GREECE BABY!

WOW!! SPRING BREAK BABY!  I finally found internet, and so I will catch everyone up on the past few days:  BUT FIRST:

ROCKCHALK JAYHAWK GO KU!!! Way to pull it together and beat OSU to be #1 in the BIG 12!!!!  GO HAWKS! 

Friday morning we took the train from Florence to Rome.  That train was running a little late, so we got to Rome a little late, catching the train to the airport 30 minutes later than we wanted to.  It would have been ok if that train had left on time instead of almost 40 minutes late...leaving us to arrive at the airport at 10:30 AM!  Yeah, FYI...our flight left at 11!  WOW.  So of course all 7 of us are running like mad trying to check in for our flight...get through security which was a joke, and then catch our flight.  Luckily we made it in time and got to Athens as scheduled.  It was very nice at first...then it started to rain, no big deal. We had a nice dinner friday night at this little walk in place that the desk guy, Nicholas--who is the cutest old greek man EVER--recommended.  Gyros baby! It was good...and CHEAP.  I love that a can of diet coke is only 1 euro here, it certainly beats the 2,50 in Florence! 

Saturday morning we woke up and went to the prehistorical museum and spent a few hours there.  It was definitely cool, but OLD haha.  Then Kevin, Nicole and I went and had lunch.  Afterwards I went back to the hotel for a nap--I was exhausted!  For dinner saturday night we went to this place in Syntagma, a few metro stops away, for a good dinner at this vegetarian restaurant--Madeline is a vegetarian so we all went.  It was really good food, however not exactly authentic Greek...or really Greek at all.  I believe quiche is french!  Sunday we woke up really early, had breakfast, then went to Acropolis.  It was really cool!  The view was AMAZING.  You could see EVERYTHING from the top.  I got a lot of good pictures...so when I get to Paris, you'll get to see them!  Then Kevin, Nicole and I went and had lunch, and then to the Roman Agora, then walked around a bit.  We went to this garden/mini-zoo area called Zappio(I think) and saw chickens trying to kill each other...it was interesting.  Then we went home and had dinner at a restaurant we found while wandering. 

This morning we got up and went to Aghina...it is one of the islands.  We took this really awesome boat that only took 40 minutes to get there...walked around a lot, had lunch--with much disappointment because baklava was definitely listed as a dessert and what does the waiter tell me? THEY'RE OUT.  I'm sorry...you're WHAT?  So far, no baklava, or ouzo for me...but there's still tomorrow!  We went to dinner tonight at the same place we went the first night--it was good, so we went back.  Jeff got here this afternoon after spending a few days in Corfu while attempting to drive a four-runner(yeah, with no luck...way to tip it).  It's strange...we've all been apart for like 4 days and I really miss everyone.  Though I'll probably deny it from here on out just cuz I can...but aside from everyone (like Lizzie) that I miss, I was very excited to see him and hear all about Jeff's little adventure at the Pink Palace! 

Tomorrow I might be going to Delphi with Jeff.  It sounds exciting.  I need some new people to hang with, cuz I've spent the past 2 days with Kevin and Nicole alone and apparently I'm one of the last of everyone besides Kevin and Nicole to notice that they could not like each other more...hello, THIRD WHEEL.  It's ok, I'm usually the third wheel, but seriously folks...either do something about this flirting OR STOP. LOL.  It's kind of cute though.  :) 

So far I've only been gone since friday and it's awesome!  Like Robin told me the other day (reference from Friends, obviously) there's a difference between spring break and spring vacation:  spring vacation is like what Robin will be doing in a few weeks:  Spending time with your parents and grandparents, even though she'll be in florida where it's WARM.  Spring break is more of the end of what I'm doing: WOOHOO having a blast and living it up.  I'm not drinking like a fish or going crazy like spring break normally consists of, but let's think about this:  I'm in GREECE.  I'm going to Switzerland in 2 days...WOOWOO! It's AWESOME!

