Last Cuisine Meal

Caprese Salad/'Sour' Dough bread

Asparagus pasta

Gnocchi with shrimp sauce

Desserts: Canoli (in front), rum cake, and flakey ricotta filled goodies

Cuisine tonight was so yummy!! :) We started off by having caprese salad with ‘sour dough’ bread on the side to spread a cheese on top – the cheese was white with whipped cream inside?? Their sour dough is way different than ours - theirs has a yellow color to it and is more chewy rather than having that 'sour' taste to it...it was good, but not sour dough. We enjoyed those dishes with Greco di Tufo, a red vino I believe. Then we had asparagus pasta which was very yummy and all that the sauce was was butter and water mixed in with the cooked aspargus – that’s all!! So easy to make as well!! We drank Fiano di Avellino with that which was a bianco and was kinda dry, but left you with a sweet taste, pretty good. Then we made gnocchi and while we were waiting for that to cook, we drank a red wine called Falaughina and then when the gnocchi was done, we put a shrimp sauce on top which Christina made prior to class. She had to because you soak muscle sheels in oil, water and some vino overnight. Then when you are ready to heat it, you add chopped up chili peppers to it as well as garlic and the baby shrimp – it was so yummy! She said it didn't turn out as thick as it should've, but I still enjoyed it. For dessert we had 3 different treats. We had a canoli, some flakey dessert which was filled with ricotta inside and we had a rum cake, not much rum to it, but it was really sogging, so I didn't like it. After the desserts we had a glass of Amaro Siciliano which smelt like Jack Daniels but was incredibly thick. It was to sip on, "not to take like a shot" Christinas said. Ha. I didn't actually mind it, it reminded me of throat medicine, how it is a little thicker. I could only handle the little bit she gave us, plus the alcohol percentage was at 32% or something like that! Ha. Good last cuisine night though, very delish!! :)
Love you all, talk to you soon, off to Roma tomorrow for a field trip and then we are going to hang out for the last time there...well the next time I will go to Roma is on the 15th for my flight home!! :)
MISS YOU ALL!!
Talk soon!!
CIAO!! :)

Poland

30.04.2009 - 02.05.2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT DAR AND MIKEY B!! :) HOPE YOUR DAY WAS FABULOUS!!

I had such a great weekend spent in Poland!! :) On Thursday, Amy, Beth, Jenny and I left right after class to go to the train station because we had a flight on Thursday to Warsaw and then to Krakow. Flying from Warsaw to Krakow it was the first time I have ever flown on a plane that small!! It wasn't bumpy or anything which was great!! We got to our hostel late Thursday night so we just went to bed and then on Friday we slept in a bit and then we walked around the city which was a lot of fun - lots of shops and people to see. At 4pm we had to be back to the hostel so the bus could pick us up - we made reservations to go check out the Salt Mine in or near Krakow, I forget where it was located, but the drive was only like 45 minutes to get there. The salt mine was really neat. We had to walk down 800 steps to get to the bottom and on the way down there was so much to see, like the original steps which the workers carved out of the salt walls and we also saw churches which were built inside. Almost at the very bottom there was the largest church there where you can actually get married in and have your reception at the restaurant inside the mine as well - crazee!! I also saw the Last Supper...it was done in the 40's by a man carved out of salt on the wall - very neat!! After spending a few hours down there on the tour and licking the walls, it was time to take the lift up to the top which only took 40 seconds!! :) That was Fridays highlight and for Saturday it was Auschwitz-Birkenau. Wow, I don't know where to start to talk about Auschwitz, it was so sad just to think about all the lives that were lost, including those of my family members. :( I saw lots there, we were able to visit a few of the blocks and see suitcases, over 800 pairs of shoes, clothes (mostly of children), glasses, pots and pans, combs, and the one that got me sick to my stomach was hair. There was a room FULL of almost all of the hair that was shaved off of the victims before they were put in the 'showers'. I was so sadden when I saw it...SO crazee that it is the REAL hair...the only thing is is that the color has faded, but still...I even saw Block 11 - which is the only block that has been left as found. No changes have been done to it, just glass put up in front of doorways, etc. I also saw the Death Wall, which is near Block 11...the wall isn't the original one, but in the same place as the original...very sad!! :( After visiting the Blocks, we went over to the gas chambers and were able to walk through them. The only thing missing from inside were the shower heads, everything else was still original and in its original place. Very, very sad to walk through there...where at one time people had been killed!! It was hard to take it all in and walk through at the same time, so devastating how many lives were lost not only at Auschwitz, but other camps as well. After Auschwitz, we took a 20 minute drive to visit Birkenau. This camp is the one where the trains lead right into the camp. The tracks are no longer in use, but are still there. This camp we didn't spend much time at, but we did go into a few of the barracks there. In one we saw the beds which they packed 10+ people on each bunk and in another we saw the toilets which were just concrete slabs with holes placed evenly in them. If you spent too much time on the 'toilet' you were beaten. :( Ay, the whole tour was very sad, but I am so glad I did it!! After the tour, we needed to do something cheerful, so we went to the fair which wasn't far from our hostel at all. It was a blast and we rode a bunch of rides and ate the yummy fair food!! Haha!! :)
Love you all, see you soon!! Crazee...now that my last big trip is over, the countdown begins!! This trip was a great last trip for the semester, I really enjoyed it!! :)
Talk to you soon!!
CIAO!! :)
'Work will set you free' - entrance to Auschwitz
All the blocks at Auschwitz looked like this...3 story buildings
Death Wall
Railroad tracks at Birkenau
Toilets
Bunks

