France Bound!

I am so excited for my trip to Nice, St. Tropez, and Monaco this weekend!! I leave tomorrow at 5:00 and I am taking a high speed train to Florence and am then leaving from there. I hope the weather is hot and sunny!

This week has been really hectic with classes and homework...and I already have a five page paper due next Wednesday! But this week has also been fun- I have been running to the Tiber River and back everyday which is 3 miles and it is absolutely gorgeous with a view of the Vatican and all of the little shops in Trastevere, and all of my friends went to the Hard Rock Restaurant Rome last night for some american food! Since we have been a little bit homesick and craved burgers and fries, we ventured out to a part of the city near the Spanish steps and the Trevi fountain that was very touristy. I got nachos and buffalo chicken!! It was sooo good and was a break from the heavy carbs of bread and pasta. After, we went to Giolitti's gelato, which is the most famous gelato place in Rome! It was SO amazing. I got peach and strawberry and it was the best thing I have ever eaten. After that, we walked off everything we ate and then caught a bus near the Victor Manuel monument, which was beautiful at nighttime. However, on the bus we had a few problems. When we reached our stop, the doors didn't open and we couldn't get out and none of us knew how to say "wait" or "stop" in italian, so we had to scream at the bus driver in english and it was so embarrassing and so american of us. My friends and I are really trying hard to fit in but it is just so hard when we can only understand broken italian! I am getting better at it though and I can count to ten and say my name/address/where I am from/where I am going! A lot of people speak english, so it is actually easier to understand people than one would think.

Today I have just been concentrated on finishing all of my homework for the weekend. I also watched the Hurt Locker for class and it is so amazing!! Well, that is all for now...I will write when I get back from France on Monday!!


More things I have learned to love about the Italian culture:
-the cups and plates are MUCH smaller than in the U.S., so our portions are always small, which is great.
-they don't have bagels here--they only have bruschetta bread (hard bread) used to put jam on for breakfast in the morning
-the white bread is actually good for you here because there are no preservatives and it is made from only natural products...we can't even find whole wheat bread in the grocery store!
-instead of hotdog or fried food stands on the streets, they have fruit stands where you can buy slices of watermelon or fruit cups of peaches, pineapples, apples, oranges, etc.! These are everywhere!
-everyone here wears birkenstocks which i find to be a really strange footwear of choice...literally everyone wears them

Trips I am hoping to plan soon: Vienna and Salzburg!!!! I really want to go on a Sound of Music tour.


xoxo