OH:  my Italian cell phone number no longer works...so I don't suggest trying to call it.  I will have a french number when I get to france on my cell phone, AS WELL AS a dorm room number which is probably what I'll use the most.  Just to let you know.

Also, since it's a month before my birthday, I figured I'd give everyone a little insite:  my list is very short of things I want...I'm already getting the best present ever, my best friend is Paris on my birthday, and my parents in a few days later.  However, there are some things on my list I would like.  My parents are(or will be) the informed party on this list...or email me.  It's short and sweet, so check with them if you want to know what I want.  THANKS :)  (and yes Grandpa Irv, I would LOVE a 22 year-old boy for my 21st birthday! ...only he knows what I mean! LOL)

That's all for now folks!! ALL MY LOVE AND THEN SOME!!!

CIAO--I know I'm not in Italy anymore...but I LOVE CIAO! :)

My Favorites

In Italia/Firenze...these are my favorites:

SPOT:  Palazzo Vecchio

FOOD:  since gelato doesn't really count, I'll say tortellini.

BAR/PUB/CLUB:  our Irish pub around the corner.

ROOMMATE: haha...ALL of them!

SONG:  Do Do Do Do Do Inspector Gadget! (liz's song)

SPOT IN ITALIA:  Definitely St. Peter's Basilica in Rome...probably the one thing that will always stick in my mind as completely unreal.  Plus, the "delicious" Bernini sculptures are to die for! ;)

PURCHASE:  my pink leather purse, duh.  But there's another that ties...but that's for me to know and you to find out.

MOMENT:  it's hard to pick out just one...but probably the first time I really felt at ease and at "home" here which was our first weekend in Firenze.  I spent the day walking around town by myself wandering and "getting lost." I was proud of myself that I found my way back to the apartment. :)

ALL MY LOVE...TALK TO YOU IN A WEEK!

 

Arrivederci Firenze!

First, I'd like to point out the fact that I'm pissed. Why?? Because our basketball team, in a word, is PATHETIC.  What is this crap of us losing 3...yes, 3 games IN A ROW?!?!? Not to mention they were to Colorado, Iowa State, and Oklahoma!(what the crap?)  If Big Dub and his boys don't shape up--that National Championship that's supposed to be theirs will be GONE!  Bill Self better put the smack down on them...and SOON!

Ok, so it's been a few days since I've written and sorry to say folks this will probably be the last time I write again until I've arrived in Paris!  Monday morning we took our art history exam...not too bad, I got it back this morning and I'm pretty happy with the results.  However, the test definitely did not test our knowledge to the full extent, because monday night when we all went for dinner and gelato, Jeff felt the need to point out these random doors at a random shop and sigh, "oh, those doors remind me of Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise...and those doors remind me of Pisano's Life of St. John the Baptist." Not to mention when we got to the Duomo he had to point out the fact that the dome was built by Brunelleschi in 1420-36.  Oh man, the best part was, he couldn't tell you what Buon Fresco is(it's the painting technique on the walls here)...and his response "I know who did them, when they did them, and where they are...so who cares if I know how they did it?"  good point...It was amusing--so thanks Jeff!  Tuesday we had class as usual, and THAT was exciting--not.  We went to the Museum of Science for Western Civ...woohoo, I got to see Galileo's telescope, and see how physics work.  Let me point out the fact that I barely passed physics in high school, so why do I care about physics now? oh yeah, because it's relevant to um, NOTHING we do in Western Civ.  Actually, this visit was probably the most relevant considering we (were supposed to) read Galileo, which even more coincidentally is on our final tomorrow, and woohoo...his telescopes were great.   Why I care about chemistry and physics that Galileo had nothing to do with is totally beyond me.  Oh well!  Last night I also worked a lot on my journal for class which is due in Paris the day we get there.  I'm really excited about my leather-bound book, however, it ways 12 tons and is going to be a bitch to carry around for spring break...because of course no matter how much I work on it now, there's not really a chance in hell I could get it done BEFORE spring break.  HI--do we need to learn what SPRING BREAK means?  BREAK...relaxing, NO schoolwork--crap, we're in college, we don't get ''breaks" we get "you don't have to be in class,  but you still have a crapload of work to do." grrr. :)