28-29.04.2009

Tuesday:

Happy Birthday Nanny!! :) I hope you had a GREAT day, you deserve it!! :) Sorry I was unable to email you, internet was down all day!! :( Ry told me he called you though, for the both of us, what a sweetie!! :)

Wednesday:

Torta Pasqualina

Colombo cake ('shaped like a dove')

Cuisine night!! Yummy...tonight we pretended it was Easter even though it was a few weeks ago. Our cuisine class got canceled on April 1st because Christina was sick and since it was before Easter, we were going to be making the traditional dishes for that holiday. First we started to make Torta Pasqualina which is made up of many paper-thin layers of dough with ricotta and spinach as the main bulk. Before adding a few layers on top of the ricotta and spinach, you create indents with your spoon and then crack an egg in each indentation - very interesting. After we put that in the oven, we went to the table and ate salami with sweet bread. The salami still had the skin on it, so we had to peel it off - I was thinking of you Poppo when we were eating it because you would have liked it...but they were cut too thick...if I were the cutter, they would have been thin and tasty!! :) After that, we went back in the kitchen and made a walnut pasta - it was super easy to make and really tasty. More pasta to come...homemade pesto was next (Jimmy, you would've loved this one!!). I would've enjoyed it more if cooked potatoes and green beans weren't with the pasta, but that's ok, the pesto was amazing!! Next food was cheese, and we had a TON of them!! I didn't try them all because a few of them were bleu cheese, which I am not a fan of and they were really creamy!! :/ I really enjoyed one of them which I spread over a saltine and it was delish!! With the cheeses, we ate the Torta P - which I didn't like. Ha, too much spinach for my liking...the egg was the best part about it and it wasn't that good, just a weird combo to me. If all that food wasn't enough...we still had a sweet to come. We ended up having a Colomba cake and Colombus got his name from the word colomba meaning dove. It was 'shaped' like a dove and was very light cake with chocolate chips in it and on top had almonds, I enjoyed it, even though I was beyond stuffed!! We had a vino with this dessert and it was my favorite of the night (we had 3 in total) it was called Asti and it was a sparkling bianco vino - very yummy...and she said it was cheap...score!! :)
I know I am going to miss my cuisine class, but it's great because I now have all the recipes to make all these wonderful dishes (Sorry, but I won't be making all of these dishes for all of you, you can ask me for the recipes though!! Ha!)!!
Love and miss you all!!
Talk soon!!
CIAO!! :)

MILANO

PINK AND ORANGE!! :)

Thought of my cooz Nicoletti!! Sorry Dani, looked for your name, couldn't find it!! :(

Mama mia, this is your size coffee!! Ha!! :)

Leaving our mark behind...inside the wardrobe at our hostel!!

Since I am behind on this because of being out of town and the internet being down, I am just going to write about the highlights, so here it goes!!

