Elyse Conquers Europe Like the Romans Did

I am a Latke and I am Waiting for Hanukkah to Come

2007-12-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, so quickly I just wanted to let everyone know that I have found the best thing in the world online in order to make the 8 days of Hanukkah feel...shall we say, a little bit more festive!

Head on over to XM radio and sign up for a free trial in order to listen to their Hanukkah station! This afternoon I was able to dance around my family room singing along to Noam Katz, Rick Recht, Danny Nichols, David Broza, and others. It pretty much made my life!

Also, last night I made a wonderful Hanukkah dinner complete with chicken, latkes, salad, and homemade applesauce with the help of the amazing Jessie Jacobson. The food was wonderful and the company was even better. We even played a rousing game of dreidel with there little Italian candies. (Alas, we could not find gelt).

But really, overall it was a great night. Sure, I wish that I had been able to be home with my family, or at school to celebrate with the gang, but I found a way to make being here special.

And, you want to know what the best part was? I somehow, by some Hanukkah miracle, managed to escape smelling like a latke.

Put on Your Yalmulka, Here Comes Hanukkah

2007-12-04T02:50:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I know that it isn't quite Hanuakkah here in Roma, or in the States, but I wanted to let everyone know that I am thinking about them!

This afternoon I am going over to Jessie Jacobson's apartment and we are going to make latkes and light our menorahs and celebrate the holiday to the best of our abilities!

Also, I want to apologize once again for slacking on the blogging. My homework has overtaken my life. But, I promise to do some updates just as soon as my papers are finished!

Music Shall Surround You

2007-11-26T12:25:00.000-08:00

Grammy and Papa packed up and went to Sicily for a few days while I got work done back in Roma. Sometimes I just wish that all of the work would disappear (or at least leave the back of my mind) so I wouldn't feel so bad about going out and doing stuff in Rome. I have no problems when I leave the city, but as soon as I step back into Rome I feel as if I need to be doing work....

But, I digress... When Grammy and Papa got back it was on a Wed, so I was able to meet them right after my Art in Rome class. We had lunch, and then spent part of the afternoon meandering through the area. I think after having them here, I have left no stone unturned in the Spanish Steps area. If you have questions about where to find something, I probably know the answer.

Wednesday evening the 3 of us went to a mini opera at the All Saints Church that wasn't too far from the Spanish Steps. I don't even know if you would call what I saw a mini opera, but it was wonderful. Instead of sitting through a full opera, it was only the most famous arias from the most famous shows. Now, before this, the only exposure to opera was the music that I sometimes played on my violin for class. Yet, after that evening I had a newfound love and appreciation for the music. I think that going to see a full opera is now in my future (provided I do some research before going in order to understand the plot line).

The next few days were a blur of happiness (and rain). It was just so wonderful to have Grammy and Papa around. We would go out, wander, go back to the hotel to rest and watch CNN, go out again, have dinner, wander around, have gelato... Life couldn't be much better. Not at all...

Cover it in Chocolate and a Miracle or Two

2007-11-25T13:53:00.000-08:00

Note: I am a bit behind in the blogging. Please bear with me while I try and update while still keeping up with all of my schoolwork. xo -e

The Friday that my grandparents were here we decided to go to Peugia - a small town that is about 2 hours by train from Roma. Perugia is the home to Perugina chocolate, which is a famous chocolate company that is famous for their small dark chocolates that have a hazelnut in the center - Baci. I had heard about this town from my roommates who had ventured to the Peugia chocolate festival while I was in Pompeii. So, what time is better than now to go?

It actually wound up being the perfect day to go because the public transportation workers decided that that day would be a good one to strike. Go figure. I had been told before that the Romans liked to strike, but I don't think that I fully realized it until this fateful day.

Getting to the train station was a piece of pie for Grammy and Papa, but it was a little less so for me (even though the strike wasn't officially supposed to start until 9AM). I got on the tram, as I usually do, with the intent to take it from my apartment all the way to the end, where I would then grab bus 40 that would take me to Termini. Oh no, that would have been far too easy. As the tram neared Station Trastevere, it just stopped. No, nothing was blocking the track, and the tram didn't die - the driver just decided to stop. Great. As I rushed off the tram I saw that the H bus (another bus that goes to Termini) was pulled over across the street. I hopped the fence and ran after the bus with another Italian lady. The bus driver was being an ass and wouldn't open the door for us. Strike 2! After waiting 15 minutes for another H bus to come, I was finally on my way. Thank goodness I left my apartment earlier than I actually needed to.

The train ride to Perugia was uneventful. I slept as per usual, and I believe that Grammy and Papa just read and enjoyed the scenery that was whizzing by us outside the windows. Once in Perugia, we had to take a bus to the top of the hill where the main Piazza, IV Novembre, is. The higher we climbed, the more beautiful the view was. It was quite a treat to be up on the top of a hill and to be able to look out over the countryside. Even though it was slightly overcast, it didn't much matter - it was just plain gorgeous.

After meandering for a bit and enjoying the charm of this small town, we decided to go and find this restaurant, La Taverna, that Grammy had read about in her guidebook. This restaurant was supposed to be famous for their famous traditional Umbrian cuisine. The restaurant is down the most narrow alleyway in town, and had it not been for the signs leading us there, I don't know if we ever would have found it. But, thank goodness we did, because it might have just been one of the best meals that I have had since being in Italy. Besides the fact that the restaurant was housed in this gorgeous house with vaulted ceilings that has been standing for well over 200 years. Each one of us had a truly fabulous meal - I had ravioli that was stuffed with truffles. It was incredible - out of this world. Never before have I had anything that compares. And, for dessert we decided to split this chocolate mousse-like thing that was covered with bits of hazelnut, just like a Baci candy. I think that I could eat that meal every day and die fat and happy.

On our way out the door, we caught a glimpse of one of the chef's assistants in the kitchen slicing open a brand new wheel of pecorino cheese. Man! What a job that is! The assistant was essentially pounding into the wheel with a knife one tiny bit at a time. The head chef (who looked like the typical stereotype of an Italian chef - complete with the potbelly) saw us looking in, and brought each of us a tiny bit of the fresh cheese. I think that it might have been a small slice of heaven, considering how wonderful that little bit of cheese was.

After some more meandering (and discovering this somewhat hidden underground tunnel), and stopping in the Baci store to buy - what else - chocolate, we opted to head back down to the train station to go back to Roma. The train ride back was somewhat hellish. We were stuck outside a train station for almost an hour, and the situation was made even worse because no one spoke enough English to tell us what was going on. After this trip it was decided that no one should ever take a train with me again - all I bring is bad luck.

Back in Roma, and at the hotel (where I spent the night because getting back to my apartment without public transportation just wasn't going to happen), the three of passed out after watching CNN, with our tummies full and our hearts happy because we were all together.

Aren't You Glad You're Not a Turkey on this Thanksgiving Day

2007-11-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from Roma! I am up early so that I can get myself together and head off to Geneva for a weekend of good Thanksgiving food, fun, and good company. But, before I left I wanted to send a shout out to everyone to enjoy Thanksgiving. I also just wanted to express just how thankful I am this year, not only for having the opportunities that I do, but also for having such wonderful family and friends!

p.s. more updates to come soon - I know, I know, I have been slacking...

My Heart is Like an Artichoke

2007-11-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

My return to Rome on Sunday afternoon was quite welcome after being gone for 10 days. Yes, I had an amazing time, but that didn't mean that I was ready to keep living day to day - I wanted to get back into a routine. (And, I needed to rest my poor, tired, blistered feet).

Last Monday and Tuesday I spent catching up on work and relaxing. Wednesday, on the other hand, was a big day - my Grammy and Papa arrived from Chicago!!! This was the best treat that I could have gotten after my 10 day vacation - 2 of my favorite people in my "foreign" city. What more could I ask for? The first night we just wandered around Piazza di Spagna and had a quick dinner so that they could go back to their hotel and get some sleep and try to acclimate themselves to the right time zone. I decided to take the 44 bus back to my apartment from Piazza Venezia. Bad idea. The bus broke down right in front of AUR. By this point I had to go to the bathroom terribly, but the campus was already locked for the night. So, in a moment of genius I called Jessie who lives only a few blocks from campus and asked her if I could run up. Thank goodness she way home! But being there was great fun because I got to go through my bag of goodies that Grammy had brought for me. I got my Uggs, a menorah and candles in preparation for Hanukkah, chocolate chips, a pedometer, and a fabulous shirt from Urban Outfitters that reads "Friends don't let friends vote Republican." Amen!

Thursday I had class in the morning, and then decided to be a bit of a rebel and skip my second class to go and meet Grammy and Papa in the Jewish quarter for lunch. Oh, and what a good lunch we had. Since I arrived in Rome I have been talking about going to the Jewish quarter to have their famous specialty - fried artichokes. Ok, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but they were wonderful! We also had fried zucchini flowers and fried cod, but neither were as good as the artichokes. Then, each of us had a primi (aka a pasta or a risotto). It was a truly wonderful meal.

From the Jewish quarter, the three of us got on the bus and headed up towards school so I could show them the campus, and then we went to my apartment. I think that both Grammy and Papa were honestly impressed with A) how well I know the city and the transportation system B) how nice campus and my apartment are. I would have to agree with them on both of those counts.

After resting and doing some checking of the email accounts, we headed off for dinner back by the hotel. Another wonderful meal ( I can't think of a bad one that I have had since being in Italy, come to think of it). I had prosciutto crudo and fresh buffalo mozzarella. Yummmyyy! Back at the hotel we had a few logistics to work out due to the newly announced information that there was going to be a nation-wide transportation strike the next morning. Now, this wasn't going to really affect the three of us during the day, because we had planned to go to Perugia early in the morning, but it was going to affect us upon our return - when it came to getting back to the hotel and me getting back to my apartment (which is not exactly within walking distance). What was decided (and what we learned) was that in the morning, before 9AM we would be fine, but after that - there was no way of knowing. So, the plan was that I would stay at the hotel on a cot for a night upon our return so I wouldn't have to worry about getting back.

Does the Moonlight Shine on Paris?

2007-11-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

In the morning the camp counselor in me came out. We said that we wanted to be out the door by 9AM so that we could get into the Louvre without having to wait. Lo and behold, the 3 of us walked out the doors of Oops! Hostel (what an awful name for a hostel, by the way) at around 9:07AM. Not too shabby at all.

Thankfully, we got to the Louvre just as it was opening. In less than 10 minutes time we had gone through security, gotten our tickets, and were heading upstairs towards the one and only Mona Lisa. Ok, so I went into the Louvre knowing that I was supposed to feel overwhelmed and impressed by the masterpiece that is Mona Lisa. Not so much. Sure, it was nice, but I couldn't get close enough to admire her so-called beauty or see the technique or even get a semi-decent picture.

After getting crushed by all of the people who at this point (a half hour later) had entered the Louvre and gone straight to the Mona Lisa; Sarah, Angelica, and I all decided to split off because each of us had different goals and we didn't want to spend all day there. The Louvre doesn't really house "my type" of art - it just doesn't appeal to me, and I see enough of it in Rome. I hate to be what some call naive or ignorant, but there are only so many paintings of Jesus or the Madonna and Child that I can see without having them all start to blur together. In my wanderings I happened to have a really weird moment (that had nothing to do with the art) where I ran into one of my friends from AU, Sienna, who is spending her semester studying in Madrid. I love it when the world seems small.

Laura met us outside the Louvre after we all took a glance at the inverted pyramid that Dan Brown talks about in the DaVinci Code, and from there we took the metro back to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. the view was just as pretty during the day as it had been the previous night. We wound up wandering around in the little area, which I guess you could call Montmartre, that is by the Basilique, and we had an outdoor lunch. I had the most wonderful Croque-madame (a toasted ham and cheese sandwich with an egg on top). I once again felt like I just belonged in Paris. It was such a quintessential thing to be sitting at an outdoor cafe eating one of their traditional foods. The waiter was even really nice and tried his hardest to help all of us with our French - that almost never happens.

The 3 of us that were not studying in Paris had our heart on seeing the Moulin Rouge - so, that is exactly where Laura took us. The street that leads up to the famous nightspot is crazily sketchy, but equally as funny. Along the way we managed to find a Phi, as well as two fat statues that were outside of the erotic museum - so of course, we had to stop and take pictures. The windmill was impressive, but that was about the extent of the entire site. I don't think that we ever got closer than across the street from it. Yet, it is still pretty neat to say that I have been there - or at least close to it.

The 4 of us did a quick hour of shopping that turned into me sitting down and resting my tired feet. But, after that short break (and a cup of coffee to get the blood flowing), Angelica, Sarah, and I made our way towards the Eiffel Tower. We got off the metro right as dusk had fallen the clock had struck the hour. This was perfect timing, because as we rounded the corner to step into the shadow of the tower, the lights were once again sparkling.

Once down underneath the tower we choose what we had deemed to be the shortest line to go up to the top. After waiting 40 minutes (and being annoyed by the obnoxious German couple in line behind us), we come to find out that we were in the line that doesn't take you to the top in an elevator - we are in the line that you are supposed to be in if you want to climb the stairs to get to the second platform! By this point it made no sense to change lines, so we were committed to climbing those 700 stairs to make it up there. At least, though, we would be able to take an elevator to the tippy top.

The view from all 3 platforms were amazing. I was just so happy, I felt like a small child who's parent told them that they could go to the zoo to see the baby elephant. Many of you know the wide smile that I get when everything is perfect in my world - imagine that times two and you get me on top of the Eiffel Tower.

Once we came down, the three of us found a small piece of pavement and just sat and looked at the tower. It was as if I was starring in my own movie. The moment just felt perfect. The moon was out, the tower was twinkling for the 4th time in the 3 hours we had been there, and my dream of being in Paris had come true in the most magical way.

I Love Paris Every Moment

2007-11-12T14:26:00.001-08:00

The next morning I woke up too early and took the metro all by myself down to the Musee D'Orsay so that I could be one of the first people in line when it opened. I wanted to have the impressionist paintings all to myself for as long as I possibly could.

The museum is housed in the former railway station, the Gare d'Orsay. When you walk in you are just overwhelmed with the grandeur, especially since early in the morning the light is streaming through all the glass giving it is somewhat dream-like quality. All the sculptures that were housed in the main area looked as if they could come out of their marble shells and magically come alive.

Quickly I headed up to the top floor to go and see the impressionist collection that I had heard (and read) so much about. Upon entering the wing, I realized that the entire trip to Paris had been worth it just to see all of this great artwork. The first piece that I saw that I knew was Degas's "Tiny Dancer" sculpture. I just stood in front of the case absolutely mesmerized by the perfection and beauty of it. In fact, (please don't make fun of me) I started to cry. No, these tears weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of joy. Seeing all of these famous pieces of artwork that I had only seen in books for so many years was a dream come true. Yes, I know that this makes me sound like a small child in a way, but standing there I realized how lucky I was to have been raised to have an affinity for travel, learning, and for art (among other things).

From there that room, I went and spent some quality time with some of my favorite artists, including (but not limited to) Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, and many others. I wish that I could do all of the pieces justice, but I can't (and you would get quite annoyed my post because it would go on forever. Instead, I am just going to post some of the pictures that I was able to take.

Following my enlightening experience at the d'Orsay, I killed some time until Laura could come and meet up with me. I took a lovely walk down the Seine, and eventually found myself at Notre Dame. Somehow, I accidentally went in the "out door." Oops. I felt like I was back at camp and I had to use the correct doors to go and get food in the kitchen. Except, at Notre Dame in Paris, there was no Jacob Pactor or Ilana Gildenblatt to teasingly scold me. Anyway... So, I went in the wrong door, which meant that I was going against the so-called flow of traffic. But, regardless... Even though it was crowded, and at times my claustrophobia kicked it, the structure was just amazing. And whenever I felt like I wanted to run out of there screaming, all I had to do was look up and see all of the space. I have always had an affinity for stained glass because my grandfather made on the side as a hobby. Yet, the glass at Notre Dame just radiated throughout the entire building. It was this light amongst the darkness and somber mood of the church.