SPRING BREAK 2005:  Friday I leave for Rome on the train at the crack of dawn(of course!), then fly to Athens, Greece where I will spend 5 days being the American tourist, eating lots of Greek food, drinking oozoh(haha) and enjoying the 60 degree weather we're supposedly getting there.  Then on Wednesday it's off to Milan on another small and frightening plane, then taking the train to Lausanne, Switzerland.  In Switz, we will enjoy the snow they have, and the freezing cold weather(sounds a bit like Florence right now...just a bit more snow!) and who knows what we will do there???  Sometime next sunday we'll get to Paris where will basically have to fend for ourselves for a little over 12 hours before we have to meet our professors and new ACCENT staff to move into our dorms and get our bags that we shipped...speaking of which, I have ENTIRELY way too much stuff.  I bought too many things, and crap, I'm only halfway done.  Actually, it's just because my books take up TOO much room, and unfortunately I can't get rid of those.  I need to think about downsizing because let's face it, I don't throw anything away...and I shop too much.  OOPS.  :)

Today was REALLY exciting...we went to the Pitti Palace and got to look at some really interesting pieces of art...all the while it's sowing mad-style outside. Then I came home and started the packing process, which my suitcase expands...and I sort of figured out how to expand it, but it doesn't stay up. (whining child voice): DADDY....HHHHELLLPPPPPP!  Life would be so much easier if I had "Mr. I can pack anything in any size space at anytime and make it fit"with me to make sure I got all my stuff together.  That's what he's there for anyways, right?  Oh yeah, that and bbq-ing my favoritest ribs ever for me when I come home in May(hint hint).  I guess I'll just have to suffer and attempt the packing thing on my own.

Tonight I am studying for my western civ I final which is tomorrow morning...woohoo.  That should be fun.  Tomorrow after the final, it's time to bring our bags to ACCENT to be shipped, then home to clean like mad-crazy so we can get our deposits back!  Tomorrow night we our having one last meal at our favorite little restaurant--Trattoria Sostanza...which is fitting since we had our one week anniversary there, and our first meal out. 

I am really going to miss Firenze!  It has been so much fun here, and I'm finally getting used to speaking(haha) Italian!  I will certainly miss monday pizza and gelato night...and of course San Lorenze market where I love to shop! haha.  It's been so much fun, but it's time to move on to Paris :).  Once I get to Paris it's only 5 more fridays until I get to see my best friend, and 6 until my parents come and I get to be their tour guide! :)  Lots O fun.

Alright...well, I think it's time for me to start studying.

And since I can't say "Ciao Bellas" anymore because Jeff yelled at me because "he made it up" I won't sign off with that...I don't really want to quote him!...

Arrivederci Italia and Firenze!  It's been fun.

My last weekend in Firenze

An update on my last weekend in Firenze:

Friday we got up at the crack of dawn to get on the bus to Ravenna...The town was lacking in, uh just about everything except mosaics.  We had about 4 hours to have lunch and roam before we got back on the bus after our tour--4 hours was entirely too long.  Oh well.  We got back to Firenze about 8 and Jeff, Kevin, Marli, Madeline, Liz, her friend Meagan, and I went to this diner for dinner and ate american food.  It was SO yummy!  Afterwards we went home to get ready for a night out!  We went to Space Electronic which is the club right by our apartment.  We went mainly to do a shot of Absente which is this stuff that supposedly has toxin in it and supposedly makes you trashed after one shot--HA.  We mainly went to do it because it's illegal in the states, and of course, we HAD to try it!  Well, we were all more sober after doing 2 shots of it each than before we went out.  It was kind of a dissapointment, but we still had fun dancing(after they stopped playing techno...yuck!).  And of course Jeff was a happy camper because they played his song just as we were leaving and he still got to dance to it! LOL. 