Milano was an experience. Bethany and I went there Saturday-Monday (25-27.04.2009) to go to the Milano 2009 Furniture Show on Sunday. The entire weekend it was pouring rain, so it was a good thing the fair was indoors. It was HUGE!! 16 buildings in total FULL of furniture/lighting...insane!! We were not able to walk through all of them, not even a fourth of the buildings, I am not sure how many square feet each building was, but they were insanely HUGE!! It was a lot of fun walking around and checking out the new lines of furniture, mostly modern pieces. Overall the weekend was okay, not my favorite, maybe because there wasn't much to do because of the rain, what a damper!! :/ I REALLY enjoyed the fair though, which is great because it was the main reason we went to Milano!! :)
I miss you all, can't believe I will be home soon!!
Talk soon!!
CIAO!! :)

22.04.2009 - Wednesday

This morning was an early morning. We got up around 4am and got ready to leave for the Roma airport. The train left 5am, so we walked over to the station and the doors were locked…what the heck yo?? We waited out front for a few minutes and no one showed up like they were suppose to, so we walked around the building, through construction, and got on the train. As we sat down, the train took off…wow, talk about timing!! Ha. We ate our sandwiches just before this lady sat down near us who stunk like dookie. It was SO gross, we all were having a hard time breathing. She even set her luggage thing next to our bags, not touching luckily, and it was brown…suppose to be orange, that’s how dirty it was, SO gross!! :/ We got to the airport by 7:30am and I walked with mom and Nan over to the bus stop for T5 (it was their terminal which was 800M away from the other terminals). I said goodbye to them and before I knew it, they were driving off!! :( I had a few tears and I tried to hold them back, but it didn’t happen. After, I walked back to the train station and waited for a train to bring me to Termini. From there, I caught another train to Ostienza and then another to PF. I was home by 12pm, so a 7 hour turn around. Once I got home, I took a shower, I cant stand the dirty feeling of still being on a train and then I took a two hour, much needed, nap!! :) At 3pm Ryan and I had a Skype date set up, so we got on there and it wasn’t really working, so we got on gmail’s video chat and wow, the picture is so much more clear than Skype!! :) It was great to see Ryan…aww…I miss you LOTS baby!! After talking with him for some time, I took another shower to defrost. For some reason I was frozen and the heaters no longer turn on because it’s not “winter.” Well guess what…to us Arizonans, it feels like winter out here!! Haha!! After, I went to bed around 8:30pm and watched 27 Dresses.

LOVE YOU ALL!!

CIAO!! :)

21.04.2009 - Tuesday

Bfast was the start of our day today as well and then after we decided to go into town while it was still early and before the stores started closing, in hopes to purchase some things. We went to a Chinese store where we all scored and bought one thing or another!! Ha!! It was very exciting. After the Chinese store, Nan found this one store where she bought a top and then my mom bought some Limecello in a pretty bottle at a little store. We grabbed a slice of pizza on our way home and then took nap when we got back after our shopping. Very happy that we all got a few things, turned out well!! We all took an hour and a half nap and after, my mom and I walked to Despar to pick up some food for tomorrows bfast. We have to take the 5am train, so we are going to be needing some food!! We bought salami, cheese and bread to make some sandwiches. After Despar, my mom went with me back to my room to grab some things in hopes to fit it in moms/Nans suitcases to go back home. They ended up fitting ALL of it except for 2 pairs of shoes and I gave them lots to take back for me!! Ha!! After we packed it all up, Nan handed me a bag with a little owl inside!! She is SO cute!! We went into this little store a few days ago and I saw an owl and was saying how cute it was and that owls are my newest collection, even though I only have one owl mosaic so far, but for some reason, I really enjoy them. When I went upstairs with my mom, Nan stayed down and bought it without me knowing…sneaky!! :) Aw, I LOVE it!! Thanks again Nanny!! :) I ran back with my mom to bring back the extras because I didn’t want to take it with me tomorrow on the train (I am going with them to Roma tomorrow). Then for dinner we went downstairs where I wore my Roma jersey…not a good idea, seeing that Pasquele (our waiter) was a Viterbese fan…not a Roma…ha, so while I was at the table, I had to zip my jacket up all the way!! It was funny!! After dinner, we went back upstairs and went to bed around 10:30 – which is late because we have to be out of the hotel by 4:40am tomorrow!!

Love you all!!