From Notre Dame, I walked along this small touristy shopping street in the hopes of finding a charm for my bracelet. Of course, I got the obligatory Eiffel Tower charm, and I also wound up with an adorable mug with Le Petite Prince on it. During this walk, I also decided to suck it up and get another crepe, because how could one pass that deliciousness up? I decided to have one filled with banana and chocolate...how much better could life get with that combination?

I met up with Laura at Hotel de Ville, and we walked the few short blocks to the Pompidou Center to go to the contemporary art museum that is housed on the 5th and 6th floors. Not only does this building house contemporary art, it is also functions as a piece of art. The building is somewhat sore on the eyes after seeing all the gorgeous buildings that are so well known in Paris. Yet, the tubing and "exoskeleton" that is visable from the outside makes the building unique and a true topic of conversation. Hey! I even remember talking about it in my French class when we were in middle school!

After we waited an hour in the line to get in, Laura decided that she didn't really want to go with me, so she went to a friends to do homework, and I ascended the many escalators to get to the museum. Being here was essentially love at first sight. The art collection leaves off where the Musee d'Orsay ends, so it is mostly contemporary art. Some of my favorite artists, like Worhal, Agam, Chagall, (late) Picasso, and others are housed here. Yet, the best thing that I saw was something that I had no idea was even in Paris, let alone the Pompidou. The Matisse cutouts from his jazz series were hanging on a nondescript wall in a gallery. And so, there I stood and had another bout of my "happy-tears."

Afterwards, I once again met up with Laura and we went first to the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur to see the sun set over Paris, then we found our way to the Latin Quarter in the hopes of finding dinner. After wandering for a bit we decided to have fondue. I started the meal off with French onion soup, continued with a 3 cheese fondue, and finished with chocolate fondue. I felt oh so Parisian. I also felt like a fat kid who just wanted to eat more and more and more. I even suggested to Laura that we ask for bread to dip into the chocolate fondue so that we could eat the last drops of it. She didn't even want to entertain that idea and just kind of rolled her eyes at me.

By the time dinner was over Sarah Butzer, and Angelica (two of my sorority sisters that are spending the semester studying in London) had called me on my cell phone to tell me that their plane had touched down at Charles de Gaulle airport. This was my cue to leave Laura to go and meet the girls at the hostel that we would be staying at for the next few nights.

After a bit of drama that involved me getting lost once getting off the metro, and the hostel not taking credit cards, the three of us found out way up to our tiny room and I proceeded to pass out. But, don't you worry, there would be plenty in store for the three of us the next morning!

I Could Wander Paris After Dark

2007-11-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

The first sight that I saw after arriving in Paris was the Eiffel Tower all lit up and sparkling as I passed it while riding on the metro to my hotel. Somehow, after all of my years of dreaming about the city of lights - I had arrived. Ever since I was small and in primary school and learning about Monet in art class, Paris has been on the top of my list to visit in this big world of ours.

Thanks to my Daddy and his gazillions of Marriott points, I was welcomed with open arms to the Marriott Rive Gauche when I arrived at 12:30 AM. Immediately I headed up to my room, watched a bit of CNN (!) in English (!!), and proceeded to pass out in the gigantic bed with all of the down comforters and pillows I could ever want. I wanted to take a picture of me jumping onto the bed like Carrie Bradshaw when she was was in Paris, but no one was there to take the picture, so this one of the room will have to do.

After an incredible night of sleep I woke up in the morning, showered, and went downstairs to ask the concierge where to go and get pastries. He sent me to a patisserie only a few blocks away where I proceeded to spend 8 euros on pastries and a can of apple juice. Not only did I buy the stuff, I ate every last crumb in the bag. Ever since Le Cezanne opened around the corner from my house when I was in middle school I was always partial to French pastries, now I really just can't imagine eating anything else.

Following my "piggy-ness" Laura, one of my pledge sisters who happens to be spending the semester in Paris, met up with me at the hotel. from there she took me to Jardin du Luxembourg where we met up with her friend Molly. After eating some warm chestnuts and frolicking through the park the two of them took me on a magnificent walking tour of Paris. We walked by the Seine, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Hotel de Ville, and we finally wound up in the Jewish quarter so that the two girls could eat some traditional Israeli falafel.

I wasn't hungry because of my earlier love affair with the pastry, but I was happy to sit and help eat the tomatoes out of Laura's Israeli salad while she and Molly enjoyed their balls of fried chick peas. It was almost like being back in Israel, you know, minus the who it being cold thing and everyone around me speaking French. But other than that, I could have been on Ben Yehudah street with all the black hats and orthodox women around me. It was my own little corner of Paris where I could feel perfectly at home. A big thanks needs to out to Laura and Molly for introducing me to this little corner of the city.

From there, the three of us got on the Metro and headed for the Champs Elysee to see what all the fuss was about. Sure, it was a very nice and wide street with lots of shops lining it, but overall, it failed to impress me. I guess it had a lot of live up to after talking about it so much in French class when I was in middle school and high school, but it just didn't make my heart go pitter patter like I thought that it would. The best thing about the entire road was making it to the end and seeing the Arc de Triomphe. No, we did not climb it, but I certainly took my time and walked all the way around it. What Napoleon was trying to say when he built this massive structure is quite apparent - he wanted to be perceived as the head of the next great empire, or equivalent to the former rulers of Rome. The arc is very skillfully designed after the Arc of Titus and the Arc of Constantine. This is when my newfound knowledge about the Art of Rome comes in handy...

The next stop on our tour was Les Tuileries, the garden that stretches for a number of blocks outside the Louvre. It was such a beautiful fall day, so the three of us chose to sit outside at one of the cafes and treat ourselves to some cappuccino, and I decided that I had to try my first crepe in Paris. Done and done. It was a great snack, and there was some enjoyable people watching that went along with it. I don't know what it is about Europe, but no matter what the weather is, I always seem to be willing to sit outside, and this was no exception.

From here the three of us took a nice leisurely stroll along the Seine, and I had the chance to cross over the famous Pont Neuf bridge for the first time. At this point, Molly went home, and Laura and I found ourselves a seat on the bridge where we sat and talked until the sun went down. From there, Laura had to go back to her host family's house to eat dinner, and I went back to the hotel to take a bath, a nap, and watch some more CNN.

By the time Laura finished dinner, it was too late for her to come back into the city to stay with me, so I once again asked the concierge for some advice as to where to go to dinner. They sent me to a cute place no more than 3 blocks from the hotel called Alouette. I had the most wonderful salad that had chicken, sweet corn, olives, hard boiled eggs, and a melody of other ingredients. It was probably the best salad that I have had since being abroad!

I decided to turn in early so that I could be up early for a long day of sightseeing. I came in knowing that my time in Paris was limited, and I needed to do as much as possible in the little time that I had available to me.

Deep within the Emerald Isle

2007-11-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

The next morning, I slept quite a bit longer than I had intended to. But, I guess my body needed the sleep, and who am I to argue with my body? When I finally got myself out of the apartment (around eleven), after having a proper cup of English tea and a kit kat, I headed down to the city center of Dublin to do some exploring. Marthe had been kind enough to loan me her Dublin book so I would at least have a basic idea of where I was going.

When I got off the tram that took me into downtown Dublin I chose a direction and set off exploring. I wanted to get my bearings before I actually chose something to do or see. After wandering down Grafton Street (and stopping every two seconds to window shop) I found myself at Trinity College and in the middle of the Dublin Marathon. Trinity is just gorgeous. I throughly enjoyed wandering through the campus and admiring the gorgeous buildings and the perfectly kept lawns (which are probably partly due to the signs all over the place warning people to keep off the grass).

From Trinity I wandered around for a bit. I had planned on going to St. Patricks cathedral, but due to the impending darkness, I chose to wait for another day. Instead, I wandered back down Grafton and found myself in an English book store. Now, I never ever thought that sometime like that could have made me as happy as it did. I have been a crazy reader since coming abroad, and hence, I have run out of books. So, I chose to curl up in a leather chair (just like at Barnes and Nobels!) and browse through some books.

Eventually, I met up with Marthe again, and we headed back to her apartment so that she could do some shopping for a Halloween costume. Appearantly Halloween is a HUGE deal in Dublin, so she needed a costume that would allow her to live up to the hype. She and her friends eventually decided on dressing as if they were from the 80s - complete with cut off sweatshirts and large plastic jewelery and ugly as sin make up.

After shopping Marthe and I went for dinner at this place called Mao. Even though by this point I had been out of Italy for more than a few days, I was still thankful for a meal that didn't have pasta in it.

The next morning I woke up, had a cup of tea, and then headed out into the city center. My first stop was the National Gallery of Ireland. I had such a hard time finding the place because the streets in Dublin change names about every 5 blocks. Most natives don't even bother with the street names, they just direct you by telling you to turn left at this pub, or right at this pub. Yet, for me, that wasn't even a possibility because I don't know any of the pubs!

Eventually, with the help of a map, I was able to make it to the museum. The most impressive thing there was the Yeats gallery. Jack Yeats was an expressionist painter whose favorite subject was the circus and horses. The amount of emotion that came through in his work practically blew me away. It was just wonderful.

From the museum, I tried to find my way to the Cathedral, and once again failed - big time. Instead, I got lost almost on the opposite side of Dublin. That was the downside. The upside was that I got to see a beautiful part of the city that I never would have gotten to otherwise. I especially loved the different colored doors and all the beautiful trim around the windows.

and Marthe and I were supposed for dinner once again. She wound up taking me to the Temple Bar area, which is right around By this time, it was once again getting dark, so I asked for directions, and headed back to the main area. There, I found myself walking through St. Stephan's Green park. I think the thing that I enjoyed most about the city was the sheer amount of green space. Now, it was getting late, to meet up with to goher internship. She and I opted to go to the restaurant that her boss always has lunch at - so we knew it was good before we even sat down. I had the most wonderful Irish stew that was made with Guinness beer. Yummmm!

The following day was my last day in Dublin, so I was determined to make it to St. Patricks. I had it in my head that a trip to this city was not complete without a stop at this famous landmark. But, first, I had to get a mocha (per Marthe) at Butler's chocolate shop. Now, I have had many a mocha in my day, but this one wins the prize for being the best. After stopping and asking for directions more than once (I won't tell you how many times), the cathedral finally came into view. It was just gorgeous inside, and there was a lot of history there, so I was glad that I made it. My camera and I also had quite a bit of fun...aka I took too many pictures.

From St. Patrick's I went back to Grafton Street to meet Marthe so that we could go to the Guinness factory. Now, I am not at all one for beer, but I just couldn't leave Dublin without doing something that has to do with Guinness - it is a staple of life in Ireland, they even say that it flows like water. We got a wee bit lost on the way there, but we did make it. And oh, was it worth every step to get there, and every penny that I paid to get in. I actually learned a decent amount, got to take some really neat pictures, tried the first Guinness I have ever liked, and I got to have an incredible view of Dublin.

From the Guinness factory, we had a quick lunch at a pub, and then I ran back to the apartment to grab my stuff so that I could head to the airport to go to PARIS!

You Say Goodbye I Say Hello

2007-11-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

Once back in Vienna and at the Wombat, we went straight to Mozart to get another wonderful serving of schnitzel and french fries, and of course - a radler. After dinner the two of us decided to be completely lame and go to bed in the hopes of waking up early the next morning to see the famous Vienna Boys choir.

We woke up the following morning, quickly got dressed and packed, and headed downstairs to check out. After giving back our keys and everything I look at the clock and realize that it isn't ten minutes to 8, it is actually ten minutes to 7 because the night before we had fallen back, and I had completely forgotten about it. We then come to find out from the front desk that the Vienna Boys choir aren't even singing that morning, they are on holiday. They then go on to tell us that nothing is really going to be open because it is a holiday weekend and Sunday, because, and I quote "Austria is a Catholic country." Ok, I understand that, but Rome is the home of Catholicism, and things are at least open in the city center on Sundays. The museums were still going to open, so at least we would have something to do!

Jessie and I took our dear sweet time walking down to the Museumquartier stopping along the way for a cup of coffee and a good excuse to get out of the rain. As soon as we got there we ducked into the first museum that we could find, which happened to be a childrens museum that literly had nothing for us big kids to do. So, with our heads hung low, and our umbrellas up, we went to the Leopold museum and spent a good 3 or so hours there. There was some really fabulous art there, including stuff by Gustav Klimt, which is one of Jessie's favorite artists.

After the museum, we headed back to Stephansdom in the hopes of finding some restaurant that was open. Low and behold, the restaurant that we had gone to on Friday was open once again, so back we went. The food was once again fantastic, and this time the two of us even went out on a limb and tried a dish that we didn't know what it was. I can't remember for the life of me what it was called, but it was some sort of meat that was in this broth with potatoes and you put this horseradish-y stuff on it. We topped off our meal with our final dose of strudel. I miss it already...

By this time, Jessie and I were cold and wet, so we headed back to the Wombat to hang out for a bit before we would have to go to the airport. Because Jessie and I are crazy about making sure that we have enough time at the airport, we wound up there far too early. Which wound up being ok, because we had enough time to sit down and have dinner and rest before we had to leave each other and board our respective planes. When I went through security I got a stamp in my passport, which I was SO excited about!

My plane to Dublin was easy as pie. Took off, landed, and everything else that planes are supposed to do without an issue. Once at the airport, I got onto the bus and met Marthe (my friend from G.U.C.I.) in the city center without a problem. We cabbed it back to her place (she lives with her roommate out in Dundrum, which is about 20 minutes from downtown Dublin), and spent some time hanging out and catching up. Her apartment is gorgeous and beautifully furnished. I was blown away by their kitchen. I kept repeating over and over again "I am so jealous of your oven with numbers on it!"

So, around 2:00 I finally crashed on the couch, more than just a little bit happy that I was in Dublin.

The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music

2007-11-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

Our train ride to Salzburg was awful. I am sure that you are asking how in the world a train ride can be awful. Let me give you a small bit of insight - 4 small children all speaking German and behaving very badly does not equate to a pleasant 3.5 hours in a small compartment while moving across the Austrian countryside.

Anyway, by the time Jessie and I finally made it into Salzburg and to our hostel the two of us were starving. We asked at the front desk where we should go, and were informed that because it was bank holiday very few things were going to be open. So, off we went, in a random direction. Luckily, we stumbled upon a Chinese restaurant that was open, busy, and smelled delicious - always wonderful signs. I had been craving Chinese food for weeks, so no complaints escaped from my lips.

The next morning, after a yummy breakfast at the hostel that was called "the Austrian backpackers special" - aka scrambled eggs with bacon and veggies mixed in - Jessie and I were picked up in a van that took us to the starting point for the SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR! Please excuse our dorkiness, but the two of us were beyond excited for a day of reliving the memories from the movie. The website for Panorama tours gives the following description for the tour "All you ever wanted to know about this timeless classic. "The Sound of Music" starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, the Movie, the Broadway Musical, the sights were filming took place, both in the city of Salzburg and surrounding area, the true story, facts fiction and trivia."

The tour was essentially everything that I could have ever asked for and more! Our tour guide was really funny and seemed to know practically anything that you could ever want to know about the filming of the movie. The first stop on the tour was the lake that the Von Trapp fell into while they were out boating behind their house. From there, we were able to see the Abbey (which is actually the Abbey where the real Maria Von Trapp was from). One of the best parts of the day was when we were taken to see THE gazebo. Yes, the one that Liesl and Rolf danced around during the singing of "I am Sixteen Going on Seventeen." Be jealous - very jealous.

