paraphrased for edits and privacy
2/16
Milan landing !
so the first trans-Atlantic flight was sooo amazing. Even though my seat went from 37C to 35I, it was completely worth it! I hung out with hillary, watched chak de! india, ate bad indian food, followed the plane, did my chem hmwrk, used every entertainment system in the sky until the sunrise blew everything else away. i switched with hillary so that she could take amazing pictures. before i knew it, it was over.
the second plane ride was epic. short, but epic. i decided to study my Idiot's Guide to Italian and watch the Alps. this time, i switched with jess for the sake of belief and pictures. now we are in Milan. the sights from the bus window are extremely picturesque. almost unbelievable. i can't wait for venice!!
still 2/16 [around 11:27 am Bos/ 5:27 pm Verona]
Verona
Verona is a beautiful, beautiful city! We walked to Romeo's house, the lesser known relevant place to the couple. Then we saw the square where people were celebrating Valentine's with concerts, booths, and balloons with the words "Verona in Love!" emblazoned on them. We headed to Juliet's house, passing the market square. I stood on juliet's balcony. and then touched her bosom. :D After that, we made the long walk to the amphitheater. and the city hall. city hall's coloring and preservation looked so beautiful. and i can't even comprehend that they hold rock concerts in the arena. there were performers everywhere:guitarists, gladiators, a valentine's man dude, and clowns. The walking feels good. but the freezing does not. now i am stilllll waiting for venezia.
Driving [Bos 11:51 am / 5:51 pm Italy]
The wine grape field supports look like slinkies in the high speed ;)
2/18
Venice
Driving. Sun. Fun.
Last day (otherwise known as yesterday) was absolutely amazing. I awoke at 4:45am because my ipod time didn't understand DST. It was okay because I just held an impromptu dance party outside! I listened to the academy is..., "walk it out", "buy you a drank", etc. I mean, when in Venice, right? I just wanted to see sunrise from my (and jess') amazingg mini-house. w/ a terrace and a second set of table and chairs. and it was like detached from the hotel! whilst everyone else's rooms were supersmall :)
so i ate breakfast and walked to the boat. and then took 123.456 pictures! (more like 50) we got to piazza san marco with the doge palace (palace ducale), giant prison, Bell Tower, and scenic Venezia. We went to the Palace Ducale for a tour with local guide, Lucia. We saw fantastic architecture and the biggest non columned room in all of Europe. With an amazing canvas of 1000, maybe 2000 people. the bridge of sighs. (called so for the prisoners on the way to deathlike/prison.) the prison chambers were small enough for my head to fit through but made me feel short.
After visiting the Doge Palace, we had free time for lunch. We all went Venice-exploring in the deep trenches of st. mark's looking in different stores. later, we found a cutesy little cafe for sandwiches. i had the vegetariano panini with mozzerella, tomatoes, and chives or herbs or something. Then we headed to the glass-blowing factory for a demo. On the way there, I took soooo many pictures. At the demo, the guide was really funny and informative. The glassmaster made a tulip vase, a horse, and broken shards. The store was intimidating and I thought being "REAL" made it like 03493493 times better than fake. so i wanted something good. i got 3 pieces of venetian glass candy and a pretty pretty necklace. on the way back, the acappellians sang personent and signore. the view was really pretty.
when we returned to st. marco's, we had loads of free time. we went shopping and i had to buy batteries for my camera already. and presents for my friends. we went to meet anamaria, our tour guide (x333 herr!) for the gondola ride. she showed us casanova's bar and cafe circa 1700s. Then we proceeded to gondola. we had a grandddd time. i had a panoramic view. we laughed pretty much the entire time. the smell was atrocious but the views were soooo worth it. the only disappointment was the non-talking of the gondolier. to his clients. he talked on his phone. the only things he said to us :
gondolier: marco polo's house (*point*)
us: which one?
gondolier: THAT ONE.
but it was reallllly funny.