CIAO X3!! :)

20.04.2009 - Monday

Massage day!! :) Nan had a GREAT idea to go get a massage. So my mom ran to the place, right near the hotel may I add, and set up an appointment. There was only one opening, so we told Nan to take it. So at 11am, Nan went for her massage while my mom and I went to four different banks, trying to trade in American money for Euros…wow, why it is SO hard here? Two wouldn’t do it and then ones computer froze, so the last one we went to was able to do it. It took a full hour to get Euros, then it was perfect timing to go pick Nan up. She was so relaxed and enjoyed it – “a different experience” she explained to us, not like an American massage!! O no…ha, the lady said that she could give me and my mom a massage at 3 and 4pm, so we were excited for that!! Since it was only 12pm, we had time to kill and my mom wanted to go into the city center to find some souvenirs, so Nan and I joined her. Since it was mid-day, NOTHING was open, so we headed back where Nan took a nap and my mom and I went to my dorm. I took a shower while my mom was online. Then we walked back and I went to get my massage. Nan was right, NOT like an American massage…ha, you started off lying on your back…interesting. Ha, it was basically a full-body cream application. It felt good though. Mom was next, so I went back to the hotel and waited for 5pm to roll around, when she was done. Around 7pm, we decided to go into town for the last time and go to dinner. It was raining out and the restaurant that was recommended to go to was closed, so we found a little hole-in-the-wall where we all got a salad and mom/Nan got a pasta dish and I got a pizza – last pizza at that. Ha!! Serious this time!! After, as we were walking home, I decided to stop over the Iowa girls apartment so my mom and Nan could meet them!! :) Cassie was over there as well, so it was fun to have them meet each other!! :) After hanging there for a few minutes, Cass left with us and we walked back home and went to bed shortly after. Aw, mom/Nan are leaving in a few days…sad…but exciting, because that means May is approaching QUICKLY!! :)

Love and MISS you ALL!!

CIAO X3!! :)

19.04.2009 - Sunday

:)

Pancho!!

Nan, ready to crack the train driver upside the head for being late!! HA!!

This morning, again, we woke up at 8am to go downstairs and grab bfast. The next train to Roma was at 10:55am, so we had some time to kill before leaving. Since we had a lot of time, my mom and I ran to my dorm to grab my backpack so we could use that for the day. At 10:40am, we walked to the train station – what is up with the trains leaving late since they have been here? It was only 5 minutes behind, but still, late is late!!! We took the train to Valle Aurelia and then got off to get on the metro. We took the metro to Colosseo and right when we got off, we saw it…but unfortunately it was POURING outside. We all ran out into the rain real quick and I took a picture of my mom and Nan in front of it and then we got back on the metro to go to the Spanish Steps stop to grab some food. We ended up eating pizza and then tried looking for souvenirs…I swear, Italianos close up shop whenever they want. Ha, no one was open because it was raining, it was very sad. We went into a café where we all got a sweet treat and mom and Nan got an American coffee. :) Since nothing was happening, we got back on the metro to Valle Aurelia and back to Viterbo. We caught the 3:36pm train to Braciano and then had to wait at that station to get to Viterbo. After waiting inside for almost 2 hours, we went outside because the train was going to come at 6pm. Since “TSITALY”…the train was 30 minutes late, which meant we had to stand (benches were soaking wet) and wait for the darn thing!! Ay!! Ha, after it FINALLY arrived, we got on and were home bound. Once we were home, we went to the hotel for a quick second and then left for La Cavas to eat there again. We all got a calzone and loved them!! :) After dinner, we walked home and went to bed, it was already 10:30pm by the time we got home!!

Love you all!!

CIAO X3!! :)

18.04.2009 - Saturday

In front of the Saturday Market and Wing Fountain

Where we ate lunch at!! :)

This morning we got up at 8am and got ready for bfast so after bfast we could catch the train to Orvieto, a town near by. I ran to the train station after bfast to double check the time, and mathone, the times didn’t match up with the train station because there wasn’t a train going there today…bummer!! :( I completely spaced it that it was Saturday and the market was going on, so Nan and my mom took a nap and I hung out on the computer texting Ryan. When they got up from their nap, it hit me it was Saturday, so we ran into the city walls to check it out. I was soo sad because when we got there, everyone was closing down. We were able to still walk around and check it out, but it wasn’t fun because everything was getting taken down!! I was so sad!! See, when you are having fun, you loose track of the days!! O well, they got a feel for it and after, we grabbed a Kebab and went over to a fountain and ate on the steps, it was fun!! After lunch, my mom and I went to this Chinese Dollar store to look for a picture frame for Sara – ha, all she wanted my mom to bring back for her was a picture frame and a picture of us three in it, how cute is she?? :) We couldn’t find one, so we went back to the hotel to hang with Nan. Sara was at my dads place for the weekend, so my mom and I ran to my dorm real quick for them to call us and talk with them!! :) I LOVED talking to them and catching up a bit. Then we went back to the hotel where we went downstairs for dinner. I really enjoyed their olive oil, so yummy with the bread!! :) After dinner, we went upstairs and off to bed!! :)

Love and miss you all!!

