Not too much happening here.

Thursday — April 19

This past week not too much happened. On Tuesday the president of Kent State came to visit. We had a reception at 4:30, which was nice because it got us out of our practicum class, which I don't really care for. 

It was funny because during the reception, President Lestor Lefton and others spoke about how fortunate we were to be here in Florence. Someone said something about us being fortunate too because it can be expensive. The entire reception I was waiting for someone to chuck a tomato at our president. Recently, Lefton and his board passed something new at Kent State that doesn't sit well with a lot of students, including myself. 

After 17 credits, you have to pay a $440 fee for each credit. I was planning on taking 20 credits next semester, but I had to drop a class because I'm not paying $1,320 extra in fees just for one class, nor can I afford that. I have an apartment in the fall I need to pay rent for. Thank God I'm graduating in a year because starting in fall 2013, it's any credit after 16, you have to pay that fee. Kent State used to be an affordable school, but it keeps getting more expensive every year. I'm sorry you're in debt Kent State, but that's not my fault. Stop taking on unnecessary projects then. Clearly I'm not happy with this new fee. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. 

In the end no one chucked a tomato at Lefton. I laughed when I talked to Kory because I told him how he was visiting Kent State here, and Korr said, "Well, he certainly fled the country at the perfect time." 

After the reception I went home to relax, and boy I'm glad I did. Lydia, Glenn and I had finished our documentary video for practicum and we left one of our teachers with it to fix the audio. I guess he ended up trying to change our video and move things around and Glenn and Lydia got pretty mad. I would have been mad too, but I have more patience than the two of them. 

Other than that, this week I just tried to relax and get things in order.

Thursday night Maria came over and Kate, she and I watched the Last Samurai. We watched it in Intercultural, but I missed the class when we finished the movie, so Fabbio let me borrow it. I had heard of the movie before, but I've never seen it. It was fantastic. I was blubbering like a baby by the time it was over. If I cry, that means it was good. 

Fogginess

Sunday — April 15

This morning was a bit nicer in the sense that we were able to sleep in a little later. Check out was at 10, so I woke up, showered and got ready for the day. 

I didn’t really know what to expect for the day. We were going to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. When Lydia and I got to the busses, we put our suitcases underneath and walked on the bus. We had to end up sitting in the back because people took our seats, which was kind of annoying. 

The bus ride to Pompeii took about an hour or so. I seriously gave our bus driver a ton of credit because these roads were really skinny and had a lot of turns going up and down the hills. It made me nervous at some points because if we went off the cliff, it was into the ocean we go!

When we got to Pompeii we were told there was an entrance fee of €11. I didn’t understand why we had to pay money just to get into a city, but I wasn’t going to argue it. We could pay €5 for an English tour guide, but Lydia and I decided against it. 

When we went up to buy our entrance ticket, we learned that today it was free! Since it was culture week, Pompeii was free to get in to, which was awesome! I also learned since it was culture week, we would be able to get into a lot of other museums in Florence throughout the next week.

When we started walking into the city I finally realized where I was and why we had to pay. I don’t know, but for some reason I thought Pompeii was just a normal city like Naples or Sorrento. I quickly remembered learning about Pompeii in high school. It’s the city that was covered in ashes in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. They said the ashes were about 9 feet high and covered the entire city, killing everyone. The city is preserved, and I found it fascinating that it was still standing. To think after so many years, it is still standing to day. 

Lydia and I walked around throughout the city. It was absolutely massive! Luckily, it wasn’t raining in the beginning. I soon jinxed that by mentioning it, and before we knew it, it was down pouring. My shoes were officially being thrown out before I fly home to Pittsburgh. 

At one point we ran into Lindsay, a girl who goes to Kent with us. She was with Bus2Alps and they were on their tour here. 

We also later ran into Kate, which was funny. She said they went to Amalfi on Friday and Capri on Saturday. No wonder we didn’t see them Friday. Lindsay said Bus2Alps went to Capri the same day we did, so we were surprised we didn’t run into them. Probably because we were hiding out in a cafe all day. 