Saturday Nicole, Liz, Meagan, Jeff and I went to Pisa.  As Jeff likes to put it: the town is a pisa-shit.  HAHAHA--totally original. HOWEVER, he's totally right.  If it weren't for the leaning tower(of cheese-ah...from the Goofy Movie folks) the town would be a waste of space.  It was really cool to see the tower though...kind of interesting.  Saturday night I went to dinner with Meagan and Liz at this restaurant kind of down the street from us--Trattoria Marione.  It was really good food. 

Today ROCKED!  I slept in and then I have been studying ALL DAY! YEAH!!! (sarcasm folks...today sucked).  I wrote my western civ paper--which rocks, and then I have attempted to study for my art history midterm which is tomorrow. HOLY CRAP I'm so not ready.  Too many dates, too many pictures, too many Ninja Turtles--I mean artists.  UGH...I'll get it eventually.

Anyways...my last weekend in Firenze was really fun!  We have only 5 more days here.  I'm really sad because I love it here.  Spring break will be exciting though--greece and switzerland!  Paris will be exciting, but really different.  But at least I'll get to be roomies in paris with liz...do do do do do inspector gadget! LOL. 

Anyways, I'm off to do more studying...ugh! 

CIAO BELLAS

Quote of the moment:

"It's always so much longer than you counted on.  And it hits you SO MUCH harder than you thought.  But you don't worry, you don't worry cuz you've got soul." ~Matchbox 20~

One week to go...

Blah blah blah...another day gone by.  Today we got up, had western civ--woohoo--then went on our final walking tour of the city.  We walked all the way up to a place called Piazzale Michelangelo which has a really cool view of the entire city(I have pictures coming soon) and the hike is definitely not fun, but the view is so worth it.  After class I came back to the apartment, napped for too long, then got a little reading in before Liz and her best friend Meghan from home who came in from Ireland went for pizza(and gelato). 

Tomorrow we are going to Ravenna...unfortunately the general consensus is that NO one wants to really go.  We all came to the conclusion that it would have been better to go last weekend because we all a)have little desire to go in the first place and b) we all have a lot of studying to do for midterms and finals.  Kind of strange that we have a midterm and a final in the same week...different class, but still you never  get that at home.  WOW.  That's a lot of artists to remember.  OH!  Joke of the day(from Rome, but I just remembered it!) 

Q: Which Ninja Turtle would you rather be?

A: (random people) Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo...

A:(this girl abby on our trip_): I'd rather be Monet! 

oh man...that's funny!

Ok, well...lots of love to everyone!

CIAO

Man can I shop!

WOAH!  Happy Wednesday...aka my day of shopping!  I had class this morning and then decided to have myself a day of mucho dinero(or Euro) spending!  HA! Most of what I bought were gifts anyways.  However, I did find myself a really nice present(aside from my pink purse!) that I am going back to buy in a little bit...talk about fun!  I'm not disclosing what I am going to buy though, because let's face it, certain people reading this are on a need to know basis, and frankly, they just don't need to know! :)   Oh man, it felt really good to get my "fix." Everyone pretty much knows I am my mother's daughter and can shop with the best of them, whether it's at Gucci(highly unlikely I'd shop there, but you get the idea) or at Target for a huge sale...I like to shop...woo woo!  Still haven't bought what I really want though and that's shoes, unfortunately though I have clown-sized feet and they don't make them in my size here!(shut up robin, I know what you're thinking!) oh well...

Monday night was SOOOO fun!  Madeline, Jeff, Kevin, Liz and I went for our usual pizza and gelato night...then went to see Meet the Fockers at 10:45...I personally thought it was really funny, but then again--I would.  Maybe I'm the only one that can see how hilarious/realistic Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman make the whole "Jewish Parent" thing.  WOW...they really do know how to make it real...I totally saw my family in that movie...oy vey! 

