off to get a good nights sleep so I can function tomorrow:)
Cioa!

Assisi and Siena

This weekend was a blast!!! Rebekah and I left for Assisi on Thursday around 5. We got there around 8 and couldn't find our hostel, so we basically hiked around town until we found it. The place was beautiful but kind of off the main road, so walking down there in the dark was kinda creepy. We spent the next day exploring the place and caught a train in the evening for Siena. That was quite the adventure!! Rebekah and I ended up hiking down Assisi because we couldn't find the bus station that the lady at the hostel told us about (beautiful view of Assisi at the bottom). Rebekah and I went to what we thought was a pizzeria but it was the next building (it had all guys) so the workers said we could stay and they heated up some pizzas and french fries for us!! We had this restaurant all to ourselves and we were able to practice our Italian:) We got into Siena around 9 and had the same problem finding our hostel again. We ended up wandering around for 45 min. trying to find it because everyone kept giving us different directions. We stayed up and waited for Jenna who missed her train because her cooking class ran late and didn't show up until 12ish.

We had planned on renting vespas the next day but found out that we couldn't because none of us had driven one before, so that was a bummer:/ We toured the city and saw Saint Catherine's and Saint Domenico's Cathedral. The latter had the thumb and head of Saint Catherine's, so that was kind of neat. The Catholics really like to preserve their saints for some reason! We also saw the outside of the Duomo Church but didn't want to pay to go inside. We went and climbed the town hall with its 382 steps, for an incredible view of Tuscany:) Got back around 9ish on Sat and that was the conclusion to an awesome weekend.
Went to church on Sunday like normal and have some reading to do for classes tomorrow. Florence and parents come this weekend!!!

week 4

It was excursion day and we went to see Saint Paul's Outside of the Walls and the crypt with all the friar's bones in it. I was pretty gross out and didn't stay long because I felt like it was disrespectful. Saint Paul's was beautiful and they have all the pope's on the wall. Dr. Szabo had given us a pope to research and share with the class when we were there (Joe and I had Boniface the VIII). We were done after that but some of the girls, including me stayed to do our sketching. After that, we went to Termini and bought out tickets to Siena and Assisi for this weekend:) We then headed to a Chinese place for lunch and there was a cute little Asian boy there. He was so adorable and kept coming to our table (he blew me a kiss). I did some reading afterward for classes and basically watched television all day. Can't wait for tomorrow!!!!

Today was pretty relaxing because we didn't have cinema class:) Taught English class this evening and that was a little stressful because the 2 boys would not sit still and pay attention. I need to learn some Italian phases so I can tell them to be quite;) Cathy made dinner and it was some kind of chicken soup, amazing! Our little community had a movie night and we all got together and watched A Walk To Remember, I didn't stay for all of it because I've seen it so many times and it is a sad movie to watch. Excursion tomorrow to Saint Pauls' Outside of the walls and Cappuccin Crypt. It is a church I guess, with monks skulls decorating the place, so I'm excited and creep out about going there.
A lot of stuff is coming up, parents come in about a week, going to Siena and Assisi this weekend, fall break is fast approaching and we have papers due soon!!!! Going to get my beauty sleep now;)

I can't believe it is October already!! Where has the time gone?  Cinque Terre was AMAZING and I want to live there. It is 5 towns along a cliff next to the ocean. The towns were cute and Jenna and I hiked all 5 towns, which took us about 4 hours. The views were amazing and so worth the 800 plus steps we had to take!! I think I might have also sprain my angle or did something to it because it hurts to walk on.We got back Sat. which was good because I needed to work on my paper for HUM 300. Went to church on Sunday and than headed to Peppo's house for lunch. He obviously goes to the church and heads up the young life. Got back around 4 and did some homework. Got Chinese with some of the other students and heading to bed early tonight finally:) Planning for Siena this coming weekend and the week after we go to Florence and my parents come!!!!! I think Geneva needs to have a clothing policy either in the handbook or Kristen should mention it at orientation because it is going to be a problem.
Ciao rigazzi!