From there, we had a bit of a ride into the hills of Salzburg to see some of the views that were used in the movie. The bus was able to stop right on a the hill that overlooked Wolfgang lake. This was the view that was used for the last scene of the movie. The view was really something right out of movie - it was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen. Because it had just snowed, there were still bits of it in sight, and the colorful fall leaves were still showing their colors on the trees. It was essentially perfect.

The next stop was a small town called Mondsee where the church that Maria and Captain Von Trapp got married in at the end of the movie. We had a bit of time to wander around there, so besides seeing the church (and walking down the aisle like Maria), we were able to stop into a famous pastry shop called Braun's for some strudel and coffee. We also had the chance to go and "climb" the trees that the Von Trapp children climbed up in the movie. I would have loved to act like a monkey, but I know that I am too much of a klutz to even dream of doing that...

Back in downtown Salzburg our final stop was the Mirabell Gardens where the scenes for "Do-Re-Mi" were filmed. We marched around the Pegasus statue like the children, and we ran down the hedge arcade just like Fräulein Maria. Jessie and I took pictures with the gnomes, and jumped up and down the stairs just like they did at the end of the song. If you want to relive the movie version - you can watch it here.

After we had our fill of acting like our favorite Von Trapp children and enjoying Mirabell gardens, Jessie and I wandered for a bit and then headed back to the hostel to get our stuff so we could once again get on a train and go back to Vienna to spend our final day in our new favorite country - Austria.

Vienna Waits For You

2007-11-05T01:32:00.000-08:00

WARNING: This blog post (and the ones to follow about my travels) may be farr too long.

Last Thursday night Jessie Jacobson and I got on a plane at Fumincino airport and headed off for the land of crisp apple strudel, schnitzel, and silver white winters that melt into springs - otherwise known as Austria! A few weeks ago when the two of us met up for dinner we decided on a whim to head to Austria on a weekend that both of us happened to have free. I am so beyond happy that we made the decision to go. Austria was so much more than I could have ever expected it to be. The food was wonderful, the people were friendly, the sights and sounds were breathtaking. What more could a girl ask for?

Upon arriving in the city center and finding our hostel, The Wombat (highly recommend it!) Jessie and I went out for our first meal in Austria. The guy at the front desk sent us to a small restaurant around the corner that was named after Mozart, who might as well be considered Vienna's patron saint because it seems like everything has a name that has to do with him. The second we left the hostel we see this HUGE Croc store. Yes, I am talking about the "too ugly for words" shoes that have infiltrated campers and the lives of badly dressed people everywhere. Jessie and I got such a kick out of it, because who would have thought that there would be a store devoted to them in the middle of Vienna?

And I digress... We had the most amazing meal. We both had schnitzel, french fries, enough ketchup to last a life time, and this incredible beer that was essentially mixed with lemonade called a Radler. I never thought that I would EVER refer to a beer being incredible, but both of us really enjoyed it. After sitting a wonderfully long time in our tiny far too intimate booth we walked the few blocks back to the hostel to head to bed. When we walked into our room we found 4 Koreans that barely spoke a word of English (and we spoke not a single word of Korean between us). At least we were planning on going straight to bed, if not, making conversation would have been just a bit difficult.

The next morning we woke up early to head to the Vienna Museumsquartier. We were told that at 60 square km, it is one of the largest art districts in the world. On our walk down the main street, Mariahilferstr, we noticed that something weird was going on. It was 10:00 in the morning and nothing seemed to be open besides the little grocery store where we picked up the most wonderful fruit, and no one was out and walking around. The two of us just chalked it up to the Austrians being lazy, but later we came to find out that it was their bank holiday. Good timing on our part... But, at least the museums were open! We decided to go to the Museum Moderner Kunst (MUMOK) first. Some of the art was quite odd, but on the whole I enjoyed most of what we saw. The main exhibit was called China: Facing Reality. Some of the art was really strange, but a lot of it was very though provoking and gave insight into the daily tug-of-war that the Chinese go through resulting from capitalism and communism. On the bottom floor we were able to see some really fabulous and famous art work, including some Andy Worhal and Love: Black and White Rising (that was done for Martin Luther King Jr.).

From the MUMOK, Jessie and I decided to delve into our Jewish roots by heading to the Judisches Museum. We easily figure out what metro (or as it is called there - The U) stop that we had to get off at, but from there we had a few issues. At first we went the wrong way out of the U station and wound up wandering around "one of Vienna's most treasured symbols," the Stephansdom until we finally figured out the right direction to go. Then, somehow Jessie and I managed to walk right past the sign that pointed us in the right direction of the museum. shows how good we are with maps and street names that we can't read or pronounce.

We finally found the museum and were greeted by a warm building and free entrance. The museum was small, but interesting. There were these strange, but cool holograms that told the history of Jewish culture and history around the world and in Vienna. We also discovered a room the showcased Jewish culture for small children. This included fun things such as yarmulkes with cartoon characters and the aleph bet done in legos. By far, though, the best part of the museum was the special exhibit that they were having about Jewish women and there role in Vienna in the past, as well as their role currently and in the future. This picture of me is pretty horrible, but we couldn't take it again for fear of getting yelled at. Yet, the question is a good one, and I think that we all know the answer for it!

We left the museum incredibly hungry from our morning of walking around. An incredibly nice guy from the museum walked us down the street to another traditional Austrian restaurant. The food there was also great! Jessie and I had goulash, which might as well have been called brisket. Yummy! The atmosphere in the was I guess what I would have called "very Austrian." Everyone in there seemed to be a local, which essentially meant that we had fond ourselves some good food! At the end of the meal, we decided to treat ourselves to apple strudel and fell in love with it before we even took our first bite.

By this time it was getting late in the afternoon and Jessie and I needed to get ourselves back to the hostel so that we could pick up our bags and head to Salzburg.

A Photo Can Say a Thousand Things

2007-11-05T00:12:00.000-08:00

The link to my pictures from my fabulous fall break can be found here.
Posts to follow...

So Say Arrivederci, Toodle-loo, and Ciao

2007-10-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

Just for everyone's information as of tomorrow I am going to be on my fall break with little to no internet. My schedule goes as follows:
Oct 26 - 28: Vienna and Salzburg with Jessie Jacobson
Oct 28-31: Dublin to visit Marthe, a friend of mine from camp (G.U.C.I.)
Oct 31 - Nov 4: Paris to see Laura (one of my pledge sisters), and on the 2nd, Angelica and Sarah Butzer, my two sorority sisters studying in London, will be coming to meet us.

Have a wonderful week! I can't wait to come back and share all of my fun stories and pictures with you all! xoxo

Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again

2007-10-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday marked the second time that I tried to get to Pompeii on the school trip. Even though last time didn't work out quite as planned, this trip almost went off without a hitch. Sure, there was the 45 minutes that we sat at a rest stop while the bus driver had to remove a mental panel from underneath the bus (it was flapping around and hitting the road - can you say fire hazard?). For that 3/4 of an hour I was wondering if God was trying in some way to prevent us from going to Pompeii, but we did eventually make it!

Pompeii was everything that I expected in an extremely good way. I wasn't expecting a dazzling city, great food, or incredible people watching. But, I was expecting lots of history and that is exactly what I got.

Our tour guide was Carm (as he said "Car with an M on the end"), and man did that guy know his stuff. I felt as if there wasn't a question that I could ask him that he wouldn't know the answer too. I don't know if the things that I saw can really be described in a way that can be understood without actually seeing the sites. But, I will say that it is just mind blowing how well everything was preserved. I was able to see original frescoes, walk on the marble that the residents of Pompeii walked on, sit in the amphitheater that they sat in (and hear my voice echo in it too!), and see their ovens and wine bars.

One of the most interesting things that I learned about were the casts of many of the people that were killed by the carbon monoxide that was released alongside the soot and lava that faithful day when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. It was one of the people doing the excavations who realised there were spaces left by the decomposed bodies and so they devised the technique of injecting plaster into them to perfectly recreate the forms of Vesuvius's victims. What I got to see in Pompeii were the creepily accurate forms of the residents of Pompeii's last moments before death. In some of the casts their faces are quite clear, and you can see the signs of terror - in fact, one of the casts was slightly bigger than it should have been because the victim died shaking back and forth.

Another interesting thing that Carm showed us an ancient brothel. There were erotic frescoes all over the walls. Carm said that most likely men would come in, point to what they wanted on the wall, and, well, go about it. We were told that Pompeii was quite famous for their so-called red-light district, and when tradesmen would come into port, they would make a beeline for this location. The people in Pompeii did not speak the same language as most of their visitors, so there were phallic shaped arrows pointing them in the right direction. Lovely, right?

I'm happy that I finally was able to make it to this lovely little part of Italy. As we were getting ready to board the bus I was lucky enough to find the perfect charm to add to my charm bracelet. This part of Italy is known for making cameos, and I found one that depicted Mt. Vesuvius and a bit of Pompeii. Perfection.

Never Such Devoted Sisters

2007-10-24T03:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the slacking on my part in terms of updating. It’s midterm week, and things have just been a little crazy over here on this side of the pond. I’ve been meaning to update, it is just that it normally takes me somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour and a half to write a blog post, I haven’t exactly had that time.

Last week on Tuesday, Sarah Butzer (one of my pledge sisters), came into visit from London. It was her fall break, so it was the perfect time to come to Roma. Her trip over here was quite an adventure, but that isn’t my story to tell. After she spent the day at the beach with another one of our sorority sisters who is studying in Rome, I met up with the two of them at the Trevi fountain. Sarah wanted to make sure that she had a chance to throw a coin into the fountain, because the legend says that if you do that you will be sure to return to Rome. I brought Sarah back to our apartment and we sat outside on our balcony for a good hour or so just talking. Then it was time for sleep!

In the morning I had class, but Sarah wanted to see my neighborhood before she set out on her day of sightseeing. So, I took her to our open-air market that is just down the street from us. I think she enjoyed it. I love it there – seeing that many fruits and veggies in one place is just a little slice of heaven for me. After that we both had out first bite of cannoli. So good.

In the afternoon after class I met up with Sarah at the pantheon so that we could spend a few hours together, eat gelato, and go to the Spanish Steps. Sarah remembered this gelato place that she had gone to when she was here in Rome a few years ago, so we set out to find it. Oh my goodness – I think that this place (Caffe Giolitti) had the best gelato that I have had thus far in Rome. My cone consisted of chocolate, raspberry, and lemon. YUMMY!

That night I had a make up class for Art of Rome because it is too difficult to try and go see the Sistine Chapel with a class. Apparently you aren’t allowed to speak in the actual chapel, so it would be quite pointless to go there. Instead, all 4 sections of Art of Rome had to gather in the AUR auditorium at 6:30 at night for 3 hours to hear about the chapel and the Rafael rooms. All in all it was quite interesting, I was just getting antsy. I wanted to get out of there and go meet up with Sarah and Lauren one last time. I was eventually able to meet them for a drink, and then I dragged myself reluctantly back to my apartment because I had class yet again the next morning – and a quiz no less!

On Saturday once again I woke up at the crack of dawn and headed to AUR in the hopes of actually reaching Pompeii. But, that is another post. So, moving on…

When I got back on Saturday evening I was lucky enough to have yet another one of my pledge sisters, Laura, in town. Although I wasn’t able to spend quite as much time with her, it was still nice to have her here.

The first night I met her and Lauren out in one of the piazzas and spent some time with them. The night was going beautifully until I went to get back on the tram to go home and discovered that one of my wallets and my phone was missing. This is what I categorize as a “lo tov” (or no good) situation. I don’t want to go into the details of the rest of that evening, but believe me when I say that everything turned out ok, and all was not lost.

After that crazy evening I woke up the next day with plans to meet the two girls at Bocca della Verita, or the Mouth of Truth. If you have ever seen Roman Holiday you know what I am talking about. Because I at this point had no phone, I made plans to meet them on a bridge right near the church where it is located. Yet, each of us wound up on the wrong bridge and we never were able to find each other. Finally I was able to get a nice shop keeper to let me use their phone and contact Lauren. Which was great, but by that point they had gone somewhere that I didn’t know how to get to on foot. An hour later, 2 buses and a cab later, I finally found them.

It was well worth it, because we went to San Pietro in Vincoli. This is where the chains that were supposedly used to shackle St Peter are housed. But, the more interesting thing for me was that this is the church where Michelangelo’s Moses statue is. This statue is the one that started the rumor that Jews have horns. This happened because of a mistranslation of the Hebrew word “ray (as in ray of light)” for the word horn. Good job whoever did that! You have condemned many generations of Jews to be asked where their horns are.

From there we headed to Trastevere to have dinner. Lauren said that she knew of this traditional Italian restaurant with good food. Oh, and man was it wonderful. I had fried zucchini flowers and spaghetti carbonara, two very traditional Roman dishes. When I said goodbye to them I left with a happy tummy.

I know that some people are always going to be skeptical of sororities and say that you are just paying for your friends. I don’t know how to convince them otherwise, but all I know is that I am thankful for the friends and the “family” that it has given me. I know that I am part of something that has helped to create generations of strong Jewish (and non Jewish) women. This is something to be proud of. This is all especially relevant because today is the 98th anniversary of the founding of Alpha Epsilon Phi. We are, no matter where we are in the world a part of our motto “many hearts, one purpose – multa corda, una causa.”

Feels Like Home to Me

2007-10-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

My class this morning was canceled. Believe me, I am not complaining, but it has left me with quite a bit of time on my hands that just wasn't expected. So, what do I do when I have too much time (besides putz around the kitchen and play on the internet)? I of course get to thinking - because that is just how things seem to work.

I was thinking about how much this place has become home in a strange and somewhat surreal way. No, it isn't Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, or DC, or even Jerusalem - but it is a place that has somehow grown on me. I still don't fully understand the culture and I am still frequently baffled at the way things are done here in Rome and in Italy - but I like it. Sure, some days I would kill for a hamburger or even some food besides pasta - but I know as soon as I leave I am going to be craving the Italian cooking that just isn't the same back on the other side of the pond.

The other night on my way back from Florence I made the mistake of taking the local train. So, a train ride that was only supposed to be about 2 hours turned into a 3 and a half hour ordeal. The later and later it became the more antsy I became to return "home." I just wanted to climb up the stairs of Gianicolense 309 and turn that skeleton key to get inside the apartment so I could go jump into my too-low-to-the-ground Ikea bed.

Next Thursday, the semester will be half-way over (I am trying not to think about it). But, my time here is limited. My job here is to go to class, do my homework, explore, and travel. I can't forget that and spend time online or sleeping when I could be out seeing a part of the city, country, or continent that I haven't had the chance to see yet. Every day I still have to pinch myself and remind myself that I really am here - and making the most of it is the only way to live la dolce vita - the sweet life.

Now You're Stuck in a Moment

2007-10-15T01:07:00.001-07:00

My day-trip to Florence on Saturday was far from planned. I believe that I had the idea to go sometime around 8:30 pm the night before, and I didn't fully decide to go until I was outside my apartment waiting for the H bus to take me to the train station.

I truly had no real plans for Florence. All I knew was that I wanted to see as much of the city as possible, and that I wanted to go and see Michaelangelo's David. Yet, my day turned out to be so much more exciting than just that.

When I got off the train in Florence I was still slightly groggy from my nap that I had taken on the train (in true Elyse fashion I woke up only a few moments before pulling up to the station). And, I had no real idea of where I was in the city. The only map that I had accessible was the hand drawn one from Rick Steves' Italy. As I came to find out throughout the day - Rick is good for many things, but not so much when it comes to figuring out where things are/how to get there.

I had been told that the Duomo wasn't all that far from the train station, so I picked a direction and walked in the hopes of finding it. I had no issues doing exactly that due to the noisy tourists that were congregated outside. The humongous dome was also a dead give away that I had made it. I made a quick decision not to go inside because the line wrapped all the way around the block, but I did take the time to admire the beautiful outside - which is covered in pink, green, and white Tuscan marble.