The past couple days have been fun-filled with homework...oh joy.  We have our art history mid-term on monday and our western civ I final a week from thursday.  It's kind of insane how fast all those big fat tests are coming up--and it's even more amazing that I'm only going to be here for another 8 1/2 days!  I'm really going to miss Firenze...but watch out Paris! :)  More later...

Ciao Bellas!

picture albums

This may or may not work...but try it and let me know if you can view my albums by clicking either link!

Rome album: http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeDM3DNs5buSA

Firenze album: http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeDM3DNs5buhA

I hate Cupid, Stupid

Ok...the past 72 hours have been quite eventful.  I don't have much time so I will sum it up quickly(ha).

Friday we went to Venice.  Our train was supposed to leave at 6a.m. and we all got up at 5.  However, we were uninformed on the fact that the trains were on STRIKE. Yeah, so we didn't get on that train, but we waited around until about 8:30 to see if that later train would leave...it did.  Then in Bologna we couldn't figure out which train to get on...we were a little confused and tired, but we made it there.  Venice was cool--it wasn't as great as I expected, but it was still fun.  Oh man, holy traffic jam batman.  We took a water taxi to the other end of Venice from the train station and there was a major traffic jam(or boat jam) holding us up.  There was massive protesting about something and it was insane! The police on their little motor boats had to come in a clear it out...what activity on the Grand Canal. Geez! We walked around for like 5 hours from one of town to the next and back...my poor feet!  It was really neat to get to see everything.  OH...what the?  Pigeons in MASSES eating food off of people who actually PAID to have that happen. I've never seen so many fiesty pigeons in MY LIFE especially in one lump.  We were all waiting to get crapped on--nice huh?  I swore though if it was me, the pigeon that did it would have died! LOL.   We all came out of the pigeon masses clean.  On our way home, we missed the train we were supposed to get on, cuz that was on strike too...was late for our connecting train--but that train hadn't left yet, so we made it and then instead of leaving at 5p.m. and getting home around 8:30, we left at who knows what time and got home at 11p.m.  After a fun yet exhausting day, I ran home, changed and then met Jeff to go to Meg's 21st birthday party at some club.  HOLY DRUNK PEOPLE.  Geez, we got there a lot too late.  Everyone had already had too much to drink--I would too if I had been there on time and paid 15 Euro for all you can drink in 3 hours...I did pay 15 Euro and I drank...but c'mon, I may be a lush and whatever, but I can't drink myself stupid in an hour.  But it was kind of fun to be able to order a bottle of champagne that would cost 15 euro alone and drink it.  WOW.  Too many people throwing and being the dumb drunk american's we were sort of told not to be.  You'll all be glad to know I was not that dumb drunk american...I was the not so drunk yet no so sober american helping everyone of my friends into taxis so that they could get home. OY VEY.  I needed a drink after that one!

Saturday morning after going to bed at 4 a.m. and being up almost 23 hours, got up and met Sarah L.(my roomie for next fall) and her friends at the train station!  We had a good day--we walked around town and shopped--I didn't buy a thing, crap.  I took a lovely nap later in the day, then we went to dinner around 9...we had a really GOOD meal.  I don't have a freakin' clue what I ate...I mean I do, pasta and chicken...but I don't know what I ordered exactly.  I ate it anyways, sauce and all. BLEH. We all had wine...Sarah and I split a bottle of Carantino or something, it was sparkling white wine and REALLY GOOD.  We were all a little toasty after dinner.  We didn't get out of dinner until 12:30...CRAZY!  We grabbed a taxi to the club by my apartment and went dancing til 3 a.m.!  Man, I love hip hop...I felt right at home! LOL.  We had good night!  This morning however...I'm a little tired and my feet hurt--oh well!