our free time after was spent eating yummy gelato (caffe e menta) i downed it in like 2 minutes. soon after, we ran throug hthe ubiquitous pigeons! We attempted to visit the basilica, but it wasn't open to tourists.then we headed to the bell tower. after some wonderful views and another camera refill, the BELLS BEGAN TO RING the hour! they were soo loud. but they were worth it. and they made a good story. we went shopping to keep warm. ultimately, all the children , freezing, waited for the chaperones for like a half hour. dinner was in our venetian wandering. for me, it was a veggie soup featuring all the veggies on the known planet, eggplant and potatoes that i think i saw made of food channel. and tiramisu that tasted assembly line.on the way to the Bellini, i watched venice at night through the boat window. it was truly magical. i felt safe. after getting there, some of the group went to the mask shop. (closed) and gelato (open!) i had nutella and amorenata (cherry and vanilla). yum. it was better tasting than the first, but thicker. and then the train station [open]. then it was time to sleeep. ish. i watched some MTV, packed, chilled, and sleeeeept. morninng-- i woke at 3. and stayed awake because of the things that go bump in the wall creeping me out. i read my phrasebook after getting ready. had breakfast. which was yummm. and now i'm on the bus. writing through the po valley. which is sooo pretty. ana maria is talking about how collegiate towns are.
Driving [Bos 11:51 am / 5:51 pm Italy]
The wine grape field supports look like slinkies in the high speed ;)
2/18
Venice
Driving. Sun. Fun.
Last day (otherwise known as yesterday) was absolutely amazing. I awoke at 4:45am because my ipod time didn't understand DST. It was okay because I just held an impromptu dance party outside! I listened to the academy is..., "walk it out", "buy you a drank", etc. I mean, when in Venice, right? I just wanted to see sunrise from my (and jess') amazingg mini-house. w/ a terrace and a second set of table and chairs. and it was like detached from the hotel! whilst everyone else's rooms were supersmall :)
so i ate breakfast and walked to the boat. and then took 123.456 pictures! (more like 50) we got to piazza san marco with the doge palace (palace ducale), giant prison, Bell Tower, and scenic Venezia. We went to the Palace Ducale for a tour with local guide, Lucia. We saw fantastic architecture and the biggest non columned room in all of Europe. With an amazing canvas of 1000, maybe 2000 people. the bridge of sighs. (called so for the prisoners on the way to deathlike/prison.) the prison chambers were small enough for my head to fit through but made me feel short.
After visiting the Doge Palace, we had free time for lunch. We all went Venice-exploring in the deep trenches of st. mark's looking in different stores. later, we found a cutesy little cafe for sandwiches. i had the vegetariano panini with mozzerella, tomatoes, and chives or herbs or something. Then we headed to the glass-blowing factory for a demo. On the way there, I took soooo many pictures. At the demo, the guide was really funny and informative. The glassmaster made a tulip vase, a horse, and broken shards. The store was intimidating and I thought being "REAL" made it like 03493493 times better than fake. so i wanted something good. i got 3 pieces of venetian glass candy and a pretty pretty necklace. on the way back, the acappellians sang personent and signore. the view was really pretty.
when we returned to st. marco's, we had loads of free time. we went shopping and i had to buy batteries for my camera already. and presents for my friends. we went to meet anamaria, our tour guide (x333 herr!) for the gondola ride. she showed us casanova's bar and cafe circa 1700s. Then we proceeded to gondola. we had a grandddd time. i had a panoramic view. we laughed pretty much the entire time. the smell was atrocious but the views were soooo worth it. the only disappointment was the non-talking of the gondolier. to his clients. he talked on his phone. the only things he said to us :
gondolier: marco polo's house (*point*)
us: which one?
gondolier: THAT ONE.
but it was reallllly funny.
