Travel Tip 1: Packing Checklist

As someone who travels frequently, whether it be to visit family, present at a conference, or traveling abroad, I have come to learn the importance of making a checklist when packing. I'm not always the best at remembering to pack little things, like a hairbrush, or flip flops, etc. I have found I will always have everything I need if I make a checklist before I pack and mark items off as I put them in the suitcase. I started doing this when I was living in Florence and traveling on Ryan Air a lot, and this method has served me well. Here are a few things I consider when making my list: 1) What situations will you be facing? - When I go to a conference, I often think about how formal the event is, will there be a dinner afterwards, or will people want to explore nightlife. If I am going home to visit my parents, I think about if I will be going to the beach, or will I go out with friends. With foreign travel, I often consider if I will be visiting churches and need to have my shoulders and knees covered, or if the culture is more casual or elegant. When I think about all the different situations I could be facing, I pack accordingly. Yes, you may be tempted to pack that pair of wedges you just bought that you have been dying to wear, but will you really enter a situation where they will be necessary? Stick to packing for events that you know you will be facing. 2) What will the weather be like? - I check the weather channel and the weather app on my phone for the week leading up to a trip to make sure I know what the weather will be like. I also check online resources that give reports about the average temperature and climate pattern of the cities I will be visiting. When I am familiar with what the weather will be like, I am less likely to pack items "just in case" that can take up a lot of extra room in the suitcase. 3) What can you count on being provided? - When I travel for my research I usually know that the hotels I will be staying in will have shampoo, conditioner, or a hairdryer, and if the room does not include these things, you can ask at the front desk and they typically have items you can borrow. For example, on my honeymoon we forgot to pack toothpaste, but we called room service and they brought us a tube from the front desk. Same goes for traveling to visit family. I can always count on my sister having a hair straightener, so I never bother to pack one. If you know you are going somewhere that will provide some things you might be tempted to pack, save the room in your suitcase, unless you are really attached to the item, like a specific hair spray or curling iron. 4) What is easier to just buy when you get there? - When traveling abroad, I have learned that with minimal room in a suitcase and strict weight requirements, a lot of the time it is just easier to buy toiletries when you get there. Shampoo/conditioner/body wash are easily accessible in most European countries or tropical destinations. You may even want to try something new, like a special argan oil soap you can buy in a market in Morocco. There are some items that are a lot harder to find in different countries, like sunscreen with an spf above 4 (which is essential for someone with fair skin like me). If I know an item I really need will be difficult to find in that country, I pack it. When I feel ready to sit down and pack, I create a list of every item I could need on the trip, making sure to write amounts, like how many pairs of underwear I will need. That way I am not tempted to throw a bunch of unnecessary items in my suitcase. As I place the item in my suitcase, I check it off my list, not before, not after. That way as I am seeing the item actually go in the suitcase and I don't just think I put it in. When I am finished if my suitcase seems really heavy and I am afraid of going overweight, I revise my list and take items out accordingly. So here are my tips for packing only what you need and making sure the items actually make it in your suitcase. As I am packing for my upcoming trip to Italy I will keep everyone posted about my checklist and essential items for my trip.

What do I actually do?

So I have been in grad school for 6 years now, and I still get asked a lot about what I actually study and what I plan to do with a PhD in Italian. I thought today I would better try to explain my research and what I do as both a student and teacher. 1. No, I do not plan on being a translator/interpreter. I actually get asked this a lot. The thing is, interpreting is REALLY hard! You have to get special certification, as well as degrees to become an interpreter. It takes a lot of time and you have to feel super comfortable with the language to translate so quickly. I also have no interest in this field. I have done some document translation, which isn't as difficult as interpreting, and still pays pretty nicely, but again, not really my thing. 2. I do plan on continuing to teach college level Italian. I went into grad school in Italian because it seemed like the easiest and most cost effective way to get back to Italy, but through my coursework and having to be a Teaching Assistant for my stipend, I found that I really do enjoy teaching. I actually enjoy teaching a lot more than researching. This fall I will be teaching a lot of beginning Italian, which is fun because students are usually really excited to learn at that level. Unlike Spanish or French, which a lot of students feel forced to continue in college because they took it in high school and just want to get credits out of the way, most students who take Italian have made a conscious choice to learn the language because they either want to travel in Italy, have Italian heritage, or love Italian food/fashion/art. Students having a real interest in the subject makes my job a lot easier. Do I want to teach only Italian language, no. I am hoping as I move along in my career I will be able to teach more electives, such as film and literature courses, and I hope to maybe one day write a textbook. 3. Technically my degree is in Romance Languages and Literatures, not Italian. The majority of my coursework while in grad school has been literature based, something I also didn't really know before entering grad school. I have always enjoyed reading, but there is a lot of Italian literature I actually do not enjoy, such as Petrarch, anything from the Renaissance, and most poetry. I do not research pedagogy or teaching methods. Although I love teaching, I have to do research in literature/film to finish my PhD, as well as stay current in my field. I also plan on using the research for my dissertation to design a course in the future. 4. My dissertation is all about one man, is pretty depressing, and not what I ever thought I would write a book about. My MA thesis was about this super famous movie from 2008 called Gomorra (it's on Netflix instant play if you feel the need to watch it)that depicts the Neapolitan mafia, La Camorra. I felt drawn to write about this movie because 1) I have had an interest in Italian politics (and corruption) since I studied abroad in Perugia and took a course on the modern political history of Italy with the amazing Peter Fisher. 2) The movie had won a bunch of awards and was the Italian submission for the Oscar that year. 3) No one else had really written about it at that point. I had not planned on working with film in grad school, and now I am kind of a film specialist. I originally wanted to write about Italian prime ministers and corruption for my Dissertation, but now I am writing about one Italian Prime Minister in particular, Aldo Moro, who was kidnapped and killed by terrorists in the 1970s. So my dissertation, in a nutshell, is about every movie ever made about this man and how his image has changed in the 35 years since he was killed. Not light reading material, but Aldo and I have become good friends. So as a PhD student in Romance Languages and Literatures, I teach a lot of college students beginning/intermediate level Italian language, I work on writing a dissertation about an assassinated Prime Minister, and I hope to one day combine these two things and teach a course on Italian politics or Italian film to college students. My life and job in a nutshell.

I'm back!!!

It has been three years since I last posted in this blog. Since May of 2011 I have gotten engaged, married, adopted a puppy, and defended my prospectus for my dissertation. There have been a lot of changes in my life, but the biggest one of all is that after 6 years (on and off)of living in Chapel Hill, NC working on my PhD, Andy and I are moving back to Charleston, SC where I will begin teaching at my alma mater, College of Charleston. We are in the process of closing on our first home and trying to organize our last move hopefully for a while. I thought it was an opportune time to bring back my blog so people can keep up with what is going on in our lives, and I can tell people about my upcoming travels. In less than a month I am headed back to Italy for the first time since I left Florence in May 2011, and I am ecstatic. I received a grant from the American Association of Teachers of Italian to study at Babilonia Language School in Taormina, Sicly for two weeks, and I am also going to spend some time in Milan, Florence, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast. Most of these places I have never been, so I should have lots of stories, and hopefully some travel trips to share about these regions of Italy. So stay tuned as I post about my trip preparations, my search for a carry-on suitcase that meets the requirements for both RyanAir and EasyJet, trying to pack for three weeks in the previously mentioned carry-on, and Andy and I moving all of our belongings and decorating our new place. A presto, Kate