The most fascinating part of the walk through Pompeii was the preservatives. There was a 17-year-old pregnant girl whose body was still in tact. It was covered in ashes and sort of looked like a mummy, but I could tell she was laying down covering herself before she died. I couldn’t imagine dying like that. 

Later when we ran into Dan and them, Dan said they saw a man who was hiding in his bathtub, which would have been really hard to see.

The entire walk around Pompeii was well-worth it, despite the rain because I love learning about history and seeing it is even more exciting.

-The Amphitheatre- 

Gina, one of the Florence For Fun leaders, told us that they have a good deal with this one restaurant where we can eat a three course meal with a drink for €12, which is pretty unheard of. She said if we were interested to meet outside of the Pompeii entrance at 1. So Lydia and I made sure we were out there by 1. 

We were led inside to our tables. Most of the Florence For Fun group was there, so there was probably over 100 of us agin. I felt like I was in a banquet hall for a wedding reception. It seemed like there were other big organization groups there too, so this place must be known for that. 

Lydia and I sat with Michelle, her boyfriend, Dan and Ryan. I feel like all we did was laugh and enjoy our time. The food service was phenomenal. It was the fastest service I’d had while being in Italy. 

Gina came over to our table at one point during lunch and asked us what our thoughts were on climbing Mt. Vesuvius. She said the leaders were going to ask everyone and if majority said they didn’t want to climb it, we would head home earlier and skip it, but if there was more in favor, then we would climb it. I had hit the point where I was just wet, cold and tired and just wanted to head home. She said we wouldn’t even have the view of the Naples bay from up top because it would be so cloudy. 

Everyone at my table felt the same way — they just wanted to go home too. I thought that would be the consensus of everyone, but it ended up not being the case.

When we got back on the buses, they said more people were in favor of climbing, so the busses headed toward Mt. Vesuvius. 

The drive up was beautiful. You could see the Naples bay and everything about the city. Soon enough though we were in a white cloud and I couldn’t see a thing. Once again, I gave our bus driver a ton of credit because these roads were extremely narrow and windy. He honked every time we made a turn to warn people if they were descending down the hill.

When we made it to the top we all climbed out. Some people stayed on the bus, which I thought was stupid. If you’re here, you may as well climb it instead of sitting on a bus for an hour. Walking up to the top was one of the most tiresome things I’ve done in a while. I thought climbing the volcano in Santorini was hard, but that was nothing compared to this. There was lava rock every where, which made it a bit more difficult to walk and it was misting and freezing because we were so high up. It was really cool though because when I would turn around to see where I had just walked from, I could see absolutely nothing because the fog was so thick.

Finally, we made it to the top. On a beautiful day, normally you would see the Naples bay. It’s supposed to be a gorgeous view, but we saw nothing by white. We were basically in a white cloud, which we ended up finding entertaining. We all kept joking about how beautiful this view was. 

We also tried looking down into the volcano, but you couldn’t see anything but white as well, which was just crazy. If I were to fall, I’d have no idea how far I’d be falling because I could barely see a a few feet down from me. 

Lydia climbed up this one rock where other people were, and when she reached the top, which really wasn’t that far up, I had to squint to see her, and she said she had to do the same with me. 

The walk up took about a total of 20 minutes and then we stayed up top for quite some time, then descended back down. Going back down was a bit difficult too because it was so steep and I didn’t want to walk to fast because it was hard to stop.

I laughed at one point and told Michelle why. I saw all of this lava rock everywhere and found it awfully similar to what mom uses to decorate our yard. It clicked that it was actual lava rock. I had a major blonde moment to say the least. 

I didn’t take any rock home with me though because Bethany told me in Santorini it’s bad luck to take it. She said her one friend took a rock from a volcano in Italy home and now every time she flies home from Italy she gets a phone call that someone died. Kind of creepy if you ask me and I can be quite superstitious. 