CIAO X3!! :)

17.04.2009 - Friday

Nan, cutting herself a piece of my calzone when not looking!! Ha!!

The cute ol' cook at La Cavas

Ha, the tiring walk to get some pane!!

Coffee break!!

This morning we all woke up at 8:30am so we could go downstairs and grab some bfast. They had a donut down there today…yippee!! :) After bfast, we got ready for the day and decided to go into town so Nan could buy a new pair of kicks (the ones she brought weren’t comfy for walking). Finally after going into almost every store VT has to offer, we went into a store called Geox and Nan found a pair she loved!! :) Then after our shoe shopping was over, we walked back out of the city walls and over to Despar where we bought salami slices, cheese, bread and two slices of pizza (for my mama and I). Then we walked back to the hotel where we all made a sandwich and ate that for lunch. It was very good and super cheap for all of it. After lunch, we all took a nap and Nan and I ended up taking a four hour nap while my mom got up!! Haha, four hours…can you believe it?? Ha, after our nap, I walked over to my dorm room with my mom so I could grab some clothes and what not. Once we got back to the hotel, I took a shower and got ready for dinner – tonight we went to a restaurant called La Cavas which is inside the city walls and I have never been there. I ordered a calzone and mama and Nan both got antipasti with bean soup on the side…very tasty by the way!! The cook was really cute…older man…he cooked my calzone and when I got it, he watched me take my first bit, to see if I liked it!! Ha, I saw that he was looking at me, so I gave him the Italiano sign for ‘delicioso’ :) After dinner, we walked home and stayed up for a few hours until it was time to go get pane. Ha, at 11:45pm, we left the hotel to walk inside the city walls, past Geox and to the ‘secret pane place.’ We got ripped off…ha, I kept telling mama and Nan how good the ‘dolci pane’ was and I ordered it and then when we were walking away we saw that it wasn’t chocolate pane, it had like fruit filling it it…what the heck yo?? Ha, so the rest of the night Nan and mama were making jokes about how good the ‘chocolate pane’ was!! Mathone!! HA!! After we ate our pane, we saw that there were still some cafés open, so we went to one so Nan and mama could get a coffee (decaffeinato of course). Ha, they ordered their cafés and then they wanted milk, so the lady poured freezing cold into their tiny cups of coffee…you can see where that led to…ha, nothing like a tiny cup of cold café!! :) Then we walked home and went to bed!!

Miss you all, sorry, the internet hasn’t been working for over a week…mathone!!

Love you all!! :)

16.04.2009 - Thursday

Spanish Steps

Trevi!! :)

This morning us three were up at 8am so we could get ready and go downstairs and eat some bfast (it was over at 9:30am). Nan really enjoyed the meat – she ate it on a piece of bread with cheese and meat on it and my mom loved the coffee…she had like 1 billion cups this morning!! Ha. After bfast we finished getting ready and then I checked on the times at the station for Roma. 10:55am was the next train, so that’s when we planned on leaving. We got off the train and took the Metro to Spagna where we saw the Spanish Steps and since we were all hungry, we grabbed a slice of pizza and attempted to eat them on the steps. Ha, we got yelled at by a woman police officer to not eat on the steps, so we went off to the side and finished eating. Then we walked over to the Trevi Fountain but before we got there, we stopped for some gelati. :) Yummy!! Nanny got peach, mom café and I got frgola (strawberry). You can’t go to Roma and not eat gelato!! We all tossed our coins into the fountain and took pictures, then we shopped for a bit!! :) Mama mia bought me a Wind jersey…ha, Wind is my cell phone company and I thought it was cute because it’s Roma colors!! :) Then we saw a bank and my mom needed to change in her American $ for euros, so we went inside where we were beyond frustrated!! First of all, some Italiano guy cut us in line and went right up to the counter and he KNEW he cut us!! Then the lady wouldn’t help us, so she told us to wait in the guys line because he speaks English. So we stood there for seriously 20+ minutes, waiting on the guy who cut us in line to finish up. FINALLY it was our turn…but of course, the guy didn’t speak English!! Wow, that’s not what we wanted to hear after waiting in his line because he did speak English!! :/ So he got this lady over and we some what figured it out. Then, he would only take the ‘perfect’ 20’s my mom had brought from the US… “couldn’t take any with any color dye on them or tears in the bill.” So with that taking place, we were only allowed to trade in HALF of what we gave him…crazeeness!! MATHONE…it took us over 20 minutes to get euros…ha!! After the bank, we went back to the metro and then took a train home. When we looked at the train schedule, it said one to PF was coming in 4 minutes, so I told mom and Nan to do the hustle. We had a bunch of stairs we had to climb, but after running up all of them, we barely made the train, luckily we made it!! Once we got home, Nan and I took a nap and then we went downstairs for dinner. We all shared and had chicken with peppers on top, cheese-rice and green beans. Very tasty meal I must say. Then we went back up to our room and my mom crashed while Nan and I watched P.S. I Love You. Thanks Dani and Nicki!! :) During the movie, Ry called, so we talked for like 20 minutes!! :) Aww, I miss my Ry bread!! After the movie was over, we went to bed. :)

