Northeastern does Italy - Napoli, Roma and Perugia

After doing a worldwide adventure of Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii it was time to head back to Perugia. Since we were stopping in Napoli we deemed it necessary to get some pizza. (They are renowned as having the best pizza in Italy).  After consulting Rick Steve's, we found out what the best place in Napoli was.  After walking for (what seemed like) forever, and then waiting in line for 30 minutes, we finally made it inside!  They only had two kinds of pizza, formaggio e' doppio formaggio (cheese and double cheese).  We each got our own, making all of them doppio formaggio!  While this place may have been small and had a very "bare essentials" atmosphere with the plastic furniture, you would have thought it was a 5 star dining experience based on the way people were eating!  Everyone had their own eating "style."  Some people cut up their pizzas into tiny pieces, leaving the crust behind.  Others went with a more rolling individual slices style.  It was definitely an experience to be a part of though!  I will say this about the food ... pizza will NEVER taste the same.  I have actually never eaten anything that good in my life!  It would not be an exaggeration to say that I fell a little in love with that pizza.  Aside from that we didn't stay long in Naples.  It was kind of dirty and very much a city.  It pretty much just reminded me of New York.  So after lunch we got back on the train and headed to Perugia.

In Perugia we took Mischa and Nora on a tour of our typical days.  We showed them the duomo, the fontana, the piazza, the views, etc etc.  Even better though, we put all of our mattresses on the floor of our living room so we could have a giant sleepover!  It was pretty successful.  Maybe it was a bit more challenging to get around it during the day, but at night it was A LOT of fun!

We also made a trip the the fabbrica de cioccolate "Perugina."  (The Perugina chocolate factory)  We didn't make it in time for an English tour so we settled for an Italian one.  This might sound like a bad thing, but it actually ended up being so much fun!  We got lumped in with an Italian high school class on a field trip.  Multiple times one of the class "Mom's" shushed us and rushed us along, assuming we were part of her group.  I didn't realize that I looked like a 15 year old Italian student!  When the tour was over they gave us an obscene amount of candy.  I'm not sure if they always give that much, but I have a feeling that they gave us so much because they felt bad that there were no English tours.  It was fine by us!  We ate until we physically couldn't eat any more.  (FYI Kit Kats in Italy are way better than they are in America.   I don't know why, but it's true.)

It was decided that while they were in Italy, it was necessary to go to Rome for at least a day!  So we got up bright and early, caught a train, and were on our way.  First stop was the Vatican.  Megan and I have already seen the Sistine chapel so we waited at a nearby coffee shop, having cappuccino's, until they finished their visit.  From there we literally saw as much of Rome as possible in one day!  We went to the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and the Borguise.  Unfortunately the Colosseum was closed by the time we got there, so Mischa and Nora didn't get to go inside.  It was a crazy day, but I'm so glad they got to see so much of Rome in one day!  Unfortunately the death of my camera took place, we were down to two at this point.  Estelle (Mischa's camera) had to power through for all of us because Megan's died.  Sad week for camera's apparently!

Back in Perugia we spent their last couple of days relaxing, eating and enjoying each others presence.  Writing this now makes me a little sad because I realize how long it's been since I've seen them (and even longer with all my other friends at home).  But I am leaving Italy in 4 days, which is so exciting!!  It's actually very bitter sweet.  I'm so thrilled to be going home, I miss my life in Boston so much.  But at the same time it saddens me that this experience is over.  I looked forward to going abroad for so long, and now instead of it being in my future it is my present.  Soon it will be in my past.  Enough about that for now.  I need to enjoy my last few days while I'm here, and I don't want to waste them feeling sad and on a computer!

Northeastern does Italy - spring break style!

One of my favorite weeks in Italy, by far, was spring break when Mischa and Nora came to visit us.  It was absolutely wonderful!  Just the fact that they came would have made it a great week, getting that fantastic taste of home and seeing friends I missed.  But we went on plenty of adventures making it even more incredible than I could have imagined.