our free time after was spent eating yummy gelato (caffe e menta) i downed it in like 2 minutes. soon after, we ran throug hthe ubiquitous pigeons! We attempted to visit the basilica, but it wasn't open to tourists.then we headed to the bell tower. after some wonderful views and another camera refill, the BELLS BEGAN TO RING the hour! they were soo loud. but they were worth it. and they made a good story. we went shopping to keep warm. ultimately, all the children , freezing, waited for the chaperones for like a half hour. dinner was in our venetian wandering. for me, it was a veggie soup featuring all the veggies on the known planet, eggplant and potatoes that i think i saw made of food channel. and tiramisu that tasted assembly line.on the way to the Bellini, i watched venice at night through the boat window. it was truly magical. i felt safe. after getting there, some of the group went to the mask shop. (closed) and gelato (open!) i had nutella and amorenata (cherry and vanilla). yum. it was better tasting than the first, but thicker. and then the train station [open]. then it was time to sleeep. ish. i watched some MTV, packed, chilled, and sleeeeept. morninng-- i woke at 3. and stayed awake because of the things that go bump in the wall creeping me out. i read my phrasebook after getting ready. had breakfast. which was yummm. and now i'm on the bus. writing through the po valley. which is sooo pretty. ana maria is talking about how collegiate towns are.
2/18
Firenze(Prato)/Pisa
LUNCH : kurkare and pineapple.
then pisa!
-amazing pics of cathedral e leaning tower
-shopping carts
-leaning tower e pictures TIPPY TOP!
-church !!!
w/ latin!
-gelato (banana)
PRATO
-nice room #411
-supermarket [ bought blood oranges E1,18 , "quanto costa?", "solus", e home]
-DINNER
-cheese e ova e zucchini
-omelette e salado
GELATO! tiramisuu then walked to castle.
2/20
FIRENZE
-musei galleria academia
"david" by michelangelo
-DUOMO!
-replica "david" in original spot in senoria sq
-santa crux church
with the tombs of machiavelli, galileo, and michelangelo
-back to senoria for free time.
-PICS
-leather factory for mommy's coin purse
-walked
-ate yummmmmy pizza in the trattoria in sq
-marketplace ! ciao bellaaa
-decide to see pontevecchio
-walk run into andrew, shweta, lexi and cindy
-ginormous group where either me and cindy, or me and shweta would go cannoli/souvenir hunting
-open market!
-"let me gib you" LOL
-"good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to italy"
-GELATOOO (limon e arancione)
-walkk
-ANOTHER copy of "david" and an amazing view of FIRENZE
-dinnerrr (pasta yum with spinach and ricotta, and CHEESE. mozzerella, cheddar, parmesan, and milk jello)
-SLEEP
2/20
Siena
Siena was a beautiful city!
the town was 54,000 people (roughly twice b-town)
-17 districts (contrada) named for different animals and regions
-st caterina !
-palio race . 2x a year. 10 districts. prize = painting
museum and stable in each district
MIDEVAL!!
-dislike florence cuz of the conquest
-main sq = shell shaped
-amazingggg winding alleyways
-burnt siena crayon
-fritella (rice treat like fried dough)
-almond cookies and biscotti
-bruschetta lunch YUM
2/22
cesar augusto/sorrento
since the last time i wrote , we have since watched LOTR I on the bus, seen beautiful napoli on the way to sorrento, a resort town on naples. that night, i had the bestest pesto pasta this side of the atlantic and then poached veggies which weren't quite as yummy. and a lemon cake. *YUM*
The view of the street wasn't nearly as extravagant as other's options or views, but it was pretty. i watched some cnn and slept. yesterday, i ate an amazing nutella involved breakfast. then our group boarded the minibus to meet sandro at the port. he took us on to capri, an island where augustus spent some time and so had emperor tiberius(?). Capri was really rainy but pretty as the roads winded up the mountain of the island. i bough chocolate (lemon and orange) for the family. and then we walked on for the best view. then we went to a fragrance store and i bought soaps. and then we ate. i had mixed salad, macaroni, and water, and fragola gelato. then we left capri. the boat was very useful in sleep motivation. and once we were back at the cesar, it was time to leave again. this time for yum pastries, gelato, and free shopping time. my gelato was happy hippo and nocciola (hazlenut) and i bought a cannoli. and scarves for the friends. and a pretty dress :D
dinner was also really good. 1st course: pasta with red tomato sauce.