Love you all!!

CIAO X3!! :)

15.04.2009 - Wednesday

:) Waiting for the train to go home to VT!!

Happy Anniversary Ryan Matthew!! :) I love you baby!!

This morning I woke up at 4am and got out of bed and got ready to get on the 5am train to Roma. I had enough time (of course) to have a bowl of GPs, so I enjoyed one along with a glass of chocolate milk. Once I was on the 5am train, not even 20 minutes of being on the train, it stopped in a town called Vetralla for almost an hour!! I was freaking because I had to get to the airport!! Mathone!! Finally, it took off and once I got to Trastevere, I had to transfer to the train to the airport (dropped me off right at the airport). I got to the airport around 8:30am and their plane landed early at 8:20am. Luckily they didn’t walk out until close to 9am, I was anxiously waiting for them to come through those doors!! :) When they did, Nan yelled “There’s Rach!!” And then my mom yelled “RACHALLLLL!!!” AWWW…I was soo excited they were here!! We all hugged each other for a few minutes and then we moved out of the way and headed for the train. Once we bought our tickets, we had to hurry to the train because the next one to leave was leaving in 5 minutes. We made that train and took it to Trastevere where we had to wait for the 10:55am train to come (the train to take us home). While we waited we talked each others ears off while we (by that I mean I) snacked on muddy buddies that Ry made for me and Cheese-Its…yummy!! Thanks baby for those btw!! :) AWWW….YAY, MAMMA MIA AND NANNY ARE HERE!!!!!! Finally, the train came but it didn’t go to PF, the last stop was PR (Porta Romana) which meant that we had to walk home from PR. Ha, PR is near where the SMG campus is, so we had some walking to do. During our walk, Nans wheel on one of her luggage’s stopped turning, ha, it was very entertaining, especially since they were so tired, so we hooked it up to the other luggage and kept walking. Nan swore the walk was at least 3 miles…aww…she was definitely tired, as well as my mom, I felt bad we had to walk, but it was better than waiting at the train station till night time when the PF train came!! Once we got to the hotel, mom and Nan unpacked and then my mom walked with me over to my dorm so she could see it while Nan took a nap. We hung out in my room for about an hour and chatted and then we headed back to wake Nan up, but a nap sounded good to us as well, so us three took a nap!! :) After the nap, we got ready for dinner and took a walk inside the city walls. None of the restaurants were open, so we ended up grabbing a slice of pizza at this place I have never been to outside the walls. After dinner, we walked to my dorm so Nan could see it but before the dorm, we stopped at this coffee place so they could enjoy a cup of VT café. Ha, I showed mama mia and Nan the dungeon, they were disgusted and then we walked back to their hotel where I ended up staying the night. The walk is only 4 minutes away, it’s perfect!! :) We all went to bed pretty early because we were all dead, esp. my mom and Nan!!

YAY, SOOO GLAD THEY ARE HERE!!!

Love and miss you ALL!!!