First Nora flew in on Friday and we picked her up and went back to Perugia.  That night the three of was went out to a romantic dinner at a medieval themed restaurant.  Seriously.  We didn't even realize it until we looked around and were like, "So why are there suits of armor and dragons everywhere...?"  It was pretty entertaining until we saw the gnome room, Megan did NOT enjoy that!  We show her what a typical night in Perugia for us is like by taking her to Dempsey's and introducing her to our friends.  We had a great time but we knew we had to get up early to get to the airport.  We needed to pick up our lovely 4th, Mischa!

So that morning, after some difficulties getting to the airport, we finally made it!  (Don't ask about the difficulties.  It included missing trains, missing buses, rude transportation employees, and a 300 euro cab.)  Once the four of us were reunited though, it was all worth it!  Immediately we jumped on a train and headed to Sorrento.

Mischa was a trooper.  After an international flight, 2 trains, and a slightly ghetto metro she was still in high spirits!  (I would have been very very cranky.)  It may have been the enormous amounts of candy we ate (thanks again Nora!).  But personally I think it was the fact that we were all finally together in Italy after talking about it obsessively for two months.

Once we got to our adorable bed and breakfast in Sorrento (we had the green room, definitely the best) we got dinner and called it a night.  We had a big day ahead of us, and after a long day of traveling we were exhausted.

We decided to go to Pompeii first thing in the morning.  To be quite honest, I wasn't looking forward to Pompeii that much.  I was completely shocked though, it was incredible!  We had the best time.  Checking out the ruins, taking pictures, seeing the plastered bodies, the outdoor potties, the brothels.  All of it was amazing.  At this point in time we were down to 3 working cameras.  Sadly Nora's passed away earlier that weekend due to a camera in drink incident.  (It's exactly what it sounds like.)

We relied on Rick Steve's (our fearless book tour guide) to tell us everything we wanted to know.  I'll give Rick props where props are due, but he got us a bit confused this time around.  DAMN YOU RICK STEVE'S!!  It's ok though, eventually he got us back and track and lead us to the things we really wanted to see.  Namely the brothels.

This isn't just me being slightly perverted, they were really cool!  On the walls there were pictures of positions, which historians believed were menus!!  After giggling a lot, running around Pompeii pretended the lava was coming, acting like we were making pizzas in the brick ovens, and showing what positions we would have ended up in if we were buried by the ash (Nora and Megan would duck and cover, Mischa would be climbing out), it was time to go.

Our next stop for the day was Capri.  Capri was absolutely stunning, I really haven't seen anything quite that beautiful before.  We walked around, put our feet in and picked up sea glass from the ocean.  We took a crazy bus up to the top of the island so we were at Anacapri.  I may have seen my life flash before my eyes on that rocky, teetering, edge hugging, gravity defying bus.  It was all worth it when we got to the top though.  We hiked for a while, just taking in the amazing views.  There were plenty of La Pausa's (beaks) with Mischa's undeniable slowness and Megan's fear of heights.  But I'm proud of them both because they powered through!!!  No, no I'm just teasing.  We had a wonderful time and I'm so glad I got to share it with friends from home.

We took a ferry back to Sorrento for another night dinner and bedtime in our great b & b.  Next stop, next blog ... Napoli, Roma, fabbrica di cioccolato "Perugina," and mattress floor sleepovers!

Pictures Link

I realized that I posted the link to my shutterfly site a while ago.  So some of you may not have it.  Here is it if you want to check out pictures from my adventures!

 http://ashleysitalianadventures.shutterfly.com/

Oh, and there are some HILARIOUS ones from when my Mom and Dad came to visit!