When we finally got back to the bus, I curled up in my seat and tried to get warm. I was all wet from the rain and cold from the mist. This was going to be a fun eight hour bus ride home!

The ride ended up going pretty fast, which was nice. We only stopped once for dinner for an hour and somehow made it home by 10:30. I was expecting to get home by midnight, so this was a pleasant surprise. 

During the ride home, I had a lot of time to think because all I was really doing was listening to my music. I realized I was slowly starting to get ready to come home. After my family left I really missed them. I never thought I would be ready to leave, but I think when the time comes I’ll be ready.

When we were taking the taxi home, I was incredibly nervous to check my email. I had no wifi this past weekend, and I knew Kristina was going to email me about the internship. When I got home, the first thing I did was get on my computer and log into my Kent email. I saw I had an email from her, and I was so nervous it was a no. If it was a no, I didn’t know what I was going to do. 

I opened it, and it said she would love to have me be a part of the Pittsburgh Magazine internship team this summer. I have never been more relieved. I squealed and jumped up and down and Lydia hugged me. I felt like a little kid. It was a HUGE weight lifted off of my shoulders. 

I told Kory to get on Skype ASAP because I wanted to tell him because it was so hard to not even tell him I was interviewing with them. I wanted to tell mom, but she was at Jon’s hockey banquet, so I knew I would have to wait until tomorrow. 

What a wonderful way to come home though. Now I was in warm, comfy clothes and I officially had plans for the summer!

Castles!

Saturday — April 14

Today's plans had to change because it was supposed to be raining all day again. We were originally supposed to go to Positano and relax on the beach all day, but mother nature didn't want that. 

I decided not to get the free breakfast today and just eat my strawberry jelly on bread. I met Lydia and Michelle upstairs and checked in with our tour guides. I wasn't sure where we were going, but I was told we were going to the Versailles of Italy, which I thought was pretty cool, and we were also supposed to get really good pizza somewhere after. 

We walked up to where the busses were parked and all piled on in. The bus ride was about an hour, so I relaxed and dozed off and on listening to my ipod. When we arrived we were in a parking garage. We followed the leaders upstairs and starting walking towards this magnificent-looking palace. 

It reminded me of the palace in Madrid, except this one wasn't all white. It was called Reggia Di Caserta, and boy was it beautiful. 

Florence For Fun organized a tour for us to take, which we didn't have to pay more money for, which was extremely nice. The tour lead us throughout the palace and told us about different rooms and what they were used for. There was a statue of Marie Antoinette's sister because she was here before, which I thought was fascinating. I have always been in love with this time period, so it was amazing to walk through this beautiful palace knowing all of these people walked through these halls and it was their home. I couldn't imagine living in a place this big, although it would be a great place to play hide and go seek. 

My favorite rooms were the bedrooms. The beds were so antique looking, just like I've seen in the movies I watch. Considering my favorite movies are Pride and Prejudice and Becoming Jane, no wonder I was in love with this place.

I also really liked the dining rooms because the chandeliers were so magnificent. 

-view from one of the windows-

-chandelier made of Morano glass from Venice-

-library-

After the tour was finished, the tour guide left us at the entrance of the gardens. The gardens are supposed to be really famous because it is three miles long, which is incredible. It was still raining outside, so we didn't want to walk the three miles in it. The Florence For Fun tour guides said to meet at the front of the palace in 15-20 minutes. Lydia and I went outside in the gardens to see some of it. Since it was raining, the gardens looked even more green, making it look even more beautiful. 

Dan also had found a dog laying in the grass that he went over to pet. It was precious and seemed so comfortable laying out in the rain.

We met everyone in the front of the palace and we were led to the busses. I thought the ride to the pizza place was going to be 30 minutes, but it ended up being an hour. I was thrilled when we got there because I was starving. 