2nd: vegetables : pumpkin, zucchini, onions, tomato
dessert: coffe and vanilla gelato. [ but we pretended it was limon for andrew]
after dinner, the roommates and cindy shweta lexi and i tried for the internet point which unfortunately closed the minute we got there. and then cindy, lexi, shweta and i tried to go to the pastry store which was even worse with lights on taunting usss. but after we got back, coe and chelsea greeted us with an invite to "saxe in slacks!" a 25 act play made by none other than the musical theater trio of 07 [brad, peter, and andrea]
abby and jamie performed select scenes until the teachers came in. we finally told them about it,and they saw some of it but D-boomboom, being smart, opened the floor to poetry and other forms of expression. this quickly lead into a talent show type deal, where steph was pleading with me and shweta to dance. i did. NOT well, however. it was okay. but not my best. then shwet did comedy and bhangra. kate showed us how to salsa, some of the crew did the infamous potter puppets to the names of bhs teachers. it was EPIC. :D
2/22
POMPEII
Pompeii was stunning.The coloring was not as marbly as in my brain, but i have charles burbage to thank for that. we learned about the date change, more bath culture, bathROOM culture, food culture, women as entertainment culture, pretty much more about all the culture we've ever learned in latin because we were in an authentic roman establishment that was ruined. the house of the dancing fauns was incredible. and the signs and the fact taht the plaster casts looked so much in pain. so amazinggg.
2/23(24)22
ALPS/ROME
After seeing Pompeii, we finally made it to Roma! We switched buses and drivers and said "goodbye" to mariano, our badass bus driver. his bus allowed for much sleep.
we boarded a smaller bus with angelo. one of our first sights after the initial latin references and SPQRs were the glimpses of the colloseum [flavian amphitheater]. it was soooo big! when we finally stepped out to go see it, i could not believe it at all! Our local guide, Esther, was really funnny. she made lion jokes, called us brilliant, and was informative. the sheer reality of it being there was mind-boggling. we took some group pics. obligatory and nonobligatory. my camera died a death whilst there though.
after that we same the forum (fori?) Julius Caesar's was okay. I preferred Trajan's because of the engineering behind it. i mean, moving a mountain to build something is hard to beat. the column amuses me though because it just shows how the awesome trajan was so cool that he conquered dacia.
after that, and more latin iii pictures, we were off to see the trevi fountain! i wished and threw. and hopefully it came/comes true. then GELATO. indian dude there made fun of my mangoing, thought i was guju, thought i was ENGLISH, and then gave me a free cone in my icecream. he did the same for shweta, but more than halfthese things are true for her :P .
Then we headed to the bus to go to the hotel. the nova domus was very cute and nice and ecofriendly. i remember going up the stairs to open the room and immediately checking out the shared balcony where the schoolkids were playing futbol and basketball. it was a good time and we even danced around there after dinner.
the pizza dinner was good. and i had the orange-juice like fantaaa. yum. rome at night. it's sooo pretty.
2/23
yesterday, we started the day at the vatican museums. we saw so much with the help of our vatican guide giovanni. he explained the signifance of so many works. i really learned a lot. the pinecone as a symbol of fertility and birth. there was also a statuesque art piece. of a sphere within a sphere. the inner sphere represents our material world and the other space kids in the celestial world.
giovanni also retaught us the differences of greeks and roman. and the signicans of the medium used. i liked the one of the greeks that they copied. we even saw the room that leonardo davinci. the egyptian marble = pretty. and the tapestries are beautiful. finally we saw the sistine chapel. i loved how michelangelo planted it backwards to make everything more difficult. i also like the word juxtaposition of jesu christo and moses. we exiisted using the royal staircasing. swiss guards. FILLED sq for pope. i bought adi a ring and got it blessed. and i ate a pizza panini. after the pope, we left vatican. we walked to the pantheon, passing the wall that connects the angel house to vatican. lexi and i found bags on the corner later. we went toget mini cannolis and headed to the sq where cindy bought a mouse and we all bought paintings.
the service /mass at the vatican was tiring, but interesting. lots of getting up, sitting, kneeling, praying. i prayed for the familiy and then we headed to shops last minute before goign back. i packed then ate dinner. and then we all had mucho fun on the balcony. DBells visit was so cute. she sat in the chair while we all lay under the stars listening to regina. and the trip was over as quickly as it began!