Parentals do Italy! Part 2: Time spent in Umbria

So we left Florence on Sunday and while I went back to Perugia, they went to their hotel in Brufa.  The next morning after classes I jumped in a cab and went to spend the day with them!  First of all, Brufa is absolutely beautiful.  The view outside of their window was just fields of green against a perfect blue sky.  It was about 60 degrees while we were there, and to us that is sitting outside on the deck and shorts and t-shirts weather!  Apparently it is not the same to Italians.  We already got some crazy looks (tall and blonde are not two adjectives you would use to describe Italians) and clearly stood out.  But then we realized they were BUNDLED up like it was snowing!  Boots, jackets, scarves...the whole 9 yards!  Clearly they thought we were lunatics were sitting outside in shorts and t-shirts, but we were ok with it!

We also made a trip to the spa and relaxed in the pool and hot tub.  Dad was the only one adventurous enough to go into the Turkish hot house (or something along those lines).  That night we just relaxed and had a nice dinner at their hotel.

The next day they came to see Perugia!  Unfortunately the weather was kind of yucky, so I didn't get to show off my home town quite the way I would have liked to.  But we still had a good time.  They got to see how tiny the door frames were in my apartment (all three of us hit our heads, multiple times).  We walked around and saw a bit of Perugia, the fountain, the piazza, the duomo, etc and got some delicious pastries.  That night we went to my favorite restaurant in Perugia, Il Falchetto, for a traditional Umbrian meal.  After aperitif's (appetizers), primi's (first pasta courses), secondi's (second meat cources) and wine (and of course Diet Coke) we were stuffed, tired and ready for bed.

The next day my parents went to Assisi and I wasn't able to join them because of classes.  They came back to Perugia the day after though, and fortunately it was much better weather this time!  We walked around to some of the views and took lot's of pictures.  (check out my shutterfly site!)  It was a gorgeous day and I was really glad that I was able to show them how beautiful the town I had been living for months really was.  We also went to the Galleria Nazionale dell' Umbria, which is Perugia's main museum.  We didn't stay for too long because they had a train to catch to Rome.  But of course we needed to eat first!  We went to my favorite pizza place, Mediterranean.  Then I got them to the train station and sent them on their way to Roma.

I was so bummed to see them go, because I wasn't able to meet them in Rome.  But it was fantastic to have them visit.  We had an incredible time!  And as my Mom and Dad kept pointing out, it was the most time we've spent together in a long time.  I'm really grateful that they were able to come and share part of my experience with me.  Now I only have a week left and 4 finals to go.  I can't wait to get home!  But before I do I need to make sure I blog about my week with Mischa and Nora over spring break!  Stay tuned for new updates .... ciao!

Parentals Do Italy! Part 1: The Arrival

Ok so this is the post that everyone (and by everyone, I mean my Mom and Dad) has been waiting for!  My parents came to visit at the end of March for 12 days and it was amazing!  First they flew into Rome and took a train to Florence.  I'm very proud that they did this on their own without any disasters!  (This may have been partly due to my Dad's blackberry, which he did not get off of the entire time.  Seriouly, ask my Mom.  We have pictures.).  I went and met them in Florence and we began our weekend!

On their first day they were understandably a bit tired and jet lagged so we took it easy.  Now that I've made fun of my Dad a bit, I must make fun of myself.  We decided to just walk around Florence a bit and apparently all my Mom saw Dad and I arguing over which way to go while staring at a map.  As it turns out, neither of us know Florence very well.  Surprising, right?  As we walked around and took in how beautiful Florence is, the skies opened up on us and we got stuck in a crazy storm!  It only lasted for about 10 minutes, but it was a nice "welcoming" to Italy for my parents.  Afterwards we made our way back to the hotel to rest up and nap for a bit.  That night we had our first Italian dinner together and ate way too much of course.  It was absolutely delicious and I got to show my Italian language skills.  Despite the food comas we were close to entering, we got gelato for dessert.  We all went back to the hotel early to get some sleep so we could continue our adventure the next day.

Quick side bar, our hotel was on a side street and our first few times trying to get to it we had trouble finding it because we didn't see the the street sign.  One time we actually spotted the sign and instead of assuming that it was there the whole time, my Dad proclaimed, "Well they finally put up the sign!!"  Haha, sorry Dad, the story is too good, it had to be told.