While I was standing in the crowd taking pictures (and holding onto my purse for dear life), I realized that I needed coffee - and I probably should have had it about 10 minutes ago. My sleepiness was starting to catch up with me, and I wasn't going to let that spoil my wonderful day in Florence. On my search for a place to get coffee that wasn't going to charge me 1.50 euro for a cappuccino (it should be around 1 euro) I stumbled upon the San Lorenzo market where I found all of these little vendors selling pashminas, t-shirts, jewelery, and leather abound. I have been wanting another pashmina for myself (and they are entirely too expensive in Rome), so I bought a few - one for myself and the rest for gifts.

After caffeinating my body I set out to find the Accademia so that I could stand and admire Michelangelo's greatest and most famous sculpture. Somehow, I managed to get myself incredibly lost. I had to stop and ask for directions numerous times. The last time I stopped and asked for directions I asked 2 girls who were also toting Rick Steves' Italy guide. They had no idea where they were going either - but we wound up finding it together - and in the process I made two new friends! After finally finding it (I had walked right by it originally!!!) we only stood in line for about 45 minutes - which wasn't too bad at all. Once we finally made it in and walked into the long hallway that David stands at the end of - I was in awe. I wish that I could accurately describe how I felt when I was in his presence, but two days later I still can't find the words.

I believe that I stood gazing up at him for well over a half an hour. I really was stuck in a moment. Michaelangelo carved him from the marble with such perfection. His muscles are so well chiseled, and each vein is viable. His eyes are mesmerizing - you just can't take your own gaze away from his. I am so thankful that I was able to see this famous piece of art. It was a dream come true in so many ways.

From there, Shelli, Danielle (my two new friends) and I headed back towards the Duomo to get some food and to rest our feet. I had my first panini that was warmed up in the microwave. I think I prefer the press - actually I know I do!

We wound up wandering around the city for a bit to try and find Shelli and Danielle their first taste of gelato since being in Italy. How anyone can be in Italy for almost 5 days and not have had gelato yet is beyond my comprehension. During our wandering we wound up at a few of the famous sights in Florence completely by accident. the first one we came across was Porcellino - a statue of a wild boar. People rub his snout and give coins in order to ensure that they will return to Florence. The next place we stumbled upon was Ponte Vecchio, which is Florence's most famous bridge that has been traditionally lined with gold and silversmiths. I didn't buy any gold when I was there, but I finally found silver charms for my charm bracelet! I got the Florence fleur de lis and the she-wolf that is the symbol of Rome.

Also on the bridge I noticed large bundles of padlocks that all had things written on them in Italian. Later on I was reading in Rick Steves and he explained the significance of them. Apparently the bridge is a romantic spot late at night and guys demonstrate their enduring love by ceremonially taking their girlfriends here, locking a lock, and throwing the key into the River Arno. Go figure...

By this time it was about 5:15 in the afternoon, so the three of us decided that we would at least try to get into the Uffizi gallery. Previously there had been a line that we would have waited in for at least 2 hours. Yet, because it was about an hour and 15 minutes before it was supposed to close, we were able to get right in. Even though the admission was 10 euro and we only had a short period of time in there - it was so worth it. I didn't realize this going into the museum, but this is where Botticelli's Birth of Venus is housed.

Oh. My. Goodness. I was in love. I was in awe. I think that my encounter with this famous work was made even more special because I wasn't expecting to see it. I hope that I am able to go back one day and spend more time admiring this amazing painting.

The gallery was filled with many more notable pieces of art that are world-renowned - including the only surviving Michaelangelo easel painting. This is a must see! But, in order to get the maximum amount of time, be sure to make a reservation. I would have done that if I had decided to go to Florence more than 12 hours prior to leaving.

I had dinner with Shelli and Danielle at this cute place right by the Uffizi. It was a recommendation from Rick and it is called Osteria Vini e Vecchi Sapori. You an get there by facing the bronze equestrian statue in Piazza della Signoria, going behind its tail into the corner and to your left. My meal consisted of a glass of red wine, a small plate of mixed crostini, and this amazing ravioli with ragu sauce. If you are looking for a good dinner in Florence, I would highly recommend this little hole-in-the-wall.

Overall, it was a great day in Florence. I am so happy that I decided to bite the bullet and just go by myself. It was a day for exploring, good food, amazing art, and new friends. Florence is a place that I want to return to one day to explore the city more throughly. But, for now I am more than content with my memories (and the blisters on my feet from walking so much).

They Had Style They Had Grace

2007-10-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

Elegance is the balance between proportion, emotion, and surprise.

- Valentino

That is Valentino's signature quote, and all of those elements of elegance certainly showed themselves when I went to the Ara Pacis on a very rainy afternoon to see "Valentino a Roma - 45 Years of Style."

It is no secret that I love and adore fashion. I don't worship trends or rules, but I do take great pleasure in looking at beautiful clothing. It is a firm belief in mine that clothes do have the potential to make people feel better about themselves. Judging from the brilliance of the 300 couture ensembles, Valentino believes in the same thing that I do.

The exhibit was shown as I mentioned, at the Ara Pacis. The Ara Pacis is an alter that is among the most significant evidences of art in the age of Augustus. Holding this retrospective here wasn't something that was done with haste, in fact, it was extremely deliberate. The Ara Pacis is a place that is extremely important to Romans because it reminds them of Augustus and the peace and prosperity that he brought. Hence, holding the exhibit here connects Valentino to Rome and Rome to Valentino.

I believe the my jaw was open with awe throughout my entire two hour visit. Each gown was more spectacular than the next. The amount of detail and work that goes into each gown, coat, or top is really quite incredible. Through seeing the handiwork up close, I was able to gain a new respect for the reasons why couture is so coveted (and pricey).

In the basement, underneath the actual Ara Pacis there was a display of Valentino's sketches (starting from the 1960s!), and a breathtaking display of gowns worn by famous actresses, princesses, and other personalities (i.e. Reese Witherspoon, Princess Diana, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez). I have many many pictures that I took of each gown, but probably the most notable for me was a gown that Audrey Hepburn wore! She is absolutely my style icon, so seeing a piece of her clothing up close was just an amazing experience.

I wish that I could tell each of you to go and see this exhibit, but alas, it closes on October 28th. Heck, I would even go back a few more time and just sit on the Ara Pacis and admire each of the gowns for as long as they would allow me. But, because that isn't possible I am just going to have to stare longly at all of the photos that I took, and maybe wish that one day I too will be lucky enough to own something as unique and as beautifully handcrafted as a Valentino original. Actually, on second thought, I just want the sketches - they last longer and paper never goes out of style.

Hurry, Get Your Cootie Shot

2007-10-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

My bug bites by the numbers:
Right hand: 4
Left hand: 2
Tummy: 2 (one on my belly button!)
Right eyelid: 1
Neck: 1
Right leg: 4
Left leg: 3
Back: 1

Sound like fun to anyone? I wish I could tell you that it was, or that I had found some way to give myself a cootie shot to protect my poor body from being subjected to more of this pain and misery. Yet, I think that I will just have to deal with it. The tiger mosquito is apparently quite a problem here in Rome, and we have been told that there is a large campaign going to on to combat them. I guess it isn't working too well!

I don't wear perfume, I stopped eating bananas (we were told that they are attracted to that scent), and I try not to leave the windows open in our room at night when they would be tempted to fly in. I'm not even at Crane Lake! ;-) But no, these things haven't made a difference. I am still walking around itching every part of my body (and looking slightly silly while doing it).

The really cold weather doesn't appeal to me because I still want to leave my apartment when it gets to that point. Yet, I wouldn't complain about 2 days of cold in the near future to bring on a freeze that would get rid of this pesky little bug.

Anyone know where I can find anti-itching cream in Rome. Or maybe some meat tenderizer?

Some Have Gone and Some Remain

2007-10-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

The past two days have been wonderful – a time of good food, great wine, and incredible conversation; and this is all thanks to the one and only Adrienne Levy, and her best friend from home, Ashley.

Just as a bit of background – Adrienne was NFTY Membership and Communications Vice President two years before I held the same position. So, essentially I have known Adrienne for a little bit over four years (!) - since my first summer of debauchery at Kutz way way back in 2003.

Anyway, Adrienne and Ashley just graduated college in the spring and they decided to plan a three-week romp through Europe, spending about two days in each city – and spending a lot of time on the train getting from place to place. The two of them popped into my life last night, and left me today, but it really was a great few hours with them.

Yesterday evening I met the two of them at the Pantheon because it was a nice and easy place to find. (Rome can be really confusing if you don’t have a good map, or you don’t know where you are going. A grid system is nonexistent here). I was given the honor of choosing the place where we went to dinner. My choice came right out of the guide books. It is called Cul-de-Sac, and it is the oldest wine bar in Roma. They are famous for having an incredible selection of pates, cheeses, smoked meats, and other small plate. But, what they are most well known for is having close to 4,000 different bottles of wine from Italy and beyond (the wine book looked like it was a huge frickin’ novel!). The walls are just lined with bottles - and they have this cool cherry picker thing-y that the waiters use to take down the wine.

The three of us ordered a bottle of the house red as well as a cheese, a plate of in season veggies, lasagna, and meatballs with mashed potatoes. Oh goodness. The food was out exactly what I needed – especially the meat. And although the portions weren’t heaping, they were a good size, and filled the three of us up quite nicely. We were even able to save room for desert and a bottle of the house white. Totally worth it! The nice thing about restaurants like this is that once you sit down, the table is yours – you can sit for as long as you want. It is great to feel like you have the time to sit and linger over that last glass of wine and finish your conversation without feeling like you are being rushed out.

Today after class I met up with Adrienne and Ashley again so that I could play tour guide for a bit, since they had done all the major sights before the morning. I took them to Compo di Fiori to see the reminisce of the flower market that is there every day. I also showed them around some of the back streets of Trastevere, so that they could get a better feel for the way that the Italians live.

Once their legs started to fall off, we set off on a quest to find a place where we could have some bruschetta and a glass of wine (no, I am not turning into an alcoholic – they wanted to make themselves a bit sleepy before their overnight train to Paris). The place that I had in mind was closed because it was a weird in between dinner and lunch time. So, we walked to the place a few doors down that had tables outside. We tried to order exactly what I said we originally wanted, and they told us they wouldn’t serve us because we didn’t want to have a full meal. It was SO strange. I have never had anyone be that rude to me since getting to this city over a month ago. We eventually found a place that had what we wanted, and would serve us, thank goodness. I just can’t believe that we were treated the way that we were. I was even trying my best to speak Italian to the waitress. Who knows? I guess they didn’t want our business.

Overall, I am so happy that I was able to spend this time with Adrienne and Ashley. Ashley and I discovered that our families have a lot in common, and Adrienne and I love to reminisce about old times, before we got to be old. Although I was sad to see them go, I admire what they are doing so much. I don’t think that I have the guts to pack a backpack up and go travel Europe for three weeks. But, I am glad that they did and came here! If you guys happen to be reading this, thank you for an awesome time! I hope that you will come and visit sometime this year in DC!

Sunday Morning Rain is Falling

2007-10-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

For some odd reason, on Sunday morning I was up and about beginning around 8 AM. This was a huge surprise because I was exhausted from our non-Pompeii day trip. I had been hearing and reading lots of things about the Porta Portese market, which is this huge market that only occurs on Sunday mornings (I have been told that it is comparable to Portabella Market in Notting Hill). Even though all 4 of my roommates were still asleep, and Molly had gone to meet her dad and stepmom at the airport, I decided to venture to the market all on my own. I knew from what I had read that this would be an experience, but nothing could have prepared me for the actual act of going there.

First of all, many of you know that I am incredibly claustrophobic. Talk about having the issue come to light at the least convenient time! I think that I have discovered where the entire city of Rome goes on Sunday morning when all the stores and restaurants are closed - they all go to this 10 block area. Everyone is running into each other while pushing and shoving in hopes of getting the best price on that cashmere sweater of that antique that they just have to have. And this Sunday it was drizzling, so the crowd was even more fun to navigate due to all the open umbrellas!

The items that can be found in this market certainly run the gammet of things. I spent a grand total of 2 euro on an old gold skeleton key (which will be put on a chain and worn around my neck as a necklace), and a felt flower pin that reminded me of something that I bought during my first trip to Israel. Yet, these were only the two things that I decided to buy! I saw everything from bras and underwear to a mini tuxedo for an infant, to old Barbies without their heads, to wooden marionettes, to paintings, to entire booths that only sold buttons. If you were on the hunt for something - this would probably be the place to find it!

So, if you are ever in Rome on a Sunday morning, be sure to join the Romans in their quest for treasures in Porta Portese! You might just find something that could put you on antique roadshow, or make you the talk of your friends (because you bought something funny or something incredibly valuable). Or maybe, this could be the perfect place to find that white elephant gift for the winter season. Whatever your reason for going (people watching included), this is an event that should not be missed!

Let Us Sing This Song for the Healing of the World

2007-10-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Check out this very interesting perspective on the tension between all of the different religious groups that cohabit in Jerusalem and the rest of Israel. Brought to you by the letter C in honor of cheese, Brian Immerman's (the blogger's) favorite food!

And I Think About Pompeii

2007-10-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

Today did not turn out as expected, but in the end – it wound up being a decent day considering the considering the circumstances.

My alarm woke me up at 6:00, and by 6:30 Sarah, Ali, Molly, and I were all out the door. The apartment building was still pitch black (I managed to slip down the last few stairs as a result of that), and outside you could still perfectly trace the outline of the sliver moon with your pinkie finger. Oh yes, the 4 of us were heading up to AUR so that we could catch the bus to head to Pompeii for the day.

Now, for those of you who don’t know Pompeii used to be a commercial port with a population of about 20,000. In 79 A.D. Mt. Vesuvius erupted and covered the city with about 30 feet of lava and ash. The entire city was preserved under all the muck, so this is the place to go to see what Roman life was during this time period.

But, surprise! We didn’t ever make it to Pompeii! The bus pulled away from school at 7:30AM. The ride was supposed to take about 4 hours, and we were going to have a break at a rest stop about half way through it. Great idea in theory, but alas, not all things can be planned for. When we stopped, our bus drivers received word that a truck had jack-knifed on the highway, and as a result it was shut down. The back roads that we would have had to take would have been quite difficult for the bus drivers, and it probably would have taken upwards of another 5 hours. So, there was no way that we were getting to Pompeii anytime soon. On to plan B (or maybe it was plan C, I am unsure…)

The first stop was an outlet center called The Fashion District. It wasn’t a bad way to spend 2 hours, but it wasn’t at all what I expected. When someone says outlets in Italy – I think of the big name outlets (i.e. Prada, Fendi, etc) that people talk about when they come back to the states. Nope, this place was nothing like that. It was much more like the outlets that people tend to have about an hour away from their major cities. It was a good experience, but I of course walked away with nothing. There was nothing that caught my eye, and things were overall still kind of expensive. Probably the most exciting thing that happened during those two hours was I got to pet an ELEPHANT! There was an elephant that was just kind of chillin’ next to the parking lot. It looked like people were setting up for a circus, but it was still really random.

Another 45 minutes on the bus brought us to one of the hilltop towns outside of Rome called Frescati. It is a cute little town that is well known for its villas, pork sandwiches, white wine, and cookies of three breasted women. Everything was quite wonderful, except for the cookies called the pupazze frascatane – even though they were really funny looking. They were so hard that they wouldn’t break without dropping them on the floor.

“The "pupazze frascatane", typical for their three breasts, they are simple flour, water and honey-based biscuits. The Frascati three-breasted puppet is an amusing iconographic reminiscence of the Goddess of Plenty, who had a third breast producing wine instead of milk. The third breast derived from the ancient belief that children born in the Frascati area – notorious for its wine production – were also fed wine.”