Let's Hope I'm Never Hurt In Portugal

School ended over a week ago now. I spent the first five days after exams finishing calculating grades and going to places in Florence I still hadn't been, like the Boboli gardens and an exhibit of Picasso, Dalí and Miro. I knew I didn't want to spend the rest of my time in Italy just sitting in Florence alone, especially now that the Jersey Shore has invaded, so I met up with my friend Allie in Spain and we spent 5 days in Portugal. Everyone keeps asking me if I went to Lisboa or Faro, but no, we went to the thriving metropolis of Vila Real de Santo Antonio, the first town across the border from Spain. Though small with not much to do, the town is cute and has some awesome beaches. Allie and I spent most of our time lounging around, reading, watching horrible television like MTV's "Moving In" and getting tan on the beach. There were some highlights to the trip though. One I would consider to be when Allie and I walked from our town to the next town over, Monte Gordo and went to an ice cream buffet, where they weigh your ice cream and charge you by the weight in grams. Somehow my ice cream, which I found similar in size to Allie's, cost 7.82 euro (about 12 US dollars) and I somehow managed to pick the worst flavor of ice cream ever, zuppa (do not even try it). I was satisfied afterwards though when we went to a cafe where beer was only a euro. That same day José and Megan arrived from Spain and we all went out to an Indian restaurant for dinner. The food was good, but we had the weirdest waiter with a terrible sense of humor. After dinner we went for drinks at a bar close to the beach, where we witnessed the most terrifying car accident I have ever seen. A drunk driver without his lights on hit a horse and carriage, the driver of the carriage flew in the air and landed on the sidewalk, the horse ran away, the car hit two more pedestrians, then hit a tree. Then the driver tried to run away, but was caught. What was even more horrible, beside the accident, was the fact that the ambulances and police took more than ten minutes to show up, then did not leave until an hour later. We were stuck at the bar watching this spectacle that had literally happened right in front of us, extremely grateful that we had not been hurt, especially in Portugal. We were amazed at how slow everything was, and wondering why it wasn't like in the US when an ambulance shows up quickly and immediately takes the victim to the hospital. I hope everyone involved is alright and still living.
The day after witnessing the terrible accident, we spent the day recuperating at the beach and eating delicious seafood. Then José drove us all back to Spain, and me straight to the airport. It was a lovely trip, very relaxing, and a great way to spend my last few days in Europe. I just hope that if I ever go back to Portugal that I am not involved in any accident.

Sicily: Beautiful Beaches and Dark Alley Parties

For a while now I have had a desire to go to Sicily. I have read so much about the island for school and seen so many amazing movies that take place there that it was definitely on my list of places in Italy to see this time around in Italy. I have been waiting for beautiful weather so that I could go to Sicily and its beaches. This past week my friend Megan flew to Italy to go with me to Palermo, Sicily's capital. We left Florence Thursday night and arrived in the center of Palermo after 10 at night, so we had no idea what the city really looked like. We arrived at our hostel directly behind the beautiful Teatro Massimo and were greeted with free wine and an invite to go out to where the young people of Palermo hang out. We said why not, left our bags in our room and headed out for quite the adventure. Now, at this point I had no idea where we were in Palermo, and even after spending three days there, I still can't tell you where in Palermo I was Thursday night. All I know is somehow we ended up in a dark alley packed with real Italians, with a little shop that sold bottles of beer the size of a bottle of wine for 2 euro. Megan and I had a lot of fun meeting Italians, as well as frenchies, spaniards, and australians. One of our more interesting encounters was with a man I will refer to as "Gene Baby". Back at UNC there is a guy in our department who goes by this name, and the guy we met in Palermo could be his twin in looks and voice (somewhat creepy actually). Well Gene Baby had actually lived in Raleigh for a while, but has been traveling the world since 2009. He chatted with us for a long time and treated us to some free drinks. He and I also tried what I think is Sicilian moonshine that was just labeled "Sangue: vino liquoroso". This moonshine was god awful, but the Italians were drinking it like it was going out of style. This party in an alley reminded me a lot of my time in Perugia and hanging out on the steps of the duomo and meeting all sorts of new and interesting people. We went home in the wee hours of the morning, perfectly satisfied with what Palermo's night life had to offer.
The next day Megan and I tackled the majority of Palermo's notable sites. We started our day at the Palazzo normani, after getting a bit lost, since nothing is labeled in Palermo. The Palazzo is absolutely amazing, and if you ever get the chance to go to Palermo it is not to be missed. Sicily has had lots of different groups ruling it during its history, but way back in the day the Normans from France came and kicked the Arabs out. At the palazzo there is a chapel built commissioned during this time with beautiful mosaics everywhere of saints and the major biblical stories. You can also see the major apartments of the palace where the Sicilian parliament used to meet. After admiring the palace, we went to San Giovanni degli eremiti, an old monastery that you can walk through with some nice gardens. After this we ate lunch, where we tried our first real Sicilian "cannoli". Let me tell you, they are way better in Sicily. These were amazing, and the waiter told us it is because they were handmade with fresh ricotta and just a small amount of sugar. After the culinary experience, we went to about 5 more churches, all quite impressive in their own right, and we saw the angolo dei quattro canti, as well as the fontana pretoria, one of the strangest fountains I have ever seen. After a day filled with site-seeing, Megan and I went out and had delicious pizza followed by drinks in an Italian kareoke bar (hilarious).
The following day we spent relaxing at one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to, Mondello, about 30 minutes from Palermo. Imagine caribbean blue water surrounded by mountains, as well as delicious gelato, and you've got my idea of paradise. Megan and I stayed at the beach for hours, with the spotty sunburns (one line on my stomach and the back of my knees and Megan's ankles), relaxing and people watching. Of course there was a plethora of Italian men in speedos, but also an obscene amount of couples making out all over the beach. Even though it was sometimes uncomfortable, such as the baby-oiled couple by us that were practically making babies, the day at the beach was perfection. Too bad afterwards we had to wait for a bus for an hour, then ride on one of the most crowded busses ever back to Palermo because of the soccer game. The beach day was the perfect end to our vacation in Sicily.
Now I'm back in Florence after hours of busses, planes, and trains, trying to prepare for the last two weeks I have in Italy. Totally looking forward to my last trip, a beach vacation in Portugal with Allie!

Lucia Was Right!

Last year, when I had my interview to determine if I was going to Italy or not, right after the committee had finished, and I was walking out of the room, a professor in the Spanish dept., who just happens to be Italian, Lucia Binotti, asked me out of the blue how tall I was. I thought this was a strange question to ask, since it had absolutely nothing to do with the interview. I told her I was 5 ft. 10 and she said "well, while you're in Italy, you better not go to Sardegna, you will totally stick out". I asked why, and Prof. Luisetti, one of my Italian professors said "that is very true, they are very short there, you will be taller than everyone". Then my interview was finished and I kind of forgot about the whole thing.
This past weekend I actually went to Alghero, a beautiful city in Sardegna. I had found some ridiculously cheap flight on Ryanair and was going all alone to have a beach weekend. Well of course the day I arrived it was pouring down rain and quite cold. I managed to meet the friendliest girl from South Africa named Polly at the airport who decided to be my guide of Alghero. She had been living there for a few months, but during the winter while there is nothing to do. Since it was raining, Polly took me on a tour of Alghero's many "chinos" (what Spanish people call stores run by Asians). She also took me to a delicious pizza al taglio shop and through the historic center. We decided to meet up and cook dinner together at her place that night, then she was going to show me Alghero's nightlife. I had not been expecting to go out at all, because I was staying in an apartment all alone, a weekend of relaxation, but I was super excited to not be alone the whole time. We ate a yummy dinner of chicken, rucola and pasta, then went out to the sea to see what was going on. The first bar we went to was super crowded, but right away I thought of Lucia's warning. In my very flat pink sparkle TOMS, I was at least 3-4 inches taller than everyone in the place. The men (and women) were all midgets. Polly and I managed to find the only people in the bar that were not dark-haired, tan midgets, 2 girls from Germany named Nina and Gina. They had been in Alghero for almost a week, and like me had decided to come just because they found a cheap flight. The German girls accompanied us to an Irish pub afterwards, where of course some creepy Italians kept trying to talk to us. I surprised the Italians though with my actual ability to speak the language, and had a group of middle-aged men all trying to tell me to move to Alghero. Afterwards, we moved on to what Polly called a "club" that was on the sea. We went inside and noone was dancing, so we formed our own dance party to the awful techno music, and soon after were joined by a man who was at least 60, and a crowd of midgets all watching us. Eventually some got up the nerve to actually talk to us, and Polly and I did some translation work. I was the only one who would actually be friendly though, and ended up playing messenger between Italian men and my new friends. Great practice for my Italian, and I even had someone (who must have been drunk, seeing as I am very tall) ask me if I was from Sardegna. I had such a fun time, and made plans the next day to meet up with the girls for breakfast.
The next day I woke up to a beautiful sunshiney day, ready to really explore Alghero. I took a walk all around the port and the bastione, admiring the beautiful crystal clear water. As I sat on a wall enjoying the sea breeze, I had a creeper come up to me and ask me if I was Italian. I told him I was American, and he said that he wanted to tell me that I was very "robust". I'm not sure if it was meant to be a compliment or not, but I thanked him anyway, and then he proceeded to tell me the whole history of Alghero, then try to follow me on my walk. I managed to ditch him, then met up with my new friends. We ate at a cafe on the sea, then went to the beach to enjoy the sun. The day would have been perfect if it had not been aso windy close to the water, but I was happy that I actually got to soak in some sunshine. That evening we cooked another delicious dinner, including Sardinian bread and some fesh ravioli with ricotta, spinach, and saffron. AMAZING! We went out looking to see if anything was going on, but all ended up going home after finding almost everything closed. I really enjoyed hanging out with the girls though, and had a much better time in Sardegna than I was expecting.
The only real hiccup in my trip was the fact that I had to catch a bus at 6 AM to make my flight to the airport, which I slept through. I had to rush and call a taxi, made it to the airport a little after 7, had no money to pay the taxi, so I had to quick find a bancomat in the airport while he waited. I was then told I may be sent back to the US because I didn't have a visa, told them my whole story of being robbed, made it through security being searched 3 times, then finally boarded my plane. Beisdes being afraid that I was going to be stuck in Sardegna if I missed my flight, overall the weekend was fantastic and I hope I get to go to Alghero again in a future trip to Italy.