Ah...as for the subject of my journal today.  I do hate Cupid, stupid.  Tomorrow's Valentine's Day, or as Sarah's friend Meagan likes to put it "Single Awareness Day." Seriously, it's just another reminder that we're all single.  Eh, whatever...life is good and who cares(I mean I do care...but really, I'm having too much fun to care really).  Tomorrow is also monday and we all know what that means...Pizza and Gelato with Liz and the boys!! :) YEAH!  We're also meeting up with the rest of our roommates after their class and we're going to see Meet The Fockers at the movie theater.  I've already seen it, but it's so freakin' funny!!  Should be a good night...we all have our "dates" and let's be honest:  Valentine's Day=chocolate is a vegetable, therefore, I will be eating lots of chocolate :)  Not that I really need an excuse to eat chocolate or gelato...yum.  I did finally try coconut gelato--it was good but only in small doses.  I don't really have a Valentine this year...let's face it folks, every year sinceoh I don't know, 1985(I was born after V-day for all those on the short bus today! :)  )  I have had the best Valentine EVER because I got cards and chocolate covered marshmellows from Fannie May...yeah, my daddy is my Valentine!(sorry Mom...but you're off the list! haha).  Too  bad this year I won't get my chocolate covered marshmellows--ah, more gelato for me!

Ok, I'm off to do homework and read really boring stuff on some Saint that I really don't understand. 

CIAO CIAO

 

And it's Thursday!

HooHah...I finally got to take a shower yesterday at Madeline's and it was nice and HOT!  They supposedly fixed our heat and water today, but none of us are brave enough to try the shower!  It's official: Venice tomorrow! I'm super excited about the 6 AM train we're taking...nice.  It should be fun, so I'll let you know!  I don't have much else to say as of right now...so I decided to "sing" you a little song instead.  This song is totally amusing kind of reminds me of my first few days here...on some strange warped level...and I have Grandpa Irv to thank for knowing it at all! :)  Here goes:

Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah. Here I am at Camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining and they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining. I went hiking with Joe Spivey, he developed poison ivy.  You remember Leonard Skinner he got tomay(?) poisoning last night after dinner.  All the counselors hate the waiters, and the lake has alligators, and the head coach, wants no sissies, so he reads to us from something called Ulysses.  Now I don't want this should scare ya, but my bunkmate has malaria.  You remember Jeffrey Hardy...they're about to organize a searching party.  Take me home, oh muddah, faddah take me home.  I hate Granada don't leave me out in the forest where I might get eaten by a bear. Take me home, I promise I will not make noise or mess the house with other boys.  Oh please don't make me stay, I've been here one whole day...Dearest Faddah, darling Muddah, how's my precious little bruddah? Let me come home if you miss me, I would even let aunt bertha hug and kiss me.  Wait a minute, it stopped hailing.  Guys are swimming, Guys are sailing.  Playing baseball, gee that's betta...Muddah, Faddah kindly disregard this letta!

ALL MY LOVE...CIAO BELLAS!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Ok...more pictures have been added, and captions have been put up. So enjoy!

Let's start with this...after a wonderful weekend in Rome and a steamy shower sunday night, Via de Porcellana #8 no longer has any hot water...or heat.  Literally.  I know I bitch about it being cold here, but our heat it literally out.  They're trying to find someone to come and fix it--maybe tomorrow morning they said.  Needless to say that the 5 of us have not showered since Sunday...and we're starting to smell kinda funky!  We've had plenty of offers from people to shower at their place...but it's just to far and we think we'll wait one more day...maybe not.  But DAMN it was cold last night.  I had multiple layers and it was ICE.  