When we returned back to Rome it was pouring as well as thundering and lightening. The busses were nice enough to drop us off by the tram so we wouldn’t have to walk to the 44 bus from school and then take it to the tram and then ride the tram. So, now Molly, Ali, Sarah, and I are back in the apartment in our pajamas and talking about making warm cookies. Which to me, sounds like the perfect end to this day.

There is Life Outside Your Apartment

2007-10-03T11:47:00.001-07:00

Things that I have learned in the past few days:
1. No child is too young to have gelato
2. Sometimes you just need to play a little Jewish geography (thank you Jessie Jacobson!)
3. Be careful when walking on sidewalks – you might just step on dog poop if you aren’t paying attention
4. Always leave earlier than you think that you need to, because you will probably get lost, or the bus won’t come for 30 minutes
5. Da Baffetto (by Piazza Navona) easily has the best pizza in Rome
6. The Colosseum is not nearly as impressive from the inside as it is from the outside
7. Finding a place to have coffee after you eat dinner is quite the feat
8. October does not mean fall in Rome, it just means more of the 85 degree heat that we have had
9. Don’t even accidentally take pictures with a flash in the Palentine museum. The guy is probably hiding behind a statue of Markus Aurelius waiting to give you a stern warning
10. iPods and sunglasses are the best way to let everyone around you know (especially that creepy guy that keeps eyeing you on the bus) that you don’t want to talk or pay attention to a single person
11. No matter where you are in the world, it is good to know that you can always count on your friends and family. I love and miss you all!

Life is Good Wild and Sweet

2007-10-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

When Molly originally called me last weekend and asked if I wanted to go to Ischia, I said yes without even knowing what I was getting myself into. A week later I couldn’t imagine not venturing to that beautiful island off the coast of Naples in the Mediterranean.

The weekend started on Friday morning when we got to Termini to make our train reservation to Naples. For †5 each we managed to get a first class compartment. We were living the high life already! (and when I say the high life I mean that we had blinds on our window). But the ride was smooth and easy with no blips in the plan. When we got off the train I was essentially disgusted. Naples was gross and dirty. I didn’t take any pictures so I can’t give an accurate showcase of the ickiness that the city was. By the time we boarded the boat to Ischia an hour later I was beyond happy to be leaving the birthplace of pizza.

Our first experience in Ischia involved an over crowded bus that took us from one side of the island to the other. I’m not exactly sure what happened on that bus, but all I know was my claustrophobia was going nuts – I was sandwiched between a lady in awful polka-dotted pants and the ticket-validating machine. Towards the back of the bus people were yelling at each other in Italian. Who knows what it was about… When the 5 of us got off that bus I think the only word to describe us would be elated.

The Ring Hostel, the place that we stayed, was so much more than we bargained for – in a good way. When we got there to check in, we were greeted with notes on the walls from all of the past guests. The notes were praising the hostel, the island, and the food among other things. It was nice to know that people loved being here, it certainly helped to put my mind at ease. We were told that every night at 8:00 guests are shuttled over to the family run restaurant that is owned by the same people that own the hostel.

After spending an hour or so at the beach (and getting out all of our pent up energy out through a silly photo shoot), we headed back to the hostel to get ready for what we had yet to find out – a night that would be the best that we have had since arriving in Italy. The food was amazing (gnocchi with homemade pesto and red sauce), the company was incredible, the ride to the restaurant put any rollercoaster to shame, and the dancing – well, the dancing just topped the whole night off.

Saturday we spent a good portion of the day at Negombo, a “hydrothermal park,” which is made up of these incredible pools that are heated entirely by the thermal heat from inside the ground. The 5 of us spent the entire afternoon hopping from pool to pool to pool, each one a different temperature with something new to discover. It was just such a relaxing day all the way around – totally worth the really pruney hands and feet that I walked away with.

Overall it was another great weekend. I know that one day I am going to have to go back there and spend more time on the island and “live like the islanders.” If anyone you know is contemplating going to Capri, suggest Ischia to them instead. We have heard that Ischia is much more charming and far less touristy. And besides, it is close enough that you could go to Capri for a day, but return to Ischia at night. I would highly recommend this beautiful island to anyone who wants good food and a relaxing vacation.

to see my pictures from the weekend click here!

Every Day's Like an Open Door

2007-09-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday classes are my favorite. I get up and go to my Art in Rome class, which is always on-site somewhere in Rome. The first week we went to the Pantheon, last week we went to the Roman Forum, and this week we headed to the Capitoline Museum. I mean, come on, what could be better than having an excuse to go out and see the sites of the city while getting school credit for it? And besides, by going to see the sites this way I have the opportunity to learn lots of information from my amazing professor (who has a long Greek last name that I can’t pronounce) that I otherwise wouldn’t learn about through my guide books or the skimpy descriptions that are sometimes posted.

Following my class (which is 3 hours long) I have enough time to come home and cook lunch, and then at 3:00 I head up to AUR for my second class of the day – Italian Media and Pop Culture. The name kind of says it all – but I just think that some of the discussions that we have had are so interesting. Today we talked about the Miss Italy pageant that was on RAI (Italian public TV) the other night and how it is different from the one in the USA. We also touched on an advertisement that has actually gotten press in the United States. Please read the article and make a judgment for yourself – I would be quite interested to hear what you think about it. (Note: the ad that you see in the article is less risqué then the one that is being shown here in Rome. Here we get the full frontal view)

Hmm…what else? This weekend I am heading off with 4 of my roommates to Ischia – an island off the coast of Naples that is somewhat close to Capri. We made a last minute decision to go there, and I am really looking forward to a really relaxing weekend of hanging out, enjoying the hot springs, eating some pesto, and maybe (if I am feeling brave) jumping off a cliff!

I’m going to go grab a mini Magnum bar out of the fridge (my favorite ice cream bar over here in Europe that I discovered in Israel) and finish up some Italian homework, and then head off to bed. Somehow I am still exhausted from last weekend. But before I sign off, I want to send a special shout out to Matthew P. and Samantha B. for reading my blog and leaving me funny comments! I love and miss you both very much!

Oh yes, one more thing. I have been spending a lot of time on Skype talking to people, and I would love for you to be one of them. It is incredibly easy (and free) to download. Most likely you have a microphone built into your computer, and a camera isn’t necessary, so there is no good reason not to get an account. Once you sign up, please let me know your skype name so we can catch up soon!

She's Got a Ticket to Ride

2007-09-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog refers to the fact that I took just about every single form of transportation during this past weekend, which I spent in the UK. My purse is now filled with plane, train, bus, and tube tickets that were all used by me in the 4 days that I was there. Let’s do a by the numbers to show you how many of each I took
4: train tickets I used
5: trains I actually took
2: planes that I flew on
unlimited: tube and bus rides
But as I look back on the weekend I realize that without these modern forms of transportation, my weekend would never have been able to turn out as wonderful as it did.

Once arriving in Heathrow, I booked it to the tube station in the airport (after being questioned for my reason for visiting the UK in passport control) and made the last tube in just the nick of time. Thank goodness I did. Although I don’t mind the bus, I know that I would have gone slightly crazy trying to navigate it after my annoyance at Alitalia.

My arrival at the flat was such a happy homecoming. Seeing Sarah, Angelica, and Jason in so many ways made me feel more calm and centered than I have been in a week or two. There was something that was just so natural about sitting on a couch with our computers and chatting it up. It was a perfect throw back to 5th floor Letts freshman year.

After a much needed night’s sleep, I woke up and headed towards Westminster Abbey with Jason, Anglelica, and a few of their flat mates (13 of them live there!!!). We all paid what I seem to remember as £7 to get in, and another £5 for the tour. Yet, it was all well worth it, because I never thought that I could enjoy a tour of a church as much as I did. Besides being incredibly beautiful, the information that I learned while there was so interesting. For instance, did you know that Darwin was buried in the Abbey? Or, did you know that there was a man who could only afford a 2 foot x 2 foot burial plot in the Abbey, so he is the only person who is buried standing up? The tour was full of facts along these lines that I would never have found out about otherwise, so the tour was fully worth my $10. (Just as a reminder to all of you out there who don’t know, or who have forgotten, the $2 = £1)

From there, Jason, Angelica, and I took a double decker bus (!) over to Buckingham Palace. After stepping up onto the second level of the bus, I immediately decided that this mode of transportation was far superior to the Tube. The 4 of us set out to find a Barclays (a bank), and from there decided that food was 100% necessary. The first thing that we found was a cute place called The Slug and Lettuce. I HAD CHICKEN THERE!!! I know that seems a bit excessive for a bit of poultry, but you have no idea how happy I was to see it on the menu. In Italy they don’t normally serve chicken in restaurants because it is seen as something that can be made easily at home, so why have it when you go out? That first bite of my fried chicken wrap was a small slice of heaven. It was a great meal until the end when our waiter forgot about us (in typical UK style) and I had to actually get up to get the check. Silly British people!

Next stop on our list was Hyde Park. Now, let me just preface this by saying that I felt almost as if being there was as though I was shown a slice of life in London. You should see Sarah’s blog for a good description of our time there. But essentially it was a beautiful day for a walk through the park, and I enjoyed my time there very much – crazy pigeon lady and all!

That night we went out to a pub to grab dinner, and then we headed to another pub to watch the Rugby world cup. I have decided a few things…
#1 – I don’t understand Rubgy. Why any mother would let their son play that sport is beyond my comprehension
#2 – I really like cider. It is like drinking apple juice, only better. And besides, it beats beer is just about every single way
#3 – Don’t go to a pub with the same number of males as females. Everyone thinks that you are two couples and won’t come over and talk to you

The next morning I woke up and headed to the Euston tube stop to meet Marc Schutzbank so that we could go to Yom Kippur services together. I was supposed to meet him at 10:30. So, I got there at what I thought was 10:25. I waited 30 minutes for him, and when he never came I frantically called him. When Marc picked up the phone he told me he was still in his room getting ready. Stupid me. My phone didn’t change time zones when I got to London, so I woke up an hour early and got to the station an hour early. Essentially I am really, really stupid. When Marc arrived at what was really 10:30, he told me that it wasn’t a big deal, but I still found myself feeling quite silly.

Services were truly lovely. I made the right decision to go to London for Yom Kippur. I needed the time to feel connected to the Jewish part of myself that isn’t always fed in Rome. The sermon that the rabbi (who was American!) did centered on the idea that we need to use the future to define the past. We need to take what we have done and allow it to help us in the coming months and years. I normally start to nod off during sermons, but for this one I was alive, awake, and enthusiastic through the entire thing. I think that I should take that as a sign…

For the better part of the day, Marc and I just wandered around the city taking everything in and talking about everything under the sun (as per usual). The funny thing is that we kept coming back to topics that revolved around food without even realizing it. – since we both were fasting.
Towards the end of the day we wound up at a park (whose name I forget) up by Camden (which is a very cool area that is perfect for people watching). We saw a group of guys dressed up in weird clothing and playing cricket. Marc went over to talk to them, and found out that it was a “stag party,” aka a bachelor party. The stag decided to have all of his mates dress up as characters from the 18th century and do activities that would have been done in that time period. As I said before, check out Marc’s blog for more on our afternoon.

The temple that we went to set us up with a family for break the fast. The house was gorgeous and huge and amazing and… Everyone was very nice and really interested in what Marc and I were doing over on this side of the pond. As Marc said, a Jewish mother is a Jewish mother wherever you go. They always want you to eat more and to make yourself comfortable and at home.

After breaking the fast, I scooted out early and headed to Victoria station so that I could catch a train to go out to Ramsgate to spend the night and the most of the next day with Stacey, Kurt, and Astin – my family on this side of the pond. My trip out there was somewhat of a nightmare. Work was being done on the track, so I had to take an hour long train to Stood, then take a 40 minute bus ride to then get on another hour long train that would take me to Ramsgate. I got there at 2 in the morning! Kurt was waiting for me on the platform. I didn’t get off the train right away because I fell asleep in typical Elyse fashion, and the conductor had to wake me up.

The next day I hung out with my family and we did silly things like go to the grocery store (where I bought lots of food to bring back with me!) and go to the nursery to get a pot to go in the backyard. The 3 of us also cooked in the afternoon. Kurt made steak, shrimp, broccoli, corn, and an apple-blackberry crumble for me! YUMM And then Stace and I made chocolate chip bars!! Just like home!

The train ride back was much easier than going out there – direct to London Victoria. Yet, it was also quite hard because I was sad about leaving them. I know that I need to go back once more before going back to the States. Staying away from their little house on Station Approach Road just doesn’t seem possible. It just feels so much like home.

Once back in London, I stayed awake all night in order to catch the bus to Heathrow – my flight was at 6:50 in the morning! I got on the plane and passed out from exhaustion immediately, but I view that as being a good thing, because I had a wonderful weekend. There is little more than I could have asked for. I am such a lucky girl!

I Cannot Have a Future 'till I Embrace My Past

2007-09-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

A post about my second time around in the UK will be coming soon (after I write it on my flight back to Rome). But, for now, check out Marc Schutzbank's new blog for a small slice of my weekend here!

Dont Be Slow, Oh, No, No, No!

2007-09-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

I am currently writing this from my seat on Alitalia flight 201. Even though we are only 20 or so minutes into the flight, I am already less than impressed. The SkyTeam Alliance should be ashamed. Ok, so maybe I am going a bit too far, but the entire process of getting onto this plane since arriving at the airport (because getting to the airport was easy!) has been one that is just void of any sort of planning.

Leonardo Di Vinci airport is actually quite nice, and somewhat dangerous for me – there is fabulous shopping there. I browsed Gucci, Hermes, Prada, and Tumi, among other stores while I waited for what I thought was the time that we were supposed to board the plane.

Right as people start to line up at gate 33 (because the screen at the gate said that we were boarding at 8:50 PM, and it was 8:50 PM) some lady comes over the loud speaker in Italian and announces that the gate has changed from 33 to 29. Ok, fine, whatever. I can handle moving myself 3 gates away. The real issues (at least for impatient me) started when we got to gate 29. I was one of the first people in line, so I assumed that I would be on board in just a few short minutes. Oh no. How I was mistaken. They had us stand in line for over a half hour. Why wouldn’t they have told us to sit down and then proceeded to call us up to board by rows on the plane. Wouldn’t that be the smart thing to do? But no, I stood in line, and finally at 9:25 they started to board us (and some Italian man cut in front of me in line after sitting down the entire time). I go down the escalator expecting the plane to be right there. Yeah right. What was I thinking? I had to drag my rolling suitcase down about 50 steps and then wait 15 more minutes for a bus to come and take us to the aircraft. Why didn’t the plane just pull up to the gate? There was a jet way and everything.

Maybe I am being an anal American, but I just think that the whole process is insanity. I don’t have all the time in the world, even though I wish I did. It is late, and I want to get to London before the Tube closes so I don’t have to mess around with the busses. Is a little efficiency too much to ask? Yes, I know, that is supposed to be the “charm” of being here. I’m not so sure how I feel about that. I think that there are better ways to run things. Maybe Alitalia should bring someone on to help them with that – after all, they are supposedly in bankruptcy or close to it.

I know that all of this will be forgotten the second I get to Kingston and meet up with Butzer and Jason, but right now I am just slightly annoyed and sitting here eating the bread of my sandwich because the meat that is on there looks somewhat like mystery meat. But I got my first amaretti cookie, so I guess all really is a-ok in the world.