MTV ITALIA TRL Awards: A Night of Utter Confusion

I was very excited because Florence was chosen to host this year's TRL Big in Italy Awards. The concert was absolutely free, in the middle of Piazza Santa Croce, right by my apartment, so I was so going. I mean, how could I miss seeing such Italian greats as Marracash and Modà, as well as some apparently popular English speaking artists, such as Mads Langer and Alexis Jordan? I went after class yesterday to scope out the scene, which was already somewhat crowded at 5:45, and decided to go home, eat, and drop off my junk before I situated myself in a perfect viewing place for the show. I ended up meeting up with my student and fellow CofC Phi Mu, Kristen and her friends and we braved the crowds to secure our spot. At first the crowd wasn't as horrible as I thought it was going to be, but my new friend Lauren decided that she wanted to get closer to the stage, so we turned into Italians and pushed our way closer (see my post on "la fila"). All the teenage Italians around us decided they were going to push their way forward too, and we joined this clump of confusion, where we were pushed in every direction and had to "backbutt" (if such a term exists) to stop people from holding onto our backs trying to push themselves closer. Besides almost falling backwards multiple times, having my feet stepped on, and being afraid this girl was going to put her cigarette out on me, I guess the concert was cool. It was actually really hard to hear what was going on, especially because all the teenage boys around us where shouting "dai cazzo" imitating the hosts (the people from the stupidest show ever, I soliti idioti) and telling Marco Carta to go..., well you understand. I was very excited to get to see some of my favorite Italian acts, Marracash, Zero Assoluto, Nathalie, etc. I even got to see Montolivo, one of the players from Fiorentina, present an award. Did we stay for the whole show? No, instead, after 2 hours of being pushed by the mobs and fearing for our lives, we made a chain of linked hands and shuffled our way to the Scottish Pub to decompress. MTV, for future reference, you may want to control the crowds a bit, but I mean, what am I saying, these are Italians we are talking about, and they really don't know how to organize, so I just know for next time I'd probably have a better view, and a better time, watching from the comfort of my home.

A San Gimignantastic end to a Cinque Terrific Week!

The past week or so has been quite interesting for me. Pretty much a lot of great weather, good times, and fantastic news. Here are the highlights:
1)I'll start my story a week ago Saturday when my friends and I took a trip to Cinque Terre to hike and have a picnic. Well, when we arrived, the main trails were all closed due to rock slides, but thank goodness it was a bright sunny day and we were able to have a beach day. Imagine laying on a very picturesque beach, staring at the Mediterranean, drinking wine and eating pasta. Couldn't be more enjoyable. While at the beach we even had entertainment in the form of some of the dumbest study abroad students I have ever encountered. These 4 kids come clambering down the beach, one in an American flag swimsuit looking very much like Tom Cruise circa 1982, one in leggings and a bikini top (?), one straight from Jersey Shore, and the other one of the drunkest fools ever, who managed to fall twice, take all of his clothes off, and almost go around the beach totally naked. We watched in horror as these kids, including the drunkard, began climbing a giant rock and almost dying. Then we watched as the drunkard somehow made it off of the rock, but proceeded to fall face down in the sand and not get up. His "friends" walk right by him and come up to us, assuming we speak English like them. The Tom Cruise clone asks us where we are from 3 times, and we started teasing the girl about how much we all love going to clubs in Florence (lie). Here is the best excerpt from the conversation:
Us: "Where do you live in Florence?"
Tom Cruise: "I live in Bangladesh. Take a left at India, then find the Italian zip code."
Us:"Ummmm"
Tom Cruise (interrupting): "Let's just cut to the chase. Do you guys have pot?"
Us: "No! Why do you think that?"
Tom Cruise: "We just assumed since you had pretzels you would have pot."
2) Out of the blue, the director of my school comes up to me on Tuesday, asks me to translate a contract into English, then hands me a 100 euro bill. This, on top of getting my pay check, plus being paid for English lessons, made my week even better.
3) The three nice girls from Old Dominion University that I met in Dublin and who had given me their Dublin Pass messaged me to tell me they were in Florence, so I got to meet up with them and show them a good time in Italy. I took them to my new favorite spot in Florence, Kitsch, for a real Italian apperitivo, which I think they really enjoyed.
4) I got a second summer job in Chapel Hill for an Italian family. I will be watching a 3 year-old Italian boy and must only speak Italian to him. Pretty much my dream summer job!
5) I met a prospective PhD student at UNC in Florence who was super nice and cool, and we had a delicious lunch on Friday, where I think I did a pretty good job convincing her to come to UNC instead of another big University in the frozen North. It is always nice to meet fellow Italian lovers, especially ones who a) studied in Perugia like me b) have a similar apathetic feeling for the city of Florence and c) write on something that isn't Dante/the Renaissance. She even showed me where to get a cheap manicure in Florence, which was great for my chalk destroyed hands.
6) Saturday I went to San Gimignano, pretty much my new favorite place in Italy. It reminds me so much of Perugia and Assisi, which may be why I liked it so much, but the day we had there was beautiful, and the city is incredibly charming. The only downside was that, since we were in Italy, the busses didn't come on time, so we had to wait for a bus to stupid Poggibonsi for two hours, during which my friend Katie and I got separated from our friend Jen, then had to wait for her in Poggibonsi for another hour until her bus arrived. Even though we had a lot of travel issues though, I will definitely go back to San Gimignano again.
I love weeks like this when there are so many things happening and so much fun to be had! I can't wait for this Thursday when all of my Spaniards arrive so the fun can continue!

The Luck of the Irish Keeps Shining On Me!