The place we went to was called University Pizza. This place very well-known in Italy because they serve pizza by the meter. We walked inside the restaurant and thankfully it was a very big one because there were probably about 100 of us coming in to eat. 

Michelle, Lydia and I found a table to sit at, but Dan, Ryan and Ryan went to another table with other people. 

We were each going to get our own mini pizza, but then we figured we could just get the meter and split the price and get more for our money. A waiter came up to us and he didn't seem to speak much English. We tried speaking to him in Italian. We were trying to ask him if a meter would be okay for three people because it says it's enough for five people. I asked, then Lydia and when Michelle asked, the waiter rolled his eyes and walked away.

We were SO confused as to what had just happened. Was he coming back? We didn't know. About 10 minutes had passed and he kept walking by our table not coming back. Everyone else already had their drinks at this point and others were already getting their pizza. 

So we asked the Florence For Fun leaders sitting next to us how we were supposed to order. They said to just flag down a waiter and they would help us. So we did that and we had more luck this time. The waiter thought we were ordering a meter for six people when he took the order. We tried telling him it was just for us, but he didn't understand.

Ryan, Michelle's boyfriend, came over to ask what we were getting. We told him we ordered a meter pizza. He said he and his two other friends got the same thing. After he left we said, if three boys can eat a meter, we can surely do it!

I splurged a bit and ordered a coke, which came in the glass bottle — only the best kind. 

I was hungry, so I figured that would help too. We were all incredibly hungry. Michelle ended up pulling out her sandwich she had packed and ate that while we were waiting. I asked her if she was sure she wanted to do that since she was about to help eat a meter pizza. It didn't help when everyone else was getting their food because it smelled SO good.

Finally, ours was rolled out to us. The waiter placed 6 plates down and we told him it was just us. He had a sort of shocked look on his face, which made us laugh. "We can do it!"

The pizza was delicious and it was definitely helping to cure my hunger.

I was doing pretty well, but towards the end we definitely started slowing down. We only had a piece left for each of us and we said if they guys can do it we can! So we finished it. 

I sat in my chair and felt like I needed to unbutton my jeans. Ryan came over to see how our pizza was. We said it was really good, but we were full. He was pretty surprised we had finished it already. We asked him how his was. He said it was good, but the guys didn't know if they would be able to finish it. When he said that, Michelle, Lydia and I bursted out laughing. We finished an entire meter of pizza because we figured if they could do it, we could, and then even the guys were too full! 

Thankfully, all we had left to do was hop on a bus back to the hotel, where I planned on taking a nap until dinner. We were only 20 minutes away, so when we got back it was around 5. We had two hours until dinner. We all ended up falling asleep and when we woke up, of course we weren't hungry.

However, dinner was free and we felt like we should eat something. We went upstairs and ate with Ryan. Michelle and Ryan couldn't get through the second course and left. Lydia was going to go back, but she was curious about what the dessert was. I somehow mustered my way through dinner and ended up nibbling at the dessert, even though it was fantastic.

When we were done, I seriously felt like I needed to be wheel barreled to my room. I don't think I have ever felt so full in my life. If someone poked me, I think my stomach would have exploded. 

I was thinking about going out for a few drinks, but after being so full, it just made me way to tired to do anything, so we just stayed in and watched Crazy, Stupid Love again. The movie never gets old!

Rain rain go away, come back another day

Friday — April 13

It may be Friday the 13th, but in Italy that's not an unlucky day, so I tried to keep that in mind. We woke up and went upstairs for our free breakfast which consisted of a couple croissants and juice. There's a reason it was free, but it was something to start off the day at least. 

We met everyone in the lobby at 8:15. The tour guides were going to lead us into Sorrento to the Marina. Today was supposed to be filled with a lot of beautiful outdoor activities, but unfortunately it was icky and rainy. I didn't know what to expect from today.

As I was walking with the group down the road, I was having a war with the wind and my umbrella. It popped inside-out a few times, but I was persistent and didn't want to get wet. 

