When In Rome. . . and Florence. . . and Um. . . Where Are We Again?

So my exam was RIDICULOUSLY long, but I think I did OK. I was a lot more annoyed that I had to come back for it. AND annoyed that it took so LONG NO ONE WAS STILL WORKING AT THAT TIME. I hate that they force us to stay until EVERYONE'S done if you finish within the last 15 minutes. They also took forever and a 1/2 to collect the exams.

Rome

I slept at the airport, which was not actually as weird as I thought it would be, a lot of people were doing it - since my flight was at 6 am. So anyways I went to Rome! It was super annoying b/c The 2 days I was there, it rained. I mean it POURED. Actually it was atypical weather EVERYWHERE I went on this trip around.

I did the touristy things in Rome and then met up with Matteo, who took me to an authentic Napoli restaurant where I had a margherita pizza with DOP (similar to DOC with wines - which means it comes from quality vineyards, etc.) buffalo milk mozzarella and olive oil! Apparently you pour the olive oil over the pizza. It was the BEST pizza had ever had in my LIFE. Then I had gelato - tiramisu, trifle and panna cotta. SOOOOOOO good. I LOVE Italy.

As I mentioned before, I really don't know where this "Italians are not very friendly" thing came from because people were SO nice! Not even just the men (for obvious apparently loving foreign women reason), but also the women! A lot of them would make eye contact with me and smile and when this street vendor started chasing me trying to sell me an umbrella, one girl started laughing and joking about it with me.

Anyways the next day I planned on spending the day at the Vatican (which btw I had no idea it was its own country?!?!?!), to find that I came on the ONE day the Vatican Museums were closed! So yes. I missed out. But I went to St. Peter's Basilica, where Peter the Apostle died. It's so amazing to think that this was an area that was important in the Bible! Anyways, I'm about 95% sure I saw the Pope!!!! I happened to come in during one of the masses and I saw a huge deal being made over one guy and all. I don't really know what the Pope looks like, but I'm pretty sure it was him and it was so cool!

That night I had a Veuve Clicquot with Kenzo in a piano bar! IT WAS A 280 EURO BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE! It was AMAZING and I still can't believe I drank it. I think it's literally the wine that James the sommelier from L'Impero (the restaurant I worked at in NYC) told me was his FAVORITE champagne and that it was ridiculously expensive. He was the one who gave me wine tasting lessons so I trust his judgment always.

Orvieto

We had another one of those photo stops in Orvieto, which kind of reminded me of Derry! It was this cute walled city up on this mountain. The wine there was RIDICULOUSLY cheap - as in 7,50 Euros for 3 bottles! I didn't get any because I can't carry anymore. The church there claims to have the blood of Christ as well (as the one in Brugge that is).

Florence

Gianluca drove me up to Fiesole - which I HAD to see since Ralph Williams loved it so much - and it was gorgeous!! I have to say with Florence, it seems like a normal city, but when you see it up from Fiesole and see how it's surrounded by all these mountains and scenery, it's pretty much the most gorgeous city ever! At least you can't help but think that as you are looking at it from a different point of view. Anyways we went on the free tour through busabout and went to a Florentine Restaurant where I had 3 Florentine dishes - Pappa al Pomodoro, Ribollita and Crema di Farro e Ceci con Funghi. I LOVE Italian food. Then I had gelato again!

Pisa

Yes. . . not going back to Pisa again. There was so little to do there, it was depressing! Luckily it was a photo stop. It also wasn't leaning nearly as much as I thought it would! So I attempted to take my touristy pushing the tower photo (but people didn't seem to understand what I wanted???) and was glad to leave. Despite the fact that the area gave me a bad vibe (sort of like a trapped feeling I feel when hanging around in Maryland) and I had to spent majority of my time their dodging street vendors selling useless things, it was still cool to do yet ANOTHER thing I never thought I would ever do in my life!

Nice

UGHHHHHH I WAS SO MAD IT WAS CLOUDY WHEN I GOT THERE! But it was exciting b/c I saw Monaco on the way there, which I also had no idea was its own country. I hung around on one of the pebble beaches for awhile and I met 3 guys from MSU! I have to say, (as my Michigan sweater was the ONLY warm thing I brought, I was wearing it pretty much everyday), my Michigan sweater is a GREAT conversation starter! Theo showed me around Nice. . . there's not much to do there and I wish I had just gone to Monaco. But it was fun! We went to Thor's, a pub where we just caught the end of the Lyon vs. Paris game, and a sucky band. So we went salsa dancing. Theo loved dancing so it was like REAL salsa dancing where I got turned and stuff a lot! I know I'm rambling, but it was so much fun! Anyways one day I want to come back to Nice and go to other places (like Monaco).

Eze


This was another photo stop where we had a tour of a parfumerie! The tour guide was adorable and I found out the difference between perfume, eau de toilette and cologne. And why perfume is so expensive! My journal smells really good now.

Lauterbrunnen

UGHHHH I wish I had time to stay in Switzerland longer. . . But anyways Lauterbrunnen means "lots of waterfalls" so of course I saw LOTS of them. SO gorgeous! I had a rösti, which I totally regret getting to be honest, since it was super expensive and piled with Swiss cheese (I hate cheese and I asked for very little cheese, but apparently their very little = my A LOT). But it was filling? Anyways the Swiss Alps were GORGEOUS and the chocolate of course was AMAZING. I also saw Amy again!!!!!! I wish I could've been able to stay in Lucerne (where we stopped through), since Thomas lives there, and because it really was beautiful. But my exam timetable ruins my life so boooo. But I took some pictures.

Lichtenstein

I went to ANOTHER random country!! There wasn't much to do there. But I think it's cool that I went to Lichtenstein. I forgot to mention when I was in Munich last time, I met 2 guys from Lichtenstein! They told me not to go and there's nothing to do there.

Munich 2

Anyways I'm in Munich again now and it's SOOOO weird because remembered meeting a girl on busabout named Skye, and she was staying with the same host as me!!!!!! So we went to Hofbräuhaus, the biggest beerhall in Munich. I had my smaller beer again (which is still huge) and we split a pretzel! Afterwards we basically got assaulted by these creepy Italian guys who wouldn't leave us alone. But luckily we got away eventually. Otherwise it was really fun!

Today I watched the Glockenspiel ring and all, but I got bored and went and did other things, like the Viktualienmarkt (where I had lots and lots of food samples!), the Residenz, and English Garden! I went to the nudey area but no one was really nude. Just some old men. Just like in that movie Eurotrip where the guys hurry over to the nude beach, excited about seeing naked girls, and only see a bunch of old gross men (who were there for the same reasons).

Anyways I'm headed back to London tonight for the E-Commerce Exam tonight. Wah wah.