And a Soup-Stained Tie

2007-09-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

The past few days since we got back from Venice have been somewhat low key. Most of us have homework to do (not me, though because for some reason I haven't had more than a little bit of reading), and about half of the apartment has been racing to finish the first season of Ugly Betty in preparation for the season premier next week. I guess that this is routine, and I kind of like that we have settled into one. We all get up in the morning and do our own thing/go to school for most of the day. But, by the time dusk falls all six of us are back in the apartment to cook dinner (tonight we made grilled cheese and tomato soup!) and hang out and figure out plans for the later part of the evening. By doing this, it makes Rome feel more like home - which is good, because in a lot of ways I don't necessarily feel like I belong in this city all of the time.

Parts of my day frustrate me and make me feel like I don't belong, especially when I can't quite figure out how to communicate with the locals. I also get particularly down when I don't get or don't know how to respond to many of the cultural cues that the Italians are known for. And they aren't big things, but little things like paying for your food before you actually go up to order it, and having to say "no" 4 times before anyone really gets that when you say no you mean no. I am quite aware of the fact that this is a part of the whole "being abroad experience," but at times (especially when I am trying to use broad hand gestures to let the lady at the copy center know that she gave me the wrong packet for my class) I wish that all of these cultural things were laid out in a book and given to us before we get here so we don't look like stupid American idiots.

On an entirely unrelated note - I am heading to London for a long weekend to see friends and sorority sisters, celebrate Yom Kippur, and go back to see Stacey, Kurt, and Astin. I will try and update while I am there, but if I don't - I wish everyone a wonderful weekend and an easy fast (for those of you that it applies to). Much love from Roma!

Merrily Merrily Merrily, Life is But a Dream

2007-09-17T00:56:00.000-07:00

I had heard prior to going to Venice that you either love it or hate it. People told me that it was gorgeous and that you would never want to leave, but I also had friends tell me that it was smelly and dirty and off-putting. Yet, from the moment that I walked out of St Lucia Train Station, I found myself in love with the magic of Venenzia. I don't quite understand how you couldn't be in the love with the serene waterways and the hidden treasures of the back roads, canals, and alleyways. My two days there with my 5 roommates was magical, something out of a dream.
What follows, in what is sure to be an obscenely long blog post, are the memories and highlights of a weekend that I won't soon forget.

The train ride there really left something to be desired. We were told that it shouldn’t take more than 4.5 hours, but 6 hours later when we got off the train, we knew the truth. I guess the complaining should be kept to a minimum considering I slept a good portion of the way, but this was just another example of how little Italians actually care about time. It just isn’t important to them. I can respect that about them on one hand, but on the other hand, it just makes punctual me a little crazy.

Because we decided about a week and a half ago to go to Venice for the weekend, we had little luck finding hotels or hostels with room for us. What we decided to do was stay on the mainland in Menstre – a 10 minute train ride to Venice. When we booked the hotel, we thought that we would be smart and try to save money by only booking a room that houses 4 people, but having all 6 of us stay in there. Well, when we got to the hotel, we came to find out that the police come every night and check to see how many people are registered to the hotel. If they allow more people to stay in the room than allowed, the hotel can be shut down for 6 months. That information put quite a wrench in our plans. We wound up spending a good hour wondering around Menstre going to every hotel there looking for another room. A $100 room at the Hotel Roberta was the best we could do – but there wasn’t any other option.

As I said before, from the first moments I stepped outside of the train station in Venice, I was in love. I think that from the second I stepped onto the Vaporetti (the boats that function as buses) my jaw was on the floor because I was in such awe. By the time we made it onto the water, darkness has fallen and everything has this gorgeous romantic glow to it. It was as if I had stepped into this magical dream world.

The dream world continued once we disembarked as San Marco. The entire Piazza was lit up, and the dueling chamber groups were setting up along the perimeter of the square. The 6 of us opted to have dinner before we went back to listen to the music. Our meal was fantastic – everything seemed better than usual - even the water had a silk-like quality to it. My spaghetti was cooked to perfection, and the meat sauce had so much flavor to it. Dinner ended with a weird banter with our waiter who kept coming over to tell us random facts that we didn’t really understand.

Following dinner, 4 of the girls opted to sit down to listen to the music on the Piazza, while Ali and I wandered around the square. The entire atmosphere left nothing to be desired, it was perfection. I wish I had the words to describe how I felt that night, but nothing seems to do it justice.

By the time we got back on the Vaporetti, the trains had already stopped running back to Menstre, so we had to find the buses to take us back there. After a very stressful situation where some women laughed at us after we mentioned where we wanted to go, we finally figured out what was the right bus, and got ourselves back to our hotel. Once back at Giovannina, the door was locked. We kept ringing the bell, and finally this man (who we later found out was “Uncle George”) answered. We hadn’t been told by the person who checked us in earlier in the day that we had a curfew, but apparently we did. After we finally convinced Uncle George that we were the 4 girls who were staying in room 109, he let us in. Uncle George then told us that the guy who checked us in earlier was his nephew and he “has no friends.” It was a hysterical conversation where he told us that he wants us to have fun because we are on holiday, but he doesn’t want 4 girls being out late on their own… Oh Uncle George. This was our first encounter with him, but it certainly wasn’t our last.

The next morning, after a really good night’s sleep – the 6 of us headed into Venice for the tour that was organized by AUR. The tour focused on the unseen Venice, the parts that the tourists don’t usually pay attention to. Our tour guide (who never bothered to tell us her name) took us through the many back streets of Venice and gave us insight into the grandeur and history of many of the buildings and Campos in the city. If there was one thing that I took away from the tour, it was the ability to tell how old a building is by the types of windows and arches it has.

After the tour, we set off to find Venetian glass. Oh, and man, did we find it. We happened upon this little shop down a tiny hidden street where this lady makes all of her own glass. We spent a good hour and a half in this shop that was easily smaller than my dorm room back at AU. The stuff was gorgeous! I spent quite a bit of money in there, but many of the things that I purchased will be presents for people. The lady who owns the shop also took time to show us how she makes beads. She normally doesn’t do any glass work on Saturday, but we convinced her to show us her technique. I was blown away by the work that goes into each individual bead. It was quite impressive. Check out my pictures for more insight into that part of the day.

Upon leaving the glass shop we decided we wanted to head back in the general direction of San Marco’s. Well, that turned into a big adventure. In Venice they don’t believe in the grid system. You could go down one street and wind up some place completely different than if you had chosen the street directly next to it. Talk about confusing. We finally found our way out to the grand canal, but we came out on a dock where the Vaporetti don’t stop – so that essentially did us no good at all. Go figure. We finally made our way to a vaporetti stop, and what a relief that was, since by this time we were all exhausted and our feet were starting to hurt. We had been up since 8, and on our feet since 9 AM. Nine hours of walking can really do you in. (It is at these moments that I really wish I had a pedometer to keep track of how far I walk in a single day). The 6 of us opted to have a quick dinner in a café, and then walk back to San Marco’s for a final look at its glory and a cup of gelato.

We made it back to the train station in time to make the train. What a train ride this was…talk about feeling like you were being filmed for America’s Funniest Home Videos or something. The train ride was fine, but when we tried to get off at our stop (the first stop) ALL of the doors of the train were locked from the inside. Practically the entire train was running up and down through the cars trying to find an open door. At this point the train was stopped in the station, but then it started to move. A lady was screaming out the window to the people on the platform trying to get them to help us. Finally a man had the brilliant idea to pull the emergency brake. I’m still not exactly sure why all the doors were locked, but they were. Molly said that the whole situation gave her a real appreciation for the scene in Titanic when they have no place to go. I wouldn’t have classified it like that, but it was still quite an interesting experience.

Back at the Giovannina Uncle George roped Melanie, Molly, and Sarah into a conversation while I fell asleep upstairs in the room. Although I wasn’t there, I heard about all of the stories he told them. He seems to just be a lonely man who needs someone to talk to. It’s quite sad, actually. Sarah told me later that he manipulates the rooms that he has open in the hotel to set up social experiments. He has apparently set up 7 couples through doing this – which is actually quite impressive. I don’t know if Sarah or Molly has written about him yet in their blogs, but watch them for more on Uncle George.

Yesterday morning we woke up early again and headed back into Venice for our last time, and this time we were on a mission. Priority #1 was getting back to the glass shop, and priority #2 was finding a Gondola so that we could take a ride. After all, what is a trip to Venice without going on a gondola? We found our way back to the glass shop pretty easily – we only got lost once, which was SO impressive. I have so much respect for their postal service. I can only imagine how hard it is to figure out where to deliver everything.

Our gondola ride was perfect. I am not sure what else to say about it besides that. I felt so calm and at peace during that time. I got off the boat feeling as if I don’t deserve all of this. I am so lucky to be here and have this experience. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Tryin' to Fit the World Inside a Picture Frame

2007-09-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the 2nd week in Rome and my dream-like weekend in Venice.

Stay Tuned...

It's Gonna Be a Happy New Year

2007-09-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year, or if you prefer, לשנה טובה ! I can't believe that it is already 5768. Time really does fly... But anyway, I wish everyone a sweet, happy, and healthy new year.

I apologize for my lack of updating over the past few days. I have spent the past few days getting into a routine now that classes have started. My classes all seem to be the perfect amount of work and fun, and all of the subjects really interest me. My professors also all have vastly different backgrounds, so that should bring some new perspectives into view.
Right now I am thinking that my favorite class is going be Art of Rome. All of our classes are on-sight visits around the city. I am looking forward to it because I love looking at everything, but as I have said before, I don't always know the significance. This class gives me the opportunity to have someone explain the significance to me. What could be better?

My roommates are still wonderful. I have had some requests to know who everyone is, so here I go.
Molly - She and I know each other from AU and requested to live together. Molly is originally from New Hampshire.
Melanie - Melanie and I lived on the same floor freshman year, but we have only become close since being here in rome. She hails from Philly.
Ali - Ali goes to AU, but I didnt even know that she existed before coming here. She is from Cleveland, and actually lives about 5 minutes from my Dad's.
Sarah - She is originally from Connecticut, and goes to George Washington University.
Colleen - Along with Sarah, she goes to G-Dubs, and is from Connecticut.

Our friend here, tells us that we are the cutest roommates ever. We try and spend time together every day, and for the past few days we have been cooking dinner together every night. Our fridge looks like a family's fridge, and we are always there to help each other out. I am really looking forward to our weekend in Venice together. It should be a great bonding experience and a TON of fun.

Let's see, some of the other exciting things that have happened in the past few days...
1. The Bengals won!!!! WHO DEY! I stayed up late enough here for Mom and Mel to hold the computer up to the TV so I could watch the opening kick off.
2. My roommates are now obsessed with Ugly Betty. The boxed season might have just been one of the best things that I bought before coming. Now, the real question is, how are we going to watch the new season? I have been told that ABC has it set up so we can't stream it online here in Rome. Maybe I might have to suck it up and pay for it on iTunes?
3. Don't expect the Italians to do anything on time. I was told by my Italian teacher that our book was supposed to be in by today. When I went to where they sell books, I was told that it wouldn't be in until the end of next week.
4. We were told that there was going to be a strike today for the bus drivers. We woke up extra early to catch a bus before it "happened." They didn't strike. There were buses running all day. I just don't understand...
5. I found a real grocery store!!!! One with aisles and everything in one place. I know that I am usually not the grocery store type, but what I would do for a Kroeger here... I still can't find some of the things that I consider to be normal to have in the house, and it is starting to bug me a little bit, but I guess it is part of the charm of being here. I am not going to lie, I did a little dance in the grocery store when I found Dannon yogurt.

Alright, I'm going to go and eat a little bit more of my apples and honey and head off to bed because I have to go and apply for my permit to stay really early tomorrow morning. Happy New Year to all, and to all a good night.

In the Evening I've Got to Roam

2007-09-09T14:54:00.001-07:00

First of all, I want to send a big Happy 17th Birthday to my sister, Melanie!!!

I wish that I could start out this entry telling you all that all of these exciting things have been happening in Rome over the past few days since my last blog post, but to be honest life has been kind of boring. But boring in a good way, in a way that says that I am comfortable and settled and this is starting to be home. A reason for this might be the fact that I have a killer cold that has essentially kicked the crap out of my sinuses and upper respiratory system – but I guess it is better having a cold in Rome over something like the flu.

Friday morning the apartment woke up around 10 in order to head to school and be some of the first people in line to change our schedules. I had gotten a few classes that I just wasn’t all that keen on, so my schedule is now as follows:

Mon/Wed 3:30-4:55 ~ Italian Media and Pop Culture
Mon 9:00-11:55 ~ Art of Rome
Tue/Thurs 10:30-11:55 ~ Introduction to Italian Language and Culture
Tue/Thurs 12:30-1:55 ~ New Media

The schedule isn’t exactly how I would have liked it, but I guess at the end of the day I have classes that I am interested in. I just have to suck it up and deal with the fact that I have classes 4 days a week, and the only day that I have to stick around school most of the day is Wed, but I can just make that my “get stuff done day” and do homework during my off time.

We all came back to the apartment and hung out for a bit, then we all got ready to go out to dinner for Colleen’s birthday. We decided to go have dinner at one of the restaurants on the Tiber River because they will only be open for another week or so. We went to a restaurant called Tucci. I couldn’t taste anything, so I decided to have pasta with red sauce and water. So exciting, I know. But everyone else really enjoyed their meal, and regardless of anything it was so nice to have a relaxing dinner by the water. While having dinner I discovered that many Italians are just as embarrassed by the fact that they can’t speak English, as we are by the fact that we can’t speak Italian. We all could tell that our waitress felt so bad that she couldn’t communicate with us very well. Throughout the meal there was a lot of hand gesturing and pointing in order to get our points across.

From there, we tried to get to a place where there were supposed to be a bunch of AUR kids (we are having a hard time meeting people because classes haven’t started yet, and we are all living in different areas of town). Yet, we took a bus too far after finally figuring out which one to get onto with the help of some nice Ukranian guys, and then had to wait forever to get back from the wrong place to the original place that we were. Once we got back to the original place we were in Trastevre, I decided to head back home with Molly and Ali so we could go to bed. By this point I was feeling like crap, and I knew that it would serve me better in the long run to sleep rather than be out until 2 AM or so.

The next day the 6 of us headed up to school for their welcome BBQ. I learned pretty quickly that the Romans don’t know how to have a BBQ like the Amerians. I was so disappointed with my burger. I had been looking forward to that hunk of meat for a number of days, so imagine how disappointed I was when I bit into it and realized that it kinda tasted like cardboard. Besides that, there was only 1 bottle of mustard out, 2 bottles of ketchup, and about 7 bottles of mayonnaise – and most of them were empty. That is just not right. How can anyone have a BBQ without condiments? Are they crazy?

We ditched the BBQ pretty quickly with 2 girls from G-Dubs and decided to head to Trastevre (which is about a 10 minute walk from school) on a search for gelato. We all got some of it and then sat on the fountain in the middle of Santa Maria Piazza and watched people gather outside of Santa Maria Church (the oldest church in Rome) for a wedding. The way the ladies were walking in their heels was just amazing to me. I barely can walk on the cobblestones in flats without killing myself – and they can walk in stilettos with no problems at all? I just don’t get it!

After watching the beautiful bride go into the church, we decided to wander around the area. We happened upon this store that had fun clothes in the window and in the basement there was a real live regular grocery store! I know, this doesn’t sound all that exciting, but for me it was just about a miracle that in the future I would be able to find everything that I need in one place. Essentially the 5 of us have spent a good portion of the week going to every grocery store in our neighborhood looking for the essentials – aka I couldn’t find salt for days, and it was starting to get really frustrating. But yay, this place has been found and I can do my shopping there. Now, if only I could find chocolate chips so I can bake…

Ali’s birthday was yesterday (2 birthdays in 2 days!!), so we let her choose where we went for dinner. She chose this pizza place down the street from us that we had noticed on our first or second day here. The kicker is, the place is called Disney Pizza. We were all hoping that the pizza would be in the shape of Mickey’s head or something, but alas, no. The only thing really Disney-esque about the place was the “mural” thing on one of the windows. But the pizza was really good, so we decided the place was a keeper.