When we were getting close to the marina it got windier. I had to close my umbrella when we walked down a plethora of stairs because it was just way too windy. 

When we finally got to the marina, we hopped on a ferry which took us to Capri. I was exhausted and fell asleep on the 30-minute ride.

When we got there I was really excited to see the place, despite the fact on how cold it was and how rainy it was. I have always wanted to come here after seeing pictures. This place also holds one of the seven wonders of the world, which I really, really wanted see — the blue grotto. 

We all piled off of the ferry past people waiting to get on it to go back to Sorrento. We went to a souvenir shop in hunt for ponchos and Michelle for a sweatshirt. 

Lydia asked me if I wanted a pull-over one or a button up one. I said the button up one would be fine. Mistake. When I put it on, I buttoned the wrong ones and then when I tried fixing it I ripped one. 

So since the hood of my poncho wouldn't stay up, it was kind of pointless, but oh well. 

The first thing on today's agenda was to take an island boat tour around the island, and if it was nice enough out we would be going into the blue grotto. They told us right off the bat we weren't going to get to see the blue grotto because the water was too high because of the waves and rain. They said even when the water is calm you have to lay down in a tiny boat for four people to get into it. 

When we saw what boat was taking us on the tour we wall laughed. It was small and it looked like we were going to have to stand outside and it was raining. This was going to be interesting. 

The first boat took the first half of the group and another boat came, which Michelle, Lydia and I got on. Thankfully, there was enough room under a hood where the entire group of people could sit and not get wet — not that we weren't wet enough already.

When the boat pulled out, the ride wasn't too bad. It was still raining and the water looked a bit mean and intimidating, but I didn't think much of it. Despite the fact that it was really icky out, I could still see how beautiful this island was. I could see how blue the waters were and how pretty it was. 

-Lydia and Michelle-

A little into the boat ride, things got a little rocky...literally. The waves were getting more rough and I grabbed onto a pole. I was doing fine, a little nervous, but I was doing fine until the boat seemed like it was basically on it's side. There were times when we went right into a wave that crashed on us. There was one point when a wave came on my side and crashed into us, tilting the boat. 

Michelle and Lydia were having a blast, taking pictures and enjoying the excitement. I as having fun, however, I was brainstorming how to swim back if we went under. I was clearly not having as much fun as them. There were times Lydia snapped pictures of me that weren't even posed:

It was definitely a ride of a lifetime.

I figured though that the drivers knew what they were doing and we wouldn't be out there if it wasn't safe. The driver was pretty impressive too because on top of his skills, he was still talking about what we were seeing and passing. There was one point when the waves crashed so hard that I ended up in a guys lap. I started laughing because this was getting ridiculous. I sat down and held on for dear life after that. 

Thankfully on the other side of the island, the waters were much calmer. I'm not sure why, but they were. The driver showed us where the blue grotto was, which was really cool, but I was really bummed we couldn't go in it. I could see why though you can't go in if the water is too high. The entrance is so tiny!

On our boat ride was also passed this beautiful waterfall that spilled into the sea, which was gorgeous. 

When we got back to the mainland, I was thrilled to be on land. We were led to an incline which took us to the top of the island where there is another part of the city. From up top the view was gorgeous. You could see how blue the water was in some points. I could also sense how high up we really were because we were basically in a cloud!

Since we were up higher, it was obviously much more windy.

Since it was raining, the tour guides found something for us to do inside. They said there was a perfumery in Capri called Carthusia, which was supposed to be interesting. We weren't required to go here, but we wanted to be inside for a bit. 

On the walk I had to fight with the wind again. I finally gave up because it was pointless and I allowed myself to get soaking wet. By the time we got to the perfumery I was dripping. I felt so bad for walking into the store like this, but then I realized everyone and their mother looked just like me. 