The last 10 or 11 days I have been on Spring Break. Why so long you ask? Well, I normally don't have school on Fridays here, and St. Patrick's Day was actually the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification, so we got off of school for that as well. Instead of taking one giant vacation all over Europe like I did last semester, I have been taking short 3-4 day trips this semester. For about 4-5 days of this long break, I decided to take my first solo adventure out of Italy and went to Dublin, Ireland. I figured, if I had any problems, like getting mugged again, or getting so lost I can't find my way back to my hostel, I at least spoke the language in the country.
My trip began at 2:30 in the morning on Tuesday when I had to wake up to trek to the train station to catch the only bus that takes you to Pisa for early morning flights. Then, I had a relatively hassle free check-in with Ryan Air (you never know how things are going to work with them) and a lovely sleepy coma of a flight. I easily found my way from the airport, to the bus, to my hostel, then went on a free walking tour of the city. I learned all about Ireland's long rebellious history, as well as a lot of facts about vikings and the gaelic language, and I met some interesting people, including the most gorgeous rugby player from Cambridge who had broken his eye socket in a game against Trinity College. After a lovely lunch of fish and chips with above mentioned rugby player, I ventured to the archaeology museum of Ireland that my tour guide had told me was a must-see. Tots not. The only cool thing, beyond the copious amount of hammered gold jewelry, were the "bog men" (mummified humans found in various bogs by Irish farmers). Upon my return to my hostel, I was fortunate enough to meet a group of great girls from Virginia who were studying in England who invited me to join them for dinner and drinks at a pub. There I enjoyed my first Irish Guinness as well as another meal of fried food. The girls were also nice enough to leave me their Dublin Pass, which got me free entrance into pretty much every tourist site in Dublin the next day.
Day 2 was spent trying to cram as many free things in as I could. I started the day at the Guinness Storehouse, which is AMAZING! Imagine seven stories of interactive Guinness history. I learned about every step in the brewing process, the different advertising campaigns, which types of Guinness they sell in different countries, etc. Then, to top it all off, every visitor gets a free pint of Guinness in the gravity bar on the 7th floor, which is a glass walled room that provides excellent views of Dublin. To continue my day of early drinking, I next moved on to the Jameson Distillery, where I went on another tour of the brewing process, this time led by the most adorable Irish lad named Andy (though I wish he had been my Andy). I also was lucky enough to be chosen as a volunteer in the whiskey test. Me and 7 other guests got to learn the proper way to taste Jameson Irish whiskey, then compare it to Johnny Walker Black Scotch whiskey and Jack Daniel's Kentucky Bourbon whiskey. I now have a certificate saying that I am a qualified Irish Whiskey taster, which I will promptly frame on my return to the US. After enjoying my free glass of Jameson and "ginger beer", I trudged on to try to find a jail that you can tour that everyone told me was a must see. Well, this jail was really, really far, and I totally got lost,and somehow ended up at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. I though, well cool, I enjoy a lot of modern art, I'll go in, it's free. If you ever have a chance to go to Dublin, I do not recommend this museum. There was only 1 decent exhibit, and the museum is on the far edge of town. SPend your time drinking in a oub instead. After the IMMA, I moved on to the Dublin Zoo. This was another far trek, over t Phoenix Park, the largest park in Europe, but I was determined to do everything I could on this free Dublin Pass. I got to the zoo an hour before closing, so I pretty much ran through it, trying to take in as many animals as I could. Problem was, since it was night time, many of the animals were feeding, so I missed a few exhibits. Anyhow, after the zoo was closing on me, I finally went home and chilled in my hostel, eating cadbury cream eggs (yum!) and reading some British book about "yummy mummies" I bought for 3 euro.
Day 3 I decided to leave Dublin for a bit and took a bus tour to Malahide castle and the northern coast of Dublin bay. I was the youngest person on the tour by at least 20 years, but I still enjoyed myself. The castle was very pretty, and the grounds were even more beautiful. The bus guide, Decklin,was hilarious and kept singing Irish drinking songs. After the castle we drove all along the coast, while Decklin pointed out all the famous Irish people's homes. We made a quick stop in the town of Hougth, which I wish I had had more time to investigate, then we drove back into Dublin. I then spent the rest of my afternoon shopping, and found my new favorite store "Penney's" (not to be confused with J.C. Penney's). Upon return to my hostel, I had 5 new roommates, all from SC, one a CofC student, and two who were friends with this boy I tutored for 3 years. Small world! I then left to do something totally nerdy, a literary pub crawl of Dublin. I figured I couldn't stay in Dublin and not explore the pub scene. This way I would meet other nerds like me, learn a bit of history, and drink some more Guinness. The pub crawl was fantastic and probably one of the best things to do in Dublin. Two actors take you around the city, stopping at various pubs and sites throughout the city, stopping to act out various scenes from Irish literature and telling you interesting tid-bits about Dublin's literary elite. On the tour I met some awesome people, including a group of 4 Irish "physiotherapists" who took me under their wing and made me a part of their group for the evening. I taught them what a "hipster" was, and they explained to me that "craic" is not Nachos like Kildare's pub in Chapel Hill says, but really the word for "fun". I also met 3 other people who were traveling on their own in Dublin: Gianluca, a swiss poker player, Tim, a Canadian city planning masters student, and a boy studying in a village of 500 people an hour north of Venice. We made ourselves the loner table and got some disgusting late night food after our crawl.
Day 4 was just spent shopping for souvenirs and making my pilgrimage to "The Queen of Tarts", a cafe every guide book I had read said was a must-eat in Dublin (so true!). Then I caught the bus back to the airport, the plane back to Bologna, then a train back to Florence.
I had a great time on my first solo Euro adventure, and was truly lucky to meet really nice people, have a nice, clean, safe hostel, and have sunshine and somewhat warm weather the entire time I was there (miracle of all miracles, no rain in Ireland!). I now feel comfortable enough to travel solo again, and am trying to plan one more big adventure before I head back to USA.

An Explanation of an Italian Phenomenon: La fila

Okay, so I know Italians and Americans are very different. Americans are orderly, hard working, and enjoy personal space. Italians are a disorganized, lazy, and can't unclasp hands for even a second to let you by on your bike. I have totally gotten used to how Italians work during my time in Italy. I actually appreciate how less stressed they are than Americans and how much they enjoy life. Even though I try to pretend I'm Italian and speak to tourists in Italian so they won't know I'm an American, there is one thing I will never accept and never be able to implement in my life: not being able to wait in a line.
Italians are incapable of waiting in a line. It's just a fact of life. If you want a perfect example, watch Bruno Bozzetto's youtube video about the difference between Italians and everyone else in the EU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHWBL9_alKs. My patience with the forming of "file" has been tested a lot lately. For example, when Megan, Matteo and I were in Viareggio for Carnevale, we spent almost 45 minutes trying to buy a train ticket home because instead of forming a line and groups buying their tickets as a group, the Italians just formed one big clump, cut people in line, and every single person bought their own ticket, even if there were 10 of them in a group. The worst I have experienced in a while was this past week when I tried to see Roberto Saviano, the author of Gomorra, the book that the movie I wrote my thesis on was based.
Saviano has recently published a new book based on this TV special that he and Fabio Fazzi hosted this past fall called Vieni via con me. When I was on my way home from the train station one day I saw the book and went in and bought it the next day. The woman at the Feltrinelli told me that Saviano was actually going to be giving a short presentation at the store on Wednesday, and I about wet my pants in nerdy excitement. I prepared myself to meet Saviano, who I just think is too cool for words, since he pretty much outed the workings of the Camorra and is now in the Italian version of the witness protection program. The woman told me to get to the bookstore early, so I counted down the days until I would get to meet the man in person.
Wednesday came and there were a few things not in my favor: 1) My landlord was coming by to pick up the rent that evening at 7:30, and the talk was at 9 2) Florence was all abuzz for "notte tricolore" the special events going on all night in honor of Italy's 150th anniversary as a unified country. So I made it to the Feltrinelli by 8 that night, and much to my horror, there were police everywhere and about a crowd of 2000 people already at the bookstore. I thought there still might be hope, so I joined the fila and waited patiently to see if I would make it inside the store. At 9, the talk still hadn't started, the line had not moved, and I was getting restless. I was not giving up on seeing Saviano though. So when the line finally started moving, I realized there was no way I was getting in the store. I did actually make it into a baracaded area with a jumbo screen where the talk was televised for all of us schmucks that didn't get there at 5 AM (when some woman told me people had started arriving). I stood outside in the cold with about 500 other Italians they let into the small space and enjoyed listening to Saviano's message about why life is worth living. After the talk, we were told that if we waited in line, we would be able to go inside and get Saviano's autograph. I pushed my way to the front of the clump, book in hand, and patiently waited for the next 3.5 hours.
If this had been an American event, there would have been people with little clicky-counters, and when one person left the bookstore, one person in line could go in. Since we were in Italy though, the guards had no idea how many people they had actually let in, and decided to let all the peopl inside get out, then let us in. Since the people inside where Italians, they took their sweet time, perusing the store for hours after they had actually met Saviano, and no one made them leave. I watched one man seriously pick up almost every book in the store, and not buy anything! After waiting forever, and people starting chants and the clump pushing in tighter and tighter, Saviano came out for 1 minute, waived, and then the guards told us all to leave. I was so incredibly frustrated and just huffed off. It just confirmed my stereotype that Italians cannot organize an event that goes smoothly to save their lives. I will say, I am lucky that I even got to see Saviano, if only from a distance, but for once I wish Italians could just form a line and do things in an orderly fashion.