From Disney Pizza we got on the tram to go out for Notte Bianca. Notte Bianca takes place once a year in September and it means “White Night,” or night without sleep. The city stays open – all the museums, the streets were closed off to cars and motor bikes, everyone was out. It was crazy and busy and claustrophobic, but it was like one big Roman party. Although we didn’t make it into any museums, we took in the culture of the people by wandering around - from the Tomb of the Unknown to the Spanish Steps, to the Pantheon and back again, we saw so much. Although I was incredibly claustrophobic for most of the night and we didn’t get home until 4 AM, I was happy that I went out, because it is something that I will probably never have the opportunity to do again.

Today, we just hung out and spent time in the apartment chilling. Most things aren’t even open on Sunday, so it was far from a big deal. Last night right before we left, the wireless was installed in our apartment, so I spent a good portion of the day on Skype talking to people. It was good to finally have an internet connection that I can use when I want to versus having one computer that we are all trying to share. The other thing that we did today was figure out our plans for going to Venice next weekend. We booked a hostel and figured out what train passes we are getting. I am really getting excited for that, I think it is going to be a good time.

If you got to this point in the post, thank you for bearing with me and if not, I understand that I can write a lot. And, on that note, I am off to bed, considering the first day of school is tomorrow!

Do You Believe in Magic?

2007-09-08T01:17:00.000-07:00

http://bfuld.blogspot.com/2007/09/da-lifnei-mi-atah-omed.html

A wonderful post done by one of my favorites!

I Found Your Picture Today

2007-09-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8vniwpb.3davekon&x=0&y=-pr2718

The first batch of photos from Rome! Not all the pictures are labeled yet, but it will come!

Don't Know Much About History

2007-09-07T01:12:00.000-07:00

Good morning from our beautiful apartment on Gianicolense! We woke up this morning to a new roommate – hooray! Our family for the semester is finally complete. It is nice to be fully settled into the apartment and have somewhat of an idea of what is going on.

Yesterday was a day of exploring the old city of Rome. The parts that people send postcards home of, not the homey part that we live in. We have decided that it is nice that we live outside of the ancient city, because if we lived inside it we never would venture out of it, but because we live outside it, we have literally the entire city open to us.

In the morning, 4 of us went to the local open air market that is about 4 blocks away from our apartment. It reminded me kinda of the West Side Market in Cleveland, but about 30 times smaller and much more chaotic. The 4 of us actually did pretty well in terms of ordering the things that we wanted. The night before we decided as an apartment that we wanted to cook dinner together – so this trip was primarily to get ingredients for this task. We were able to get lettuce (which actually turned out to be arugula), mozzarella, tomatoes, and a few other things. It was decided that going there was a great way to learn the names of things, and practice our Italian. So, you can bet that we will return!

After putting our stuff away, we headed up to school so that Molly could get a cell phone, and then we took a bus from up there to get to the Spanish steps. The first bus that we took dropped us off right by the tomb of the unknown soldier. Although the whole thing was very grand and beautiful, I just didn’t feel that it was as solemn as the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington. But it was quite neat to see, and it is certainly something that I would like to go back to and explore in its entirety.

We took the smallest bus possible from the wrong stop to the Spanish Steps – I don’t think that I have ever been more claustrophobic in my life. But, it was all worth it once we got to the Spanish Steps. Talk about breathtaking. How they were built without the modern tools that we have now is quite beyond me. The streets were swarming with people, but that didn’t take away from the beauty. It felt so calming to just sit on the steps and veg out and people watch. And believe me, the people watching here is pretty fabulous!
From there, we hiked up the gazillion stairs to look at the view and to walk inside our first church of the trip – Trinita dei Monti. The influence of Michaelangelo in there was just so prominate. Something tells me that will not be the only time that I feel that way in Italy.
We decided to just wander around from there and just meander. Each time we got to a corner, one of us had to make an executive decision as to which way to go. By going this we were able to see Le Quattro Fontane, Termini (the main train station in Rome), and the Basilica. We weren’t planning on seeing a single one of these important places in Rome, but there they were – small surprises around every corner.

The 5 of us came back to the apartment and decided to be cute and prepare dinner all together. It was adorable, and made it feel like a real family. We made spaghetti and garlic bread and a salad. When we sat down and toasted with our glasses of wine (with the bottle opened the correct way), it felt like home for the first time.

Now on to today…
Today was the first time that I really felt as if I was in Rome, and it was the first time that I came to the realization as to just how long this city has been around and the amount of history that it holds. After putzing around and getting Colleen (our new roommate) settled, Melanie, Molly, Sarah, and I set out for the Forum and the Colosseum.

Can I just say oh my goodness? The Colosseum is just breathtaking. Although we decided to wait until the summer crowds die down to actually go inside, just walking around it was enough to make our jaws drop and our eyes widen in order to take everything in. Check out the pictures, although they don’t quite do it justice, it is about as close any of you are going to get while not being here.

Even though we decided not to go inside the Colosseum, we chose to instead wander around the Forum. We entered through the Via Sacre and from there got to see Arch of Titus. I was particularly interested in this arch because it was erected in honor of the victories of Titus in Judea. The reliefs inside of the arch show the procession of the Roman soldiers carrying off items from the Temple in Jerusalem.

The 4 of us did a walk through of the Forum and decided almost immediately that the Italians need to be better about labeling what things are. In America if something is even slightly significant, it gets a label so the world can know its meaning. Here, not so much. We were each walking around with our guidebooks in hand trying to differentiate one piece of marble from the next. At the end of our tour through there, it was collectively decided that we all need to read up on our ancient Roman history and study our guidebooks and then come back. There is SO much to learn in that small plot of land, but I think in order to take it all in, you need to be prepared.

Molly, Colleen and I took a walking tour tonight that was led by some upper level students from AUR. The walking tour took us by many places that we might not have found otherwise. They pointed out some cute restaurants and bars and gelaterias(!). We decided the tour was helpful, but remembering exactly where everything is makes things slightly more complicated.
The rest of our roommates met us at the tram so we could all go to dinner together. We tried to go back as far as we could into Trastevre in order to find one of the hidden restaurants that had been pointed out to us earlier. We found a cute restaurant, but it wasn’t the one we had originally been thinking of. Yet, the food was scrumptious. I had this amazing tortellini…yum!

And now, here we are, back at the apartment. We are all trying to be patient and wait our turn on the computer. So, who knows when this will actually get posted. Good night, laila tov, and Buona Notte from Roma!

Please Bring Me My Wine

2007-09-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

Things that I have learned thus far in Rome:
1. Don’t expect anyone to move terribly fast, because it just isn’t going to happen and you will wind up being disappointed
2. Pizza here is just magnificent. When I had it yesterday for lunch, I think I just about died and went to culinary heaven
3. The real reason that people get on and off the train without punching their cards isn’t because they aren’t paying, it is because they have monthly bus passes
4. Never ever pass up gelato!
5. Wandering is just as much fun (if not more!) than actually knowing where you are going
6. Don’t even think about trying to open a bottle of wine without a cork screw…
7. I am pretty much in love with my roommates!

Welcome to the daily run down of my second day in Rome! Today was not terribly exciting, but important never the less. Today was the first day that we ventured up to the AUR campus. Upon arrival we had asked how long of a walk it would be to get to school – and were told about 45 minutes. So, we decided to take the bus instead of walking.

The 5 of us left the apartment early after trying our hardest to conserve hot water by taking the shortest showers possible. We set out to get our hands on the monthly transportation pass that we need to get around the city. Our welcome packet had told us that they could be bought at any tabacci shop (local convenience store thing), but after walking quite a number of blocks we couldn’t find a single one that sold bus passes. Finally, Sarah (one of the roommates who took 2 years of Italian at G-Dubs) got up the courage to ask someone where we could find a place that sold bus passes and he responded in English by saying “oh! I sell here!” Problem solved.
The bus ride up to AUR was quite simple and took less than 10 minutes, so there is essentially no way that the walk takes 45.

AUR’s campus is tiny – very tiny, but incredibly cute and welcoming. We all spent time (a lot of time!) waiting to get all of our paperwork for getting our permits to stay. The people in charge made the gigantic mistake of not printing the papers out in alphabetical order. Now, if that had happened to me, I would have started to put them in some sort of order as I went through them but not these people! Many of us asked if we could help in some way, but we were always refused. So essentially the guys were going through hundreds of pieces of paper looking for a single one with our name on it. That to me is just plain stupid.
I also got a cell phone during this time. If you want the number, please let me know (or check my Facebook profile)! I get free incoming calls, so I would be delighted to hear from any of you!

Part of the afternoon was spent wandering around the area that the campus is in. We found food, the local café, the pharmacy, etc, etc, etc. The campus is situated in a cute little area with a lot to see, and it is the perfect central location to get to many parts of the city. The other part of the afternoon was spent in the computer lab checking email, sending IMs, checking the weather, and essentially doing all of the things that most of us would have done on a daily basis had we had internet. (Note: In the morning, someone is supposed to be coming to put the phone line and the internet connection in. HOORAY!)

After taking a quick walking tour with some former AUR students, we went for dinner. Sarah stayed in Trastevere and Melanie, Molly, and I came back to the area right around our apartment. We went to this little place not too far from where we live. I had an amazing bowl of vodka a la penne. Yummm! During that dinner, the three of us were in stitches laughing at each other. Molly who is allergic to cashews, almost ordered ravioli with nuts until we looked up what noci means in Melanie’s Italian phrasebook. Wouldn’t that have been a lovely call to Molly’s parents? I can only imagine how it would go: “you’re daughter is in the hospital because she ate something within the first 2 days that she is allergic to.”

We came back to the apartment and decided that we wanted to open a bottle of wine that we had bought the first day at our local grocery store. Yet, we had no corkscrew, so that presented a small problem. But don’t you worry – Melanie came to the rescue with this amazing contraption that had all these different knives on it and other such things. So, essentially we stood in our kitchen and dug out the cork piece by piece in order to get to the wine. It was such a treat to finally get the bottle open and be able to have all of us sit around and have a proper toast to being in Rome together!

When In Rome

2007-09-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

Good morning from Roma! I can’t quite believe that I am actually here – but it certainly is for real. The people are different, the cars are different, the language is different…but so far I love it. The differences are what is going to make this semester so special and appealing. As I have said before, I want to learn and grow as a person. I have a feeling that this was a good place to pick to do it!

I arrived yesterday at Leonardo DiVinci airport after a 2.5 hour flight from London Gatwick. My flight was ok, but my time in Gatwick was just miserable. I cried when I left Stacey and Kurt (and when I say cried, I should have actually said bawled, because that is essentially what Stacey and I did). I was right to think that I would want as much time with them as possible, because I am already in the process of trying to figure out when I can next go back and see them. …And, on another note, I have decided that nothing in the UK airports makes sense! When you drive into the airport, there are no signs telling you which terminal you should go to – and Kurt told me that not all flights run by the same airline are in the same general area. WHAT? The other thing that drove me up a wall was that they don’t assign gates to flights until 1/2 hour before the flight. Now, how stupid is that? I guess at this point it doesn’t much matter, but seriously, do they have to make everything counter intuitive?

Once I got to Leonardo DiVinci I waited FOREVER for my bags. I swear, they were as slow as molasses in July. By the time they came out on the conveyer belt, I believe that I had landed about 40 minutes beforehand. It was my first, and most likely not my last experience with the ‘laziness’ of the Italians. Yet, after finally getting them, finding the AUR people was not a problem at all. I was able to check in quite easily, and within 20 or so minutes I was in a van heading towards my apartment!

My apartment is gorgeous. Although we are not right around the corner from school, we lucked out. The university just bought the apartment and redid it, so it is all new and clean. There are currently 5 of us living here, but we have an extra bed, so we are assuming that in the next few days we will get a sixth roommate. Of the 5 of us that are here, 4 of us are from AU, and one girl is from GW. It is nice for all of us to have something in common – living in DC. And so far, we have been getting along brilliantly!

After unpacking the 5 of us went for a walk down our street so that we could check out what was within walking distance. We were able to find something to eat (because by this point in the afternoon we were all famished) and a small grocery store where we picked up some basics to have in the apartment. In those two stops I came to find that I need to have my Italian class start. Because I don’t really know anything, it is somewhat difficult for me to do anything besides saying please and thank you. But, I am sure that the language skills will come in time.

After resting at the apartment for a bit, the 5 of us ventured out to find dinner. Lucciano, a full time student who helped us all get into our apartment, suggested that we go down to an area of town called Travestare. We left a bit earlier than we had planned on eating so we were able to walk around and people watch. Oh, and what amazing people watching there is here! The 5 of us opted for a cute restaurant in the area that looked busy – we took that as a sign that it was good. I had a gnocchi dish with mussels in it – when I ordered it, all I knew was that it was the house special – but oh how happy I was when I saw what it was when they brought it out! During dinner we sat around and talked about the things that we should know about each other (i.e. allergies, pet peeves, etc), and talked about funny stories and Disney movies, and so many other topics. We all seem pretty easy going, so I am far from concerned about us not getting along.

After dinner we had our first taste of Italian gelato. YUM! I had a cone of chocolate and coffee…can’t you just taste it in your mouth?!? It was sooo good. We walked for a bit, then hopped back on the tram to head back to the apartment. When we got to our stop, 2 of the girls were able to get off, but the doors closed on 3 of us! At the moment it was not so funny, but about 5 minutes later it was hysterical. So, note to self, get off quickly, if not you will be stuck inside.

Back in the apartment we had a quick pow wow about rules and plans for the morning and chores, and all the normal stuff that needs to be talked about when roommates move in together.

I have a good feeling about this semester. It is going to be wild and fun and educational and everything else all at the same time.

Just as a note: I should have regular internet access in our apartment before the end of the week. So, get skype and let me know your name so we can chat online!

Much love from Roma!!!

On an Evening in Roma

2007-09-04T03:58:00.000-07:00

I don't yet have internet in my apartment, but I wanted to just write a quick post telling you all that I am in Rome safe and sound. I have moved into a beautiful newly rennovated apartment that isn't far from school. Also, I have 4 great roommates who I have been getting along with quite well thus far. A longer update will come as soon as I have internet, but until then, please be patient and send me emails updating me on your lives!

Much love from ROME!

So Take A Photograph

2007-09-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

Picture update #1! Enjoy!!!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=8vniwpb.bv71k6zr&Uy=stmhpc&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

I'll be the Queen and You'll be the King

2007-09-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that my week here in the UK is almost over. Tomorrow morning (at the butt crack of dawn, mind you) I head off to Rome! In some ways I am so not ready, but in others I am just bursting out of the seams to just get there already.

But anyways, sorry about the delay in updating. I guess that this will probably be the first in many delays. I'm still not exactly sure what the Internet situation will be in Rome, but I am praying for wireless or at least broadband. So, with that, I will just get on with it...

Friday morning I woke up somewhat late and then sat and watched the memorial service for Diana with Stacey. It is kind of neat to say that I was here for the 10th anniversary, but I am not going to lie - the service was kind of boring. After watching everyone arrive and then laughing at all of the ridiculous hats Stace and I decided that we couldn't handle the over the top singing of the choir - so that was the end of that!

In the afternoon we ventured to Canterbury. No, I have never read Canterbury Tales, but I was still able to appreciate the beauty that has been preserved in this old town. It was so neat to walk to cobblestone streets and imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago. The area is now defiantly commercialized, and all the shops and stores have moved in there, but the old world charm has somehow been preserved.
When we were walking around the area there was a little puppet show going on called Punch and Judy. Stacey said that it is a very traditional show that has been around forever. She remembers sitting on the beach and watching it. I checked it out on wikipedia and found out that the show can be traced back to the 16th century - so seeing it in Canterbury was appropriate.