FIN
Firenze(Prato)/Pisa
LUNCH : kurkare and pineapple.
then pisa!
-amazing pics of cathedral e leaning tower
-shopping carts
-leaning tower e pictures TIPPY TOP!
-church !!!
w/ latin!
-gelato (banana)
PRATO
-nice room #411
-supermarket [ bought blood oranges E1,18 , "quanto costa?", "solus", e home]
-DINNER
-cheese e ova e zucchini
-omelette e salado
GELATO! tiramisuu then walked to castle.
2/20
FIRENZE
-musei galleria academia
"david" by michelangelo
-DUOMO!
-replica "david" in original spot in senoria sq
-santa crux church
with the tombs of machiavelli, galileo, and michelangelo
-back to senoria for free time.
-PICS
-leather factory for mommy's coin purse
-walked
-ate yummmmmy pizza in the trattoria in sq
-marketplace ! ciao bellaaa
-decide to see pontevecchio
-walk run into andrew, shweta, lexi and cindy
-ginormous group where either me and cindy, or me and shweta would go cannoli/souvenir hunting
-open market!
-"let me gib you" LOL
-"good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to italy"
-GELATOOO (limon e arancione)
-walkk
-ANOTHER copy of "david" and an amazing view of FIRENZE
-dinnerrr (pasta yum with spinach and ricotta, and CHEESE. mozzerella, cheddar, parmesan, and milk jello)
-SLEEP
2/20
Siena
Siena was a beautiful city!
the town was 54,000 people (roughly twice b-town)
-17 districts (contrada) named for different animals and regions
-st caterina !
-palio race . 2x a year. 10 districts. prize = painting
museum and stable in each district
MIDEVAL!!
-dislike florence cuz of the conquest
-main sq = shell shaped
-amazingggg winding alleyways
-burnt siena crayon
-fritella (rice treat like fried dough)
-almond cookies and biscotti
-bruschetta lunch YUM
2/22
cesar augusto/sorrento
since the last time i wrote , we have since watched LOTR I on the bus, seen beautiful napoli on the way to sorrento, a resort town on naples. that night, i had the bestest pesto pasta this side of the atlantic and then poached veggies which weren't quite as yummy. and a lemon cake. *YUM*
The view of the street wasn't nearly as extravagant as other's options or views, but it was pretty. i watched some cnn and slept. yesterday, i ate an amazing nutella involved breakfast. then our group boarded the minibus to meet sandro at the port. he took us on to capri, an island where augustus spent some time and so had emperor tiberius(?). Capri was really rainy but pretty as the roads winded up the mountain of the island. i bough chocolate (lemon and orange) for the family. and then we walked on for the best view. then we went to a fragrance store and i bought soaps. and then we ate. i had mixed salad, macaroni, and water, and fragola gelato. then we left capri. the boat was very useful in sleep motivation. and once we were back at the cesar, it was time to leave again. this time for yum pastries, gelato, and free shopping time. my gelato was happy hippo and nocciola (hazlenut) and i bought a cannoli. and scarves for the friends. and a pretty dress :D
dinner was also really good. 1st course: pasta with red tomato sauce.