The next day we had breakfast in the hotel and went on our way.  We got to see so much of the city over the course of the weekend.  We went to the Uffizi Gallery, which is the most famous museum in Florence.  It houses pieces like Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" and Leornardo da Vinci's "The Annunciation," amongst many others.  

We also went to the Duomo, which is the largest and most famous cathedral in Florence.  We decided to climb to the top to see Brunelleschi's dome.  From there we could see the entire city, and wanted to take some pictures.  Unfortunately the wind was blowing so hard, we only want to be on one side of it!  My parents definitely did not come to Italy to be blown off the top of a dome!  It was a hike to get to the top of it, but insane getting down.  There are two stairways for the majority of the climb, one to get up and one to get down.  Unfortunately, at one point the path becomes one!  There was quite the traffic jam, and a dark narrow staircase is not where you want to get stuck.  Fortunately we made it all intact, but it was definitely interesting.

My Mom's favorite part of Florence was the famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio.  We compared it to Jewelry's Row in Philadelphia because leading up to the bridge and across it was all jewelry shops!  The view is what you really go for though.  Check out my shutterfly photos to see some beautiful shots of the sun setting over the bridge.  My Mom liked it so much there that we went back everyday!

Of course since we were in Florence, there was much shopping to be done.  There are a few streets in Florence that are all outdoor shops.  They sell everything from gorgeous leather bags and jackets, to beautiful glass jewelry, to colorful scarves.  We found ourselves spending a lot of time there.  (Thanks for the jacket Mom and Dad!)  It is definitely the place to get gifts for family and friends.  It's where I got most of mine last time I was in Florence, and where they got most of theirs!  We also bought some fantastic olive oil from this little side shop.  The man that worked there was adorable!  He didn't speak great English, but between his English and my Italian we managed to get by.  We ended up trying 4 different kinds of delicious olive oil, and buying 6 bottles!  I'm pretty sure we made his day.

Another stop we made was Santa Croce, a beautiful cathedral that has Michelangelo's tomb.  One of the reasons I wanted to take them there is because it's a gorgeous Christian church, with a giant Star of David in the front of it!  It was built by a Jewish architect and he apparently wanted to leave his mark!  It's beautiful inside and the architecture is incredible.  And of course the comment was made that maybe they should have gotten married there!  (About 25 years too late Mom and Dad...)

While in Florence we had some incredible meals, of course lot's of great pasta dishes!  But then it was time to move on from Firenze and go onto Umbria (Perugia and Brufa).

Bonjour Paris

About 2 weeks ago (on the 3rd - 5th of April) I went to Paris for the weekend with Megan.  Paris was one of the places that I was determined to get to while studying in Italy, so I was incredibly excited that it was actually happening.  Friday morning I took a bus from Perugia to the Rome airport (I've taken this trip too many times to count at this point!), jumped on the plane, and before I knew it we landed in France!

Getting to Paris wasn't quite as easy however.  From the airport we took a shuttle to the train, a train to the metro, and a metro to our hotel.  Upon arriving I was thrilled, tired and slightly surprised.  While I know that Paris is obviously a huge metropolis, I didn't realize how large the city actually was.  For some reason I felt like I should have been able to see the Eiffel Tower immediately, but clearly those were some unrealistic expectations!

We did have a fantastic dinner our first night though.  I am in NO WAY embarrassed to admit that we bee-lined it for Hard Rock Cafe!  We got nachos, wings, a chicken sandwich, a salad, and brownie sundae!!!!  Ah to have wonderful unhealthy typical American food again.  It makes me smile just thinking about it now.  Anyways it was a wonderful way to start our weekend!  That night went to bed early, ready to get up and get our weekend in Paris started.