The perfumery smelled AH-MAZING, of course. It was really cool to see the bins where the perfumes were made. We tried a bunch of different scents. They all smelled so natural and pretty, but I didn't want to get anything because it was super expensive. 

When we were there Michelle ran into her boyfriend Ryan and his friends. I knew a few of them, so we all hung out after that. We went in hunt for food after the perfumery. When we were walking a man sort of summoned us in and told us we could have pizza for €10. I had packed my own lunch, so I wasn't planning on getting anything beside a drink. We decided to stay and he led us upstairs. It was Lydia, Michelle, her boyfriend Ryan, and his friends Dan and Ryan, who I knew already. Dan and I lived on the same floor sophomore year and Ryan lived with Carolyn here in Florence. 

We all felt kind of awkward sitting at the table because it was super quiet and it seemed like it was a really expensive place. And that it was. I ordered a €5 hot chocolate because I was so cold. I thought the price was ridiculous, but I needed warmth. 

We stayed inside as long as we could because it was so cold and rainy out. Ryan, Michelle's boyfriend, made fun of the people outside because they were getting rained on and then Dan said we would be those people soon enough, and that we would.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon we tried staying inside cafes and stores to stay dry. It was kind of depressing because I really wanted to see the beautiful island like I've seen in pictures, but the weather was not permitting it. 

We had a lemon cello tasting at 3:00 that Florence For Fun had set up. We had accidentally stumbled upon it earlier in the day and ended up staying there until then. I'm not a huge lemon cello person, but I figured I'd give it another try. There were other flavors too like strawberry and mango, but I still didn't like it. The after taste is just so icky. I don't know how mom loves this stuff. At the tasting though there was a lemon chocolate that we tried and I fell in love with. It was soooo good and so different from things I've had before. Lydia and I ended up splitting the cost of one bar. 

After the tasting we ventured around for a bit and then found a cafe to sit at. I ordered a cappuccino, which was expensive again. I was quickly learning that Capri was a bit pricey. We ended up staying there for an hour and a half to kill more time while trying to dry off a bit. 

-Dan and I-

We were supposed to meet the guides at the Capri marina, where we started our day at, at 6:00 p.m. At 5:30 we walked to the incline and took one down. We ended up getting down there earlier than we wanted, but we saw a ton of people from Florence For Fun waiting in restaurants and such. 

We walked in and out of souvenir shops to kill time while we waited. Finally we went to check in and get our ferry tickets. After another 15 or so minutes of waiting the ferry finally pulled in. While we were waiting these old Italian women pushed through us quite rudely. I was surprised because they were grandmas and you imagine them to be friendly, but these women most definitely were not. I was thinking calm down women, there are plenty of seats on this boat for everyone.

During the ride back to Sorrento, I wasn't as tired as the ride in to sleep. I watched some girls from Florence For Fun be obnoxious and pass a bottle of alcohol around. They were clearly wasted and a lot of people were watching them shaking their heads. No wonder some people think all Americans do is party. 

When we got back to Sorrento, we had to walk a little bit, but thankfully the busses were there to drive us back to our hotel. I didn't want to walk all the way back because it was ll down hill this morning, which would mean I would have to walk up hill the entire way home. Plus my shoes were nothing bu puddles of water, so I just wanted to get home as fast I could. 

When we got back I changed into my yoga pants and sweatshirt. I had never been comfier. We went upstairs for our free dinner that the hotel provided for us. It was a two course meal with dessert, which I was excited about because I was starving. 

The dinner was quite filling, but of course I saved room for dessert. When I tried mine, which was white, it was good, but different. There was a chocolate looking pie that Michelle got and the waiter must have heard me say something about it because he brought a piece out for me. He was too kind, but I tried telling him I was way too full to eat two pieces of pie. But it made me smile.

After dinner I was pooped. My body was so tired from shivering all day and being wet, so I just relaxed in the room with Lydia and Michelle. We watched Crazy, Stupid Love before falling asleep, which made me quite happy.