3 weeks+3 adventures= behind in blog posts

Ciao a tutti!

So after reading my friend Allie's blog today about how she had gotten behind, I realized I really need to update. Here's what's been going on in my life for the past few weeks:

1) My family's visit- My parents and my little sister Claire came to visit me for a week to celebrate my birthday with me. It was wonderful to finally have something to distract me from the boredom/constant rain and cold that had been most of February. Also, when they came they brought the sunshine with them and we even got some weather in the 60s, which was fabulous! Anyhow, our first stop was Rome, where we visited the vatican museums, St. Peter's, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, etc. The two highlights of Rome would have to be when we walked into St. Peter's and mass was going on, so my family got to participate, and when we went to the tombs of the popes the next day and walked in on Pope Benedict's Sunday address, so we got to listen to him speak. AMAZING! After Rome we returned to Florence, and my family explored the city, as well as went to Lucca and Pisa while I worked. Then we went to Assisi together, then spent my birthday wine tasting in Chianti. The week was way too short and I hated to see them leave, but thank goodness, I had more visitors the following week.

2) Matteo and Megan's visit- Less than a week after my family left, my friends from UNC, Matteo and Megan came to visit. Having my good friends around was definitely something I had been needing. We drank Lambrusco, in true ROML style, explored Florence, and ate lots of delicious Italian food, including the meals we made ourselves. The coolest thing that happened during Matt and Megan's visit was our trip to Lucca and Viareggio for Carnevale. I had been to Carnevale in Venice when I studied abroad, which is a huge deal in Italy, but Viareggio's was a million times better. Imagine the biggest parade floats you have ever seen, all with political undertones, and thousands of Italians dressed up in costumes like it is Halloween, all on the beach. A truly awesome experience, one I recommend to anyone who is ever in Italy for Carnevale. Hopefully Megan, Matteo, and the mysterious Rambo can make a trip to Italy again before they return to the US.

3) Morocco Foodies Weekend- The day after Matteo and Megan left, I hopped a plane with my friend Jen for Snow or Sand's Morocco Foodies Weekend. We went to Marrakech for 3 days to learn how to cook Moroccan cuisine, as well as stuff ourselves silly with tagine. We bargained our way through the souks multiple times, met snake charmers, rode camels, and hiked through the Atlas mountains. Some highlights from the trip were: a) the actual cooking lesson, where we learned how to make lemon chicken tagine, Moroccan salad, and mint tea b) when Jen and I got a private tour of our riad from the owner, a half French-half British businessman who said he just needed 6 million euro to make all his dreams come true c) eating lunch at the home of a local family in a Berber village in the Atlas mountains d) meandering through the beautiful and colorful Majorelle gardens and e) our trip to the herbalist where we learned about Moroccan home remedies, such as Argan oil. I did not want to leave Morocco and can't wait to go back some day.

So if I haven't posted in a while, now you know how busy I've been. Look forward to me posting again after my spring break trip to Dublin next week. Also, a shout-out to my wonderful boyfriend Andy, who I met a year ago today and have been with ever since. Love you!

Perugia Ponderings

This past weekend I went to Perugia with a few friends to celebrate my friend Charlie's birthday, as well as the rest of my friends who have February birthdays (and me). Being back in the city where I studied abroad is always a bit bittersweet for me. I have now been back to Perugia 3 times since Spring 2007 and every time I have a feeling of extreme happiness to be back in the place where I truly fell in love with Italy and made the decision to make a career out of Italian studies. It is also kind of weird though because none of my friends that I was originally there with are with me, so when I go with people who have never been to the city, I want them to be just as excited as I am, which is pretty hard to be. Anyhow, this time I was lucky enough to go with a fellow Umbra Institute Alum. My friend Charlie studied in Perugia 2 years before me and he still loves the city just as much as I do. I feel that he and I both agree it is the perfect setting for study abroad.
While in Perugia we did many of the same things that all students at Umbra do. We went and bought beers at the shady store in Piazza IV Novembre and drank on the steps. We went for a passeggiata down Corso Vanucci. We ate pizza and drank red wine, and then continued on to the awesome bars that are scattered through the center. But the city isn't exactly the same as when I was a student there. For example, after our pizza dinner (which was about a 3 hour adventure, including free prosecco and french fries, as well as birthday pie) we ventured to this bar that Charlie and I had both enjoyed going to called Il Birraio. Back in the day, Il Birraio was a pretty chill bar, dark, with low wooden tables and large cushions to sit on. The menu was in Italian, with horrible English translations, and there was a giant stuffed camel in a corner. Well folks, Il Birraio has now been updated and is probably one of the more trendier bars I have ever been too. The walls are painted a stark white, and there are a lot of blue accents and lighting. There was a spotlight on one wall where the shadows of a mobile reflected people who looked like figures from Dia de los muertos. Super trendy and uber crowded! It was still cool going there, but definitely not the same as when I went for my 21st birthday celebration and ordered a "southorn coumfert" off the menu.
Being in Perugia also brought up the topic that most people currently associate with the city, the Amanda Knox trial. I have found out recently, through my reading of Perez Hilton and many messages from my friends, that there is going to be a Lifetime movie about the murder trial starring Hayden Panettiere. My opinion on this movie: bad idea all around. First of all, Amanda Knox is still trying to appeal her case, even though she has been sentenced to 26 years in Italian prison. Even though the Italian media is trying to prevent this movie being shown in Italy, Italians have the internet and will be able to get access. Italians are heavily influenced by media portrayals, Berlusconi being the perfect example. So this movie could have an effect on the trial. Also, poor Meredith Kirchner's family. I mean, I have seen stills from the movie online and they reenact her entire murder. That is just awful! My last complaint is that the movie will probably put Perugia in a bad light again. Perugia is a safe city, as well as beautiful and friendly. There is a large student population, since it is Italy's closest thing to a college town, so of course there is going to be drinking and drugs, but it is definitely not out of hand. I would still recommend Perugia over studying abroad in Florence any day. I mean, I have been mugged in Florence, which is supposed to be one of the safest cities in Italy. So I hope Americans do not get the impression that Perugia is some shady, low-life town, because it is far from that.
So these are many of the thoughts that have been going through my mind since my trip to Perugia. The weekend was a ton of fun, and I got to visit the new buildings of the Umbra Institute, walk by my old apartment, and eat pizza at Quattro Passi. I will always have fond memories of the city and will continue to think of as the perfect study abroad destination.