That night Stacey, her cousin Lisa, and I went out for dinner and a drink. We went to this cute place called Pizza Express and had amazing pizza. My pizza had artichoke on it, and Lisa tried it for the first time! I don't know how anyone could be in their 30s and not have tried artichoke - after all, I reckon it is one of the best vegetables out there! After eating dinner and having the most wonderful vanilla ice cream for dessert we walked around the corner to this little bar. Lisa and I were standing at the bar waiting for our drinks and Stacey went to grab a seat. She asked a waitress who was carrying all of these glasses if a table was taken and the girl dropped everything everywhere. Stace says that it is just like her to have her klutziness rub off on someone else like that. Glass and ice was everywhere - thank goodness no one got hurt.

Yesterday Kurt, Stace, Astin, and I went to Leeds Castle. Oh my goodness. Gorgeous is just about the only way to describe it. I said that I want to live there if for no other reason than the beautiful grounds. There were ponds with ducks and swans (black and white!), gardens with every color rose you could imagine. It was incredible. And the actual castle was just to die for. The rooms were magnificent, and impeccably decorated. Oh to be a queen and live in a castle...

I've Got My Eggs and I've Got My Pancakes Too

2007-09-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so a longer post will come in the morning, but for now I just want to let all of you out in the blog-o-sphere know more about the egg debate that has been going on since I arrived last Monday.
Today Stacey took me back to Tessco (the supermarket) so that I could take a picture of the eggs on the shelf, and not in the refrigerated section. Those pictures will also be up tomorrow (hopefully).
This evening I finally got smart and started looking online for information about refrigerating eggs. And, this is what the USDA says:

Why Should Eggs Be Refrigerated?
"Temperature fluctuation is critical to safety. With the concern about Salmonella, eggs gathered from laying hens should be refrigerated as soon as possible. After eggs are refrigerated, they need to stay that way. A cold egg left out at room temperature can sweat, facilitating the growth of bacteria. Refrigerated eggs should not be left out more than 2 hours. "

It also goes on to say:

"Over time, the white and yolk of an egg lose quality. The yolk absorbs water from the white. Moisture and carbon dioxide in the white evaporate through the pores, allowing more air to penetrate the shell, and the air cell becomes larger. If broken open, the egg's contents would cover a wider area. The white be thinner, losing some of its thickening and leavening powers. The yolk would be flatter, larger and more easily broken. The chalazae (kah-LAY-zuh), the twisted cord-like strands of egg white that anchor the yolk in the center of the white, would be less prominent and weaker, allowing the yolk to move off center. Refrigeration slows the loss of quality over time. "

And...to top it all off, the UK's Department for Food and Environmental Affairs says:

Why Eggs are Not Refrigerated
"Before purchase by the consumer, EC legislation requires that eggs are stored and transported at a preferably constant temperature. This is current practice within the UK egg industry and the reason why the majority of retail outlets' egg displays are not refrigerated. Changes in storage temperature and humidity can lead to condensation forming on the egg shell which can cause mould growth together with the possibility that any bacteria may infect the eggs as a result. After purchase, the consumer is advised to refrigerate the eggs to maintain freshness and reduce the possibility of bacteria growth resulting from exposure to the temperature and humidity variations of the domestic kitchen."

So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen, eggs SHOULD be refrigerated! This means that I am not the crazy one after all...

London Bridges Falling Down

2007-08-31T02:38:00.000-07:00

London. The mere idea of that city conjures up images in my head of red phone booths, fashion, narrow roads, the tube, and many of the city's recognizable icons. These images have been floating around in my head for years, and yesterday, I finally got to see many of them for myself. I have been waiting for years to go and experience this city that I have heard so much about - and I am so glad that I finally had that opportunity.

Stace and I got up early to catch the train into London. The train ride was about 2 hours - just long enough to get bored. By the time we got to Victoria Station, I was ready to go. The first place on our list was the Tower of London. Stacey had never been here either, so it was a new experience for both of us. I was just amazed at the amount of history there is in that little plot of land. The fact that Stace and I were walking around on the same rocks that Kings and Queens walked on for centuries just amazed the two of us. We were lucky enough to follow around one of the tour guides (I know that they have some sort of title in the Royal Army, but to be honest, I don't remember what it is). The stories that he told were just so interesting, things that we would never have found out about if we just went on our own.
Probably the most spectacular thing that we saw at the Tower were the crown jewels. Each piece was just more spectacular than the last. And even the gold pieces were incredible. There was a punch bowl that Stacey and I could have easily fit inside. Stace said that she needs one for her house - and I replied by telling her that it would take up her entire living room.

Next on our list of places to go was the Tate Modern. This museum was incredible. If you like art and you happen to be in London - head here for sure. Besides, it's free - and everyone likes something free. The collection holds works of some of the greats, but there are also some lesser known artists whose stuff can blow your mind away. The way the collection was arranged was quite different than anything that I have ever seen before. I won't be able to describe it nearly as well - so this is the description off of the website...

"Tate Modern Collection consists of four wings on Levels 3 and 5 of the gallery. At the heart of each wing is a large central display, or ‘hub’, which focuses on one of the pivotal moments of twentieth-century art history. The four hubs feature Surrealism, Minimalism, post-war abstraction in Europe and the US, and the three linked movements: Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism. Around the focal points, a range of displays move backwards and forwards in time, showing the predecessors and sometimes the opponents of each movement, as well as how they shaped and informed subsequent developments and contemporary art. The introductory room in each wing bring together work by artists from different generations, to reflect this ongoing dialogue between past and present."

I am happy that I was able to see as much as I did in the Tate, because Stacey and I almost got ourselves kicked out. (Not really, but it sounds much better that way, right?) I was yelled at for taking a picture of a Picasso I studied in school, and Stacey got yelled at for stepping too close to a painting and for talking on her cell phone. Oops. Oh well, we made it out of there without being shown out, so I guess things turned out a-ok.

And what is a trip to London without a trip to Harrods? It is always a place that I have fantasized about - a shoppers paradise. I had no intent to buy a single thing there, but I wanted to see what I had heard about. The food displays were gorgeous, the Egyptian escalator was something to be marveled at, and on and on and on. The place was SO large, I can't even begin to tell you how many times Stacey and I got lost. Pictures will come soon - and you will need to check out the ones from Harrods because there are a few funny ones. There is a particularly great one in the hat department (where there were signs telling us not to take pictures - oops, we were bad). So, be on the lookout!

We had a quick bite at a cute little Italian place not far from Harrods, and then we jumped on the Tube to head to Piccadilly Circus. Stacey told be even though it is one of the most touristy areas of town, I still had to see it. Upon arriving after a very hot and sticky tube ride, I felt as if I was in the middle of a scene right out of a movie. That is one of those places that always appear in movies that are filmed (or are supposed to look as if they were filmed) in London. The area reminded me a lot of Times Square in NY - which I guess in many ways it is the equivalent across the ocean.

By this point it was approaching 9PM, so we had to head back to Victoria station to catch the train back to Ramsgate. By no means was London my most favorite city that I have ever visited, but I am looking forward to hopefully returning sometime during my semester over here. There is still TONS to see and do, and people to see that are studying here. I will be back, that is for sure. But even if I don't return soon, I will have a wonderful day with Stacey to keep in my memory (and some pretty great pictures for my scrapbook!)

All You Need is a Haircut

2007-08-30T00:45:00.001-07:00

I forgot how small I was when Stacey was in the US with us until I sat down with her yesterday morning and watched her old home movies of Melanie and I. There is only one word to describe them - hysterical! I was this little six photogenic six year old who only wanted to steal the attention away from my sister, and Mel was this little three year old who was still crawling around in the frog position and always had to have something in her mouth. Stace and I sat on the floor of the family room for a good hour just cracking up at some of the scenes that she had filmed. There was the one of Melanie singing songs off of the old "For Our Children" CD (which actually benefited Elizabeth Glaser for all you AEPhis out there reading this). There was another moment of all of us at the zoo marveling at the newborn baby animals in the spring. Stace and I were going back in forth there - arguing if the thing on the baby gorilla was a diaper or a nappy. After that hour or so of watching the videos, Stace said that there was never a dull moment with Melanie and I - we always kept her laughing.

Later in the afternoon Kurt, Stacey, Astin, and I all loaded up into the car and headed towards BlueWater - the closest enclosed shopping mall. In some ways the mall was so similar to what we are used to back in the states. There was a footlocker, a Gap, a lacoste store - but then there are also all of these stores that I have never even heard of. But, the most shocking thing of all that I discovered while we were there were the outrageous prices. Stacey has been looking for a comfortable pair of boots that she can wear to work, so we popped into this little shoe store. There were Uggs there and she fell in love with a gorgeous pair of leather ones. The price of these things were the equivalent of almost $400 American dollars. When I got back here that night, I looked them up online and they are only $179 American dollars at nordstrom. The prices are just insane! I can't bring myself to buy a single thing here because I just double whatever the price is in £s and watch my jaw drop. It makes me quite happy that I am not spending my entire semester here in the the UK, to be quite honest.

For dinner we went to TGI Fridays. When Stacey was in the States, it was her most favorite restaurant, so it is just about a dream come true for her that there is one within driving distance. As I was sitting in the restaurant, I realized that I could have been sitting back in Cincinnati or at any Fridays all over the US. The food was the same, the decor was the same, even the plates were the same. The one thing that wasn't the same, though is the service. Stacey and Kurt had warned me that I would think service over here was awful, and at first I didn't believe them, but after being here a few days I defiantly agree. People in the service industry just aren't as attentive here as they are back at home. For example, after getting your food at most restaurants in the States, the waiter or waitress would come back a few minutes later to see how everything tasted and to see if you needed anything else. Not here. They essentially drop your food off and come back only to clear the plates and give you the check. It truly makes me appreciate even bad service back in the U.S.

Before leaving BlueWater, I got some Krispy Kreme donuts for the morning! Just like home...which is exactly how it should be!

Fish and Chips and Vinegar

2007-08-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Another day has gone by here in Ramsgate - and this time I am actually up to see the sun go down. Yesterday evening I was in bed and asleep before 8:30 PM. But, tonight, I feel as if I have pretty much adjusted to the time zone - both mentally and physically (even though I kept yawning all day!)

This afternoon Stacey, Kurt, Astin, and I went for a walk down into town. It is just absolutly beautiful here. The old houses are gorgeous, the sea is blue and the sky had the most perfect clouds floating in it. The four of us went and had fish and chips at this cute little restaurant were we sat outside. The food was quite wonderful, not something that I would eat everyday, but a good salty fried treat! I think now that I have had fish and chips - I can truly say that I have been a visitor in Great Britain.

Today I discovered some things that I found incredibly weird/I did some things that really made me stand out as being an American. First of all, here the British don't refigerate their eggs!! I can't get over this for the life of me! I never thought that I would say "let me get you an egg out of the cupboard." But no, here that is how they do things. Kurt things that I am strange because I think that eggs need to be kept cold. He asked me if when a chicken lays an egg they find the need to keep it cold. The idea of not keeping eggs cold just baffles me and I get a kick out of it whenever it is brought up. Stace says that it is going to be "an ongoing yolk" between Kurt and I. I just think that the eggs need to be put back in their proper place in the fridge!
Also, today I tried to get in the car on the wrong side, and when I went to cross the street I was looking for cars to come the opposite way than they should here. That really made me feel odd, because if a car had been coming, my looking the wrong way could have gotten me into big trouble!

Late in the afternoon Stacey and I ran a few errands together at the local shopping center. We poked into T.K. Maxx (why they don't call it T.J. Maxx is beyond me...), and we went into the department stores. Things were quite normal, but I felt as if people were doing a double take and looking at me again when I opened my mouth. It is weird to realize that I am the one with the strange accent here.
Then, we came home and Stacey's parents and Kurt's mum came round for dinner. Kurt barbequed hamburgers and chicken kabobs. Stacey also made one of her favorite (and my favorite) salads. It was really nice to have that kind of meal, because it reminded me of home, especially with everyone sitting around the dinner table.

And with that, I am going to stop fighting my body clock and head off to bed. Laila tov!

Tale as Old as Time

2007-08-28T02:33:00.000-07:00

Hello from Ramsgate, UK! I arrived here yesterday morning after about 18 hours of traveling (7 of those which were spent in Newark Airport - thank you to everyone who spent time on the phone with me while I was there). I am here safe and sound, and I am eager to spend the next week exploring this wonderful country and of course spend time with Stacey, Kurt, and their one-year old son, Aston.

For those of you that do not know, I am here visiting Stacey because she was my au pair (or if you prefer, nanny) when I was younger. She lived with my family for over two years, making her as much a part of it as say my aunts and uncles or grandparents. Although Stacey has returned to the states numerous times, I have never made the journey over here to see her. So, at 20 years old, here I am. Yesterday as we drove into Ramsgate it was just so wonderful (and slightly surreal) to have her point out places that have significance for her, and to just see her world.

Immediately after arriving at Stacey and Kurt's house, I felt right at home (which is exactly what they had hoped for). I was grabbing stuff to eat out of the pantry and lying all over the couches. It is just so nice to be here spending time with them - and I love that it feels so normal. Aston has taken to me without hesitation, within moments of meeting Stace and Kurt outside of customs Aston was putting his arms out so that I could hold him.
I am sure that seeing me with Aston is slightly weird for Stacey. She was just a bit older than me when she came over to the States to be our au pair. So, now here we are almost 15 years later, and I am in her house playing with and taking care of Astin.

We all used yesterday as a day to just hang out and relax. I didn't realize this, but in the UK yesterday it was their Bank Holiday. What that means - who knows, but everyone was off of work for the 3 day weekend. The only place we all ventured to yesterday was the grocery store. Oh goodness - that place was HUGE. It was really interesting to go around and see what kinds of food they have that are the same as ours and what was different. The one thing that I was just taken with were the different flavors of potato chips - or as they call them here - crisps. I picked up a chip that was flavored with sweet balsamic and caramelized onions. Can you say out of this world? Why don't we have things like that in the states?

The rest of the day we just spent time in the backyard and lounging around. I froze most of the day, even though it is about 70 here. It is just that it is a far cry from the 105 degree weather that I left in Cincinnati. Stacey's parents and cousin, Lisa, came over for a bit and they were in their summer outfits, and there I was in jeans and my Northface. I like this weather, but I think my body needs to get used to it. At the grocery store, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb because I was dressed so warmly. And, the kicker is, the high today is only supposed to be 64 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stace just returned home from taking Astin to the doctor, so I think that I am going to sign off - we have quite the day planned! Much love from Ramsgate!!!

'Cause I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

2007-08-25T01:47:00.000-07:00

Here we are - 1:37 in the morning, in good ol' Cincinnati, Ohio. I have just completed the adventure that is sometimes referred to as "packing." Considering I have just finished this quest, I wish that I had some words of wisdom to impart to all of you out in cyberspace, but I think that I have finished just as confused as when I started. How in the world is one supposed to pack for three and a half months in a suitcase that can only weigh 51 pounds? I have discovered that it just isn't possible - plain and simple, especially when you are trying to be prepared for three seasons and many different types of precipitation. I hope (crosses fingers)that I have accomplished this task, but I guess only time will tell.

My flight leaves Cincinnati at 11:00 AM and I fly to Newark. There I will have close to a 7 hour layover, and at 6:50 PM, my flight will depart for London Gatwick. In London I will be picked up by my nanny from when I was younger, Stacey, and a cast of other characters that will be introduced at a later date. I will be sure to update when I get to Stace's to let the world know that I have arrived at my destination safely. But more importantly, I want to start the chronicle of this incredible journey that I am about to embark on. I have vowed that this is going to be a semester of learning, growing, and making the most of what is around me.