Pizza monday night with liz and the boys was great as usual...for some reason the pizza place has like laughing gas in it--either that or liz is just a blonde.  Sometimes I swear she doesn't think before she speaks, but MAN it's FUNNY! (love ya lizzie!)  
Tonight we are going back to our little restaurant, Trattoria Sostanza, that's across the street from our apartment...yeah!  It'll be yummy!  Tomorrow night we're going for mexican with Madeline, WOOHOO. Chips and salsa...delish!
As for going out this weekend...Jeff is currently 0 for 2 as far as finding clubs that exist, so we'll see!  Friday is possibly our trip to Venice, which will be exciting.
Friday is this girl Meg's 21st birthday, so we're all going out to celebrate...but I won't drink TOO much because saturday morning my FAVORITE roomie for next year who's in Paderno del Grappa in coming in for the weekend!! YEAH I <3 Sarah L...sasha Kaun, what's up???

I'll keep y'all posted...all my love.
Ciao

Update...

My pictures from my fabulous weekend in Rome are up!  I made a new album...so enjoy!

Rome!

When in Rome...do as the Romans do! I never actually understood that statement, but whatever.  This weekend was absolutely FABULOUS! Let's start from the beginning...

Thursday night my roommates, Jeff(Kevin was busy), our teacher Madeline and I all went out to celebrate our 3 weeks anniversary together here in Firenze.  We started off at our favorite little Irish pub around the corner...the night only got better from there!  Long story short, we all got pretty drunk(except for Jeff the miraculous wonder who can drink til the co

ws come home, doesn't get drunk or hungover).  Madeline drunk...OH MY.  After our pub Jeff attempted to take us to this "club" which he had no idea where it was...or if it even existed, which it didn't, so we ended up at the mexican restaurant for drinks and had chips and salsa(so good when you're drunk).  At about 3 I finally went to bed, had to get up to go to Rome the next morning...WOAH HANGOVER.  Actually, it wasn't too bad, but the two margaritas that were fabulous going down are never good the next morning. Tequila's funny like that.   So on the bus I got some definite nap time in.  Friday...

Friday was a really really long day, but fun.  When we got to Rome (after a nauseating bus ride) we went straight to the Galleria Borghese and looked at all kinds of statues and paintings...cool.  Friday night some of us went to Alfredo's (thanks parentals for the recommendation) and had the best fettucini alfredo ever originally invented(not that I can compare, I had never had it anywhere else before). BUT, it was GREAT.

Saturday morning we got up at the crack of dawn and stood in line for the Vatican.  After about an hour and a half, which wasn't bad apparently, we got to go see everything inside.  It was really neat to be inside the Vatican...all of the paintings and sculptures were really impressive. However, when we got to the Sistine Chapel, I was slightly disappointed.  I guess I was just expecting to walk in and be amazed.  I walked in and sort of went, you've seen one fresco, you've seen em all.  Don't get me wrong, it was really cool--I just guess I expected more from it.  After that, we had a break and ate lunch, then went to St. Peter's Basilica. Now THAT was amazing!  EVERY single thing in that church was made of stone.  The paintings that were originally there were taken down and mosaic-ed and it was amazing.  Everything in there was HUGE--like to the point where you cannot even begin to imagine the size of how big things actually were.  CRAZY. I loved it!  After that we had another break--a bit of naptime, then a walking tour of Rome. Nothing terribly special...we were all beat!  Saturday night (my roommate) Sarah and this girl Lindsey and I went to dinner in the little square where our hotel--which I forgot to mention was cute, it's one of the oldest hotels in Rome, or Italy, I forget--anyways.  Dinner was really good.  The three of us sat talking forever, then came back to the hotel and talked for like 2 hours.  It was cool to spend time getting to really know lindsey, because I hadn't really before last night.  This morning we woke up, packed our bags and stored them, then went to the Jewish Ghetto Quarter of Rome, the Roman Ruins(phenominal!) and the Coloseum!  It was really cool.  After the Coloseum some of us went to the Spanish Steps and the Trevie Fountain.  The Fountain was so COOL!(totally reminds me of Gidget Goes to Rome...but that's another story...) I made a wish and threw a coin in the fountain...so if my wish comes true, I will tell you what I wished for, but not beforehand otherwise it won't come true!  Then we got back on the bus around 3 and headed back to Firenze.  The busride was again NAUSEATING...I almost threw up, not like you really wanted to know that, but it was weird because I'm not one to get motion sickness so who knows?!? 