All she wants to do is dance

For the past week or so I've been in a real funk. I've attributed it to a lot of things, such as living all alone, having been mugged, and being on a new type of medicine/vitamin. I have been a crying mess most days, dreading coming home from school to my empty apartment with nothing to do. People have been giving me lots of suggestions, such as reading new books, going out to eat, watching movies, etc. Nothing had been able to lift my mood though, and I was starting to get desperate. I'm normally a very happy, outgoing person and do not enjoy feeling like a total loser. After having burst into tears in front of my boyfriend, mom, and landlord, I figured I needed to do something fast. Well I have found my new mood-lifter in Florence, and it is Dance Aerobica.
I had joined a gym at the beginning of the semester to give me something to do in my free time. In the US I love to exercise, but it is a bit hard to find places to run in Florence where I won't get hit by a crazy Italian driver, and Italians aren't really as exercise conscience as we are in the US. I mean, they don't really need to be since they walk all over God's creation and eat fresh food daily. For me though, exercise is such a great stress reliever. I love organized group exercise classes because it reminds me of being back in dance class, which was a giant part of my youth. My new gym here in Florence, SWAN, is quite small, but only 5 minutes from my apartment, which is a pretty safe walk alone at night. I have taken a few classes there so far, body sculpt and kick boxing, but they haven't been my favorite. This dance aerobica is fantastic though. First, let me preface this with the fact that Italians (at least the ones that I encounter) are terrible dancers. Just imagine awkward jerking motions in a disco, eyes closed, and singing along to the music in English and getting every word wrong. I was curious to see what kind of moves the instructor would pull out. Well, much to my surprise, she said that she wanted to try to do something "funky" that night and try a new hip-hop approach. I figured this would be hilarious because what do Italians know about hip-hop, other than Fabri Fibra? The teacher ended up being fantastic though and teaching us a whole hip-hop routine that we put together at the end of class. Even better, I felt like I was high on a happy pill. I had gotten my adrenaline flowing, I was sweating, and I was proud to say I looked least ridiculous out of all the people in class. I was able to go home, skype my boyfriend, and not burst into tears upon seeing him. I sometimes forget how important dance is to me and how much I love it. I'm going to try to take every dance exercise class that SWAN offers now so I can keep this good mood going. I am going to turn into an Italian dancing queen and hopefulyy be able to dance away this black cloud that had been lurking over my head the past month.

Ladri, non di biciclette, ma di borse

I feel like I normally start these blog posts off pretty cheerfully, but today I'm a bit down in the dumps. I had a wonderful first day of school here yesterday, great batch of new students, and I actually have a student who is a Phi Mu at College of Charleston, just like I was, whom I took out for coffee. I also helped my friend Charlie with the set-up and take-down of a travel information session he was leading. After a few glasses of wine, we decided to head home, Charlie in one direction, and I off to retrieve my bike. When it is late at night in Florence I usually prefer to ride my bike home so I can make a speedy return and not run into creepers. I was riding along, about two blocks from my apartment, when I heard a car behind me. I turned my head real quickly and saw it was actually a motorino, and that it was coming right towards me, so I started riding closer to the sidewalk. I felt the motorino brush up against me and before I could even realize what was happening, the two men in helmets had my purse and were off without me even having a chance of catching up to them. I was in total shock, but horrible consequences started to enter my mind, such as "oh god, my passport was still in there" and "oh no, my keys, my wallet, my cell phone," etc. I had no way of contacting the police, so I rode over a block to my friend Charlie's place and started ringing his bell like a maniac. He ended up coming down and taking me to the nearest police station, which was of course closed, because this is Italy. There was an emergency number posted to call, and within five minutes I had 2 Carabinieri and 2 undercover policemen at my disposal. I gave them an exact report, that there were two men in black helmets, black jackets, and jeans, they rode a dark scooter that was not a Vespa, my purse was a special edition Longchamp bag with a yellow picture of the Eiffel tower on it, etc. Then they took me to the Carabinieri station, where I had to make my "denuncia" (the official report). This took me about another hour, after which I rode back home in a police car and had a very nice carabinieri check my apartment to make sure the thieves had not entered. Then I spent another few hours canceling everything over skype (since I no longer have a phone here). By then it was after 3 in the morning, I had cried my eyes out and was utterly exhausted.
This semester I am fortunate enough to have a 9 AM TR class. Normally I would not mind this, since it gives me an even longer weekend than my 3-day weekends here. Today it was very difficult to get ready for this class, but I had to go, since it was the first day. After class was over I told my coordinators here what had happened the night before to see if I could get out of tutoring and go to the American consulate here in Florence. They of course let me go, especially since the consulate of course is only open from 9-12:30. I hoofed my way over to the building, which was quite difficult since it is blocked on three of its four sides by construction. I came aimed with all of my documents, ready to get my emergency passport as the web-site had instructed me to do. Of course, being in Italy, the people actually working at the embassy told me something totally different from what the web-site said. I walk up to the policemen guarding the entrance and ask them where I go to report a stolen passport and have an emergency passport issued. The man asked me how long I would be in Italy for and I told him until the end of May. He then told me that I do not need an emergency passport because I have plenty of time to get a new one. I expressed to him that I would feel much better with an emergency passport since I have plans to travel. He told me no, that my case was not an emergency, and that I had to make an appointment, maybe next week, and file for a new passport, which would get to me in hopefully 2 or 3 weeks (which means at least a month here). Frustrated, I went back to school and made my appt. for tomorrow and am now preparing all of my documents so hopefully I have a new passport before Spring Break and can travel at least a little bit while I am still in Italy.
This is all such a humungous and costly nuisance. Even my cell phone provider here, to whom I pay daily insurance, is charging me 35 euro to replace my phone and will not give me a new phone until my new credit card comes, which will take forever because my credit card company refused to mail it to Italy. The cell phone company also told me if I do not have credit card information within a week, they will charge me another 50 euro to terminate my plan. This on top of having to pay for a new passport, pay to have items expedited here, replacing all items lost, such as my wallet and a video camera is really starting to make this day even worse. I am also quite upset over losing some personal items I highly valued, such as a coin purse my sister Claire gave me and the actually purse, which was the only souvenir I bought myself on my fall break trip. If the Carabinieri manage to find the thieves and my purse, which is never going to happen, I hope I get the chance to confront those cowards.
I could really use some cheering up and encouragement friends!

Kate

Yes, I do care that I have a "fidanzato"

Ciao again from Italia everyone!
I have been back in Italy for approximately three days and have already had a creepy Italian man experience. I had gotten really used to not being harassed as much by creepy Italians last semester since I had Andy by my side most of the time. Not that I had forgotten that Italian men are the most horny people on the planet, I had just become complacent, I guess. Anyhow, I went over to Lorenzo de'Medici today to pick up my paycheck from last month and check in at the office, but of course both were closed, being 4 in Italy. I know, I should have gotten my butt over there much earlier, but I am still recovering from jet lag, slept till almost 1 today, and didn't even make it out of my pajamas until 3. Just one of those days! So I left LdM, where I did have the pleasure of running into my old student Jordan from UNC who is now studying here in Florence. I was in quite a good mood, it being a sunny day in Florence (which were few and far between last semester), so I decided to go shopping and check out the sales. Good thing I hadn't brought any cash or cards with me, because it totally would have been hard to resist, since this time of year everything is at a minimum 50 % off for the twice yearly sales. After checking out a bunch of my favorite places, I made the trek back to my apartment. While crossing Piazza Sant'Ambrogio though, someone called out "scusa". I thought it was for someone else, so I kept walking, but I had the suspicion I was being followed. Eventually, whoever had called out scusa came up to me and asked "Sei italiana?" which means "are you Italian?". I said no, that I was American, thinking maybe the man was going to ask me for directions or something along those lines. He proceeded to say (loosely translated) "I just wanted to tell you that you are absolutely beautiful and stupendous," then looked me up and down from head to toe. I said "grazie" (because what else can you say in those kind of situations) and turned to walk away, but the man wasn't done yet. The man asked me in terrible English where I was going, if he could come with me, and if I was married. I told him I was on my way home and that I was "fidanzata". The term "fidanzato/a" means "fiance" in Italian, but is used whenever you are in a serious relationship that lasts longer than a month. I think the man actually got the hint because he said how my fidanzato was a lucky man and walked away. This incident has happened to me many times before, but I felt angry this time. Even though the guy left me alone, most times Italian guys say "oh, that's okay, you aren't married, come out with me and let me take you to my car and rape you" or something along those lines. Sometimes I just want to say back to them "what makes you think these lines are going to work?" I mean, American girls have the reputation of being easy and slutty over here (a stereotype that many of my students upheld last semester), but not all of us want to jump into bed with skeezy Italian men. While I was at home for break everyone kept asking me we I hadn't broken up with my American boyfriend for a romantic Italian man, and it's incidences like these that make me certain that I am much better off in my loving relationship with my non-creepy American boyfriend.

Disclaimer: Not all Italian men are bad, and some make very good boyfriends. The good ones are a bit hard to find though.

T'was the Nightmare Before Christmas...