Our first stop was to Starbucks.  Again, I'm not embarrassed to admit this.  I do love a delicious caramel macchiato!  From there we took the metro to the Louvre.  It was phenomenal, and so surreal to be there.  One of the strangest parts however, was that they allowed pictures to be taken anywhere inside the Louvre, there were absolutely not restrictions when it came to photography.  Personally, I was shocked.  I've been to dozens of museums and churches in the past four months, and this was the first time that there were zero restrictions in place.  And in the worlds most famous museum nonetheless!  Seeing the Mona Lisa in person was very surreal as well.  I knew it wasn't very large, so that wasn't surprising.  It was in a room, on a wall by it's self.  It was blocked by glass, rope, and other barriers, with two guards watching it.  Also, it apparently goes into a safe a night.  Pretty cool, huh?

After exploring the Louvre for a few hours and having lunch, we decided it was time to make our way over to the Eiffel Tower!  Very, very cool to see in person, incredibly impressive.  Of course we hopped right in line to take the elevator to the top!  While it took about an hour, it was absolutely worth it.  Make sure to check out my pictures on shutterfly to see how insanely high up we were!  The view from the top was simply gorgeous, seeing the city laid out in front of us like that.  I'm glad it's something I got to experience because I doubt I'll repeat it in my life.

After coming back down we got ourselves some delicious cotton candy ... when in Paris, right?!  We then made our way back to our hotel after our first full, long day in Paris.  The next day was Palm Sunday so we decided it would be appropriate to go to the Notre Dame.  On the way there we walked down many side streets with outdoor markets occurring on them!  Fresh breads, cheeses, produce, seafood, etc ... anything you could think of, someone was selling it!  It was very unique to be able to see this happening, watching Parisians do their Sunday shopping at a local outdoor market.  It was essentially as if we forgot we were in the huge city of Paris, and instead were in a smaller French town.  We some how ended up walking down a street wit prositutes on it.  At first we didn't realize because it was a Sunday, it was the morning, it was a nice street in a good area, and ... well ... it wasn't like we were LOOKING for prositutes!  We made our way down that street pretty fast and moved on.  Although we did get a good laugh out of the fact that we saw French hookers.  As our walk continued we also saw a French marathon going on!  Of course we stopped and cheered for a while.  It almost made up for missing this Boston marathon this year.

Our walk ended at the Notre Dame, and it was perfect.  The cathedral was so breathtakingly beautiful.  It was also packed with people.  While on one hand it might have taken away from the experience a bit, it also added to it.  Many of the people were there to attend mass, so we got to be there during a service.  The sounds of the choir combined with the beautiful architecture, statues and frescoes was amazing.  I could have stayed their all day.  French churches are also very different from Italian churches.  I've seen my share of Italian churches, all of them beautiful.  But this one was beautiful in a different way.  It's hard to explain, but I understand why it is a must see for tourists in Paris.

After the cathedral we got lunch at a recommended crepe place.  I couldn't leave France without having delicious crepes first!  I had one with chocolate and apples and Megan had one with chocolate and ice cream.  Soooo good!!  I really don't understand how French people aren't fat because I would eat them all the time if I lived in Paris!  Haha!  Our adorable French waiters also gave us free glasses of champagne as a "souvenir."  I know that the stereotype is that French people are rude and hate American's, but I had some really positive experiences.  Aside from out waiters, Megan and I were stopped twice on the street by locals who could tell we were lost and attempted to help us.  While we couldn't understand them, it was still very sweet.  Also, this was the first time I was in a city where I knew NONE of the language and it was interesting.  While many of the tourist-y things had English, it was still a challenge in general getting around if you don't even know how to ask where something is!  We managed though.

I would love to go back to Paris someday.  But it was wonderful to be able to go just for a weekend and experience as much as possible.

Long time, no blog

Ok so I genuinely apologize to all my blog readers.  I know I've been AWFUL about updating my blog.  But I'm going to do all my updates in the next few days about what I've been doing recently.  Also, I'm doing them in reverse chronological order.  So starting with this past weekend...