CIAO x3!! :)

14.04.2009 - Tuesday

Last night, I packed up everything and slept in my outfit which I wore today so I wouldn’t have to think about packing up things so early and waking Cass at 2am. I basically slept in everything except for my shoes. Ha, at 2am I got a wake up call to our room and I flew out of bed so it wouldn’t wake Cass. Then I brushed my teeth and went downstairs and while I waited for the taxi, I talked to the ‘Porter’ who was working the mid-night shift. He was really nice. Older/chubby man who was from Spain. Finally at 2:30am, the taxi showed up and I hopped in the car. It only took an hour to get there and it was the biggest rip-off of my life!! :/ O well, I had no other options, I had to take a taxi…I knew how much it would be before I got in, but what can you do?? :/ Once I got to the airport, I self-checked in and then I went over to the counter and turned in my bag. Then I walked over to my gate but first went to Starbucks where I got a cup of fruit, egg sandwich and OJ for bfast. Then I walked over to my gate and still had plenty of time to kill!! Finally, 6:40am rolled around and I ended up being the FIRST in line!! Ha, o the joys of RyanAir!! After priority boarded, I was the first to board and I sat in the first row where there is extra room for my long legs and I played off the fact that I was sleeping so no one would sit in between me and the man sitting next to the window!! Ha, it worked and no one sat in between us, it was great!! The flight went by fast, but I didn’t sleep at all. I just listened to my ipod and starred out the window. Once we landed in Roma, I got in the passport check line for residents because I am a resident until May 15th!! Ha, it was funny though because all the Italianos were looking at me like I was a ‘stupid American’ but then I showed them…because I knew exactly what line I was in!! :) It was great!! Then I picked up my luggage and headed over to buy my bus ticket to get to Termini. Once I got to Termini, it took me forever to get back to VT because I missed the train by seconds…I ran (sprinted) with my luggage in hand down the halls and up the stairs and missed the train which meant I had to wait over an hour for the next one to come!! :/ After traveling for 13 hours already, and only 2.5 hours of sleep…I was dead!! So I called Ryan from my Italiano phone and he called me back so we could talk longer. :) What a sweetie, especially because it was like 3am his time!! :) I was super frustrated for the entire morning because I forgot to mention that once I was at Termini, I took the wrong Metro because someone told me the wrong directions, so I went 30 minutes out of my way, which means if I would have had the right directions, I would have been on the earlier train. O well, everything happens for a reason, but I was just frustrated with myself, so talking to Ry calmed me down. :) After we hung up, the train came and before I knew it, I was back in VT by 4pm. 15 hours of travel…first big adventure done alone…interesting to say the least. Ha, but I am home safe and I cannot wait for tomorrow…mamma mia and Nanny are coming out!!! YAYYY!!! Ry called me when I got home and we talked for a bit and then I had a quick PBJ for ‘dinner’ and got ready for bed and was out of it by 7pm…up early tomorrow to pick them up Nan and mama mia at the airport….I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE FAMILY!!!!! :) Love and miss you all!! Ciao!! :)

13.04.2009 - Monday

Abbey Road...in front of Georges house?? (or something like that)

Stonehenge!!

Our alarm went off at 7:30am this morning and I took a quick shower and then threw on some clothes and went downstairs and had the same bfast as yesterday morning and then I went back upstairs to finish getting ready for the day. We all planned on meeting downstairs at 9am so we could leave for Abbey Road before going to Stonehenge. Before 9am, I went downstairs and paid to get online so I could go onto RyanAir and change to pay for a carry on luggage. 10euros is better than 20 at the airport!! :/ Then we all met up and left to go to the Tube and once we got to this one stop (forgot the name) we got off and had to walk for about an hour before getting to Abbey Road. Once we got there, we only stayed for a few minutes because we had to get back because we already paid for Stonehenge and we weren’t missing that bus. We got onto a city bus and took it to the Tube station we need to be at to catch our bus. Since we took the city bus, we got back to the station early, so we had time to grab a bit to eat…mmm Subway!! Ha, I saw it and you know that bread smell…same one you smell in EVERY Subway you go to, I smelled it and it hit home for me, so I had to get the usual turkey/pepperoni!! :) Of course I made it a meal deal and wow are their chip bags tiny!! Ha, and out here, you only get one cookie, at home, in AZ, don’t you have the option of 2 cookies or one bag of chips?? Hmm…so ya, after lunch, we got on the bus to Stonehenge and on the way our bus driver pointed out lots of things to us. He pointed out these roof tops which was were Mary Poppins was filmed and he told us all about Stonehenge. Michael, the driver, was a nice older man. Once we got to Stonehenge, we had a hour to walk around. The stones were roped off, and you were directed to walk around them in a circle. They weren’t as big as I expected, but still very interesting!! I am so glad we made it out to see them because I really wanted to see them in person one day, and that day happened to be today!! :) After Stonehenge, we drove back to London and went to their “Time Square” – ha, it is pretty funny, but since I have never been to NY, I have no comparisons to talk about. One day, hopefully soon, I will!! :) We shopped for a bit and then went to grab a bit to eat. I ordered chicken fingers and French green beans. Yummy…they were really good beans, I liked!! After dinner, we got back on the Tube and went back to Russel Square. Next to the hotel, there is a store where I bought myself a shirt – bright neon colors saying “I love London” ha. Then the girls and I hung out in Amy and Beths room until 11pm and then I decided to go to bed because I had to wake up at 2am, taxi was coming for me at 2:30am because I had a 6am flight!! MATHONE!!! Tomorrow will be a LONG day of travel!!