I have been in Italy for 4 months and was really looking forward to seeing my family and friends in the US again. Though I hated leaving my boo in Italy, I was very much ready for my glorious return to the US. The Friday before my scheduled Monday departure Florence recieved an unprecedented amount of snow, 8 inches. This may not seem like a lot to most people, but in Italy it was enough to pretty much shut down the country. Friday was great because the snow was really festive and I didn't have to go anywhere except to turn in my grades. Andy got off work early in the market and we enjoyed watching the snow from our apartment and cooking all sorts of delicious warm food. The snow remained for the next two days and I hibernated inside, packing and cleaning and finishing my Christmas preparations. Monday morning I awoke at 3:30 to prepare myself for my taxi to the airport that I was scheduled to take at 5 AM. I had no idea that I would not arrive back in Charleston until exactly 48 hours later!
My taxi driver came right on schedule, and surprisingly the ride only took 8 minutes, even though there was still all over the rodes that this man decided to take. Guess it was just because he still didn't drive with caution, like every Italian on the roads. When I walked into the airport, I couldn't even move because there were so many people inside. Every flight out of Florence had been cancelled since Saturday because the city has no equipment to clear the snow. My flight to Frankfurt ended up being delayed until 8:30 and they wouldn't let us check in early because there were so many people checking into other flights, so I just had to stand in a clump of people in the ticketing room with my fellow travelers. Though Florence is a popular travel destination, the airportis one of the smallest I have ever been in, even smaller than the Jacksonville, NC airport! So not to my surprise the airport was a giant cluster. When we finally were allowed to check our luggage in, the airport staff alerted us that we would be boarding a bus to Pisa because Florence had to much fog for our plane to get in, so we were going to meet it instead. After the hour and a half bus ride to Pisa, we were delayed yet again, not taking off until 11 AM, when my flight was scheduled to leave Frankfurt at 11:40. So we all arrive in Germany, and pretty much everyone on the flight had missed their connections, sowe were all forced into ridiculously long lines to start the re-ticketing process. There were no flights heading back to the US for the rest of the day that weren't booked solid, but I ended up being incredibly lucky and getting the last seat available on any flight to the US for the following day, which was a relief. Then Lufthansa booked me into the hotel attached to the airport because they were trying to get as many people out of the airport as possible since it was so crowded. I spent the rest of my day watching BBC world news, where the only story they kept talking about were the horrible travel conditions in Europe and how it was hurting the economy even more. My hotel had ridiculously priced food, so I ended up eating German pretzels and drinking beer in the comfort of my hotel room, which is a lot better than a lot of other people fared, but I really just wanted to get back to the US.
The next day I woke up and made my way straight to the airport. of course my flight out of Germany ended up being delayed for 3 hours because our plane was stuck in Manchester, England and couldn't get out. The flight went quite smoothly and I watched four movies to pass the time. Of course, since I got the last available ticket, I had the last seat on the plane, so I was the last person to recieve food every time the crew came around, so I had no options and got served the worst crap, like some "beef burgundy" that had one mouthful of beef in it and a lot of sauce. When we arrived in Charlotte, every person on the flight had missed their connecting flights, especially after we all had to go through the ridiculously long customs lines and recheck luggage/re-ticket. I finally got a seat on the last flight to Charleston for the night, and hoofed my way over to the gate. After sitting for a while, it was announced that our flight to Charleston would be delayed due to a crew switch. I literally thought I was going to lose it by that point, but found solace in a smoothie I bought across the hall. I was finally allowed to board the flight, and was seated next to a really nice man who chatted with me for the entirety of the flight, so my last flight "flew" by. I ended up arriving in Charleston at 9:00 US time, 3:00 AM Italy time last night, and ran to my family at the arrivals gate. It was an incredibly long, nightmarish journey, but it made me even more happy to be home with my family for Christmas. Keep all the travelers in Europe in your thoights because many will not be making it home for Christmas since the weather conditions are not improving. Happy Holidays everyone, and Buone Feste a tutti!

La vita è bella (minus not having heat and never-ending rain)!

Ciao a tutti!

I know I have not posted anything in a long time, but so much has been going on here in Florence. First, Andy left for Turkey for 11 days, so I got all reorganized and back on track with school work, but also had fun. I saw "The Social Network" in English, which was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I also made my first trip to Lucca, which is definitely in my top five places in Italy! After this period of alone time though, I was invaded by visitors, which I had been craving!
First my best friend for 20+ years, Amy, came to visit for two weeks. It was so good having a girlfriend around to chat with and just do girly things with. I introduced Amy to Trattoria Anita, the best restaurant in Florence, Don Chisciotte, the best pizza in Florence, and to Andrea and vino sfuso. Needless to say, most of her visit revolved around our eating schedules. Andy arrived home the day after Amy arrived and the three of us saw Harry Potter (in English with Italian subtitles), then ventured off to Rome. I was so excited to show both of them how amazing the eternal city is (and how it trumps Florence in every aspect). The only thing that dampened our visit to Rome was the copious amounts of rain, which I am sick and tired of since it has rained every day for the past month. Anyhow, we took a guided tour of the Vatican museums, which allowed Amy's inner art history nerd to shine, and we walked all around Vatican City. I was also reunited with my friend Yann, who taught with me at UNC last year. Yann took Amy, Andy and me out to the best aperitivo I have ever been to, where we actually hung out with Italians. This was pretty much the highlight of the trip for me because I never meet Italians in Florence, and when I do they insist on speaking to me in English. Anyhow, Yann and his sweet girlfriend Antonella were excellent tour guides and showed us all the beauties of Rome by night. The next day we went and saw all the Roman monuments, like the colosseum and the Roman forum, etc. Since it rained even harder on that day though, we decided to head back to Florence, where more rain awaited.
During the second half of Amy's visit we hung out in Florence and prepared for our foreign Thanksgiving, and the arrival of Andy's parents. Even without hot water (which broke) and heat (which was out for 5 days) our Thanksgiving was honestly one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had. We had thirteen people for dinner, including two Mexicans, a frenchman, and an Italian. We had delicious food, including a 17 lb. turkey cooked by my friend Charlie (thank you). It was so amazing to share Thanksgiving with so many people that had never celebrated it before.
While Andy's parents were in town we did some more traveling and sight-seeing, as well as watched the Auburn Tigers beat Alabama 28-27 in the Iron Bowl (War Eagle)! My favorite part of the Gilliom's visit was our tour of Chianti. We all piled into a van with our guide Claudio, who was the stereotype for all Italians in the minds of Americans. We traveled to Greve in Chianti and went to five different wine tastings, as well as ate a delicious Tuscan meal in a medieval village nearby. It was sunny the entire time we were there and I drank so much red wine and ate so much olive oil that I had to lay off of both for a few days afterwards. It was so much fun getting to see Andy's parents, especially when AMy and I took his mother shopping in Florence. The day they left though was a miserable rainy day, and also the Florence marathon, so getting them out of the city was quite the task. After making sure they were able to find a taxi though, Amy and I went off to Siena, where we ate some absolutely delicious gelato and braved heavy rain to see the duomo and the church that houses St. Catherine's head and thumb.
Amy left two days later and the heat and hot water returned and life went somewhat back to normal. Now Andy and I are relishing our last few weeks in Italy together by preparing for Christmas. We went on a date yesterday to Lucca and went ice skating and to their local Christmas market, as well as shopped, which was a perfect day for me (minus missing the train we wanted and having to sit in the train station for two hours until the next one came). Overall, life has been pretty great the past few weeks, and I'm trying to enjoy the last two weeks until I come home for the holidays.