It was Easter so we had a 4 day weekend and I decided to take advantage of it by going to Greece!  More specifically I went to Mykonos, a small Greek island.  It was myself, Megan, Jenna, Jamie and Jamie's friend Matt.  We started on our journey early Friday morning by flying into Athens.  From there we took a ferry to Mykonos.  Just finding the ferry was an adventure it itself, but after a bus and walking for (what felt like) forever we finally got on the correct ferry and were on our way!  It was a 5 hour ferry, and for anyone planning on going to Mykonos I recommend flying.  It was a loooong time to be on a boat, I'll just leave it at that.

I will say that it was absolutely, positively, %100 worth the trip though.  We arrived around midnight on Friday night (after leaving at about 6 am).  We went straight to the beach, which was right outside the front door of our bed and breakfast, and it was beautiful.  The beach was warm and empty, and the ocean looked so incredible bathed in the moonlight.  Megan and I of course couldn't resist running in the water for a few minutes.  Even waste deep at night we could see our feet perfectly clearly.

The next morning we decided to walk into town and along the way we saw a place you could rent ATV's (All Terrain Vehicles)!  Obviously we couldn't resist and Megan and Jamie took one, Jenna and I took another.  We drove into town and found a cute little place to have breakfast.  The drive in was unreal.  Seeing Mykonos in the day time is unlike anything I've ever seen before.  The torquise sea was sparkling, the bright sand was clean, and the beautiful white houses with blue shutters that are stereotypical portrayals of Greece are absolutely real.  As soon as I can I'll add pictures to my shutterfly site.  But during the drive I felt like I was in a movie, or a dream.  I just didn't think it was possible for something in this world to be THAT beautiful.  I don't think I stopped smiling (or yelling OPA!) the entire time.

Breakfast was wonderful.  It was a REAL breakfast: omelets, coffee, toast, pancakes, yum!  We got to sit outside and enjoy the sun before heading back.  Then we ATVed back and hit the beach!  I'm sure that everyone knows this about already, but I am a sun worshipper.  I live and breathe for the beach.  My time down the shore is my favorite, and all of my beach memories take place there.  So just being on the beach was possibly the happiest I've been the entire time I've been in Italy (and I've been very, very happy).  I love the beach so much because it utilizes all five senses, and the beach in Mykonos did it in the most wonderful way possible.  Feeling the sun on your skin, hearing the crash of the waves, smelling the salt of the ocean, tasting the slight crunch of sand in your teeth, and of course seeing how incredible it all is together (sand, sun, surf).

We spent all day laying out, reading, climbing rocks, collecting beach glass, until the wind picked up and it started to get a bit cold.  So we went back to our B and B to shower up and get ready for dinner.  Of course we felt the need to take the ATV's out again first and did a bit of off roading.  I think renting them, and driving them around the island, was the most fun thing I've done since I've been abroad.

Dinner that night was excellent.  Having a break from Italian food in general (yes, you can get tired of Italian, no matter how amazing it is) was nice but Greek food is excellent!  I had lamb souvlaki and loved it.  Looks like I'll be searching for a good greek restaurant in Boston now!

The second day was spent similar to the first.  Wake up, take in the view, ATV to breakfast in town.  We did a bit of shopping as well.  I purchased a beautiful homemade Greek ceramic of a moon!  Interestingly, although it was our Easter, since we were in Greece it was the Greek Orthodox Palm Sunday.  Very interesting watching the parades take place along the coast while eating breakfast.  Religion is clearly a huge part of their culture and it was beautiful to watch.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach again, then taking the ferry back to Athens.  Athens was, interesting.  I didn't love it, but I loved Mykonos so much that it totally made up for it however.  Now I am back in Italy, wishing I was in Greece.  Who would have ever thought that I would be upset about being in Italy!?!  Haha just kidding, I love it here and I plan on enjoying my last two weeks (TWO WEEKS!!!) to the fullest.  I promise another update soon.  Next up is Paris!  Until then ciao and thanks for reading!