Love and MISS you ALL!!

CHEERS!! :)

12.04.2009 - Sunday

Beautiful tree in the park near our hotel :)

Ha, lovely reminders on the streets (cars drive on the opposite side of the streets than in the States!!)
Flowers at the Buckinham Palace
Cass and I at the Buckingham Palace
Tower Bridge
Big Ben

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTEE SANDEE!!! :) I love you, can’t wait to see you over the summer!! O, and HOPPY EASTER EVERYONE!! I miss my family BIG TIME!! Especially when the holidays roll around, makes me miss you all that much more, can’t wait to spend time with each of you when I get back to the States!! :) This morning, Cass and I got up and had an English Bfast which included scrambled eggies, piece of toast, and a small bowl of cereal with a glass of AJ on the side. We were out of the hotel by 8am and since the girls didn’t wake us up last night when they got in (flight got pushed back and got to the hotel by 3am), Cass and I wanted to go see all the sites, so we left without them. First stop…Buckingham Palace to see “Changing of the Guards.” Hmm…I would say don’t worry about seeing that. Ha, Cass and I took the “Tube” (Metro) to Hyde Park where the Palace was at. We got there really early and the Changing wasn’t until 11:30am. We ended up walking around and admiring the beautiful flowers and then it was starting to get crowded, so we went over to the fence to get a spot. MAN, did it ever get packed quickly!! We stood over to the right of the Palace and the main changing of the guard happened over to the left I believe. It was funny to see all the men with their tall hats marching around. And the man who yelled out the commands was really YELLING!! Made me laugh because each time he would yell, his hat would shake!! After the Changing happened, Cass and I made our way through the crowd and went over to the Mews where we were able to see the carriages and limos which the Queen rides in. Her ‘limo’ is a Rolls-Royce. Ha, we also saw the horse stables which had no horses in because they were still out front (where the changing was still occurring). After, it was about 1pm and Cass and I were getting hungry, so we went to a restaurant called Garfunkels where I ordered a burger, it was yummy. Then we got back on the Tube and went to go see the London Eye and Big Ben. Big Ben…not so big. Ha, the building that surrounded him were gorgeous, I still wonder how long it took to build them? The London Eye was like 17lbs to ride and it takes about an hour to ride, so it wasn’t worth it to us, so we didn’t do it. After, we went back to the Tube and we took it to go see the Tower Bridge. We ended up climbing the steps to walk across the water on the Tower Bridge and once we got to the other side, we saw a castle, I forget the name but it’s probably like ‘Tower Castle’ or something like that. We grabbed a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and then sat on the steps looking out to the castle. There were a TON of people everywhere, I was surprised too because it’s Easter, does no one have family?? What the heck yo (ha, Jimmy)?? After we were done eating, we went back over the bridge and then walked over to the London Bridge…not too exciting, very plain bridge, I enjoyed the Tower Bridge more. Then the girls texted us telling us they were at Hard Rock, so we got back on the Tube. Hard Rock London was the first one btw. Eric Clapton liked it so much, he gave them a signed guitar which started everything because then other bands caught wind of that and the competition began to give HR band mementos. The texts must have been behind time, because once we got there, they were no longer there. Ha, we didn’t end up staying, but at least I can say I have been inside. So we got back on the Tube and went to our hotel where they were at. I met Amy’s mum and sister. Ha, they say ‘mum’ out here, same as in Scotland. 8pm rolled around so us girls went to go grab some drinks and hang out and talk about our days. We ended up doing the same things, just at different times because we never once saw them, but London is not like VT, it’s a bit bigger. Ha. We stayed out until 12:30am or so and were in bed before 1am, another big day tomorrow. I love traveling!! Wow, May is almost here and I still have lots of traveling to do!! Ha!!

I love and miss you all!!

CHEERS!! :)