The Grand Tour Part III: Amsterdam

So last I left off, Andy and I were departing from Berlin to go to Amsterdam. I was super excited to go to Amsterdam because I had always heard how pretty it is and how much fun a person can have there. I'd also heard that the hostel we were staying in, The Flying Pig, was amazing. I don't know what all of my friends that have been to Amsterdam were on when they told me this, but I honestly did not enjoy the city. This may have been because 1) it was 40 degrees and raining the whole time we were there 2) our hostel was super ghetto, loud, and reeked of pot (I know, should have realized this would be true in Amsterdam) 3) it is super expensive. When we arrived, it was 6 in the morning and Andy and I passed out in our room until about 10 minutes before we were supposed to go on our tour. We rushed down to breakfast, where everything was already eaten, and started the miserably cold walk to Dam square to meet our guide. Since our group was so large, we were split between 2 guides, and Andy and I were unfortunate enough to be with all the Jersey Shore reject guidos and a pissy Swede tour guide. Amsterdam's history was as strange as the city. We started in the red light district, where we saw a church that was surrounded by hookers in windows, a coffee shop, and a kindergarten. Our guide explained that this is normal in Amsterdam because everything here is considered okay as long as it brings in money. This may be another reason why I was so turned off by the city. We saw a few cool things on the tour, like this street where homeless people can live and not be kicked out, a one room wide house, and the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company. After the tour, a large group of our new friends decided to explore the "coffee shops," which was a cluster because no one could figure out where they wanted to go, etc. We finally ended up going to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, which was really cool, since Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists, but was not worth the 14 euro entrance fee. Andy and I ended up going home and just chilling at the hostel so we could stay warm.
Day 2 I overslept and Andy and I just decided to go off and do things on our own, which was much better than trying to organize a giant group of people. We wandered around the canals and went into some really cool stores, like a store full of items such as a "Food Face" plate and cooking drumsticks, as well as the coolest vintage store ever. We ended up eating lunch at some overpriced Argentinian restaurant because Dutch food sucks, then waited in the freezing cold rain to go to the Anne Frank House. I really enjoyed touring the rooms where the Frank family hid, as well as the final exhibit where you can vote on current freedom of speech and civil rights issues. We decided to call it quits after the museum and again just spent the night chilling at our hostel. After Amsterdam, I was truly ready to head on to Paris!

The Grand Tour Part II: Berlin

Sorry the description of the 10 day journey is taking longer than 10 days, but life is back in full swing here in Florence.
So after being in beautiful Prague, we woke up and drove for 6 or 7 hours to Berlin. Honestly, Berlin was the city I was least excited about on this trip because I really had no interest in Germany, since I find the language so harsh. I would like to say Berlin may have been my favorite city on the trip, and I know it was Andy's. Berlin is awesome! It is humungous, with of course a very efficient public transportation system (this is Germany). Our hostel, Plus Berlin, was great. Andy and I lucked out and were given a private room with it's own bathroom, which was fabulous. We arrived in Berlin late in the afternoon, so not enough time to go out on the town yet, but Andy and I got ready for the Berlin nightlife by eating a kebab (we went looking for curry wurst, but could not find a stand. We joined the group for a pub crawl around Berlin, mainly because we only had one night in the city and we kept hearing how bizarre Berlin bars and clubs are. I will say Berlin has some of the best nightlife I have ever encountered. We started the night at this bar that I felt was a mix of Fuse and He's Not Here in Chapel Hill. I would call it the equivalent of a hipster bar, with random band posters on the wall, a sculpture that lit on fire every 15 minutes, and a backyard with a fire pit and an abandoned VW van. This place was pretty cool, except for the drug dealers that kept encouraging us to go buy some cocaine. After this bar, we went to a super-crowded wine bar, then to a really posh bar with padded leather couches and fancy chandeliers. Along the way a group of Ausies joined us, and they were way more out of control than any of the Americans. Case in point, on the way to bar four, an underground dance bar, an Ausie fell down the steps with a beer bottle in his hand, sliced his hand open, bled all over the bar, went and found Andy because he took a liking to him and kept asking him for a band-aid. We ditched most of the Ausies at bar 4 when we continued on to bar 5, a legit disco right across the street from our hostel. I really enjoyed ending the night to a German techno dance party. I never really got why everyone called Berlin's nightlife bizarre, but it is definitely varied and fun!
Day 2 we were taken on the best walking tour of our trip. Andy and I had this awesome guide named George from Missouri who was animated and really passionate about German history. We saw such fascinating places as the Reichstag, the Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the holocaust memorial, the location of Hitler's bunker, and of course, the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled baby Blanket out the window. After the tour, me, Andy, and our roommates from Prague went to this museum called the Pergamon which has the gates of Ishtar from the Babylonian gardens and this ancient altar from Turkey. It wans't as cool as we thought it was going to be, but I can now say I've seen one of the ancient wonders of the world. Afterwards we roamed around some cool side streets before heading back to our hostel, where we had to load all of our belongings for the next leg of our trip: Amsterdam.

The Grand Tour (a blog in 4 parts)

Ciao a tutti, I haven't written in so long! My life has been a bit hectic pretty much the entire month of October. Andy arrived, I had to give my students a mid-term, I was booked up every day for tutoring, and trying to think of better ways to explain English to 40 year old bankers.
After a very busy few weeks did I have a relaxing fall break? No! Instead Andy and I went on a ten day bus tour around Europe, hitting Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris. Why did I sign us up for this trip? Well, I figured I have only one real break during the semester and instead of flying somewhere new every weekend I would try to hit as many cities that were on my list of places to go as I could in one swoop. So imagine a 10 day trip with 90 other people, mainly American students aged 19-22, and over 50 hours on a bus. Though I had a ton of fun and met some great new friends, I don't think I will ever travel by bus again!
So our first stop on our European extravaganza was Prague. Everyone, I mean everyone, should go to Prague! It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Such a contrast to the ugly war-ridden history of the Czech Republic. Also, the country is way cheaper than the rest of Europe because they haven't switched over to the euro yet. 1 euro is worth 25 czech crowns right now, so our money went a long way!
We arrived in Prague on a Friday morning after a 12 hour bus ride and pulled up to the best hostel I have ever stayed in called The Mosaic House. Each room had it's own bathroom with heated floors and a legit shower, the beds were super comfortable, they had the best breakfast spread, and they had a bar with a big screen TV that constantly played ESPN America (for my football loving boyfriend). Our first activity was a three hour walking tour of the city with our lovely Welsh guide Sarah. We saw all the great sites of Prague, the Astronomical clock, the old town, the new town, where Tom Cruise is staying while filming Mission Impossible 4, etc. After learning everything there is to know about Prague's history (most of which had to do with kicking other people out of the city), Andy and I met up with my friend Salva. I hadn't seen Salva in a year since he had left UNC and I was so excited to be reunited with one of my favorite Spaniards. Salva did a great job of showing us places in Prague that we didn't see on our tour and we got to enjoy a few delicious Pilsners and pretzels. I think reuniting with Salva was my favorite part of Prague. After parting ways, Andy and I joined our group for a Pub Crawl through Prague. Normally I do not enjoy pub crawls because I feel they are just another way to look like an ignorant American tourist, but we wanted to hang out with the group and not be creepy loners, so we joined in. This was by far the sketchiest night of the trip. Our first locale was a basement in an abandoned church where we had an open bar of beer in plastic bottles and some moonshine sangria, mixed in with free shots of absinthe. The basement was decorated like a hippie den with tapestries and hookahs scattered about, as well as a giant statue of Stalin's head. We then moved to the actual church, which is now a disco, where I met a frenchman who spoke Italian and chatted with him for like an hour, then tried to dance salsa with Andy, but he wanted to create his own steps instead of actually salsa dancing. At this point Andy and two of our roommates, Andrew and Kevin, went on a search for munchie food and found a sausage stand that sold the biggest hotdogs you have ever seen for the equivalent of 2 euro. We then headed hom instead of continuing to the next two discos.
The next day we woke up bright and early and climbed a giant hill that had the best views of Prague. We then trekked over to Prague castle, which is the biggest castle in Europe, and explored the area, including the giant cathedral inside the castle. Afterwards we went for an authentic czech meal, where Andy and I tried goulash, then Andy and I broke away from the group and went on a mini-date at a café in a cubist building where we ate some awesome deserts and drank our favorite coffee beverage: caffè macchiato. After buying Andy a pair of tennis shoes since his one pair of shoes he brough now have holes in the soles, we spent an evening at the hostel bar watching the Auburn Tigers crush LSU!!!
Prague was an amazing city, and in my next post I'll let y'all know all about the city with the coolest vibe: Berlin!