I had a great weekend in Rome!  I have about a bazilion pictures that I will post on my website in the next few days!

I'm EXHAUSTED...so I'm off to find dinner, shower, maybe a nap...then since we don't have class until 2p.m. tomorrow, we're going to this bar to watch some of the superbowl that doesn't start til 1a.m. here!  WOW...what a WEEKEND!

(in the words of Jeff): CIAO BELLAS!

We Have Nothing to Fear...

But Fear itself...

WOW! 436 is definitely the magic number, and that last 10 really did it for me! Yes, there are 436 steps from the bottom of the Duomo to the top.  Aside from the fact that you're caged in between two walls about 4 feet from each other, the steps will kill ya!  Actually, it didn't take too long to go up, but man, 436 stairs is definitely my exercise for the day...wait, the week. (Britney would be super proud!)  I stopped right before the last 10, because I needed to catch my breath(again) and beside I had to psych myself out for the view(for those "uninformed" I'm terribly afraid of heights).  I walked outside and the view was AMAZING!  You can see the entire city, and then some.  I didn't stand too close to the edge though--kinda just a little creeped me out.  BUT...I MADE IT! I survived, and I am so happy that I did it!  I have pictures coming soon on that one.  Afterwards, we had some time to walk around, and my legs were shaking terribly, but they're stable now! :)

Last night we went to dinner at the Sprecklemeyer's apartment(our professors) and had a really nice meal!  They had like an anti-pasto, pasta and spinach, and for dinner chicken catchatorri(yeah, definitely don't know how to spell that!) It was good. It was fun to sit around and all talk and get to know our professors a little better.

I'm EXHAUSTED!  After climbing the Duomo, we had our site visit to the Uffizi Musuem.  It was so cool to look at all of the paintings and learn about them and stuff...but it got to the point of crankiness(me? right, I know...unimaginable) because we were all tired, and there were ALL KINDS of crowds pushing their way through--I was tempted to slap some! hehe, just kidding.  The Uffizi is HUGE...lots of walking.

Change of subject, change of color: HAPPY 21st KRIS!  A toast for my best friend's birthday(which only she will truly get): Here's to you, here's to me. Friends forever we shall be, but if we ever disagree--(*edit*)screw you...HERE'S to me!  Have a freakin' fabulous time tonight...wish I could be there! :)

Anywho, I'm going home to eat dinner and attempt some homework and definitely take a long nap(aka a night of sleep!)

CIAO CIAO

MUCK FIZZOU

ROCKCHALK JAYHAWK!!! We beat Misery 73-61!  HAHA GO HAWKS!

Ok, so I finally got pictures on shutterfly.com, but I'm pretty sure you can only view them if I have emailed the link to share my album with you...I sent it out, but if you didn't get that email and want it--email me and let me know!!  

Last night was so much fun!  Liz and I had our usual "date" for Monday night pizza and gelato, and Kevin and Jeff came along. It was lots of fun!  Then after we had dinner, I wrote my horrible European Studies paper...then at 1030 we went to see Donnie Darko at the movie theater that plays English movies!  I wasn't totally impressed with the movie, but it was still fun to go!  All month of February they are playing really good movies...so I'm excited!
Tonight we have dinner at our Professor's apartment...it's my apartment and the two guys...should be fun!  Tomorrow is our big big day: we are climbing over 400 steps to the top of the Duomo.  WOW...that's a lot of darn stairs.  If I survive the climb, my trainer Britney would be very proud! and I will write back and tell you all about it...and if I don't survive, well, I won't write back!  More later...time to go walk around a bit and take a nap!(oh how I LOVE nap time!)
CIAO CIAO