2nd: vegetables : pumpkin, zucchini, onions, tomato
dessert: coffe and vanilla gelato. [ but we pretended it was limon for andrew]
after dinner, the roommates and cindy shweta lexi and i tried for the internet point which unfortunately closed the minute we got there. and then cindy, lexi, shweta and i tried to go to the pastry store which was even worse with lights on taunting usss. but after we got back, coe and chelsea greeted us with an invite to "saxe in slacks!" a 25 act play made by none other than the musical theater trio of 07 [brad, peter, and andrea]
abby and jamie performed select scenes until the teachers came in. we finally told them about it,and they saw some of it but D-boomboom, being smart, opened the floor to poetry and other forms of expression. this quickly lead into a talent show type deal, where steph was pleading with me and shweta to dance. i did. NOT well, however. it was okay. but not my best. then shwet did comedy and bhangra. kate showed us how to salsa, some of the crew did the infamous potter puppets to the names of bhs teachers. it was EPIC. :D
2/22
POMPEII
Pompeii was stunning.The coloring was not as marbly as in my brain, but i have charles burbage to thank for that. we learned about the date change, more bath culture, bathROOM culture, food culture, women as entertainment culture, pretty much more about all the culture we've ever learned in latin because we were in an authentic roman establishment that was ruined. the house of the dancing fauns was incredible. and the signs and the fact taht the plaster casts looked so much in pain. so amazinggg.
2/23(24)22
ALPS/ROME
After seeing Pompeii, we finally made it to Roma! We switched buses and drivers and said "goodbye" to mariano, our badass bus driver. his bus allowed for much sleep.
we boarded a smaller bus with angelo. one of our first sights after the initial latin references and SPQRs were the glimpses of the colloseum [flavian amphitheater]. it was soooo big! when we finally stepped out to go see it, i could not believe it at all! Our local guide, Esther, was really funnny. she made lion jokes, called us brilliant, and was informative. the sheer reality of it being there was mind-boggling. we took some group pics. obligatory and nonobligatory. my camera died a death whilst there though.
after that we same the forum (fori?) Julius Caesar's was okay. I preferred Trajan's because of the engineering behind it. i mean, moving a mountain to build something is hard to beat. the column amuses me though because it just shows how the awesome trajan was so cool that he conquered dacia.
after that, and more latin iii pictures, we were off to see the trevi fountain! i wished and threw. and hopefully it came/comes true. then GELATO. indian dude there made fun of my mangoing, thought i was guju, thought i was ENGLISH, and then gave me a free cone in my icecream. he did the same for shweta, but more than halfthese things are true for her :P .
Then we headed to the bus to go to the hotel. the nova domus was very cute and nice and ecofriendly. i remember going up the stairs to open the room and immediately checking out the shared balcony where the schoolkids were playing futbol and basketball. it was a good time and we even danced around there after dinner.
the pizza dinner was good. and i had the orange-juice like fantaaa. yum. rome at night. it's sooo pretty.
2/23
yesterday, we started the day at the vatican museums. we saw so much with the help of our vatican guide giovanni. he explained the signifance of so many works. i really learned a lot. the pinecone as a symbol of fertility and birth. there was also a statuesque art piece. of a sphere within a sphere. the inner sphere represents our material world and the other space kids in the celestial world.
giovanni also retaught us the differences of greeks and roman. and the signicans of the medium used. i liked the one of the greeks that they copied. we even saw the room that leonardo davinci. the egyptian marble = pretty. and the tapestries are beautiful. finally we saw the sistine chapel. i loved how michelangelo planted it backwards to make everything more difficult. i also like the word juxtaposition of jesu christo and moses. we exiisted using the royal staircasing. swiss guards. FILLED sq for pope. i bought adi a ring and got it blessed. and i ate a pizza panini. after the pope, we left vatican. we walked to the pantheon, passing the wall that connects the angel house to vatican. lexi and i found bags on the corner later. we went toget mini cannolis and headed to the sq where cindy bought a mouse and we all bought paintings.
the service /mass at the vatican was tiring, but interesting. lots of getting up, sitting, kneeling, praying. i prayed for the familiy and then we headed to shops last minute before goign back. i packed then ate dinner. and then we all had mucho fun on the balcony. DBells visit was so cute. she sat in the chair while we all lay under the stars listening to regina. and the trip was over as quickly as it began!
FIN
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